Depressive screenwriter.

Chapter 125 Conclusion and Outlook

Late February
In addition to paying attention to the performance of Life is Strange, the most important things for Su Yan are the post-production of Cyberpunk Edgewalker and the filming of The Garden of Words.

Although these three dramas were broadcast or released in different time slots, their shooting cycles were very close.

The filming of Cyberpunk Edgewalker was not a big problem for Su Yan. In the plot, Su Yan could perform the action scenes of the male protagonist without any wires. In terms of the difficulty of shooting the action scenes, it was not as difficult as Rurouni Kenshin.

It’s just that some of the action scenes for Lucy played by Gu Qingyuan and Rebecca played by Shen Liqian were more difficult for them, but both of them are talented and did not spend too much time on it.

The biggest difficulty of this drama is that its special effects requirements are indeed very high.

If you want crappy special effects, it’s better not to shoot it.

There's nothing much to say if the special effects are as crappy as the previous Japanese version of Attack on Titan, and there will definitely be a lot of negative reviews from the audience.

There is only one advantage to making a special effects drama in Xia Country, because the overall economic level of the residents is not too outrageous, so on the surface Su Yan's investment of 600 to 700 million Xia Country currency is not large, but the special effects artists in Xia Country are also low in salary.

And their special effects production level is not bad at all.

The principle is the same as the Black Myth game in Su Yan's previous life. It only costs 40 million US dollars to produce in China, but foreigners generally think that a game like Black Myth requires at least 100 million or 200 million US dollars to produce.

Because of the different economic levels of different countries, there are huge differences in the salaries of special effects artists of the same level.

In Xia Country, what is generally referred to as an S-level TV series is actually the picture quality of this drama, which is basically close to the quality of movies.

Su Yan and Shinozaki Ikumi both breathed a sigh of relief after communicating with the special effects company.

At least Su Yan thought the production level was great.

The special effects produced with this amount of investment are definitely not up to the level of Marvel and Hollywood blockbuster movies in the previous life, but when put into a TV series, there is absolutely nothing to say. There is a huge gap in level compared to the 5-cent special effects in those "big-budget dramas" in China in the previous life.

"That's awesome."

After seeing off the head of the special effects company he was working with at the company, Su Yan sighed.

"In less than half a year, the special effects for the first three episodes of Cyberpunk Edgewalker have been completed, and the subsequent special effects will be produced one after another during the broadcast of the TV series. This speed and quality are beyond my imagination."

"Of course, our progress payment was paid without a second's delay. In most industries in Xia Country, as long as you pay on time and don't cheat others, they will work overtime and do everything they can to help you get what you need on time." Shinozaki Ikumi said in a calm tone.

“If our progress payment is delayed, or the requirements for special effects are changed, then it will be different.”

"The company bosses and employees who cooperate with us may not respect the projects we assign to them, but they definitely respect the Xia Guobi!" Shinozaki Ikumi said with a smile.

Su Yan was stunned when he heard this.

No matter which world they are in, it seems that these workers are all working very hard.

It reminds me a bit of myself before I traveled through time.

"It's already late February, and we have to cooperate with Chuo Television to carry out promotion for Cyberpunk before it airs," said Ikumi Shinozaki.

"Next quarter, three S-level dramas will be aired together. It can be said that whichever drama can win the championship of next quarter will definitely win the annual championship and the best TV drama award this year." Shinozaki Ikumi said here with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

The performance of Life is Strange this quarter cannot be considered bad. The sixth episode had a viewership rating of 4.34%, and although it still ranked fourth, the first-place Shanghai Rain: Continuation did not have a very high viewership rating of only 4.52%.

However, whenever Su Yan's drama was broadcast on TV, it ranked third once and only once, and the other two times were both ranked first in the quarter.

The fourth place in Life is Strange is already the worst record among Su Yan’s works.

However, it is still a result that 99% of Xiaguo's screenwriters will never achieve in their lifetime.

But it doesn’t matter that Life is Strange didn’t meet expectations.

But marginal walkers can definitely achieve results.

Producers and screenwriters who fail to win the annual championship will always be second-rate in Xia Country.

No matter how popular Su Yan has been in the past year, no matter how many people praise his dramas.

