"Paris I Love You" is directed by 20 directors, and there are 20 arrondissements in Paris, and each director shoots the story of a district. The total budget of the pen & fun & www.biquge.info movies is 13 million, and the average is only 650,000 per short film. Of course, these budgets are not divided equally, but are made according to the needs of the director.

Zhang Ran is the director who spends the most money, with a total of 1.5 million, because his short film needs to build a café in the studio. Producer Emmanuel Bambi felt that it was too extravagant for a six-minute short film to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in a café, and asked Zhang Ran if he could directly find a café to shoot. Zhang Ran's answer was, no, either take it according to your own requirements, or forget it.

It's not a hypocrisy, it's not that he doesn't feel sorry for spending other people's money, he wants to build the Café Gherpois, which is where the masters of Impressionism met back then, and Impressionism is even called the Gelpois School. Unfortunately, this café has not survived and has long since disappeared.

Luc Besson said that Zhang Ran's short film is a tribute to the masters of Impressionism, and it is true. But Zhang Ran has another purpose, he hopes to have a spiritual dialogue with the distant masters in this way, so as to find his own state. So no matter what, he's going to build this café. If producer Emmanuel Bambi doesn't agree, then he'll shoot it himself.

Emmanuel Bambi was so sore that he gritted his teeth, but finally agreed. He has read Zhang Ran's script, the story is very exciting, and it is probably the biggest highlight of the whole movie.

The audition time was half past two in the afternoon, Zhang Ran looked at his watch, it was already two twenty, and Norah Jones should be almost there.

At this time, there was a high-definition camera in a corner of the café, and Zhao Fei was fiddling with the lens. On the other side of the seat, Luc Besson was chatting with Zhang Jingchu.

Actor Ewan McGregor whispers to producer Emmanuel Bambi over coffee. Playing the café owner is French actor Jean-Dujardin, the one who will win an Oscar for "The Artist" in the future. He was not found by Zhang Ran, but recommended by Emmanuel Benby, and now he is still a small star who has not yet emerged. At this moment, he has entered the character and is holding a coffee pot to pour coffee for everyone.

Almost five minutes later, Norah Jones and her agent arrived.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Zhang!" Norah Jones greeted Zhang Ran with a smile. As a jazz singer, she especially likes "Bursting Drummer", and after that, she must watch every Zhang Ran's movie, and Zhang Ran has become her favorite director. After receiving Zhang Ran's invitation, she almost didn't think about it, and decided to act in this play at that time.

"Hello, Miss Jones, please take a seat, let's sit down and talk!" Zhang Ran looked at her as he beckoned Norah Jones to sit down. He didn't know much about Norah Jones, but he had just watched Wang Jiawei's "Blueberry Night", and the feeling of Norah Jones in the movie was what he wanted.

"I've always loved movies and wanted to try them, but I didn't know if I could act. Norah Jones sat down across from Zhang Ran, a big smile on her face.

Zhang Ran kept smiling: "No problem, you can definitely do it." ”

Norah Jonesley tried to keep the corners of her mouth from rising, and the results seemed good: "What do I need to do? Do I have to do a play?" She had never acted or auditioned, but she had heard that the audition was going to be a play and that she had to read the lines.

Zhang Ran smiled and waved his hand: "Our role is very simple, and the requirements for performance are not high, mainly depends on whether the feeling you bring us fits the role." You go to put on makeup, and we'll talk after makeup!" Zhang Ran called the makeup artist over: "Take Miss Jones to put on makeup, and change her blue outfit first." After putting on makeup, I'm going to see the effect. ”

"Miss Jones, please come with me!" the makeup artist said to Norah Jones and led her into the powder room.

At the same time, Zhang Ran also stood up, walked to Zhao Fei's side, and told him how to shoot later.

After about twenty minutes, Norah Jones came out of the dressing room and changed into a blue and white striped shirt and dark blue jeans, looking pure and fresh. Norah Jones was shorter, so she tucked her shirt into her jeans to raise her waistline, which would make her look tall and neat.

Zhang Ran was very satisfied, in addition to his image and temperament, it was very important that he chose Norah Jones to be relatively short. The actor is relatively short, so he can form a high and low camera difference with others. In the picture of the movie, the position of the actor is particular, the high position will make the person appear very strong, and the low position will appear to be weak.

The heroine of this short film is in a difficult situation, estranged from the people around her, and is clearly at a disadvantage, and it is easier to choose a girl who is shorter to compose the picture. If you bring Taylor Swift in, the 1.8-meter tall man stands in front of the camera, it feels very strong, and it is not easy to deal with.

Norah Jones looked at the camera, then at Zhang Ran, and asked, "What should I do next?"

Zhang Ran smiled and beckoned to her: "You don't have to act in an audition, you sit down, let's talk." He then beckoned to Jean-Dujardan and motioned to pour Norah Jones a cup of coffee.

Norah Jones didn't know much about auditions, and since Zhang Ran asked herself to sit down and talk, she sat down.

Zhang Ran briefly analyzed the role for Norah Jones, and then began to ask questions, asking her about her previous experiences, where she studied, what hobbies she usually had, and so on. Norah Jones has never acted, and Zhang Ran will definitely need to guide him when the time comes, which requires an in-depth understanding of the actors.

