wavenovel Chapter 104 Literature as a Vehicle for Morality
Chapter 104 Literature as a Vehicle for Morality
This doesn't match Wang Manli's own temperament at all.
Wang Manli's explosive acting ability simply cannot be displayed in this kind of role.
After watching the movie, Wang Xiaohao felt completely relieved: "This movie is nothing to worry about!"
Sure enough, the movie only grossed eight million the next day.
Then it dropped to five million, then three million. In the end, it only lasted for more than ten days in theaters, bringing back more than 20 million in box office revenue.
If you factor in Wang Manli's salary, this movie is a complete financial disaster!
There's not much to say about "Contractual Love".
However, Wang Xiaohao's attendance at the premiere of "Contract Love" was not entirely in vain.
He had a good chat with that renowned director, Han Dejiang.
Surprisingly, this renowned director knew Wang Xiaohao and even said that Wang Xiaohao's films were very well made and were a model of commercial genre films.
He believes that what China lacks most right now is directors of commercial genre films like Wang Xiaohao!
He even specifically consulted Wang Xiaohao on how to shoot commercial genre films!
Wang Xiaohao was truly flattered by this!
This renowned director, Han Dejiang, started his career making art films.
Later, witnessing the bleak state of the domestic film market, he began to turn to making commercial blockbusters.
However, as he said, he comes from an art film background, so when he makes commercial films, they are not so pure and lack a certain flavor.
So privately, Wang Xiaohao quite agrees with what Han Dejiang said!
Of course, he wouldn't be foolish enough to admit it outright, saying something like, "You're right!"
In fact, it wasn't just Han Dejiang; directors of his generation all started out making art films and went on to win major international awards.
Ultimately, with the domestic film market in a state of utter desolation, these prestigious and influential directors began raising funds to produce commercial blockbusters in hopes of saving the domestic film market.
Their strategy worked!
These renowned directors, though not skilled at making commercial films, often produce commercial blockbusters that are neither fish nor fowl.
However, they possess immense prestige, can raise enormous sums of money, and have a profound aesthetic foundation and exquisite artistic skills.
They created visual spectacles in blockbuster movies, drawing audiences who had become accustomed to watching pirated content at home back to the cinema!
After all, visual spectacles are best enjoyed on the big screen in a movie theater!
But the pacing of commercial films... that's basically out of the question!
Faced with the humbly asked question by this renowned director, Wang Xiaohao briefly shared his creative ideas for commercial genre films.
The creative approaches to commercial films and art films are inherently different!
Art films, or rather, films by older generations of Chinese directors, always seem to aim to educate people on something.
Or perhaps, one always wants to insert some kind of logic into it!
To put it more nicely, this is called "literature conveying the Way."
But if you always try to cram in some kind of moral or philosophical message, it will naturally disrupt the rhythm of the movie.
Or rather, these two types of films were never in the same vein from the very beginning of their scriptwriting!
Commercial films are more like online novels, aiming to make viewers feel entertained.
Art films are more like serious literature, expressing emotions, and even being avant-garde, while still exploring boundaries.
Therefore, the creative ideas of these two were completely different from the very beginning!
The problem with big directors like Han Dejiang is that they try to create commercial films using the methods they use to create art films.
It's nothing more than making the scene bigger and creating a visual spectacle to attract audiences to the cinema.
That's why these big directors' movies always seem a bit strange, like something's not quite right.
Of course, Wang Xiaohao wouldn't be that explicit. At most, he would just talk about how commercial films are created.
Whether Han Dejiang can understand it or not is his business!
When someone asks you a question, it's called not being ashamed to ask a question. Do you want to take advantage of their kindness?
Wang Xiaohao also took the opportunity to ask the famous director some questions.
Wang Xiaohao only graduated from a mediocre directing program, so it's difficult for him to connect with these well-established directors from prestigious backgrounds.
Now that he had the opportunity to ask for advice, Wang Xiaohao naturally wouldn't miss it.
Regardless of their other aspects, these great directors possess unparalleled expertise in film aesthetics.
This applies to both the color palette and the composition of the film!
Don't think that you don't need these when making commercial films!
In fact, a good movie must include good visuals.
Why is the female lead in Wang Xiaohao's movie so outstanding?
Both Wang Xiaoshuang and Zhen Liang exuded unparalleled charm in the film.
This is naturally the backdrop for the film.
It's the result of dedicated efforts from aesthetic design, makeup, lighting, photography, and more.
That's what allows the actors to radiate a beauty that transcends reality!
Without the support of Stephen Chow's camera, Athena Chu only appeared dark-skinned and thin in the TV series.
Similarly, without the support of the movie camera, Zhang Min looks quite ordinary in TV dramas, even when she plays Xi Shi, the most beautiful woman in the world.
Movies are known as the magic of light and shadow, and that's where it happens.
To create beauty that transcends reality!
Many people think that a movie is just about telling a good story.
Especially for commercial films, the most important thing is to tell a good story!
That's exactly right!
But the problem is that technology (including composition, color, and everything else) is the means of storytelling.
Is a story told in a witty and engaging way, or is it dry and uninteresting?
That's the director's trick!
With the same ingredients, some people can make a table of delicious dishes that are perfect in color, aroma, and taste.
Some people can cook a meal that, while not particularly visually appealing, is still edible.
Some people can only make things that are neither good-looking nor tasty!
Ambitious people naturally pursue a perfect combination of color, aroma, and taste!
Take, for example, the movie "Charlotte," which Wang Xiaohao loved in his previous life. It created countless memes that people still talk about more than a decade later.
However, after Wang Xiaohao studied directing, he realized that it was just like a chef who, despite having delicious ingredients, ended up making dishes that weren't very visually appealing, but were still edible.
They should actually be able to make delicious dishes that are visually appealing, fragrant, and flavorful.
But because the director was bad, the result was that the food was neither visually appealing nor delicious, but still edible!
When Wang Xiaohao first watched "Charlotte," he saw some reviews that said the director's technique was poor and that it was not a movie at all, but rather a stage play brought directly to the stage.
At the time, Wang Xiaohao was dismissive, thinking the commenter was just being sarcastic. The comment section was filled with insults.
But after studying directing, I looked back and found that it was indeed the case.
This movie is just a collection of funny skits, a collection of comedy sketches, and it's not a movie at all!