How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 390 Stooge
Before we knew it, September had quietly passed, and with a turn of the calendar, October was already upon us.

While the streets and alleys were adorned with eye-catching red flags and social media feeds were filled with photos of people visiting scenic spots, Zhang Wen arrived at the film set as usual.

The actors were reciting their lines off-camera, the lighting technicians were constantly adjusting the angles, and the production crew were carrying props and moving back and forth. Everyone was busy, and there was no festive atmosphere at all.

The film crew has no holidays, let alone vacations.

Film and television bases do not reduce rent for film crews during holidays, and hotels where actors stay do not offer discounts during holidays. Therefore, in order to control costs and reduce expenses, filming cannot stop once the crew starts shooting.

Zhang Wenju wholeheartedly agreed to this arrangement.

He is now one of the investors in this drama, so naturally he has to be careful with his money and not waste a single penny.

If the film crew takes a day off, they will lose more than 100,000 yuan. That's enough for him to eat jianbing guozi (Chinese crepes) for more than 30 years. It hurts to think about it.

"Buzz!"

Zhang Wen was watching Du Wenjuan's performance when his cell phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.

He took it out and looked at it; it was a WeChat message from Gao Yue.

This morning, the other party took five members of the Future Girls group to Hunan Province to participate in a variety show that will be recorded tomorrow.

The message was very simple: I just got off the plane and wanted to let everyone know I arrived safely.

As a celebrity agent, Gao Yue frequently travels between television stations across the country. Zhang Wen had considerable confidence in her abilities; otherwise, he wouldn't have invited her to be the agent for the future girl group, much less entrusted her with such an important task.

However, the new season of "Super Trainee" is about to be released, while "Youth Concert", "Sing Together", and the variety show on Hunan TV will not be broadcast until next week. If we don't do something in the meantime, won't we miss out on the viewership of this season of "Super Trainee"?

Despite the controversy, the popularity of "Super Trainee" is truly immense.

Controversy is also part of the buzz.

Zhang Wen had been riding the coattails of this show's popularity for a while now, and it had proven to be very effective. He felt uneasy if he didn't do it this time.

It's like a strong wind blowing in lots of money, but he didn't pick up a single penny; he always felt like he had lost money.

How can we mooch off them this time?

Just as Zhang Wen was pondering, director Han Xiaohua's voice rang out on the set.

"Everyone was in good form during the last few scenes. That's all for this morning. Everyone should take a quick bite to eat and rest. I hope you can carry that energy into the afternoon."

Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They were all in a great mood because they hadn't been scolded by the director today, and several female extras even performed a social dance on the spot.

Looking at those conspicuous bags, an idea suddenly popped into Zhang Wen's mind.

Social dance was a dance form that became popular on the Douyin short video platform a few years ago. When it first appeared, countless people rushed to imitate it, and many different styles emerged.

From that time on, videos of people dancing to the same dances frequently appeared online.

If the dance in the "The Best of Us" music video becomes popular, and then a large number of videos of people copying the dance appear, will it also bring some popularity to the future girl group?

Most importantly, the dances that appeared in "Super Trainee" did not become popular, but the dances performed by the eliminated trainees did become popular. Isn't this another slap in the face?
Isn't this a way to ride the wave of popularity?
Thinking of this, Zhang Wen immediately took out his phone, found the music video for "The Best of Us," and watched it.
Although I had watched it countless times before, I watched it six or seven times this time. After repeated comparisons, I finally selected two segments with a strong sense of rhythm.

He re-edited the video, making the two dance segments into separate videos, and then walked over to several extras who were preparing to eat.

"Excuse me, everyone, I'd like to conduct a small survey."

"Teacher Zhang, what kind of investigation?" one of the extras asked curiously, attracting the attention of the surrounding extras who all grabbed their lunch boxes and joined in the fun.

