In the second week after the filming of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" started, the preparations for "The Bright Sword" had also reached the final stage. The internal casting was completed and the external casting was about to begin.
Yanjing, Fuchunlai Hotel.
Logically speaking, the casting for a low-budget TV series like "Drawing Sword" should not be held in such a big hotel.
But Han Zhou did it anyway.
Because Han Zhou knew that as long as "Drawing Sword" was well-made, there would be no problem with the ratings.
So, it’s okay to make a bigger noise.
Moreover, New World basically has no habit of holding press conferences for the launch of new films. For dramas that have casting, the casting will be more grand, which can be regarded as an advance notice.
Zhou Xuyun was originally supposed to be the director of this drama, but then the company was relatively idle last year, so Chang Shi, the photographer who later shot "Diaosi Nanren", was chosen to be the cinematographer.
However, after communicating with CCTV Director Shen Xixiong, Han Zhou decided to be the director himself.
Of course, Han Zhou was only in charge of the filming part, and after finishing, he handed the stall over to Zhou Xuyun.
At the casting scene, three middle-aged actors stood there.
With them here, Han Zhou didn't dare to sit down. If someone photographed him, he would be scolded.
Among the three actors, one is a veteran actor from the art troupe and also a first-class actor certified by the state.
The second is the actor who plays Lu Bu in this world version of "The Three Kingdoms".
The third one, Han Zhou felt, looked a bit like the actor Chu Yunfei in his previous life.
Han Zhou: "Logically speaking, the achievements of the three teachers shouldn't allow me to choose the roles."
"But this time, 'Drawing Sword' will be listed as CCTV's annual drama. There are targets, so I'm sorry to bother you all."
The three of them all smiled and said, "Normal. Director Han, please start."
Han Zhou: "Okay, then please invite Mr. Lu from the cultural troupe to come first."
Han Zhou, Zhou Xuyun and Li Hansheng were sitting there.
Currently, the three of them are the main creative team, and Li Hansheng was the male lead that Han Zhou had chosen when he decided to shoot Bright Sword.
But he was also from the art troupe, so when Teacher Lu auditioned, Li Hansheng kept silent.
avoid arousing suspicion.
Mr. Lu’s appearance has the flavor of a tough soldier, but the character of Chu Yunfei is not only a good soldier, but also a person with cultural background.
The humanities aspect is his consideration.
Teacher Lu also read the script and the scenes to be performed.
This clip is actually very simple.
At the end of the original version of "Drawing Sword", Chu Yunfei retreated to the Taiwan Strait and took away a handful of soil from his hometown before leaving.
In this world, there was also the possibility of retreating to the Taiwan Strait, but in the end our army successfully landed across the sea and finally achieved unification.
So, this clip is reserved.
Teacher Lu squatted down. Although he was not wearing a military coat, it seemed as if he was wearing a military uniform. He performed with his hands without objects, looked at the soil in his hands, then looked up at the sky, and finally felt lost.
“I don’t know when I can come back.”
Han Zhou turned and looked at Li Hansheng.
Li Hansheng took out a hamster from his arms and touched the hamster's head.
Meaning: Don’t look at me. Why are you looking at me? Don’t look at me.
Han Zhou turned and looked at Zhou Xuyun.
Zhou Xuyun nodded silently.
He is worthy of being an actor of the art troupe, and worthy of being a first-class actor. He is obviously wearing daily clothes, but when he squats, he looks as straight as if he is wearing a military coat.
Han Zhou wrote something on the paper and looked at the second person: "Teacher Mo, please come."
Mo Chuyu: "Director Han, before the performance, I want to ask a question."
Han Zhou was stunned for a moment: "You go ahead."
Mo Chuyu: "Director Han, why did you invite me to audition? I have never played a soldier role before."
Han Zhou: "That's not right. You played Lu Bu before."
Mo Chuyu smiled: "The difference is quite big. I will try my best to act well."
