Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 35 Everything is ready

Today, the small theater outside the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy was particularly lively. Before the theater even opened, there was a queue outside.

If you don’t know the situation, you might think there is an important performance here.

Dong Xuan is a student from the Performance Department, Class of 00. The teacher told them yesterday that there is a crew recruiting in the small theater today, so those who want to give it a try can go and take a look.

At that time, all the classmates in the class were very surprised. Usually, when a film crew came to the school for auditions, the teachers would not recommend them to go during their freshman year. So what was happening today?
After further questioning, the teacher smiled and said, "Today is different. This is a practical film by third-year students in the directing department. It is different from the crew outside. The school supports the participation of students in school."

After hearing what the teacher said, many students were a little disappointed. So it was a practical film or a short film? That would be boring.

Then someone pointed out that if it was a practical short film, it would not be possible for the acting department to be so generous as to open a small theater for auditions, right?
Someone tentatively asked, "Could it be Cao Yang from the directing department?"

The class suddenly became quiet, and then suddenly turned into a vegetable market, with all kinds of talk and chaos.

Could it really be Cao Yang?
Isn’t his movie still in theaters? Is he going to make a new one so soon?

The teacher signaled them to be quiet and told them with a smile that it was Cao Yang's new film.

This time we are recruiting five actors from the school, all for supporting roles, two men and three women. Anyone who is still a student and has not graduated can audition.

Dong Xuan was very excited. This was a very rare opportunity for them. They decided to sign up quickly.

"Yueyue, are you ready? It's going to start in half an hour. Let's go and line up. There were too many people who signed up yesterday. Don't be late."

"Don't worry, our dormitory is close to the small theater. We will be there in a few minutes. We won't be late."

"In a small school like ours, which dormitory is not close to the small theater?"

Dong Xuan complained, looked around, and then asked in a low voice: "Yueyue, do you think what they said is true? They all said that the movie was shot by Director Tian, ​​but I feel that it is not similar to Director Tian's previous movies."

Guan Yue looked in the mirror and carefully drew her eyebrows before saying, "Who knows? Who cares who took the photo? It has nothing to do with us."

"Oh, no, it has a lot to do with us."

Guan Yue put down her eyebrow pencil and said to herself, "If the movie that Li Xiaoran won the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award for was shot by Director Tian, ​​and he didn't make a move, then what would be the point of this new movie?"

"No, are you sure it wasn't Cao Yang who took the photo?" Dong Xuan looked at Guan Yue speechlessly.

"It's obvious. If you count the past, our school's directing department has produced so many great directors, but have you seen any director who can win two Silver Bears in his third year? Can the National Master do it? Can Brother Kai do it? Even Director Tian can't do it, right?"

"Just because they can't do it doesn't mean Cao Yang can't do it, right?"

As Dong Xuan spoke, he lost his confidence. Could Cao Yang compare with the National Master and Brother Kai?
Dong Xuan suddenly remembered the gossip he had heard these days and said quickly, "Didn't the senior from the directing department say, say..."

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't know whether he should say them or not. Although those words could refute the claim that the movie was not shot by Tian Zhuangzhuang, they would not be very friendly to Cao Yang.

"What did they say?" Guan Yue's curiosity was aroused, and she pulled Dong Xuan's arm and asked her to speak quickly.

"Many senior students in the directing department are saying that this movie was shot by Cao Yang. Director Tian would never use such low-level and straightforward shots. People who have never studied directing have more complicated camera movements than him.

They also said that Cao Yang was lucky to have met Li Xiaoran, who is known for her acting skills, and that’s why he won the Silver Bear.

Seeing Guan Yue nod thoughtfully, Dong Xuan continued, "I also said that if they were given a Li Xiaoran, they would be able to win the Golden Bear, not to mention the Silver Bear. Li Xiaoran is really amazing. I wish I could have half her acting skills."

"Yeah." Guan Yue nodded repeatedly and said, "They are right, Li Xiaoran's acting is amazing. When I think about it now, my mind is still full of the scene when she was painting the portrait on the beach.

Bah, Tian Zhuangzhuang is such a bastard. Li Xiaoran is such a charming woman, but he didn't even go to find her. She is so pitiful."

"Hey, hey, don't confuse the difference between movies and reality." Dong Xuan smiled and gently hit Guan Yue.

Then, the two of them started playing and laughing.

Girls are just weird like that.

Someone suddenly shouted, "It's over. We still have to go to the audition."

The two of them quickly packed up and hurried to the small theater.

When the two arrived at the small theater, there were still more than ten minutes before the audition time. There was already a long line here, and almost all the students in the acting department who were still in school had signed up.

Dong Xuan was a little confused. Many people suspected that the movie was not shot by Cao Yang, so why did so many people sign up?

She even saw quite a few senior students who had already become famous in the team.

She thought that most people would probably think like Guan Yue, who cares who made it? It's a movie after all. What if it's well made and wins an award? Such a rare qualification.

After nearly a day of auditions, the two assistant directors Liu Shan and Li Mingyi finally selected five actors.

As for the male actors, the police officer with a sense of justice was chosen to be Yang Zhigang from Class 99, and the correctional assistant, or prison guard, who beat up the male protagonist was chosen to be Zhou Yiwei from the college class of 00.

Yang Zhigang was introduced by an acquaintance, and since it was a small role, Liu Shan and Li Mingyi felt that his acting skills were acceptable, so they chose him.

Zhou Yiwei's audition performance was a bit evil, and I felt it would be interesting to play the prison guard, so we chose him.

As for the actresses, the photographer’s girlfriend chose Che Xiao, the boxer’s girlfriend chose Dong Xuan, and the kind and gentle man’s girlfriend chose Wen Zhengrong.

There are still a few characters with too few roles, such as the three prisoners, the old man's children, and the couple who returned halfway through a trip. When the time comes, we can let the crew members or interns make guest appearances.

At this point, all the characters have been decided, the props are ready, and we can start filming at any time.

At the same time, there was good news. After twelve days of screening, the box office of "On the Beach at Night Alone" successfully exceeded 20 million.

Mr. Han and Hou Keming called Cao Yang successively to report the good news. This was considered a big hit. They also told Cao Yang that according to the current trend, if there was no postponement, the box office could still be around three to four million.

On March 3, everything was ready and the launch conference of "Empty Room" was held on Ludong Island.

As far as Cao Yang knows, it is rumored that it only took Jin Laoguai thirteen days to prepare the crew and shoot the film. He doesn't know if it is true, but he definitely could not have shot it in thirteen days.

Jin Laoguai's talent is indeed amazing. He was a man who painted on the streets and beaches of France. He returned to China because he couldn't make it. He started writing scripts to sell because of his difficult life, and several of his scripts won awards.

So he started making movies, and he couldn't stop. He won the Berlin Silver Bear, the Venice Silver Lion and the Venice Golden Lion.

He is a genius, a freak and a pervert... and is very controversial. His works are mainly based on erotic themes and ethical discussions. He likes to play with ethical gags and often involves sensitive topics such as violence, sex, and the lower class society.

Relatively speaking, "Empty Room" is one of the more normal movies directed by King of Glory.

(End of this chapter)