A literary film 700 million box office detonated circle director Li Fangfang： It is not the skill but the person who preached that moved the audience.
Every reporter: Ding Zhouyang Every editor: Wen Menghua
"May you remember your preciousness when you are hit. May you believe in your preciousness when you are confused. Love what you love, do what you do, listen to your heart, and ask nothing. "In the last paragraph of the movie "Don’t ask about things", Zhang zhen read a monologue that hit home. The four protagonists’ different stories happened in a hundred years’ time and space, some of which were cured by literature and art, and some were filled with emotion. Under the interweaving of light and shadow, a century has changed, and a humanistic spirit of deep concern for human dignity and value comes down in one continuous line.
Back in Tsinghua University, at the dialogue table of "Beijing Forum on China Film Development" at the 8th Beijing International Film Festival, Li Fangfang, the director and screenwriter of "Don’t Ask West East", picked up the microphone and said, "This is the first time for me to participate in such a forum, so I will talk about my own summaries in the process of writing" Don’t Ask West East "and how these summaries can be used in the next play."
For the next ten minutes, the audience listened quietly. This speech was like an essay with temperature, and every word was the creator’s affection. As the in-depth cooperation media of this film festival, every reporter from film and television (WeChat ID: meijingshi) listened to Li Fangfang closely.
▲ Tsinghua University, at the "China Film Development Beijing Forum" of the 8 th Beijing International Film Festival, Li Fangfang shared his creative process (Photo/Photo courtesy of the organizer)
"It is not the method or skill that moves the audience, but the person who preaches."
In Li Fangfang’s view, the film itself is like a pot of drinks. First of all, it is necessary to make clear what is in the pot, whether it is wine or tea, even a pot of water, but it must have its own personality anyway. What do you want to put in-this is the theme and idea of the film.
"Actually, I don’t usually drink, I drink tea, but I like movies like wine, which makes people feel hot and choking." After determining what content to load, it is necessary to confirm the container according to the content. The containers for wine or tea are definitely different, even those for green tea and black tea are different. "What container do you pack? This container needs to resonate with what you pack. If you find the right one, they can achieve each other."
▲ "Don’t Ask West East" has a cumulative box office of 750 million yuan (Figure /CBO China Box Office)
The process of pouring this pot of drinks is also exquisite. "For example, pouring tea and wine is very different. We say that the wine should be full and the tea should be shallow. The way you pour, this is your expression, what lens you use to assemble your movie, it constitutes the way you pour. This has a lot to do with what your container is. If the bottle mouth of your container is very big, it may come out at once, and some movies will feel very burning at the beginning. However, some bottles are small, and they pour out as a trickle, but they are big-bellied bottles. The more you go back, the more comfortable you will feel. "
"Finally, at a certain moment, all the technologies recede and the creator’s personality stands forward. At that moment, the creator will leave tears and the audience will leave tears. Only then do we know that the person who pours this bottle of wine is not a robot, but a living person. We can talk about how to make this liquid fit the bottle better, how to pour it more gracefully or violently, but the most beautiful thing is the person who does it. What moved the audience was not the method or skill of preaching, but the person who preached. "
There are actually many such moving moments in movies. Li Fangfang talked about her favorite scene in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri-under the huge billboard, the sad mother planted roses in the early morning mist, and suddenly a deer appeared … She looked at it and said softly, "Hey, baby!" The deer looked up at her. Mother said bitterly, "why did you come here instead of anywhere else?" You are so beautiful. You don’t want me to believe in reincarnation, do you? Well, you are beautiful, but you are not her. " Finally, the deer left for its forest. Mother buried herself in tears.
▲ In Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, the mother who lost her daughter in the morning and the deer that suddenly appeared (screenshot)
"Some people say that the deer was changed by her daughter, or that it is an illusion. It doesn’t matter, because the writer wants to put it there, or the director wants to put it there, or the actor wants to put it there with the ultimate performance. This is good, because it is a work of art." This is the highlight of movies. Some movies can arrive, but most of them can’t.
"What is after understanding? It is a hard work that I dare not forget for a moment. "
The above four points are the four feelings that Li Fangfang wrote down when she finished filming her first work "After 80s". Later, including the practice of "Don’t ask about the West", she still felt that the idea of that year was very meaningful.
▲ Li Fangfang’s first work "After 80’" (photo/official stills)
"Then realize what is after these four points? It is a hard work, a hard work that you can’t forget for a moment. "
I remember that when I was studying in the Film Academy of new york University, the number of students enrolled in the director department was very small. There was a boy in the class. Because he didn’t pass the exam, he came to sit in. At that time, some students in Li Fangfang’s class would drop out of class, but the boy who sat in would not miss a class. "One day he was bullied at school. He told me that you have a student ID card, and you won’t have an identity crisis, but I quit my job to make a movie. I am not like you. "
Later, the boy didn’t hold on and left on the way to the movie. But he moved Li Fangfang just like the deer that appeared in the morning. "If you really love making movies, you really have to work hard. How long does it take to make a movie when you wake up every day, how long does it take to ponder your story, how long does it take to study your modeling, improve your skills and watch other movies … So learn and improve, always be in awe, and always think that what you do is art. "
Before, someone on the Internet said that I occasionally got a poem tonight, asking for the next couplet, which was "I have a pot of wine to chat with to comfort the wind and dust". In the end, everyone commented that the best sentence was "Do your best in the rivers and seas and give drinks to everyone in the world". Li Fangfang thinks that to make a movie, you should believe that what you are doing is a work of art, that what you are doing is meaningful, and that you should choose the right container and express it in an elegant way. "Finally, don’t forget your personality, your personality is the most precious part of the work. Dump it in the river and sea, and someone must realize it. "
As the saying goes, "ambitious, close to the mirror."
"Chi Hongyuan means that you can have a better dream. Close to the mirror means that the best films are shot one by one, and good ideas take time and effort. Live a good life every day and treat you as an artist. If you really have a chance to realize your dream, you must be humble and respectful to the opportunity, the capital and all the staff. Because movies are really different from painting and piano, it is very expensive, and sometimes opportunities are fleeting, so be more humble. Respect and be considerate of your investors, your actors and your staff. Put yourself on the basis that I tell my story well and send your work to your audience in a down-to-earth manner. "
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