Trilogy
After attending the Emmy Awards, October is approaching.
This time, the Emmy Awards were presented, and once again, there was no connection with Levi.
Although Levi has good luck at the Oscars, he has always had bad luck at the Emmy Awards. Although there are nominations every year, they are basically accompanied every year.
Compared with his film works, which are constantly pursuing something different, his TV works are constantly repeating the most successful path without much creativity - Levi is also very clear about this, and this time, there is nothing strange about him not winning the award.
Therefore, it was normal for him to return empty-handed at the Emmy Awards. This happened not once or twice, but he had long been used to it.
After the awards, he returned to his company and continued to prepare his script. However, as he said, this matter is not urgent.
Compared with this, he has other things to deal with.
For example, he has to take charge of newly launched TV series.
September every year is the season when new dramas are launched. This year, a new TV series produced by Levi's company also started airing at this time.
With kung fu as its main selling point, this TV series chose to be broadcast on WB TV station.
Compared to the four major TV networks, WB TV station, which only started operation in 1995, is undoubtedly a very small TV station, and its ratings have always been relatively poor.
However, this also ensures that even if the ratings of this TV series are low, there is no need to worry about being cut in half.
Because the Enigma Company chose a small TV station this time, there was a rumor when the TV station started broadcasting the TV series. It is said that Levi wants to try something like "Ball Lightning" again, and it is very likely that he is preparing for a Kung Fu movie this time, and the TV series will only be broadcast for one season.
This statement is somewhat detrimental to the TV series, so Levi had to personally come forward and assure WB TV station that this time, it was definitely not up to him to decide how long the TV series would last. The TV station had the final say.
He even directed the first episode of the TV series to win the people's trust.
Directing a TV series as a top director has also attracted a lot of attention to this TV series. After it was launched, it immediately gathered a certain amount of popularity.
The TV series itself, in fact, there is nothing unusual about it. It tells the story of an ordinary American boy who discovered by chance that his Chinese classmate's family not only owned a Chinese restaurant but also a martial arts family.
After discovering this, on the one hand, he learned martial arts to strengthen his body, and on the other hand, he began to uphold justice and become a righteous young man.
What he didn't know was that the Chinese martial arts family was not that simple, and unknowingly, he was also involved in the gang struggle...
Such a story is actually very simple and very cliché. I don't know how many superhero TV shows there are like this. It's all the same routine, one short episode at a time, and then the end boss shows up from time to time, attracting people to watch.
However, this TV series is somewhat new.
First, the leading actor in the movie, Jason Ackles, is indeed very handsome for a youth drama. Having a handsome male protagonist is already half the battle.
The story of any youth idol drama is played to young people. Compared with older people who pay more attention to the inside of the characters, idol dramas pay more attention to the outside.
People should be handsome. This is the basis.
Secondly, Chinese Kung Fu has always been mysterious, and in this TV series, the half-truths and half-false revelations also attracted the interest of many people.
Compared to supernatural superpowers, kung fu seems closer to reality - even though people who practice kung fu will not believe that someone can become a humanoid Gundam by practicing martial arts, this thing always looks more real than other superpowers.
Compared with a person as powerful as Superman, who still has to work hard to make a living on earth, a person with a little bit of skill hidden among the people is more credible.
What's more, although the kung fu is fake, the level of the martial arts instructor Levi hired in this TV series is real. Although it is only a small TV series, Levi did not skimp on martial arts direction.
The joining of these people also made this series' martial arts action design quite beautiful. Compared with other TV dramas where one hit can defeat ten people, this series is much better to watch.
Levi knew that as movies gradually began to rely on special effects, people who originally relied on stunts and martial arts to make a living would naturally see their incomes decrease.
With aliens to watch, humans will no longer enjoy watching action movies, leading to gradually shrinking their role. At this time, Levi began to guide them in the direction of TV dramas while they could not find jobs.
If it goes well, there may be a better development direction.
Even for TV series, having good enough action guidance is important.
And this kind of thing will happen in American dramas in the future. For example, in Game of Thrones, the scene where the Red Viper plays with a spear was directed by Jet Lee's fellow disciples. That action stood out in a drama full of recklessness and won much praise.
Now, Levi wants to introduce these action scenes into the TV series earlier. It's all an experiment anyway; it doesn't matter if there are more things.
