Chapter 80: Directing Feng Yuan

Lu Kuan was directing the lighting technician on the preparations before filming.

Today’s scene was the one where Xu Huan gradually turns dark after being set up by Zhuang Zhong; it had extremely high requirements for the set and lighting, including designs involving overexposure, deep shadows, and negative space, so he had to supervise it personally.

Boss Lu received a call from his junior assistant.

"Yongyule?"

"Yes, Director Lu, it is an enterprise called Yongyule Film and Television Culture and Art Company."

Sun Wenwen said, "According to staff at Dayu, they bought the adaptation rights back in 2001, but for some reason, they never initiated the project. I’ve also asked around in the industry, and there really hasn't been any word about it."

"Go make contact first, and do your best to secure it."

"Understood, Director Lu."

After hanging up, Lu Kuan muttered to himself, no wonder the copyright lawsuits for the *Chinese Paladin* series by Tangren in the future were endless; it turned out they had bought second-hand goods.

In the future, Tangren signed a contract with Yitong Culture and Yongyule Film and Television Culture and Art Co., Ltd., agreeing that the three parties would jointly invest and cooperate to film the television series *Chinese Paladin*.

The script was written by Tangren, who held the copyright, while the other two parties only held the right to be credited.

However, Tangren only held the copyright and revenue for *Chinese Paladin* outside of the mainland; the parties agreed that after seven years, in 2010, Tangren would have the right to buy back the mainland copyright from the two parties.

The complex and convoluted contractual agreements only proved one thing: this Yongyule company, which would remain obscure in the future, was a difficult opponent, and he would only be able to talk after Sun Wenwen made contact.

The filming over the last few days had gone very smoothly; the character of Xu Huan did not have many layers of performance, and Zhou Jielun had basically grasped the character's chain of actions under different psychological states, with almost no major stutters like that day.

Feng Yuan was discussing the character psychology of Zhuang Zhong with Lu Kuan; his originally smooth train of thought for the character had hit a wall, especially in the parts where the script left room for interpretation.

He needed to hear the guidance of the screenwriter and director, Lu Kuan, otherwise, he might very well deviate from the original core of the character's ideology.

"Director, do you think this Zhuang Zhong is doing this to motivate Xu Huan, or does he want to destroy Xu Huan?"

In the original script from the future, the screenwriter once wrote this line: Was the teacher, Fletcher, planning this?

This line appeared after the teacher lured the protagonist to perform and then did not give him the sheet music.

The director himself also kept this question open-ended, not ruling out the possibility that he wanted the actor to explore the possibilities himself.

The actor who played this teacher, Fletcher, in the future won the Best Supporting Actor award at the 87th Academy Awards.

Lu Kuan felt that with Feng Yuan’s strength, he could fully rely on his interpretation of this role to challenge for Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor at international film festivals, and he did not want to just tell him the answer.

"Teacher Feng, let me tell you a story, a story about Zhuang Zhong when he was young," Lu Kuan said, guiding him step by step.

"When Zhuang Zhong was young, because he loved music, his father secretly took him out of school to watch a performance by a jazz drumming master, A."

"This master is the idol of Xu Huan in the play, and also the protagonist of the 'poisonous chicken soup' that Zhuang Zhong constantly feeds his disciples."

Feng Yuan nodded, listening to his description with full concentration.

"Zhuang Zhong loved this jazz drummer A; once, during a live performance, the drummer made a mistake, and the band leader flew a cymbal directly at him!"

"Just like Zhuang Zhong in the play?" Feng Yuan asked.

"Many people would think so, but the truth is quite different."

"The reason that drummer A was hit was simply because he was a nobody at the time, ostracized by the rest of the band; the leader’s violence had no reason—this wasn't a piece of chicken soup, he wasn't trying to motivate the drummer, he was just being abusive."

Feng Yuan’s expression became grave; in this movie, the version of the story Zhuang Zhong described to the school was not like this.

He told everyone that even a drummer as great as master A had to be physically punished by a strict teacher, let alone scum like them with such low skill levels.

In other words, Zhuang Zhong’s abuse of Xu Huan was not him imitating the teaching methods of his predecessors, but rather his teaching methods were imitating the abuse of his predecessors!

Nothing more!

The problem that had been troubling him was finally solved; Feng Yuan flipped through the notes he had left on the script, and comparing them with Lu Kuan’s "Easter egg chapter," everything suddenly became clear.

"Director Lu, this character is written brilliantly."

This was the first time since joining the crew that Feng Yuan had been conquered by Lu Kuan’s talent.

In learning, there is no order of age, and in skills, there is specialization; this veteran actor did not hesitate to express his admiration.

This was recognition and affirmation of art, which had nothing to do with age or seniority.

Lu Kuan smiled: "You are too kind, Teacher Feng. When I was selecting actors, I considered Teacher Wang Xueqi, Teacher Chen Daoming, and you."

"Why did you choose me in the end?" Feng Yuan asked, puzzled.

Lu Kuan said seriously: "Forgive my bluntness, but those two actors' performances now carry a bit of artificiality; Teacher Wang Xueqi still presents the same cold-faced image, without any major breakthroughs in his roles."

"And Teacher Chen Daoming has played too many emperors and generals; if he were to play Zhuang Zhong, he would very likely be molded into a positive image of a strict teacher, which is inconsistent with the open-ended conclusion of the film."

Seeing that Feng Yuan was listening intently, Lu Kuan continued to explain: "This character is by no means a simple strict teacher or a brute."

"In the final scene, he invites Xu Huan to perform but deliberately gives him the wrong sheet music; if Xu Huan can perform it, he will be gratified that he has created another jazz drumming master."

"If Xu Huan cannot perform it, his career will be destroyed by him, or he might even commit suicide like the previous student because he couldn't handle the pressure, and he would only sneer as he looked for the next student to use as a test subject."

Feng Yuan nodded slightly.

Although the scenes in this movie were not as satisfying as he had hoped, he had nothing to complain about being able to play such a brilliant role under a director of Lu Kuan’s caliber.

"Director Lu, you must think of me for roles like this in the future; I’ll even do it for free!"

Feng Yuan, who considered himself above the fray, also began to butter him up.

He was a true acting fanatic; back then, the foreign professor Meyer had tried hard to persuade him to stay in East Germany to help inherit and carry forward the Grotowski school.

Staying would have meant status and generous treatment within reach, but for the sake of his dream as an actor, he resolutely returned to his country.

"Director, someone is looking for you."

The set assistant interrupted their conversation.

Lu Kuan asked Ning Hao to organize the filming work first and walked outside the studio; could it be someone visiting the set again?

During this period, because Zhou Jielun was here filming in seclusion, reporters and fans were coming and going constantly.

Some agents who were familiar with the crew, the director, and the actors kept bringing their artists over to visit the set to get some exposure, which was also a norm in the industry.

Why is it her? Lu Kuan frowned, feeling that the visitor had ill intentions.

Liu Bei walked over with a chubby female assistant and a young boy with a naive expression.

(End of chapter)