Chapter 274 Filming

"Did I say that? I want wooden fences on the stairs!" Wu Yuchen was angry at the stage staff, the props team, and even the producer.

"Director Wu, we thought you were talking about wooden railings..."

"High fence-style handrails, understand? One side is a wall, the other side is a fence! I want it to fill my lens, look like a prison cage, understand? Not this traditional stair handrail!"

The producer hurried over to apologize: "Director Wu, it's all our fault, we will find someone to redo it immediately, and it will be fixed tomorrow!"

"If I find this kind of mistake again, I will ask the person in charge to get out of here!" Wu Yuchen yelled.

It's no wonder he was angry. When he was here before, he specifically emphasized how to make the handrails of this staircase, but I don't know if the people below were distracted or didn't think about it, and the ones made were still completely different from what he asked.

The producer hurriedly took people to contact the workers, while Wu Yuchen was checking other props. He gave the actors five days to prepare, and he also used these days to look around the crew's preparations and check for omissions before filming.

The fence-like handrail he just emphasized may only appear once or twice in the film, but it is an important part of the striped symbol system he used to construct the film.

The application of the symbol system is to make the emotions and the symbols in the picture appear at the same time. After repeated many times, the emotions and symbols are bound together in Guan Zhong's mind. After that, the bound symbols can be gradually used to imply and mobilize the audience's inner feelings and emotions.

The name of this movie is "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", and the stripes are not randomly named.

In addition to its superficial meaning, in terms of image techniques, stripes also constitute a symbolic metaphor of cages and loss of freedom.

Not long after the film begins, when the little boy moves to the suburbs with his parents, various striped symbols will appear.

For example, the wire fence surrounding the villa where their family lives makes the boy look like a small animal trapped in a cage;

For example, after the little boy moved into his new home, he sat alone on the steps, and was filmed from below. The vertical stripes in the stairwell were reflected on him, and the cold atmosphere made him feel like he was in a prison, even though the plot was in the villa;

And the shutters in his house used to look out into the distance also have the same cage image metaphor.

These are all things that Wu Yuchen has carefully designed. From the beginning of the film, the striped symbols in the picture have been constantly appearing inadvertently, subtly imprinting them in the minds of the audience. The audience may not care when they watch it, but their emotions have been affected by it.

When the audience sees these, combined with the fact that the little boy is a child full of curiosity about everything at the beginning, it becomes a natural thing for him to want to get rid of the cage that trapped him, go to the nearby "farm", go on an adventure, and make a good friend.

Moreover, this stripe combined with the striped shirts in the concentration camp later will have more meanings and interpretations. Therefore, it is not so easy to make this movie. Every detail must be done well to build a striped symbol system in the movie and guide the audience's emotions step by step.

And the name "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" will not be changed. It itself has psychological implications.

…

"Son, soldiers must obey orders. I am working hard to make the country better, and I am working hard to bring you a better life..."

What is being filmed at this time is what Chen Baoguo said to his son at the beginning of the movie when he was transferred and had to move. The country he was talking about was the puppet Manchukuo.

"Teacher Chen, there is a child's voice in your lines~"

Listening to Wu Yuchen's reminder, Chen Baoguo immediately raised his hand to apologize: "It's my fault, I promise not to do it again!"

Chen Baoguo is a native of Beijing. He has played similar roles in the TV series and movies he has taken on in recent years, and he is used to speaking in Beijing accent.

Wu Yuchen smiled, but he was not angry. He knew that Chen Baoguo would definitely do what he said.

In 1986, Chen Baoguo filmed "The Whip of God". He played the gangster Glass Flower who had one eye blind. He considered that his eye would definitely blink when he was acting, and his good eye did not meet the characteristics of a blind person. Therefore, in that era when there were no contact lenses, he found a glass button, thinned it and smoothed it, stuffed it into his eye and wore it. No matter how uncomfortable it was when acting, he did not say a word, silently enduring the pain, not wanting to delay the progress of the crew.

After the movie was released, it was a great success. His role was lifelike and was regarded as a classic, but he was sent to the hospital after filming. The doctor directly said that his eye had injured the retinal nerve and was permanently blind. Later, after treatment, it recovered to 0.5.

