On the night after the crew returned from Macau, Chen Chong went to the Hong Kong printing company as usual to watch work samples with Ann Hui.

Although most of the crew's work was handed over to Zeng Lizhen because of his busy schedule, the work sample is a must-see every day. After watching it, he put forward many opinions and suggestions based on his later film viewing experience and the aesthetics of the film that is different from the present for Anhua to refer to in order to try his best to film "Crazy Job".

However, when Chen Chong looked at work samples that night, he felt something was wrong.

There is no problem with the selection of background venues, no problem with the composition of the camera, and no problem with the performance of the actors... Everything seems normal, but he always feels something is wrong.

After reading it again, Chen Chong turned his head and looked at Anhua Xu, who was sitting in the corner, smoking and not talking.

"Director Xu, is there something wrong with the crew?"

"No." Xu Anhua smoked in a coquettish voice, with a low tone, "It was something wrong with me. When I was going to Macau, I suddenly felt that I had no more. In Macau, I tried hard to take pictures, but I always felt that I was not good at taking pictures. I didn't know what I was shooting. I couldn't find that feeling." (Note 1)

Anhua Xu said it was very mysterious, but Chen Chong understood it all at once.

This is an inevitable phenomenon of ghosts hitting the wall after passionate creation.

In his previous life, Chen Chong had encountered many similar situations. For example, he often had sudden inspiration and thought of a wonderful novel idea, and then started writing excitedly. As he wrote, it was not long before, one day or at a certain moment, suddenly it felt boring - is my creativity really amazing? Will anyone read the thing I wrote? Why does my writing look frustrated? My plot seems to be fun...

Such strange thoughts filled the brain, and the passionate writing feeling suddenly disappeared. Not only did you feel that the content you wrote before was meaningless, but the subsequent conception was also pale.

If you can withstand and persist at this time, you may soon turn around. If you can't withstand, then there will be no more...

To put it bluntly, this situation occurs because passion is short-lived after all. Things created in this state are unstable and can only be considered as prototypes. They must be reprocessed afterwards. For more artistic creations such as movies or novels, every time the author processes them in his mind, the freshness will decrease a little. When the freshness completely disappears, he will feel that he can't find the feeling and begin to lose confidence in the work.

Anh Xu and Chen Yunwen wrote the initial script of "Crazy Job", but it took a day to write the typical passionate creation. It is expected that this situation is now encountered.

"Okay, turn it off." Chen Chong ordered the staff to turn off the sample, signaled Zeng Lizhen to clean up the mess, and then said to Anhua Xu: "Director Xu, go out for a walk?"

Anhua Xu nodded, followed him out of the printing workshop.

The two of them were walking casually on the side of the road without making any noise. Ann Hui smoked one after another, while Chen Chong racked his brains to think about how to help her get back to her condition. (Note 2)

This state of ghosts hitting the wall is very difficult to deal with, and outsiders cannot provide much help because it feels like a very personal thing. If it feels like it is gone, how can I find it back cannot be done by just perseverance and encouragement. This is a bit similar to the "sudden enlightenment" mentioned in Zen. It depends entirely on personal understanding and opportunity. If the opportunity comes and realizes it, it will be fine in the moment. If there is no opportunity and cannot realize it, it will be useless for no matter how long it lasts.

"Crazy Joe" has been filmed for most of the time. Judging from the shots shot by Ann Hui in Macau, even if you don't feel it, your level is still first-class. As long as the remaining scenes continue to be filmed step by step, it will not have much impact on the overall quality of the film. However, in order to be perfect, Chen Chong decided to work hard and try his best to help Ann Hui recover his condition.

"Director Xu, I think you have this kind of problem, maybe because you are the first time you are a director, and your emotions are too tense." Chen Chong thought for a long time, and finally thought of a way that was not a solution. "Tomorrow's shooting content is relatively simple. Otherwise, I will ask Sister Zhang to be a director for a day, and you will be a bystander. Different perspectives will have different ideas. Maybe it can give you some inspiration and regain your feelings."

Ann Hui was smoking a cigarette and hesitating. After a while, she said, "Mr. Chen, I am very grateful for your help, but Sylvia Chang has never been a director. If the filming is not good tomorrow..."

