Wang Yue, chief reporter of Peninsula All Media
"If people don't have dreams, what's the difference between them and salted fish?" This is Stephen Chow's classic line.
Many years ago, the movie "I Am a Passerby" directed by Er Dongsheng reproduced the heartache behind the Actor of Hengdian Dragon Set, and on the way to chasing the film and television dream, some people gave up and some insisted. The 38-year-old Han Fei was also one of them, from the "background tool man" of Hengdian to the assistant director and producer of many film and television films, experienced sadness, loneliness, and cold eyes, but finally defeated the idea of "giving up", all the way to the crawl, with a wave of love and unremitting pursuit of dreams, returned to his hometown Qingdao when there was a small harvest, hoping to add his own hot firewood to the cause of the film and television capital.
Han Fei at work.
<h4>Dreams are on your doorstep</h4>
At two o'clock in the morning of June 3, a residential building in Lingzhushan Street in the West Coast New Area, a family's window was still shining, and in the house, Han Fei was eating a late-night snack while sorting out the information of the new project that was about to enter the Oriental Film Capital.
Non-stop during the day, falling asleep at two or three o'clock in the morning, has become the norm of his life. Fourteen years of "horizontal drift" and "north drift" life, countless big night dramas, and now want to return to normal work and rest has almost become a luxury.
Pushing open the bedroom door, seeing his wife and children who have fallen asleep, a sense of happiness surged into his heart, for his family, he always felt that he owed too much, especially the eldest son Hemiao was 6 years old this year, and he had hardly seen his father's face before the age of 3. "In 2018, when I came home from the crew, as soon as I entered the door, my 3-year-old son cried out in fright, hid behind my daughter-in-law and kept shouting 'Let this person go', at that moment, I felt that my world collapsed, and I squatted on the ground in pain."
Also this year, Han Fei's mother needed surgery because of lumbar spinal stenosis, and his wife was pregnant with a second child, these close relatives needed his company, but he was reluctant to give up his dream. During that time, his heart was tormented, irritable, helpless, depressed... Intertwined, the 35-year-old man had a large patch of white hair.
"Just when I was struggling with pain, a big brother in the circle told me that Oriental Film was recruiting producers and recommended me to try." As a native of Qingdao, Han Fei's home is in Liujiazhuang Village, Liuhuapo, West Coast New Area, close to the Oriental Film Capital at his doorstep, but because he has never done in-depth understanding of this fast-growing and unlimited potential film and television platform for many years, he suddenly became enlightened.
"The beautiful Lingzhu Mountain, behind the mountain there is my concern, in front of the mountain there is my dream, the two are so close, isn't all this the best arrangement?" Han Fei no longer hesitated, successfully passed the recruitment and interview, and became an outreach producer in the film capital.
Han Fei feels that he is lucky, 2018 is the year when Oriental Film capital has started rapid development, many blockbuster films such as "Fengshen Trilogy" and "Assassination of Novelists" have landed, and "Wandering Earth" and "Crazy Aliens" that detonated the Spring Festival of the following year have been filmed. Joining the Oriental Film Capital at this juncture, he seems to be standing on the shoulders of giants, and has never touched the film dream in his heart so closely.
Three years after joining the company, overtime on weekends and holidays has become the norm for Han Fei, because the outreach work is indeed very busy and cumbersome, and a day of absence will accumulate a lot of things, if you don't like this work, no enthusiasm, you really can't stick to it. So when family and work clashed, Han Fei chose the latter. "The most impressive one was on February 9, 2019, the fifth day of the first lunar month, my daughter-in-law gave birth to a child in the Huangdao District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, and that day happened to be the first day of the variety show "Creation Camp 2019" to enter the Film City Industrial Park." On the same day, on the one hand, there were people constantly looking for docking work on the spot, and on the other hand, there were phone calls urging him to go to the hospital, Han Fei fidgeted in the hall of the complex building, and his palms were full of sweat in the winter, "When the news of the safety of mother and daughter came on the phone, I sat paralyzed on the steps of the door of Block A with tears in my eyes..."
As soon as the evening work was over, Han Fei rushed to the hospital to make amends with his mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, "I swore that I would come home early after work to burn my best crucian carp soup, and I would definitely serve the confinement well." As a result, when it was time to be discharged from the hospital, he received the task of taking Xu Ke's directorial team to survey the scene..." Han Fei, who came out early and returned late, never fulfilled his promise.
<h4>The whole person came alive</h4>
At present, Han Fei is busy with the re-production of the "Human Design" crew, and also participates in the operation plan formulation of the Qingdao film and television location in Zangma Mountain, the preliminary preparation of the rare scene construction project of oriental films, and the outreach scene, vehicle, group performance and other work of the new project entering the park, as if his film and television genes are innate.
