Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 385 "The Terror Live Broadcast": A Brilliant Twist!

Actually, both "The Terror Live" and "Incense" have been completed and are ready for theatrical release.

However, a problem arose in the middle.

That is, compared to "The Terror Live", "Incense" has a much less commercial feel. Although it is a dark comedy, it also has a strong artistic vibe.

After all, Ning Hao was still a student at that time, even though he was not young.

But just like that, after "Incense" was filmed, it was noticed by teachers at the Beijing Film Academy.

Dean Zheng of the Directing Department gave a suggestion.

"How about we take this film, 'Incense,' to an international film festival? Maybe we can win an award or something."

Upon hearing this, the vice president also perked up.

"What do you mean by 'overseas'? We have the Golden Horse Awards right here in China. I saw some of the films that are going to be submitted from mainland China this year, and they're a bit dark. Why don't we give this one a try too?"

These two suggestions...

Ning Hao is a student at the film academy, so he has to listen to them to some extent.

Before Ning Hao could say anything, the two deans started arguing.

"Go abroad!"

"Let's go to Kinmen!"

"It would be great to go abroad; the Venice Film Festival is just around the corner."

"Forget it, you can't go. The selection process in Venice is already over. At most, you can go to the Tokyo International Film Festival!"

"That's okay too."

"Then we might as well go to Golden Horse..."

With the two of them arguing, Ning Hao was at a loss. In fact, his status in the Beijing Film Academy was really equivalent to that of an outer disciple.

Needless to say, he was overjoyed to be chosen by such a famous teacher.

The key point is, can this even get you a chance to attend a prestigious film festival?
Regardless of whether it's the Golden Horse Awards or the Tokyo International Film Festival, Ning Hao has only ever dreamed about them in his life!

So, don't worry about whether the dean's side has decided a winner or not.

Ning Hao has made up his mind to take "Incense" to the film festival!
When he told his boss, Ma Xun, about it, Ma Xun's expression turned somewhat strange.

It's obvious that Ma Xun doesn't really want this film to be shown outside of China.

However, Dean Zheng is no ordinary person.

Ma Xun couldn't refuse, after all, this person had countless students and disciples all over the entertainment industry.

Moreover, Ma Xun had roughly guessed some things.

If I remember correctly, there was a very special film among the movies that participated in this year's Golden Horse Awards.

"Blind Well".

That's right, it's this movie. Those who frequently travel through time will definitely be familiar with it.

This movie is adapted from the novel "Shenmu". The novel's title should refer to the setting of the story, but to be honest, the name is a bit too broad.

This kind of thing definitely doesn't only happen in Shenmu.

Baoqiang came from this movie, but in reality, he was not the main character in the movie.

The protagonist is the bad guy, but he later has a change of heart.

The role was played by Li Yixiang, who was originally a good actor, but after filming this movie, he reportedly couldn't get out of the theater for a long time.

Actually, we can probably analyze it from this point.

That's the version we saw later; it's probably not the original.

Perhaps a lot of content was cut.

However, there is probably another reason why Dean Zheng and his group are vying for it.

That's the director of the film "Blind Shaft".

Li Yang is someone who has received formal training, but you could also say he doesn't.

Because he was originally from the National Theatre of China, he was admitted through examination, meaning that his experience in performance and drama is basically derived from the National Theatre of China system.

First of all, it should be understood that the National Theatre of China is not as good as the Beijing People's Art Theatre, and in addition, Li Yang had no connection with the Beijing Film Academy or the Central Academy of Drama throughout his entire upbringing.

Later, he went abroad to study, learning art-related subjects overseas.

Therefore, he is an outlier among those with formal training.

If such a person were to win a major award at the Golden Horse Awards, it would not be fair to say that the director training system established by the Beijing Film Academy, the Central Academy of Drama, and the Shanghai Theatre Academy would be shaken, but it would certainly be said to be a blow.

And so, I happened to come across Ning Hao's novel, "Incense".

Ma Xun could also tell that Ning Hao definitely wanted to go.

As for which one...

Ma Xun remembered something.

The jury president for this year's Tokyo International Film Festival seems to be Gong Li.

In that case, let's support them!

