Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 390 Paparazzi Hidden Camera Incident
"You didn't hire that guy, did you?"

Liu Yifei was already used to being watched by people, but the boy in the front row who kept praising Gu Bei made her unable to resist coming over to tease him.

Gu Bei said with a smile, "He must be online often."

It's already quite an achievement for the average person to know the name "Oscar," and even fewer people know exactly what the Oscars are. Someone like this, who knows the key indicators of the Oscars like the back of their hand, is extremely rare.

However, China is a vast country, and there is no shortage of people who like any niche field.

The lights in the screening room went out while the two were chatting.

The iconic five-minute, one-shot opening of La La Land stunned the entire audience in the theater.

Musicals have never had a strong following in China. Whether they are imported or domestic films, there have never been any truly popular musicals.

But even if the audience doesn't understand musicals,
Hearing the bright and lively "Another Day of Sun,"

Seeing people of all races dancing freely on the screen,
In addition, the one-shot technique allows viewers to clearly feel the emotions Gu Bei conveys through the visual language, and to fully accept these emotions, which resonate with the subsequent plot.

Even the girl who recognized Liu Yifei earlier was so captivated by the opening of La La Land that she didn't have time to turn around and admire Liu Yifei's beauty.

When the chapter title 'Winter' appeared, everyone was able to catch their breath for a while.

"Gu Bei's use of imagery in the opening paragraph is absolutely brilliant. The highway under the scorching sun should be a symbol of freedom, but Gu Bei arranged for a torrent of steel cars to squeeze everyone together, which is a satire of how modernism has turned civilization into a cage!"

The boy in the front row said to his girlfriend with a hint of excitement.

After hearing this, Liu Yifei looked at Gu Bei with some curiosity: "Is that really true?"

Gu Bei: “…”

He finally understood how those writers felt when they saw the answers to reading comprehension questions.

I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!
After a pause,
Gu Bei explained helplessly, "It's half right. Traffic jams do have a sense of real-world constraints, but it's only for the sake of the song and dance segment where dreams break free from those constraints later on. There's not that much to satirize!"

Liu Yifei nodded; she also felt it was a bit far-fetched, going so far as to satirize modern civilization.

Upon hearing this, the boy in front...
It seems I've met another arthouse film enthusiast!

Upon closer reflection, the theory behind this person's journey from being bound by reality to breaking free from those constraints through dreams, and then back to reality, does indeed align more closely with the film's tone, creating a sense of effortless mastery.

Soon, the awkward first encounter between the male and female protagonists in the winter chapter came to an end, followed by an unexpected meeting in the spring chapter, and finally, in the summer chapter, the two began to get to know each other better.

The tap dance scene at Griffith Observatory, in particular, is another classic scene from La La Land.

"The filming techniques used for Gu Bei's scenes are truly impressive."

He used the same technique as Winter, Spring, and Summer before in 500 Days with Summer, and this tap dance segment is also a scene that appeared in The Artist.

But this time he used it better than in his previous films.
This dance scene became the intersection of all the explicit and implicit storylines in the entire film.

It's not just that after the male and female protagonists deeply understand each other's dreams, they shed their initial bad impressions and reached a transformative point from initial testing to a soulmate connection.
At the same time, it was also the conflict between dreams and reality that arose after their careers hit a low point, leading them to escape reality together and promise to pursue their dreams together.
A mutual redemption through love and dreams constructs this fleeting yet eternally beautiful dreamlike dance!

The boy in the front row once again used a long speech to analyze the significance of Gu Bei's filming of this scene.

Liu Yifei turned to look at Gu Bei again, as if asking him if what he said was true.
Gu Bei: “…”

What could he possibly say?
Can he say that he got distracted while listening to the other party's analysis and didn't quite grasp the other party's overall logic?
Finally, Gu Bei said helplessly, "How about... thanking him?"

"puff!"

Liu Yifei couldn't help laughing out loud.

Actually, she was pretty much the same; most of her attention was on the screen, and she didn't really hear what the other person was saying, but she felt that what the other person said made a lot of sense.

"Ugh!"

The boy in the front row sighed.

The one after that isn't very good either!

