1990: Starting from Baojia Street

After the release of Raise the Red Lantern, most of the popularity was still concentrated on the heroine Gong Li. Some of the remaining popularity was taken by director Zhang Yimou and some by third concubine He Saifei.

However, they ate the meat and gnawed the bones, and Zhou Yan followed suit and took a sip of the soup.

Because the movie was so popular, even if Zhou Yan just took a sip of the soup, the effect exceeded his previous expectations.

He was quite famous in school, and many people knew him on the street. After Raise the Red Lantern was released, a group of girls even formed a group to go to the classroom of their composition department just to see him.

Especially some of the junior girls from Grade 91 who had just come to school and didn't know Zhou Yan very well. They heard that the person who played Chen Feipu was a senior from the composition department, so they all came over curiously to have a look.

Of course, most of the time, they would be in vain, because Zhou Yan went to class less often now, and most of the time he still went to Yanjing Studio.

In Yanjing Studio, the feeling of being a star is much lower, because there are many big directors and famous actors in the studio, and Karami like Zhou Yan, who just played a small role, is not worth mentioning at all. .

Although people sometimes joke that Zhou Yan is now a popular niche, in their eyes, Zhou Yan's main identity is still the soundtrack director.

Except for going to Yanjing Studio, Zhou Yan spent the rest of his time preparing for his semester production. This semester his semester production is Croatian Rhapsody.

He is not in a hurry about this, because he has already found the person and given them the music score. During this period, they are practicing alone. If he can find time to take them to practice together a few times in the next few days, there should be no problem.

On the morning of December 30, before going to Qinlou, Zhou Yan went to the cafeteria to have breakfast. While queuing, a girl in front of him looked at him furtively for a long time, and then whispered, Why is it so dark?

When Zhou Yan played Chen Feipu before, his skin was very white and tender. He had tanned a lot during filming some time ago. Although he has recovered a lot during this time, he is still a little tan.

Probably because Zhou Yan himself was not as white as in the movie, the girls were a little disappointed.

The girl's voice was very soft, but Zhou Yan still heard it. He smiled and said, I'm sorry, junior sister, to disappoint you.

Hearing Zhou Yan's words, the junior sister yelped, then she covered her face and ran out of the cafeteria in embarrassment.

Seeing the girl leave, Zhou Yan smiled. Yes, he was one step closer to breakfast.

After breakfast, Zhou Yan went to the piano room, but they had already arrived early.

Seeing Zhou Yan, Fang Xiu said with a smile, Brother Zhou Yan, you are not allowed to put on your hat and sunglasses when you go out. I see all the big stars in Hollywood doing this.

Zhou Yan laughed and said, No, showing your face is a benefit I give to the movie fans.

Fang Xiu gave a thumbs up, Look, this is the consciousness a star should have.

Zhou Yan waved his hand and said, Okay, let's start practicing now. We will practice together in two days, and we don't have much time to practice together.

OK.

While preparing, Fang Xiu asked again, Brother Zhou Yan, for next year's graduation project, are you going to perform this Croatian Rhapsody or Memory of the Forbidden City?

Zhou Yan shook his head, It's not decided yet, it might be neither.

Senior Brother Zhou Yan, are you going to write a new song again? Yu Ran blinked, with a little expectation in his eyes.

Zhou Yan shrugged, I have some ideas, but I haven't started writing yet. It's still early anyway, so I'll look at it later.

Everyone present smiled when they heard Zhou Yan say that it was still early. In fact, it was not too early now.

The work is very important, and most people will prepare it a long time in advance. After all, writing a song is a time-consuming thing, and it is normal to write a song in several months.

It is now the end of December, and there are less than six months until the performance of the graduation work. If it takes several months to write the music, then the rehearsal time will be much tighter.

Not to mention that Zhou Yan only has one idea now and hasn't started writing it yet. If this is delayed and we don't start until next year, we may not be able to make it in time.

But Zhou Yan really doesn’t have to worry. Even if the new song is not written in the end, Memory of the Forbidden City and Croatian Rhapsody are enough for him. The school does not stipulate that semester works cannot be regarded as graduation works.

Moreover, the performance of the graduation work will not affect Zhou Yan's graduation.

For other students, the graduation work is the last assignment, but for Zhou Yan, the graduation work is just the last display of his student days.

Besides, they have all seen Zhou Yan's speed in composing music. It may take others several months to compose a song, but it may only take him a week or two.

…

After practicing in the piano room in the morning, Zhou Yan went to Yanjing Studio again in the afternoon, but this time he did not enter the main building, but went to the filming location inside the courtyard.

The studio for Farewell My Concubine was almost finished. When Zhou Yan arrived, artist Yang Zhanjia was leading the scenery masters to build the archway of the theater.

This was originally the old Yanjing street established during the filming of Camel Xiangzi, but only half of it was built at that time. Only the north side had shops. Now in order to build a gate for the theater troupe in Farewell My Concubine, they are planning to build another one on the other side. Build five streets.