While Zhang Ran was chatting with Norah Jones, Zhao Fei operated a high-definition digital camera and filmed Norah Jones from different angles and several different people. The vast majority of people's faces are not standard, and the shooting should be angled. The one who doesn't pick the angle is Zhang Ziyi's kind, which is the face of the movie. As a photographer, Zhao Fei had to figure out from which angle Norah Jones's face looked good, so as to provide a reference for later shooting.

After chatting for nearly an hour, Zhang Ran beckoned to the makeup artist: "Take Nora to put on makeup, change into a red outfit, and tie up her hair." ”

The main character of the movie is an American girl who works in a café in France, her French is terrible, there is a gap between her and the people around her, and she is melancholy inside. Blue is the color of melancholy, and the heroine will always wear blue clothing in the early stages of the film to express her melancholy and inner loneliness. Later, because of her singing, the heroine was welcomed by everyone, and she became more and more harmonious with the people around her, and the color of the costume would change from cold to warm, and finally to red, symbolizing her inner passion.

In fact, the color of clothing plays an important role in film works, clothing color can give people a very strong visual impact and psychological reaction, the visual emotional language of clothing color, will be felt in the appreciation of the work to present different visual effects, expression and transmission of different emotions.

More than ten minutes later, Norah Jones put on her makeup. This time she changed into a red dress with white polka dots on it to look lively, and a white knit sweater over it.

Zhang Ran clapped his hands and pointed to the microphone stand in front of the bar: "Nora, sing a song!"

Norah Jones had read the script of the movie, knew that there were a lot of scenes singing at the bar, and asked, "What song?"

Zhang Ran said: "Songs about love are fine. ”

Norah Jones walked up to the microphone, smiled and sang gracefully, "I waited until I saw the sun." I don't know why I won't come, I left you and the house full of joy, I don't know why I won't come......"

The café was silent, everyone was listening, this was "Don'tknowwhy", Norah Jones's most popular song, many people had heard it, but now it was the real live version, and everyone was a little intoxicated.

Norah Jones sings very well, but after all, she is a famous singer, and she has won several Grammys, her aura is too strong, and her whole singing is too mature. This is the big star Norah Jones singing, not the shy girl in the movie.

Zhang Ran clapped his hands and motioned for Norah Jones to stop: "Nora, we need to sing with a different feeling." Now you close your eyes and imagine a scene where you're singing in a bar and your boyfriend comes to see you and is watching you from the audience. You've just been dating for a short time, and now he's looking at you from the audience, just like that, with love in his eyes. Think about how you and your boyfriend felt when they first went on a date, and think back to how you felt at that time. Okay, now you can open your eyes and sing again!"

Norah Jones restarted singing, or "Don\'tknowwhy", but this time the singing was elegant with a little sweetness, after all, the situation given by Zhang Ran was that her boyfriend was listening to her singing.

After the song was sung, everyone present applauded. Listening to Norah Jones sing, or the live version, it was a great feeling.

In fact, Zhang Ran hoped that Norah Jones was a little shy, so she imagined that she had just dated her boyfriend. Norah Jones understands differently, in her opinion, it is sweet just after dating, so she shows sweetness. However, Zhang Ran did not dwell on specific emotions, and was able to show sweetness, which means that she entered the situation described by Zhang Ran, which shows that she can quickly enter the play.

For the director, he is not afraid that the actor is inexperienced, and the inexperienced director can guide him, and the most afraid is the kind of actor who can't get into the play. Zhang Ran was very satisfied with Norah Jones' performance: "It was the effect I wanted, it was very good. But I have two requests, I don't know if you can accept them?"

Nolan Jones pursed his lips nervously: "Don't know what to ask?"

Zhang Ran stared at Norah Jones's ponytail and said: "First, can you accept a haircut?" In the front, I want the heroine to have long hair, and in the back, I think it is better to have short hair, because in the later part of the movie, the girl becomes lively, and the whole person is full of vitality, and the short hair looks more energetic. ”

Norah Jones doesn't care about her hair: "Yes, I just want to change the look, but it's better not to cut it too ugly." What about the second request?"

Zhang Ran looked at Norah Jones and said: "The heroine of the movie is a girl who works in a café, her French is not good, and her heart is lonely. In order for you to experience the inner life of the character and really get into the state of the character, I will ask Mr. Luc Besson to find a café where you can work as a waitress for a week!" "If you have enough time, it might be better to do it for a month or two, but Zhang Ran doesn't have time. The Venice Film Festival will open at the end of August, and then the students will start school.

Norah Jones, who worked in a restaurant before she became famous, thought about it and nodded, "Yes!"

Zhang Ran smiled and stretched out his hand: "That's a happy cooperation!"

The following week, Norah Jones worked as a waitress at the Café Twin Windmills in Montmartre with the help of Luc Besson. The Twin Windmill Cafe is where Emily, the heroine of the movie "Amelie", works, and there are many tourists every day, but Norah Jones wears makeup and no one recognizes her.

Zhang Ran naturally will not be idle, pulling the members of the crew to discuss the script, the lens, and the composition together, and strive to make the movie better. For this, he racked his brains.

Everyone is saying that the new storyboard is very good, but Zhang Ran still has no bottom in his heart, and he always feels that something is wrong. However, the time is approaching the tenth, and Zhang Ran has no way to delay it any longer, so he can only turn on the machine. (To be continued.) )