ryethenovel Chapter 105 Premiere Day
Chapter 105 Premiere Day
"Crazy Stone" was something Luo Jinnian started planning last summer.
At that time, "The Long Season" had just finished airing, and both Director Qin and Director Mo had several projects on their hands—Director Qin was preparing for "The Silent Truth," and Director Mo was handling the location scouting and budget for "Seven Deadly Sins." Luo Jinnian did the math: with each director in charge of a major drama, if other projects were to be inserted in between, their manpower would be completely stretched thin. Meng Zhaoming and Jia Bei at "Story Club" were already extremely busy, and several online film projects were still underway. If Director Qin and Director Mo were to be distracted by other projects, things would inevitably go wrong sooner or later.
"Early Spring Culture needs a third director," Luo Jinnian said at an internal meeting.
Director Qin asked, "Do you have a goal?"
"No. But we can look for them. We can look for talented young people who have ideas but lack opportunities."
Director Qin spread the news within the industry. Soon, a young director named Zhao Bo found Director Qin through a friend. Zhao Bo was twelve years younger than Director Qin. After graduating from film school, he had directed a few low-budget films and a mediocre online movie. In that online movie, he had managed to weave several storylines together quite well, showing that he had ideas, but the script was poor, the budget was insufficient, and the actors were not suitable. In the end, the final product did not live up to the director's skill level.
When Zhao Bo came to Beijing to meet Luo Jinnian, he was wearing a faded black T-shirt and carrying a canvas bag. His first words after sitting down were: "Let me make this clear, I'm not here to ask for projects. I'm here to ask if you have any projects that need someone to write scripts? I can write better than I can direct."
When Luo Jinnian handed over the script outline for "Crazy Stone," Zhao Bo flipped through two pages and then fell silent.
The story structure of "Crazy Stone" is very simple: several people from different groups are eyeing a priceless piece of jade and scheming against each other, but no one wins in the end, and they all end up losing by accident.
Multi-narrative structure, dark humor, dialect dialogue, low budget with high plot twists—this story was made by Ning Hao before he turned thirty in his previous life, achieving a huge market impact with an extremely low budget. Luo Jinnian transplanted this story framework verbatim, changing the setting to the mountain city of Chongqing—no, the script calls it "Jiangzhou, the Mountain City." Zhao Bo looked up after reading the outline, staring at Luo Jinnian as if he were a monster: "You wrote this?"
"We've written the outline, but the complete script still needs someone to flesh it out."
Luo Jinnian's eyes were full of trust.
"By me?"
Luo Jinnian nodded: "You'll direct it. Your name will be on all the promotional materials. This film will be your directorial masterpiece."
Zhao Bo didn't hesitate for more than three seconds: "I'll take the picture."
Preparations for "Crazy Stone" began last autumn. Zhao Bo is younger than Director Qin and even younger than Director Mo, and his energy is frightening. He single-handedly handled most of the work, including casting, location scouting, and costume and prop design. Director Qin occasionally inquired about the progress, and Director Mo provided some technical advice remotely. Otherwise, the project was almost entirely entrusted to Zhao Bo himself.
Casting is a major battle.
With his messy hair, Bao Shihong needed an actor who "looked like a hapless guy but had a strong spirit."
Zhao Bo found a local stage actor in Chongqing. He was a stranger, but he had talent. During the audition, he spoke Bao Shihong's Sichuan dialect even more authentically than Luo Jinnian's script.
Dao Ge is one of the main characters. Zhao Bo found an actor who had worked with him on a web movie before. He has a rugged face and a deep voice. Just standing there, he looks exactly like Dao Ge.
Hei Pi needed someone younger, a bit talkative, and with an aura of being ready to pull off a big heist at any moment. Zhao Bo finally settled on a recent acting graduate who delivered his lines with such soul during the audition that the whole office burst into laughter.
The best choice for the pairing of Chairman Feng and his bespectacled secretary was two local Chongqing stage actors. Their solid delivery of lines kept the director smiling, and things progressed smoothly up to this point.
