Chapter 335 Finale

Wu Yuchen did not criticize Jiang Qinqin and Jiang Wu too much, but simply encouraged them after the drama. It's normal to shoot a clip of a few minutes in one day. Sometimes it takes two, three days or even a week.

What makes Wu Yuchen more efficient than other directors is that he knows what he wants to shoot and rarely shoots invalid plots. Not invalid shots, but invalid plot.

When filming, if a director starts to know what he wants to shoot, shoots this clip back and forth for a week, expresses it in different forms, and finally picks out the one with the best effect, then even many shots will be useless. Those films are not a waste.

What I'm more afraid of is that the director himself didn't think about it clearly before shooting, or the purpose was not clear. Although many directors have scripts when filming, they can't hold back once they start filming. They often want to film this and that. By the time of the final editing, many plots were actually unused and had to be discarded.

What stands out even more is the King of Sunglasses. He doesn’t know what plot he wants to shoot, whether it’s a script or not. What he wants to shoot is actually that feeling. It takes him a year or two to shoot a bunch of material. In the end, it turned into a story through editing.

At this time, Wu Yuchen was confirming the shooting situation with the staff for tomorrow: "Have you contacted the funeral home yet?"

"We've contacted you, and a spot will be reserved for us to shoot tomorrow."

What we will be shooting tomorrow is the scene where the bathhouse proprietress is sent to the funeral parlor for cremation, and there is an arrangement. The old man Niu Ben, who used to take baths and play chess in the bathhouse, happens to be the cremation staff of the funeral parlor.

The next day, in the evening, Wu Yuchen watched the playback of today’s shooting:

Niu Ben was wearing a uniform. He held the coffin, stared deeply at the old aunt, and said softly: "Thank you, see you later."

Then, Niu Ben closed the lid of the landlady's coffin with his own hands and sent the landlady into the incinerator.

At the console behind the incinerator, Jiang Wu ran over and wanted to take a last look at his mother. Niu Ben smiled and nodded in agreement. Then, he seemed to be recalling and said, "Maybe people have premonitions before they die!"

Jiang Wu couldn't help but turn his head and look at Niu Ben, only to hear him continue: "On New Year's Day this year, she invited me to spend the festival together."

Then Niu Ben smiled softly: "I originally thought that at such an old age, what festival should I celebrate, but she had to celebrate it no matter what. She also bought a small ruby ​​cake, put candles on it, and made a wish together. Then, she suddenly asked me if I could run the bathhouse with her. "

Niu Ben lowered his head and looked at the incinerator in front of him: "Now, I think about it, maybe it's because my fire burns well!"

After saying this, Niu Ben laughed unconsciously, but tears appeared in Jiang Wu's eyes, because from the beginning, he had been persuading his mother to sell the bathhouse. Now, looking at the coffin in the incinerator, all kinds of guilt and longing for my mother flooded into my heart again.

Niu Ben turned his head, as if to comfort or sigh, and continued:

“The longer I stay here, the more I believe that death is a door. Passing away does not mean the end of life, but passing through it leads to another stage.

It’s a real honor for me to be the gatekeeper, to walk them through this door, to say have a nice journey and see you later, and to send them off. "

This paragraph uses the contrast of characters. The old man gave people the impression before that he was a funny and funny old man, but at this time, he changed into a uniform and said such philosophical words, which will give the audience A special touch.

However, Wu Yuchen's purpose of watching this playback was not just for inspection. He also opened another shooting material. This was a scene where he specially asked a photographer to go near Poyang Lake to shoot various scenes of white cranes taking off and soaring.

White cranes migrate from north to south every November, and their destination is Poyang Lake. In fact, there are occasional white cranes passing by on the east beach of Chongming Island in the Magic City, but because they are not regular, Wu Yuchen simply sent people to Poyang Lake to stay there and took pictures of various materials and brought them back to him.

What he has to do now is to find the scene he wants from these materials, and then edit it after the scene shot today.

The picture Wu Yuchen envisioned is this:

When Niu Ben pressed the button to light the fire, Jiang Wu burst into tears as the flames rose. He knelt in front of the incinerator and choked with sobs: "Mom, I'm sorry!"

The camera will also focus on the blazing fire, and then through an optical fade-out, transition to a scene of a group of white cranes taking off and soaring in the sky in a superimposed effect.

The white crane is an auspicious animal, symbolizing auspiciousness and elegance.

This meaning can basically be understood by any Chinese with some culture, that is, "driving a crane to the west"!

At the same time, this is also a symbolic interpretation of what Niu Ben said before. Death is not the end, but the passage to the next stage.

