thousand cups

It rained heavily on the day Mingzheng went to Jiang Mo for an audition.

He got out of the car, held up an umbrella and walked along a path with potholes, and after a while, most of his shoes were wet.

Walking to the door of the small broken house where Jiang Mo lived, he vaguely heard music inside.Knock on the door, and it was opened by a man with a cut.When he saw someone coming, his eyes lit up, and he asked with a smile, is Mingzheng right?Ming Zheng nodded, and the man introduced himself, I am the producer of this film, Tang Li.

Go in, a messy room.The desk was full of people, and the desk was full of scripts, documents, teacups, wine glasses, and ashtrays. They should be in a meeting.But it doesn't look like the atmosphere of a meeting, it's more like a tea party, it's lively, and there are songs playing in the room, Cranberries.Seeing Mingzheng coming in, they raised their heads one by one and looked over curiously.

It was an ordinary, even crude environment, but there were many clear-eyed people crowded inside. This scene made Ming Zheng feel very strange, such a special crew.

Jiang Mo came out from another room at this time, holding the documents in his hand. Seeing him coming, he called Ming Zheng and said, "Come inside." Tang Li wanted to follow in, but Jiang Mo stopped him and said, "No, I will try."

The room I entered was probably where Jiang Mo slept, Ming Zheng guessed.There was a big book on the bed, and on the opened page were words, pictures, and strange lines.There is only one chair in this room, Jiang Mo asked him to sit down, and sat on the bed by himself.

Although they were in the same room with the door closed, the two of them didn't feel awkward, it was very natural.After sitting relatively for a while, Jiang Mo asked him if he wanted some wine, and Ming Zheng said no.

No more words.They looked at each other and remained silent for a while, neither of them spoke, Jiang Mo just drank his wine and looked at his face very carefully.Ming Zheng sat quietly, didn't say anything, and let him watch.

In Mingzheng's eyes, Director Jiang gave the impression of being 'informal'.

You can feel his looseness, randomness, and strangeness, but the strange thing is that Mingzheng never doubted his ability, it was an inexplicable intuition.Ming Zheng felt that there was something in him that no one else could surpass, that he was outside the rules, which was rare for many directors.

Sitting silently for a while, Jiang Mo suddenly pointed to a plastic bag on the table and said, "Show me an orange."

He didn't know what to say, but Mingzheng knew that he was going to audition.Instead of trying the script, he casually pointed to an orange on the table and asked you to eat it for him.

Mingzheng has participated in many auditions in the past, and they were basically very formal, but this director Jiang actually auditioned in a small bedroom... Want you to eat an orange?

Impromptu, casual.

This is the hardest test.

Mingzheng frowned and asked him, "How do you want me to feel after eating?"

Jiang Mo said, "Attract."

Mingzheng: "...Who attracts, is there a scene?"

Jiang Mo said: "No, you can think for yourself." After speaking, he picked up a hand-held video camera on the bed and turned it on, saying, "You can start anytime."

Eat an orange, you have to eat to attract...

After making mental preparations, Ming Zheng didn't think too much about it.He took out an orange from the plastic bag and began to peel it.He peeled it very quickly, with a very neat method. He peeled off a whole piece with three strokes and five divisions.Gradually, the line of sight fades away, as if turning into a wisp of smoke, slowly drifting towards you, wrapping around the person.

He chews very slowly.Another piece of orange was torn off in his hand, and he played with it in his hand. He smashed the piece of orange slightly, leaving some juice on his fingertips...

This action is suggestive.Jiang Mo imagined several ways to deal with him, thinking, if his next action is to lick the juice off his hand, then this person cannot be used.But Mingzheng just slowly rubbed the drop of orange juice with his index finger and thumb, and stroked the drop of juice with his hands, "kneading" back and forth.Squeeze lightly, twist slowly, and move gently.

It's very subtle, it's a kind of just the right sense of provocation, very subtle, not frivolous, if the close-up is placed in a preset situation, this hand will be very sexy.

Jiang Mo stared at the movements of his fingers for a moment, then nodded inwardly.

After Mingzheng finished eating one, seeing that he didn't speak, he reached out to get the second one.Jiang Mo interrupted him at this time: "It's ok."

Mingzheng quickly withdrew his hand and heaved a sigh of relief, the orange was so sour that his toothache ached.

Jiang Mo put away the camera and looked at him for a while, as if he was thinking about something.

Mingzheng waited for a while before asking: "Is it attractive enough?" Jiang Mo said, "I'm almost embarrassed to be attracted to the scene, it's good enough to attract the camera." Mingzheng couldn't help rolling his eyes: "Director, I didn't I want to attract you!!" Jiang Mo nodded: "Yeah. We don't need to attract, you just need to attract the audience for me." After a pause, "I will ask you a question at the end, why do you like this script?"

script.Mingzheng thought for a while, and replied: "When I watched it the first time, I thought this script was a documentary-like literary film, about time, regret, and suffering. But after watching it for the second time, I found that it was a dream within a dream. The deep meaning. Although the superficial form is that the protagonist’s life is as bitter as an olive and sweet, but I always feel that there seems to be more than that you want to express. It is not clearly stated in the script, so I am very curious about this drama.”

After listening, Jiang Mo laughed while holding the hand-held camera, and said: "Movies can't tell you that much, actors' acting is more about emotional things, but it's good that you can see this from the script. "

Mingzheng thought for a while, then asked again: "If you don't explain clearly, how will I act in the future?"

