rising director

"Well, I will be the chief director. I plan to do seven episodes in the first season, and you will be the director of one episode."

Liu Yang was invited, and Wan Xiaohu contacted Wu Ershan again.

"Old Wu, have you thought about what to do next?"

"I want to be a director!" Wu Ershan said firmly. "I've figured it out recently. Performance art is just a flash in the pan, and film footage is eternal. Tiger, what can I do for you?"

"Can't you find anything?"

"Don't, if you're okay, I'm going to trouble you, introduce me a script. It's best to be a movie about martial arts, goblins, etc. I don't make movies about urban emotions."

"I'll talk about the movie later, I have a plan now..."

After a few words, Wu Ershan nodded and agreed to act as the director of an episode.

Finally, Wan Xiaohu thought about it.Call Cheng Er again.

"Hi, Cheng Er, I'm Wan Xiaohu."

"Um, old... Wan Dao."

He heard a voice that had become unfamiliar on the other end of the phone.Wan Xiaohu was very emotional, drinking and chatting and spanking together back then.Now it's getting further and further away.

"Cheng Er, if you insist on being so special, if I tell the truth, I will regret making this call."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while before hearing Cheng Er's choked up words: "Tiger."

"Okay, I won't talk nonsense. When we meet, we will drink and brag. Now I have a plan to shoot a food documentary... Let me ask you, if you have nothing to do now, come and help me, How about directing an episode?"

"Sure, no problem."

"Well, let's just say this first, and I have to contact other people. Wait for my call, and everyone get together."

Afterwards, Wan Xiaohu contacted another person, who was not yet the director Lu Jianqing.This young man was Wan Xiaohu's director assistant when he filmed "Infernal Affairs". He is very talented and willing to make progress.Since then, I have been following Mak Siu Fai and Zhuang Qiang, waiting for the opportunity to be a director.

After receiving Wan Xiaohu's invitation, Lu Jianqing agreed without saying a word.In this way, counting Liu Yang, Wu Ershan, Cheng Er, and Lu Jianqing, there are already four directors. Wan Xiaohu doesn't have time to run the shots one by one, so he needs three more episode directors.While considering who to invite, the phone rang.

It was Ning Hao calling.

"Tiger, I heard that you are going to make a documentary, and you are looking for a director everywhere, why didn't you call me?"

"Aren't you preparing for "Golden Heist", are you free?"

"The "Golden Heist" has been in preparation for more than half a year, and now the script is ready, but I don't want to shoot yet, and I feel that I haven't adjusted well. It's not like I just recommended myself as soon as I heard that you were going to make a documentary."

"That's fine. I don't know who to look for. You are one of them."

In the end, the remaining two directors invited Ren Changzhen and Hu Yingying, directors who specialize in documentaries from CCTV.In this way, chief director Wan Xiaohu, seven episode directors, together with Hong Kong gourmet column consultant Cai Lan, and Magic City food column consultant Shen Hongfei, the embryonic form of a documentary crew has taken shape.

Among the directors of several episodes, Ning Hao is the most famous. At the same time, he served as the executive chief director of "A Bite of the Tongue", responsible for the specific preparation work.

Preparations began at the end of February, and all crew members were selected in early March.

Then a crew meeting was held in the capital.

Discuss how and what each episode will be produced and what will be produced, and have a thorough brainstorming session.

"I think that on the seven themes proposed by the chief director, it is enough to extend and dig deeper."

"The story of each episode should be both fragmented and involved, and it should not be procrastinated or overly sensational."

"Yes, a relatively more objective perspective must be achieved."

"Should we shoot more of all the material? We have covered spring, summer, autumn and winter here. We have been shooting intermittently for more than a year. Instead of being idle, it is better to shoot more material for emergencies."

"This proposal is good. It should be expanded. We can't just focus on this documentary. Once it is successful, we will shoot the second and third seasons!"

"The filming should be kept secret. We can't publicize that we are producing "A Bite of the Tongue", so as to maintain a sense of mystery, and let the common people not be wary of us. Whoever wants to shoot a dish must taste it first. If it is not delicious, we cannot recommend it. !"

