Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 379 Entering the drama
With the global box office success and numerous awards of Cao Yang's films in recent years, his reputation and influence have increased dramatically, to the point that his current usable reputation value has reached an extremely exaggerated level.

Simply put, it's more than enough; it's impossible to use it all up.

When he checked last time, he had over 300 million usable reputation points; now he has over 500 million.

How exactly did it grow, and how much did the awards and box office revenue increase respectively? Who knows?

Since he can't use it all anyway, he's no longer interested in testing or calculating. As long as he maintains this growth rate, he probably won't run out of it even if he dies.

Looking at that long list of usable reputation points, which could be converted into nearly 60 immersive experiences, Cao Yang even had an urge to challenge characters like Da Tian Tian, ​​Stare-Eye Sister, Gulnazar, Big Breasts, and Dilraba.

However, after thinking about it, I gave up the urge to try them all, because that's hell mode, and I guess these dozens of immersive experiences might not be enough.

However, the production team has two available candidates, so we might consider trying them out if the opportunity arises.

In fact, such tests are not necessarily accurate. A minor role is completely different from playing the lead role; they are not comparable.

Cao Yang first redeemed 5 immersion experiences. He tried to add one to Da Tiantian's experience, but it didn't work. One immersion experience wasn't enough!
Depend on!
For such a tiny bit of screen time, one immersive experience wasn't enough. Jing Tian, ​​you... are truly amazing.

This is still Jing Tian. Compared to actresses like "Hold Her Baby and Stare at Her Eyes," Jing Tian is considered to have some acting skills.

Cao Yang couldn't even imagine how much immersive experience those new-era actresses needed to get into character.

Cao Yang didn't let Da Mimi try it.

To be honest, before Big Mimi went out on her own and signed a performance-based agreement with someone, she did have some acting skills.

Look at her early role as Guo Xiang in "The Return of the Condor Heroes"—she was very spirited.

Cao Yang felt that Da Mimi's acting skills at this time were definitely better than those of Gao Yuanyuan and Yu Feihong back then.

Unfortunately, after he went independent, he took on many roles to fulfill the betting agreement, which depleted his spirituality.

Not only did she blend into the crowd, but her own formulaic approach to "acting" further alienated her from acting skills.

Cao Yang looked at the system panel.

Host: Cao Yang

Current Reputation: 9008865
Available Reputation: 5308865
Immersion experience: 5
Filming: "Love in a Seaside City"

Male lead: Jackie Chan
Supporting actresses: Yu Feihong, Kara Hui, Jiang Wenli, Jing Tian, ​​Yang Mi

Supporting male roles: Zhu Yilong, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Wang Jinsong
……

Among these people, Wang Jinsong and Lao Tian don't have many scenes. Both of them have very good acting skills, so they shouldn't need to try to immerse themselves in the role.

The only concern is that their scenes mainly involve the male lead, and I'm afraid they won't be able to keep up with the lead.

Cao Yang thought for a moment and figured that even if Cheng Long were given a few more immersive experiences, seasoned veterans like Wang Jinsong and Lao Tian should have a way to handle it.

Zhu Yilong has even more scenes with the male lead, so he definitely needs to immerse himself in the role.

Cao Yang tried adding two more to Zhu Yilong's account, but it didn't work.

This was both unexpected and yet perfectly logical.

Zhu Yilong, who is only 19 years old, has some talent, but his acting skills are definitely not that great.

Cao Yang tried it with 3 directly, and then added more this time.

Thank goodness, at least it's not a scam.

Zhu Yilong plays the male lead's nephew, and is the character with the most screen time besides the main character. He has many scenes with the male lead, and there are several scenes where he needs to have a dramatic outburst.

For example, after the male protagonist's brother dies, due to Hong Kong's special weather, he will definitely be placed in the morgue to be "frozen" and buried on an "auspicious day".

At first, the nephew chose to avoid and deliberately ignore his father's death.

However, there's a scene where he opens the refrigerator at home, and frozen chicken falls out.

This reminded him of his father, who was still "frozen" in the morgue, and he could no longer control his emotions, breaking down completely.