I have to say that I admire these older actors. For acting, they can really give up everything!

For Gong Li and Chen Baoguo, you can basically rest assured. Whatever effect you want, as long as you describe it, it can be presented. The focus is actually on the two young actors.

It’s not that Wu Yuchen has never filmed a movie about children. In the movie “My Brothers and Sisters”, several young actors played the leading roles. If they were not too old, he would have wanted to find the young actors to work with.

Fortunately, the two young actors he chose this time are also very smart, especially Fang Xi, whose personality is very similar to the character, so with a little guidance, Wu Yuchen can achieve the effect he wants.

There is one thing that Wu Yuchen specifically emphasized, that is, don’t mention the final ending of the movie to the two young actors, and don’t emphasize the hatred of Japanese people in advance. Because what he wants to show in the movie is a child observing the world with his own eyes, and a reaction from a child’s perspective.

If you instill a lot of things into the young actors before filming, it will be difficult for them to show their innocent side.

…

The boy Fang Xi looked over and saw his sister talking and laughing with a young and handsome officer at the gate of the courtyard, speaking Japanese. He knew that this was a soldier under his father’s command.

In fact, many puppet troops were planted with Japanese soldiers. Many generals would be accompanied by a Japanese consultant, and sometimes the consultant's power was even greater than that of the general himself. This was also to ensure that the Japanese side would not rebel. Otherwise, they would not dare to use them without taking any measures. That would be really stupid.

The young officer played by Huang Xiaoming was a Japanese officer under Chen Baoguo. When Huang Xiaoming saw his boss's son coming over, his expression was very kind.

"Ka!"

Wu Yuchen called Huang Xiaoming over:

"Xiaoming, your expression just now was wrong. The officer you played is a very tough role. You just tried to make a kind expression and tone because he is your boss's son, but you didn't really show that you are a person who likes children very much. This will destroy the tone of your role."

"Sorry, Director Wu, I'll try to find the feeling again!" On the set, Huang Xiaoming didn't dare to call Teacher Wu anymore.

He also knew what Wu Yuchen meant. He had to be kind but not really kind. He had to be tough and not lose his temperament. The balance in between was not easy to grasp. Huang Xiaoming could only hurry to find his state.

"Ka! Xiaoming, explosive power, what's the use of shouting loudly? What I want is the explosion of the whole person's momentum!"

"Action!"

The camera turned on again:

"I want to make a swing with old tires."

"Swing, listen, it's great!" Huang Xiaoming forced a smile and said to Fang Xi in some poor Chinese.

Then he said to Shu Chang in Japanese: "Your brother should learn Japanese and stop speaking inferior languages."

Shu Chang immediately replied: "My father has hired a tutor and will come over in the next two days."

Huang Xiaoming nodded, then he turned his head and looked not far away, and an old servant wearing a striped shirt and trimming flowers and plants came into view. Shouting: "Chinese pig, come here!"

The old servant threw down the shovel in his hand, turned around and staggered towards this side. It can be seen that his legs and feet are not very good, and his whole body is a little weak. He feels a little fragile when walking.

However, his attitude caused Huang Xiaoming's dissatisfaction. His whole body momentum changed immediately, and his face showed a fierce expression. He shouted: "Baga! Hurry up!"

This angry shout not only made the old man tremble and speed up his pace, but also made the little boy Fang Xi startled. He turned his head and looked at Huang Xiaoming with a slightly frightened expression. His feet couldn't help but retreat a little, trying to keep a distance from him.

After the old man ran over, he half bent over, looking terrified and waiting for Huang Xiaoming's instructions.

"Take him to the backyard, old tires, make a swing for him, understand?"

The old man nodded quickly, not daring to breathe. Huang Xiaoming turned his head to look at the boy again, and smiled again: "Little boy, go!"

"Go!"

This scene took a long time to shoot back and forth. At the beginning, it was Huang Xiaoming's problem. Later, Huang Xiaoming found the feeling. However, because of the many clicks, the little boy's performance began to be unnatural, that is, the stress response to Huang Xiaoming's outburst was weakened, so it took a long time.

