Tan Xinpei, Tan Yuanshou, the two famous actresses in the past hundred years
Reporter: The filming of this movie involves, first of all, the problem of understanding of the opera. Have you had any previous experience related to making an opera movie?
An Zhanjun: No, is to shoot a TV series a bit of experience, look and do not quite understand, but that tune is good to listen to, and sings the words are very good, the old words of the Beijing Opera are good, but there is no opportunity to have the opportunity to learn well indeed good.
Reporter: This subject matter is very adventurous for you.
An Zhanjun: "Dingjunshan" ah, we are not shooting Peking Opera, we are shooting the movie, the movie inside the movie, that is, the play within the play. Why do you want to shoot Dingjunshan, Dingjunshan why be shot, in what way, through what kind of hard work, the Dingjunshan movie made, in fact, with the Peking Opera is not too much to do.
Reporter: Juan once made "Western Mirror", which is also about the time when the movie first entered China.
An Zhanjun: We made something completely different. That movie was very good. He was talking about 1901, when the movie came into China, and there was a new game, and people were taking pictures back and forth, back and forth. This is 1905, China has opened many movie theaters, but we Chinese have never made a movie. Dingjunshan is the first Chinese movie in the true sense of the word. Why is the birth of Chinese movie counted in this ah, at that time also considered the star system. Tan Xinpei was the king of the opera industry at that time. He played on the singing of the old student, the student usually does not fight, but he is also able to write, and martial arts, picking the high cavity, at that time can enter the palace to the Empress Dowager singing opera, it is he, especially powerful, sixth grade. So if you shoot Tan Xinpei, how many people would have to come to see it. The star system is old in China, and there is no comparison between today and that time.
Reporter: Mr. Tan Yuanshou, the star of the film, is 80 years old, and it was very hard for him to shoot the movie, right?
An Zhanjun: Every day, he would shoot for two hours. One shot to two shots, Mr. Tan in his age has been great, people have children's skills ah. Mr. Tan is particularly amusing, he always said: I have been shooting for three days, let me rest for a day. What? Let me go back to work. Director, I want to finish this movie in one day too. I feel the same way as you. The old man's first time making a movie, very happy, he also said: before shooting "Shajiabang", that is a play, I'm not afraid, this time is the first time to make a movie.
Reporter: I heard it is a story of several young people traveling through time and space. Can you understand the play with Mr. Tan?
An Zhanjun: This version was changed a long time ago. Changed to a photo studio master Ren Jingtai as the main character to discover the advantages of this "Dingjunshan", how to convince Tan Xinpei to make this movie. In the beginning, someone brought me a script with that set layer structure of The French Lieutenant's Woman. I didn't find it very interesting. Now take away the fancy stuff and it still looks good. It's not a problem communicating with Mr. Tan, but he's nervous. He thinks this job is too sacred. The first time I shot in Hengdian, when I shook hands, they were wet. When I took off my shoes, they were wet. When I took off my hat, it was wet. But it's getting better. In fact, it wasn't difficult to shoot Mr. Tan's scenes. The older you get, the more you are like a child, so we coaxed him, said nice things, and played with him, and he was happy, so he was more relaxed. After filming, the old man felt very happy, and his family said: "The old man was very happy when he came home. There is nothing to do but to compare. The old man in the creative process put forward a lot of technical suggestions such as this sentence should not be said, should be said, when their home furnishings. Backstage when the makeup is removed what should be like. It helped us a lot to create.
Build a biography for the first movie of the old ancestors
Reporter: This script is still quite a work in progress, isn't it?
An Zhanjun: It's not about eating kung fu, it's about eating the director. Screenwriter to the director on the end, this is a draft, look at the script is actually a process of opening the way to see if there is attractive, we talk about finding the "point" and "place", with what kind of means in order to shoot an unexpected effect, how much sublimation! The question of how much to sublimate. The director with a high hand can add more points to the script. A director with low hands will pull it down. Of course both will make the screenwriter more marveled ah ah, this is my script? The director to do the script, must be combined with the screenwriter, because the director has a wealth of creative experience and video knowledge, instilled into the screenwriter, the screenwriter has a wealth of material, the two people work together out of a thing. If each one looks after his own, it's all ruined.
Reporter: The script eating effort I'm referring to may also include the koan aspect. I heard that Wanrong's brother, Mr. Runlin, was also invited.
An Zhanjun: Right, we went to the interview came, he also has guidance for the actress. We have to have a sublimation in the characterization, the old man in the character's demeanor, temperament have guidance. Our art room is full of photos from 1904, 1906 and 1907, and when you look at them, they are so far away from the present.
Reporter: "Dingjunshan" is certainly a very limited movie for a specific period and event, did you have any innovative means?
An Zhanjun: Frankly, when I first got the script, I didn't expect to be able to create anything new on the subject. We found inspiration while we were doing it.
Reporter: "Dingjunshan" also needs to be very musical in terms of the subject matter itself.
An Zhanjun: One of the biggest difficulties in the music of Dingjunshan is the combination of modern music and Beijing opera. It's very difficult, but this time it's not bad.
Reporter: "Dingjunshan" should be a very inspirational topic, right?
An Zhanjun: Of course. I have a chorus at the end of this play that just points out the theme of the whole play. On a very spectacular stage, before Huang Zhong and Xiahou Yuan have a duel, they have to send a letter, a running chant: first pass the drums, the war meal to. The second drum, tighten your robe. Three drums, the sword is sheathed. Four drums, hand over your soldiers. If you rush forward, you will be rewarded, but if you retreat, you will inevitably be stabbed. It's the same with work. If you rush up and work hard, you may go up, but if you go back and give up halfway, you'll never make it. At that time, it was a silent movie, people didn't want to shoot it, so how did the small owner of the photo studio convince a big artist to finally make it happen? I don't want anything else, I just want to make a good story of life, a story of pursuing a career, and then I will be satisfied if I can make a monument to our old ancestors and establish a legacy.
Editor-in-chief: Feng Mae
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