I’m a Director, I’m Not Bad

Chapter 777 774. Horrible Talent

Xu Xin naturally also received good news from Volvo.

After all, in addition to his status as "starring", he is more importantly the director of this advertisement. You must understand whether your own works are good or bad.

However, when he learned that the attention of Volvo had skyrocketed due to the advertisement he shot, he didn't feel particularly emotional.

To put it bluntly, whether it is good or bad to shoot this advertisement has nothing to do with the XC90.

Even if you change a car, you can still shoot like this.

This is what people paid him to do.

People, I have brought them to you, but how do you get the approval of consumers, finally sign this contract, and sell a car? The key is to look at the quality of the car, right?

He can carry it quite well.

If the sales of XC90 are particularly good, then it means that your advertising and it are mutually beneficial.

If people are attracted, but the transaction volume is still average, then it must be the problem with this car.

Although he thinks this car is quite good...

Therefore, in this regard, he did not have too many emotions. When the other party tentatively asked when the second commercial would be available, Xu Xin said that you should let the planner prepare first. I’ll talk about it after the movie is over~

After hanging up the phone, he got back into shooting again.

Also with the hope that Volvo will sell well.

August 21st.

In the morning, the crew rushed to Xiamen Banling Palace.

The crew happened to find a villa from a long time ago and built the villa set where the massacre occurred.

Today we will shoot the scene of the massacre.

The set has been built in advance, half of it is the set of the massacre, and the other half is the set of I Guchun's master's house.

It was cool in the early morning at Banling Palace, but Xu Xin's mood was not very beautiful.

Because today is not a sunny day.

The weather forecast said that today would be a sunny day, so the crew decided to come here early in the morning to film. Because of this shot, Xu Xin wanted to try to shoot it with a religious-like artistic expression.

If it is a sunny day, the sun will come in through the window.

Here Xu Xin will use a very thin layer of smoke to create the Tyndall effect, giving the light a shape and hitting it directly on the attic floor. And Xin Xiaofeng would be hit by this beam of light when he was going upstairs.

Then in the next second, the lens will use blurring and out-of-focus processing techniques to give a frontal shot of the statue of the god in the shrine. The idol will be in the middle of the screen. In the blurry out-of-focus images around it, there will be images of the assailant killing the old man with a knife.

When this picture was taken, the bright and clear floor-to-ceiling windows on the first floor would also cast patches of natural light.

The entire picture will appear distorted.

Amid the beauty of the sacred statue in broad daylight, a tragedy of killing an entire family is taking place.

The reason why he gave the statue a frontal shot was the inspiration he got from Guo Degang's setting poem.

"There is a small temple on the top of a hill near a small river and a mountain. I asked the Bodhisattva why he sat upside down and lamented that sentient beings refused to look back. I dare not teach from a high platform. I am just a fan of paper and a long gown, selling myself off."

In this setting poem, he intercepted the excerpt of the sentence "Asking the Bodhisattva why he sat upside down and lamenting that all living beings refuse to look back."

A sacred statue is supposed to look at all living beings lovingly.

But a tragedy happened right under his eyes.

Gods, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas cannot stop it.

I can only sit down.

Because sentient beings refuse to look back.

In the next scene, he will use a montage technique. When Xin Xiaofeng's eyes were dazzled by the sunlight in the attic, he closed his eyes and saw the girl's naked profile.

A very beautiful one.

But when she opened her eyes, the girl had turned into a cold corpse lying on the bed.

He planned to use this montage editing technique to express the entire massacre.

Because it is sacred, the distorted picture appears even more bloody.

And because of the blood, the sacred image of the Bodhisattva sitting upside down seems a bit ironic, which can leave a good hint to the audience that "this will lead to retribution."

The next "road to redemption" of Xin Xiaofeng's trio seems so ironic.

This is what the so-called "scorching sun burns the heart".

Why does the scorching sun burn your heart?

Very simple.

Open your chest and let the sunlight in.

Seemingly atonement.

But everything is hidden in the blood of the chest.

The law of heaven is clear and retribution circulates.

This is his entire scene setting for the massacre of the family at the beginning of the film.

I even considered whether to outline a thin line on the statue to express the appearance of the statue crying.

Later, I felt that this "fantasy" atmosphere was not consistent with the movie, so I rejected it.

They just asked the crew to create a statue of Guanyin.

Brackets: those that have not been illuminated.

Originally, he wanted to use Mazu, but considering that Mazu was too important in the coastal area, in order not to cause trouble... he forgot about it.

Everything is planned.

However, God is not good at it.

Standing outside the villa, he looked up at the thin white clouds in the sky.

It is obviously very thin, but it is full of the sky.

