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Until mid-December, Murphy was looking at various materials, combining Michael Dobbs's novels and TV episodes that he had only watched before, and gradually sketched out the context and direction of the story of the first season in his mind. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Subsequently, he completed the outline of the script as quickly as possible.

At the same time, the screenwriter team recruited by Stanton Studio has also been built, and in today's Hollywood, where the status and salary of screenwriters are limited, as long as you are willing to spend money, it is not difficult to find a screenwriter who is good at writing political dramas.

But there are two distinct styles of common political dramas in Hollywood, such as "House of Cards" and "Vice President", both of which are political dramas, but the style and depth are different, the former is more typical of focusing on the darkness and cruelty of political struggle, and the latter is a typical American comedy, with a lot of American political jokes in it.

So, on the first day that the hired screenwriters signed the agreement, Murphy summoned everyone involved in the project, including Gal Gadot and Paul Wilson, who had traveled from England, to a meeting in the conference room of Stanton Studios.

With all the production of the final season of Game of Thrones already completed, Paul Wilson is confirmed to be the director-producer of the series, as well as the writers.

In this meeting, Murphy wanted to focus on some of the principled issues in screenwriting and production.

"This drama must have characters with distinct personalities, powerful and interesting dialogues, and almost every episode is a wonderful individual story, but it is closely connected and interlocking, which can make the audience want to stop."

Standing at the front of the conference table, Murphy said very quickly, "More importantly, it can meet a certain need of the audience, and the observation of high-level political figures and high-level politics in the United States allows the audience to see many scenes that can only be imagined but cannot be witnessed before, and feel novel and exciting!" ”

He nodded to Gal Gadot, who handed out a synopsis of the story, which was the script outline for the first season.

Murphy added, "I don't have a particular study of the political system in the United States, and if there are any mistakes in the story involving the political system, you should remind me to revise it in time on the basis of ensuring that the main thread of the story remains unchanged." ”

This is also one of the purposes of his multi-million dollar huge investment to build this team of screenwriters, although these writers are not the top screenwriters in the industry, but they are all veterans of writing political themes, which can make up for his biggest shortcomings.

Paul Wilson raised his hand, and Murphy nodded and said, "Paul, you say." ”

"I think from the beginning of the project, we should unify our voice, saying that 99% of the plot of this drama is real, and the prototype can be found in the political life of Washington!"

Speaking of this, Paul Wilson laughed, "Let the audience think that they can understand the top shady scenes of political struggle through this play." ”

"Hmm!" Murphy agreed with Paul Wilson's words and said to the female assistant who was taking the minutes, "Make a note of that. ”

It has always been difficult to write about political works, because there are too many insiders and too many unspoken rules, if you don't understand it, you will be timid everywhere, and even if you know it well, it is not easy to grasp the scale.

Therefore, a lot of political themes are rotten in the stomach.

In fact, what Paul Wilson said is very much in line with Murphy's requirements, and the biggest charm of "House of Cards" is that it looks very real.

Because the show is not so much a portrayal of American politics as it is a history of struggle by black-bellied politicians who are both exaggerated and strive to create a sense of realism.

For example, for the sake of realism, Murphy deliberately marked on the outline that there should be a drinking scene that can be seen everywhere, because drinking is a way of life in the United States, not only the best lubricant for social occasions, but also a basic necessity of life, even congressmen and presidents will put a few bottles of wine in the office.

For example, Nixon liked to drink Lafite, Clinton liked to drink all kinds of beer, George W. Bush was guilty of drunk driving when he was young, and Obama even opened a small workshop in the White House to brew beer.

"Just as Paul said......"

Following Paul Wilson's words, Murphy emphasized to the writers in the room, "We want to make it seem to the audience that this show is an in-depth analysis of American politics." ”

Several screenwriters are listening carefully, they are not stupid, although Murphy has a good reputation in the business in the circle, but spending a lot of money on the salary must make them show their value.

If you can't meet the requirements, you will inevitably be replaced, and it is not easy to find another job with such a high pay.

Murphy added, "You can make a modest adaptation based on real-life examples and apply them flexibly to the writing of the script. ”

In the drama he once watched, it is said that many of the plots are adapted from real-life examples, which makes the whole drama seem very real, especially for people outside the political circle.

