Millennium director

2002, December 14th.

At 12 noon, there was a huge crowd outside the solemn Great Hall of the People.

The square outside the Great Hall of the People was almost packed to capacity with more than a thousand Chinese and foreign journalists and media, as well as special audience members specially invited to watch the movie.

On various long guns and short cannons set up on tripods, bright spots flickered non-stop.

What’s interesting is that every reporter at the scene was wearing a formal suit, including the photographer.

Zhang Weiping's request was strictly followed.

Outside the Great Hall of the People, there was a lively and crowded scene, and everyone had a look of anticipation on their faces. After all, this was the premiere of the first domestic blockbuster!

The staff of New Picture are strictly conducting entrance inspections. Every guest and reporter who wants to enter must undergo an inspection comparable to a security check. No electronic equipment or recording equipment is allowed to be brought in!

Even reporters have to deposit video recorders, cameras and other equipment with the staff when they enter the venue. They can only pick up the equipment again for interviews after the press conference after watching the movie.

The reason for such strict requirements is mainly to prevent piracy from flowing out.

In order to meet the conditions for Oscar participation, "Hero" first entertained the audience in Shenzhen.

As a result, some people used some illegal means to steal the content of "Heroes" and triggered small-scale piracy.

Therefore, in order to prevent criminals from taking advantage of this premiere to carry out piracy activities, the cultural department has formulated very complicated preventive measures, fearing that there will be another scandal where pirated copies of the movie are leaked before it is released.

Of course, this also made reporters generally feel that the premiere of "Heroes" was really big.

In the past, invitations to movie premieres were couriered, mailed, or distributed to reporters on the spot by the organizer. However, for this premiere, in order to ensure that one person has one ID, the reporters had to go to the organizer's company to receive the invitations in person, making the reporters "the uncrowned king." The prestige was swept away.

When entering the venue for the premiere, reporters were required to go through a series of cumbersome procedures such as bag deposit, security check, inspection, and storage of photography equipment an hour in advance, and enter the venue early to wait.

This made the reporters even more unhappy. Many reporters were thinking that at the press conference after watching the movie, they would definitely let the "Heroes" crew feel the power of "The Uncrowned King" and ask questions as sharply as possible!

Front-court reporters and specially invited spectators were admitted after inspection in an orderly manner.

In the Great Hall of the People, in the screening room of "Heroes", a group of guests who had arrived in advance had gathered and were socializing and chatting with each other.

Wu Yuan, who was also wearing a formal suit, was also among them.

He arrived in the capital at five or six in the morning. After a few hours of repairing, he went to the Great Hall of the People with Director Han and entered the infield through another door.

Wu Yuan and Han Dong are not the only ones who receive this kind of treatment.

In addition to the "Hero" crew, several top domestic directors such as Jiang Wen, Chen Kaige, and Feng Xiaogang, leaders from the Ministry of Culture, and people in charge of China Film and New Pictures are also among them.

These people quickly divided into circles and started communicating with each other.

Wu Yuan got together with directors Jiang Wen, Chen Kaige, and Feng Xiaogang.

"Director Wu, this time I finally got to see you in person. After my wife finished filming your "Encoffiant", she came home and praised you so much!"

Director Kege looked at Wu Yuan with a smile and patted his shoulder very kindly.

Although "The Embalmer" did not bring any artistic awards to Chen Hong, this is not what Director Kai Ge paid attention to. He really admired Wu Yuan himself!

"Your "The Embalmer" was really well shot, and the film is full of warmth and emotion. No wonder you won the Berlin Best Director Award."

Director Kege smacked his lips, seeming to be recalling the content of "The Embalmer", and then said with some regret: "It's just that you still have some shortcomings in terms of lens aesthetics."

"The warmth of the movie is there, but the use of lenses is relatively restrained and simple. In fact, it can be a little bolder. For example, the scene where Zhang Guorong plays the suona under the snowy mountain. If I were asked to shoot it, I would use a few more. camera position, and add an overlooking shot.”

"In terms of color, we should also do some design. Snowy mountains are white. If Zhang Guorong can wear red clothes, the picture will be more impactful!"

"Or tie a red ribbon on the suona. When playing, the red ribbon will flutter in the wind."

Wu Yuan listened carefully and nodded solemnly from time to time.

He's not just acting. Lens aesthetics is indeed one of Wu Yuan's shortcomings.

After all, in his dream, he mainly focuses on the field of commercial films, which is also the main development direction of Chinese-language films in the 21st century.

Let’s put it this way, when it comes to film aesthetics and color aesthetics, the seventh generation of domestic directors are all tied together, and may not be as strong as any one of Chen Kaige, Sunglasses King, and Zhang Yimou.

Not even Ginger Pattern can compare!

In "Sunny Days" and "The Sun Also Rises" shot by Jiang Wen, the lens aesthetics was also very smooth!

However, commercial films do not value this. Commercial films pay more attention to the conflict and drama of the plot, commercial value, and the use of special effects.

Wu Yuan is very good at shooting special effects shots in movies. If you let him do the special effects, he can confidently say that he will definitely be better than the major directors today.

So he felt no pressure at all while filming "Pirates of the Caribbean".

Even though this movie requires a lot of special effects shots and half of the scenes have to be shot in a studio, he can still complete the shooting tasks very well. He is very familiar with green screens, little green men, and motion capture equipment!

If it were director Kego who had made "Pirates of the Caribbean", he would definitely not have been able to make it.

Similarly, Wu Yuan's level of lens aesthetics, which is entirely achieved through real shots, is at the level of an average director, far inferior to that of director Kege.

Therefore, when selecting films, he also deliberately avoided films that required a large number of empty shots, beautiful imagery, color aesthetics and visual impact, and focused on films that rely on plot to win.

For example, "The Night the Comet Came" and "The Embalmer" are all movies with good scripts, rather than movies with beautiful pictures, classics, and imagery.

Films such as "Farewell My Concubine", "The Promise" and "The Legend of the Demon Cat" directed by Kege all use a large number of images of natural scenes, images of man-made things, images of colors and images of sounds and other artistic aesthetics.

This is something Wu Yuan can't even catch up with.

There is a saying that goes well, no matter who plays a play directed by Kego, his appearance will automatically improve to a higher level.

Concubine Yang in "Legend of the Demon Cat", without the lens of director Kege, no longer has that thrilling beauty. It is even a bit ugly and unphotogenic under the lenses of other directors.

This is all thanks to Director Kego’s top-notch lens control.

No wonder many people say that Director Kego is more like a top movie cameraman than a director.

Wu Yuan didn't want to distinguish whether Director Kege was a director or a photographer. He just wanted to learn more from Director Kege's strengths and advantages.

Director Kego is also willing to impart knowledge to the young director he admires.

One of them is willing to learn, the other is willing to teach, and the chatting atmosphere is harmonious and fun.

Jiang Wen, who had been banned from teaching for five years, joined the discussion with interest.

In terms of film aesthetics, he also has a lot to talk about.

In comparison, Director Feng was more embarrassed.

At least at this stage, Director Feng actually doesn't have much in the tank.

His movies only stay at the level of large-scale sitcoms, and the scenes have no artistic value.

Listening to two directors from Nortel and a Chinese opera director talking about film aesthetics and lens language, Director Feng couldn't interrupt even if he wanted to.

Just leave, other circles have nothing to do with him

He had no choice but to stand aside silently with Xiao, pricking up his ears and listening carefully to the discussion of the three.

Director Feng also has a heart for making art films, and this is also a good opportunity for him to learn!