I’m a Director, I’m Not Bad

Xu Xin was noncommittal about Jasmine's surprise.

What he was even more curious about was...the high-definition version of "Bite of the Tongue" leaked out so quickly?

It's... less than half a month, and you can find a high-definition version online for download? Gee, this copyright awareness...

I was about to complain, but then I thought about it.

What does it have to do with our old Xu?

The children were all picked up by their biological parents.

But fortunately, there is no need to edit this film. This child has grown up under his careful care.

That's fine too.

I hope he has a "life" without regrets.

"well……"

Under the wide-eyed gaze of his friend, Xu Xin looked a little disappointed.

"Xu, do you know how popular this movie is in Italy now? All Chinese restaurants have begun to install TVs so that diners can watch this movie while dining!...Really, I don't know anything about it. No exaggeration! It made the local news in Rome!”

Jasmine subconsciously began to educate Xu Xin about how popular "BITE CHINA" is.

But after she finished speaking, she heard Xu Xin say:

"It's in the past, isn't it? Jesse, we have to move on."

"Well……"

Jasmine was stunned.

At this time, Philip, who was waiting for coffee, heard the two people's movements, turned around and asked:

"What are you talking about?"

"Philip, do you know the documentary "BITE CHINA"?"

Hearing Jasmine's words, Phillip nodded:

"I know, it's very popular recently."

Then, he saw Jasmine pointing at Xu Xin:

"This documentary was shot by Xu."

"!"

Phillip was so surprised that he didn't even care to drink the coffee. He looked at Xu Xin and asked in surprise:

"Xu, you took the photo?"

Xu Xin smiled and nodded:

"Yeah. Or to be more accurate, I am just the chief director. All the shots were taken by the sub-directors. I only provided ideas and themes."

"..."

"..."

Listen. These are no longer human words.

Is the hardest number in the world from 1 to 100?

No, it goes from 0 to 1!

"Xu, I really don't know where your inexplicable modesty comes from."

Holding the coffee cup, Philip had a "crazy" expression on his face, and then he quickly drank a sip of coffee to calm down.

"BITE CHINA" has been really popular in Italy recently.

Ordinary people may just think that this film is very satisfying, but as a film and television practitioner, he is more concerned about the subject matter of the documentary.

It’s food, but not a food documentary in the traditional sense.

It is thoughtful.

Before watching this film, Philip actually knew nothing about Chinese documentaries.

In my impression, China has never released any decent documentaries.

But when this film came out, it not only aroused everyone's appetite, but also a considerable number of people set their sights on China and became interested in this country.

It's like a business card.

It was handed to everyone.

In fact, Italy is okay. They are no strangers to that ancient eastern country since Marco Polo. There are many things on both sides that are actually common and compatible.

In Philip's eyes, the real role of this documentary is to declare a sense of existence.

At least, on the Internet, there was basically nothing particularly positive about the news about China in the past.

Just like the story about picking mushrooms at the beginning of this documentary, there are also people who compare European welfare standards to a developing country, and then praise it and underestimate it.

Some prejudices are stereotyped and fixed.

But, in the final analysis, human beings have a common pursuit of "beauty".

The angle of entry is different, and the things seen are also different.

Philip is not only a screenwriter, he also works as a teacher at the Film School of the University of Rome. This documentary also first became popular among college students. And many of his students became interested in the Celestial Empire. Even some of the activities organized by the Tianchao International Students Club, which not many people paid attention to in the past, have the influence of many local Italian students.

And all of this is just the cultural output from a documentary.

Thinking of this, he said to Xu Xin:

"Xu, China needs more documentaries like this that can be exported to the outside world. If you shoot more, it will greatly enhance your image."

Xu Xin was stunned.

I was a little surprised why the other party suddenly said such a sentence.

But after reacting, he nodded thoughtfully.

"I understand, thank you for reminding me, Philip."

Phillip smiled slightly, holding the coffee cup in his left hand, and picked up the disposable paper cup in his right hand.

First, he took a sip of water from the paper cup to clear his mouth, and then drank the coffee in one gulp.

"OK, let's go."

"...Did you reverse the order? Shouldn't you drink the coffee and then rinse your mouth?"

"No, no, no, dear Xu, drink water to clear your mouth first so that the aroma of coffee can stay in your mouth for a while."

As he spoke, he pinched his thumb and index finger, as if pulling a thread from his mouth, and made a gesture to Xu Xinbi:

"espresso~~~~~"

"..."