Jiang Mo said: "I can't answer your question. You'd better act with that kind of question. Sometimes the movie itself is a question. Not everything in this world has an answer. Many times the movie can't answer you. You are an actor, as long as you perform what you feel is enough."

Ming Zheng thought for a moment before nodding, and said, "Understood."

Jiang Mo looked at him, smiled, and said, "Have you thought about it when you go back? I told you about my situation the other day, and the budget is really small. But you can rest assured that the staff I am looking for are solid People, I will definitely go all out for this film. I believe my team is no worse than any team you have ever been in. They get a small salary and accompany me to do something that I think is great. This is rare. .Anyway, if you think about it carefully, the conditions for making this film must be difficult. If you are not mentally prepared to endure hardship, it will be difficult for us to cooperate."

There is no generous remuneration, and the conditions of the crew are also very poor, which means that everything in the future is unknown, and it depends on your choice.

Ming Zheng smiled: "I bet you time, so what will you give me?"

Jiang Mo said: "If you win the bet, you will be the first movie star in my life. If you lose the bet..." He smiled idlely, "I can't pay you anything, please drink."

After looking at each other for a moment, Mingzheng smiled and said, "Okay, I'll take pictures."

Jiang Mo stood up and shook hands with him, said without too much nonsense, "Let's have a drink together some other day."

When walking out again, Jiang Mo pointed to Ming Zheng beside him and introduced to everyone: "The male lead, I've decided." His tone was very casual.As he said that, he took Mingzheng to a place for him to sit, poured himself a glass of wine and sat beside him, and asked, "Everyone, do you have any questions today?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the screenwriter, modeling, art, photography, and recording all rushed to start speaking, telling him what props he wanted, how many people were needed for the photography team to move the equipment, and the script outline needed to be refined... a group of people Just chatted with Jiang Mo like this.

After a while, Mingzheng was stunned by the sidelines, lamenting in his heart the freedom and openness of the crew.He has never been in a crew with such a cheerful atmosphere. It is unbelievable to watch these people work while drinking. They have a very good atmosphere, not like making a movie, but more like a party.

But why can't filmmaking be a party?It's also very interesting!

Ming Zheng quickly convinced himself with these words and joined their discussion.

During the period when the group was established, the problem that bothered them the most was still the problem of funds.Mingzheng had heard Tang Li and Jiang Mo arguing over money more than once, and as long as money was mentioned, they would definitely start arguing.

This is also a place where this crew is different.Normally, the producer of a film has a lot of power to speak, but their group...the producer can't speak at all, Jiang Mo is like a dictator, almost everyone is centered on the director and listens to Jiang Mo of.Moreover, the producer and the director always talk in a weird way, as if they are angry with each other, which is so strange.

He quietly went to the screenwriter to find out what was going on.The other party said, oh, old friends are having trouble, don't worry about it, just get used to it.Mingzheng felt even weirder. Does that mean they have a good relationship?The screenwriter told him that the two of them will be fine after a while. They have been good friends for more than ten years. Tang Li gave up a very profitable urban drama in order to help Jiang Mo with this film.

Mingzheng lamented that such a strong director is rare, and many directors have no confidence in talking to the management and have to make concessions.The screenwriter laughed, saying that Director Jiang doesn't like to listen to other people's orders when it comes to film-related matters.He chooses to take the money to shoot himself so that he doesn't listen to other people's words. After all, whoever takes the money speaks confidently. He doesn't want to be controlled by others, and wants to express himself completely.

Just because the director paid for it, this group is really poor.Knowing that the crew didn't have much money, Ming Zheng went out to chat with Jiang Mo and asked, "Why don't I find some money?" Jiang Mo drank his wine, smiled and asked him, "What way?" People don't really support himself in filming this movie, so Mingzheng's current financial situation is also a bit difficult. He was embarrassed and asked tentatively: "Looking for someone to borrow? I can ask Zheng Guan... Teacher Zheng to borrow it." Jiang Mo asked him: "Don't you have to pay back the borrowed money?" Ming Zheng was dumbfounded.Tang Li, who had been listening for a long time, snorted, and said mockingly: "He doesn't even want the money from his own partner, and he still wants to borrow money? You can leave him alone, he is very noble." Jiang Mo glared at Tang and Li. Seconds, I wanted to say something at first, but I didn't say anything in the end, and I silently drank the wine in the glass.Mingzheng looked amused, and asked him in a low voice: "Why don't you want money from the family?" Jiang Mo asked him back: "Then would you ask your partner for money to make a movie?"

Ming Zheng was silent for a moment, then said, "Absolutely not."

"That's it." Jiang Mo comforted him, "Don't think about the poor and poor filming methods, let's eat the hardships of life together, and treat it as a tribulation."

After hearing this, Mingzheng was touched, and said, "Many people may not be able to persist in your step, and I admire you very much."

Before he could answer, Jiang Mo's cell phone rang, he took it out to check, Shen Chaowen sent a message to ask him if he had eaten.

He smiled and typed the reply, lowered his head and answered Mingzheng: "A lot of people get smoother and smoother as they get older, but I seem to be sharper and sharper as I get older. Maybe I'm weird." After sending the message, he raised his head and looked at Mingzheng. , "It's probably because others are used to me. I always feel that it doesn't matter what I do with my hands, and I feel at ease."

Mingzheng nodded, expressing his understanding: "I seem to understand."

A month later, Jiang Mo's first feature film "Olive" was launched in Yubeng, Yunnan.