Chapter 211: Little Liu: I Want to Act!

In mid-November, the filming of *Alien* continued as scheduled.

Due to the previous minor setbacks of changing roles and Buena Vista tearing up the agreement, Lu Kuan, after communicating with Harvey and Tang Mu Cruise, used a marketing hype plan even greater than before to increase the heat of the film.

In addition to the Hollywood novice Boss Lu, Harvey, Tang Mu Cruise, and Leonardo all invited big-name stars they had been friends with since they started their careers to visit the set and cheer them on, making the set lively and extraordinary.

Spider-Man Tobey Maguire, the Best Actor Woody Harrelson who starred in *Now You See Me 2* with Jay Chou in the future, and Leonardo's screen partner Kate Winslet.

A group of director friends led by Quentin invited by Harvey.

Tang Mu Cruise, who was on the Hollywood power list, invited even more big names.

Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp, Will Smith, Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, and his ex-wife Nicole Kidman.

These people originally came to cheer them on for the sake of human feelings.

But when standing on the sidelines chatting and observing, they could always be surprised to find that this Chinese director, who had only proven himself in the two major European festivals, indeed had something.

Spielberg, who visited today at Harvey's invitation, felt this even more.

He was observing the lens language of this set of "winding switching" under Lu Kuan's guidance.

The so-called winding switching is to suddenly add a lens switch in a dynamic scene, which is very impactful.

For example, now Liu Yifei and Leonardo are arguing, and the two are walking around the room while arguing.

Liu Yifei is a little closer to the camera; she suddenly walks toward Travolta in the distance, and then the camera makes an empty cut, swinging from behind to the left.

Designed very delicately.

"Good, this take is passed. Prepare for the next one! Little Liu, remember your positioning."

"Yes, Director!"

The recent filming had been unusually smooth, giving her great confidence. Liu Yifei responded crisply.

Lu Kuan walked into the field to explain the play to the three protagonists.

"Next is a sudden turn. You walk together, and the argument becomes more and more intense. At this time, Leonardo suddenly turns to face Travolta."

"Immediately after, Little Liu, you find the right position and lens, stand between them, and face the camera directly."

Liu Yifei thought: "This isn't a Kubrick stare, just me as an observer showing the audience their argument?"

"Exactly."

Lu Kuan saw that they almost understood and ordered to start the machine.

"Let's try a take."

Spielberg stood aside and nodded.

In real life, one person suddenly running in front of another and then suddenly turning around is relatively abrupt.

It looks... very stupid.

It looks like a brainless bridge in film and television works.

But in a film, it looks quite real to the audience because of the perspective characteristics and the existence of the fourth wall.

As a famous director, Spielberg knew the difficulty of this scene, which mainly lay in the cooperation between the camera and the actors.

When filming, the camera must be slightly slower than the actor, so that it can slowly decelerate and stop, rather than stopping abruptly, destroying the smoothness of the picture.

And the actors?

"Cut!"

"Leo, you have to be a little distance from the camera first, gradually catch up with it, and find your final position at the same time the camera stops."

"This is not easy. Let's try a few more times?"

Leonardo was experienced and rehearsed it in his mind, understanding in seconds.

"OK Director, let's try another one."

Hmm, actors should be guided like this; this is a standard lens design for a "sudden turn."

This Lu Kuan is indeed very experienced; he doesn't look like a rookie who has only filmed two films at all.

"Cut! Passed, Leo's performance is perfect!"

Applause and whistles rang out on the set, and the atmosphere was relaxed and active.

After the morning's scenes were filmed, Lu Kuan was about to greet Spielberg, who had been watching for a while, when he saw Wu Ershan walking in from outside the studio with a Chinese-American lady.

"Sister Chunru, you're here?"

Lu Kuan signaled to Spielberg and first stepped forward to shake hands with Zhang Chunru.

Since meeting in Berlin at the beginning of the year and setting the agreement to film a disaster movie, more than half a year had passed.

During this time, Lu Kuan had been perfecting the script in his spare time and entrusted Zhang Chunru to help him prepare more materials in the US. In short, they had done enough preparation for this film of great significance.