Xu Xin knew the word espresso, which means standard concentration.

I just don’t know what it means in Italy to use this term and this action.

I guess... it should be "It's blocked, my old baby?"

I guess so.

Difficult Italians.

…

We walked around the flea market and walked around the antique street.

Xu Xin has dozens of photos on his phone.

He was finally a little tired.

After all, according to the time difference, his body functions are already at two or three in the morning.

It's true that I can't walk anymore.

He declined their dinner invitation and returned directly to the hotel.

When we got back, it was already around 3pm, almost 4pm, Italian time.

After letting Su Meng go back to rest, he opened the balcony of his hotel room, sat on a chair, and enjoyed the afternoon in Rome. While using his iPad to organize the photos taken today, he wrote and drew on the manuscript paper to perfect his movie. of shots.

until……

"Xu Xin, would you like some coffee?"

Hearing this, he looked down at the sound and realized that Liu Yifei was in the hotel garden, looking up at him.

"Didn't you go to the Pantheon?"

"I'll be back at noon. I've been drinking coffee in the garden restaurant just now. Do you want it?"

As she spoke, she pointed to the tables in a corner of the garden.

The Hassler Hotel is located within the ancient Roman city known as the "City of Seven Hills". The terrain is very high. You can see most of the Roman city through the garden, and the scenery is excellent. So there were quite a lot of people in the garden cafe.

Xu Xin didn't pay attention just now.

After hearing this, he thought about it...

"I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep if I drink this."

"Try it, it tastes pretty good."

"...Okay, can you buy me a drink?"

"good."

Liu Yifei responded, turned around and walked back.

Then quickly return:

"They will send you to your room in a moment."

"Um."

Xu Xin nodded and watched her disappear downstairs.

After a while, the balcony door next to Xu Xin was pushed open, and Liu Yifei appeared on the balcony.

"I'll send you some interesting photos I saw at the Pantheon this morning to see if I can find any inspiration."

"good."

Xu Xin responded, and there was a ding-ding-dong-dong sound on the IPAD.

He took a look and then asked:

“The Pantheon is a church?”

Liu Yifei's mouth twitched...

"Otherwise? What do you think?"

"Isn't it the kind of temple where stone pillars stand tall and are piled up with some stones...I remember I saw this kind of building in the brochure, right? There's actually a church inside?"

Hearing this, Liu Yifei became even more speechless:

"Are you confusing the Parthenon with the Pantheon?"

"Uh...where does the Parthenon come from?"

"Greece! Big brother!"

"..."

Seeing Xu Xin's speechless look, Liu Yifei originally wanted to complain.

But considering that it seems that he has always been very contradictory since they met. As long as he is interested in some things, he will know a lot about them. But if he encounters something he is not interested in, he is simply whiter than a primary school student...

Finally, thousands of words turned into a helpless sigh:

"Hey...how was your shopping today?"

"It's okay, but I can't find many useful things. I'll go to bed soon. I plan to go to the art museum tomorrow. Jasmine helped me make appointments with some set designers tomorrow afternoon."

"Dong dong dong."

There was a knock on the door.

He said, stood up and walked towards the door.

A waiter was at the door carrying a tray with a glass cover.

His coffee has arrived.

But when she returned to the balcony with coffee, Liu Yifei was gone.

After about five or six seconds, she also sat in front of the balcony holding a cup of coffee.

"Try it, it's very good."

"Um."

Xu Xin was dubious, holding the small cup of concentrate and smelling it first.

I have to admit, coffee does smell good.

Much more fragrant than tea.

The most important thing is that... buttery aroma, which is very attractive.

But this stuff doesn't quench your thirst.

Still bitter.

But sometimes, drinking should be done according to the situation.

After drinking it in one gulp, the aroma of coffee bursts from your mouth instantly.

From his own position, he can overlook the city of seven hills.

The sun is shining right now and the breeze is cool.

Under the fragrant aroma of the coffee in your mouth, you can have a panoramic view of this ancient Roman city. In addition, the architectural intervals on both sides of the Hassler Hotel were like a picture frame, fixing the beautiful scenery of the ancient Roman city in the "4:3" picture frame in front of him.

Xu Xin squinted and looked into the distance, feeling that the scenery in front of him was amazing.

Suddenly an idea flashed in my mind...

