Interview with Wang Baoqiang | Talk about "In the Octagonal Cage": This time, we must be worthy of the audience
Special feature of 1905 film network "Please believe! !”Six Chinese characters are prominently displayed on the poster of the movie on the ticket purchasing platform, and two exclamation marks are enough to prove everyone’s confidence and trust in the movie.
The film "In an Octagonal Cage" is Wang Baoqiang’s second work as a director. From its launch to the current publicity period, he has tried his best to introduce the film to the audience and prove his change.
Up to now, the box office of "octagonal cage" has exceeded 350 million, setting a new box office record in the mainland. The two ticketing platforms have a user reputation of 9.6 points and 9.4 points respectively. Regardless of the box office or word of mouth, the current achievements of "The Octagonal Cage" have swept away the haze brought by Wang Baoqiang’s directorial debut.
Wang Baoqiang repeatedly stressed, "This time we must be worthy of the trust of the audience." Obviously, director Wang Baoqiang did it.
It’s just that this process is far more difficult than expected. In the past six years, Wang Baoqiang has reduced the frequency of taking plays and devoted himself almost wholeheartedly to his creation. At one time, many investors were discouraged from him because of the failure of his previous work.
There is a golden sentence in Xu Sanduo, "Don’t abandon, don’t give up", and light and shadow shine into reality, which is also the attitude of filmmaker Wang Baoqiang. In an exclusive interview with the 1905 film network, he once again talked about this self-game of "after failure, before success".
After failure
In 2018, Wang Baoqiang appeared at an event and won three brooms: the most disappointing film, the most disappointing director and the most disappointing screenwriter. This is the first time that a filmmaker personally went to the scene to claim it.He said on the stage, I owe the audience a good movie.
A year ago, director Wang Baoqiang’s debut was released, and countless people entered the cinema because of the word "Wang Baoqiang", but almost all of them were disappointed.Both the box office and word of mouth lost. Although the box office broke 700 million, it still became the "crane tail" of the Spring Festival file that year. The Douban score has accumulated 3.7 points from more than 120,000 people.
Douban has a short comment that was pointed to a high position. "This film proves that the director still has a threshold."
Public outcry, at that time Wang Baoqiang seems to have fallen to the bottom. However, he felt angry in his heart and said to himself, "I said that I owed the audience a good movie, and maybe others forgot about it. For me, Wang Baoqiang, it has always been in my heart. I don’t know when this story can be done. I can’t stop. I have to do it. "
In the face of doubt, he never shows pessimism, and even the word "pessimism" is empty talk to him. "What should I do when the gap and cruelty come?" When I come, I will destroy … …”
So in the following years, he reduced filming and devoted more energy to the creation of this film. He firmly believes that others can question themselves, but they can’t.
Suffering process
For Wang Baoqiang, the process of writing "The Octagonal Cage" is anxious and painful.When he saw the prototype of the story, he seemed to see his own life. At that time, he was not confused, and many things had long been indifferent, just trying to do better. So he decided to choose this story to create.
Wang Baoqiang had a lot of ideas in the early stage, such as shooting this story by comedy. After all, comedy is the most familiar creative label for him. Just one or two times, all of them were overthrown by him. "This is a realistic story, but it should be more serious, not comedy, but realism, so that the audience can feel this real power."
He thought for a long time, and he was sure that this story must be what the director Wang Baoqiang really wanted to express. "This process is too painful, I can’t create satisfactory works, and I am very struggling inside." To this end, he changed a lot of screenwriters until he met the screenwriter Qiqi.
Wang Baoqiang has met many screenwriters. "But they may not be able to write what Wang Baoqiang wants to shoot. This process is too painful." Qiqi is just a little-known screenwriter. "But we hit it off very well. He always catches my point and presents what I have elaborated."
As soon as the whole script was written, he did it for three years. When he reduces other jobs, it also means reducing the source of income. In addition, he needs to invest more money in story creation, but this does not deter him.
"My second time as a director, I’m a little can’t afford to lose. I used to fall, but I can still stand up. Now at this age, I am very nervous. I would rather not do it. If I do it, I can’t finish it in a hurry. "
Disappearing investment
After the script was finished, Wang Baoqiang took it to see many production companies. It’s just that the reality is more cruel than in the movies. Even Wang Baoqiang, the filmmaker whose personal box office has accumulated nearly 20 billion at that time, can’t get any investment.
