Chapter 197: Journey to the West
The news that Mr. Wang had suffered a stroke spread very secretly. When most people heard the news, they just sighed. After all, he was a well-known writer and had written many popular articles.
Liu Hongmin learned the news from Liu Xinwu and set off a few firecrackers to celebrate.
Professor Xia was extremely anxious. His current position was very important and he could not be at the front, so he had to find someone else to be his face.
After thinking for a long time, he finally found someone who was barely qualified. He picked up the phone and called, "Uncle Jiang, this is Xia Yi. You should know that Uncle Wang had a stroke and was hospitalized, right? I think as a leader in the literary world, you should stand up and speak out..."
Wildfires cannot extinguish them; they will grow again in the spring breeze. Traitors are as tenacious as weeds; when one is gone, a new one will grow.
The time goes back to September 1986. After half a month of script reading, the script of "Duds" had been polished to perfection, so the crew went to Dahebao for filming.
Liu Hongmin did not follow. He knew nothing about filming, so he did not give any instructions.
Tomorrow the film company will send Mai Zishan to serve as deputy director and also to oversee the finances.
There are very few actors and actresses in "Duds", so except for the American philanthropist who was recruited from Hong Kong, all other roles are played by mainland actors.
This film is just to verify whether the co-production model is feasible. Only if this film is successful, the remaining three films can be filmed.
As soon as the crew of "Duds" left, Liu Hongmin received a call from Director Wang of the Central TV Station.
"Comrade Hongmin, Journey to the West has been completed. Could you please come and take a look and give us some suggestions?"
"Oh?" Liu Hongmin was a little surprised, "All finished?"
Since China Media started selling advertisements, the funding was still sufficient. Therefore, the investment in Journey to the West increased again and again, and finally exceeded 20 million.
Yang Jie is also a bold man. He knows how to shoot with a small budget and how to shoot with a large budget.
Originally, she only wanted to shoot 20 episodes, but later she found out that the station had money, so she immediately went to Director Wang to increase the number of episodes to 30. After a year of shooting, she saw that the station had money again, so she asked Director Wang for money again and increased the number of episodes to 40. Another year later, she found out that the station still had money, so she asked Director Wang for money again and increased the number of episodes to 50.
Therefore, the production of Journey to the West was delayed again and again, and it was delayed from 83 to 86. If Yang Jie had not felt that continuing the filming would just be a soulless repetition, it would probably have been delayed further.
Director Wang was also helpless. He had long wanted Yang Jie to finish the production quickly so that he could meet audiences across the country.
You have to know that the filming of "Journey to the West" is something that the whole country is paying attention to. As long as it is well filmed, it will definitely become a phenomenal TV series after it is broadcast.
This is a political achievement! If Yang Jie delays for another two years, his term will be over, and he will be making things easier for others.
Fortunately, Yang Jie was sensible, otherwise he might have to resort to some extraordinary measures.
In order to ensure that there were no mistakes in "Journey to the West", Director Wang invited many leaders and celebrities in the cultural field to watch it. If there were any mistakes, they could be corrected in time.
Liu Hongmin went to the middle stage and attended the preview. As soon as he got off the car, he met an acquaintance, "Teacher He, long time no see."
He Qizhi criticized: "Hongmin, you are so mean. You didn't even leave me such a good book like Let the Bullets Fly."
Liu Hongmin smiled and said, "Teacher He, you are wronging me. It's because you don't have the courage of Teacher Liu." He Qizhi was speechless, "He is the editor-in-chief, and I am just an editor. How can you compare me with him?"
Liu Hongmin spread his hands, "Then I have no other choice."
He Qizhi stopped worrying about it and put the matter of "Let the Bullets Fly" aside.
"Hongmin, I heard that you also contributed to the filming of Journey to the West?"
"I didn't do anything. I just lent it to the crew of Journey to the West."
"It's good to be rich. You can lend me $200,000 whenever you want."
"I was planning to invest in Journey to the West, but unfortunately there was no relevant policy. I only had 200,000 yuan at the time, so I gave it all to Zhongtai."
He Qizhi felt that he was being tricked. From what Liu Hongmin said, if he had more money at that time, he would have lent more to Zhongtai.
His guess was correct. Liu Hongmin did want to lend more to China National Radio at that time, preferably enough to finish filming Journey to the West. In this way, Journey to the West could be broadcast as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, Liu Hongmin only had 200,000 yuan at the time. When Zhongtai returned the money, Liu Hongmin specifically asked if it was enough to film Journey to the West.
At that time, Director Wang said enough was enough, so Liu Hongmin didn't pay too much attention to it. But who would have thought that Yang Jie would ask for money again and again, and Journey to the West became more and more bloated, slowly becoming a long novel of 50 episodes.
In this age when a TV series of 20 episodes is considered a long one, a 50-episode "Journey to the West" is simply a behemoth.
The two entered the venue, where there were already quite a few people. He Qizhi knew many people, so he greeted Liu Hongmin and went to talk to his acquaintances.
Many famous writers are here today, so how could He Qizhi miss such a good opportunity to collect manuscripts?
When Liu Hongmin saw someone he knew, he simply nodded as a greeting. Then he found a seat and sat down, waiting for the preview to begin.
In order to facilitate the viewing, the central station brought a movie projector and played "Journey to the West" as a movie. Although the picture may be a little distorted due to the resolution, as long as the seats are far enough away, it will not affect the viewing.
Soon, the preview time came. The lights in the theater went out and the screen lit up.
Liu Hongmin watched it very carefully, and he soon found that the first few episodes were very similar to the ones he had seen, with basically no difference. These should have been shot by Yang Jie at the beginning, when the budget was tight and the shooting conditions were similar to those in his previous life.
The special effects have not improved much compared to the previous life, and it has been upgraded from 50 cents to one yuan.
After Sun Wukong was rescued from the Five Finger Mountain by Tang Monk, the scene of him capturing the Little White Dragon in Yingchoujian increased a lot.
There is no doubt about the ability of director Yang Jie. Although the 50-episode "Journey to the West" is a bit long, it shows more details.
Just like the 20-episode Journey to the West in the previous life, the 50-episode Journey to the West is also a classic. And because the number of episodes is one and a half times more, it is even more classic than the 20-episode Journey to the West.
After more than ten days of previews, Liu Hongmin wrote down some comments. The production had already been completed, and it was impossible to make major changes.
Most of the shots written by Liu Hongmin are bloopers. If there are any that need to be replaced, replace them. If there are no replacements, just keep them as they are.
(End of this chapter)