Can't be separated no matter what.

At this time, Xue Yong came over:

"Director Xu, do you want to turn on the lights?"

Xu Xin withdrew his gaze from the sky and nodded slightly:

"First set up a group on the first floor and see the effect."

The sunny part of the second floor was shot from two aspects. There are even some outbursts.

Because he planned that in the first part, when the girl was still alive, the sun would be at a height of about 10:11 in the morning. At that time, as the sun rose higher, the shadow would become shorter.

Just through the window, it can hit the delicate skin.

Show off the girl's youth and beauty.

And the second part, the so-called cheating, is here.

Only when the sun shines obliquely will the shadow be elongated. And the sunlight that could hit Xin Xiaofeng's eyes must have come from the sun slanting in.

The two times don't match up.

But that's okay.

His original intention was to shoot this scene in black and white. Except for the blood, which would have color on the screen, everything else would have a black and white texture.

So as long as the angle of the sun is right, it doesn't matter whether it's morning, noon, or sunset.

Xue Yong nodded and immediately arranged for the lighting team to start setting up sunlight outside.

About twenty minutes later, when the time came to almost 9 o'clock, the preparation for strong lighting was completed.

Xue Yong came over again:

"Director Xu, it's okay."

"Um."

Xu Xin nodded and walked directly into the villa.

At this time, the actors had also finished putting on their makeup and were waiting on the first floor. After seeing him coming, they all gave way to the passage.

Wang Lei and Li Pingdong were both standing behind a camera, waiting for him.

After Xu Xin came in, he walked around the messy wires on the ground and came to the monitor.

The monitor screen conveyed a very clear picture signal.

But Xu Xin frowned slightly as he looked at the light and shadow illuminated by the strong light in the picture.

To be fair, the image quality is fine.

but……

He thought for a while and said to the prop master next to him:

"Put some smoke out and see the shape."

"Okay, director."

The prop master quickly put the cigarette cake into the pot. Soon, under the puff of smoke, he walked into the shooting lens and turned around a few times with the cigarette pot.

The Tyndall effect occurs.

Light has a shape.

But Xu Xin's brows wrinkled again.

how to say……

If I really asked him to tell me exactly what was wrong, he couldn't tell.

But at this moment, he suddenly remembered what Yang Mi told him about filming with Wang Jiawei.

A realization flashed through my mind.

"This light...isn't beautiful."

Yes, that's right.

This light is not sunlight, so it feels dull and not aesthetically pleasing.

The smoke was too thick, not a natural visual phenomenon.

It also seems very deliberate.

He wasn't very satisfied.

After thinking for a while, he shouted:

"Director Li, Brother Lei, come here."

After hearing his words, Li Pingdong and Wang Lei both came over.

Xu Xin said again:

"Props, walk around again."

Hearing this, the prop hurriedly brought back the pot with the cigarette cakes from outside and walked around again.

After he left, Xu Xin pointed at the picture on the screen and asked the two of them:

"What do you think?"

"..."

"..."

The two of them were silent for the time being.

Instead, he waited little by little until the smoke dissipated and the Tyndall effect disappeared, Wang Lei said:

"I think the smoke effect is a little less than expected...it comes from the bottom up. It's a little dull, but...let me put on a black and white lens and take a look?"

"OK."

Xu Xin nodded, and Wang Lei quickly came to the camera and started adjusting.

Li Pingdong, on the other hand, remained silent.

When the props came in again carrying cigarette cakes, according to Wang Lei's instructions, they no longer turned around in circles, but swung them three-dimensionally up, down, left and right, letting the smoke fill the room, and then quickly exited again.

Then, he personally took the shot, while Xu Xin and Li Pingdong just stood in front of the monitor, waiting for the smoke to dissipate.

After about two or three minutes, when the smoke had almost dispersed, Li Pingdong said:

"It's almost done now, director, what do you think?"

At work, Xu Xin did not refute his title.

He just pursed his lips, looked at the picture on the monitor, and suddenly shook his head:

"No, it's still not right. This light is too rigid."

After saying this, he was suddenly stunned for a moment.

Then he laughed dumbly and said to Li Pingdong:

"Do my words sound like Director Wang's?"

Li Pingdong understood who he was talking about, smiled and shook his head:

"There's definitely no comparison between light and natural light."

"Well, it's so unnatural. It's very dull. This scene looks like a stage play..."

Suddenly, Xu Xin stopped talking.

"Brother Lei."

"Eh."

"Come on, come on and set up a plane."

As Xu Xin said this, he bypassed Li Pingdong and came directly to the statue.

The statue is not big, only 30 centimeters.

But the location of the shrine is very high.

