The author | Meat Pine
"A woman who has not created anything in her life is incomplete." "Downhill, can you walk smoothly?" "I'm in the best state now, I have money and leisure, my husband is missing, don't be too spiritual."
This is a line from "Love Myth", and similar sharpness and humor can be seen everywhere in the film.
This new film takes mature men and women as the protagonists, telling the intersection of three women because of a man, and exhausting the life and love texture of adults; inside and outside the play, three women and one play are regarded as the most free and unworldly female group portraits on the big screen in recent years; the protagonists' Shanghainese dialogue, coffee shops, taverns, grocery stores and other scenes, while presenting the modern and market atmosphere of Shanghai.
After watching the movie, the audience who was brainwashed by the "Spirit Ah Spirit" also returned it with a "Spirit", and the Douban score rose from 8.1 to 8.4. It's just that relative to its popularity, it is not enough to be popular, the film was released for five days, and the box office has not yet exceeded 100 million.
Another of its counter-odds is that, compared to the cast known as the Dream Team: Xu Zheng, Ma Yili, Wu Yue, Ni Hongjie and Zhou Yemang, the director's name is unfamiliar to many people - Shao Yihui. Before that, she wrote mostly novels, and also opened a public account, which caused a discussion in an article called "What are the people who graduated from the Beijing Film Academy doing now".
This is also more worthy of further investigation, as a newcomer director, how did she create this "Love Myth"?
Before the dialogue with the pufferfish film and television archives, Shao Yihui had just finished a post-screening Q&A, and when he walked in front of him, his hands were in his pockets, his steps were light, and he was plain but mental. Under her narration, from being briefly abandoned and shelved to becoming first's fastest-hatching venture capital project, the birth of "Love Myth" is quite dramatic; from genre to content, many of the deep meanings interpreted by the audience are actually naturally born with wonderful pens; as a newcomer, her basic method of directing is that everything is for herself to shoot...
To some extent, this movie also seems to be a "rebellion" by Shao Yihui. The following is Shao Yihui's dictation.
Create "Love Myth": I really didn't think about it that much
Now a lot of people ask me, "What do you think?" Are you trying to fill in this type? Do you think the market for middle-aged actresses is too small? "In fact, I didn't think about it so much, and if I really wanted to write, I might not be able to write well."
To be honest, I originally wrote another story, in 2019, a good friend from the past approached me and said he would like to invest money in a film he wrote himself. I was writing novels before, I couldn't publish them, I didn't do anything for a long time, I didn't get any grain, I was confused, I wasn't short of money, I just didn't have any career breakthroughs.
I was also worried that I had no experience, but he gave me a lot of encouragement, he studied directing before, he thought it was easier to be a director than a screenwriter. As soon as he said that, I ignored it. I said I was going to write about a middle-aged man who lost the door to his house and went to find the door. He said it was interesting, it represented a midlife crisis, he lost the door to mean what he lost, there are many images, he liked it.
Then I wrote the script according to this, and at that time I wrote a play, and this middle-aged man, like Lao Bai, could draw and cook without changing. He went to the girl's house he was after. A woman whose home is very broken but very glamorous outside, that is, Miss Li, lives with her mother and her daughter, who is also of mixed race, and then Lao Bai chats with her. It's exactly the same as what was remade now.
Writing this I found that what I like to write is this. It's that men and women are saying something unclear, and they're not really in love or flirting, but the two people are very ambiguous. In fact, the front writing door is a bit hard to write, not so good at not so interested, not excited to write. I deleted the door and began to write about Miss Li, how they had met before, and the writing had become what it is now.
I just want to write about two people who have talked a lot of love and stories in the past, if they are together again, how will they talk about love again, which may be my personal interest. I have a lot of 40-year-old friends around me, men and women, many of them are not married, they are also very dashing, they also have an impact on my creation, that is, subtly accustomed to that group.
But when I wrote the script, I didn't write about how old I was, just what these women looked like and what men were like. The male protagonist is older and thinks well, so that he can live a very idle life, do not have to go to work, and feel that "the plaything is lost" every day. But I'm just writing her story.
I really didn't expect people to laugh so much when they saw this, and when I wrote it, I didn't write it as a comedy at all. There are some that I know might be funny, like those women who are together and you say what I say. Because I usually speak like this, including many articles I have written in the past, especially essays. And I always talk sarcastically, either sarcastically at this or that, and they (the staff next to me) are ridiculed by me every day, but I also always satirize myself (collective laughter).
In the process of writing, I substituted more lao bai, and his various behaviors, buying vegetables, buying clothes, and buying discounted things, were all things I would do. Many of my past novels were also written in a male tone, which is not good.
Let's talk about the old U. He was a disillusioned idealist, he couldn't sit down when he was at home, he faced this loneliness and loneliness would be very painful, so he would go out to eat, every day at that window to see who was playing again, I hurried down to play with him for a while, it seemed to be particularly lively and enthusiastic, but it was all superficial and false.
