RBCT Chapter 44 Elite Troops and Strong Generals
Chapter 44 Elite Troops and Strong Generals
After finalizing the casting of Fan Wei as the eccentric artist, Zhang Jun called Chen Kun again.
"The martial arts movie project is temporarily off, but I'd like to invite you to play the male lead in my new film."
Oh, by the way, ask Brother Xiaoming if he could make a cameo appearance.
Chen Kun was secretly delighted and immediately agreed, "Don't worry, I'll drag him over no matter what."
Chen Kun and Fan Wei are both acquaintances of Zhang Jun, so he can make the arrangements himself by phone. However, the other suitable candidates do not have much contact with Zhang Jun.
So he asked He Xuan to contact China Film Group and extend a formal invitation.
They invited Gao Yuanyuan to play the female lead, Su Man, who is the kind of goddess with the qualities of a virtuous wife and loving mother that Zhang Jun mentioned.
After making her mark in "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber", Gao Yuanyuan has remained active in television dramas and rarely appears in films.
Of course, there aren't many movies available for her to film, given the sheer number of actors available!
Therefore, Gao Yuanyuan was very excited to receive the invitations from Guanzhi Pictures and China Film Group. She even jumped up three times in excitement.
She had always wanted to pursue a career in film, but never had the opportunity. Now that she heard Zhang Jun had specifically requested her, Gao Yuanyuan finally had her chance, and she was immediately cast as the lead actress.
She had heard of director Zhang Jun before; "Little Miss Sunshine" was one of his works, and it was a great success.
Although her agent was worried that Zhang Jun might not be able to replicate his previous success, for Gao Yuanyuan, being able to act in a movie now is a victory in itself.
"Director Zhang is very young and has great potential. Even if this film fails, he will still have made a valuable connection."
So many people want this opportunity but can't get it; I can't miss it.
Gao Yuanyuan's statement was echoed by her agent: "In that case, let's accept it!"
Zhang Jun cast Wang Xueqi as the father of the male lead. Wang Xueqi decided to take the role after reading the script because he thought the story's message was excellent.
It not only focuses on the love story of the male and female protagonists, but also on family relationships, personal growth, and the relationship between father and son.
This kind of heartwarming light comedy, with a touch of fantasy, is a rare genre in Chinese-language films, so he had no reason to refuse it.
For the role of Chen Xue, the younger sister, Zhang Jun chose Sun Li to play the part, and Sun Li readily agreed, as the opportunity to act in a movie is very rare.
Once the roles were finalized, the production team was officially established.
Cinematographer Li Dahui and lighting technician Wang Guoqiang, who previously collaborated with Zhang Jun on "Little Miss Sunshine," have returned to the project. Zhang Jun has also recruited an assistant director.
Ironically, this person is none other than Ning Hao, who is currently working to pay off debts incurred from making a movie on a whim.
Ning Hao previously directed a film called "Incense," which lost money and forced him to work to pay off his debts. This year, his film "Green Grassland" premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on February 15.
However, the film distributors at the Berlin Film Festival were not interested in this film, which did not delve into the negative aspects of Chinese character and suffering, and the film was not released in China.
Previously, Ning Hao had used up more than 100,000 yuan of his family's savings to make this movie, but he still lost money.
This made Ning Hao realize one thing: the era of winning awards was over, and the era of commercial films was coming.
He told his wife, Xing Aina, "I will no longer pursue those international awards. Just you wait and see, I will not fail again."
Xing Aina is very supportive of her husband's work, but the two of them need to consider the practical issue of survival first, at least to pay off their debts.
So Ning Hao is preparing to go back to being an assistant director, or to shoot GG and MV.
Just then, a friend told him that the director who graduated from Tsinghua University was recruiting experienced assistant directors, and Ning Hao immediately became interested.
He had been paying attention to Zhang Jun for some time, because Zhang Jun, like him, was a director who came to the field later in life. The difference was that Ning Hao had at least studied art and had some connection to film.