If the work did not win the annual championship, and no one in the crew won the Xia Yan Awards for Best Screenwriter, Best TV Series, Best Producer, etc., then it would not be good.

"Are you still upset about the fact that we were only nominated last month but didn't win the award?" Su Yan understood immediately when he heard Shinozaki Yumi's tone.

In the more than one month since Life is Strange was aired, this year's Xia Yan Awards ceremony also opened at the end of January.

Su Yan was nominated for Best Screenwriter of the Year, Shinozaki Ikumi was also nominated for Best Producer of the Year, and Shen Liqian was nominated for Best Actress of the Year.

But Su Yan and Shinozaki Ikumi were only nominated and did not win the award in the end.

However, Shen Liqian did get the Best Actress Award of the Year as she wished. After all, Miyazono Kaoru's popularity is so outrageous that this character is far ahead in popularity among all the TV dramas broadcast throughout the year.

If this award was not given to Shen Liqian, the credibility of the Xia Yan Award would be too poor.

The Best Screenwriter Award and Best Producer Award were both given to the production team of last year's ratings-winning work "White Deer in the Forest".

Although the reputation of that drama is far inferior to April, there is nothing we can do about the fact that April lost to the other in ratings.

If you insist on saying that the award organizing committee was pressured by the three major TV stations and deliberately did not give the award to Su Yan's work, you need evidence.

"If the ratings in April were the highest in the previous year, then no matter how much pressure the three major TV stations put on the organizing committee of the Xia Yan Awards, it would not be possible for them to lose the Best Screenplay Award. The fact that a work that ranked first in both reputation and ratings failed to win the grand prize can only mean that the organizing committee is stupid and they can't withstand such public opinion. But the fact that the ratings in April failed to become the first in the year gave the organizing committee a reason." Shinozaki Ikumi took a deep breath.

"The situation is very clear now. Su Yan, if you want to win the Best Screenwriter award for the next season of Cyberpunk Edgewalker, you must win the annual ratings championship. Only when you become the undisputed number one in both word of mouth and ratings, will the organizing committee ignore the pressure from the three major TV stations and give you the award!"

As time goes by, the winter dramas are broadcast on schedule.

The ratings rankings of the four A-level dramas this season have become unusually stable.

The seventh and eighth episodes of Life is Strange have been aired one after another.

Xiaomai, who reintroduces the world line to its original direction, has to face Xiaoyi's life tragedy in the original world again.

The disappearance of Xiao Yi's friend Shen Qiu and the hostility of Li Sen, a rich second-generation student in the class, towards her
And, an indescribable and inexplicable crisis seemed to be looming over her.

As Xiaomai and Xiaoyi continue to find various clues through their time-traveling abilities, they finally...
At the end of episode 8, the truth behind Shen Qiu's disappearance was revealed.

It turns out that the real murderer is Li Sen, but Li Sen is just the one who did it. Behind Li Sen is the school's photography teacher, Xiaomai's teacher Xu Jie.
As a perverted photographer, Xu Jie's biggest hobby is to drug people and take photos of them when they are unconscious for collection.

A perverted and artistic ultimate villain appears.

The reason why Shen Qiu disappeared was because he gave Shen Qiu too much medicine and she died. After realizing that Xiaomai and Xiaoyi were investigating Shen Qiu's disappearance,
Xu Jie first killed Xiao Yi, then prepared to drug Xiao Mai, and finally killed her after taking photos of her according to his own preferences for collection.

At this point, all the mysteries of the previous life of the drama Life is Strange have been revealed.

The audience who like this drama likes it very much and follows the updates on time every week. But there are still some audiences who can't follow it.

The atmosphere of Xiaguo's TV dramas is still mainly relaxed.

The plot of "Amazing Journey" is too heavy. Although many passers-by know that this drama has a very high reputation, there are still some people who don't like it.

Crime-themed fantasy dramas, whether it is Xia Guo or Su Yan's previous life, are quite picky about the audience.

Time enters March
This season, the four A-rated dramas have all entered the final stages of their broadcasting.

The plot of the last two episodes of Life is Strange is that the heroine Xiaomai uses a pile of photos she has taken in the room of her photography teacher Xu Jie. She activates her ability to go back to the time when the photos were taken, and reports Xu Jie by calling the police and sending text messages to inform the relevant responsible persons, but she finally escapes.