Although Murphy had never seen what real American politics was like at that time, he would not have believed that he had foolishly believed that politics was full of positive energy, and in his cognition, politics was far darker than business.

And that "House of Cards" happened to show all kinds of ugliness and evils of American politics without concealment, which made a layman like him feel very real.

As for the ups and downs of the plot, let's not talk about it or something, as a good drama, a wonderful plot is the most basic, and he thinks that the most attractive highlight of this drama is that the protagonist is bad enough, and it can be said that Frank Underwood, the protagonist of "House of Cards", is the worst protagonist of all American dramas he has seen.

But as the so-called protagonist is not bad, the audience does not love it.

In this era of information explosion, information is becoming more and more transparent, more and more ugliness and evil are exposed, and the audience's tastes are slowly changing.

Just as his film noir became more and more popular and made it to the mainstream film industry, audiences no longer foolishly believe that the world is beautiful and that good can always triumph over evil.

It's not that people are getting more and more evil, it's that people are becoming more and more rational.

After thinking for a moment, Murphy said, "The original author of this book used to be the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, which is very beneficial to us, and it is easy for the audience to believe in the truth. Therefore, you have to make all kinds of political operations in the play look traceable, so that the audience who usually has no concept of politics can also understand it. ”

Due to the author's previous resume, this novel and its adaptation naturally seem particularly credible, which will also add to the charm of the series.

"In the creation of traditional Hollywood political dramas, there is a premise: our political system is very good."

Paul Wilson picked up Murphy's words and said, "But a bad guy in a certain position, such as the police department, the parliament, is causing problems, and it's all individual. ”

He shook his head, "But we did a survey, and now the situation has changed, and now there is a general mentality among the American people that this political system is very bad, and the media published a poll before, listing the following things in your mind to hate it." ”

Speaking of which, Paul Wilson couldn't help but laugh, "Congress ranks very high in the most hated sequences. ”

Murphy nodded, and continued, "This kind of environment provides us with considerable convenience, you ......"

He pointed to all the screenwriters present, "No matter what media interviews you will have to say in the future, 99% of our plot is true, and the only untrue percent is that we have passed an education program, and in reality they don't even have this one." ”

He looked at Gal Gadot's side, and Gal Gadot immediately tacitly added a sentence to his notebook: note to the relevant contract.

Looking at everyone, Murphy finally said, "We have to boldly set all the characters in the negative, showing the evil of human nature and the darkness of politics!" ”

The skeleton of a political drama like this is the history of personal crawling, and the flesh and blood are the details that make up "how to deal with power, ambition and depravity".

The meeting was over, all the writers dispersed, and Murphy left Paul Wilson behind.

"You've done a great job with Game of Thrones." Murphy did not hesitate to praise himself, "I am relieved that this series is handed over to you." ”

Paul Wilson smiled and said, "Murphy, I wouldn't be where I am without you, as long as you need ......"

Murphy raised his hand to interrupt him, "After directing the first season, do what you want to do." ”

After a moment of silence, Paul Wilson nodded vigorously, every director has his own cinematic dream.

In fact, directing "Game of Thrones" in the past few years has given him enough experience and money, if it weren't for Murphy personally calling him to communicate and inviting Oscar-level male and female leads, he might not have taken over the series.

"Paul ......," Murphy said, leaning back in his chair, "after the New Year, I'll call Kevin Spacey and Charlize Theron personally, and you and Bill will visit them personally." ”

Hearing the two names mentioned by Murphy, Paul Wilson's spirit immediately lifted his spirit, "Are you going to have Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood and Charlize Theron as Claire Underwood?" ”

Murphy nodded, "That's how I planned it. ”

"Kevin Spacey is okay to say." Paul Wilson was a little embarrassed, "He hasn't had a great job in the past few years, and his status is not as good as before. But Charlize Theron ......"

What Paul Wilson said is indeed true, it is not easy to get a relatively popular A-list movie star to star in a TV series.

Murphy thought for a moment and said, "Well, you're in charge of getting Kevin Spacey done." When I'm done with this, I'll meet Charlize Theron. ”

"Paul ......," he added, "the script writing is temporarily handed over to you, and you can communicate in a timely manner when there is something to do." ”

The release of "Diego Rose" is imminent, and Murphy has to shift his energy and be busy with the film.