Chapter 310 Joining the Filming Group
This was not Jiang Heng’s first visit to Hengdian, nor was it his first time meeting Xu Yongan.

But if we talk about the grandest scene and the most formal ceremony, it has to be this time.

After all, the halo of the global box office champion in film history is so dazzling. The box office has exceeded 2 billion US dollars and is still rising.

In the past, this number was unimaginable, but now it has been achieved by a Chinese-language film, making many people feel as if they are in a dream, full of a sense of unreality.

Xu Yongan had the same feeling. He knew that Jiang Heng was very capable and had some knowledge of 3D movies.

But I never thought that Jiang Heng could make such an immersive and shocking film.

To be honest, Xu Yongan, who just watched the IMAX 3D version of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons", was really stunned.

The feeling is similar to the shock of a movie going from silent to sound, and black and white being replaced by color.

Today, the global film market has entered the "three-dimensional" era from the "flat" era, and it is still Chinese-language films that are leading the way. Xu Yongan feels proud of this.

He very politely invited Jiang Heng to attend the dinner he had prepared, and said that local leaders would also attend.

The fancy sedan is carried by everyone, and now it's on someone else's territory, so we must give it some face.

Jiang Heng agreed with a smile, and after a few more pleasantries, Xu Yongan and his party left.

In the evening, Jiang Heng and several main creative staff members of "A Chinese Ghost Story" attended the dinner together, eating, drinking and chatting.

Local leaders came to see Jiang Heng more out of curiosity.

I just want to see what the tough guy who broke the global box office record of "Titanic" looks like.

At the same time, I think Jiang Heng is bringing glory to the country. After all, China has been developing continuously for so many years, and there are not many areas where it has truly surpassed Europe and the United States. Even the total economic volume did not surpass Japan until 2010, becoming the world's second largest economy.

The meal was enjoyable and quite enjoyable.

The next day, Jiang Heng officially joined the crew and began filming the scenes related to "Ning Caichen".

One more thing to mention is that Nie Xiaoqian is a female ghost in both the original novel and the Hong Kong movie.

Nie Xiaoqian in the mainland TV series "A Human and a Ghost" broadcast in 2000 is also a female ghost.

In 2003, in the TV series "A Chinese Ghost Story" starring Xu Xiyuan, Chen Xiaodong, Wu Jing and others, Nie Xiaoqian's identity was changed to a fox fairy.

The reason is naturally that the radio, film and television do not advocate "ghost theory", so in subsequent mainland film and television dramas, female ghost characters are often changed into fox demons.

Speaking of which, in the play "Havoc in Heaven", the Ox-Head and Horse-Faced Demons appear at the very beginning, and Jin Chaoqun also makes a guest appearance as the King of Hell.

Fortunately, it is based on the adaptation of a famous novel and explains the great significance of the play, which can be considered a lenient treatment.

As for the version of "A Chinese Ghost Story" directed by Guo Fan, Nie Xiaoqian's identity has become a fox fairy.

The plot is also much simpler. It is about the scholar Ning Caichen who stayed overnight in Lanruo Temple and was seduced by a fox demon, which later led to a battle with Yan Chixia, the tree demon Lao Lao and others.

The main feature of this film is still special effects.

As the saying goes, when a country is about to perish, there will be evil spirits.

Whether it is Ning Caichen, who is weak and powerless, or Yan Chixia, who possesses powerful Taoist skills, they are all mortals. Living in a chaotic world full of evil spirits and demons, they have a strong sense of powerlessness.

A lot of the film will be devoted to showing these things, and the overall style is still relatively dark and scary.

As for the love scenes, well, Jiang Heng is indeed not good at love, but fortunately it is not melodramatic and there is no "Yan Chixia falls in love with Nie Xiaoqian" plot. Instead, the focus is on depicting the difficulties and hardships of a young couple trying to survive in troubled times.

The overall feeling is a bit like a mortal who accidentally entered Xiniu Hezhou, a place full of monsters.

At the same time, it draws on "White Snake: Origin" and adds a little sensationalism.

In the end, one of them is bound to die...

"Director Jiang, you look so bookish, like Ning Caichen who walked out of a book!" In the dressing room, after Jiang Heng put on makeup and changed his clothes, the assistant director complimented him.

The other people in the room also praised Jiang Heng's appearance and temperament.

Jiang Heng was helpless, "Alright, let's talk about the compliments another day, let's just start filming first!"

"Okay, let's shoot first!"

Everyone returned to their seats, and Jiang Heng also sat in the dilapidated temple.

Because this drama consists mostly of night scenes, we mainly shot indoor scenes and a small number of outdoor scenes during the day.

This scene is about Nie Xiaoqian seducing Ning Caichen in the house.

Liu Yifei and Jiang Heng have a good relationship and she was not shy during the filming. Occasionally, when she went too far, she had to restrain herself.

Some of the staff members in the venue laughed secretly.

Some people also envy Liu Yifei for finding such a good "meal ticket".

The actor who plays Yan Chixia in the film is Wang Hui, who also played the Thirteenth Prince Yinxiang, the Executive Vice Emperor in "The Yongzheng Dynasty".

The reason for choosing him was mainly because I felt that he looked more upright and chivalrous, and his role as Yan Chixia in "A Man and a Ghost" was also acceptable.

To be honest, Wang Hui was very surprised when he received the invitation. After all, he had been in the film industry for so many years, and his most well-known role, "The Thirteenth Master", was just a supporting role in a TV series.

He has acted in a few movies, such as Cao Hong in "Red Cliff", but he didn't have many roles.

Now, he can play the second male lead in Jiang Heng's film, which is really a blessing from heaven.

Well, although the director of this play is Guo Fan, he is not really famous.

Jiang Heng was both the producer and the leading male actor, so the outside world naturally regarded this movie as Jiang Heng's work. Even the crew members thought so, including Guo Fan.

Although Jiang Heng had delegated power again and again, Guo Fan still patiently asked for instructions and reported, as if he regarded himself as the executive director.

Seeing that the indoor scenes were filmed smoothly, Guo Fan was also very happy. He stepped forward and said, "You are worthy of being Director Jiang. The expressions, tone, lines, and movements, every detail can be used as teaching materials for students to study repeatedly!"

Jiang Heng laughed, "According to what you said, I can go to Beijing Film Academy to be a teacher!"

Guo Fan said: "If you go to Beijing Film Academy to be a teacher, the number of applicants will increase by more than ten times, and the number of students at the Central Academy of Drama and the Shanghai Theatre Academy will be reduced by more than half!"

Jiang Heng laughed, "You are really good at talking!"

We shoot for a while and take a break during the day, so the pace is not particularly fast.

It was busier at night because most of the fighting scenes in this film took place at night.

The actress who plays the tree demon grandma is Mao Weitao, who played Dongfang Bubai in the CCTV version of "Swordsman". There were no problems with her acting and martial arts scenes, and the filming went relatively smoothly.

In a flash, more than ten days passed and Jiang Heng had almost finished filming his scenes in "A Chinese Ghost Story".

One day, the assistant suddenly came over and waited until Jiang Heng was free before saying, "Director Jiang, Liu Cixin just called and said that he has finally finished writing the third part and wants to come over to give you the manuscript!"

"Oh, you've finally finished it? I thought I'd have to wait until next year!"

Many novels have an amazing beginning but a bad ending.

A typical example is "Zhu Xian". Perhaps the beginning was too well written, or perhaps there were too many characters and clues and they were too messy, so the author himself couldn't remember them later.

In short, it took a long time to complete, and readers are still not very satisfied.

(End of this chapter)