He only made a slight move, and the other party was already speechless. It can only be said that it is difficult to find a kindred spirit in this era, and not everyone can understand his thoughts!

The movie continued playing.

Sebastian and Mia's sweet romance evolves into a struggle between reality and dreams.

The moment both parties made their respective choices, it also meant that this relationship had entered a different direction.
Finally, in the last scene, five years later, Mia, with her husband, unexpectedly enters Sebastian's jazz club, and the final IF montage reveals another possibility.

In this montage,

Gu Bei practically embodies Hollywood—no, he should say, the most representative art form in human history.

It incorporates not only Broadway stage art, Hollywood cinematic art, and Chinese shadow puppetry, but also black-and-white style and handheld DV style, creating a dreamlike montage IF line.

Liu Yifei looked at the boy in the front row.

Even Gu Bei was curious about what kind of evaluation this boy would give to this montage.

"I really hope that last part is reality!" the girl said to her boyfriend with some emotion.

"No!"

The boy flatly rejected the girl's idea.

This time, he didn't say much, only a short sentence: "That period was a dream, and could only be a dream, while the present is reality!"

This one sentence made Gu Bei realize that he understood.

Although the boy used fancy words and sentences when analyzing the plot, it was, to some extent, a sign that the other person was perceptive and sensitive.

At least he truly understood La La Land.

It's not just a simple love story.
The realities and dreams behind the love story are the true core of this film.

The girl clearly didn't understand, but her attention had already shifted to Liu Yifei. She asked softly, "Qianqian, can we take a picture together?"

Liu Yifei nodded; she has always been quite easygoing with her fans.

Liu Yifei?
The boy turned his head, his pupils suddenly contracting.

He discovered that Gu Bei, whom he had been praising from beginning to end for more than two hours, was sitting in the back, smiling at him.

It suddenly made him feel like he was on the verge of death.

Fortunately, he only thought about how incompetent the person behind him wasn't, and didn't say it aloud.

If I had said it out loud, then seeing him in person now would have been truly terrifying!

He fulfilled his wish to take photos with his fans.

Gu Bei and Liu Yifei came out of the movie theater.

Liu Yifei was still in a cheerful, bouncy mood: "La La Land is my favorite of your movies. Every time I watch it, I have a new understanding. This time, there was an additional narration, and I heard a different perspective."

So...you mean you don't like my other movies?

Gu Bei launched into a soul-searching interrogation.

Liu Yifei was stunned on the spot.

No, what kind of question is this?

At that moment, she felt as helpless as a man.

"Kidding!"

Gu Bei waved his hand.

"I'm going to die!" Liu Yifei waved her fist at Gu Bei.
If they weren't in a public place, she would have pounced on Gu Beibang and punched him twice for asking such a strange question.

Just as this pleasant day is about to end,
Gu Bei saw the bodyguards walking towards them from a distance.

I sensed something was wrong.

"Are there paparazzi?"

Gu Bei raised an eyebrow after hearing the bodyguard's words.

Unexpectedly, even during the Lunar New Year, paparazzi were still following them in Kyoto.

Fortunately, Gu Bei was quite vigilant and paid the bodyguards extra to work overtime during the Chinese New Year, which avoided some trouble.

He asked, "Did you take a picture of anything?"

The bodyguard shook his head: "It's just the footage of you entering and leaving the residential area, Miss Liu Yifei entering the hotel parking lot, and you shopping together."

Gu Bei thought about it carefully. He had heard a lot, but basically none of them were particularly exciting.

Subsequently,

He looked at Liu Yifei, who seemed slightly worried, and said, "Let's go take a look."

They then arrived at the underground parking lot, where bodyguards subtly surrounded the two of them.

The two of them, one fat and one thin, the fat one taller and the thin one slightly shorter, were somewhat like a classic pairing from certain literary works.

"What do you want?"

Gu Bei looked at the tall, muscular, fat paparazzi.

The chubby paparazzo looked at the skinny paparazzo next to him: "Bro, what did he ask us for?"

Gu Bei was slightly startled upon hearing this.

Unexpectedly, the skinny paparazzi next to them was the real key figure between the two.
When he looked at the other person, he could clearly see the glint in the other person's eyes, so he smiled and waited for the skinny paparazzi's reply.

