Zhang Ran pointed to a stone on the side of the ground and beckoned, "Sit down and talk!"

Ryan Coogler sat on the stone, looked at Zhang Ran, and said excitedly: "The first time I watched your movie was in a film class at USC, and one day during class, the teacher said to us that everyone here will be familiar with the name Zhang Ran, the famous public enemy of USC, today we come to see his "Aviator", this is a real masterpiece, full of imagination and creativity. If one day you make a work like this, then the whole of USC will be proud of you!"

Zhang Ran laughed and said, "I'm a little flattered to hear the USC teacher say this!"

Ryan Coogler smiled and continued: "It was the first time I watched 'The Aviator', and I was shocked by the unconventional way of backlighting, scrolling, and compressing space, and I realized that the movie could still be made like this. But what shocked me even more was a strange feeling, I felt that this story was special from me, and I saw myself in Qiao Zhengfei. I was so confused that I couldn't understand why a Chinese movie seemed to be making me. I came out of the classroom sleepwalking, trying to figure out why. I went to the library and looked through all the information and books about you to find out. Since then, I've become a follower of your films. "The Aviator" opened my eyes and made me realize that there could be something else in the movie!"

Ryan Coogler glanced at Zhang Ran and continued: "When I graduated from USC last year and started working on my first feature, I wanted to bring to the screen the fact that Oscar Grant, an unarmed 22-year-old black young man in Oakland, was shot and killed by police at a train station in '09. After writing the script for half a year, I always felt that it was not right, and I felt that the writing was not good enough, which made me particularly painful. In this case, I decided to make a documentary about you, to trace your creative ideas and growth process, and to find answers from them. ”

Hearing that Ryan Coogler planned to put the murder of a black youth in Oakland on the screen, Zhang Ran suddenly remembered that someone in the previous life did make a movie about it, and I don't know if Ryan Coogler made it. The racial problem is very serious in the United States, and there are not one or two cases of black people being shot, and black directors, especially new directors, are particularly prone to lose control of this kind of theme, and it is especially easy to lose their cool, make movies very sensational, and vent their emotions in the movies. In fact, this problem is also a problem that Zhang Ran must face when filming Zhang Chunru in the future, he must calmly and objectively reproduce the characters and events, otherwise he will fall behind artistically.

Ryan Coogler pointed the camera at Zhang Ran and asked: "Mr. Zhang, since "The Aviator", your films have been seeking new and change, from the large backlight and scrolling shots of "The Aviator" to the use of sound and space in "One Man Puts on the Lights", to the Song Ci structure and ultra-low-altitude cruising shots of "Future Apocalypse", even if there are new things in "Three Fools" and "Tangshan Earthquake", what is your motivation for innovation?"

Zhang Ran thought for a while and said slowly: "There are probably two motivations, one is the self-esteem as a Chinese director, Chinese films have contributed to world cinema, such as the creation of the genre of kung fu films, but China's contribution to film language is relatively small." In this regard, Toei is much stronger than us, and has a great impact on Akira Kurosawa's multi-camera and Ozu's low-camera lenses. I was a little reluctant to find a Chinese film language.

Another reason is the sense of despair that the previous masters brought me. In the 4,50s, the representative of French cinema was poetic realism, led by Marcel Carnet, whose masterpiece was "Children of Paradise". But in the mid-to-late '50s, Carnet was attacked by young critics, who even questioned his talent as a director, with Truffaut attacking him the most. But more than 20 years later, Truffaut admitted in public that he was willing to trade the 23 films he had completed in his lifetime for a chance to shoot "Children of Heaven." One of the reasons why the New Wave was born? was that Truffaut felt that they could not surpass Children of Heaven in the traditional way, so they had to find a different way.

It's the same for me, watching movies like "Seven Samurai" and "Ecstasy", sometimes I feel very powerless, even hopeless, these works are like a mountain in front of me, and I can't surpass them for the rest of my life, and in this case I can only find another way, take a path that they haven't taken. ”

Ryan Coogler wondered: "Every director wants to be innovative, and they all want their films to be different from others, but it's hard for others to be as innovative as you, what is the source of your innovation?"

Zhang Ran didn't answer, pointed to his feet, and said slowly: "It's the land under your feet!"

Ryan Coogler shook his head with a wry smile: "I didn't understand what you said!"

Zhang Ran pointed to the opposite mountain and asked, "How do you feel when you see this mountain?"

Ryan Coogler looked at the mountains opposite, there were not many trees, it looked a little desolate, and there was nothing special about it. He looked at Zhang Ran and didn't know what to say for a while.

Zhang Ran saw that Ryan Coogler was speechless, so he said: "This place used to belong to the Central Plains, and the Central Plains was the birthplace of Chinese civilization. You are an American, and I don't feel anything special about this land, but when I face this mountain and this land, I think a lot about the people in this land, and I think about the past. For me, the land of China, the people on it, and the 5,000-year-old history are the source of my innovation. Director Dongying was able to find low-camera shooting methods from Dongying culture, and our culture is much more brilliant than Dongying, so it is not unusual to discover something new from it!"