Handsome characters, heroes close to real life, and more outstanding fighting moves made this TV series immediately successful.
The only pity is that several of the actors Levi hoped to train did not receive much praise in the TV series.
Among these people, only Leslie Cheung relied on his charm to show an eye-catching demeanor in the TV series and was even considered one of the most outstanding supporting actors.
The performance of several other people was much worse. For example, Gao Yuanyuan, who played the heroine in the TV series, was ridiculed of facial paralysis.
In fact, this is not surprising: in this TV series, she was chosen as the heroine purely because Levi needed a Chinese heroine, and she was relatively pretty and could act like a student.
But in fact, her acting skills and language are not particularly good. Now, she could only act by memorizing her lines, and her appearance basically met the requirements.
After all, this actress is a bit young, although she has also acted in some martial arts dramas previously, those things are not very good at training people.
The TV drama environment in the United States is more demanding, and she herself has not made significant progress, so she will inevitably be criticized.
However, Levi didn't care much about this: How many heroines in youth idol dramas have outstanding acting skills? The most basic requirement for this kind of TV series is to be pretty and young enough.
Who was the TV actor he hired when he started filming Heroes? Isn't it just Jessica Alba? Natalie Portman, who has better acting skills, has never been able to choose TV series but movies.
In the same way, most of those who are willing to come to the United States to work hard are not actors who have already become famous. It's normal for them to have poor acting skills.
However, whether they can make progress in the future and whether they can make a difference depends on their own efforts.
"Actually, as far as you are concerned, I think developing in the United States would be better. A beautiful girl like you will inevitably have the burden of being an idol when acting in China. It is difficult to perform well, and it is difficult to improve your acting skills. Now that we are here, getting rid of the burden may not be a bad thing."
Levi also told Gao Yuanyuan in private - her acting skills are not good, largely because she is indeed very beautiful, so she always hopes to be able to act like a beauty. Excessive reserve - This is a big obstacle for an actor.
But now it's America. No matter how reserved she is, it will be difficult for her to survive, so she has to break with her past practices.
"I will work hard." She told Levi. She also expressed her attitude.
This attitude is enough. As for how much ability you can have in the future, it all depends on yourself - Levi didn't say anything more about this.
In fact, after the TV series stabilized, Levi also encountered some new things.
The end of the year has arrived in a hurry, and at the end of this year, The Lord of the Rings 3 was released on time, which once again made people sigh with emotion.
Compared to other movies, the box office figures of this movie are truly miraculous.
It exceeded 124 million in its first weekend of release, which is 30 million more than the summer blockbuster movies. It clearly showed people who is the box office king this year.
If other movies can exceed 780 million this year, it is not difficult for this movie to break through the one billion mark in one fell swoop.
And this result has also set off a new round of topics among people: Should The Lord of the Rings win an Oscar?
Many people have asked Levi this question.
Levi actually only shot one commercial film this year. It stands to reason that the Oscar has little to do with him.
However, Levi's reputation has always been there, and although his commercial films are said to be blockbusters, the structure and connotation of the film are not weak in novelty.
Now, some people think that it can compete for awards. As a result, people came back to ask what Levi thought of the incident.
"What's my opinion? I naturally think the Lord of the Rings deserves all the honors."
To this, Levi also gave a decisive answer.
Instead of touting his own movie, he chose to be an unwavering supporter of The Lord of the Rings.
He knew that Lord of the Rings 3 was carrying not just this movie but the huge popularity of the entire trilogy. This trilogy made it almost unstoppable, and there was little point in opposing it.
What's more, his film only accounts for the light of a structure and does not have many breakthroughs. If he had to say which movie was better, he would have to say Lord of the Rings if he was honestly speaking.
Moreover, he said this without some calculations of his own: The Lord of the Rings trilogy relied on the accumulation of popularity to reach this point today.
If it succeeds, such an accumulation may not leave a deep impression on people. He also has to make a sequel to his movie, and he can't win this time anyway. It will be good for him to accumulate fame and popularity for the next time.
Maybe his own movies can also accumulate popularity in this way?
He has enough confidence in his next movie - this confidence is not something he talks about.
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons
Marcelo Maia
Britanna
Mandy G
Scott DePaepe
Oluwatimileyin Olayemi
You can read advanced chapters on my Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.