Shu Chang and the old man's performance did not have much problem. The old servant actor here was invited by Teacher Zhu Xu, who has played in "The Last Emperor", "Face Changing" and "Taking a Bath". He is really an old actor with excellent acting skills and a very suitable image. This old servant is also an important supporting role in this movie.

...

In the camera, the boy Fang Xi is sitting on the table, and the old servant is bandaging his wound. He accidentally fell down while playing on the swing and his knee was bleeding.

"Should I go to the hospital?" the boy asked.

"No."

"But I feel a little pain, maybe it's serious."

"It's okay, just a minor injury."

"How do you know? You're not a doctor?" The boy looked at the old servant who was squatting beside him peeling potatoes after bandaging him.

The old servant paused, he was silent for a moment, lowered his head and murmured: "No, I am."

"You're lying, you're peeling potatoes~" The kid was straightforward and didn't hide his emotions.

The old servant started to move his hands again, peeling potatoes while saying:

"I used to be a doctor, before I... before I came here."

The boy smiled and said, "You must not be very skilled, otherwise how could you peel potatoes?"

Listening to the little boy's words, the old servant lowered his head and laughed, but when he slowly raised his head, the boy found that his eyes were red and swollen, and tears were flowing. He looked at the boy with tears and smiled, and an unspeakable sadness emanated from him, filling the whole room. At this moment, the camera was aimed at Zhu Xu and recorded every detail of his face.

"Pass! Very good! Teacher Zhu Xu performed very well, and so did Fang Xi!"

Wu Yuchen praised him generously. The scene of Zhu Xu raising his head and crying just now had a silent power that was very touching. Anyone who saw it could feel the bitterness and sadness in the old servant's heart. This was a fucking performance!

However, after Wu Yuchen praised him, he did not let everyone rest, but took advantage of the current state to quickly shoot the next scene.

After turning on the camera, the camera was aimed at Fang Xi again. He was a little confused at this time, wondering why the old man was crying.

The next moment, the old servant put away his complicated emotions and asked the boy with a smile: "What do you want to do when you grow up?"

Before the boy answered, he asked himself: "I know, you want to be an explorer~"

The boy asked curiously again: "How did you know?"

The old servant laughed, and his smile at this time was different from the smile of the previous moment, but a sincere smile from the heart. Only when facing such an innocent child, he could and dared to laugh, just like a kind old man teasing his grandson.

The little boy could feel the kindness of the old man and asked him the question that his parents had never answered him: "Is the farm beautiful inside?"

The old man raised his head again after hearing this, with a very puzzled expression on his face, farm?

At this moment, the sound of high heels hitting the floor broke the warm atmosphere in the room, and both the old and the young looked towards the door. Gong Li dropped the basket in her hand and walked quickly to her son: "Xixi, what's wrong with you?"

It can be seen that while she was concerned about her son, she looked at the old servant with a wary and scrutinizing eye, full of distrust. The old servant immediately returned to his previous cautious state, lowered his head completely, and did not dare to look at Gong Li.

After learning from her son that the other party had bandaged her son's wound, Gong Li looked at the old servant in surprise. After she drove her son back to the room, the old servant in the camera stopped peeling potatoes, and his face with his head down showed a bit of panic, fearing that he would be angered.

While taking out the vegetables from the basket, Gong Li looked at the old servant several times in a row. It can be seen that she was a little hesitant and entangled at this time. She even took a breath, opened her mouth and closed it, and finally fixed her eyes on the old servant: "Thank you!"

The old servant paused slightly and wanted to raise his head, but finally gave up and started peeling potatoes again. Gong Li also felt awkward in the air after saying thank you, and walked away.

When Gong Li walked out of the room, the old servant dared to raise his head and silently looked at her back...

"Pass! Good, good, good!"

Although it was just an ordinary scene, the layering and atmosphere in this scene were really fully expressed. The images of several people became three-dimensional and full because of the various details of this scene.

Wu Yuchen was very happy. He thought it would take a few days to shoot, but it was done in half a day. It was really right to invite Teacher Zhu Xu!