"It's okay." Chen Chong smiled and said indifferently: "If the photos are not good, just take them all again."

"But the budget has exceeded a lot." Ann Xu was a little worried, "If the box office was not good after the release, Mr. Chen might lose."

"Don't worry." Chen Chong comforted: "Money is made in places, but movies can only be made once. You can't regret the movie because of money."

"Many people in Hong Kong make movies just to make money." Ann Hui threw away her cigarette butt and said gratefully: "I met someone like Mr. Chen who loved movies for the first time I made a movie. I was so lucky."

If I hadn't had gold fingers, I would definitely be the kind of person who made money by movies...

"How does Director Xu think of Sister Zhang?" Chen Chong was embarrassed, touched his nose and changed the topic, "I think she is very talented."

"She is a very good actor." Ann Hui nodded and said, "I went to find her specifically because I am the first film director and have no experience, but I think that if you have a good script and a good actor, you can make a good movie."

Chen Chong recalled his experiences on the crew these days and agreed: "Sister Zhang is indeed a great performer."

Hollywood has a powerful screenwriter guild. Once the script is written, the director cannot change it, so the actors have sufficient preparation time. In Hong Kong, directors have much more power and are more flexible. Ann Hui often temporarily adds some shots that are not in the script on the set. Chang Ai-jia has to run around with the camera, and then make appropriate movement expressions in a very short time. The performance is quite difficult. However, she completed it very well every time, and it is impossible to tell from the sample that she made it in a hasty manner.

Among the several main actors in the crew, Sylvia Chang is agile and adaptable; Zhao Yazhi is smart, and the director can immediately give a perfect performance after the play; Wan Ziliang is arrogant, even if he is the director's opinion, he doesn't agree with him, and Anhua Xu has a lot of complaints about him; Xu Shaoqiang is rebellious, although his acting skills are impeccable, but his stubborn and hot temper is not likable.

After chatting for a while, Chen Chong asked Zeng Lizhen to send Xu Anhua to him and then took a taxi home by himself.

...

The next day, Chen Chong arrived at the shooting site early, and when Chang Ai Jia arrived, he waved to her to pass.

"A Chong, I'm about to look for you." After that bar date, Sylvia Chang and Shen Chong became much closer and spoke casually. "My grandfather promised to help you write the name of a magazine. When will you want it?"

"There is no rush to do that. I will go to Taiwan in a few days and I will go to visit him in person." Chen Chong said unintentionally: "I will ask Sister Zhang to recommend it at that time."

"Looking at you like this, you seem to be uneasy..." Zhang Aijia looked at Chen Chong suspiciously, but she didn't ask any more questions, putting her short hair scattered in front of her forehead and said, "What are you asking for me?"

"Director Xu has a break today. I want you to take over her and shoot today's footage."

"What's wrong with Sister An? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"No." Chen Chong shook his head and explained: "Director Xu looks very friendly on the surface, but in fact you also know that she likes to resist everything on herself and will not share the pressure with others. So I think she is too nervous. The atmosphere of the camera I took recently was wrong, so let her take a break. You can take a photo today."

"I have never been a director, I have no experience, I'm afraid I can't do it well." Although Chang Aijia refused, her eager expression betrayed her.

"It doesn't matter if you don't have experience, I'm optimistic about you." Chen Chong said with a smile: "If you do anything in this world, you need experience, and human beings will have long been extinct."

"Ah? Why?"

"Because no girl has any experience in giving birth."

"Rogue!" Chang Ai Jia said that he was like a blank, his eyes were flowing, and he was particularly moving, "What if the filming was not good?"

"If you don't have a good shot, just reshoot it until you are satisfied." Chen Chong waved his hand proudly and said, "I am not worried about money-burning people. What are you worried about?"

"Okay, then I'll take pictures today." Zhang Aijia was also a straightforward person and agreed to do the job. "If the filming was a mess, you can't ask me for compensation."

"Don't worry, as long as you didn't film it on purpose." Chen Chong stretched out his hand and joked: "Sister Zhang, congratulations on your successful promotion to director, one term."

"I am the shortest-lived director in the world, right?"