Why was it the screenwriter of this show who asked the question?
Moreover, everyone knows that Teacher Zhang is not only the screenwriter of the show, but also the investor, and has a lot of influence. Even Director Han would consult Teacher Zhang on things he couldn't decide. Now that Teacher Zhang has taken the initiative to approach these extras, who wouldn't want to show their face and perform in front of Teacher Zhang?
Who knows, she might catch Mr. Zhang's eye, land a very important role, and then become an overnight sensation, a star...

Isn't this how many celebrities became famous?
Zhang Wen held up his phone and waved it, looking at the extras in front of him, and said, "I have two videos here. Take a look and see which dance is the best."

After saying that, he found the video and played it directly.

The crowd crowded around, their eyes glued to the phone screen, eager to know what kind of dance the screenwriter Zhang had shown them.

"This is a future girl group!"

People at the scene recognized the five people in the video.

"Yes, this is the music video for Future Girls' debut song. I've seen it."

"I've seen it too!"

"..."

Although Future Girls has only been around for a short time, the group frequently trends on social media, and anyone interested in music or music variety shows knows them.

The two dance videos, each about 20 seconds long, finished playing quickly. Zhang Wen glanced at them and asked, "Did you see them clearly? Was the first dance more exciting, or the second?"

"I think the second part is better," said the extra standing at the front.

"I think the first part is better," a background actor behind him said, offering a different opinion.

"I also think the second paragraph is better."

"The second paragraph, it must be the second paragraph."

"..."

Everyone expressed their thoughts.

Zhang Wen glanced at the list and found that more people thought the second paragraph was better, while fewer people thought the first paragraph was better, with a ratio of approximately 4 to 1.
"Can you tell me why?" Zhang Wen asked.

He felt both dances were good and couldn't choose, so he asked the extras for their opinions. After all, the dances were for netizens, not for him, and the opinions of the general public should be taken into account.

"The music in the second video is the climax of the song, it's catchy, and it makes the dance look even more exciting," explained the extra who had chosen the second video.

"Yes, that's what I think too."

"..."

Other extras who supported the second paragraph echoed this sentiment.

"What do you say?" Zhang Wen asked, looking at the extras who had chosen the first segment.

"I think from a dance perspective, the dance in the first segment is more difficult, which is why I find it so exciting."

"Yeah, that's right."

"..."

After hearing the explanation, Zhang Wen nodded.

That was his thought when he chose the first dance.

However, what the other party said reminded him that the purpose of choosing the dance was to encourage netizens to follow suit and learn it, so as to get more people involved and increase the popularity of Future Girls.

If a dance is too difficult, it may look impressive, but it's actually very challenging to perform. This sets a high bar, filtering out a group of people and reducing online participation.

"Thank you all for participating," Zhang Wen said to the surrounding extras.

"You're welcome," the extras said politely, but they were all a little confused when they saw screenwriter Zhang leave.

Leaving now?

Don't you have anything else to ask?
As the saying goes, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

Everyone had hoped to use the opportunity to help screenwriter Zhang solve his problem and show off, but they ended up not being able to help at all and their expectations were dashed.

The crowd looked at each other, then dispersed in disappointment, finding a clean spot to eat their boxed lunches.

Zhang Wen did not rush to a conclusion. He then asked several staff members for their opinions and thoughts, and even asked the lead actors. The final survey results were the same as those of the extras: most people chose the second dance.

As the old saying goes: Listen to advice, and you'll have a full stomach.

Zhang Wen also made a decision to choose the second video for promotion.

As for the results, we'll see, even if it's not a huge hit, a small hit will do. As long as it brings traffic to the future girl group, that's good enough.

He found Li Yuetong, who was in charge of choreographing the song "The Best of Us," in his phone contacts and called her.

Soon, the call was connected.

"Boss, what can I do for you?" Li Yuetong's voice came through the receiver. Ever since they started receiving their salaries, the teachers working part-time at Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center had been calling Zhang Wen "boss" in private, and they did so so naturally.

"Teacher Li, I need your help with something. I'll send you a dance video in a bit, and you need to make a tutorial video for it, as soon as possible," Zhang Wen said, getting straight to the point.

