I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 303 He saved the movie

In the screening room.

The girls stared blankly at the screen.

On the screen.

When the male protagonist Edward returns from a date with the human female protagonist and rushes into the castle to find it in complete disarray, the camera gives him a close-up of a heart-wrenching roar.

As a rising star in Hollywood, Leon Kraus is indeed exceptionally handsome. In many romantic films, his signature melancholic eyes and heartfelt performances have always accurately struck the audience's tear ducts, making them cry buckets.

However, at this moment, perhaps because the contrast in acting before and after was too stark...

One moment he's all lovey-dovey with the female lead in the rain, the next he's suddenly transformed into a grief-stricken guardian of his family...

This abrupt emotional shift prevented the audience from getting into the story.

Even more fatally, when the camera panned across the horrific scene of the wounded vampires scattered on the ground, the audience suddenly realized that the culprit behind all of this was the defensive gap caused by Edward's indulgence in his romantic relationships.

In close-up shots, Edward's enraged fangs and bloodshot pupils should have been intimidating, but when combined with the Eastern exorcist's calm deflection, the scene presents an absurd sense of imbalance...

The former punched and kicked like a wild beast out of control, each blow accompanied by a hysterical roar;
Despite being covered in wounds and bleeding from his bandages, the latter maintained a precise defensive stance and even managed to adjust his breathing rhythm during the gaps in his parries.

This contrast turned what should have been a thrilling battle scene into a one-sided performance of venting anger.

As Edward grabbed the exorcist by the neck and slammed him against the stained glass window, shards of glass rained down.

Through the interplay of light and shadow, the audience can clearly see that the exorcist's left eye bandage is soaked with blood, but a relieved smile appears on his lips, as if he is mocking something.

This subtle expression instantly awakened everyone: shouldn't Edward himself, who knew the danger yet insisted on falling in love with a human, be the one truly responsible for this tragedy?

……

Just as Edward was about to deliver the fatal blow to the Eastern exorcist on screen, the long-dormant army of wandering vampires suddenly emerged in full force.

Amidst violent camera shake, the horde of bloodthirsty monsters surged towards the Edward family like a tidal wave, their sharp fangs gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

The once magnificent castle was instantly transformed into a bloody battlefield. The vampires of the Edward family were forced into retreat by the sneak attack. The shattered glass shards from the falling crystal chandelier reflected the torn figures of their clansmen.

Edward, the male protagonist, erupts in desperation. As he roars and enters his complete form, the screen suddenly lights up with a blinding red light.

Muscles bulge and burst through the dress, bat wings spread out and cover half the hall—this transformation scene is stunning and exhilarating. However, the fight scenes are more like a few wild beasts tearing each other apart; you bar your teeth and roar, he roars…

Even more lethal was Leon Kraus's exaggerated performance; his close-up of his bulging veins on his face, coupled with his roar of "For Bale! For the family!", made him look like a lion out of control in a circus.

It completely lacks that exhilarating feeling of protecting love and family.

The mysterious Eastern exorcist had already quietly disappeared into the shadows when the battle began.

When his back, stained with blood and bandages, turned and walked away, a sigh of regret rippled through the audience.

When this villain, who should have been hated, left, the screen suddenly lost its most captivating brilliance.

Then, the overall visuals of the film began to become indescribable. In fact, the sense of disjointedness reached its peak when the camera switched back to the main love story.

The severely injured Edward lay dying in the heroine's arms, but the scene, which should have been tragic, became comical due to the male lead's twitching eyes.

The werewolf leader who came to negotiate the terms turned what should have been a serious negotiation of "exchanging marriage for protection" into the greasy tone of a street thug collecting protection money.

In close-up shots, his gesture of wiping his hair and his winking expressions completely dispelled the tension of the love triangle in the original work.

They want the female protagonist to leave the vampire family and marry one of their young men...

The most disastrous thing was how the female lead responded...

Faced with the struggle between two men, her signature furrowed brows constantly oscillated between "constipation-like entanglement" and "affected sudden realization." When she uttered the line, "What do you take me for?", her trembling voice sounded more like a middle-aged woman haggling in a Chinese market than an insulted young girl.

..............................

When the story reached this point, Elena felt a strong sense of disappointment.

She finally understood why this movie had given her such a strong sense of disconnect!
The problem lies in the stark contrast in acting skills.

