The Best Director

Chapter 260: The Birth of the Big Bang

Wang Yang invited two main creative personnel for "The Big Bang Theory", one is Graham Linehan, who was born in Dublin, Ireland on May 22, 1968, and is a well-known TV screenwriter and director in the British TV industry. The sitcom "Father Ted", created and written by him, won the Baftas Award (British Academy Television Awards), the highest honor in the British television industry, in 1996 and 1999 for Best Comedy (Program or Series), and was nominated in 1997.

"Father Ted" also won the "TV-Sitcom" award of the British Screenwriters Guild in 1996; in addition, the first season of "Black Bookstore" he created also won the 1-year Baftas sitcom award.

For TV viewers in North America, most people know that the producer of "Band of Brothers" is Steven Spielberg, and that "Prison Break" has Wang Yang, which is naturally due to the effect of publicity; There will be plots, pay attention to the subtitles, watch entertainment news, and viewers of TV magazines know that the main creators of "Friends" are David Crane and Marta Kaufman, and the producers of "" and ": Miami" are Gold producer Jerry Bruckheimer...

But when it comes to Graham Linehan, a powerful character in the British drama industry, everyone has almost no clue,?

Graham was also confused when he received Wang Yang's invitation before. British dramas and American dramas are like two worlds. American dramas pay attention to "Through this you learned..." They pay attention to teasing each other and running on each other, and there will be audiences on the set to record their laughter, reaching more than one episode in a season; British dramas have 6 episodes in a season, pay attention to scenes and character conflicts to form laughing fruits, The degree of dramatic exaggeration can be completely divorced from reality, and the plots are often spoofed to satirize certain aspects of reality.

If you go to the United States, you will definitely create according to the style of American dramas. Graham has no yearning for Hollywood, industrial assembly lines; nor does he have any dislike. There are higher salaries, more job opportunities and better future prospects there. Especially now the person who invites him is Wang Yang, the magical Yang.

Someone else might have said no, but on the phone, he questioned: "I'm not sure I could fit into an American sitcom, what do you think?"

"You are a person with great detail and imagination, and you have a wonderful sense of humor in the use of scenes and props. I need them." Wang Yang answered him this way, which is exactly what he thought in his heart. The cultural differences between British dramas and American dramas It's not that big. According to the information in my mind, "The Office" that debuted in 2005 will also be adapted into an American TV series from "It Maniac".

Not to mention the re-production of "The Big Bang Theory", Wang Yang told Graham: "Compared with other dramas, the characters in this drama will be more exaggerated, but they can exist." Graham Tom understands this meaning, which is also the characteristic of American dramas. No matter how absurd they are, they will not abandon reality. At most, they are just a bunch of weirdos.

Wang Yang also said: "The point of the story is not irony, not education,

It's about creating characters. We arrange some events for them, and their personalities face these situations, and they behave as they should, which is naturally funny. "Of course, this is also the reason why American sitcoms are closer to life, and at the same time tend to become stereotyped, with too few surprises.

"Your main job in the team is not the conception of the characters and the main plot of the story, but the design of the details of the story, about the scene shots and props without lines and voices, and adding some surprises to it, but you know that all roads lead to An end."

Wang Yang attaches great importance to these. Compared with ordinary mutual damage lines, "Moving" is easier to make people laugh and impress. Small scientific details such as Leonard spinning an olive in a glass and explaining to Penny what centripetal force is , Sheldon and Leonard pushed a big box up the stairs, and the two argued about what kind of inclined angle they could push up; the use of props also reached its peak in the third season of the peak, the kite, the green light of Green Lantern , Lord of the Rings...

Whether it is scientific props, comics, movies and other geek props, there will be many, many in this series. He hopes that the person in charge of this aspect in the team will be Graham Linehan, because this kind of detail is exactly what British dramas are. The advantage of being good at, "Black's Bookstore" and "It Maniac" have many memorable arrangements.

"What I value is your ability to deal with details, and I know that you are an active user of the blog, and you have a good understanding of IT and computers. This is one of the focuses of our drama, and of course science." Wang Yang That being said, everyone knows that everyone who joins the team must prepare sufficient materials and research, especially the Irish who need to work hard to understand these "specialties" of the United States.

Graham proposed to think carefully before giving an answer. If he goes to Los Angeles and can integrate into the team, it will be another world. He may follow "The Big Bang Theory" for five or ten years. An opportunity to know where it leads.

In the end, after more than a week, Graham, who received the support of his family and is currently without a job, agreed to come to Los Angeles to change his environment and make a new attempt.

The invitation of another main creator is much simpler. He is Bill Prady, one of the two main creators of the original "The Big Bang Theory". The editor-in-chief of "Half" is naturally not on the invitation list.