If he performs well in this scene, creating a stark contrast with his previous behavior, he has a good chance of winning Best Supporting Actor at a domestic film festival.

Cao Yang hesitated for only a moment before giving Zhu Yilong another opportunity to get into character.

When the movie comes out, Zhu Yilong's performance will definitely be beyond expectations.

Although Cao Yang already has a reputation for being good at training actors, the addition of a talented actor to his films will solidify his reputation as a "good actor trainer".

Moreover, a film is a whole; a standout performance by the lead actor can only bring awards to that actor at most. However, if many other actors perform well, the chances of winning Best Picture will increase.

As for the Best Director award, the general criteria are the film's allegory and metaphor, plus some cinematic language.

This is how directors "speak".

The film "Manchester by the Sea" still has a lot of visual language.

For example, many shots of the male protagonist confine him to a door frame or an image that resembles a door frame. This is to illustrate that the male protagonist is "trapped" and unable to escape this "cage".

There are many similar cinematic techniques.

These are all things a director wants to tell the audience through the lens.

Of course, most viewers certainly wouldn't notice these things.

But film critics and film festival judges care a lot about these things—if a film doesn't have enough metaphors and enough cinematic language, it's hard to convince people to accept the Best Director award.

We won't add Jing Tian and Yang Mi. Yang Mi should be fine, but as for Jing Tian, ​​his role is very small anyway, we'll see how it goes when we film it.

Kara Hui and Jiang Wenli, one plays the wife of the male lead's brother...and also his ex-wife, and the other plays his cousin's sister-in-law. Neither of them has many scenes, and they don't have many scenes with the main character. With their acting skills, they should be able to handle it.

As for Yu Feihong, who plays the male lead's ex-wife, her acting skills have been somewhat preserved since Cao Yang added several immersive experiences for her in "Empty Room".

However, after winning the Venice Film Festival Best Actress award, she became completely laid-back and acted in very few films. She didn't take the time to hone her acting skills, and it's unknown how much of them she still has now.

In this respect, she is not as good as Li Xiaoran, Gao Yuanyuan and Dong Xuan.

Today, among the five of the "Four Great Qingyi Actresses"—well, now we should add Bingbing (who also belongs to this category)—the six of the "Four Great Qingyi Actresses" are generally considered to have the best acting skills, and it is Li Xiaoran.

Since winning the Berlin Film Festival's Best Actress award, Li Xiaoran has starred in many leading roles and collaborated with many renowned Chinese directors, such as Xiao Gangpao's "A World Without Thieves" and "The Banquet," and Lao Chen's "Mei Lanfang."

The immersion in the role has solidified Li Xiaoran's acting skills.

Many domestic directors, including Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, and Li Xiaoran, as well as numerous film critics and media outlets, believe that among the new generation of actresses, such as the "Four Great Qingyi" and the "Three Great Huadan," Li Xiaoran's acting skills are in a class of their own.

Cao Yang thought for a moment, and realized that Yu Feihong, who played the male lead's ex-wife, had a scene where she pushed a stroller and reunited with the male lead, and that scene was also going to be explosive.

To reiterate, as long as she performs well here, even if her role is small, she will win Best Supporting Actress at any film festival in China, including the Golden Rooster, Golden Horse, and Hong Kong Film Awards, and no one will question her acting skills.

In other words, the three major European film festivals only have Best Actress awards, not Best Supporting Actress awards. Otherwise, winning Best Supporting Actress at one of the three major European film festivals wouldn't be a problem.

The problem is that the male lead's ex-wife had too few scenes. If she had more, she could have been a contender for the Best Actress award at one of the three major European film festivals.

Cao Yang had some doubts about Yu Feihong's current acting skills, so he decided to give her an immersive experience.

She's still my woman, so there's nothing wrong with giving her a little extra acting flair.

Cao Yang tried to give her an immersive experience, and it worked.

It seems that Yu Feihong's foundation is still intact; her previous experience of immersing herself in the role was not for nothing.

Cao Yang had already used up the 5 immersion experiences he had redeemed. He checked his available reputation and found he could redeem another 53.

