Chapter 343: Different Intentions

The main filming location for *Assembly* is in Kuandian, Liaoning Province.

Before China Film Group and the Youth Film Studio participated in the film's investment, this place had already been chosen as an exterior location, and the facilities for filming had been built, including the "castle" that was 300 meters long, 15 meters wide, and imposing.

When Cao Yang arrived in Kuandian, the crew was filming war scenes.

"Ta-ta-ta," "Boom," "Charge!"...

At the filming site, gunshots were everywhere, bombs were flying, and shouts were shaking the sky.

One could see smoke rolling, broken tanks standing horizontally, and traces left by bullets everywhere on the walls.

Cao Yang stood outside the filming warning line and watched for a while. Just looking at these, it still had a very cruel war flavor.

It was very cold in Kuandian at this time. Xiao Xiao Gangpao was wearing a big cotton coat and a cotton hat with ear flaps, also called a Lei Feng hat, standing behind a camera with a serious expression.

Unlike other directors when filming, generally, if a director is sitting behind the monitor, no one dares to move around behind the director, fearing it will affect the director's train of thought and lighting, and it is very easy to be scolded.

Behind Xiao Xiao Gangpao, there were always three people following. Even when filming was paused and Xiao Xiao Gangpao was running back and forth to command, these three people always followed.

Cao Yang stood for less than five minutes, and seven or eight people gathered behind him. They didn't speak, just stood quietly behind Cao Yang.

"Rest for half an hour."

Xiao Xiao Gangpao also saw Cao Yang and ordered the crew after filming a shot.

Afterward, he rubbed his face with both hands and walked toward Cao Yang.

"Cao Dao."

"Cao Dao is here."

"Hello, Cao Dao."

At this time, the few people who gathered behind Cao Yang opened their mouths to greet him.

The one closest to Cao Yang was Bai Bai Yunqing, sent by the Youth Film Studio, who served as the production manager for the *Assembly* crew.

Cao Yang's position at the Youth Film Studio was general producer. Although he basically didn't manage things, he was certainly Bai Bai Yunqing's direct superior.

Through Bai Bai Yunqing's introduction, the seven people who gathered behind were either executive producers or production managers of the crew, or assistant directors, or art directors.

Anyway, they were all high-level members of the crew. Ordinary staff and some actors waiting for scenes, even if they had some fame, couldn't have come over abruptly without being invited.

At this time, Xiao Xiao Gangpao had already come over. He was full of smiles, baring his big teeth. Perhaps to show closeness to Cao Yang, he didn't shake hands but directly hugged Cao Yang's shoulder.

"Haha, Old Cao, welcome, welcome. It's cloudy these two days, the temperature is a bit low, probably minus ten degrees or so. Can you adapt? This is still good. When filming before the New Year, that was truly cold."

Afterward, he pointed to the people behind him and said:

"By the way, let me introduce you. This is Park Joo-cheon from South Korea. He is the action director of this film. This is the head of the demolition team specially invited from South Korea, Zheng Dao'an."

"Hello, Cao Dao. I am Park Joo-cheon. It is a great honor to meet you. I like your films very much."

Cao Yang saw one of the three people following Xiao Xiao Gangpao stretch out both hands, bow slightly, looking somewhat excited, and saying something in gibberish.

Another of the three was a Korean translator, translating for Cao Yang on the side.

Cao Yang shook hands with Park Joo-cheon and said, "Hello."

At this time, the other South Korean, Zheng Dao'an, said similar things to Park Joo-cheon, and his attitude was also very humble. This is a gene engraved in the bones of South Koreans: worship of the strong.

"Hello, Cao Dao. I am Zheng Dao'an, responsible for the film's demolition design. It is a great honor to meet you. I also like your films very much."

Cao Yang shook hands with Zheng Dao'an again and said hello.

In the past few years, South Korea's film industry has developed very quickly, and both of these people participated in *Taegukgi: Brotherhood of War*, a film with huge influence on South Korea, before being invited by Xiao Xiao Gangpao.

It's not that there are no good action designers and demolition experts in the country, but Xiao Xiao Gangpao clearly wants to build *Assembly* into a film like *Saving Private Ryan*.

Moreover, in *Assembly*, one can see many shadows of *Saving Private Ryan*.