However, another film going to Tokyo this year is Huo Jianqi's "Warm".

This film, "Warm," is practically a shoo-in for a major award.

The Japanese really loved the movie "Postmen in the Mountains".

Moreover, it's the kind of thing I absolutely love.

In this film, "Warm," Hanaya Kosaburo... oh no, I mean Teruyuki Kagawa, also volunteered to take on a role.

He really took the initiative to come here. Of course, it might have been decided when he was filming "Devils on the Doorstep," because there really wasn't a need for a Japanese character in "Warm".

This film, however, almost immediately secured a major award at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

What kind of success can "Incense" achieve?

Anyway, Ning Hao, you should go out and try your luck. As for other things, I can only guarantee one thing.

Gong Li is one of my people.

As for going to Kinmen, Ma Xun also has some connections.

Anyway, since the dean has taken a liking to it, let's give it our support.

So, it's been decided that the film "Incense" will not be released during the National Day holiday.

Ma Xun, sitting in the screening room, was indeed lost in thought.

Now, The Terror Live has brought his attention back.

There was a really loud bang!
A building collapsed with a crash!
The sound effects were stunning.

Many viewers were taken aback.

Moreover, regarding this movie so far...

"I told you, I wasn't joking!"

The explosion just now was caused by that bomber.

At first, the audience thought it was just talk, but now everyone knows that the bomb is real!
The bomber continued, "This time it's just an empty building! But I won't be so polite next time!"

That's incredibly oppressive!

It kept the audience in the entire screening room on edge.

The story of The Terror Live begins with a normal news broadcast.

The female anchor, Xu Qian, appeared in front of the audience as usual.

But when she broadcasts the news, and gets to news about real estate development...

Suddenly, she received a phone call.

This is very strange in itself, but since the call is coming in, I'll just answer it.

It turned out that the person on the other end of the phone was a bomber!

Xu Qian panicked at the time, but fortunately, as a professionally trained female anchor, she remained calm on the surface.

Moreover, she didn't take the bomb thing entirely seriously.

There's nothing wrong with that idea.

As for the TV station, it will probably receive many similar calls, some real and some fake.

The bomber, however, was quite calm and even recounted some events.

Until this building was bombed!
Fortunately, this is an unfinished building, and so far there should be no casualties.

However, this is enough to prove that the bomber was not faking it.

So, his requirement is...

"Deposit 1,323,222 Jilin into a bank account belonging to someone named Huang Changfu!"

what?
What's happening here?
Why are there both whole and odd amounts?
Clearly, there's a story behind this.

But the police intervened immediately.

"I didn't call the police, but this kind of situation during a live broadcast..."

"It's fine if you call the police, but the police absolutely cannot enter this live broadcast room!"

The bomber's request is quite strange. But thinking about it, at least his previous statement about calling the police wasn't unreasonable, so that's somewhat normal.

After all, it was a live broadcast on television, meaning the bomber had no intention of hiding it.

But will the police listen to him?

Then that arrogant, fat policeman appeared. He casually entered the live stream room and plopped down next to the streamer.

I need a microphone.

"Listen up, you bomber over there..."

Unfortunately, just as he said that, the microphone exploded with a bang!

what! ! !
This isn't just screaming coming from the TV station.

The entire screening room was now filled with screams.

Because this change is so amazing!

No one expected that this microphone could kill someone.

And that's not all!

There are other police officers, but they don't dare to make a move now, though the TV station has its own security.

Especially this live stream room, which used to have security guards.

The security guards went to dispose of the high-ranking police officer's body, and then...

boom!
what! ! !
Xu Qian's face was splattered with many blood spots.

Although she was trying her best to steady herself, she couldn't help but tremble.

This reaction is perfectly normal; in fact, at this very moment, many viewers in the screening room were also trembling slightly.

They were completely absorbed.

Ma Xun was quite satisfied with the result.

In fact, he used a very special method in this film.

That is... look into the eyes of the current female anchor, Xu Qian, also known as Wan Qian.

That's right, just watch.

……

Qin Lan and Liu Tao, who originally only wanted to get close to Ma Xuncai to watch this preview screening, now huddled together.

Surprisingly, this movie is really scary.

What a surprise.