It was just that both of them had a feeling of "being close to home and feeling timid." The more important the film and the more valued the subject matter, the less they dared to start filming easily.

They were afraid that some omissions in details would lead to unfavorable consequences.

Such consequences were not economic interests, but fear of errors and misleading in the exposition and interpretation of this history that could not be slandered.

That would really be nailed to the pillar of shame forever.

Several people went to the crew's lounge. Lu Kuan brought a lot of good tea from the country, letting these foreigners eat fine rice again.

"Let me introduce, the great director Spielberg."

"Chinese performing artist, Mr. Li Xuejian."

"Historical biographer, Ms. Zhang Chunru."

And someone with a thick skin followed on his own.

"Hello, teachers, I am Liu Yifei, a Chinese actor."

Including the translator, everyone exchanged greetings and sat down to drink tea, but the combination of several people was a bit strange.

However, this was the result of Lu Kuan's special arrangement.

Knowing that Harvey had invited Spielberg, he specially invited Zhang Chunru from Illinois to chat about the massacre script and the film.

Zhang Chunru's complexion and mental state were much better than when she was seen at the beginning of the year.

With a new life goal, she also temporarily suppressed her depression and focused her spirit and attention on the new direction.

"Little Lu, my car is parked outside. Inside are the videotapes and transcript materials you need, as well as the personal biography materials I organized myself."

Lu Kuan said gratefully: "Thank you, Sister Chunru. I'll have someone copy a copy, and you take the original back and keep it well."

Spielberg was a bit confused, but he knew Zhang Chunru.

Back then, her *The Rape of Nanking* was published in the US and listed as a recommended reading and one of the best of the year by *The New York Times*; it was a famous work on the bestseller list.

"Lu, are you going to film a disaster movie about the massacre?"

Boss Lu smiled: "Exactly, so I invited you over today to learn from you. I am too raw for this subject matter, and it is of great importance, so I have been very uneasy."

Liu Yifei had seen the script for this disaster movie he wrote, but Li Xuejian heard about it for the first time, and couldn't help but feel curious.

Spielberg sighed heavily, recalling the hardships of filming *Schindler's List*.

He appreciated this young Chinese director, but considering such a heavy historical film, Spielberg wanted to dissuade him from the bottom of his heart.

"Lu, how old are you this year?"

Lu Kuan was stunned: "22 years old."

Spielberg smiled bitterly and shook his head: "For filming other movies, your age is an advantage."

"For filming such a heavy disaster movie, your age is a disadvantage."

He began to tell his filming experience: "In 1983, I bought the copyright of *Schindler's List*."

"I found a person named Pfefferberg who was saved by Schindler back then. It was he who, in order to repay Schindler's life-saving grace, spent his whole life telling the world Schindler's story."

"The original work, the parties involved, and countless concentration camp survivors I found people to visit; I was full of confidence and ready to start filming."

Everyone, including Zhang Chunru, listened to his narration here, knowing that the turning point was coming.

"No one expected that I didn't even survive the first month. I suffered from insomnia every night facing those overwhelming painful historical materials. I was struggling with every lens!"

"I was very scared, very flustered, very unconfident. I was worried that I wouldn't do well enough and film such a subject matter with very poor word-of-mouth. This is something that will have an impact on many nations."

Lu Kuan and Zhang Chunru felt the same way about this point. The latter was also in a state of high mental tension when writing the book; any error or misunderstanding of a word was fatal.

"Later, I wanted to give up once. I found Polanski because he himself was a concentration camp survivor, and his mother also died in the gas chamber of Auschwitz."

Polanski was a Polish-Jewish French director whose works were famous for digging into the evil of human nature and criticizing the sins of human nature.

Lu Kuan wondered: "Are you trying to hand the film to him?"

"Exactly. I gave up. I wanted him to film it for me. I even persuaded the boss of Universal."

No need to ask the result; Polanski must have refused.

"Polanski told me that such a film should not have too intense personal emotions. If it were handed to him to film, this intense hatred would destroy the film and turn it into a meaningless blood book."

"In 1983, I was 37 years old, 15 years older than you are now, but it wasn't until ten years later, when I was 47, that I truly gathered the courage to film *Schindler's List*."