And wanting to build such a film, the domestic war action design and demolition are too realistic and clearly not "burning" enough. Hollywood's are too expensive. Combined, these people who emerged in South Korea are cheap and plentiful.

"Filming is important. You go get busy first, I'll just take a look around."

Cao Yang said to Xiao Xiao Gangpao.

Xiao Xiao Gangpao coughed lightly and asked in a low voice, "Looking at the news last time, you received so many nominations this time. Is there any hope of winning a big award again?"

Cao Yang was stunned for a moment, then reacted. Xiao Xiao Gangpao should be talking about the Oscars.

"I don't know, I'm afraid it's very difficult."

The smile on Xiao Xiao Gangpao's face flashed and disappeared, and he consoled, "It doesn't matter. With your ability, work hard next time."

Cao Yang shook his head with a smile, "It might be very hard to win big awards in the future. After all, my box office is too high. Like *Inception*, converted into RMB, it's seven or eight billion."

Xiao Xiao Gangpao let go of the hand hugging Cao Yang's shoulder, coughed again, smiled extremely reluctantly, and nodded, "That's fine, you go walk around first, I'll host a welcome dinner for you in the evening."

Damn, can't you just talk properly? Can't you just talk properly?

Thinking that his film breaking 100 million is considered a super big sale, while Cao Yang, this grandson, can sell seven or eight billion globally with one film, it's really like a dog, I really want to strangle him.

The two South Koreans following Xiao Xiao Gangpao said a lot of gibberish. The translator said concisely, "They are very sorry they cannot accompany Cao Dao. They express their deep apologies for this and hope to have the opportunity to receive Cao Dao's guidance."

After Xiao Xiao Gangpao left, Cao Yang beckoned Bai Bai Yunqing to walk with him.

Walking around the 300-meter-long "castle," Cao Yang asked while walking, "These were built before, right? The scale is quite large."

"Yes, this was built before we and China Film Group arrived, and it took four months to build the filming facilities, including that 300-meter-long, 15-meter-wide, imposing 'castle'."

Bai Bai Yunqing answered hurriedly.

Cao Yang felt a bit emotional. The labor cost in the country is truly low.

Such a large-scale scene, a construction period of more than four months, only cost 5.18 million.

If this were in Hollywood, for this project, for this construction period, even if RMB were converted to USD, it definitely wouldn't be enough.

"Is the recent filming going smoothly?"

Cao Yang asked with a smile, looking like he was just asking casually.

"Overall, it's going smoothly, and the daily progress can be completed."

Bai Bai Yunqing lagged behind Cao Yang by one position and also answered with a smile, "Maybe because Zhang Zhang Hanyu is the lead for the first time, sometimes the number of NG times here will be more, but they will all work overtime to catch up on the progress."

Cao Yang nodded and then asked, "I heard Deng Chao is filming *Sweet Honey*, is there a conflict in the schedule?"

"Speaking of this, Director Feng was very angry and even wanted to replace him. Finally, Deng Chao promised Director Feng that he wouldn't delay filming. I don't know how he coordinated with Director Gao Xixi of *Sweet Honey*, but anyway, it's mainly here."

Bai Bai Yunqing explained.

"Are there no similar situations for other roles?"

Cao Yang asked again.

Bai Bai Yunqing answered without the slightest hesitation:

"The female lead also has a similar situation. Producer Xu said Chen Shu felt the character's positioning was different from her own, and she couldn't perform that feeling. It just so happened that Director Feng also felt Chen Shu was too Westernized, so it was a hit-it-off, and they thought about terminating the contract and re-selecting a female lead."

Glancing at Cao Yang, Bai Bai Yunqing explained, "Chen Shu only filmed for three days after joining the crew. Her salary is not low, and the new actor recommended by Huayi is joining with zero salary."

Cao Yang nodded and didn't say anything.

Replacing an actor in a film, especially the female lead, is a big deal. The production manager sent by the Youth Film Studio didn't stop it and didn't report it to the Youth Film Studio...

After Xiao Xiao Gangpao told him about this, Cao Yang vaguely felt something was wrong.

This matter shouldn't have been told to him by Xiao Xiao Gangpao, but Bai Bai Yunqing telling him first would be the normal process.

As the production manager sent by the Youth Film Studio, representing the Youth Film Studio, in such a situation where they want to replace an actor, they absolutely cannot do nothing.