Why is this happening?

"Is this really a horror movie? Didn't someone already say that it's not actually a horror movie?"

Liu Tao's statement is indeed correct.

The controversy surrounding horror movies was stirred up quite a bit by some people before.

It's said that because this movie is a horror film, it simply couldn't pass censorship.

But the fact that they're even having preview screenings means that at least the film doesn't have any major problems.

But upon closer inspection, it's quite frightening.
Well, to be precise, it's not just about scaring people, but rather a strong sense of psychological pressure.

It's like, it's like...

That's right! Eyes!
Looking into Wan Qian's eyes in the movie, Qin Lan finally understood what was going on.

"Haven't you realized it? Actually, we are the audience right now."

"The audience? Oh... I see!"

We were just spectators, weren't we? What exactly did Qin Lan mean by that?

It's actually very simple; just look into Wan Qian's eyes.

Generally speaking, when we are filming, there are many times when we are facing the camera lens.

However, directors usually remind actors that facing the camera is fine, but they cannot look directly at the camera!

This is something that all actors know, and even if they don't, the director will remind them.

Some people are probably wondering, if you're facing the camera, why can't you look directly at it?

It's actually very simple; just aim higher.

It's higher than the camera lens. For example, if a photographer is tall, then you should look at him.

Because looking directly into the camera creates a certain effect.

Some call it breaking down the dimensional barrier.

Some call it a filming accident.

In other words, after the final cut, the people in the video made eye contact with the audience!
This breaks down the wall between reality and illusion.

When we're filming normally, we try to avoid doing that.

Since we are telling a story to the audience, it's best to let the audience see it from a third-person perspective.

That's just how onlookers are, isn't it?

However, once the dimensional barrier is broken, the audience's perspective changes.

Of course, some movies have to break down the fourth wall to let the audience in.

But such films are usually very creative, or they have to be.

What about The Terror Live?

clever!

Because this is a live broadcast!
Xu Qian is broadcasting news, which is her job itself, and this overlaps with the overall perspective of the film!
Simply put, the audience in the screening room unknowingly become part of the movie!

The story of this movie is based on a live television broadcast, and it's impossible to film the audience's perspective in a movie.

Therefore, the audience in the screening room now becomes the audience in the movie.

As a result, everyone inexplicably felt a strong sense of immersion!
Everyone is free to speak.

Immerse yourself completely!

Moreover, it's done so subtly that the audience barely notices the immersion.

This is really...

Wonderful!

At that moment, Qin Lan inexplicably became convinced that this must have been Ma Xunxiang's idea.

That won't be any other.

This idea is indeed strange, but based on Qin Lan's limited but intimate contact with Ma Xun, she is absolutely certain of it.

Ma Xun always manages to come up with some new tricks... Just thinking about this made Qin Lan blush for no reason.

Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. Let's just watch a movie.

The plot of "The Terror Live" is getting even more exciting from here on out.

As the story unfolds, everyone discovers that this bomber had ulterior motives.

Or rather, it wasn't some kind of scheme.

It's about giving a voice to the vulnerable!
An old demolition case was slowly brought to light.

That evil developer, and his collusion with Malaysian officials.

And... huh?

How come, while looking at this, I started thinking about myself?

The key point is that the relocated residents were required to return to their original homes according to regulations.

And that was clearly written in the contract we signed back then.

but!

The developer is a complete scoundrel and has violated the contract.

So and so...

Is the bomber actually righteous?
So, where exactly is this bomber?

Xu Qing continued her live stream; the blood spots on her face did not decrease, yet she continued broadcasting.

The police raided the bomber's house. Of course, they had also raided Huang Changfu's house before, but unfortunately, they found that he was already dying.

And his medical bill was the same number the bomber had mentioned earlier.

The reason Huang Changfu suffered such a terrible fate was actually because the developer hired gangsters to do it.

Is this... a bomber really righteous?
However, the police found nothing in the bomber's house.

Could it be that this isn't him?

So, where exactly is the bomber?
Until the very end of The Terror Live.

Another gasp erupted in the screening room!
what happened?

Suddenly, the security guard who had been dead stood up!

This plot twist is absolutely amazing!
(End of this chapter)