Chapter 39 Overall View

Which Taoist temple is Daju (Ju) Temple... Mr. Jiang asked in his heart.

He didn't understand what Zhang Yuan meant, but he still made a gesture of invitation and asked the other party to continue speaking.

"Although our drama is based on The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, we cannot just focus on The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber when writing the script. We have to combine the Condor Heroes trilogy into one."

Lai Shuiqing opened his mouth and thought, "This kid is talking about areas that I am not familiar with again. I feel so frustrated."

"The trilogy is The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes, and The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber."

“We can start by looking at the core of the three stories.”

"The core of the story of The Legend of the Condor Heroes is actually the word 'chivalrous'."

“Although it was only mentioned in The Return of the Condor Heroes, the saying that the greatest heroes serve their country and their people is the core of The Legend of the Condor Heroes.”

"For a drama centered on chivalry, there must be a lot of martial arts scenes. This can be seen in all the previous versions of The Legend of the Condor Heroes."

"In The Return of the Condor Heroes, the core of the story becomes love."

"What is love in this world? It makes people stay together for life and death. This is the general outline of The Condor Heroes."

"So the TV series of The Return of the Condor Heroes generally have more literary dramas, focusing on expressing the characters' emotions."

"In The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, Mr. Jin's writing skills have become more mature, and the story has changed from one of the previous two works, one of which was more martial and the other was more literary, to a story that combines both martial arts and literature."

"So, if we follow the original intention, the script should have at least equal parts Chinese and martial arts, and not be biased towards one side."

After hearing what Zhang Yuan said, Lai Shuiqing cursed in his heart.

"Fuck, this kid doesn't mention reducing my role, but every sentence he says is about reducing my role!"

The current state of the script is that there are more martial arts scenes and less literary scenes. Zhang Yuan said that we need to balance them, which means we need to increase the literary scenes.

"Haha, little brother Zhang Yuan, you may not understand. TV series are TV series, and novels are novels. We are adapting TV series."

“But adaptation is not random writing, and parody is not nonsense.” After Zhang Yuan finished speaking, he leaned back.

"The plot can be deleted or modified, but the core of the story and the core of the characters cannot be changed, otherwise it will become two different works from the original," he said tit for tat.

"The story of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber revolves around the character Zhang Wuji, and the core of the character of Zhang Wuji is just one word."

"combine!"

"The fusion of yin and yang!"

Lai Shuiqing looked at President Jiang, and seeing that he was listening to Zhang Yuan carefully, he had to calm down.

"Guo Jing, the protagonist of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, is loyal, brave, upright and unyielding, and his character is yang."

"The protagonist of The Return of the Condor Heroes, Yang Guo, is aloof, arrogant, and disdainful of the world. This is the exact opposite of the traditional male protagonist's temperament, and he is yin."

"But in The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, Zhang Wuji's father is one of the five famous Wudang heroes, and his mother is a demon girl from the evil Sky Eagle Sect."

"My two masters, Xie Xun is evil, and Zhang Sanfeng is righteous."

"Moreover, the place where he was born is called Ice and Fire Island, which is the intersection of Yin and Yang."

"So Zhang Wuji's life story is a fusion of yin and yang."

After Zhang Yuan talked about the theory of yin and yang, President Jiang sat up straighter and looked more serious.

He is very interested.

"Let's talk about Kung Fu again."

"Guo Jing used the extremely strong and yang Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, which, like his character, is extremely yang."

"Yang Guo used the Jade Girl Heart Sutra and the Sorrowful Palm, which are clearly Yin."

When talking about the Jade Girl Heart Sutra, three teachers, Shu Qi, Li Lizhen and Xu Jinjiang, suddenly appeared in Zhang Yuan's mind. He shook his head and quickly got rid of them.

"As for Zhang Wuji, Tai Chi sword is definitely a martial art that combines yin and yang, and Qiankun Da Neng Yi is also a martial art that combines yin and yang."

Hearing this, Lai Shuiqing suddenly looked up, as if he had caught Zhang Yuan's flaw, and spoke excitedly.

"Oh, if that's what you're saying, then Zhang Wuji's Kung Fu is a fusion of Yin and Yang, so how do you explain his mental method, the Nine Yang Manual?"

Finally, it’s my turn to do what I’m good at… Lai Shuiqing’s depressed mood was finally relieved. He felt that he had caught Zhang Yuan’s flaw and was as happy as a child.

"No need to explain. The original setting of Nine Yang Manual was the ultimate yang skill. But in the later revised version, Mr. Jin changed this skill into the supreme internal skill of balancing yin and yang and combining hardness and softness."

"This proves that Mr. Jin wanted to design Zhang Wuji as a character with a balance of yin and yang. Otherwise, why would he change it?"

Lai Shuiqing was choked and speechless. I haven’t watched the new version either.

Yang Tao was so pleased to see that Director Lai was tricked by his question that he almost couldn't help laughing out loud.

"Since the protagonists are all characters that balance yin and yang, too much literary or martial arts will destroy this balance."

Why did Zhang Yuan start with the theory of Yin and Yang?
Because Lai Shuiqing was not familiar with the field, he could not refute it.

Secondly, he also asked Yang Tao about Mr. Jiang's personality and hobbies in advance, and knew that the other party would love Chinese studies when he got older.

Besides, most bosses are superstitious, and the theory of yin and yang can suit their interests.

During the preparation stage for the 90 Spring Festival Gala, Feng Gong and Niu Qun performed a skit called "Thieves Company", which won praise from the judges, but was eliminated because the content was too sarcastic, including these two lines.

