Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 247 Movie Watching Party

The special effects of "Black Swan" were completed on July 19th, so the entire movie was completed.

The Venice Film Festival will announce the list of films entering the main competition unit at the end of July. This is a film that was originally "customized" by the festival's chairman Ma, so there is no need to worry about not being able to enter the main competition unit.

But there is a problem now. The film has not yet obtained a license for public screening.

This is not actually a problem with the movie, nor is it that someone is so bold as to make things difficult for Cao Yang. It’s just that going through this process requires a process and a certain amount of time.

But if "Black Swan" fails to get an "identity card" when the Venice Film Festival announces the list of main competition units, an embarrassing problem will arise. At least on the surface, the film will be considered to have violated the regulations.

The solution is actually very simple. As long as Cao Yang makes a phone call to the Film Bureau, the license will probably be issued tomorrow.

This is the quickest and most efficient solution.

However, things in this world are very strange. Even though we know the best and most convenient way to solve a problem, we just can't do it unless it is absolutely necessary.

That's what the rules are.

Didn’t our ancestors say that there can be no order without rules?

Perhaps this is a manifestation of human order and civilization.

Now it's the school's turn to step in.

Originally, this should have been the job of Senior Brother Xie Xiaojing, the newcomer to Qingying Studio, but it was obvious that Dean Hou was more proactive, and he took the matter over directly.

Hou Yuan called the members of the review committee one by one, and finally got the license three days later.

Now that everything is ready, let's gather people to watch the movie.

Although this is a movie "customized" by Marco Muller, if he doesn't let others see the quality of the movie, he will definitely be worried and unable to put in any effort.

This time, Cao Yang not only called Lao Ma, but also called several art theaters in Europe, as well as Sony Classics, Miramax and Fox Searchlight in North America.

It wasn't that Cao Yang had to call so many companies, but these companies contacted Cao Yang actively after hearing that he had made an art film, wanting to purchase the copyright.

They made an offer before they even saw the movie.

This is the treatment of big directors. Many well-known directors who make art films actually receive the same treatment.

As long as you make a movie, you can make dollars.

At this stage, don’t think that many domestic art film directors don’t make money just because their films don’t perform well at the box office. That would be a big mistake.

There are several famous art film directors who earn as much as Xiao Gangpao.

Of course, when it comes to the ability to make money from selling copyrights abroad, all these people combined cannot catch up with Cao Yang.

On July 26, a small screening room at Beijing Film Academy was almost half full.

The school’s leadership, including department heads, some older professors, and even old Situ who hadn’t been seen for a long time, showed up here.

Not only that, foreigners who come here are also considered big shots.

Venice Film Festival President Marco Mueller, MK2 founder Marin Kamitz, Sony Classics President Martin Clare, Fox Searchlight President Jason Simmons, Miramax's Harvey Weinstein, and many more.

Maybe no one in China has realized the value and importance of the novels Cao Yang published in the United States, but how could those people in the Hollywood film and television circles not be aware of it?

So these are all big shots who come with their company’s professionals.

Although it was called a film screening, in fact, for the CEOs of these film companies, they came more to get closer to Cao Yang. Even after entering the screening room, they were still looking for topics to chat with Cao Yang.

As for the movie, it has become secondary.

Hou Yuan watched all this from the side and laughed happily. He was not angry because these people did not abide by the rules of the screening room.

Are you kidding? What is Beijing Film Academy? A palace of film and television art.

Those who gathered around Cao Yang and talked, whether they were European cinemas or North American film companies, all focused on art films. These were Cao Yang's connections, that is, Beijing Film Academy's connections!

These are the little bits and pieces of connections that Hou Keming has accumulated while following Cao Yang.

He knew that some people outside said that he was lucky to have met Cao Yang, a genius that only appears once in a century, which gave him his current status and everything.

Hou Keming did not deny it.

But he still wanted to emphasize one point.

When Cao Yang first debuted, when he was still a sophomore, when he didn’t have any achievements to show for himself, when he made a movie as a student that no one took seriously at first…

It was me, Hou Keming, who, as the director of Qingying Studio, went against all odds, provided him with equipment, gave him support, and ran around for him...

Okay, that's a bit exaggerated, but all my support for him is real, right?
I am not just lucky, I have a keen eye, a unique vision, courage and insight...

Old Tian looked at Hou Keming's auntie-like smile and couldn't help but curl his lips. Old Hou was such a unkind person.

Whether it is within the school or in exchanges with sister schools such as the Central Academy of Drama and the Shanghai Theatre Academy, they often speak in a high-profile manner, saying that they should dare to employ people and give more opportunities to young people, etc., and then change the tone:
I remember when Director Cao Yang was still a sophomore student, it was me...劇!
shameless.

If I hadn’t “got” money from the coal boss to give to Cao Yang as filming funds, would you, Hou Keming, dare to use the funds from Qingying Studio to help Cao Yang shoot a movie?