The performance of that mysterious Eastern exorcist was incredibly lifelike. Every subtle change in expression and every physical movement accurately conveyed the character's pain and obsession, making the audience feel sorry for him.

In contrast, the other main characters are portrayed differently: the male lead always has a blank expression, the female lead is gloomy and depressed as if she's on her period 365 days a year, and the second male lead, while slightly better in acting, falls into the cliché of betraying his family for love, as if they've all lost their intelligence...

Without the brilliant performance of the character of the Eastern Exorcist, if he had adopted the same exaggerated acting style as other characters—staring, roaring, and feigning profundity…

So perhaps this movie can still barely maintain a consistent tone.

But it is precisely this stark contrast in acting that exposes the flaws of the entire film, causing the plot to completely collapse.

"He shouldn't have acted in this movie. At the very least, the movie doesn't do justice to his acting skills. He should have played the lead role!"

Elena watched the scene unfold on the screen and couldn't help but mutter to herself!
In fact, it wasn't just Elena who felt this way; other viewers, especially female viewers, shared the same feeling...

It's supposed to be a romance movie...

but……

Suddenly, it made me lose all sense of anticipation!
……

In front of the screening room.

Director Catherine looked around, her face gradually turning pale.

In fact, when the plot reached this point, she already had a general idea of ​​what was going on based on the audience's reactions.

At that moment, a strong sense of regret welled up inside her.

She suddenly realized that if she had insisted on casting Zhou Yang as the second male lead instead of the character of the Eastern Exorcist, and given him more interaction and romantic scenes with the female lead, the ending might have been completely different.

Or, what if the love triangle were expanded into a love quadrangle, with the mysterious Eastern exorcist and the female lead developing a romantic relationship? Would that make the movie even more outstanding?

But the reality is, there's no going back in life.

Catherine could only watch helplessly as the stark contrast in acting on screen exposed the film's flaws.

The more brilliant the performance of the Eastern exorcist, the more it highlighted the mediocrity of the other main characters.

The male lead's expressionless face, the female lead's gloomy and sullen demeanor, and the second male lead's clichéd performance all appear particularly pale and powerless in comparison to Zhou Yang's superb acting skills.

At this moment, Catherine finally realized that she had made a fatal mistake—she had underestimated the charm of this Chinese actor's acting skills and overestimated the acting skills of the other leading actors.

This stark contrast not only caused the plot to completely fall apart, but also completely shifted the audience's emotions towards the character who should have been the villain.

When the image of the Eastern exorcist turning away freezes on the screen, the sighs from the audience are the most merciless judgment on this film.

In fact, she had already realized this problem during the editing process after the film was completed.

However, what's done is done, and there's no way to undo it!
A movie that cost 30 million US dollars to make can't possibly be remade, right?

……

Catherine sighed softly and turned her gaze back to the screen.

The plot has now reached its most intense climax...

This is the plot she's been most looking forward to!
The scene shifts to the edge of a desolate desert, where a werewolf clan and a vampire clan form a temporary alliance, preparing to join forces to wipe out a wandering vampire army.

The severely wounded Eastern exorcist, knowing his days were numbered, still forced himself to mount his warhorse and quietly followed the enemy to the outskirts of the battlefield, preparing to strike at the crucial moment to annihilate the monsters...

However, the tide of battle suddenly turned...

During their journey, the werewolf alliance suddenly broke its covenant (except for the second male lead) and secretly made a dirty deal with a wandering vampire.

When the Edwardian family ventured deep into enemy territory, their former allies suddenly turned against them, forming an encirclement with the enemy.

Caught off guard, the Edward family was suddenly plunged into a desperate situation, suffering the cruelest betrayal.
In this scene, Catherine wanted to highlight the male protagonist's cruelty in this battle and the female protagonist's unwavering loyalty...

She used a lot of special effects and technical design!

In the footage, the sandstorm is torn to shreds by sharp claws, and Edward's bat wings are broken and twisted at an angle under the onslaught.

The three-headed vampire pinned him to the scorching sand, the blood droplets splattering as his fangs pierced his shoulder blades were particularly glaring in the moonlight...

His struggling neck, veins bulging, was pinned down by an enemy's knee. The camera panned down, showing his bloodied face sinking into the sand, his pupils reflecting the images of his people being torn apart by werewolves...

........................

This scene was originally supposed to be the most tear-jerking climax of the entire movie...

