Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 82 "Light" and "Darkness"

With eight million in funds received, Meng Bai, as a representative, officially joined Leshi Pictures' Series B financing in the name of "Qiming Venture Partners".

Although it was equivalent to a "family and friends group", Meng Bai still adhered to the principle of "transactions are transactions, personal relationships are personal relationships" and signed an agreement with everyone, clearly stating the various investment proportions, contract terms, withdrawal of capital and stock conversions in advance.

He also specifically told a few people that this investment does not necessarily need to be held until the end. If other external investors are willing to pay a suitable price to take over everyone's share, then they can discuss it at that time so that they can cash out in advance.

All I can say is that it’s time to invest, but Meng Bai always remained wary of the development of Leshi.com.

From contacting Qin Ming, to negotiating publication, to raising investment funds, Meng Bai was away for more than half a month, and finally returned to the crew in mid-June.

"Well--"

Sitting on the familiar sofa chair in the production lounge of the dormitory building, Meng Bai stretched out with contentment.

Sure enough, the atmosphere of the crew is more suitable for me.

"You are such a hands-off boss that you have a lot of free time. You've been away from the crew for half a month." Wu Bai, who was standing by, said jokingly when he saw him half-lying in the chair and looking comfortable.

Meng Bai waved his hand lazily: "The crew is set up, the process is set, the funds are in place, and the broadcast platform is also available. The rest is for everyone to follow the steps. There is no need for me, the producer, to be busy every day."

"I don't care whether you, the producer, are busy or not, but you, the screenwriter, have to work too." Wu Bai said, "According to the shooting schedule, we will start shooting the final episode 'Portrait Case' next week. When can you give me the script for the final episode? I still have to design the shots and locations in advance."

"hiss--"

When he heard Wu Bai talking about the ending, the originally leisurely Meng Bai immediately took a breath as if he had a toothache, raised his hand to rub his eyebrows, and looked embarrassed.

Wu Bai looked puzzled: "Why, don't tell me that the crew is about to wrap up filming, and you haven't finished writing the script yet?"

"I have finished writing..." Meng Bai stroked his chin and said awkwardly, "But I wrote too much."

Wubai was stunned. What do you mean by writing too much?
Meng Bai stood up and took out two scripts from his bag. Each one was not very thick, just a few thin pages, after all, it only contained the plot of one episode.

He handed over two copies of the script and said, "Take a look first."

Wu Bai took the script and looked at the cover first. Both of them had the same words written on them: "Psychological Crime Script·Final Chapter". The only difference was that one had "A" written under the title, while the other had "B".

Does this mean there is going to be a double ending?
Wubai frowned. It is not uncommon to see works with double endings in the history of film and television. For example, Hollywood's "Orphan" and "I Am Legend", Hong Kong's "SPL" and "Fallen Angels", including "No Man's Land" directed by Ning Hao, which was released at the end of last year, all released a new version of the ending in addition to the public version.

Generally speaking, the main reason for dual endings in film and television works is to pass censorship. Especially for Hollywood blockbusters that are released globally, in order to take into account the different censorship standards in different places, sometimes three or four different versions of the plot are prepared.

Another reason is that the producers are not sure what kind of ending the audience will like during the creation process, so they will shoot two different versions, and then count the audience's preferences for the two versions during the preview, and then decide which one to use in the end.

Then there are those who are purely directors or creators with their own personal opinions. They know that some of the original ideas are not suitable, but they would feel uncomfortable if they don’t film them, so they will “secretly” shoot a “private version” and release it after the movie is released.

This way, it neither hinders the main film from making money nor hinders one's own desire to express oneself. This is the true meaning of "ideals are ideals, business is business". But the problem is, those are all movies, and we are just a small web series. Do you have to make it so complicated?

But he was not in a hurry and planned to take a look at the two versions of the script first.

The first season of "Psychological Crime" consists of four cases, and "Portrait Case" is the last one. The plot is that after overcoming the tragic memories of the "Seventh Portrait Case", the protagonist "Fang Mu" regained his spirits and met a "copycat murderer" who was also proficient in psychological crimes. The other party challenged Fang Mu by imitating various world-famous cases and leaving clues.

There are three main characters in this story: the male protagonist "Fang Mu", the murderer "University Librarian Sun Pu", and Fang Mu's graduate supervisor, Professor Qiao, who is also a genius "Criminal Psychology" expert.

In the ending of version A, Fang Mu found the real murderer, and followed the clues to find Sun Pu with Tai Wei, but unfortunately both of them were attacked and injured. At the last moment, Professor Qiao, who had been kidnapped before, stopped Sun Pu from burning everyone to death, allowing Fang Mu and Tai Wei to escape, while he dragged this "former excellent student" to die in the sea of fire.

This is considered a "bright" ending. With Professor Qiao's self-sacrifice in the end, Fang Mu finally defeated his inner demons and grew into a true "criminal psychology" expert.

As for the ending of version B, the previous plots are almost the same, except that Fang Mu discovers in the end that Sun Pu is just a pawn who follows orders, and the real mastermind behind the scenes is actually Professor Qiao.

Suffering from Alzheimer's disease, he felt that he would not live long, so at the end of his life, he bet on Tai Wei and the "cheerleader" who had been pursuing Fang Mu, and used this "explosive" method to force Fang Mu to grow.

Compared with version A, the ending of version B is a bit "dark". No one can say whether the male protagonist Fang Mu at the end of the story is filling the last gap or developing a bigger inner demon.

Looking at the two versions of the ending in his hands, Wu Bai began to feel conflicted.

From the perspective of audience emotions, version A's ending is undoubtedly better. Amid the depressing and grim atmosphere of the entire drama, it provides everyone with a way to relieve their emotions.

But from the perspective of film and television performance, the ending of version B is undoubtedly more impactful. Although this setting of "the character who is thought to be a positive character is actually the final villain" is a bit cliché in suspense stories, it is indeed useful.

After hesitating for a while, Wu Bai expressed his thoughts and finally said, "If it were me who was to choose, I would prefer the ending of version B. And one advantage is that it will facilitate the development of the story in the second season - if you still need this setting in the second season."

After listening to Wu Bai's suggestion, Meng Bai became even more conflicted, because he had originally preferred version A of the ending.

As the male protagonist, Fang Mu experienced the early death of his parents, the beheading of his girlfriend, the murder of his roommate, and the victimization of his friends. It can be said that everyone around him has suffered misfortune. Despite this miserable experience, Meng Bai still hopes to leave him with a warm feeling at the end of the story.

In a sense, he is actually a fan of "happy ending", even though he writes suspense stories in which a "happy ending" is the least likely to appear.

Seeing his "screenwriter teacher" struggling, Wu Bai reminded him, "According to the progress, we can wrap up next month. No matter which one you choose, make your decision by next week at the latest."

"Or, why don't we shoot both of them, and then see which one is more suitable during post-production?" Meng Bai said.

"You are the producer. As long as you are not afraid of going over budget, I can still shoot ten endings."

"Tsk." Meng Bai pursed his lips and made up his mind: "Shoot both, and make two versions when we go back to production. Anyway, web dramas don't need to be reviewed as finished films. Let's wait until the show starts and see how the audience's comments lead, and then decide which one to use in the end."

Between A and B, Meng Bai decisively chose "wait and see".

(End of this chapter)