Ryan Kugler thought to himself, how can it be so simple, there are so many Chinese directors, why can't others do it, only you can do it? This kind of thing can only be done by real heaven! However, he did not dwell on this question, and continued to ask: "Do you still face creative bottlenecks now, and how do you overcome these problems?"

Zhang Ran laughed when he heard this, he was not a god, how could there be no creative bottleneck, so he said: "Of course there is, otherwise why am I here? When creating, I often encounter a problem, even if I feel that the work is not good enough and not particularly satisfied." The reason for this situation is that the accumulation is not enough, and there are not enough good materials to put into the work. For directors, life accumulation is particularly important. Creativity can be imaginative, but no matter what, it has to be backed up by enough detail. We have watched many movies since we were children, and we have forgotten the basic plot, the protagonist, and even the title of the film, but some details are engraved in our minds. For example, the Odessa Staircase in "Battleship Potemkin". My new film is a rural story, I have never lived in the countryside, and I am particularly unsure of the details, I don't know how the peasants walk, how to hoe the fields, and so on. In this case, I can only live in the place where the story takes place for a while, and really experience what life is like for farmers. That way, when the movie starts, I'll be able to sit behind the monitor!"

After listening to Zhang Ran's words, Ryan Coogler somewhat understands the bottleneck of his creation, he has collected a lot of information about Oscar Grant, and has also had contact with Oscar's family, now it seems that he has done far enough, he should collect more information, not only with Oscar's family, but also with his friends, classmates, and even teachers, to outline Oscar's entire life trajectory!

Ryan Coogler was a little excited, it was indeed the right thing to come to Zhang Ran, I know what to do! But he was not in a hurry to leave, but determined the idea of finishing the documentary, he believed that Zhang Ran could get more inspiration by his side: "Mr. Zhang, I want to follow you for a while!"

Zhang Ran's film is followed by a special documentary photographer from preparation to post-production, but he will not bring a photographer when he experiences life, which is not conducive to experiencing life. For Ryan Coogler, Zhang Ran decided to make an exception, others came from the United States to make a documentary to pay tribute to you, and it was a bit too unkind to drive others away like this. He smiled and nodded: "Then you can stay, life here is also a rare experience for you!"

Ryan Coogler stayed, carrying a camera to record Zhang Ran's daily life.

Every morning, Zhang Ran would get up early and carry a bucket to carry water with Li Xuejian. They lived in two separate households, and each carried its own water. Ryan Coogler tried to experience the sensation of carrying water once, and at first felt nothing, but after a hike up the mountain with the bucket, his feet trembled and he almost rolled down the mountain

After picking up water and having breakfast, Zhang Ran and the others would work in the fields until the afternoon.

After dinner, Zhang Ran would not be idle, he would come to the entrance of the village, squat with the old people and men in the village, and chat, talking about the history of the village, the old times of the past, and the difficult life in the past. After dark, he went back to the house and recorded everything he had heard.

Ryan Coogler remembered a sentence he saw on the Internet, genius is not terrible, what is terrible is that genius works harder than you! Ryan Coogler is a little ashamed, he has no talent for Zhang Ran, and he has not worked hard yet, no wonder he will encounter a bottleneck, and he can't write the script halfway through!

When Ryan Coogler first arrived in the village, the villagers looked at him with a strange look, which was the gaze of tourists looking at animals in the zoo. This made Ryan Coogler a little awkward, but he knew that everyone had no ill intentions, he was just curious. Later, everyone slowly got used to his presence, and the curious gaze of looking at animals disappeared. The people in the village were very enthusiastic about him, and when they saw him from afar, they shouted, "Old Black!"

During Ryan Coogler's time with Zhang Ran, "Future Apocalypse" dominated the box office charts in China, East Asia, and Southeast Asia, crushing other films. Countless media exclaimed, "Who can beat Future Apocalypse?"

In North America, as expected by the media, the aging "The Expendables" won $28.59 million at the box office in its first week, but ultimately lost to the stable "Future Apocalypse". In the next three weeks, due to the end of the summer season, all small-budget movies were released, and "Future Apocalypse" won the championship for three consecutive weeks, until "Resident Evil 4" starring Lee Binbin and Milla Jovovich was released, and it gave up the box office champion.

In the face of a strong opponent like "The Dark Knight Rises", "Future Apocalypse" was able to achieve a counterattack three weeks after the film's release and won the championship for four consecutive weeks, which is also a miracle in the history of North American films!

The time soon entered the middle of September, and Zhang Ran, who was experiencing life in the mountainous area, had to temporarily put down his farm work and fly to Lin'an to attend the mobile phone alliance conference organized by the peak of the century and domestic mobile phone manufacturers such as Huawei and ZTE.