"There is still a chance in the future." Chen Chong laughed, reluctantly let go of Chang Ai Jia's tenderness and said, "Let's go, I'll announce it to the crew."

Sylvia Chang was a little busy at first, but the crew had been working together for more than 20 days, and she had a relatively tacit understanding of cooperation. After all, she had been struggling on the movie set for seven or eight years, and had rich experience. She quickly adjusted her mentality and slowly got into the state. By the afternoon, she could command the crew easily. Although she didn't know how the camera was filmed, her temperament and evolutionary speed were already like a director.

From beginning to end, Ann Hui stood quietly on the side to observe. When she was taking a break from shooting, she ran to the side to smoke alone, frowned.

Chen Chong didn't bother her and let her think.

The script of "Crazy Job" was jointly created by Anhua Xu and Chen Yunwen. Every character in the play and every detail of the story has been calculated in her mind for many times. Before she knew it, a fixed mindset was formed, and the freshness disappeared, so she couldn't find the feeling.

An ancient poem says: "I don't know the true face of Mount Lu because I am in this mountain." Mount Lu is beautiful and beautiful, just like the script of "Crazy Tribulation". Anhua Xu is like a tourist going to Mount Lu. It was very fresh and enthusiastic at first. However, if you go to Mount Lu once every day and walk the same road every time, after a long time, you will get tired and feel gone, and you feel like Mount Lu is just like this...

Chen Chong asked Sang Ai Jia to show Anhua different Lushan Mountain to Anhua - the same mountain, different tour routes, different scenery, the same script, different people filmed it, and different styles.

Hope it will be helpful to Ann Hui...

When watching work samples at night, Chang Aijia followed her. Although it was only one day and she didn't take many shots, it was her first directing.

If you find 50 different directors to shoot in any scene, there will be 50 different ways of shooting. The shots taken by Chang Aijia are completely different from Ann Hui.

When watching the sample, Chang Aijia explained each shot, how he thought about it at that time, why he made such a decision, etc., which was very detailed.

After watching the sample, Ann Hui stood up, hugged Chang Ai Jia, and said gratefully: "Thank you, thank you, you gave me a lot of inspiration."

When Chen Chong saw that there was a show, the excitement plan seemed to be successful and asked quickly: "I feel like I'm back?"

"No, it's not the same feeling as before." Ann Hui said excitedly with bright eyes: "It's a brand new feeling, it feels so good, just like when I first started filming."

"That's good, as long as you feel it." Chen Chong smiled slightly and said, "I have to thank Sister Zhang for giving me different ideas."

"Yes, Yes, Sylvia Chang, you are very talented." Ann Hui nodded repeatedly and said, "The atmosphere of these shots taken today is good."

"Really?" Sylvia Chang asked uncertainly: "I did a good job of taking pictures?"

"Really, the shots were very good, especially if you are still a novice." Ann Hui said with certainty: "Your scene dispatch is very good, most of the shots can be retained, and only a few that do not match the script style and need to be reshooted."

Sylvia Chang looked like a little girl who had obtained candy, with a look of joy.

"Sister Zhang, I gave you a chance." Chen Chong opened his arms and said, "Don't you give me a hug of thanks?"

Zhang Aijia walked over openly, hugged Shen Chong for a moment, and whispered in his ear: "Thank you."

Chen Chong still asked Zeng Lizhen to send Xu Anhua, then stopped a taxi and took Zhang Aijia back.

When he arrived at the place, after getting off the car, Chang Chong rolled down the window and asked, "Sister Zhang, ask you something."

"What's the matter? You said."

"do you have a boyfriend?"

"No." Chang Aijia said with a smile: "Why, do you want to chase me?"

"certainly."

"You are too young." Zhang Aijia thought Chen Chong was joking, but she didn't take it seriously. She bent down and approached the car window, and said, "I like older boys."

"Am I not mature enough?" Chen Chong said, suddenly stretched out his head, kissed Zhang Aijia on the forehead, and said quickly: "Sister Zhang, I like you."

Then he retracted his head and ordered the driver to drive. Through the rearview mirror, he couldn't help but feel happy.

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Note 1: See "Ann Hui's Talks about An Hui"
Chapter completed!