Chapter 37: Entering the Game in Person

Generally, when shooting the first shot of a film, to have a good omen, one tries to avoid NG and scolding.

For the first shot of *3-Iron*, Cao Yang chose the very first scene of the film.

A female statue, blocked in front by a net, and then a golf ball hit toward the female statue, intercepted by the net.

This scene used so-called "camera language."

What is camera language?

The technique of using visual elements in a film to convey emotion and plot.

That is to say, excluding subtitles, music, special effects, and other elements, using only the camera image to visually convey the story and mood to the audience. Simply put, it's using the camera as a language to tell a story.

Here, the female statue symbolizes women suffering from hardship, the golf ball symbolizes the abuser, who is currently harming the woman, and the large net in front of the female statue symbolizes the protection of women who are currently being harmed.

Is the purpose of camera language to be shot for the audience to see?

Of course not.

If this opening scene were removed from the film and it went straight into the main plot, would it have any impact?

For most of the audience, it would have no impact at all.

Most of the audience watches movies for relaxation and entertainment; who would delve into the meaning of every segment and every shot of the film?

Only a small number of viewers, either for the purpose of showing off or because they truly love the film, would dig deep into the meaning of a certain camera language.

Then, they post it online, interpret it, and when everyone sees it, they suddenly realize—oh, so that's it.

The biggest audience for this kind of camera language is relevant practitioners, such as film critics, film academy teaching, student film analysis, film festival judges, etc.

This is what is called art, and art-house directors all consider themselves artists.

This film has many such camera languages and metaphors.

For example, in the female lead's home, there is a lion statue on the lawn facing the female statue sideways, symbolizing the abuser eyeing the woman, ready to attack the victim at any uncertain moment.

For example, in the scene in front of the police station, there is a shot of a goddess statue with angel wings.

This symbolizes the heroine's desire to escape the suffering she is currently enduring, but we can see that there seem to be ropes tangled around the statue's feet, reflecting that the heroine has not yet completely broken free from her shackles, paving the way for the heroine to be taken home by her husband.

For example, when the male lead is at the boxer's house, he uses white paper to cover the eyes on the photos, which is a satire of all high-and-mighty male images. The eyes represent the windows to the soul; closing the windows to the soul is actually a dark satire of their filthy hearts.

For example, taking away the heroine's photo later—the photo was originally framed, expressing that the heroine is imprisoned in a gorgeous shell. Taking the photo out of the frame is meant to present the idea of saving suffering women.

For example, the heroine's photos that appear in the film are all black and white, which is the truly terrifying thing to think about.

There are many such camera languages, and the most interesting one is the final weight scale reading zero, which can be interpreted in several ways.

"Liu Ye, you hit the ball. Just hit it hard; I want the impact of the ball hitting the net. Don't worry about accuracy; it doesn't matter if you hit it many times."

Cao Yang instructed: "Camera, close-up here, capture the whole statue and the net, female statue on the left, leave blank space on the right. Don't stop until I say so."

"All units, prepare."

"Camera?"

"OK."

"Lighting?"

"Ready."

"Sound?"

"OK."

"Scene 1, Take 1, Shot 1, Action."

The clapperboard claps in front of the camera, and filming begins.

The camera has already chosen the position and found the frame; just shoot it, very simple.

Liu Ye hadn't played golf before and had only practiced temporarily in the last two days. He didn't seek accuracy, only that his posture looked fine. The first shot was hit, the posture was indeed beautiful, but it was useless; his posture wasn't being filmed, he wasn't even in the frame, the ball being hit was the protagonist.

With a *pop*, the ball hit the net softly on the right side.

Liu Ye turned his head in embarrassment. No one in the audience spoke, and no one mocked him; everyone was doing their own jobs, quiet to the point of terror.

Swallowing, Liu Ye hit the second shot. This one was even more outrageous; he swung over the top of the ball and didn't hit it.

Liu Ye was clearly starting to get nervous.

Cao Yang glared at him and pressed his hands down, signaling him not to be nervous.

After hitting more than ten shots in a row, only three balls hit the approximate range.

"Cut!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; this shot was considered passed.

