Chapter 895: "The Blackbird" - The Righteous Character - Different Versions?
When Xiao He came to see Director Gao this time, he was dressed very casually and seemed quite relaxed.
When faced with Director Gao's scrutiny, Xiao He appeared even more at ease, calmly allowing the other party to examine him.
However, after observing Xiao He from head to toe, Director Gao fell into a different kind of contemplation.
The topic that was being discussed ended inexplicably.
Director Gao stared at Xiao He, lost in thought. Liu Rulan, who had been actively bringing up various topics, stopped talking and waited quietly for the other party's reaction.
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
No one spoke.
After an unknown amount of time, there was a sudden knock on the door. Director Gao was then pulled out of his wandering thoughts, shifting his gaze from Xiao He to the doorway.
"Sorry to bother everyone."
The man outside pushed the door open and apologized first.
"Good morning, Director Gao."
Liu Rulan immediately stood up to greet the other party and gestured to Xiao He.
Xiao He also stood up and greeted him with a smile.
Xiao Gao, you can tell his relationship with Director Gao just from how he addresses him.
It is quite common for sons to follow in their fathers' footsteps in this industry.
It's just that for some reason, Director Gao looks to be over forty years old now. According to Sister Liu, he started learning from Director Gao when he was very young and gradually began to take on these jobs. But for some reason, even though so many years have passed, he is still learning from his father.
Of course, Director Gao is getting older now, so the younger Director Gao has taken on many of the filming duties and even various handover tasks, making him a relatively important figure in the crew.
Furthermore, the script for "Blackbird" was also written by director Xiao Gao, so he is also the screenwriter for this production team.
Liu Rulan's gaze drifted, pondering whether she could achieve her goal this time.
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Gao Yuan came in to pick up something.
Seeing that everyone sat silently after he came in, Gao Yuan thought it was his fault and took the initiative to pick up his things to leave: "Excuse me, did I interrupt your conversation? I'll leave after I get something."
But for some reason, when he passed by Xiao He, his gaze still couldn't help but fall on Xiao He.
Then, surprisingly, he found himself pondering the same thoughts as Director Gao.
Xiao He was a little numb from the staring contest between the father and son. He sat there with a bewildered expression, wondering what they were thinking, so engrossed in their thoughts.
Fortunately, Gao Yuan's deep thought didn't last long. Instead, he took the initiative to ask Xiao He, "Xiao He—you're Xiao He, right? The actor who played Shu Yuxiu in 'No Bait'?"
"Yes, it's me."
Xiao He nodded slightly, unsure of their true intentions, and simply greeted Gao Yuan again in a cooperative manner.
Gao Yuan's gaze never left Xiao He.
He naturally knew who Xiao He was. Asking that question was just a way to start a conversation. After all, they were in the same circle, and it would be strange if he didn't know him.
Gao Yuan did not expect that after seeing the person in person, the blurry figure that had only existed in his imagination gradually became clearer.
Interestingly, the inspiration for his idea came from the character Seo Yu-soo in "No Bait," and now that he has met the actor who played Seo Yu-soo, his vague idea has been fully formed.
Gao Yuan then shook hands with Xiao He with great excitement: "Hello, Teacher Xiao, hello, Teacher Xiao."
He then sincerely inquired, "Mr. Xiao, what are your work plans for the coming days? Do you have any free time? There's a role in our production that's perfect for you; I think it's just right for you!"
The topic shifted to the characters in a second, which was much more efficient than Director Gao's previous long chat and subsequent period of spacing out.
Now we're finally getting to the point.
Gao Zhongbo's expression shifted slightly. He did not object to Gao Yuan's suggestion, but instead looked at Xiao He as well.
Xiao He and Liu Rulan exchanged a glance.
"I have just successfully completed my work on the previous film crew and am currently on vacation, so I have plenty of free time."
This statement is true.
Having endured the ordeal of the Xiang Sheng Hao, Xiao He was indeed preparing to rest for a while.
However, he didn't mind that they came to his rescue.
Ah, the life of the King of Scrolls—
"Which character are you referring to?"
To confirm that it was the character they knew, Xiao He asked further questions.
"It was a young policeman named Wei Dong."
Gao Yuan was overjoyed by Xiao He's agreement and couldn't wait to tell Xiao He about it.
Xiao He nodded slightly.
Yes, in the script for "Blackbird" that Brother Shu Han sent me, the character who wanted him to save the day was indeed named Wei Dong.
In other words, they are police officers who work with the protagonist from the inside to catch the mole.
Although this character doesn't have many scenes, he is indeed very important, second only to the undercover police officer and the mole.
So it turns out that this was exactly the role they were looking for.
“I have no problem,” Xiao He said frankly. “Regarding the script, Brother Shu Han actually showed it to me a few times before, so I’m ready anytime—”
"Ah, no, no, no."
Upon hearing Xiao He's words, Gao Yuan waved his hands repeatedly to stop Xiao He from continuing the conversation, and quickly explained, "The Wei Dong we're talking about isn't the current version of Wei Dong... well, how should I put it? When we first approached a certain award-winning actor and teacher Shu Han, we did indeed want them to play the current version of Wei Dong, but actually, my father and I have been debating the image and stance of the character of Wei Dong, so..."
Gao Yuan explained somewhat hesitantly, "So the Weidong we're talking about might have many different meanings."
It was almost like treating it as a new character.
Xiao He was somewhat bewildered: "So, it was my appearance that instantly convinced you two?"
Why are there different versions of his character design waiting for him?!
Gao Yuan said somewhat embarrassedly, "Actually, the crew is almost finished filming. Changing the character settings and some plot points at the last minute would be quite troublesome. However, the problem of having vacancies for roles is still very serious, and we can't delay any longer. So, if we change the character settings and have Teacher Xiao come to the rescue, I think the situation might be simpler than we imagine."
Xiao He: "?"
Wait, so you still don't approve of me playing a righteous and good police officer?
Although I feel recognized in a different sense, there's still a sense of frustration...
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It turns out that the father and son had serious disagreements as early as when the script for "The Blackbird" was finalized.
This also reflects the different ways of thinking between the two generations.
In the script for "Blackbird," director Gao prefers the classic plot version and does not want to risk changing too many plot lines and character settings. The plot is relatively restrained and conservative. Director Gao clearly does not want to continue to replicate the old classic movie template. He wants to add his own ideas on this basis and design new plots and character settings.
The most prominent manifestation of this is in the new character Wei Dong.
The father and son had different ideas about his character and storyline.
Director Gao believes that Wei Dong doesn't need so many new settings; he can simply use the most common police template in film and television works—upright, calm, serious, and fair. This template is very common and the least likely to go wrong, perfectly fitting the setting of a righteous supporting character.
Director Xiao Gao felt that since the plot was already quite different from the original, they could create different storylines by adding this new character, which would also bring out many novel highlights and better suit the tastes of the current mainland market.
On one side are the conservative classicists, and on the other side are the progressive innovators.
They had discussed this matter for a long time before filming even began.
In the end, it was clear that Director Gao had the upper hand.
Therefore, Wei Dong's character is still more of the most common type, without any obvious arc.
Even the actors they cast were all upright actors who had played police officers for many years, so that everyone knew they were good people as soon as they appeared on screen.
Until... Xiao He appeared.