He was disappointed in the world. The idea of his life is actually an illusory story, I don't know whether it is true or not, but I think he believes it is true. One day that thought was beautiful, and he was suddenly a deflated ball. So when he finishes speaking so emotionally, anything that happens will seem particularly impressive.
The best character has only one way to go, and if the person can go both ways, it's a problem with your play. So Lao Wu this person, if he can live and die, this shows that the previous things are not heavy enough, if it is heavy enough, he only has "one way to die", this is his end.
The first draft was written for 3 months, all written was small, and the emotional class has always been my good at it, so it was very fast. But the previous investor read the script and decided not to do it, he said that this is different from what you told me, there is no door at all, too literary. But it's nothing, I'm grateful to him, and people have given the screenwriter a deposit.
I put the script there and went back to write the novel, and when I finished writing it and couldn't publish it, I opened a public account, and the real purpose was to serialize the novel. Isn't it a fire, and I can write a lot of people. Until three or four months later, the First of 2020 began, anyway, the script was put on the shelf, and it was taken to participate in venture capital.
It's been a particularly fast time since then, and it's now one of First's fastest-hatching films. I went on stage in Xining to talk about this project, and the judges at that time were the current producers Chen Lizhi Chen Zong and Ma Yili. After saying that, the next day, Mr. Chen talked to me and said that he wanted to invite Xu Zheng to be a producer.
Xu Zheng was originally just a producer, and the key point of persuading him to act was that no one could act well except him, and I repeatedly promised him that it would be very easy. Because he has to spend a lot of time to experience once he takes on a role, but he's busy right now. I said I don't need to experience anything, you can wear a wig cover, like a tailor-made, although he may not cook as well.
It was also really relaxing. All the actors finished their work at 9 o'clock every day and walked home, and the actors never encountered this kind of thing. We also never stayed up late, because downtown Shanghai didn't let you shoot at 9 o'clock, and the neighbors would report you.
Three women in one play: let them shine and break stereotypes
I didn't think about it so much when I wrote the first draft, and when I revised it later, I found that these women wrote a little thin, because it was all based on feelings and imaginations, and it was a bit stereotyped at the beginning. I started to "split", after all, it was Gemini, and I had to split into some women.
But the biggest change was after meeting a few actresses during the preparations, and the impact they brought to me was very strong, and everyone was particularly vivid and flexible. I went back and changed this role to be more like them, so that I could play it more easily, I didn't need to think about how to act, and the normal lines were already very good.
Because I like them and want them to shine in my movies, I am willing to release their potential and charm, so sometimes I add some lines or something, such as "rich and idle, husband missing".
Including Bei Bei, the first day we started up was the scene at the tango tavern, because Wu Yue's past image was very gentle, everyone was boudoir, her face was so gentle and beautiful, when she said this "scumbag quote" with a straight face, it was very contrasting, you would be confused by her, and you were shocked at once.
In fact, my original design is also the man is the wrong party, people's stereotypes will be like this, and then I wrote a character synopsis from the perspective of my ex-wife to narrate this matter, I wanted to make her make mistakes, but she is a very cute person.
Because I found it easy to write about ex-wives once I wrote them perfectly. I don't like to create perfect people, whether male or female, the men in "Love Myth" are not perfect, there are too many perfect characters, especially women, especially unreal, where there are so many perfect people in life, we are under a lot of pressure. So these women are normal people, like me and my friends around me, flawed and have strengths and shiny places.
Gloria's money to Lao Bai is also breaking the stereotype and allowing women to regain their subjectivity. Too many men feel that women want to take advantage of themselves, but now many women are like Gloria and don't want to owe men.
They feel that women worship money and snobbery, including many girls who have this concept is also shaped and instilled. Because in the film and television dramas I grew up watching, women always ask men to ask for cars and houses, women love to buy bags, hard work for half a day is to buy bags, I am wronged, I think others look down on me, I must be angry and try to buy bags.
It's all about being molded. There are a bunch of women who are already aware of this problem, both creators and viewers, who on the one hand tell men that I don't want to get money from you, that we can make money ourselves. At the same time, the money I earned didn't want to buy a bag, maybe I bought it, but I didn't want to talk about it again, I didn't want to magnify it.
When I was in junior high school, I loved to watch movies, and I loved to watch Hollywood romance movies, including the American drama "Sex and the City". They will make girls feel that the happiest thing is to fall in love, I also thought it must be ah, TV series in love so happy, people live to talk about love, school, work what does it mean. One is to fall in love, the other is to buy big names to dress up, and "Sex and the City" is all about this consumerism.
So for a long time I didn't jump out, and of course the impact wasn't so far-reaching, because I myself loved to read books or look at other things to neutralize. But the idea must have been transformed, and I have not clearly remembered when it was, it was a natural process.
When I participated in the first final and the Beijing premiere, I wore the same dress, bought online for more than 200 yuan, there was no brand, but I thought I was wearing it very good-looking, but also had commemorative significance.