But
After successfully reporting Xu Jie by going back in time through various methods, Xiaomai was faced with another problem.

Before, in order to save Xiao Yi's father, she changed the original course of the world. Perhaps it was the law of cause and effect that was at work, as Xiao Yi was in a car accident and became paralyzed not long after.

Just using this ability once can cause such serious consequences.

Since Xiaomai acquired her ability, she has no idea how many times she has used it, and it has more or less changed the fate of a large number of people.

And these behaviors.
This ultimately led to a huge storm forming in her town.

The storm devastated the town, killing more than a third of its population.

To avoid this from happening
Wheat now has only one choice.

Let the people in the city die.

Or, through the photo of the blue butterfly she took in the toilet row in the first episode, she could go back to that timeline and return to the source at the beginning.

She did nothing and just watched her best friend Xiao Yi being shot dead by Li Sen.
In the original game, players have two choices here.

Save Xiao Yi.

Save the town.

But TV dramas certainly cannot create plots where the entire city is sacrificed for one person.

So the tenth episode of Life is Strange.
The die-hard fans of the show are feeling depressed, empty, heartbroken and helpless.

Xiaomai kissed Xiaoyi with tears in her eyes before making the decision. At this moment, the friendship between the two girls was frozen.

She traveled back to that day through the photo of the blue butterfly.

Xiaomai was lonely, hiding in the deepest part of the toilet with her knees hugged.

He listened to the quarrel between his good friend Xiao Yi and Li Sen, but did nothing with tears in his eyes.

With a bang, a gunshot rang out.
The popular character Xiao Yi, who had accompanied fans for ten weeks, died completely.

This is the world line chosen by Wheat.

This is also the world line chosen by Xiao Yi.

The drama Life is Strange ended with a plot that made the audience cry.

It begins with Xiao Yi's death, which opens the story.

The story ends with Xiao Yi's death.

In the end, Xiaomai failed to use his ability to go back in time to change anyone's fate.

But many times, the ending doesn’t matter.

The process is more important than the ending.

Xiao Yi's image as a sharp-tongued, bold and responsible girl has been imprinted in the hearts of fans during the ten weeks of the show.

Also because of the kiss between Xiaomai and Xiaoyi in the tenth episode.

After this episode was aired, fans of Xia Guo's Gu Qingyuan and Shen Liqian popped up like mushrooms overnight.

At the same time, on the night when Life is Strange ended, the comment section of Su Yan’s verified account was almost flooded with fans.

Countless people criticized Su Yan in the comment section for not choosing to "sacrifice the city" in the finale?
What follows from this are the two choices in this drama.

With a relative and a bunch of irrelevant people on both sides of the scale, how should you choose?
A TV series that can trigger these thoughts among the audience after it ends has actually been successful.

next day
The ratings for Life is Strange episode 10 are out.

4.41%, ranking third in the ratings this week.

Moreover, the plot of the tenth episode of the drama was wildly praised by a group of media and drama critics.

"it's over"

Su Yan looked at the ratings data for all ten episodes of Life is Strange and the media's praise articles.

"Seven times fourth and three times third?"

Although he felt a little regretful, he really thought this work was a masterpiece.

But if it doesn't attract customers, there's nothing we can do.
"But fortunately, the introduction and broadcasting fee of this drama on Qingkong TV is 15 million. The average paid broadcast volume of each episode on Raccoon.com is 6.5 million times. Add to that the advertising placement fee of 6 to 7 million and the overseas broadcasting copyright fee of several million." Su Yan's eyes flashed with thought.

"Overall, the revenue of this drama will be more than 57 million."

Compared with its 40 million investment, this is definitely a profit, and a rate of return of more than % is definitely a good result.

But compared with the return of more than 300% in April, it is definitely a huge gap.

"But at least I have earned back the subsequent filming costs of the two dramas, The Garden of Words and Cyberpunk Edge Walker..." Su Yan took a deep breath.

Although Cyberpunk is expensive to produce, it also costs a lot for advertising placement.

With the return of investment from Life is Strange, Su Yan’s company no longer has to worry about filming funds for the time being.

"The winter season is over." Su Yan whispered.

"Next, it's the spring season!"

In half a month, it will be the spring season, and Cyberpunk 2 will also be airing!
(End of this chapter)