Therefore, in order to achieve a satisfactory effect, Wu Yuchen is now comparing the two sections to find the most suitable material. And now he is not the only one watching, the deputy director, photographer and other people in the team are also watching. Pick with him and discuss it over and over again.

"Director Wu, how do you like this part? The white crane spreads its wings and flies so beautifully!"

"Director Wu, I think this section is better. From taking off to flying in a team in the sky, the continuity is very good."

"It's impossible to show your whole process by then. I will definitely have to pick the two most beautiful parts!"

This is true. After all, it is just a transition. You cannot really show the whole process of flying. If it takes too long, it will be too much and it will make the audience impatient.

"Okay, okay, let's pick out another section of the flying scene just now."

Wu Yuchen settled down as he spoke, and then continued to pick another section.

…

Next to the stone beach of a small river, Zhao Wenxuan squatted on the ground, holding his hands against his forehead, closing his eyes, and seemed to be concentrating on something.

A few seconds later, he stood up from the ground and stretched out his hand to Jiang Qinqin: "Here."

Jiang Qinqin looked down and saw a smooth stone in Zhao Wenxuan's hand: "What is this?"

Zhao Wenxuan took Jiang Qinqin's hand, put the stone into her palm, and then said: "Stone letter."

Then, he looked up to the horizon:

“A long time ago, before humans invented writing, they found a stone that could express their feelings and gave it to the other person to convey their friendship.

The person who gets the stone can try to figure out the other person's feelings based on the feel and weight of the stone. For example, if the stone is smooth, it means you are happy, and if the stone is rough, it means the other person is worried about you. "

There were cheerful birds chirping around. Jiang Qinqin looked at Zhao Wenxuan with a delighted smile. She lowered her head and held the stone in her hand, closing her eyes silently, as if feeling the friendship contained in the stone.

Then she opened her eyes, slowly raised her head, and smiled happily: "Thank you!"

Zhao Wenxuan lowered his head and asked, "What do you feel?"

Jiang Qinqin put her hands behind her back and said playfully: "Secret!"

The two couldn't help but smile at each other, and then Jiang Qinqin asked: "Who told you such a beautiful legend?"

When Zhao Wenxuan heard this, the smile on his face suddenly froze, his brows furrowed, and he turned sideways: "My dad."

Jiang Qinqin said: "The big stone in the house couldn't be..."

"Yes, he gave it to me."

Zhao Wenxuan nodded, then turned around and walked back to the stone beach: "He said that he would give me a piece every year. But, I only have that piece..."

As he spoke, he picked up a stone from the ground, threw it into the river, and shouted angrily: "What a bastard!"

"Go! Very good, one more guarantee!"

Wu Yuchen was so satisfied with the state of the two that he passed it all over again this time.

This scene of the stone letter has two functions.

First, it shows that the relationship between Jiang Qinqin, the wife, and her husband has returned to what it was before, and has even become more intimate and trusting. Things that Lin Wu did not tell her before are now open to her.

The second is to pave the way for the follow-up, showing the male protagonist's resentment towards his father who abandoned him and his mother. In fact, many details have been buried before. For example, Lin Wu initially sold his cello, and the cello he often plays now is actually one he dug out from home and kept for many years. Another example is that he once dreamed about his father, but his impression of his father was always very vague, and he could no longer remember his face.

Now Wu Yuchen has led the crew to film 8 episodes of burials. During this period, the actor Lin Wu, as the undertaker, personally sent away 8 deceased people. But in fact, he is more of a bystander. In the process of watching one funeral after another, he indirectly feels the true passage of life, experiences the different attitudes of different families towards death, and the different choices and perseverance of the living.

This kind of watching is not a simple and easy job. The cruelest thing about life is the unchangeable nature of death, and observing these unchangeable laws of nature without being infected by sadness requires a calm and gentle heart.

So teacher-like characters appeared one after another. Company boss You Benchang guided Lin Wu to view every passing life equally, and taught him that as a farewell person, he "should be calm, accurate, and have gentle emotions";

Grandpa, who always plays chess alone in the bathhouse, accompanies Lin Wu to bathe. They watch the fish swimming upstream together and tell Lin Wu, who is confused, that death is "a law of nature, they are born like this"...

In this process, Lin Wu gradually grew up as a young bystander. He was gradually able to see through the unstoppable and natural nature of death, and was able to save every deceased equally and piously. This is the first level a bystander can achieve: calm but not indifferent, gentle but not sad.

But no bystander can escape the confusion of being an authority figure, and this is true for every character in the film. Lin Wu faced more than one contradiction, whether it was the social discrimination he endured as an embalmer or even his wife's incomprehension, or the spiritual void left by his father's death when he was young, all were waiting for Lin Wu to face and resolve. After all, people are destined not to exist simply as bystanders. In other words, "watching oneself" is a problem that no one can escape.