In fact, Han Zhou was particularly looking forward to Mo Chuyu's audition performance.
Although there is no "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in this world, there is "Three Kingdoms Stories", and the content of "Three Kingdoms Stories" is actually very similar to "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", but the original text is not as good.
Including Lu Bu, who was also written as a very powerful general and the best in the world in "The Three Kingdoms".
But Han Zhou thought about it and realized that there was a reason for this.
Lu Bu was born in Wuyuan County, a border town in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, which is also the Jiuyuan where the First Emperor died suddenly while patrolling the border.
Born in the frontier, Lu Bu was not from an aristocratic family, nor was he a well-educated person, nor was he selected as a filial and honest person.
But he became Ding Yuan's chief clerk.
Later, he became Dong Zhuo's confidant, and was even won over by Wang Yun, becoming a general and being granted a title of nobility.
He was even the first among all the princes of the world to reach the real core of power. When Cao Cao, Liu Bei and others of similar age had not yet become rich, he was already a general with his own government.
For such a border dweller, a person who was not even from a poor family, to achieve such a high position, it was no less than a black man who became an army marshal in the founding era of the United States.
This doesn't make sense, so the ancients tended to believe that Lu Bu's personal bravery reached the limit of his time.
In fact, Lü Bu and Guan Yu were the only two people awarded the title of county marquis for military merit by the Han court in the early period of the Three Kingdoms period, and the Thousand Character Essay also described Lü Bu as a good archer. Therefore, it makes sense that Lü Bu was described as a fierce general by those who later wrote vernacular novels.
The world has changed, but it is still described this way.
Mo Chuyu's performance of Lu Bu, a villain, insidious, cunning, strong in martial arts, greedy and lustful, was perfectly executed.
So, he was going to play Chu Yunfei, and Han Zhou only wanted to hear one line.
Mo Chuyu turned his head, his eyes showing his majesty without anger: "Soldiers, you must have backbone!!!"
There was a hint of disdain in his words.
Han Zhou did not ask for too many changes in facial expressions. It was obvious that Mo Chuyu had thought about this short script on his own and felt that Chu Yunfei must have been disdainful of this deserter.
Only after saying this did he start to get angry.
As soon as these words were spoken, Han Zhou already had the answer to who played Chu Yunfei.
Han Zhou looked at the third person.
The third one is much less famous than these two.
However, Han Zhou had a good memory. He accidentally watched a work from this world and found that he looked like Teacher Zhang in the original version of his previous life, so he also sent an invitation letter.
For him, Han Zhou only considered one thing, that is, his momentum and style.
The scene is about Chu Yunfei and Qian Bojun facing off against each other.
There's no dialogue part, just the shooting part.
He lifted the prop gun, gestured, and then put it on his shoulder .
Han Zhou took a look and felt a little disappointed.
In fact, if this person is capable, Han Zhou would rather choose him.
Because they look alike, this kind of coincidence is rare.
Unfortunately, his style is far inferior to the original.
Although the character of Chu Yunfei was only a regiment commander at the beginning and later only a division commander, his posture was more heroic than many generals of the national system in TV dramas.
Chu Yunfei is actually the second male protagonist parallel to Zhao Gang.
But there are much fewer scenes.
With so few scenes, the actor himself must be strong to create a situation where he and Li Yunlong appreciate each other as heroes.
Without any drama to set the stage, the scene can only be filled with the power of the actors' body language and expressions.
What a pity.
Han Zhou stood up and said, "Thank you for your help, teachers. You can take a rest now. Assistant Director Zhou will contact you later."
Of course, Zhou Xuyun should be asked to do this kind of offensive thing.
If the invitation is confirmed, Han Zhou will make the call himself.
The one in charge of the venue was a little sister from the company. After she saw that the three teachers had all left, she came in and said, "Director, there's a big star here for an audition, but... we didn't invite him."