After taking in this beautiful scenery, he quickly took out his iPad, opened Baidu and started searching:

"The Last Supper"

After finding the picture of this unique painting, I finally...

He suddenly became enlightened.

He finally knew how to distinguish the group shots of all the actors in this story.

painting.

Or……

Use oil painting to process the images captured by the camera.

Use as many freeze-frame shots as possible, and abandon the previous methods of using small floating swings, jitters, lateral movements and other techniques to enhance the atmosphere.

Use a fixed lens to keep the actors in fixed poses.

Use form to convey spirit!

No longer deliberately express everyone's psychological activities through the creation of a set atmosphere.

Use fixed methods to allow actors to maintain a certain posture to express the character's heart!

Thinking of this, the impressive colors in the oil painting collection I had seen before instantly came to my mind. Finally, I looked at Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper", its colors, the viewing angle, and the few words in the script. The image that this character should have is mixed together in Xu Xin's mind at this moment!

The explosion caused by the burst of inspiration provided him with a steady stream of motivation.

Let him pick up the pen without saying a word!

"Shashasha..."

Liu Yifei naturally noticed his movements.

The lips that were about to say something moved slightly, but finally turned into silence.

She said nothing, just watching Xu Xin look at the IPAD for a while, then look into the distance, and then lower his head again...

He looked everywhere.

But he didn't even look at himself.

Suddenly, she showed a smile.

Like a wry smile.

Seemingly disappointed.

at last……

All the emotions turned into the cup of coffee in my hand.

Drink it all in one gulp.

She let out a breath of relief.

Knew it.

Coffee is bitter.

But it is precisely because of this bitterness that its aroma is particularly distinctive.

"call……"

She suddenly thought of an allusion.

You look at the scenery, and others are looking at you.

Unfortunately, I don’t have photography skills. Otherwise, if he had a camera right now... Come to think of it, his focused look would be extremely beautiful, right?

He laughed dumbly and shook his head.

The coffee is gone.

It's time to sleep.

So, the table was empty, leaving only the scent of coffee floating in the wind.

…

Xu Xin didn't notice when Liu Yifei left.

He just had some regrets.

Because he drew the most satisfying split-shot draft of the "Telephone Ringing" project so far.

No one shared it the first time.

"Tsk."

He shook his head helplessly and looked at his drawings.

As the saying goes, one method can be used to solve all problems.

When the painting was finished, his mind was completely clear.

Using this sketch as a basis, he instantly understood the lighting and layout of the living room, bookshelves, and even the dining table.

The rest are more detailed things, such as the layout of the decoration and the color matching of the home, as well as the actors' various connections and transitions at the beginning and end of each short story paragraph with "telephone" as the paragraph.

But these are just details.

Because he already has the general direction of the entire movie.

He wanted to shoot this movie as if it were a "painting".

Use "dialogue" to guide the storyline.

On the one hand, this allows the general public to understand what story the movie tells, and on the other hand, it allows those with certain art appreciation abilities to treat every frame of the movie as a photo. review.

Don’t be separated from the masses.

Don't be conceited.

But you still have to improve your skills little by little in movies!

Um……

He nodded slightly.

The more I look at this drawing, the more satisfied I feel.

Simply!

With a bit of relief, he looked at the city of Rome in the distance.

As the sun set, he looked at the city of Rome in the "picture frame" and rarely revealed his heart, murmuring:

"The die is cast. Veni, vidi, vici."

…

Jasmine was not slow in her movements. After Xu Xin visited the National Gallery of Rome the next morning, in the afternoon, Xu Xin met with three set designers in a cafe.

These people are not people with low qualifications, and each of them has some awards.

If you put aside the remuneration of the actors, then "The Ringing Ring" itself is actually just a small production that is extremely small.

It would definitely be a waste to ask these three.

But who told Jasmine to be conceited?

As the highest-achieving actress of the new generation in Italy, her influence is not only in her acting skills, but also in her popularity in the film and television industry.

Among these three people, the most outstanding one is Besley Alessandro, who has won two David Awards for Best Art Design.

At the same time, he is also the one who resonates most with Xu Xin.

The moment Xu Xin took out the drawing he drew last night, this guy said:

""The Last Supper"?"

Looking at the drawing, I saw the "/\\" shaped lens specially created with a wide-angle lens, as well as the lines of characters who were either in front of or behind the sofa. Although they had no facial features, they were sitting or standing, giving different emotions to each other. , this guy’s words made Xu Xin’s eyes light up.