Spielberg sincerely advised: "Lu, the film is about the blood feud of your nation. You are too young now. I suggest you wait until you are at least 40 to film it!"

Everyone at the scene fell into deep thought, including Lu Kuan himself.

"Thank you, Mr. Spielberg. I will consider your suggestion carefully."

The great director went to chat with Harvey for a while and then left. Lu Kuan also filmed the day's scenes with a restless mind.

After 6 o'clock, the crew disbanded, and Li Xuejian found him.

"Lu Kuan, if you really want to film this movie, I will support you 100%. I am willing to play any role without pay!"

Boss Lu came back to his senses and looked at Li Xuejian, who was in high spirits, and smiled: "Teacher Li, even if you didn't say it, I would have to trouble you. Don't worry."

After the play, he took *Schindler's List*, which Emil found for him in the afternoon, back to the crew office, where there was a DVD player.

The heavy and melodious dubbing sounded. Lu Kuan didn't know how many times he had watched this textbook-style disaster movie.

The three transitions in the beginning in a short time, from color to black and white, using the burning candle to complete the color transition, using the train chimney to transition from the town to the city.

"Lu Kuan, you didn't leave?"

Liu Yifei stood outside the door timidly, looking at the young director who was completely trapped in the sofa.

He looked up, stepped out the cigarette butt in his hand on the sole of his foot, and walked to the window to open a crack.

"Why are you still here?"

"Mom took Sister Zhang Chunru to the hotel. I saw your light was still on."

She caught a glimpse of the content on the TV screen: "Is this *Schindler's List*?"

"Hmm, come over and sit down and watch together. Just happen to learn the acting skills of these actors."

Seeing that he was not interested, Liu Yifei didn't talk anymore, and the two watched this black and white film intently.

Suddenly, a little girl in red appeared on the screen, breaking the black and white composition.

Liu Yifei pointed to the red color in the film: "Is this specially arranged by Spielberg?"

"Hmm, this is called unconventional shooting. He uses this unconventional shooting of color to mobilize the audience's emotions. It is also the turning point of the whole film and becomes the opportunity for the protagonist Schindler's psychological transformation."

This girl really existed in reality, a detail Spielberg discovered from countless historical materials.

He also let his historical consultant collect the costumes of more than 30,000 extras and posted advertisements in Poland to find old clothes from back then.

There were 126 characters with lines in *Schindler*, among which all the child actors were descendants of the survivors saved by Schindler, which was of great significance.

The budget spent on historical consultants alone exceeded 1 million USD.

These were the sufficient preparations Spielberg made for ten years, and they were also places Lu Kuan needed to learn from and borrow.

It seemed that the conversation was opened. Boss Lu pointed to the actor who played the Nazi officer Amon.

He played Voldemort in the 2005 *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*.

"This actor is named Fiennes. Spielberg felt that the temperament of a Nazi officer should be elegant and cruel. For this, he gained 28 pounds and spent half a year reading historical materials and visiting survivors."

"Later, at the filming site, a historical consultant of the crew, who was also a survivor back then, saw him and trembled with fear because the acting was too like it."

Liu Yifei nodded silently, knowing what he was teaching her about the basic quality and professionalism of an actor.

She asked curiously: "Are you really going to wait until you are 40 to film this movie?"

"In another... another four years, 2007, try to release it on the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre."

40 years old, that would be 2021. Fairly speaking, because of the appearance of films like *Wolf Warrior* in the future, the survival status of mainstream subject matter films was better.

He could afford to wait, but what about Zhang Chunru?

Seeing her in Berlin at the beginning of the year, her mental state already had a tendency to be depressed and unable to end. Could she wait for these 18 years?

Not to mention that adding the two lives together, his own life experience was far more than 40 years.

Liu Yifei was a bit lost. She had read the script and knew that the film was narrated from Zhang Chunru's perspective.

What was written was not only her personally, but even more so, looking at this historical fact from the process of her visiting survivors and collecting materials.

The little girl and Zhang Chunru organized and copied the materials together in the afternoon, and listened to her talk about many experiences when writing books like *The Life of Qian Xuesen* and *The Rape of Nanking*.

She was both moved and yearning.