“Okay, boss.” Li Yuetong agreed without hesitation.

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Wen immediately sent the second video to Li Yuetong.

Li Yuetong was stunned after seeing the video. She thought it was some kind of difficult dance that would require her, a professional, to break down the moves. She never expected it to be a dance from the music video for "The Best of Us". You should know that she designed all the moves.

what's the situation?
Made a mistake?
After thinking about it, she decided to send a WeChat message to her boss just to be on the safe side.

"Boss, are you sure it's the dance to the song 'The Best of Us'?"

"determine."

Li Yuetong saw the reply and, although she was puzzled, she still prepared according to the requirements, since the other party was her boss.
As the creator of this dance, she is very familiar with every movement in the video, which makes her very adept at making instructional videos.

Xu Guanchao came to film, and she was in charge of teaching. She broke down each movement in slow motion so that it was easy to understand and learn.

The dance tutorial video was completed in less than an hour, which is incredibly fast.

After receiving the video, Zhang Wen watched it once and was very satisfied with Li Yuetong's work efficiency. The next step was the most crucial step in the whole plan: to increase the popularity of the dance so that more people would follow suit and imitate it.

How to increase popularity? How to get people to follow suit?
While you can increase traffic and get more people to see the dance by buying promotions on short videos, that's not enough to pique the interest of creators in the dance field. There has to be something that makes people feel that imitating it will attract attention.

Zhang Wen unconsciously turned his gaze to Bai Lu, who was reading a script not far away.

If you see celebrities dancing this dance, will anyone try to learn it too?

definitely will!
This is star power.

Just like when a product hires a celebrity to shoot an advertisement, people will inevitably buy the product because of that celebrity.

After making up his mind, Zhang Wen got up and went to Bai Lu's side.

"excuse me."

Upon hearing this, Bai Lu raised her head and looked at the man in front of her with a puzzled expression. The entire crew knew about their relationship, so why was he suddenly being so polite?
"Is something the matter?" Bai Lu couldn't help but ask.

"Do me a favor, dance for me," Zhang Wen said.

"what?"

Bai Lu was completely dumbfounded, and countless "whys" flashed through his mind. After a while, he seemed to have thought of something, glanced around, and then lowered his voice, saying in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "There are a lot of people here. I'll dance for you when we get home tonight."

After she finished speaking, two blushes appeared on her cheeks, and a hint of shyness showed between her brows.

This morning, Yue went to Hunan Province and won't be back until the day after tomorrow. The two of them will have two nights alone together. I don't understand why this man is in such a hurry.

Zhang Wen was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. Looking at the other person's shy and smiling expression, he realized that the other person had misunderstood, so he quickly said, "It's not for me to see, it's for netizens to see."

"what?"

Bai Lu stood frozen in place for a moment.

What do you mean?
Is this a treat for netizens?

The filming hasn't finished yet, the TV series hasn't aired, and the ratings are still unknown. Isn't it a bit early to give out benefits now?
Worried that the other party would continue to overthink, Zhang Wen explained, "You've seen Zhao Tong and the others' music video, right? There's a dance in it that I'd like you to dance to and then post it on Douyin to boost its popularity."

Bai Lu suddenly realized that it was actually a promotion for the future girl group. He had thought that after Sister Yue left, the other party was going to use the King Zhou trial card.

Zhang Wen picked up his phone, first showing the original dance to the other person, and then playing Li Yuetong's tutorial video again. "This dance isn't difficult. Practice it when you have free time, and it would be best if you could upload it tonight."

"So soon?" Bai Lu was taken aback.

Although the dance moves are not difficult, she also has to film, so she simply doesn't have time to practice.

"No later than tomorrow noon," Zhang Wen said after thinking for a moment.

The new episode of "Super Trainee" will be released tomorrow night, and he needs to seize the opportunity to ride the wave of this episode's popularity.