"That's right, Mr. Alejandro. Most of my movies are fixed shots. Unless there are close-ups when two characters collide directly face to face, other times, they are mostly fixed shots. And in these fixed shots, I The necessary scenery must be based on this benchmark..."

He kept talking about his understanding of movies that had completely changed after one night.

From the beginning of the equal exchange between the three people, a touch of amazement gradually appeared in their eyes.

This extremely popular director in Italy... If everyone's impression of him only stopped at this at the beginning, then as the communication deepened, along with the director's interpretation of the story of the script tentatively titled "The Ringing Ring" , they have begun to understand what story the director wants to film.

No, storytelling is not appropriate.

It should be said that they already understood what kind of movie the director wanted to use.

This person’s thoughts…

What do you say?

At worst, his investors would probably explode after hearing his idea.

Shooting a movie like an oil painting?

It is an indisputable fact that Western painting art...and even the entire human painting art has begun to stagnate in this era, and has even begun to languish.

How dare you?

Do you really take investors’ money as money?

And speaking more broadly...

Director, could your ideas be more wild and unconstrained?

There is just such a room setting, are you really carving on the wings of a fly?

A sense of contradiction filled the hearts of everyone, including Jasmine, who acted as a translator.

But……

Why do I feel so reasonable after listening to his request and the interpretation behind it?

How did you come up with this idea?

It's contradictory, but it's also very reasonable.

It's just... If this idea is followed, then the success or failure of the movie will almost only depend on the director's thoughts.

Jasmine, who originally wanted to learn from Xu's shooting methods and gain experience to pave the way for her future transformation into a director, gave up on this idea at this moment.

No, what he said... is too binding.

Everyone can only follow his ideas.

There is simply no other optimal solution.

A little bossy...but that's exactly what he said.

Reasonable.

All of his ideas have amazing rationality.

And this rationality is based on artistic aesthetics and also on the basis of story.

All the settings and shooting ideas are all serving the story.

Contradictory and reasonable.

And their thoughts have become the norm for Xu Xin.

He is not a tyrant on the set, but he can connect every movie in his mind through shot after shot.

Before the filming of each movie starts, he already has a relatively clear and clear story direction in his mind.

How to go, how to come, how to shoot...it was as if these movies were being replayed in his mind.

This is our first time working together, so it is normal for them to have such doubts.

What's more, if he could read minds and heard their voices, Xu Xin would tell them:

"The investor is myself, so don't worry."

…

The five people communicated in the cafe for a whole afternoon. When they finally left, Alessandro and the others promised Xu Xin that they would produce a set drawing and send it to Xu Xin as soon as possible.

The two parties have also left each other's email addresses so that they can communicate directly.

And we made an appointment to go to the furniture store and the prop market tomorrow to choose the furniture styles that Xu Xin needs, etc.

Lots of trivial matters.

Naturally, movies made in a foreign country don’t have the same facilities as in a factory.

But Xu Xin was no longer confused.

Because he already has ideas and goals.

As for dinner, Jasmine asked if she wanted to meet the actors first, and Xu Xin agreed.

So, on the 30th, with Jasmine's help, he met with all the actors.

Including Liu Yifei.

Meet, chat, drink coffee.

Chat and observe.

After going around in circles, he actually already knew in his mind whose appearance and temperament were suitable for which role.

But I have to keep thinking about it.

But nothing could be rushed. After meeting the actors and having an idea, he set off without stopping in the afternoon, boarded a plane and left Rome.

This time, Liu Yifei didn't follow.

She will stay here until Xu Xin comes again.

Xu Xin took Su Meng and they took a plane back to China.

Although the time difference in Italy is easy to adjust to, after staying up two consecutive late nights in a week, his face inevitably looked a little tired.

On the 31st, I slept soundly at home.

And there was no idle time early in the morning on June 1st.

It's Children's Day.

Although both children still don’t understand the meaning of this holiday, as parents, they always do something to commemorate their two babies’ second Children’s Day.

Not very extravagant.

I simply bought a cake and made the two children very happy.

Xu Xin and Yang Mi hugged their baby daughter and son with creamy faces, leaving a happy smile in the camera.

But on the day of Children's Day, when children across the country were immersed in joy, a rather heavy news came from the entertainment industry.

"Zhang Yimou leaves the new scene, and the two officially part ways!" 》

One stone stirs up a thousand waves.