"Director Gu, we're just doing our job. Please let us leave. This is a society governed by law. You can't just destroy our property so easily, can you?"

The skinny paparazzi kept a very humble attitude.

However, his words also contained warnings to Gu Bei.

In a society governed by the rule of law, a big-name director like you wouldn't resort to violence, would you?
"Of course, that's no problem!"

Gu Bei smiled faintly.

The voice just fell,

The chubby paparazzi were the first to move.

We're getting ready to go out.

He hadn't taken two steps when he was blocked by the bodyguards.

Why are you in such a hurry?

Director Gu hasn't even finished speaking yet!

The skinny paparazzi jumped up and slapped the fat paparazzi on the back of the head, then looked at Gu Bei and asked, "Director Gu, is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

"Where do you belong?" Gu Bei asked.

"We don't work for a newspaper anymore, we only have our own website, and we also have our team's Weibo account," the skinny paparazzi said fluently.

Sole proprietorship?
Gu Bei was somewhat impressed by the other party.

However, only individuals who start their own businesses can push themselves to the limit, even during the Lunar New Year, continuing to follow and secretly film them.

If it were a newspaper or website, it would probably be several thousand yuan a month; it wouldn't be scraped together like this.

Gu Bei said directly, "Then let's make a deal. I'll give you an exclusive global news report, and you leave the memory card with the photos."

Compared to the future era of celebrities where everyone has a carefully crafted public persona,

Nowadays, most celebrities in the entertainment industry simply keep their relationships hidden, while some have even started dating and getting married quite early.

So the kind of thing where a celebrity could get a lot of money from a single news item is still very rare now, especially since the news they get today is mostly low-quality stuff.

The skinny paparazzi hesitated for a moment.

He has a little bit of cleverness, but not much.

So he cautiously asked, "What exclusive information does Director Gu plan to offer in exchange?"

"It'll definitely explode more explosively than what you have now!"

Gu Bei smiled and said, "Besides, you haven't taken any photos or videos yet. Even if I take the memory card you took, it doesn't mean you can't recount what happened today verbally."

Upon hearing this, the skinny paparazzi was immediately tempted.

If news reports were to provide concrete evidence of Gu Bei and Liu Yifei's relationship, such as kissing or leaving the room's windows open, he would refuse to change jobs no matter what.

But the most explosive content captured today is just Gu Bei helping Liu Yifei adjust her scarf, without even a hug. This kind of photo might not be as useful as Gu Bei's exclusive news.

He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Director Gu, I'm willing to switch!"

"Ok!"

Gu Bei nodded.

Then, he smiled and extended his hand, saying, "My exclusive news is that the male and female leads for Spider-Man have been cast. They are Andrew and Emma, ​​the male and female leads from La La Land. Emma will be playing Gwen this time."

Upon hearing this, the skinny paparazzi immediately removed the memory card and handed it to Gu Bei.

He definitely profited from this news!
After letting the two paparazzi go, Gu Bei exported all the photos from the memory card and looked at them with Liu Yifei. They found that there was nothing particularly exciting about them.

"This photo is great!"

Liu Yifei pointed to the scene of Gu Bei helping her adjust her scarf, "It has a great atmosphere, but if it's just these photos, then you're really missing out by giving out this exclusive scoop!"

"I'm not afraid of the impossible, but I'm just worried about the worst-case scenario!"

Gu Bei said lightly.

After a pause,

He held Liu Yifei on his lap: "Moreover... if the two of them report on our news, then the public's attention will be on the two of us. After all, paparazzi voting is also to satisfy their gossip mentality."

Once news about Andrew and Emma gets mixed in, the public will start to wonder if this is really a vote, or if it might be a setup to introduce information from our side.

Liu Yifei immediately understood: "In that case, since they don't have any photos yet, their credibility is even lower!"

"Correct!"

Gu Bei nodded. This was the method of information pollution.

You're so mean!

Liu Yifei wrinkled her nose.

However, Gu Bei did not expect that while his move could corrupt the public's mind, it would be ineffective on some people.

(End of this chapter)