"At that time, no one dared to vote, and no one was optimistic about me", especially when Wang Baoqiang explained his creative ideas to them and learned that the film was not a comedy, most people hesitated. After reading this script, they can’t see the commercial selling point of the film. In addition, the fact that Wang Baoqiang is a director has already won the trust of the audience in the first film. Is the second film ok?
Wang Baoqiang understood all kinds of doubts, but the more he did, the more unconvinced he became. "This play is my life. I must make it successful and make it well, so I borrowed money and made a big bet. I always believed that when people are most desperate, there will be a light for you."
In my opinion, the octagonal cage symbolizes a certain dilemma. No matter how difficult it is, we must show all our strength to fight it. "This movie seems to be a fight, but what is more important is actually a process of self-fighting and self-fighting."
So, as a brother, he gave his support without hesitation. Chen Sicheng told him, "Only I can shoot this story."
Especially in the later stage of the movie, Wang Baoqiang had no money. After Chen Sicheng learned about it, he left the late cost of the whole movie without saying anything, just telling him, "Don’t worry, don’t worry, just give it to me."
After the fixation, Wang Baoqiang went into Chen Sicheng’s post-production company and began a long post-production work. In any case, perhaps the phrase "what is yours is mine" between the two brothers allows the two filmmakers to support each other in their creation.
It’s done.
In the summer of 2022, after watching the first edition of the clip, Chen Sicheng said, "This thing has really become."At that time, Wang Baoqiang was still in a state of anxiety, but the filmmaker in front of him was not only a brother, but also a talented and successful filmmaker in his own eyes. This attribute undoubtedly gave him confidence.
In the later stage, he did a lot of filming activities. At that time, there was no color matching, and even some of them were green screens. He kept looking at the research reports fed back by the filming team and worked hard for the continuous optimization of the film.
"I still can’t relax too much." After the film was first shown at the Shanghai International Film Festival, it won various recognition. "I’m very uneasy, but I still can’t sleep."
The film began to be screened from the Dragon Boat Festival. Wang Baoqiang will constantly watch the comments and feelings of netizens. Sometimes I see that what everyone said happens to be what I want to express. "I think the place where the audience is moved actually makes me very moved." The film began to enter a longer publicity period, premiere, screening activities and various announcements … … "Only when it really comes to the release, after meeting the audience in an all-round way, may you feel at ease."
No matter what the final result of the film is, as a director, Wang Baoqiang also believes that he has become. "At least, I feel that the lost dignity can definitely be recovered."
Inheritance of grassroots
Wang Baoqiang wanted to do "The Octagonal Cage", and to a great extent, he saw himself in this story. I studied martial arts, went north to be a group performer, and became Wang Baoqiang today from among ten thousand people.
Even in Wang Baoqiang’s first few years, he became synonymous with "grassroots", and countless dream-seekers wanted to be "the second Wang Baoqiang".
Only in his own mind, he has luck. If he is tall and handsome, there may be no initial opportunity and no possibility of later. It is these opportunities that make him firmly believe that "you should be active and hard, and create opportunities."
In the movie "The Octagonal Cage", he created opportunities for himself and others.In order to find a child actor suitable for the film, he walked a lot.a great mountainFind the children with suitable movies from the mountains and let themevery dayLive together and release your nature. "When I see them, it’s like seeing the director choose me."
It’s just that everyone will be curious. Will there be a "second Wang Baoqiang" among the "grassroots actors" selected by Wang Baoqiang?
"I hope to produce a better one than Wang Baoqiang, but I think the children are still young and have a long way to go. They have their own development, but I believe this film will definitely help them in their future growth." He gives more possibilities to the children themselves, but he takes them out of the mountains and will pay long-term attention to them. "I will fund them to graduate from college."
Perhaps you have been holding an umbrella before you know how to hold it. Wang Baoqiang passed on his spirit, and even invited the director Bole to star in The Octagon Cage as an actor.
He said, "Baoqiang used to be a grass, so he understood the dissatisfaction, hard work, sadness and human feelings before becoming a big tree." Looking at Wang Baoqiang now, it is already a big tree.
Wang Baoqiang, who came from the crowd, may be able to bring him back to the crowd once again in the octagonal cage.