Afterward, Cao Yang also called Han Zong, asking him if he knew about the *Assembly* crew wanting to change the female lead.

Han Zong is a clever person. As the head of China Film Group, he has seen many similar things. From Cao Yang's few words, he realized what had happened.

The key is that China Film Group, like the Youth Film Studio, didn't know what had happened.

It can be seen that Huayi's public relations are still very awesome.

In the afternoon, after Xiao Xiao Gangpao finished today's plan, he originally wanted to invite Cao Yang to eat and gather, but Cao Yang refused.

Xiao Xiao Gangpao's heart moved, knowing the "good show" was coming.

Everyone ate a working meal, and Cao Yang summoned the management staff of the crew to hold a meeting.

He put forward a few points of opinion.

"The crew needs stability. During filming, producers or supervisors should not easily interfere with the crew's affairs. If there are unreasonable places, you can put forward opinions, and you can stop the director's behavior, but it must be reasonable."

After this point was said, the faces of several producers became unnatural for a moment, including those from the Youth Film Studio, China Film Group, and Huayi.

No one is a fool. Of course, they could understand what Cao Yang's statement was because of.

Cao Yang looked at everyone and said clearly, "Since I am the supervisor of this film and also one of the producers, I will not allow anyone to interfere with the film's filming work, no matter who it is. No one can."

"The most important thing in film filming is stability. The biggest taboo is randomly inserting actors. Whoever feels that the current actor is not suitable, tell me. Only if I think it is indeed not suitable can we replace the actor. Otherwise, no one should have any crooked thoughts."

Those producers lowered their heads and didn't dare to look at Cao Yang, especially Bai Bai Yunqing from the Youth Film Studio, whose face was a bit pale.

Xiao Xiao Gangpao lowered his eyelids, looking like he wanted to laugh, but it was forcibly suppressed, which made him look a bit funny.

"I simply looked at Director Feng's filming today and asked relevant people for advice. I have some questions I want to ask Director Feng."

Cao Yang looked at Xiao Xiao Gangpao and said.

Xiao Xiao Gangpao didn't think that much and said with a smile, "Supervisor Cao, if you have any questions, just say it."

"I won't talk about your all-American equipment. It can be understood that in order to complete the blocking mission, the main force gave all the captured American equipment to their company."

"However, there is one point. During the Liberation War, the Ninth Company used special forces hand signals. This is a very big loophole. There were no tactical hand signals at that time."

"The South Korean special effects team is very good in smoke, demolition, sound, etc. This can be adopted, but you can't listen to everything they say."

Xiao Xiao Gangpao had already improved quite a bit in the script, but he was determined to film a Chinese version of *Saving Private Ryan*, so in war scenes and props, he made them as "gorgeous" as possible.

However, Xiao Xiao Gangpao, who had always focused on comedy, had never filmed a war film, so when filming, he "borrowed" a bit from *Saving Private Ryan* and *Taegukgi: Brotherhood of War*.

In *Saving Private Ryan*, there is a sergeant similar to a platoon leader counting casualties. *Assembly* also let platoon leader Jiao Dapeng do this job.

In that film, there is a cowardly and fearful clerk. *Assembly* also has one in the Ninth Company.

In that film, the US military kills prisoners of war. *Assembly* also kills prisoners of war. The problem is, this is strictly prohibited in our army.

In *Saving Private Ryan*, the small team almost had an internal conflict to the point of pulling guns on each other over whether to continue the mission. *Assembly* also has a scene where the Ninth Company soldiers argue to the point of pulling guns on each other over whether to continue the mission.

*Assembly* imitating *Saving Private Ryan* and *Taegukgi: Brotherhood of War* in battle scenes is certainly no problem, but learning from others to kill prisoners of war, internal conflict, and smearing the instructor's details is a bit too much.

So Cao Yang specifically pointed out some problems, so as not to let Xiao Xiao Gangpao let himself go while filming and learn that South Korean set.

Since you let me be a named screenwriter, don't be completely "let go." There can be artistic processing, but where there are obvious loopholes, they must be changed.

For example, the tank destroyed by Gu Zidi with a mountain gun in *Assembly* did not appear in the Liberation War. Using a curved-fire mountain gun to hit a tank is bizarre, and the power of its demolition shell is not enough to destroy the tank opposite.