Han Zhou didn't even look at it, and continued to organize his audition performance: "He's such a big star, I won't audition if he's not invited."
At the door: "Hey, Han Zhou, you have a bad temper."
Hearing the voice, Han Zhou looked up in surprise.
Damn, Chen Feng.
Han Zhou was speechless: "Next time just say the name, I thought it was someone I didn't know."
The little girl was an intern. She stuck out her tongue and said, "Okay, Director Han."
Chen Feng entered the room. Li Hansheng said, "Haha, King Chen, do you want to act in our play too?"
Chen Feng: "A friend of mine also got your audition script. I saw that there is a military band in your play. I can play the role of a saxophone player."
Han Zhou was happy: "Forget it, if you really want to act, I have a role for you to audition."
Han Zhou rummaged through his briefcase and pulled out a script: "Here."
After reading it, Chen Feng was confused: "That's it?"
"So this is the kind of script actors get when they audition? How can they act like this?"
Chen Feng’s last role was as the boss of the Crocodile Gang in “Kung Fu”, and to be honest, he did a pretty good job.
After all, going back further, he played eleven corpses of different shapes in "Shao Bao".
Further back was the eldest brother in "Mr. Tree", who basically played himself.
Although he had acted in several plays, this was the first time Chen Feng had seen such a simple script.
There is only one sentence in the script. You run for a while, panting, but you still have to save face and explain: "I am not good at running."
Chen Feng thought for a moment, not knowing how to act while being out of breath and keeping a straight face, so he put his hands on his hips and straightened his back, looking like he couldn't stand up straight and needed help, and blew out two breaths in a singing manner: "I... No, I'm good at running."
Han Zhou laughed and said, "Okay, I'll give you this role."
Chen Feng was happy: "Okay, I'm just here to play with my friends. Just tell me when you're going to perform my play."
Han Zhou knew that Chen Feng was actually quite busy, with at least seven or eight concerts a year, many show invitations, and he also practiced and wrote songs and released albums.
"Come on, give me a copy of your schedule. I'll see which time is closer and then arrange the scenes to that time. Then I'll tell you later."
Chen Feng: "Okay, I'll leave first."
Han Zhou: "Hey! Brother Feng, what's your friend's name?"
Chen Feng: "Forget it, I won't tell you who it is. If you choose him without an audition, it will be unfair to others. I'll leave first. I have a commercial performance tonight."
"By the way, I'm having a concert in Yanjing on the 14th of next month. Come and join me. It would be best if you could sing a couple of songs."
Han Zhou didn't know whether he would be free by then, but he must be free.
Because some of our predecessors had been beaten.
In his previous life, when Stephen Chow was filming "Kung Fu", who else did he invite to make a guest appearance?
Later, someone's movie was released and invited Stephen Chow to the premiere, to which he replied with two words: "Not available".
From then on, the two directors, who should have developed a good relationship, simply stopped communicating with each other.
After Chen Feng left, Han Zhou asked Lin Lin, who was in charge of arranging the actors for audition, to come in and ask a few questions.
It turned out that the person who came with Chen Feng was a young actor.
The young actor’s father was the drummer of Chen Feng’s former band, and Han Zhou had met him before.
This person was lying in the hospital recently. It was said that he had gout and had surgery to remove the tophi.
So, Chen Feng personally accompanied his nephew here.
Han Zhou took note and decided to give him a chance.
Although casting should be based on strength.
But sometimes, fate is really different and unfair.
If he was born in a company that was hostile to Han Zhou, he would not get the opportunity even if he was 100% suitable for playing an important role.
On the contrary, if someone has a good relationship with Han Zhou, Han Zhou can accept them even if the relationship is slightly worse.
After all, Han Zhou is the director. He can teach me if I don’t know how to do it, but it would be bad if he doesn’t get along with me.
The play only lasts a few months, but life is long.
There is no perfect life, nor a perfect play. Han Zhou can only weigh the pros and cons and make the play as perfect as possible.
