Su Ze stood on the top of a mountain. This is Zhongwei County, Ningxia. At his feet is the vast yellow sand of the Gobi Desert, and everything is golden as far as the eye can see.
"This is Xihaigu." Zu Feng, who came with us, looked into the distance and sighed: "After more than 20 years of development, the conditions have become much better. You can imagine how difficult it was back then!"
Su Ze nodded. Only by learning on paper can you understand the insignificance of human power. Only by standing here in person can you understand the insignificance of human power.
"Let's go." Zu Feng patted Su Ze on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Save your emotions for the show, let's go back."
The two returned to the set and saw the busy Kong Sheng. This filming was different from the previous ones. They were asked to join the set one month in advance just to experience life and learn the dialect.
"This is the environment of Xihaigu back then!" Kong Sheng took out a photo and showed it: "The art team can see it clearly!"
Su Ze stepped forward and looked at the photo of the West Sea with no grass growing at all, just layers of loess slopes and caves?
"Brother Sheng, it's not easy this time!" Wang Jin, the art team leader, said with a bitter face, "Where can I find such a scene?"
"It's okay even if it doesn't work!" Kong Sheng said firmly: "No negotiation!"
Su Ze also shook his head secretly. The vegetation on the loess slope is now lush, and there are flowing clouds in the forest. Although the foundation of the village is still there, the earthen houses have been surrounded by trees. Now Xihaigu has become a world of pheasants, hares, wild boars, and wild goats.
.
The reason why I joined the group early was not only to experience life and learn the dialect, but also to learn from others. Seeing how the noon sun works, how the director coordinates, and how Fu Hua Dao operates, these are experiences that are hard to buy.
In a work, apart from the actors' performances, everything the audience sees in the picture is related to art. This work is complex and detailed, ranging from trains and airplanes to the water glasses in the hands of actors, to recreate the background of the story.
Especially for period dramas, any flaw will cause the audience to become upset instantly.
"I can only give your art team half a month!" Kong Sheng ordered: "Rebuilding a Jintan Village won't take more than one day!"
Watching a dozen people leave, Su Ze nodded secretly, this is called execution, and Noon Sunshine is indeed the industry benchmark.
"Hey, it's not easy to do." Kong Sheng sat down, took out a cigarette and handed it to Zu Feng, and said helplessly: "The most difficult thing about a period drama is to obey the Tao. There are too many details and it's a headache."
"How are you preparing?" he seemed to be asking the two of them, looking mainly at Su Ze and said: "I don't worry about the acting skills. Ma Defu is not too difficult for you. The main thing is the dialect."
"Very good." Su Ze smiled and said, "How about drinking silk tonight?"
"I'm still drinking Hammer. I drank too much yesterday." Zu Feng's eyes lit up and he quickly answered with lines.
"You guys don't drink, just eat and gossip."
"That's okay. I really don't want to drink. My head still hurts."
Listening to the conversation between the two in fluent dialect, Kong Sheng nodded secretly. He was indeed a capable person, and it was easy to use.
Needless to say, Zu Feng already knew the ins and outs of various dialects after many years of cooperation. He was mainly worried about Su Ze. After all, he was young and inexperienced, so his acting skills would definitely be fine, but the dialect...
Can you answer the script fluently in just one week after receiving the script?
Really hard work!
I feel even more satisfied when I think of this. I have worked with countless actors for so many years since my debut. I have never seen any experienced and capable actors.
The most basic ability to become famous is dedication, and the level can be high or low. Even if the acting skills are not good, the director will work harder to talk about the drama, but the progress will be slower.
The most annoying thing is to meet idiots who have high ambitions but low abilities and are disobedient. There is one such person. No matter how famous they are, get out of here!
Kong Sheng doesn’t need it!
"I can't even see Po Yi, so why is the wooden bag so tender?"
"I tripped half of the way today, and I got into trouble."
"Three punches, two wins, and one cup. If you don't take it, you won't be punished, and you won't kick it."
"Look at the special outfit b, I'll throat it!"
"You cat is always begging for food, you have no mercy."
At first, Zu Feng returned lines, but later he finished the script and started chatting in the local dialect. He had filmed two movies before and learned the local dialect from fellow villagers in Ningxia. I didn’t expect this guy to be like that?
Not bad at all!
"Have you studied it specifically?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Well, I learned a little bit about using a spoon." Su Ze explained vaguely. It can't be said that he learned it after practicing in the system for several months.
"Very good." Zu Feng agreed: "It must be enough!"
"It's okay, let's learn from my fellow countrymen." Su Ze said seriously.
"Okay!" Kong Sheng slapped his thigh and said with satisfaction: "I can rest assured you two, Zhang Jiayi and Yanni are both from the northwest. There is still work in hand and she will join the team as soon as the filming is completed."
"The remaining few are guest appearances and don't have many roles. Guo Jingfei and Reyza will come in a few days, so you can do more scenes then."
"That's it, you can arrange your own experience of life, and I won't worry about it anymore!"
Seeing Kong Sheng leave in a hurry, Zu Feng was afraid that Su Ze would misunderstand, so he explained: "Old Kong has such a temper, so he is at ease with you. You will understand after getting along with him for a long time."
Su Ze smiled and nodded. Every director has his or her own style. Five hundred is about the same. I ran around the set and had to see everything before I felt at ease.
Working with different directors and teams is a novel experience every time, not to mention Sunshine at Noon. The standards are industry benchmarks. I come here just to learn from others. It's a pity that Kong Xue can't come, otherwise...
I officially joined the group today and started learning dialect from the fellow villagers. I can basically chat with no problem, mainly local slang and dialect. These are the details.
Every day, I follow the fellow villagers to do farm work, feed cattle, herd sheep, cut grass, carry water, bathe horses...
If it’s not for anything else, it’s to polish your temperament through farm work. You can’t be a poverty alleviation cadre if you are oily and powdery!
I learned and observed at the same time. I used to shoot urban dramas, so there was no need to set up special scenes. Even with a spoon, I could just find a local farmer to do it all.
This time Jintan Village is a big project, and I have really seen what it means to be a strong artist.
More than 20 people, together with the construction team, worked to complete the entire village's infrastructure in a short period of time. The Eight Immortals crossed the sea and each showed their magical powers.
At first, I planned to cover the steel frame with wooden boards and do some wall effects to disguise it as a farmhouse. But later I found that the wind and sand in the Gobi were so strong that the house would move when the wind blew?
There is no other way but to start over. First lay the foundation, build a basic frame, and then do the wall effect. And found that this solution is not only inefficient, but also more expensive than actually building a house?
Since the Gobi Desert is full of rocks and it is extremely difficult to dig out, we finally decided that except for the houses with interior scenes, the rest of the scenes would be based on the method used by the first generation immigrants to build houses: building the house directly without laying a foundation.
But back then, rammed earth was used, and this time the art team used bricks, with thicker and firmer outer panels, and finally a rammed earth effect, disguised as the original adobe look.
Although the house is built on the ground, the weight of the bricks plus the weight of the wooden boards and rammed earth is enough to resist wind pressure.
This is just the beginning. According to the development of the plot, Jintan Village must go through three different periods. The first period is adobe houses with wooden doors, wooden windows, fences and courtyard walls.
A very complete reflection is the Shuihua family. She was the last to arrive in Jintan Village and experienced the whole process from living in a nest to building an adobe house.
Only then did Su Ze know that the so-called Diwozi was the house dug by immigrants from Diaozhuang in the Gobi Desert?