Just stay in the living room.

It is convenient to set up the camera during shooting, so it cannot be attached to the wall, but it can give the audience the feeling of a shrine hanging on the wall.

Give the audience a condescending perspective.

"Come here and get me a ladder."

After hearing the director's words, the film crew and stage management began to get busy.

Soon, after the triangular ladder was moved, Xu Xin climbed up directly and came to the statue.

One eye was closed, using the statue in front of him as a shield, blocking part of his field of vision.

After looking at it, he said:

"Give me the walkie-talkie."

Soon, the stage manager handed him the walkie-talkie.

"Lights lights."

"Copy that, director, please speak."

"Adjust it and raise the position of the strong light. Part of it is on the floor and part of it is placed on the wall."

"receive."

Soon, from the perspective of Xu Xin's one eye, the bright light that originally came from the floor-to-ceiling window began to move.

After moving until half of it was on the wall and most of it on the ground, Xu Xin took the walkie-talkie and said:

"stop."

Movement stops.

He turned his head and glanced at several stage managers surrounding him:

"You guys, stand inside the venue."

Several stage managers stood in obediently.

From the perspective of others, once a few people stand in the light, their shadows fill the light.

But from Xu Xin's one-eyed perspective, these people could not be seen.

Only their shadows can be seen, to the left of the shrine.

"You guys act like you're fighting."

After hearing the director's words, several people quickly made a few moves.

Xu Xin's eyes lit up.

But he seemed to realize something immediately.

He opened his eyes and thought about it, then reached out and moved the statue again.

It no longer faces the lobby on the first floor, but instead faces sideways.

After looking at it with his "one eye" again, he murmured:

"I asked the Bodhisattva why he sat upside down and sighed that all living beings refused to look back... Where is the group performance? Wang Qianyuan."

"Hey, director."

Wang Qianyuan came over quickly.

The four actors who played the girl's parents, grandparents and grandparents also came over.

"Come on, come on, you stand here. Props, give Wang Qianyuan the stick. Uncle, aunt, after a while he takes the stick and you two make a show of snatching it from him. Old Wang, just shoot this guy's head. Knock it up.”

The props are all hard sponges, so they don’t hurt when knocked.

After hearing the order, several actors surrounded Wang Qianyuan.

"Come on, start."

Soon, in the eyes of other onlookers, the scene was just a little messy.

Xu Xin, who had been looking at the light and shadow with one eye, despite being blocked by the statue, showed a satisfied look:

"Okay, that's it. Just shoot like this. Brother Lei, come and set up the camera... Do you know how to shoot?"

"Well……"

Wang Lei was about to speak, but Li Pingdong suddenly said:

"Let me do it."

"That's alright. Director Li, you can find a seat while the others start preparing."

Following his instructions, the entire crew began to work quickly and was ready to be completed.

Soon, with the sound of "start", in the remaining light and shadow, the image of the assailant attacking the family of four with wooden sticks appeared on the monitor.

The shooting was very fast, almost only one or twenty seconds, and it was over.

"Okay, that's it. Let Zhang Jiao make preparations. Let's arrange the lights first and then talk about the camera position..."

Xu Xin said as he left the monitor and walked to the second floor.

The film crew also began to move the machines.

But Li Pingdong was in front of the monitor, looking at the picture he had just taken.

In the 16:9 picture, on the right side of the screen is the completely still back of the statue.

On the left side of the screen, there is a blur of light and shadow. The already distorted black and white picture gives a very blurry but clearly perceptible picture.

The murderer was holding the shadow of some kind of long weapon, hitting a person on the head again and again while others were blocking him.

But Li Pingdong keenly noticed one detail, that is, the position of the statue was not in the shot he had obtained before, which required a close-up frontal shot.

It still overlooks all living beings. But through the angle that Xu Xin adjusted just now, it gave people the impression that the incident happened on its side and behind.

When the Bodhisattva is completely still, just looking at the outline of his body from the back and side, you can tell that he has a majestic appearance and great compassion.

However, the light and shadow on its side and behind are like evil spirits born under the Buddha's light.

Because it is light and shadow, it is distorted.

But because of the distortion of out-of-focus, it gives people a completely different feeling.

Who is it that wants to commit such a murderous act in front of the compassionate Bodhisattva who saves those who are suffering?

The methods were so cruel that even the Bodhisattva couldn't bear to look directly at him and could only sit down, not daring to look back.

"hiss……"

The moment this picture appeared, the photographer, who had been immersed in the photography industry all his life, felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

Absolutely.

…

"Master."

Lin Li, the apprentice who was led out by Li Pingdong, quickly took out a cigarette from his pocket when he saw his master walking out of the villa.

