“I still prefer shooting period pieces. I studied with Director Hou and Director Liu, and this is the genre that I dabbled most in. It’s also what I’m more familiar with,” Tan Jinqi said. “I’ve been paying close attention to three Internet novels that are doing fairly well. One is about martial arts, one is about mythology, and the other is about romance.”
“Romance plots are rather restricted. If you want to make a good film, you have to get a professional scriptwriter to make a big change. The original novel is an alternate history, but I think it would be better to find a specific dynasty and adapt it in accordance with the history of the time. Stories written in alternate history are fine for novels, but once it’s adapted into a TV series with visual images, it becomes shallow. Without a good backstory, it’ll be difficult for the audience to submerge themselves into the story.”
“As for the themes of mythology and martial arts, you don’t have to care about issues of the dynasty’s history,” Tan Jinqi said. “It’s just that the martial arts drama has recently been in decline. It’s not as easy to produce, and the original work lacks a sense of grandeur. Whereas for mythology dramas, there aren’t as many actors in the field. If you pick the right ones, you might even be able to make it trend big time.”
‘Then, let’s go with mythology.’ Tan Mo thought to herself. ‘Now, there’s a genre I’m familiar with!’
There was probably no one in this world who understood the world of fantasy as clearly as she did.
Mythology novels and scripts written by others were based purely on imagination.
As for her, she would be writing based on actual facts.
She made up her mind. ‘I’ll write it with my master as the main character!’
‘I’ll write a biography of my master!’
Tan Jinqi chuckled. “I prefer fantasy as well, but mythologies are even more challenging. The script is one thing, and then there are things like special effects and so on. Special effects can’t be verbally explained, but it requires multiple shots to deliver the message.”
“For the mythology novel that I’m reading… How should I put it? It’s quite a headache. Many parts need changing. Even if we really did modify it, I’m afraid a big chunk of the plot would need to be rewritten, and that would leave very little of the author’s work. In this case, there wouldn’t be much of a point in buying the novel’s copyright. But say, if we were to buy it, it would mainly be for the structure of the fantasy world in the novel, which saves us the trouble of constructing the fantasy setting in the early stages. All we have to do is work on where the novel is lacking in terms of the conception of its world, which would undoubtedly save us the trouble of starting from scratch. It just depends on whether the television company is willing to cough up the funds to buy the copyright.”
“If the television company is unwilling and you tell me to buy it in my own name, then I don’t think it’s worth it,” Tan Jinqi said.
“You don’t need to buy it. I can write it,” Tan Mo said immediately after hearing that Tan Jinqi was also interested in mythology.
“You wanna write it?” Everyone in the Tan family besides Tan Jinqi exclaimed in surprise.
Tan Mo hesitated when she saw everyone’s reaction. She nodded in response. “Yeah, I’ll write it.”
“Historical films aren’t the only thing I can write,” Tan Mo said. “It’s still a script after all. What’s most crucial is the ability to tell a story. A historical script requires reference to actual facts, whereas, for mythologies, it’s simply a combination of Taoism material and the writer’s imagination. It’s more of creative thinking in fact. All that matters is telling a good story. It just so happens that I’m rather a connoisseur of mythologies myself.”
Tan Mo’s family was speechless.
‘When did you ever learn anything about mythology?’
Tan Mo only had so much time in a day. She had to attend classes and partake in three laboratories for research. How did she even have time to read so many books?
Xu Mingzhen never thought that he would give birth to such a genius daughter.
“Brother, if you don’t believe me, I can draw up an outline for you to review, and then write two episodes. After that, you can decide for yourself,” Tan Mo said to Tan Jinqi.
“Why would I not believe you?” Tan Jinqi replied immediately. “We just didn’t expect that you could write scripts for mythologies as well.”
Ever since Tan Mo’s success in “Legend of Wei and Jin,” many people had been waiting for Tan Mo to come up with her second drama.
Everyone thought she was planning to develop her career in screenwriting.
After waiting for so long, they lost hope.
People started to say that Tan Mo was nothing but a one-hit-wonder who was only capable of writing one drama.
Some even said that Tan Mo was only able to write “Legend of Wei and Jin” simply because she was an expert in history.
“In fact, the whole drama was more of a series of historical events, and there were very few plots written by Tan Mo herself.”
“The screenplay of the series was not exactly Tan Mo’s success.”
“If someone else had such a comprehensive collection of information, they could have easily written the same thing.”
As Tan Mo had not produced a new script for a long time, more and more people began to say such things.
Tan Jinqi had always felt that Tan Mo did not need to prove anything to anyone else.
But hearing that Tan Mo was able to write again made him even happier.
‘When that happens, this will hit those people right in their faces!’
Tan Jinqi never doubted Tan Mo’s writing abilities.
“Then, let’s discuss a direction for the plot,” Tan Jinqi said. “When we have that, I will put it into a slide and send it to the television company.”
Since Tan Mo had returned, she was not going back to the university tonight.
Coincidentally, her first class tomorrow was later in the day, so there was no need for her to leave for school so early in the morning.
Tan Mo decided to stay back and discuss the script with Tan Jinqi.
So, Wei Zhiqian excused himself and left.
Tan Mo and Tan Jinqi analyzed and researched all night. Without noticing the time, it was already past midnight.
However, since Tan Mo already had an idea in her mind, the discussion with Tan Jinqi went smoothly.
The flow of the plot was decided.
“I’ll write a preview of it as soon as I can,” Tan Mo Tan Mo said to Tan Jinqi.
*
The next day, Tan Mo returned to the university.
As soon as she entered the dormitory, she saw Lin Fuxi’s haggard face.
Lin Fuxi looked like she hadn’t slept all night. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her pale face was completely drained of blood.
Tan Mo was taken aback.
Lin Fuxi looked like she could collapse at any moment.
“Oh, Tan Mo, you’re back.”
Tan Mo heard Meng Yuxi’s voice.
Meng Yuxi, who was usually so full of life and always spoke with beaming energy, also sounded weak and drained.
Tan Mo saw Meng Yuxi at top of the stairs, making her way down.
When she finally put on her slippers, she turned around and faced Tan Mo. Tan Mo was greeted with a pale-faced Meng Yuxi with the same deep dark circles enveloping her eyes.
Right then, Jin Yuelin entered the room after washing her face at the washbasin on the balcony.
She looked and saw Jin Yuelin in the same state as Meng Yuxi and Lin Fuxi.
“What happened to you girls? Didn’t you sleep well?” Tan Mo asked in surprise.
Meng Yuxi yawned and said, “We were afraid that Lin Fuxi would do something crazy in the middle of the night, so the two of us took turns keeping an eye on her. I watched over her the first half of the night, and Yuelin watched her the other half of the night.”
“Because my shift was later in the night, I stayed up until dawn and went to wash up right after, so I feel a little bit better than Yuxi.” Although Jin Yuelin wasn’t looking too great herself, she was in much better spirits than Meng Yuxi.
Lin Fuxi did not speak, but everyone could guess what was bothering her.