…
The casting took nearly a week, and the industry was also paying close attention to this matter.
Now the box office of "Kung Fu" is very close to breaking the record for domestic films.
Han Zhou is currently in the limelight.
Last year, New World produced two TV series with ratings exceeding 5, shocking the entire industry.
Now Han Zhou is going to shoot a mainstream TV series, so of course everyone has to watch it.
No one knows whether Han Zhou really wants to make a mainstream drama with all his heart or he is just putting the name on it to give face to the CCTV.
Even if Han Zhou were to devote his full attention to the filming, would it be so easy to get high ratings with the main theme?
Are today's young audiences still interested in mainstream dramas, especially war dramas before the founding of the People's Republic of China?
Han Zhou, you are amazing. Can everything be accomplished just by your coming?
Many people don't believe it.
As more people paid attention to it, the news of the casting for "Drawing Sword" also became a hot topic.
Many of Han Zhou's fans were surprised.
"New martial arts dramas are doing well, and detective dramas are also enjoying explosive ratings. Why would you want to get involved in war dramas?"
"No way, Han Zhou, you think you're making too much money and don't want to make any more?"
"Isn't it good to shoot "Shao Bao 2"? I still want to see the young Zhan Zhao!"
Shao Bao 2? Shao Bao 2 is impossible to shoot. The script of the original Shao Bao 2 is not very good. No matter how good the acting is, the ratings will not be that high.
In the last two years before the TV market became sluggish, Han Zhou would not have filmed "Divas Hit the Road 2".
Han Zhou will not be able to start this project unless New World can cultivate its own good screenwriters and write a script that is far better than the original.
This is probably not something that can be accomplished within three years.
…
Han Zhou had no intention of paying attention to what was happening on the Internet.
The original plan for "Drawing Sword" was to prepare for two months and shoot for three months.
However, Han Zhou did it himself, maintaining his usual style, with one month of preparation and one and a half months of shooting.
Very intense.
So, after the casting was completed, the entire crew went to a remote village in Xishan Province to start filming.
Han Zhou played the role of Monk Wei.
…
"I'm sorry for making a fool of myself!"
The monk played by Han Zhou made a beautiful turn and kicked down a dirt wall with one foot.
Soldiers around: “Good!!!”
Zhao Gang: "What's good about that? Destroying the property of fellow villagers."
"Go and repair this wall for your fellow villagers yourself."
Zhao Gang’s performance in this scene was actually quite good, because it was actually to save face for Chu Yunfei.
Chu Yunfei came to visit and initiated a duel, and the monk was clearly more skilled.
Scolding the monk was to save face for Chu Yunfei.
The monk himself did not think much about it and became as happy as a child who had been educated.
Zhou Xuyun: “Ka!”
Han Zhou turned around and watched this part himself.
Han Zhou's martial arts moves are already very beautiful. He has acted in Kung Fu and "The World's Number One". Han Zhou learned a lot from Yuan Baoqing and Zheng Changhe.
Combining the moves I remembered, I have been practicing for almost a year.
I’m not saying he’s good at fighting, but he really looks good when he fights.
However, after watching this scene, Han Zhou felt a little dissatisfied.
“This is a retake.”
"Repair the wall."
Zhou Xuyun was stunned: "It was filmed beautifully, the kick was beautiful and exciting, why do you have to reshoot it?"
Zhao Gang's actor was a little embarrassed: "Director Han, is it because I didn't perform well?"
Han Zhou shook his head: "No, it's my fault."
"It was such a beautiful kick, this shot can't be used."
Can’t “Drawing Sword” film the fighting scenes beautifully?
Isn’t this simple?
But "Drawing Sword" actually deliberately did not make the fighting scenes look beautiful.
Because it needs to be distinguished from martial arts dramas and anti-Japanese dramas.
So the fighting scenes were deliberately not made too fancy.
