sbdcsierra Chapter 150: Casting for "The Return of the Condor Heroes"
Chapter 150: Casting for "The Return of the Condor Heroes"
Xinghua Entertainment successfully drew attention to itself, and following this momentum, Xinghua Entertainment quickly posted a Weibo post to retaliate against Japan.
"The road to Chinese animation is long and arduous. Xinghua Entertainment is determined to be at the forefront of Chinese animation. This weekend, the animation 'Light of the Times,' produced by Xinghua Entertainment, will be launched. We hope all viewers will support it."
The Weibo post by Xinghua Entertainment at this crucial juncture immediately garnered support from many patriots.
Even before the anime was released, its popularity had already skyrocketed.
Many people have already regarded this animation as the hope of Chinese animation.
Seeing the positive market response, Star Entertainment struck while the iron was hot and released the trailer for "The Light of the Times".
This is a Chinese animation that tells a historical story. In terms of production, it is indeed much better than Starlight Entertainment's "Dragon Soars Across the Seas". This gave many viewers some confidence in resisting Japanese pirates.
Lu Ran also watched the trailer for this anime, and the quality was indeed good, but it was only slightly better than "Dragon Rising".
Since Japan can speak with such confidence, the quality of their follow-up moves must be quite high, and "The Light of the Times" may not be able to withstand it.
Looking at the progress of my department, if things go smoothly, it can be released next weekend.
Then let the bullets fly a little longer.
Lu Ran returned to his office and continued writing the script for "The Return of the Condor Heroes".
In the office, the sound of keyboards clicking was crisp and rhythmic.
Lu Ran stared at the script of "The Return of the Condor Heroes" on the screen, the cursor hovering over the line "At the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, the Tomb of the Living Dead".
He spent three days deliberating over the plot involving Little Dragon Girl.
The original version's scene where Zhen Zhibing defiles Xiaolongnu is indeed a major red flag.
Even in the previous life, many viewers still held a grudge about this, and some even dropped the show because of it.
Although in the end, the relationship between Yang and Long became even more poignant and moving, the audience in this world could not fully accept it.
But this part of the plot is also crucial.
It was the direct reason why Xiaolongnu left Yang Guo, and also the emotional foundation for Yang Guo's personality change and sixteen years of waiting.
"I can't lose my virginity, but I need to have a strong enough impact..." Lu Ran muttered to himself.
He recalled what director Chen Ke had said during a previous discussion: "Audiences can accept suffering, but they cannot accept stains. Especially for a character like Xiaolongnu, you can make her injured, poisoned, or imprisoned, but you cannot make her lose her innocence. These days, audiences still have an obsession with the purity of female characters."
Lu Ran's fingers danced across the keyboard.
A new plot is slowly taking shape:
In the dead of night in the ancient tomb, Xiaolongnu reached a crucial point in her martial arts practice, circulating her inner energy and shutting down her five senses. Zhen Zhibing sneaked in and, seeing Xiaolongnu's celestial beauty, was momentarily captivated, reaching out to touch her cheeks, arms, and waist...
But just as he was about to take another step, he heard footsteps not far away, and Zhen Zhibing fled in panic.
After Xiaolongnu finished circulating her internal energy, she noticed the strangeness on her body. Since only Yang Guo was around, she mistakenly assumed that it was Yang Guo who had done it.
She was filled with shame, indignation, disappointment, and pain, and questioned Yang Guo, who was completely unaware of the truth.
The misunderstanding deepened, and Xiaolongnu, heartbroken, left a note and ran away.
"So..." Lu Ran pondered carefully, "it preserves the psychological trauma and misunderstanding of the violation, while avoiding actual loss of virginity. Xiaolongnu left because of the collapse of trust, the psychological humiliation and disappointment, not because of physical stains."
Lu Ran felt that with these slight modifications, it should still align with the values of this world.
After writing this scene, the rest unfolded naturally, and I wrote all the way to the finale in one go.
After writing the final scene, "At the summit of Mount Hua, the Condor Heroes vanished from the martial world," he breathed a long sigh of relief.
The script for "The Return of the Condor Heroes" has been completed, consisting of forty episodes.
Three days later, at Director Chen Ke's studio.
Wearing his reading glasses, Chen Ke flipped through the script page by page, sometimes frowning, sometimes nodding, and even slapping the table in approval at crucial points.
"Brilliant! This change is brilliant!" He pointed to the section about Little Dragon Girl, "It retains the dramatic conflict of the original work while avoiding the pitfalls. Lu Ran, you're a screenwriting genius!"
Lu Ran humbly replied, "It was Director Chen's helpful advice."
"However..." Chen Ke stroked his chin, "The character Zhen Zhibing, although he doesn't have many scenes, is very crucial. The actor has to be chosen well, to portray that complex character who appears upright on the surface but harbors evil intentions inside."
Do you have any recommendations?
"I do have a few recommendations, but as the editor-in-chief, you'll need to oversee the casting process..." Chen Ke continued, "If you have any suitable candidates, you can recommend them, even artists from other companies. As long as you think they're a good fit, we can discuss it."
Chen Ke's original intention was to find the most suitable actor, but it gave Lu Ran a wake-up call.
If other companies' studios can do it, then Xingyue Studio's studio can too, right?
In recent days, Shen Yuege has also been busy negotiating and signing contracts with many artists.
If she were given this opportunity, the signing process would likely be much easier.
In this society where connections are everywhere, it would be a waste not to use such strong connections.
"Okay, I'll help you make appointments with the actors too." Lu Ran readily agreed.
He didn't know if Chen Ke was genuinely reminding him or simply trying to find better actors, but even if there were connections, Lu Ran wouldn't accept just anyone.
The success of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" will inevitably make "The Return of the Condor Heroes" a hot commodity.
The main characters of "The Return of the Condor Heroes"—Yang Guo, Xiaolongnu, Guo Jing, Huang Rong, Li Mochou, Jinlun Fawang... are all classics.
Even a minor supporting role can give a newcomer huge exposure.
If we can secure a few roles for the artists at Xingyue Studio, then the studio's reputation will be firmly established.
...