For example, snipers and sniper rifles were terms that appeared in our army's sequence in the late 1970s. They didn't exist during the Liberation War. They can be changed to be called sharpshooters.

There are many similar ones. These won't be mentioned at the meeting. I will talk to Xiao Xiao Gangpao privately. This is also one of the reasons why Cao Yang carefully read the new script and asked relevant people for advice before coming here.

Xiao Xiao Gangpao's face was a bit ugly. He didn't expect Cao Yang to burn the "fire" on himself.

With his temper, he should have slapped the table and stood up to refute on the spot.

However, when he saw Cao Yang looking straight at him, the anger in his heart burned even more, and he wanted to fight Cao Yang one-on-one on the spot.

Cao Yang, this grandson, I shouldn't have let him become a screenwriter and supervisor. Now it's good, he's managing me. Who do you think you are?

With a "slap," Xiao Xiao Gangpao couldn't hold it anymore and directly slapped the table and stood up.

"What Cao Dao said is too right. I didn't notice these small details. It's worthy of being a world-famous director. I am convinced of this point."

Xiao Xiao Gangpao cursed Cao Yang, this grandson, in his heart, but on the surface, he felt that since Cao Yang came to the crew for the first time, he should give him some face. Everyone is a big director, and he can't let Cao Yang lose face.

Yeah, that's it.

Never again, absolutely never again!

On the afternoon of the second day, people from the Youth Film Studio and China Film Group came. They were here to replace Bai Bai Yunqing and the other two.

Although Xiao Xiao Gangpao was indignant in his heart and sneered at Cao Yang's suggestions, thinking Cao Yang, this grandson, was a bit pedantic, he didn't discount the action of blocking these obvious loopholes.

If someone else told him these, he would definitely think that person was farting and would definitely insist on his own opinion.

But Cao Yang told him these. While feeling angry, he would still calm down and think, and actually had a blind trust in Cao Yang, subconsciously thinking that everything Cao Yang did was reasonable.

This is probably because a person has been successful, so people will subconsciously think that all of this person's words and deeds are reasonable.

Until Cao Yang left, Xiao Xiao Gangpao's temper in the crew suddenly became bigger and more irritable. If a shot didn't fit his heart, he would curse and fly into a rage.

And the ones scolded the most were Zhang Zhang Hanyu, who was the lead for the first time, and Deng Chao, who had long made Xiao Xiao Gangpao unhappy because of his schedule conflict.

Zhang Zhang Hanyu was the lead for the first time, and for the lead, he joined with a salary. So even if Xiao Xiao Gangpao scolded him fiercely, he felt that Xiao Xiao Gangpao was strictly demanding of himself in order to exclude a better film.

Deng Chao was different.

He himself had quite a good reputation now and should be in high spirits. Being scolded by Xiao Xiao Gangpao all the time, he couldn't help but feel that Xiao Xiao Gangpao was targeting him, and he also had a lot of opinions about Xiao Xiao Gangpao.

Of course, Deng Chao definitely didn't dare to argue with Xiao Xiao Gangpao, nor did he dare to resist, and could only keep this matter in his heart.

After returning to Beijing from Kuandian, Cao Yang didn't stay long and bought a ticket to Los Angeles directly.

The 79th Academy Awards will be held on February 26th. When Cao Yang arrived in Los Angeles, it was already the early morning of the 25th.

His *Inception* received nine nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.

It's not that Cao Yang didn't want to come to the US earlier to operate the Oscars.

It was that Tom Rothman, the executive director of Columbia who was about to be promoted to global vice president of Sony Pictures, had already greeted Cao Yang.

Don't look at *Inception* receiving nine nominations, but precisely because the box office was too high, and not high enough to make the Academy compromise, it was almost impossible to win big awards this time, and it could only win some technical awards.

Since it could only win technical awards, Cao Yang didn't care.

If it weren't for Sid Ganis, the Oscar president who had a good relationship with Cao Yang, asking him to attend, he might not have come.

The technical awards of the Oscars had almost no addition to Cao Yang's status.

Depp was very happy. After all, he was nominated for Oscar Best Actor again, which was a recognition of his acting.

However, neither he nor his agency operated much for the award. For such a film with huge global box office, even if the performance was very good, it was very hard to win Best Actor.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 344 =====