And now Lin Wu, after seeing all the changes in other people's lives, pondering for a long time in each death, and after going through the spiritual journey of being buried again and again, he finally reached the second level of a bystander, that is, Face yourself.

In the past, he never mentioned anything about his father. This was the pain buried deep in his heart. Now he dared to face his resentment towards his father and confided it to his wife.

And then, there is the last remaining part of the filming of the encoffining ceremony, which is also the final scene, which is for the male protagonist Lin Wu to face his father, and finally complete the reconciliation between himself and his father, and between himself and himself.

"You two will be in this position later, with your back to the window. Lin Wu, you are here, using your body to block the light coming in from the window, so that father's upper body is in your shadow."

At this time, Wu Yuchen was explaining their positions to Zhao Wenxuan and Jiang Qinqin.

This last scene is not just a matter of simply following the plot of the script. Light and shadow are very important to enhance the atmosphere. This section was shot using natural light. The light receiving direction is side backlighting, and the degree of convergence is scattered light. The intensity of the light changes slightly throughout the paragraph and is controlled by opening and closing the curtains.

Then Wu Yuchen explained to the photographer and staff again: "Before the encoffining ceremony began, the curtains were half-open, and the light ratio was slightly larger. After the encoffining ceremony began, the curtains were closed."

"3, 2, 1, action!"

"This is it, dad?" Jiang Qinqin asked softly.

The body of the deceased old man is in the shadow of Zhao Wenxuan, and his face looks old and pitiful at the moment. At this moment, Zhao Wenxuan lowered his head and stared at his father. The strong and weak relationship between father and son was completely reversed from when he was a child.

"It's funny to say that I can't remember what he looked like. Even now when I look at his face, I still can't remember."

Then Zhao Wenxuan looked at a big box, his eyes a little confused, and murmured: "What is his life for? After living for more than 70 years, he only left one box of sundries."

Before that, the actor actually heard the news of his father's death, and his resentment towards his father made him not want to go. However, the company of his wife Jiang Qinqin and the persuasion of his colleague He Saifei through his own experience made Lin Wu choose to visit his father for the last time.

At this moment, the local funeral company came and wanted to take away his father's body. However, Zhao Wenxuan could not bear their rude behavior and pushed the two of them away. When the two questioned and asked, Jiang Qinqin blocked them. In front of them: "My husband is an undertaker!"

Afterwards, Wu Yuchen made a gesture, and the staff closed the curtains, and then Zhao Wenxuan began to carry out the burial ceremony for his father's body with his own hands.

However, when he opened his father's right hand, a small, flat and smooth stone fell from his hand.

The camera zoomed in and focused on a close-up of Zhao Wenxuan's face. After he saw the stone, his pupils shrank suddenly, and then he gently picked it up. He looked at the stone that he had given to his father when he was a child, and turned to look at the dead man in shock. Father.

Zhao Wenxuan turned around, and the camera followed his gaze to capture Jiang Qinqin. Her eyes were already wet, she smiled and shed tears of emotion, and then gently took the stone that Zhao Wenxuan handed her.

Zhao Wenxuan leaned down, held his father's face with both hands, lowered his head to touch and stare at his face, as if to rediscover the appearance of his father in his childhood memories.

Tears fell from the tip of his nose and fell on his father's face. Zhao Wenxuan gently applied foam to his father's face, and then used a razor to modify it bit by bit.

At this time, Wu Yuchen was also looking at the scene in the camera attentively, not only Zhao Wenxuan's performance, but also the overall atmosphere created by the lighting. The curtains were used as natural soft covers, making the light falling in the room even more intense. Warmth and softness are used to highlight the revival of family affection at this moment, thereby helping the emotion reach a climax.

After Zhao Wenxuan finished cleansing his father's face, he held this familiar face again, biting his lips and nodding unconsciously as he choked with sobs, his eyes full of longing.

After a while, he turned back and looked at Jiang Qinqin, feeling aggrieved and happy at the same time, just like a child who had found his father again. Jiang Qinqin also smiled with tears in his hands, holding the stone letter in his hand.

Zhao Wenxuan stretched out his hands, held Jiang Qinqin's hand holding the stone with both hands, and then slowly placed it on Jiang Qinqin's belly, as if to pass on the stone letter to the new life pregnant in his wife's belly.

In a small room, the lost father is retrieved and the child is born. The bond between the two pairs of father and son is completed through this stone letter.

Wu Yuchen looked at the two people smiling happily in the soft light in the camera, and shouted happily: "Passed!"