If possible, she really wanted to play Zhang Chunru herself, but she also knew that her acting skills were far from enough now.

Thinking about it, she still gathered her courage: "Lu... Lu Kuan, do you think I can do it? Can I play Sister Zhang Chunru?"

Then she hurriedly said: "I don't want pay; I just want to contribute."

"You?"

Lu Kuan looked at her suspiciously, but didn't strike her down.

He paused the film, turned on the office light, and carefully observed her face.

"Eh?"

Boss Lu opened *The Rape of Nanking* on the table and pulled out a photo in the work.

Liu Yifei knew he was comparing the similarity between her and Sister Zhang Chunru, and confidently raised her face for him to observe.

"My mother looked at the photos of Sister Chunru when she was young in the afternoon and also said we looked a bit alike!"

In fact, there was also a documentary in the future describing the writing experience of Ms. Zhang Chunru, called *Iris Chang: The Rape of Nanking*.

But because it was created by American directors and Chinese-American actors, and not rooted in local creation, how could it film the spiritual outlook of our nation?

Boss Lu carefully compared Liu Yifei's face and considered the age gap between the two when filming.

In 1994, Ms. Zhang Chunru saw those unmasked black and white images at a massacre survivor conference at Stanford University.

She was greatly shocked and began to prepare for the collection of materials for this work, at the age of 26.

If the film wanted to be released on December 13, 2007, considering the time of post-production, it had to be filmed in May or June at the latest.

According to Lu Kuan's filming speed, the time truly spent on filming wouldn't be very long, but the process required for the review of this kind of major historical subject matter film was very long.

That year, Liu Yifei would be just twenty years old.

Putting on some makeup could smooth out the age gap.

But there were too many other factors to consider, such as whether her ability could be competent?

"You really want to act?"

"Hmm!"

Lu Kuan's expression was a bit serious: "Among all film roles, the interpretation of celebrity biographies is the most difficult."

"Because they are celebrities, countless people have studied them, and countless audiences familiar with the roles will make your every word and action a point of criticism."

He gave Liu Yifei an example.

"In 1958, Teacher Zhao Dan accepted the biographical film *Lin Zexu*. He was very terrified, worried that he wouldn't play this national hero well."

"So half a year before filming, he put on the costume, found several Peking Opera actors to learn the behavior of Qing Dynasty officials, and achieved the point of rolling up his sleeves when eating, sitting upright when sitting down, and not taking small steps when walking."

"He prepared several sets of costumes and wore them for several months in his daily life without taking them off."

"The director told him that the most important thing to play this role is to interpret Lin Zexu's torch-like gaze. He let his daughter Zhao Qing shine a flashlight at him every day, almost causing problems with his eyes."

Lu Kuan sat beside her: "It is impossible to film such a movie without paying everything to prepare."

"Especially for an actor like you who is still in the growth period, there are more places that need to be learned and improved."

Liu Yifei was stubborn: "I can eat any suffering. I can prepare for as long as it takes. Didn't you say that you have to jump out of the comfort zone to grow? I think this role is an opportunity."

"And this matter itself is also very meaningful."

Lu Kuan said solemnly: "You are almost becoming a first-line actress now. As long as *Alien* doesn't go wrong, you will undoubtedly stand at the top of the pyramid in the domestic entertainment industry."

"By then, your salary for filming TV series will start at 200,000 per episode, advertising endorsements will be five or six million a year, and filming movies will be even more so. Domestic actresses, except for Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li and a few others, will be you."

He paused and continued: "But if you want to play this role, you have to spend at least half a year preparing and give up all other work."

"You have to read her works, notes, and diaries; you have to find her parents and children to understand her living habits; you have to spend a period of time living with her, imitating her, and observing her."

"You even have to run through all the places she actually ran, and measure this history with your own footsteps like her."

"Female stars in the entertainment industry, don't say disappearing for more than half a year, even disappearing for a few months will make their popularity cold."

"If you want to play this role, even if your ability is sufficient, you have to give up a lot, such as status and money."

"And this kind of subject matter film is destined not to have a very high box office, and you won't get too much profit from it."

Boss Lu turned to her with a solemn expression: "After hearing these, do you still want to act?"

"I want to act!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 212 =====