The location scouting work took almost a month. Zhao Bo, along with the photography director and art team, scoured the old city of Chongqing, taking hundreds of photos which they sent to Luo Jinnian. Finally, they selected an old building in YZ District that was about to be demolished.
The stairwell of that building was so narrow that only one person could pass at a time. The walls were covered with countless little GG stickers. On the windowsill at the corner of the stairs sat a rusty enamel basin with a small scallion growing inside, though no one knew who had planted it.
Zhao Bo said the scenery was so good that it looked old without needing to be aged, and Luo Jinnian said that they should use it.
Filming began last November and ended in December, taking 32 days to shoot the entire movie, two days longer than originally planned. During those 32 days, Zhao Bo filmed that old building countless times, repeatedly shooting the same passageway, corners, and doors from different angles, lighting, and camera positions, giving that narrow alley a maze-like feel.
Director Qin visited the set once during the filming, and upon returning, he said to Luo Jinnian, "This kid is just like you, a ruthless person."
The post-production of "Crazy Stone" took two months. Zhao Bo spent a full sixty days in the editing room, sorting through the footage twice. He used color to classify several storylines, covering an entire wall with them. He edited one version and then scrapped and re-edited it until the third version was finally sent to Luo Jinnian.
Luo Jinnian watched it for the first time and felt that the pace was a little slow. The first half of the story took too long to set up, and the audience had to watch more than ten minutes of character introductions and background explanations before they even saw what the jade looked like.
He wrote down his suggestions and sent them back. The next day, Zhao Bo cut out more than half of the first few minutes of the opening, and the editing pace immediately became faster.
Now, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, "Crazy Stone" has officially premiered.
Luo Jinnian sat in the movie theater, watching the scene on the big screen where Bao Shihong, with his messy hair, was chasing a thief in a narrow alley.
Wang Baoqiang's face is not on the screen, but the local actor speaking Sichuan dialect also vividly portrays Bao Shihong's carefree and nonchalant demeanor.
Dao Ge, holding his teacup, said, "Our plan is flawless," but the next second, a passing car downstairs disrupted the entire operation. In the scene where Hei Pi is trapped in the sewer, he yells at a rat, "You son of a bitch, stop right there!" which made the audience burst into laughter.
Luo Jinnian sat there, watching the scenes he knew would appear appear frame by frame on the screen: Dao Ge swallowed the jade and prepared to transport it away; Bao Shihong said to the camera at the end, "Damn it!"; in the post-credits scene, Dao Ge asked the doctor on his hospital bed, "Can I get reimbursed for my condition?"
He had seen every scene before, and he knew exactly where the laughter would erupt, but sitting there quietly, his mind was not on the film itself. He watched as the young director Zhao Bo, who was more than ten years older than him, created such a classic work on the screen during the Spring Festival season in just thirty-two days.
Indeed, choice is more important than effort.
Good films elsewhere are measured in percentages, but Early Spring Culture is measured in 100%. Directors who want to join their company could line up all the way to Paris.
As the movie ended, enthusiastic applause filled the theater. Everyone stood up and clapped a few times with smiles. The two strangers next to Luo Jinnian were discussing whether Dao Ge had actually gotten the jade, while the couple in the row in front were arguing about who was funnier, Hei Pi or Bao Shihong.
He stood up, walked through the departing crowd, and left the screening room. His phone vibrated in his pocket; it was a message from Zhao Bo with only one word: "Awesome."
Luo Jinnian stood at the entrance of the movie theater, a cold wind blowing in from outside. He shrank his neck and typed back, "That's great. The next step is still waiting for you."
After sending the message, he put his phone back in his pocket and walked home along the old street lit up by streetlights. There were people on the street who had just finished watching the movie; some were still savoring the classic lines from the film, while others were already checking their phones to see what the end credits meant.
Crazy Stone was a huge success on its opening day.