Xiang Nan then invited director Wang Wenjie. He is currently the best director for martial arts dramas in the Mainland.

"The White Eyebrow Hero" in 1993 and "Gan Jiu Mei" in 1996 both achieved good ratings and reputation.

In addition, his representative works include "The Great Dyeing House", "Genghis Khan", "Red Cross Squadron", "Ranger", "Su Dongpo", "Journey of Glory", etc. He can be regarded as a prolific and famous actor. Talented director.

Because of this, Xiang Nan still thinks highly of him and specially recruited him from Qilu Satellite TV.

For the first Jin Yong drama, Xiang Nan did not choose the most well-known works such as "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", "The Legend of Heaven and Sword of the Dragon", "Dragon", "Swordsman", etc., but chose He wrote a film called "The Secret of the City" as a test work.

Because novels such as The Condor Trilogy, Tian Long, Xiao Ao, etc. have just been adapted into TV series by Hong Kong and Taiwan, and they are all works with excellent reputation.

For example, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" by Louis Koo and Li Naotong, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" by Huang Rihua and Chen Haomin, "The Swordsman" by Lu Songxian, "The Deer and the Cauldron" by Chen Xiaochun, and "The Legend of the Dragon Slayer" by Ma Jingtao "etc.

If Kirin Pictures follows suit and the quality is slightly worse, they will be criticized for imitating others. What's more, the mainland lacks experience in martial arts drama production, so the filming is almost certain to be poor. As a result, Kirin Pictures will be criticized a lot, and it will be detrimental to Kirin Pictures. To put it bluntly, it's a thankless effort and certainly not worth it.

Therefore, it is better to choose an unpopular work to film. Even if the film is slightly inferior, it will not be easy to compare, and the audience's evaluation will be better.

And "The Secret of the City" is an unpopular one among Jin Yong's novels. It was only made into a movie and a TV series in 1980 and **, but no one touched it at other times.

More importantly, neither TV series nor movies have been introduced to the mainland, so for mainland audiences, this is probably their first time watching "The Legend of the City". As long as the production is done with care, I believe it will have a good reputation.

For example, the version starring Wu Yue and Shu Chang, although not very influential, has a very good reputation.

…

The script of "The Secret of the City" was written by Xiang Nan himself. The actors were also personally selected by him.

The protagonist Di Yun is still Wu Yue. He is not only a martial arts athlete, but also admitted to the Central Academy of Drama with the first place in the acting major. It can be said that he has skills and acting skills, and is worthy of cultivation.

The female protagonist Shui Sheng and Xiang Nan chose Chen Hao after careful consideration.

On the one hand, among the many artists nowadays, Chen Hao’s appearance is considered top-notch; on the other hand, her acting skills are also very good. In addition, she just acted in "Endless", which gave her a certain degree of popularity; on the other hand, Chen Hao Serve him and serve him with the utmost care, and of course he should give something in return.

After considering the female supporting role Qi Fang, Xiang Nan still recommended Jiang Qinqin. Her image and temperament are so weak and sad that I feel pity for her.

The male supporting actor Ding Dian is played by Hu Jun, and he is just right to play such a tough guy. Ling Shuanghua is played by Zhao Mingming. With her looks and temperament, she is just right to play this beautiful woman with a miserable life experience.

The villain, the Blood Knife Ancestor, is naturally Ji Chunhua, who is the perfect choice to play this role. As for the other villain, Hua Tiegan, he still considers Liu Xiaolingtong to play the role.

Liu Xiaolingtong's acting skills are very underestimated. He can not only play monkeys, he can also play other roles very well. For example, the eldest son in "Chinese New Year" is cowardly, introverted and henpecked, so he was He acted very well. And Hua Tiegan is another classic created by him.

In addition, Xiang Nan is also preparing to play a role in the play, playing Wan Zhenshan. On the one hand, he is addicted to acting, and on the other hand, he is assisting Wang Wenjie in filming.

After all, when mainland directors make martial arts dramas, people are always a little worried. But Xiang Nan has decades of acting experience, so he still has some experience.

…

Filming preparations for "The Secret of the City" began immediately.

From the very beginning of the clothing styling, Xiang Nan was involved and designed together with the costume designers and stylists.

Because there is little experience in martial arts drama production in the Mainland, most of the costume styles are directly borrowed from ancient costumes, similar to those of orthodox historical dramas.

But martial arts dramas are not orthodox historical dramas after all. They are adult fairy tales with a certain fantasy color, so the costumes and styles should be more freehand than realistic.

Of course, it is not advisable to completely trust the reins. After entering the new century, the styles of martial arts dramas in the mainland were once eye-catching because the stylists went crazy. They were not realistic but purely freehand, and acted according to their temper.

Xiang Nan is proficient in the appreciation of cultural relics, calligraphy and painting, and is familiar with the clothing regulations of past dynasties. In addition, he is good at painting and has studied clothing design for a period of time. Therefore, with his participation, the design of "Liancheng Jue" has ancient prototypes.

It has a good foundation and a certain degree of innovation, and everyone’s feedback has been very good.

…

In May 1999, after four months of preparation, the filming of "City Links" officially started.

Although the investment in this drama is only 15 million, it is the most important work of Qilin Pictures. After all, the big boss Xiang Nan is already busy with it, so how can anyone else dare to be lazy?

Even Chen Hao and Jiang Qinqin spent a period of time practicing martial arts moves to avoid being too fancy when filming begins.

This TV series was first shot at the Huairou Feiteng Film and Television Base on the outskirts of Yanjing. This film and television base was built in 1995 by Taiwan Feiteng Film and Television and is currently the largest film and television base in northern China.

"The Return of the Princess", "Kangxi's Private Visit in Undressed", "The God of Wealth Arrives", "Yongzheng Dynasty", "Li Wei as an Official", etc. were all filmed here.

Nowadays, Feiteng Film and Television City has also started filming a number of TV series, such as "Little Li's Flying Knife" starring Jiao Enjun and Xiao Qiang; "Peerless Twins" starring Su Youpeng, Lin Zhiying, Chen Derong; "Dharma" starring Lu Liangwei and Yu Xiaofan, etc.

Several people gathered together, there were thousands of people. Together with tourists, extra performers, vendors, etc., the film and television city was extremely lively.

…

The TV station immediately started filming.

The first thing we filmed was the plot where Di Yun and Qi Fang followed Qi Changfa into the city and paid a visit to their uncle Wan Zhenshan.

Qi Changfa is played by Ni Dahong, and his acting skills cannot be underestimated. It can be said that he is among the group of people with the highest acting skills in the mainland.

Fortunately, Xiang Nan is not too bad. He is not as proficient as Ni Dahong, but he is still very familiar with it. Therefore, he is still able to take on the role.

This is already very impressive. After all, he is not a professional actor, and it is really not easy for him to act so well. This also puts a lot of pressure on the other actors in the same crew, and none of them dare to relax.

Even if there is no announcement, they will come to the crew to report. Either to observe the filming, or to recite the lines and figure out the characters, which also makes the atmosphere of the crew very good.

It's not like some crews in real life. The lead actor fools around, the director fools around, the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked, and other actors are also fooling around. You can naturally imagine the quality of the drama produced.
Chapter completed!