So, I exchanged 5 more.

He originally wanted to add all five to Cheng Long at once, but after thinking about it, he decided to take it slow and not add too much, lest he add "collapse".

Let's first look at Cheng Long's basic qualifications.

Cao Yang tried adding one first, but it didn't work.

Considering that Jackie Chan is the male lead, and the requirements for the male lead in "Manchester by the Sea" are quite high, it is normal that one actor is not suitable.

Cao Yang directly added two immersive experiences to Cheng Long's account.

To my surprise, it worked!
Depend on!
Cao Yang was really surprised that Cheng Long's acting skills were actually quite good.

He left the audience with the impression of a comedic kung fu superstar, whose every fight move was unexpectedly hilarious, which was also the key to his success.

Who would have thought that Jackie Chan's acting skills were actually quite good?

Cao Yang thought of Jackie Chan's early film "Heart of Dragon," which is actually an art film. Most of the film focuses on the heartwarming relationship between Jackie Chan and his intellectually disabled brother, and Jackie Chan's acting in it was quite good.

His transitional work, "Shinjuku Incident," also showcased his commendable acting skills.

From this perspective, it's not surprising that two immersive experiences are enough to succeed.

Of course, a successful performance and an unexpectedly good performance are two different things. Like Dong Xuan in *Black Swan*, it was quite… well, her acting was unexpectedly good, simply because she added an extra layer of immersion into the role. Therefore, Cao Yang decided to double the immersion and double the unexpected!
To express his apology—no, to express his respect for Jackie Chan—Cao Yang muttered to himself:
"Brother Long, I'm doing this for your own good. Your Hollywood movies have been flops one after another, and now you've unfortunately taken on Huayi Brothers' co-production with Hollywood, 'The Forbidden Kingdom,' which is destined to flop again."

At this point, you'll probably never get another mainstream Hollywood commercial film role.

However, if I promote you and help you win the Berlin Film Festival Best Actor award, even if your Hollywood career doesn't take off, it will still be a perfectly successful ending, won't it?
With your fame, you might not be able to get roles in mainstream Hollywood commercial films, but independent Hollywood films, especially art films, might be able to cast you, thanks to your fame and the combined appeal of being a Berlin Film Festival Best Actor winner.

Yes, I'm doing this really for your own good.

Cao Yang then added two more immersive experiences for Cheng Long, making it four in total.

You're welcome. Just wait and see how your acting skills will amaze the world.

Cao Yang frowned as he looked at the 5 immersion experiences he had redeemed, and hesitated for a moment over Yu Feihong's name.

He smacked his lips, closed his eyes, and gave her another immersive experience.

As I said before, even if my woman doesn't win one of the three major European film awards, winning a few Best Supporting Actress awards in China would be great.

As for the aftereffects...

It will disappear after a while anyway, it's no big deal.

Thinking about the aftereffects, Cao Yang thought of Dong Xuan.

Dong Xuan after filming "Black Swan" was truly unforgettable... cough, now Dong Xuan has long since recovered and has no bad psychological shadow at all. She's doing very well, very well indeed.

Shy and innocent by day, passionate and fiery by night, that's really... cough.

After immersing himself in the role, Cao Yang stroked his chin, feeling as if he had forgotten something.

After thinking and thinking for a while, I finally slapped my thigh and quickly called the assistant director, Li Mingyi.

"Mingyi, have you found the psychologist I asked you to?"

"It's arranged, right? You can join the crew tomorrow? Great."

"They even hired a teacher from the school who specializes in emotional guidance after getting into character? Not bad, not bad, Mingyi, thank you for your hard work."

Cao Yang hung up the phone and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The male lead that Jackie Chan is going to play is too special. This kind of movie is so "depressing" and it also adds so much immersive experience... Well, it's all for the movie and for Jackie Chan's transformation.

Cheng Long still listened to Cao Yang's advice.

Since he didn't perform well today, he just wanted to make up for it, so he was particularly obedient.

