1905 movie network feature "In the past, I might have had an excuse to say that I was depressed and unsatisfied, and I didn’t have Bole’s appreciation. This time, the movie was really shot. If it fails again, I may not be able to refute it, and I will feel a special sense of powerlessness."
The young director and director’s film is about to meet the audience on March 30. The film has been shortlisted for various film festivals before, and it sold out quickly at the Golden Rooster Film Festival last year.
Just one with Zhang in the movie (Song Muzi The experience is similar, director Li Kuo almost gave up the pursuit of his dream. But with unwillingness in his heart, he finally persisted, and only lived on the sofa at a friend’s house for half a year – this little episode also became a pest in the movie (Li Fei Decoration) story.
After the movie was screened, it received many positive reviews. Now that the movie was about to be released, after several years of hibernation, Li Kuo, Shan Dandan, and another co-writer had already "reported" to their respective family groups, and their families were waiting for their feedback every time.
Perhaps for them, they had discussed in the movie whether the script should be handed over to the filming, or the director, and the completion, all of which were projected in reality – after Jiang Wen watched "Galaxy Writer", he "felt very good, it was the kind of good that exceeded’good ‘"; Yan Fei, Great Demon Peng, also supported it; even after watching it, he was full of praise.
01. Dreaming
We met the two directors during the 2023 Chinese Film Golden Rooster Awards, when they experienced countless "firsts in their lives" – the first time they brought their works to such a large-scale film event, the first time they became guests of various forums as rookie directors…
Li Kuo and Shan Dandan would chat with each other, "It’s like a dream."
In those days, Li Kuo would be very nervous, not because he was worried that the dream would wake up, but because he was afraid of disappointing the audience. "Galaxy Writer" received good feedback at the early film festival, "I am afraid that everyone will be so optimistic about us, whether it is a movie or a director’s ability, I am afraid that the next film will not be smashed."
Although the two of them had already set their sights on the future, their actions had already "betrayed" them in the present. During the early stages of the screening, Li Kuo would wait for the screening to start and stand by the aisle of the theater, taking out his small notebook to record the audience’s laughter and other feedback.
Movies are a dream-making process, and the same is true for today’s Li Kuo and Shan Dandan.
In the movie "Galaxy Writer," the boundary between fantasy and reality seems to be blurred. The story takes place in the Changying area of Beijing. For those who are familiar with this area, it is clear that most of the relevant practitioners in the film and television industry in Beijing live in or have lived in this area.
So, the movie opens with a line, "Where does your screenwriter live in Fengtai? Come to the center of the universe of our film and television industry – Changying." The director doesn’t want to highlight it too much, "If this area is particularly prominent, the local audience will feel very immersive, but the foreign audience will feel alienated."
Therefore, the two did not overly strengthen the area itself, but shot the scene in this area, like an Easter egg, which added interest to the audience who could understand.
Unfortunately, there is a scene where tickets are exchanged at the entrance of the theater, and the directors originally planned to shoot in front of the Lumière Cinema, which is the theater they usually go to most often.
Due to various objective conditions, it could not be realized in the end, but now that the movie is about to be released, this studio has become the venue for the premiere ceremony, which also completes the story of "Galaxy Writer" in a perfect closed loop.
"We try to explore the reality in movies and the reality in real life. Where is the boundary between them?" If dreams have origins, then this is one of the sources of "Galaxy Writer".
02. Metronome
In the movie, Zhang Xiaoyi and Sun Tan (played) changed one draft after another in order to give the movie a chance to be filmed and listened to the continuous opinions of the management.
And "Galaxy Writer" is the script that has been revised the least since the main creator started his career, "just one draft."
In the movie, Zhang Liuyi and Sun Jianyu brought their friends to their home to discuss the creation of the movie, and the reality of Li Kuo and Shan Dandan was the same. They would also have a whiteboard at home, and just like in the movie, they would experience the key content of every movie creation.
Benchmarking films. When almost every movie is created, it will look for other movies as references, especially the works of new directors. "Galaxy Writer" will also have, but not completely benchmarking, there will be some ideas.
"We wanted to compete with the director at the time, and. The biggest similarities between them and’Galaxy Writer ‘are all group plays, they are all free, they all have narrators, and they all have handheld."
In terms of texture, the directors hoped to make a little retro film texture, "We referred to the director in the 1990s." Even some of the characters’ shapes were based on Jiang Wen’s style in that movie at that time. "The youth of that era was very energetic, and there was a feeling of vitality in the body. We really hope to put these things in’Galaxy Writer ‘."