"If you say you can do it, then you can do it. If you can't do it, that's fine too."

"If you say no, then it's no. If you say yes, then it's no."

"Hengban, you have to accept it."

Although it is sarcastic, it is a golden sentence in the workplace.

It’s useless to have strong abilities, and it’s useless to have no qualifications. What’s useful is the recognition from your leaders!

So from the beginning, Zhang Yuan had no intention of arguing with Lai Shuiqing about the plot, it was useless. His goal had always been to win the trust of Mr. Jiang, just like he won the trust of Zhao Decai.

China is a society based on personal connections, and the most effective way is to win people over.

Now that President Jiang has been "fooled" by Zhang Yuan, he has obviously become interested in him and his theories.

"That makes sense. I didn't expect that Zhang Yuan, despite his young age, knows so much. He even has some knowledge of the Yin-Yang theory." President Jiang praised with a smile, then turned around.

"Director Lai, how come you didn't know that there are differences between the revised version and the old version of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber?"

Lai Shuiqing forced an awkward smile, not knowing how to answer, so he had to change the subject.

"Zhang Yuan, even if what you said makes some sense, this is a martial arts film, and the audience is here to watch the fighting scenes. It won't work if there are fewer fighting scenes."

Zhang Yuan chuckled, "Director Lai, if the audience loves to watch martial arts scenes, then why did you go north?"

The second time, Lai Shuiqing was choked by Zhang Yuan and was speechless.

Yes, if martial arts movies are so popular, then why is the Hong Kong film industry in decline, and why do you want to come to the capital to make a living?

Zhang Yuan left Lai Shuiqing alone to doubt his life, and continued.

"Boss Jiang, the big picture I'm talking about is not just about reading the three novels together and understanding Mr. Jin's core ideas, but there are other aspects as well."

"Let's talk about it in detail." President Jiang became more and more interested in this young man and ignored the depressed Director Lai.

"From the perspective of crew costs, martial arts scenes are very expensive, including training, wire work, filming locations, and a large number of extras. Too many martial arts scenes can easily lead to overspending."

"More importantly, the market and audience tastes have changed!"

“What is the fastest-growing TV drama genre in the past two years?”

"What?" President Jiang completely got into Zhang Yuan's rhythm.

"Idol!"

Hiss... Mr. Jiang thought about it and realized that it was true.

Whether from Taiwan or South Korea, they have been rampant in the mainland film and television industry in recent years.

"Meteor Garden" was broadcast at the beginning of the year, but it was banned by the Radio, Film and Television Bureau just a few days later, as it was believed to have a negative social impact on young people.

But even so, it still couldn't stop everyone from flocking to it, and pirated discs were sold out.

Zhang Yuan is well aware that the ancient idol dramas that the young people of later generations in China love to watch are actually an extension of martial arts dramas. In particular, the rise of martial arts dramas after "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" planted the seeds for the explosion of ancient idol dramas in later generations.

"Since everyone loves watching idol dramas, let's make The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber a costume idol drama and add more romances between handsome men and beautiful women."

"It can attract young audiences and it's not as expensive as shooting martial arts scenes. Isn't it killing two birds with one stone?"

What do men like to see? Answer: beautiful women.

What do women like to see? The answer: handsome boys.

It's actually that simple.

Oh... Mr. Jiang finally understood that this was the overall view that Zhang Yuan was talking about.

Lai Shuiqing and Yang Tao tried again and again, but all they could see was the inside story.

But Zhang Yuan saw beyond the story.

The author's thoughts, cost considerations, market considerations...

President Jiang glanced at Lai Shuiqing and Yang Tao, then at Zhang Yuan, thinking that these two directors were fighting all the time, but it was Zhang Yuan's words that touched my heart.

As an investor, he only cares about two things.

1. How much it will cost.

2. How much money can be earned.

Zhang Yuan’s judgment on cost and market just hit his G-spot.

"Director Lai, what do you think of Zhang Yuan's statement?" President Jiang asked in a friendly tone.

Lai Shuiqing thought, what other opinions do I have? Every word I said was retorted by this sharp-tongued boy.

Director Lai is not a fool either. Zhang Yuan said he knows the cost of martial arts scenes best, and it is indeed expensive.

As for the idea of ​​market preference, although he didn't want to admit it, he vaguely felt that Zhang Yuan's judgment was correct.

Lai Shuiqing glanced at Yang Tao, and was so angry at the other party's smug look that he gritted his teeth.

But after being angry, I felt a little envious.

Where did Lao Yang find such a talented person? Why have I never met such a talented young man?

Director Lai shook his head helplessly.

"Okay, then let's call the screenwriter and make some adjustments to the focus of the script." President Jiang concluded.

"Boss Jiang, Director Lai, Director Yang, I have said everything I need to say, so I will not disturb you any more. Please continue with your business."

Zhang Yuan stood up. President Jiang was stunned for a moment, then he smiled with satisfaction and nodded in agreement.

"When the work is done, he will leave, hiding his achievements and fame..." Lai Shuiqing looked at Zhang Yuan's departing back and suddenly thought of Li Bai's "Song of the Knight-errant".

He is not arrogant when he wins, and he is not as impetuous as other young people who would like others to praise them to the sky if they achieve something.

Instead, he took a step back at this time.

This kid is so good!
Director Lai began to cherish his talent at this time.

This Zhang Yuan really has some chivalrous demeanor...

(End of this chapter)