After Cao Yang spent another two hours explaining the scene to him, he lay down on the bed as Cao Yang had instructed, and began to think about what Cao Yang had said about the male lead's role and unique characteristics.

I was thinking and thinking, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

……

In 1998, at a private party, he met a rising star actress who was only 25 years old and had won the Miss Asia pageant.

After a series of passionate pursuits, the girl agreed to be with him, gave up her acting career for him, and the two got married three months later.

The following year, one of their children was born.

Both of them were very happy.

Five years later, their third child was born. The two were still in love as always and felt that life was simply blissful.

When his third child was one year old, he had a party at home with some friends and played until very late.

His wife felt their party was too noisy and was disturbing the children's rest, so she spoke up to him.

Of course, his wife called him over privately to talk to him, giving him plenty of face.

He felt his wife was right; it was indeed too late.

So he told his friend, "Let's call it a day, and get together again sometime."

After his friends left, while he was cleaning up the bottles and cigarette butts on the floor, his wife asked him if he had bought any diapers when he came home from get off work, as they were running out.

His wife told him about it early this morning.

He realized that he had been so focused on his get-together with friends that he had forgotten about this.

So, in his haste, he dumped the bottles, cigarette butts, tissues, and other trash he had collected into the trash can next to the sofa.

Because he had drunk quite a bit of alcohol that day, he didn't think about throwing away the trash, nor did he realize there might be any danger. He just rushed out to buy diapers, worried that the nearby stores might close later.

When he bought it back, he found that his house was already on fire.

He stared in disbelief at the raging fire, feeling as if the sky had fallen.

He threw away the diapers in his hand and tried to rush into the fire because his beloved wife and three children were still inside.

However, because it was too dangerous, his cousin, who had rushed over, held him tightly.

Fortunately, he was reminded that firefighters had already rescued his wife from the inferno.

Without listening to his cousin's entire message, he rushed to the ambulance—he saw his wife, he saw… He searched everywhere but couldn't find any of his children.

……

The police investigation report later showed that the cigarette butt that had not been extinguished ignited the tissue, and the remaining brandy and other liquor happened to be easily ignited.

The fire in the trash can then spread to the sofa next to it, eventually igniting the entire house.

His wife was rescued in time and is unharmed.

However, when he saw the three children again, they were in a special bag.

……

"No, no, no!"

Cheng Long screamed and thrashed about on the bed, as if someone was stopping him from going into the fire to save the children.

"No, no, no!"

He finally sat up in bed, tears streaming down his face, repeatedly crying out, "No, no, it's not true, it's not, it's not, sob sob sob..."

"Woooooooo..."

He sat on the bed crying for half an hour until his assistant knocked on the door, and he was still sobbing.

The assistant had the room key. When she came in, she saw Jackie Chan sitting on the bed, covering his face with his hands, sobbing uncontrollably until his throat was hoarse.

"Brother, what's wrong with you?"

The assistant rushed over, put his hands on Cheng Long's shoulders, and asked quickly.

She thought something unexpected had happened.

Cheng Long seemed to have found someone to rely on.

He hugged his assistant tightly, sobbing uncontrollably, and then said in a hoarse voice, "They're gone, my children are gone, all three of them are gone, my children, I don't deserve to be a father, I don't deserve to be... Waaah..."

The assistant was dumbfounded.

Is Jackie Chan's child gone?
How is this going?

I do not know how?
"Brother, what happened? What happened to Amin? What's wrong with him?"

Although the assistant also wondered why Jackie Chan would mention three children, she thought she had misheard and assumed that something was wrong with Ah Ming.

"Woooo..."

Jackie Chan hugged his assistant and cried very sadly.

"I shouldn't have drunk alcohol, I shouldn't have left without throwing away trash, it's all my fault, I don't deserve to be a father, I don't deserve it, sob sob..."

Cheng Long's words left his assistant even more bewildered.

What kind of drinking? What kind of party? What kind of throwing away of trash?

Brother, what are you talking about?
She simply took out her phone and called Ah Ming to see if he would answer.

As a result, Amin answered the phone impatiently.

Huh?
fine?

So what's going on now?

(End of this chapter)