Looking back, Han Fei was also the first batch of film and television students trained in the first middle school of the development zone that year. "When I was in college, I studied film and television acting, and after graduation, my classmates went to Beijing and Shanghai, starting as professional actors and hoping to become famous overnight. Considering my general appearance conditions, I thought that I would start from the lowest level, so I went to Hengdian to become a mass actor. ”
When Han Fei was performing in Hengdian, he staged "Eight Hundred Mile Express".
The ideal is very full, the reality is very bone. In 2004, Han Fei, who had just arrived in Hengdian, found that it was not easy to become a mass actor. "The demand for group performances was limited, but there were a lot of people who wanted to be photogenic, and I didn't even sign up for the first week."
After Inquiring everywhere, Han Fei understood a truth - the early birds have insects to eat. At that time, the Hengdian group performance guild system was not perfect, the group performance leader was very small, and there was no way to register through the WeChat group, and if you wanted to play, you could only rely on waiting for the crew at the entrance of the guild to recruit people, so Han Fei squatted at the door of the group performance guild at five o'clock every morning, "After a few days, I finally got the first opportunity to star, although the performance was only a soldier standing in the back of the scene."
Han Fei took a group photo with actor Liu Tao while working as a special actor in Hengdian.
Everything is difficult at the beginning, with the first step of "soldier tool man", Han Fei's opportunities to appear in group performances have gradually increased, and he can perform at least two or three days a week. However, at that time, the group actor's remuneration was very low, and he could only earn 20 yuan a day of hard work, in order to honor the "bold words" when he went out and wandered, Han Fei could only rent the kind of house that was separated by 50 yuan per month and separated by wooden boards, bought a foam mat on the ground, and then spread the futon, and became a bed. "It turns out that I, a northerner, still underestimated the wet and cold of the southern winter, which was really a feeling of coldness to the bone marrow, and I couldn't help but shiver after a little thought."
After more than two months of group performances, Han Fei wanted to go further and play some small roles with shots, reactions and even lines. In daily shooting, the assistant director of the crew will often send some chores in the group performance pile, such as picking people to play the car driver who sells coolies, the dead body lying in the water, etc. "At that time, this kind of work was not extra money, and the group performers heard the picks, they all retreated, only I always rushed forward." After a long time, the assistant directors and team leaders let Han Fei play some small special roles such as the little two who were pushed down and the beggars who fell into the river, "This is exactly what I hope for the most, because I can finally upgrade from the background 'props' to the small people who are alive in the foreground, with close-up shots in the film and television, and even simple lines, I feel that the whole person is alive." ”
Profile photo of Han Fei when he was performing in a group.
However, this mood disappeared in an instant. Once, Han Fei took over a role of shop boy with many lines, "The director felt that I was not flexible enough, and the scene scolded, and the group actor next to him also laughed, 'On this acting skill, it is not as good as me'... At that time, I was young and face-loving, and I really had the feeling that I didn't want to come out to see people again. ”
That night, I was ready to pack up and go home, "But I have already survived this, so will I go back like this?" Han Fei thought about it, but he still had to insist.
<h4>I made the studio yellow</h4>
"Dude, your face is too big, and your image is not characteristic, it is not appropriate." An assistant director advised Han Fei. In 2005, after acting for more than half a year, Han Fei plucked up the courage to become a real actor. Therefore, the actor's model card and materials were designed, and the crew participated in the audition one by one. "But soon, I found that the way forward was blocked again." After looking in the mirror in the rental house for a day, Han Fei couldn't help but sigh, "People don't seem to be blind, in professional terms, it's not ugly, it's no features." Actors can have a chance regardless of beauty and ugliness, but the public face is difficult. ”
From the group performance can only earn three or four hundred yuan a month, to the performance after the special contract to earn two or three thousand yuan a month, even if the life savings are only enough to feed, it is impossible to send money to the family. Walking on the road of Hengdian, Han Fei found that many crews often recruit temporary field managers, lighting assistants and other behind-the-scenes positions, which can be tried. He took advantage of the lack of drama to go part-time, moving tracks, carrying counterweights, carrying headlights, and began the days of "professional iron".
In addition to acting on the set, Han Fei is not idle, seeing which department needs help to take the handle, he will also take the initiative to help the deputy director organize Zhang Luo's group performance arrangement and arrangement, "Many of the deputy directors of the crew like me very much, let me be a temporary assistant to them, for a long time, I am familiar with the work of the on-site assistant director." ”
In 2006, the Korean movie "Zhongtian" was filmed in Hengdian, because there were many group performances, and the Chinese executive director planned to find two on-site assistant directors in Hengdian to assist in the work, and Han Fei successfully entered the group and became a real film and television behind-the-scenes worker.
Since then, he has successively served as an assistant director of several film and television dramas such as "Wind Like a Song", served as a cinematographer in several digital films such as "Revenge Dance" and "Simple Happiness", and also taught himself editing and animation. His independently produced animation "Hero Kaka" won the second place in the Cool Six Network Rising Antivirus Software Advertising Film Contest, and the independent production and photography advertising film "Our Love" and "Hope" won the first place in the Coca-Cola Advertising Film Contest.