In fact, the sweatshirt and jeans I wore at the Shanghai premiere were particularly casual, and as a director, there was no need to dress up, so that the female stars could shine brightly. But then I found that the photo was particularly untemperature, and my friends around me also said that you should not wear that when you attend the premiere. I wanted to dress up when I was in Beijing, so I found the dress again. In fact, I tried a lot at home, and some were slightly more expensive, but they were not good enough.
The "self-consciousness" of the newcomer director: so that he can shoot
As a newcomer director, the quality that must be possessed is to save money for the producer and producer, and I don't need the producer to say, thinking about saving money every day. And when I wrote the script, I wanted to shoot it myself, so I would reduce the difficulty, expensive, I knew that I couldn't shoot it at all, and I didn't write the big scenes and the Bund.
Many of the shops in the movie are opened by my friends, and the group performances in them, the uncles who talk to the old white video, are also friends in my life. The play at the beginning was the book I had published in college, and I actually wanted to use a play I liked, but it required copyright, and I didn't need money to use it.
Regarding the rhythm and editing, when it comes to this, I have to boast about it. The shooting is all usable, so the shooting time is not long, more than a month. The cut took longer, more than two months.
In the cut scene, there is a passage in which Lao Bai and Maya walk on the road and talk about her father. Also cut some long shots, such as Lao Bai went to the grocery store to buy things, originally a long shot, in fact, very good-looking, but it is relatively advanced in the whole film, I think at the beginning so slow The audience may be impatient, and they can't bear to cut it.
Because I don't like films with a particularly slow pace, I usually think that people on TV talk very slowly. I just want to make things clear, each scene completes its function, and I hope it is interesting, not too procrastinating.
The dinner table was filmed for about four days, because we were handmade at 9 o'clock, so every night as soon as it was dark, we quickly took a little shot first, and then Teacher Xu, I wanted his subjective perspective, let him carry the machine while shooting and acting, he said the lines while touching the cup, it was really special. But then I cut it off.
The editing principle of that scene is that their eyes change, and the faces of these actors are particularly dramatic, and they can make you have unlimited reverie when there are no lines. I want everyone to see as much as possible the actor's reaction, expression and face. So I can only use fast cut, such as he talks to him, he finishes talking to him to see him, and my camera follows and follows their eyes.
The second dinner table scene is a long shot, in fact, at the beginning it will cut everyone's reaction, including lao bai and lines. But then I felt that it was not right, there was no need to cut, everyone was listening with affection, and watching a back viewer also knew that this person was listening and thinking.
The key is that Mr. Zhou Yemang acted so well, and I think the most important point of editing is to keep the actors in the best state. He acted a total of three, the first one is a little too emotional, Lao Wu can't help but cry a few times, the second is now, I said you must say as casual as possible, because the feelings are too heavy, that kind of thing backlog for too long, you say lightly, others know the weight.
Now that I think about it, it is exactly different from the one where everyone first met for dinner. From the plot point of view, it can also break the audience's expectations, because the audience will think that they are going to fight again after watching the first one, so I will not show you this fight.
The scene in the gallery was temporary, the day before I went to implement the scene, I saw that there was a projection, everyone was very interested in their own shadow, I just did it, with the projection and put a few chairs, it was completed in an hour. The projection is red, white and blue because I like Kieslowski's "Red, White and Blue", and the opening play is also three women in red, white and blue. There is also a consideration, other scenes are more everyday, I hope that there is a scene that can jump out, and the lines of the characters are not so daily.
But the most important thing about that scene is that lao Bai didn't have a photography exhibition when he entered the gallery, there were a lot of photos hanging on the wall, and the photos were all crew members, from the driver, the field worker to the styling director, basically everyone was there, and the investors were also captured. At that time, the art asked me what I wanted to put in this exhibition, and I could also use the words of my artist friends, but it was better to put everyone's photos and have an aftertaste in the future.
I think making movies is a very selfish thing, so many people just want to complete your own expression, what do people rely on? So I often ask myself what qualifications I have to get these people to work for me, and every director should always ask himself.
I didn't shout a word of "card" at the scene, I just couldn't shout it, because I felt particularly rude. This language system is self-determined. When I say "good", "good" I may mean to have another one, and "very good" means very good. I also don't say "start", I say "it's okay, if the actors can, we'll start". When cutting the film, I heard a lot of "good", and I was weak.
In the future, I still want to be a director, before I watched movies at home to learn, I have a lot of time, I watched a lot of miscellaneous, spending ten years to make ten bad movies is not the same as watching ten years of good movies at home.
And I only shoot what I wrote, and I definitely don't want to shoot someone else's writing before I finish shooting what I want to express. My last favorite thing is the remake, and I don't think I should make a film if I don't have anything to say. I like the kind Quentin shoots, but I can't shoot it at the moment, so I'll shoot the most familiar one first. In fact, I still want to shoot something like "Love Myth", because it is very relaxed, everyone is relaxed, and I am also relaxed.