No words were needed. When he saw Master taking the cigarette, he quickly took out a lighter and helped Master light it.

Then I heard the master sighing with the help of smoke:

"well……"

Lin Li was stunned.

He asked in confusion:

"Master, what's wrong? Are you unhappy?"

Li Pingdong did not respond.

He just held the cigarette and shook his head slightly.

The atmosphere between the master and the apprentice seemed somewhat out of tune with the busy crew around them.

After Li Pingdong took two or three puffs of cigarette, he suddenly said:

"Ali, after this film is finished, don't go back to Wanwan. I will introduce you to Xiying Studio, and you can follow Director Xu."

"……ah?"

Lin Li was stunned.

Li Pingdong looked at the lighting technicians who were setting up lighting racks not far away and said word by word:

"You have learned almost all my skills. The only thing missing now is experience. I will introduce you to Director Xu...work hard, and try to be like him in the future...not to mention the Queen, but at least it is a special photography One of those few people who are teachers. If you can reach this position, you will have great artistic achievements in your life."

"Well……"

Lin Li's temperament is actually very down-to-earth, otherwise he wouldn't have stayed with Li Pingdong for so many years.

So after hearing this, he nodded in agreement:

"OK."

Then he asked:

"Master, did something happen?"

"Fu~~"

Li Pingdong did not answer directly.

But after taking a few more puffs of cigarette, he continued:

"Ali, you know that in my eyes, there are actually two types of directors. One is mediocre. Maybe they have ideas in mind, maybe they also know how to shoot the picture, but they need us directors of photography to help them complete it. The conception of the picture in mind. In the film and television industry...most directors fall into the category of mediocre people. In other words, they are stupid birds who can only rely on hard work to make up for their clumsiness."

It is easy to offend people if you say this.

So Li Pingdong's voice was very low.

"And the other kind is genius. But there are also three levels of genius. For example..."

He thought for a while and then said:

"For example, let's take Wang Jiawei. His talent... is not so much talent as it is finding a needle in a haystack. Just like the scene just now, if it were him, he might just wait for the sun to come out and then find it. Find the appropriate angle and compare it with the picture in your mind little by little until it fits perfectly."

"And with this kind of talented people, you can always find three-point craftsmanship in them. It's not that they are not good enough, but that they are so good that they will not make us feel despair."

"..."

Lin Li remained silent, nodded and continued to listen.

"But for Director Xu, the whole play is like a free world to him. It doesn't matter if the east is not bright. The west can also be bright. He... has a charm. And this charm, It is what makes him stand out among these geniuses. Just like the master in martial arts novels, picking leaves and flying flowers can also hurt people. Just like mathematics, people with talent and people without talent, maybe from birth , the gap has been widened..."

As he spoke, he took the last drag of his cigarette, wiped out the cigarette butt with his foot, and murmured:

"To mediocre people, we are the engine and the heart. Without us, they can't take good pictures and the car can't start. But to ordinary geniuses, we are more like on-board computers, accurately helping the car The car controls every aspect to ensure it can fly quickly on the road.”

"Then Director Xu..."

After listening to his apprentice's words, Li Pingdong chuckled:

"Ha~ For him, any director of photography is just a car stereo in the car. Only he can use it smoothly, and there is no perfect adaptation. Anyone can do it, because he himself is a car audio system. The perfect machine.”

Speaking of this, he suddenly fell into a trance.

I vaguely remembered the first time I saw this young man a few years ago. The two of them were discussing how to shoot a certain scene in this young man's first work on the beach.

Time flies so fast...

The young boy who was just starting out back then grew up at an astonishing speed with almost every movie he made, fulfilling his unbridled talent.

"I'm getting old..."

he murmured.

Lin Li was speechless.

This was the first time he heard his master admit that he was old.

For a moment, I didn’t know how to comfort him.

As for Director Xu...

He is indeed very powerful.

Lin Li could feel it when everyone worked together on "The Wind".

It's just that... Master obviously has cooperated with him three times including this time. Why do you feel this way at this time?

He didn't understand.

And Li Pingdong didn't need him to understand.

This kind of thing... Only when he stands in front of the director as a photographer and feels his unconstrained creativity and conception, as well as his "charm", will he truly understand...

What kind of genius am I working as a photographer?

Li Pingdong had never experienced this feeling with Hou Xiaoxian.

Never experienced it on a ginger tattoo.

I haven't even felt the slightest bit from the famous directors who have worked with him.

Only Xiao Xu...

Every time, he can intuitively feel the growth of the other party.

And along with this kind of growth, the horror of seeing each other with admiration after seeing each other for three days...

Really true.