The income gradually increased, and in 2007, Han Fei established his own studio in Hengdian. "During that time, I bought cameras and other equipment, gathered a group of teachers and sisters to start a business, and although the works I shot were liked by some online audiences, there were too few ways to monetize in that era, and I couldn't make any money, and by 2008, I had exhausted my family." In desperation, Han Fei could only shoot DV videos for tourists. "In the end, the studio was yellow, a bunch of teachers and brothers complained, and my self-confidence was completely hit, and I once again had the idea of returning to Qingdao."
<h4>As soon as I ate a box lunch, I wanted to squat</h4>
After escaping for a period of time, in 2010, Han Fei got the opportunity to participate in the TV series "The Founding Years" prepared by the People's Liberation Army Bayi Film Studio, thus getting acquainted with the mentor and famous director Chen Li on the road of directing, and serving as an assistant director in several major theme projects of bayi Factory such as "Xiangjiang North Go" and "Haitang Still", and then got to know the famous director An Lan, who served as a producer in projects such as "Luring Wolves" and "Conference Division" directed by him. "This put an end to my career as a drifter and started eight years of north drift."
In fact, the days after that are not really north drift, the preparatory period of the film and television project is in Beijing, once the start, Han Fei will follow the crew to run around in the south and north of the south sea. "Assistant director is actually a job category, all to assist the director in shooting and creating, I have done the actor assistant director, the scene assistant director, and now the responsibilities and departments are more detailed."
Han Fei at work.
The on-site assistant director must be nervous about the shooting in front of the scene, but also have to pay attention to the preparation of the next scene, and there is almost no time to sit down in a day, enduring both mental and physical fatigue. Han Fei felt that the leg skills when surveying the scenery should be practiced when he was an assistant director. "Sometimes after a busy day, when I eat on the spot in the evening, I will squat on the ground with a box lunch and eat it. It's not that you don't want to sit, it's that you don't want to get up when you sit. Human inertia is terrible, the more you sit, the more tired you feel, the more relaxed you are, the more you don't want to stand up again. If you think about the night scene shooting at night, you can't easily relax. So much so that when I pick up a box lunch, I want to squat down to eat it, which has become a habit of mine. ”
The most tiring thing is to shoot big scenes. In November 2011, Han Fei filmed the movie "Xiangjiang North" in Changsha, there was a scene of patriotic young people shouting and running in the mountain rain, dancing enthusiastically, the winter of Yuelu Mountain was still quite cold, the artificial heavy rain poured on the body made people's hands and feet tingle, filmed twice, the emotions of the actors could not be mobilized, Han Fei simply took off his clothes and went on the field, "When the director shouted, the actors quickly ran into the tent with electric heating, but I could not take care of heating, put on the military coat, and continued to organize the staff to prepare for the next scene." After returning to the hotel in the evening, I found that my feet were swollen. ”
When filming the movie "Xiangjiang North", when he saw the script describing the people striking iron and the hammer and sickle bursting out of Mars, Han Fei knew that this scene was of great significance, and the action must be real and powerful, not fooled, and no stuntmen could be used. In order to ensure the quality of this scene, Han Fei spent two days of lunch time between shooting, learned to play iron with the teacher of the local blacksmith shop, and taught the actors one by one in the gap time of the next week.
With the crew.
Being a producer is different from an assistant director, an assistant director is a specialized technical job, and the producer needs to be comprehensive, to the larger extent, it is necessary to understand all the important links in the upstream and downstream of the entire film and television production, from the planning of the early stage of the project to the publicity and distribution in the later stage of the project. In detail, we need to pay attention to every nuance of the crew's eating, drinking, and sleeping, from a paper cup on the set, a chicken leg in a box lunch, and an invoice with a denomination of a few dollars.
The film "The Green Onion Years", shot in 2016, is the most difficult project that Han Fei felt after becoming the production director, the project producer is his college classmate, the funds are extremely tight, "I took over this project out of friendship, and then I served as the production director and production coordinator." After the start of the production team is not enough, I also undertook the work of life production and outreach production, one person to do the work of four people, sleep less, feel dizzy at every moment, had to carry a box of cool oil, from time to time to wipe a little on the face, so that they can stay awake. Despite this, in the last few days of the pre-killing, I still felt a bit of a thinking block, when buying something, the double-digit addition and subtraction method was calculated for more than ten seconds. ”
After the play, Han Fei told himself that he should be stable in his thirties and could no longer be as stunned as when he first arrived at Hengdian. In 2018, Han flew home, ending fourteen years of "wandering" outside.
"After half a month of busyness, I want to take my family to see the movie "The Island Keeper."" Han Fei is looking forward to the release of the film on June 18, the director and chief screenwriter is Han Fei's "mentor" Chen Li, and some of the water dramas in the film are filmed at the underwater production center of the Oriental Film and Television Industrial Park.