Chapter 37: Chapter 37 Brother Hao Talks About the Script
Editor: Henyee Translations
Early morning, asking for recommendation votes, brothers!
Ten minutes! In these ten minutes, Wang Hao not only had to figure out the general plot of the drama but also point out where it needed changes and how to make those changes. Although this might be considered an opportunity, it felt like nothing much would come of it in reality.
“Alright,” Wang Hao nodded, “but I need to see the script first, at least to know what the genre of this film is.”
“Okay,” Director Gao nodded, “Crew, bring over the film’s synopsis.”
The crew quickly brought over the synopsis. Wang Hao took a quick glance. The film was called “Domestic Agent,” about an agent completing a mission assigned by the state amidst laughter and criticism and eventually winning the beauty’s favor.
No wonder there’s a bank robbery scene; that explains a lot.
After reading the synopsis, Wang Hao’s mind started frantically searching through the spy-related movies and TV shows he had seen before. He came up with four suitable works.
“Kingsman: The Secret Service,” “Domestic Linglingqi,” “The School Beauty’s Personal Bodyguard,” “Super Soldier King.”
Thinking about the plots of these four works and referencing the upcoming scenes, Wang Hao quickly made a choice.
“Domestic Linglingqi!”
“Domestic Linglingqi” was a masterpiece by the previous generation’s comedy king Zhou Xingxing, which had received rave reviews. Its plot and style were quite similar to what they were filming now.
Moreover, in “Domestic Linglingqi,” there happened to be a scene where the protagonist bravely fought off robbers in a gold shop, which fit perfectly here.
“Alright, I’ve finished reading, so I’ll start now,” Wang Hao took a deep breath and continued, “First, the earlier scene in the internet café isn’t reasonable. I know you want to portray the feelings between the male and female protagonists, but I personally think this segment can be combined with the dining scene. The fight scene, while it aims to depict the male lead’s wisdom and courage, isn’t essential.”
“Oh?” Director Gao chuckled, “Then tell me, how would you combine them, and why is it not essential?”
“It’s simple, Director Gao, look here,” Wang Hao recalled the storyline of “Domestic Linglingqi” while speaking, “The male lead fighting the thugs in the internet café leaves the audience with an impression that he’s very strong. Later, when he fights robbers in the bank, the surprise element is lost. Moreover, if I may be blunt, there isn’t a significant conflict between the male lead and the thugs, so it doesn’t really provide a morally justifiable reason for the fight. Additionally, with the internet café and this scene being far apart, it creates a disjointed feeling in the plot.”
Speaking of which, Wang Hao had read quite a number of novels and watched many movies and TV shows, so classic scenes came to his mind effortlessly.
In essence, filming movies has quite a few similarities with writing novels.
For instance, fight scenes.
Any conflict escalating to physical fighting must have a reason. You can’t just have someone say, “What are you looking at?” and the other respond with, “Looking at you, so what?” and then start the fight. That’s obviously a very brainless cliché.
Clearly, by this point, Director Gao had shown some interest. He lit a cigarette, casually tossed one to Wang Hao, and both lit up. Director Gao then asked, “If you were to shoot this scene, how would you do it?”
“If it were up to me,” Wang Hao took a drag from his cigarette, exuding an aura of coolness as he crossed his legs, “I’d cut out the internet café scene entirely. Have the two meet here directly, and change the identities of the thugs from the internet café to the bank robbers—though I always felt that robbing a bank is a foolish move. Besides the bulletproof glass, it’s also hard to escape after the robbery. So, I suggest they rob a gold shop instead, which is easier to flee from after.”
“Rob a gold shop? That’s actually a good idea,” Director Gao pondered, “We can change that. Whether it’s robbing a bank or a gold shop, it’s essentially the same thing, but robbing a gold shop does have a higher success rate.”
By now, Director Gao no longer looked down on Wang Hao, and his tone was softer.
Wang Hao continued, “Next, we’ll simulate the scene. First, the male and female leads meet at the restaurant and reconcile. At this point, the male lead starts bragging about his supreme kung fu. By the way, Director Gao, what’s the protagonist’s fighting skill in our film?”
Director Gao: “Boxing, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts.”
“That’s so low-level,” Wang Hao widened his eyes, “Change it to throwing knives, which is super trendy!”
“Okay, go ahead,” Director Gao chuckled, “If your suggestion is good, the male lead will use throwing knives from now on!”
“Deal,” Wang Hao said, “At this point, the protagonist tells the female lead, ‘Actually, my most impressive skill is throwing knives! Let me tell you, real knife technique doesn’t rely on hands. Guess what it uses? It uses energy! As they say, wielding the knife with energy, once you reach the highest level, you can cut through anything!'”
Then Wang Hao looked skyward, saying emotionally, “In heaven and on earth, no one has ever known where his knife is, nor how it is released. Before the knife is unleashed, no one can imagine its speed and power. And when it is unleashed, it exists only where it should be…”
Just discussing the film’s plot was one thing, but combined with Gulong’s description of Little Li’s Flying Saber, the invincible image created had an instant explosive effect!
“Oh my God, his description of the flying knife is so badass. When the knife is unleashed, it exists only where it should be…”
“Wow, just thinking about such a flying knife is so thrilling!”
“If the male lead plays with knives , he would be amazingly cool!”
“Learning this flying knife technique would definitely make him invincible, standing shoulder to shoulder with the sun…”
The surrounding people began to chatter after hearing Wang Hao describe this. The male lead’s eyes sparkled—if he could play with knives like that, wouldn’t the TV drama be incredibly cool?!
“I didn’t see it before, but you have quite the imagination!” Director Gao’s eyes sparkled with excitement, nodding repeatedly, “Keep going!” By this point, he no longer underestimated Wang Hao and was even eager to see how Wang Hao would revise this part of the plot.
Wang Hao continued his elaborate storytelling, “But even though the protagonist brags about it, the female lead doesn’t believe him. The male lead is about to demonstrate, but the female lead stops him: ‘Alright, enough, let’s eat.’ The male lead feels a bit frustrated and asks: ‘Look at you, still mad at me?’ The female lead gets closer and says: ‘Yes, I wish I could shoot you!’ Just then, suddenly there’s a camera flash, both of them leap up and grab the photographer—guess what?”
Director Gao, on instinct, asked, “What’s up? Is it a spy? An enemy?”
“Neither,” Wang Hao laughed heartily, “It’s just a youngster who found their conversation beautiful and took a photo, thinking they were a happy couple. When they look at the photo, it’s beautiful, and they both smile warmly, reconciled immediately!”
“Brilliant, brilliant,” Director Gao excitedly slapped his thigh, “This is definitely better than reconciling at the internet café! And then?”
By now, people around looked at Wang Hao in various states of astonishment. Lu Tong’s jaw was practically on the floor…
Wang Hao kept going, “Then comes the exciting part——”
Just as he was about to continue with the upcoming scenes, a lazy voice suddenly broke in, “Director Gao, what’s going on? Are you giving the new guy a lesson?”