Don't look at this shot as being over two minutes long; when the excess is cut, only a few dozen seconds will be used.

The next shot was also very simple: the camera is placed at an intersection, Liu Ye rides a motorcycle from a distance, turns, and rides away.

!

The crew started placing the camera at the intersection. Tian Zhuangzhuang first looked through the lens, adjusted the position, felt it was about right, and then gave Cao Yang an OK gesture.

Cao Yang came over to take a look, immediately frowned, and said: "Who chose this place?"

Tian Zhuangzhuang raised his hand: "This is just a very simple shot, I just picked a spot at random."

"Who told you to pick this spot? Didn't I explain? It needs a corner and a slope. The corner is there, but where is the slope?"

Cao Yang kicked the director's chair over: "Where is the slope I wanted? Did you eat the slope I wanted? Is it because you haven't directed a film in ten years that you don't know how to frame a shot?"

He walked a few steps to the middle of the road at the corner, gesturing with both hands, saying word by word: "Here, right here, it needs to go uphill, it needs a large, visible slope. Don't tell me this tiny bump is the big slope I wanted."

"Camera language, understand? The male lead comes up from below, turns up, from low to high, from right to left, going against the slope, foreshadowing that what he is about to face is very unsmooth, it's frustration, it's a predicament. Find me another one immediately, find another one."

Tian Zhuangzhuang smacked his lips in chagrin and waved his hand, pointing at two crew members: "You, and you, come with me."

Cao Yang walked to the car rented by the crew, opened the door, and sat in.

"Director Cao, this..." Assistant Director Li Mingyi asked hurriedly.

"Wrap it up, shoot tomorrow." Cao Yang slammed the car door shut, and the driver took him back to the hotel.

Cao Yang returned to his hotel room, and after about an hour, Tian Zhuangzhuang pushed the door open and walked in.

"Senior brother, drink some water."

Cao Yang diligently poured a glass of water and handed it to Old Tian.

"Scolding felt great, right?" Old Tian took the cup, took a sip, and asked.

"Thank you, senior brother, for entering the game in person."

Cao Yang gave Old Tian a thumbs up. Actually, "killing the chicken to warn the monkey" would be more accurate, but if he said that, Old Tian would jump up. Not polite, not polite, hehe.

With *On the Beach at Night Alone* hot in theaters during this time, various related news kept coming, and the new staff joining the crew, as well as the students from Beijing Film Academy coming for internships, were all affected.

They subconsciously thought that Tian Zhuangzhuang was the backbone of the crew, and if there was anything, they would go find Old Tian first. This trend was becoming more and more obvious.

After discovering this problem, Tian Zhuangzhuang knew that this situation couldn't continue. Otherwise, based on his understanding of Cao Yang, he would definitely drive these people away and replace them with a new batch.

But this wasn't a way to solve the problem; not only would it delay the filming progress, but it would also cause a bad influence, making it the least desirable method.

So Old Tian discussed it with Cao Yang, taking advantage of the just-started filming to actively enter the game, letting Cao Yang "kill the chicken to warn the monkey," so that everyone would know who the person in charge of the crew was.

Otherwise, why would they shoot the golf ball hitting the statue first? That scene could actually have been shot by the assistant director. It was just to finish the first scene smoothly, and then use the second scene as an excuse to vent.

Thank you, brothers, for the monthly tickets and recommendations since the book started. I've compiled a list, but since there are too many people who voted, I can't display them one by one, so I can only keep them in my heart and thank you again. The following are the brothers who voted for monthly tickets: Book Friend 150811235514001, Book Friend 20191214233016407, Little Li Little Yi, Not Taking a Name Won't Do, felixkoo, Book Friend 20210301105353343778, Book Friend 20220317224434064, Saint-Venant's Theorem, Starry and Clear, lp_kst, Kunpeng Enters the South Sea, Haotian is Justice, Book Friend 20200325153920264, Book Friend 201906221103416607, Passerby A, Vladimir Green, Book Friend 20171117203458457, Yan Qing Zhaoming, Childhood de Me, Is Fire Cold, China Has Lin, Looks Good, thank you all for your support!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 38 =====