Zhang Jun, on the other hand, graduated from the Department of Astronomy at Tsinghua University, which has absolutely nothing to do with movies.
But as expected of a top student, putting aside the award-winning short film "The Tuner," Ning Hao considers "Little Miss Sunshine" to be a very mature work.
He went to the cinema to watch it three times, and each time he was moved by Zhang Jun's composition, shooting techniques, and delicate character portrayal.
This complete novice actually produced a work that Ning Hao could only dream of, making him feel that all his years of hard work had been in vain.
However, Ning Hao did not lose confidence. He firmly believed that if given the same opportunity, he could still create great works.
For Ning Hao, the assistant director position was not only a source of income but also an opportunity to get to know Zhang Jun better, so he applied for the job.
Ning Hao's job application went very smoothly. After all, among the interviewees, he had a wealth of experience and stood out from the crowd.
When Ning Hao first met Zhang Jun, he felt that Zhang Jun didn't seem like someone who should be making movies, but rather someone who should be a star.
Why do you, a director, need to be so handsome? Isn't that against the rules?
"Hello Director Zhang, I'm Ning Hao, the new assistant director."
Zhang Jun put down the script in his hand and shook hands with Ning Hao: "I've heard of you. I've read your film 'Incense'."
Although somewhat inexperienced, it was still quite commendable.
After a pause, Zhang Jun asked curiously, "Didn't you just film another movie called 'Green Grassland'? Why are you thinking of becoming my assistant director?"
"It's a long story!"
Ning Hao briefly told Zhang Jun about how he lost money making movies, leaving Zhang Jun stunned.
After a moment of silence, Zhang Jun said, "It's good to have dreams. I believe you've matured a lot after the experience of making two movies."
"Work for me for now, and let me know if you have any new ideas."
"Thank you, Director Zhang!" Ning Hao said gratefully.
After Ning Hao left, Zhang Jun suddenly burst into laughter, feeling that he now had a large and capable force under his command.
Ning Hao and Guo Fan are both working for him; only he can truly understand the joy of mentoring future celebrities.
After all the actors arrived, Zhang Jun also convened a script reading session for them to get to know each other better.
"It's a pleasure to work with all of you excellent actors. I wrote and directed this script myself. The investors have placed a lot of trust in me, and I trust you all as well."
So I hope you can familiarize yourselves with the script and your characters well, and let's strive to present the audience with a wonderful story.
Zhang Jun's speech was met with applause. Many of the actors knew each other, and the script reading session was about to begin.
Fan Bingbing sat next to Zhang Jun. She had openly linked arms with Zhang Jun when they came in, because she had heard that the female lead of the film was Gao Yuanyuan, and that Sun Li was also in the cast.
Feeling threatened, she resorted to this desperate measure to assert her absolute sovereignty.
Fortunately, neither of the two actresses took it too seriously; instead, Fan Wei teased her.
"Hey Bingbing, our Director Zhang isn't going anywhere, you don't need to keep an eye on him all the time!"
Fan Bingbing, however, was quite poised and generous: "How could I not look at him? So many people are eyeing such a handsome director!"
Wang Xueqi closed the script and laughed, "You know what, I think Director Zhang looks like he'd be good at acting. Why don't you direct and star in your next film?"
Zhang Jun declined, saying, "I prefer to control everything behind the scenes, but I can appear as a guest actor, not a lead role."
Hearing this, Chen Kun felt much more at ease. If Zhang Jun were to direct and star in the film himself, wouldn't his position as the male lead be replaced?
The script reading went smoothly. Even the young actresses Gao Yuanyuan and Sun Li were experienced and their performances were up to standard.
Wang Xueqi and Fan Wei are both experienced and excellent actors, and Chen Kun has also proven himself, so there's no need to worry about his acting skills.
After getting to know the actors, Zhang Jun took Ning Hao and Guo Fan to Xiamen to scout locations, and then selected several filming locations in Shanghai.
Afterwards, He Xuan and Jiang Tao, as producers, went to discuss the location issue. Once that was settled, Zhang Jun led the crew to officially start filming in Xiamen.