Lao Tian hates Lao Hou's pretentious behavior. If you want to pretend, take me with you...

Before Lao Tian could continue to despise Lao Hou, he suddenly felt someone slap him on the back of the head.

Suddenly, Lao Tian got furious. After all, I am the director of the directing department now. Who dares to hit me on the back of the head?
So, Lao Tian glared at the person who had attacked him.

"Why are you staring at me? Are you unconvinced? I've been asking you a question, but you haven't said a word for a long time. Have you become so powerful now that you've become the dean of this crappy department that you don't even respond to my questions?"

After Old Situ finished speaking, he slapped Old Tian on the head again.

If it were any other situation, Old Situ would definitely not have taken action. Old Tian is already quite old and is also the head of the department. He would definitely give Old Tian some face.

However, except for a few foreigners, everyone here knows the ins and outs of the place. If they beat up the bad guys themselves, they will only gloat over the misfortune.

As for the foreigners, they were all surrounding their beloved little apprentices and no one paid any attention to this place.

In fact, there was another reason why Old Situ beat Old Tian.

According to Xie Xiaojing, Cao Yang is going to graduate from graduate school this year. As the head of the directing department, Tian Zhuangzhuang actually forgot to assign a graduation project to Cao Yang, and also forgot to remind Cao Yang to shoot his graduation work. This department head is not qualified at all!
Old Situ thought for a moment, and realized that he seemed to be Cao Yang's graduate tutor. Was Cao Yang's graduate student about to graduate? How come I didn't know...

Forget it, I’m old now, it’s normal to forget.

However, as Xie Xiaojing said, Tian Zhuangzhuang, as the director of the directing department, why didn't he remind himself during the time when he forgot... and was not at school? Why didn't he assign a topic to Cao Yang?

Fortunately, Cao Yang happened to shoot this literary and artistic film "Black Swan", which can be used as his graduation work. Otherwise, how could Cao Yang be able to delay his graduation?

The old Situ was getting angrier and angrier. When he wanted to attack again, Old Tian was prepared. He quickly ran to Cao Yang's side. Before he arrived, he laughed twice and said to the foreigners, "It's time. Let's watch a movie first?"

The foreigners then found seats and sat down. Lao Tian then pulled Cao Yang and asked Cao Yang to sit next to Lao Situ, and he sat next to Cao Yang.

When Old Situ saw Cao Yang, his face was full of smiles, and he said gently: "It's been a while since I've seen you make a pure art film. I'm looking forward to it."

"I hope you don't be disappointed later." Cao Yang replied with a smile.

"I feel at ease if you make art films." Old Situ said without hesitation.

Old Tian curled his lips again.

The lights went down and the movie started.

Before the film was submitted for review, Lao Tian and Hou Keming had already watched it once. After watching it again, he had different feelings.

Apart from anything else, this opening dance alone is very interesting.

The heroine appeared dancing as a pure white swan, but as she danced, her male partner turned into a devil.

Lao Tian remembered that when he was watching the movie, Cao Yang explained that the movie ended with the heroine dancing as the black swan. As she danced, black feathers began to grow on her body and her hands turned into black swan wings.

There were no special effects at that time, but Lao Tian is now looking forward to what it will be like with the special effects added.

The male devil and the fallen black swan. The first part is the heroine dreaming, and the second part is the hallucination caused by dancing after the heroine's personality changes drastically.

The film's beginning and end echo each other, giving it a sense of fate.

This movie is really fast.

In terms of concept, Lao Tian feels that "Black Swan" is superior to all of Cao Yang's previous films. Human nature has always been the most difficult to grasp and the most worthy of exploration.

Putting aside other political factors, movies that explore human nature are always the most impressive.

As the plot progressed, the foreigners present began to whisper while staring at the movie.

Hou Keming, who was sitting next to Marco Muller, heard Marco Muller talking to the director of film selection for the Venice Asia region:
"The extensive use of mirrors and glass in the movie is great. Distorted and split images often appear in the mirrors. I bet that the heroine will either turn evil or awaken another personality."

The other party replied: "You are right. There are also a lot of overhead shots and overhead close-ups, which can all imply the character's repressed living space and mental constraints. This is catalysis."

Hou Keming's mouth corners turned up.

Don't think that watching a movie in silence is a sign of respect for the film. The greatest recognition of the film is to watch it and unable to stop discussing it.

Not only the foreigners, but even Xie Fei and Zheng Dongtian from the school were whispering to each other.

When the movie was almost over, Old Situ couldn't help but pat Cao Yang's hand and sighed:

"I can feel that your film has improved again. The film makes excellent use of colors, music, montage techniques, camera language, etc. It shows the spiritual world of the characters very well and also creates a thrilling atmosphere... Very good!"

Old Tian curled his lips again.

(End of this chapter)