And Bill Prady, like Graham, has no work and is free. He was born on June 7, 1998. He is a well-known sitcom screenwriter and TV producer in Hollywood. He wrote the episode "Husbands and Wifes Are Not Right" which ended with five seasons last year. It was once in 1998. People's Choice Award-winning "Favorite TV Comedy Series".

For Fan Yang's invitation, he was not surprised, more excited, and agreed almost immediately.

Prady is mainly responsible for the design of plots and lines; Wang Yang is in charge of everything, leading the role, plot, lines...etc. The overall situation of the series; plus Graham Linehan, script consultant David Sa Erzbao, the confirmed main creative team of "The Big Bang Theory" is quite strong.

"Guys, remember everything has to move! The character needs to be cute, you know it's not a beauty, it's a baby, it's a puppy-g! That kind of feeling that makes you feel the urge to pinch him, not the ass, give them more cuteness stuff, especially this 'Sheldon Cooper'."

In the bright office, 35-year-old Graham, 36-year-old David Salzburg, and 43-year-old Bill Prady are sitting around a steel and wooden round table. They have all signed non-disclosure contracts and preliminary contracts. , although they smiled from time to time following Wang Yang's words, they were all listening very carefully.

The round table is full of papers, and the English and pictures on the paper are some pre-made drama settings and selected bridges. These character settings and style settings are mature products that have been explored by the original "The Big Bang Theory" and "It Maniac" teams, and there is no need to go astray now. But there is a thing called "texture" and "three-dimensional sense". Even if there are pictures and texts, stories and lines to refine the character's personality, Wang Yang still needs to explain how "cute" is cute, "" Hateful" is how hateful.

The sound of "da da da" sounded, and the number of letters on the whiteboard set up in front of the round table increased. Wang Yang took a whiteboard marker and wrote next to "Sheldon Cooper": "Cute."

Then he turned around and looked at the three middle-aged men, all of whom were easy to get along with. David Salzburg was an uncontested scholar, and he would not have any objections. He just provided a team of science and physics professors knowledge needs; Graham Linehan is in the integration period, and the main task is a small idea; so the main discussants are Bill Prady and Wang Yang.

It is worth mentioning that Prady likes Chinese food very much and has a certain interest in Chinese culture. This may be the reason why the original version of "The Big Bang Theory" has a lot of Chinese elements, but it is clear that neither CBS nor he has any intention of adding Chinese characters. Only let the two "Sichuan boys" show their faces. So Bill Prady has his own ideas about the Chinese elements and Chinese characters set by Wang Yang.

"This Sheldon has no neuropathy, nor does he have any autism. Anyway, he is 100% healthy and normal, normal to him!"

Listening to Wang Yang's words, Graham Linehan nodded in an easy way. The setting of this character is weird, but what does it matter? Sheldon is such a person. Bill Prady was a little puzzled, and didn't quite understand this formed character who had undergone "exploration of the future itself". He grabbed a pencil and looked at Salzburg, and asked curiously: "Sorry, David, there are really people in the scientific community. This nerd?"

"Yes, I think so." Salzburg nodded after thinking about it, and Wang Yang smiled and said, "Our professor is not." Salzburg looked at the familiar whiteboard, which was filled with episode analysis instead of He laughed and said, "The word nerd has a derogatory connotation, but I think it may be the most appropriate word to describe those who are passionate about science and animation."

Looking at Prady, he continued: "These characters are a bit exaggerated, but the personal preferences, habits and behaviors of Sheldon and Leonard are like this for many people in real life. I am a graduate student. I met such a guy when I was a child." Prady nodded suddenly.

"No matter what! When Sheldon is facing a woman, he won't see any temptation; when facing Penny, his attitude is to treat her as..." Wang Yang thought for a while, then turned around. Draw a line between Sheldon and Petunia on the whiteboard, and write: "An orangutan that hasn't fully evolved, would you be attracted to an orangutan? What he likes is not the appearance, but a woman in his eyes." Whether you are beautiful or not depends on your IQ! The IQ value is his chest, and the education trophy is his butt."

Everyone chuckled, and Wang Yang also shrugged and smiled. He didn't know how many "shot" pilot episodes the original version of "The Big Bang Theory" had gone through. Anyway, there were two in his mind: the first one. Sheldon Cooper is set to be lecherous and wretched, having a sexual relationship with Leonard's girlfriend, Penny is also a dark and scheming character, without Howard and Raj; the "sperm donation" section at the beginning The two finally took the money and left.

The second is closer to the official first episode. The two also completed the donation of sperm, but then asked for it back. The scientist in this version is still not so dull, and still eats a lot of "human fireworks"; In the first episode of the first season (pilot episode), the role and the positioning of the story are still unclear. Sheldon still has the performance of many normal men. If it is Sheldon in the third season, he will definitely not donate sperm. How can you donate sperm without getting an erection? Not to mention taking the initiative to strike up a conversation with Penny, showing that shy and wince expression.