Whether "Waiting Alone" or "Have Something to Say" belong to Beijing in the 1990s, and "Galaxy Writer" is a story that the two directors gave to Beijing in the present. "Making this story is also a bit like documenting the youth of our group."
The metronome in "Save the Cat". "Save the Cat" is the most famous screenwriter classic in Hollywood, and almost no screenwriter has not read it. The "metronome" in it is the creative program and winning secret of countless screenwriters. Or in the words of some people now, it is the "routine".
In the movie "Galaxy Writers," the two directors tried to use a "three-minute story about the movie" to make a regular in the short video, Xiaomei Xiaoshuai, "tease" the metronome. Even so, as the movie line goes, "Every writer tries to make his story follow the metronome."
"We have a graph of the film’s metronome on the whiteboard. The template of this story is proven by thousands of movies that it works and that audiences like to watch it. But in many places, we do little counter-routines." Mr. Li and Mr. Shan are privately eclectic and occasionally funny people, "so that’s how things are written."
However, in the scene of "saving the cat" in the movie, the directors planned to shoot the content to the end. But when everyone really arrived at the scene, they found that it was not easy to achieve, so Shan Dandan took the actors to rehearse for an hour. In fact, the time was very tight, only 2 hours before and after. Perhaps the more urgent the situation, the more we can tap into everyone’s potential, and in the end, it took 1 hour for everyone to shoot the most satisfactory content.
Actor Song Muzi was even more excited, laughing and saying that he would not watch the Spring Festival Gala when he went back for the Chinese New Year, so he would have to play this scene repeatedly.
In addition to the early planning, many of the creative surprises of "Galaxy Writer" come from the post-editing station.
In the movie, Zhang Liuyi and Sun talked about going to the copyright center to register overnight in order to prevent the copyright of their script from being robbed. After they came out, there would be a black screen. Later, during the later creation, "I suddenly felt that everyone should pay attention to this matter. There are six places in the country that can go." Therefore, Shan Dandan interspersed the names and contact information of the six major copyright centers in the country, "The effect is very good, and it is quite fun, so we kept it."
The outcome of the pests is also greatly modified.Originally, in the script, Pest ended with being caught stealing a mobile phone during a role-playing tabletop game. "Later, we felt that the ending was too sad, and everyone liked this character very much." Therefore, everyone re-analyzed the character and motives of Pest, "It is unlikely that he will break the law."
In the end, when editing, the ending of each character was presented in the form of a silent film. In the end, the picture of him smiling at the camera was actually a movie behind- the-scene. "We found the behind- the-scene, cut it into the main film, and then packaged it in color."
Later, when the cinematographer of the film went to see the rough cut, he accidentally saw himself in the film, "He was stunned, and he didn’t expect that he would’act ‘in the movie."
03. Reality
Much of the plot of "Galaxy Writer" is a true story of a screenwriter’s life.For example, Li Kuo also has a junior brother who just turned 30, drank until he had gout, and then cried on his birthday; there are also stories about his junior brother.
It’s just that in the movie, more stories belong to the stories of Li Kuo and Shan Dandan.
In reality, Li Kuo and Shan Dandan were a couple, and they got a license during the filming of "Galaxy Writer". Because in reality, Li Kuo liked Nolan very much, Shan Dandan gave him a watch of the same style. At first, he was reluctant to wear it and put it in the cabinet.
It was not until the movie started that he took it out and wore it very solemnly. Unexpectedly, it was taken away by the prop master until the movie was finished to ensure the texture of the props.
When the script in the movie was about to be sold, the protagonists quickly told the third aunt and sixth grandmother the news. Li Kuo and Shan Dandan once met a film owner who was interested in buying in the venture capital. They immediately told their parents the good news.
They also understand that parents are always the happiest for their children.But in fact, the former Li Kuo, like Zhang Yi in the movie, almost chose to leave Beijing.
Li Kuo had studied acting in college before, and had just graduated from acting in plays. He started acting as a waiter and gradually moved on to the male fourth. At that time, there were not many shows, maybe five or six a month, and his income would probably be enough to maintain the rent. At that time, he and his friend shared a two-bedroom and one-hall room room, which was later the musician Zhao Collar who wrote songs for "Galaxy Writer".
At that time, he had already walked downstairs with his suitcase, but he felt very aggrieved. He cried silently for a long time, and finally mustered the courage to call his family and say that he would not go back. But the house had been sublet by him to another friend, and he had no choice.
Now that they are going around in circles, their first director’s movie is finally coming to the audience.
The ups and downs they had experienced in this city always ushered in rainbows. They never forgot the people who held umbrellas in their lives, "At that time, I drew cakes for my friends and said that everyone came to help us. If we have good results, we will definitely thank everyone. Now we can really share it together."
