Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 2 Isn’t that bold?

People from the three northeastern provinces are all fellow villagers, and Li Qiutang and Qin Lan are fellow villagers among fellow villagers. Both of them are from Shenhe District, Fengtian.

It's not surprising that the two knew each other.

In fact, sometimes we really can't blame the people from the three northeastern provinces for trying to make friends with their fellow countrymen. People from the Northeast also have something to say, but it's because they are forced by you people from the interior.

Li Qiutang never thought of herself as a "Northeasterner" at home, but when she came to Yanjing, everyone introduced themselves to each other like this:

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from Qilu."

"Oh, Qilu."

"Where are you from?"

"I am from Sanqin."

"Sanqin."

"What about you?"

"I'm from Fengtian, Liao Province."

“Oh, you’re from Northeast China.”

This is how Li Qiutang was brainwashed and became a Northeasterner.

If you have the guts, try telling people from Chongqing that he is from Sichuan Province.

Li Qiutang arrived at the Qiangui box and just as what had been said on the phone, Qin Lan was there, as well as a few directors. They were not particularly famous, but Li Qiutang recognized them all.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, they sat down to drink and sing.

When Li Qiutang heard that she was preparing a graduation short film, several senior directors gave her some polite words of encouragement, and Qin Lan also told her to just ask if she needed any help.

It was a very dull party, but Li Qiutang still stayed with the group until the early morning before leaving, and rejected several directors' invitations to "go to the bar for a couple of drinks."

Qin Lan was smoking at the door of the cashier's door, and Li Qiutang was standing beside her.

“Where are you going after graduation?”

"Not yet." Li Qiutang put his hands in his pockets, "Let's finish shooting the graduation video first."

Qin Lan knew that even if Li Qiutang could not become a director after graduation, there would still be advertising companies, art examination training institutions and other institutions that wanted him. He would not be like the acting department, who would be unemployed on the spot if he had no roles to play after graduation.

Qin Lan put out a cigarette, and Li Qiutang reminded her: "Don't drive after drinking. Tell someone to pick you up."

"It's okay." Qin Lan took a sip of water and rinsed his mouth. "Why are you leaving? I'll take you there."

"We are going different ways, so I'll take a taxi." Li Qiutang stretched his neck to see if there were any cars on the road.

After chatting for a while, Qin Lan's car arrived first. It was her assistant who came to pick them up. Li Qiutang even joked, "Why didn't Brother Xiao Ming come to pick them up?"

"Go to hell." Qin Lan waved her hand. "He's filming. Don't you really want me to send him off?"

"Really? You go first. My car is here." Li Qiutang glanced at a taxi and waved.

Before Qin Lan left, he said, "I'll be taking a break for the next two months. Let me know if you have any difficulties." Qin Lan had a special liking for this younger brother.

"Okay." Li Qiutang knew that this was just the politeness between friends, but she also appreciated her sister's kindness and waved goodbye.

After a while, an ugly red and yellow Elantra stopped at Li Qiutang's feet.

"where to?"

“Film school.”

"My watch is broken, will it work for 50 yuan?"

I don't believe you, the watch is broken.

But there was no way, it was pitch dark and I didn’t know where the next car was.

"Let's go." Li Qiutang got in the car.

Li Qiutang was still struggling with what to shoot for his graduation short film in the next few days. He was not bragging, he had too many ideas and it was hard to choose. Wang Boxue, a junior from the photography department, urged him to decide on a topic quickly. Li Qiutang didn't decide, so he, as a photographer who was fooled into shooting, couldn't get the film.

"They were quick to act. They booked it at the end of last year and started filming right after returning this year."

Li Qiutang said: "There are only 6 people in our class, how fast can we go?"

There are only 02 people in the 6 undergraduate directing class, and Li Qiutang is not worried about the progress of the assignments at all.

Li Qiutang has been thinking about his graduation project again these days. He has many ideas and he can shoot them any way he wants.

The question now is, what kind of short film can most directly help me become a director after graduation.

Being a director and making movies is a very luxurious thing. It used to be the privilege of state-owned studios. Although it is now market-oriented, it is not so easy for a director to stand out.

Not to mention that Li Qiutang is just a recent graduate.

This is not simply about having money.

Li Qiutang thought about it for a few days and finally made up his mind - to do something big!
Li Qiutang went to see her class teacher, Mr. Jiang Wei, the screenwriter of "Don't Talk to Strangers" and a well-known TV drama director in the industry that afternoon.

"What have you thought of shooting?" Teacher Jiang Wei sat at his desk, smoking, and watched his favorite student filling out the graduation short film application form.

"Well, let's make a science fiction story for fun." Li Qiutang filled in the seven words "The Night the Comet Came" in the movie title column, wrote his own name in the director and applicant columns, and handed the form to the teacher.

You can't tell from the watch what the story is, but science fiction has always been a hot topic in the field of short films. Many directors, whether new or famous, like to use science fiction short films to experiment with their ideas.

Science fiction is not common in China, but the Film Academy is at the forefront of academia after all, and teachers and students can easily get in touch with new things in the world film industry. Jiang Wei was not surprised that Li Qiutang chose science fiction as a subject.

"You always come up with new ideas for me." Jiang Wei smiled and said, "Okay, go to the factory to get the equipment." Jiang Wei signed and approved it.

The academy stipulates that for the directing department's graduation project, Qingying Studio will sponsor students two cameras and two reels of film totaling 30 minutes, as well as a considerable amount of start-up capital free of charge - it has to be said that the film academy is really generous in this regard.

Li Qiutang shamelessly begged his teacher: "Don't you still have two rolls of film that haven't been used up? Can you see if it's... hehe." This kid wants to get something for nothing.

"Finish shooting the two discs the school gave you first!" Jiang Wei didn't refuse.

"You've kept it for more than a year. If you don't use it anymore, it will expire."

"Get out, you don't have to worry about my film." Jiang Wei cursed and laughed as he drove Li Qiutang out of the office.

"If you don't want to give it to me, then don't give it to me. Why are you so anxious?" Li Qiutang decided to come back in a few days.

Li Qiutang borrowed a tricycle from somewhere and carried back two cameras, two reels of film and other equipment from Qingying Studio.

"The money will be transferred to you in a few days."

What Li Qiutang meant by playing big was to turn his graduation work into a feature film!

I guess no one will invest in me to make a feature film after graduation, so I will make my graduation project into a feature film!

Isn’t that bold?

"The Night the Comet Came" is a feature film, which Jiang Wei certainly didn't know, but Li Qiutang had to tell her photographer about this news.

"I've calculated it, there's no risk." Li Qiutang didn't do this on impulse. He explained to the photographer, "This is a very low-budget movie. There are only eight actors, the setting is simple, and all the scenes take place in one house. The money the school gave is completely enough."

"But I've never heard of making a feature film as a graduation project."

"It means that we should do it if others haven't done it before."

Such a bold idea is indeed very attractive.

Wang Boxue was just an ungraduated photographer. He never thought that making such films would make him famous. Film was the art of directing, and he was only responsible for taking the camera.

"Think about it," Li Qiutang continued, "a movie is 90 minutes long, and I calculated the film ratio for you to be 20:1, so you have 1800 minutes of film to shoot, 120 reels, which is taller than us."

Wang Boxue was very excited, but he also had concerns: "The school only gave us two sets."

"If it's not enough, buy more." Li Qiutang patted his chest and promised his photographer that he would not let him run out of film. "My studio has made some money in the past two years, so I can still afford the film."

Wang Boxue was completely fired up, leaving all the money issues aside, he was going to make a feature film!!!

(End of this chapter)