It stands to reason that the original nerd world was broken into by a sunny girl, and it should have become more and more human and more "manly". In the end, Sheldon was revised to become more and more dull, and of course he was also cuter.

Now the characters are all in the ultimate version at the beginning, and naturally there will be no more sperm donation at the beginning. The two doctors of physics will appear in other ways, and everything has matured and changed.

The original Sheldon Cooper was played by Jim Parsons. He was born in Houston in March 1973. He has a bachelor's degree in drama and dance from the University of Houston, a master's degree in drama from the University of San Diego, and a lot of theater performance experience. , is a typical academic actor. The now-year-old Parsons has not had any movie performance experience, and he has only played a part in "ed" on TV, which can be said to be blank.

Wang Yang plans to continue looking for him to play Sheldon. Parsons is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate. He thinks that there will be no problem with the film appointment. The actors who play Howard, Raj, and Leonard are also currently idle. It's just that Penny is in trouble.

Compared with the academic Parsons, Johnny Galecki, who plays Leonard, was born as a child star and is well-known. He was born in 1975. At the age of 12, he appeared on the 6th screen with the TV movie "Murder Order". At the age of 17, he joined the sitcom "Rosanne" and starred in five seasons and 92 episodes. There are also "Mr. Bean's Catastrophe" and "I Know You" on the screen. What did you do last summer", "Vanilla Sky" and other performances, won four nominations and won the next Young Artist Award.

Originally, the future was bright, and he would grow into the main male star of Hollywood's new generation. If he was more than -m tall, because he was only m tall, the dazzling child star would be left behind.

"Okay, let's talk about Petunia first! This is a typical girl with big breasts and no brains, and her love life is a mess!" Wang Yang made a big 1uan circle on the whiteboard. Under the gaze of the three of them, he wrote and said: "But she is sunny, kind, and sometimes takes advantage of some small advantages, but she is a person with principles. I need her to quickly enter the lives and circles of geniuses and become good friends with each other. She has no sense of self-protection. It’s because of her character, and because she’s not afraid of these nerds, if there’s a fight, she thinks she can kick them to death with a few kicks, right?”

"Don't worry about not having a story to tell. Our goal is to have 12 episodes in the first half of the season. These people are already carefree and very close friends."

There was a red 12 on the whiteboard. Seeing that the three of them nodded, Wang Yang began to analyze and explain again. He wants Bill Prady to keep up with the rhythm of the mature version, instead of staying at the stage of "Scientists are really that dumb?", "Sheldon is also lustful?" Only with a stable thinking can he be released, and the work on the set can be given to Bill, so that "The Big Bang Theory" can start recording.

"Next, let's talk about the supporting roles." When the whiteboard was densely written, Wang Yang changed a new one next to him, went to the round table to drink a sip of water, and continued to speak: "Let's talk about this Chinese math professor..."

He has decided that the Chinese-American role is tentatively designated as a supporting role, a colleague of Sheldon and others. This is a very necessary role, not only because he wants popular Chinese characters to appear on the screen, but also because he needs to use this to make fun of himself, otherwise he sometimes makes light jokes about whites, Jews, and Indians, although Everyone knows it's a sitcom, but they don't make jokes about themselves all day, and they become malicious when they are not malicious.

It's still the name that gets in the way, and now everyone associates "The Big Bang Theory" with Miracle Yang, and he's not that kind of unknown producer. Of course, people are not so sensitive and can't take jokes, otherwise the crew of "South Park" would have been ripped off 800 yuan, just make fun of each other.

What's Penny's trouble? After a busy day of screenwriting meetings in the morning and editing in the afternoon, the sky in Los Angeles was already pitch black. In the bright study room, Wang Yang looked at the photo of Penny actor Kaley Cuoco on the computer screen, frowned, and said: It's not that the 18-year-old Kaley Cuoco's appearance and temperament are inconsistent, or her acting skills are not good, but that she is now starring in the second season of a sitcom "Eight Rules for Dating My Daughter".

According to the information in my mind, there was still a third season of this show before it ended due to dismal results. Had it not been cut in half this winter break, it would have been impossible to invite Kaley Cuoco, who was under contract, to audition for a sitcom.

"Let's wait until the winter break." Wang Yang whispered to himself and closed the webpage. If Kalei Cuoco doesn't have a schedule then, he can only invite other people to audition for Penny. In addition to the screenwriter meetings and phone calls that will continue, this is all the pre-production preparations for "The Big Bang Theory". The formal crew formation and actor selection work will not be carried out until the winter break. These tasks will be done by the executive producer. Needs to be looked after.

"Huh." Wang Yang stroked his forehead and felt that his shoulders seemed to be lighter. He tapped the keyboard a few times to open the schedule, looked at it, and immediately shouted, "Oh my god!" It turned out that it was still so heavy.

※※

※※

※※

ps: A new leader Meishang appeared today, thank you for your support and rewards! ^o^