"This should be there."

With the expansion of his career, Wan Xiaohu increasingly favors the creative method of "brainstorming", allowing group discussions to make up for his limited energy.Especially when he still has the memory of the future, with a little touch, everyone's enthusiasm is mobilized, and countless ideas are released.

Soon, the theme of the seven episodes of the first season of "A Bite of the Tongue" will be roughly released.

Episode 1 "The Gift of Nature", directed by Ning Hao, mainly tells that China has the most dramatic natural landscape in the world. There are more potential food raw materials growing on the land, rivers and sea than any other country.In order to obtain this natural gift, people traveled through the four seasons, collecting, picking up, digging, and fishing.

The second episode "The Story of Staple Food", directed by Ren Changzhen, mainly introduces staple food from various places.

Episode 3 "Inspiration for Transformation", directed by Liu Yang, mainly introduces the production of ingredients.

Episode 4 "The Taste of Time", directed by Cheng Er, mainly introduces food preservation.

Episode 5 "Kitchen Secrets", directed by Lu Jianqing, mainly introduces how to make Chinese dishes in the kitchen.

Episode 6 "The Harmony of the Five Flavors", directed by Wu Ershan, mainly introduces the use of sweet, salty, sour, spicy and fresh Chinese dishes.

Episode 7 "Our Fields", directed by Hu Yingying, mainly tells how the ingredients on the table are cultivated by humans in various ways.

After the theme is determined, it is the detailed case work, which requires the grading director to read a lot of books on the topic, investigate, and write the script, and then research what food needs to be introduced in each episode, and finally determine the plan and go to find it. People and things that can be photographed.

Many of the narrative structures of the original "A Bite of the Tongue" refer to a book "Slow Food Movement". Unfortunately, this book was only published in 2010, so Wan Xiaohu needs to explain the narrative structure hand in hand.

"We don't talk about a single food, nor a single person. What we want to talk about is the relationship between people and nature. For example, in the first episode of "The Gift of Nature", Ning Hao is going to Yunnan to shoot matsutake For this kind of ingredients, I hope you don’t focus on what matsutake is, but on who picks the matsutake. It’s best to find a little girl who picks it with her mother. This changes the theme from a single food, It has risen to a height of inheritance of civilization and continuation of civilization."

Wan Xiaohu talked eloquently in the new brainstorming session.

"I made this "A Bite of the Tongue", it doesn't matter if I make money or not. In the past, domestic documentaries rarely had an investment of more than 100 million yuan, and 500 million yuan was the top investment. I invested 1000 million yuan. If it is not enough, I will add more. I hope everyone Don't take this documentary as a play, but as a sincere work of the propaganda country, and shoot it with your heart."

"We want to take the most rural elements of the country, and make the most fashionable and dynamic taste. Not only do Chinese people in the remotest corners of the world start to miss their hometown after seeing it, but also let foreigners see it, and then fall in love with China!"

"I wish you all the best of luck with the filming."

By the end of March, the crew officially entered the shooting stage.

There is still a lot of work to be done, such as soundtrack and commentary. Of course, these are easy things to solve. Wan Xiaohu doesn't need to ask the question himself, just leave it to the crew.So while the diversity directors were on their way, Wan Xiaohu returned to Hollywood again to work on his cartoons.

All of this was done quietly, and there was no external publicity. After all, there is a time span of one year to make delicious food for the four seasons, and it will not be too late to publicize it next year.

At that time, "A Bite of China" will definitely subvert the model of Chinese documentaries, and will surely transform Chinese cuisine into all parts of the world, affecting a large number of foreigners' perceptions of China.

This is a beautiful country, not a corrupt, impoverished, and backward country smeared by the Western media.

The Chinese people are hardworking, kind, and lovely, and their lives are getting happier!

0282【Change starts from subtleties】

"Wan Xiaohu ranked No. 2006 on the Forbes [-] China Celebrity List."