“Okay, I’ll practice when I get home tonight and try to learn it tonight. But I haven’t had any new works lately, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to generate much buzz for them,” Bai Lu said.

"Don't underestimate yourself. No matter what, you're a popular young actress with so many excellent works. Your appearance will definitely generate buzz for them," Zhang Wen said with a smile.

Bai Lu felt relieved to hear this, but still asked, "Is that really what you think?"

"Of course, in my eyes, you have always been the most outstanding among all the young actresses, without exception," Zhang Wen said seriously.

Bai Lu's heart was surging with emotion, and she wished she could pounce on the man right now.

Unfortunately, this was a film set with too many people, so I managed to resist the urge.

"Send me the video," Bai Lu said. She had to learn the dance tonight to live up to her boyfriend's expectations.

"Ah."

Zhang Wen sent the instructional video to Bai Lu, and then looked for his next target.

The second female lead, Du Wenjuan, is his person, but unfortunately, she is not as well-known as the Future Girls group. The third female lead, Zhou Ziqi, is quite good. Although she is not as famous as Bai Lu, she is an actress who has been in the industry for eight or nine years and has a certain degree of fame.

Thinking of this, Zhang Wen immediately went over and greeted the other person.

"Ziqi, are you reading the script?"

"Yes, there are two very important scenes this afternoon, and I need to prepare well so as not to hold everyone back," Zhou Ziqi said after hearing this, looking at the screenwriter Zhang and waiting for him to continue.

"Sister Ziqi, I heard you studied folk dance and are really good at it? Is that true?" Zhang Wen looked very interested.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziyi immediately showed a hint of pride on her face, but said modestly, "It's alright, I've only been practicing for eleven years."

"Eleven years? No wonder Sister Ziqi has such a unique temperament. I noticed it when she was casting with Director Han." Zhang Wen said, using the casting process to bring them closer.

Zhou Ziyi smiled, realizing the other person was flattering her, but she felt good about it. Besides, what the other person said was true; she did have a unique dancer's aura, which was one of the reasons why many fans liked her.

"Teacher Zhang, is something the matter? We're not strangers, just say what's on your mind." Zhou Ziyi got straight to the point.

Although the two haven't known each other for long, they've spent so much time in the same production crew that they've developed some friendship. Besides, the other person is not only the screenwriter of the show but also an investor, so they might be able to collaborate in the future.
“Sister Ziyi is so straightforward, then I’ll get straight to the point.” Zhang Wen said, showing a dance video on his phone. “I’d like to ask you to dance this dance and then record a video to post on Douyin. As you know, I’m in charge of this Future Girls group. It’s not easy for newcomers, and we need a lot of support from seniors like you.”

Zhou Ziyi was stunned for a moment. She had thought the other party was going to cut her scenes after hearing so many nice things from him. It turned out that he just wanted to ask her to dance.

“No problem,” Zhou Ziyi readily agreed.

"It would be best to post this around noon tomorrow, because I'll be buying some related trending topics," Zhang Wen said.

“This dance isn’t difficult; I’ll record it at home tonight,” Zhou Ziyi said.

She's naturally willing to do things that can bring her exposure and generate traffic for others.

"Thank you, Sister Ziyi. I look forward to your performance."

Zhang Wen was delighted; another celebrity had joined the party.

However, Bai Lu and Zhou Ziyi alone are far from enough; we need to find more celebrities.

The more celebrities there are, the higher the popularity, and the more people will follow suit.

There are only two actresses on set who are presentable; any more than that would have to be found in my phone contacts.

Zhang Wen opened WeChat and entered group messaging mode.

His requirements are not high; he just wants five or six more celebrities to join.

Of course, celebrities alone are not enough; you also need to find some shills to make the bandwagon effect really take off.

As for where to find shills...

It's very simple. The training department has more than 100 female trainees, and Xingxiang Art Examination Training Center also has more than 200 art exam candidates studying dance.

As long as he gives the order, more than two hundred related dance videos will appear, and wouldn't that generate buzz?
……

(End of this chapter)