It's all about the plot, not the action.
If you watch "Drawing Sword" carefully, you will find that the scenes and the spirit during the war are absolutely the best and it is impossible to be better.
But the fighting scenes are really weak.
When Han Zhou watched the film in his previous life, he also thought that the crew was poor and couldn't afford a martial arts director.
But after watching the remake of "Drawing Sword", Han Zhou knew the answer.
Drawing the Sword is not a stage provided for you, the leading actors, nor is it a place for you to show off.
Sword, the role is not important at all.
In order to make the war more realistic, the fighting scenes were deliberately weakened.
Even though in real life, some people could fight better, the original version still chose to downplay the fighting scenes.
Everyone didn't know what Han Zhou was thinking. They only knew that Han Zhou said that such a beautiful shot could not be accepted, and they all felt it was a pity.
Moreover, this earth wall is very complicated to repair and will take a long time.
For this shot, it’s really not necessary, right?
"Director Han is really weird. We thought some shots might fail, but Director Han passed them."
"We thought some shots were good, but Director Han was very dissatisfied."
"Nonsense, he's a super director with a viewership of over 7, and he's an awesome figure who's about to top the Chinese-language film box office history charts. If it's the same as what you and I think, then why shouldn't I be the director to break the record?"
"Uh... I think it might be Old Han's brain..."
Well, Han Zhou’s fun-loving people have already infiltrated the inner circle.
While the props team was scratching their heads and thinking about how to restore the earth wall, Han Zhou went to the side to rest.
I picked up my phone and took a look.
Zhang Ceyong's phone number?
Han Zhou called back directly.
Zhang Ceyong's phone rang a few times before he picked up the phone: "You guys keep calling, I'll take the call."
"Oh, it's Han Zhou calling. Something's up."
"He doesn't have time to come over and play right now. Maybe later."
Zhang Ceyong seems to be playing ball.
His fellow players were impressed by Han Zhou and wanted to invite him to play with them.
But just like Zhang Ceyong said, how can Han Zhou have time now?
"Hello, Han Zhou."
"Haha, they were just saying they're inviting you to play ball."
Han Zhou: "I still have some time to finish filming this drama. I don't know how long I will have to rest after filming. We'll talk about it then."
Zhang Ceyong: "I'm not looking for you to play basketball, but for another matter."
"Did Chen Feng also invite you to be a guest at his concert?"
Han Zhou nodded: "Yes."
Zhang Ceyong: "Brother Feng is very serious about holding a concert at Phoenix National Stadium this time. He invited me and Lin Xiaoxing."
Han Zhou was a little surprised: "Oh, there is such a thing? So you are going to sing a song on stage too?"
Zhang Ceyong smiled: "I think we can give him a surprise."
Han Zhou thought for a moment and said, "What if, me, you, and Lin Xiaoxing, the three of us sing a song together at his concert without bringing him along? Hehe."
"Hahahaha!" Zhang Ceyong: "It has to be you!"
"Then I'll find a song."
Han Zhou: "Let me write a song. Let's get a group of three together and practice it. Then we can launch a surprise attack."
Chuck Yongle was happy: "Okay, then do as you say."
…
As time passed, on March 6, the box office of "Kung Fu" reached 1.8 billion, topping the domestic box office history record for domestic films.
For a while, the news release spread like wildfire.
You should know that this is not a press release provided by New World or Hanzhou.
Instead, the media outlets reprinted the content among themselves.
People are like this. When they are not famous, they spend money to become famous.
And after success, it is hard not to become more famous.
"Kung Fu tops the domestic box office charts, Han Zhou becomes a god!"
"The new martial arts is extremely powerful, and Kung Fu is the best in film history!"
"Kung Fu Sword Aims at 2 Billion, the First Domestic Film to Break 2 Billion Is About to Be Born"
"The Hanzhou Era? After sweeping the small screen, Hanzhou continues to wreak havoc on the big screen!"