The gate of Guanghe Building of the Theater is on Gaotaishan where the two streets intersect. At this moment, two scenery masters are working on the archway at the entrance.

Old man, I'm busy.

Zhou Yan walked over with a smile, first offered a cigarette to Yang Zhan's family, and then offered a cigarette to each of the other two setting masters.

Yang Zhanjia had one foot inside the archway. After taking the cigarette, he stepped out and lit the cigarette with a smile. Director Zhou, why do you have time to come to the location today? Are you here to supervise our progress?

There are regulations on the location that smoking is not allowed in the studio, so Yang Zhan's family stepped out to light a cigarette.

I'm here to study. Zhou Yan looked at the archway and said with a smile, The progress has been very fast in the past two days. Is everything inside already set up?

Yang Zhanjia nodded, Well, it's already set up. Leslie Cheung and the others came just now and were practicing inside.

Hearing that Leslie Cheung came here to practice, Zhou Yan asked, Will you practice here from now on?

I don't know. Why don't you ask yourself later?

Zhou Yan nodded, looked up at the archway again, and couldn't help but sigh, This scenery is really beautiful.

This sentence is a compliment, but it is also Zhou Yan's sincerity. When the world sees a movie, most people only know the actors and directors, but it is difficult to know the hardships and greatness behind the scenes.

When he was on the set of Raise the Red Lantern before, Zhou Yan didn't have much experience with the scenery, because Raise the Red Lantern was all borrowed scenery, and it was arranged directly in the Qiao Family Courtyard. Basically, only the scenery was used. Just add some props on top of the original ones.

But Farewell My Concubine is different. Many scenes in this movie were staged.

Zhou Yan had seen Yang Zhan's hand-drawn drawings. These theaters were really drawn by Yang Zhan's family one by one. The old man said that he traveled to many places to design these scenes.

The theater that was finally designed used the stage of the Xiangguang Guild Hall and the boxes of the Yangping Guild Hall, taking the advantages of each.

The light in some places is not very good, and the old man’s Red Star camera has no flash, so he can’t take pictures. He can only use his brain to record the details and draw them again when he comes back.

Not only the big scenery, but also some details are also very labor-intensive, such as the old-fashioned on the stage, which is the tent used for the performance and the bottom curtain used as the background. In order to achieve the effect, the factory specially invited the central Teachers from the School of Arts and Crafts produced drawings, and then asked the Yanjing Opera Costume Factory to organize many embroidery workers, and it took many talents to embroider it.

Zhou Yan and Xu Feng had watched the old-fashioned movie once before. The texture was really high-end, and Xu Feng also liked it very much. He also said that after the filming of the movie was completed, he would collect the old-fashioned movie.

The film Farewell My Concubine can be so excellent, naturally it is inseparable from these behind-the-scenes work.

Zhou Yan came over to check out their progress, not only to see their progress, but also to have a good relationship with the people behind the scenes, especially the Yang Zhan family. Maybe he will make a movie again in the future, and there will also be high demand for location. When the time comes, he will ask the old man for help. Be simple.

After chatting with Yang Zhan's family under the archway for a while, Zhou Yan walked into the garden.

Leslie Cheung was practicing acting alone in the garden. When he saw Zhou Yan coming, he didn't stop.

After practicing this scene, Zhou Yan applauded, and then Leslie Cheung smiled and said, Director Zhou, you are here.

In the past few months, Leslie Cheung has made great progress. Not only has he practiced acting very well, but his Mandarin has also improved rapidly.

However, things like accents cannot be eliminated in a few months. Leslie Cheung still has a slight accent in his Mandarin. Of course, he is already very good when communicating in ordinary times. But if it is placed in a movie, it will still be a bit out of place. I guess he will have to give it some time later. He looked for dubbing.

Are you alone today? Where is He Wuming? Zhou Yan asked.

Boss He has something to do today and can't come. I'm the only one here.

When Leslie Cheung spoke, he spoke in a soft and teasing tone, holding his orchid fingers.

Zhou Yan knew that he wanted to better integrate into the role of Cheng Dieyi, so he would always maintain this state.

However, he was also disliked by some people, the most obvious one being Zhang Fengyi.

Zhang Fengyi usually doesn't come here, but every time he comes, he keeps a distance from Leslie Cheung. He also said that he couldn't stand seeing Leslie Cheung like that and got goosebumps all over his body.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, Come here and take a look around.

I've been looking for you these past two days. Leslie Cheung smiled, and then said, Let's go out and talk.

Leslie Cheung was a heavy smoker, and he felt uncomfortable holding back during the rehearsal. He asked Zhou Yan to go out and talk, naturally wanting to light a cigarette.

When the cigarette was lit, Leslie Cheung smiled and asked Zhou Yan: Director Zhou, do you know Director Guan Jinpeng?