When the male protagonist is in dire straits, the female protagonist rushes to the battlefield to save him, risking her own life, and vows to live and die with him!
however……

The performance, which was supposed to convey a sense of despair on the verge of death, was instead distracting due to the male lead's almost hysterical, roaring acting.

Ultimately, while the slow-motion editing effectively heightened the emotional impact... the scene where the female lead rushes into the battlefield to fight and die alongside her lover...

The emotions that had been painstakingly built up through editing and sound effects were instantly shattered.

The female lead's outstretched arms resembled a puppet whose pause button had been suddenly pressed; her wide-open eyes showed no resolute determination, only a deliberate air of facing the camera.

then!

At the most crucial moment!
They gazed at each other with deep affection.

Yes!

It's basically you glare at me, I glare at you...

The close-up shot of their eyes meeting revealed only an empty gaze...

This should have been the most touching moment of staying together on the brink of life and death, but now it felt like two puppets mechanically performing a play.

Suddenly, the male protagonist unleashes the power of "love" in a roar, using his battered body to shield his lover from a fatal blow.

When a new wave of danger strikes, the female protagonist trembles as she opens her arms, using her frail body to create a final barrier for the male protagonist.
The slow motion gave her a close-up—

She finally stopped being expressionless. Her entire face was distorted and deformed from the excessive force, her eyeballs were almost bulging out of their sockets, the veins in her neck were bulging, and her hoarse roar turned her affectionate lines into hysterical shouts.

With that exaggerated body language and ferocious expression, she looked like a madwoman throwing a tantrum in the street. Where was there any trace of the tragic heroism of vowing to die for each other?

……

Actually, in many movies, the male and female leads act in this way.

Elena has also seen it.

I didn't feel anything was wrong; on the contrary, I was completely absorbed in Leon Kraus's stunning good looks and thoroughly enjoying myself...

But at this moment...

As the glow of her good looks faded and she regained her senses, Elena felt as if she had swallowed a fly.

Especially when staring at the close-up of the male and female leads' big nostrils on the screen...

It was incredibly distracting!
How can their nostrils be so big?

The more I think about it, the less I can bear to look at it!
The key point is that this close-up lasted for nearly several tens of seconds!
Yes, it's a few tens of seconds!

It was also accompanied by a close-up of a poignant and beautiful love melody!
Just when Elena was starting to feel the pressure...

The camera finally switched!
The perspective shifts to that of a mysterious Eastern exorcist, hidden away in a corner where no one pays attention.

The camera gave a close-up of the mysterious Eastern exorcist.

Under the moonlight, the exorcist's trembling fingers gently caressed the yellowed photograph.

Then, I glanced into the distance and saw those two figures who were ready to die!

In the video, he suddenly coughs violently, and blood stains the mandarin duck pattern on the bride's wedding dress in the photo...

When Elena saw the exorcist cough up blood, her heart trembled slightly!

Even through the screen, you could feel his faint, persistent breathing.

The subtle trembling of the bandages as Zhou Yang, playing the exorcist, coughs up blood creates a stark contrast with the exaggerated roars of the male and female leads in close-ups.

His restrained performance, his bloodied fingertips caressing the photograph, was like a poignant pantomime…

There was no sound, but one could feel a "romantic" sense of sorrow that welled up in one's heart without realizing it.

The male and female leads' tearful cries, however, resembled a circus clown's farce, creating an exceptionally noisy atmosphere every time the camera switched to that scene...

It's the same movie, but the sense of disconnect between the Eastern Exorcist and the male and female leads is getting stronger and stronger!
This scene resembles a refined art form, while that one is more like a disastrous, over-the-top acting performance...

at this moment!
Leon Krauss's perfect image shattered instantly!

The fragments overlapped and reassembled, eventually forming the figure of that melancholic and affectionate Eastern exorcist...

She stared at the screen.

"So...you guys are like that too...maybe I was wrong!"

On the screen, blood-stained bandages fluttered in the wind.

She saw countless talismans pour out like snowflakes the moment he staggered to his feet.

His withered fingers quickly formed hand seals, leaving patches of blood-red marks on the ground!

As he completed the final hand seal, his face grew paler and paler, yet his whole body trembled as he struggled to press the photograph tightly against his chest, letting the talismanic fire surge up his neck along the bandages.

"go!"

Amidst hoarse roars, burning runes formed a massive barrier.

Amidst the flames, his figure blurred into a phantom as he hurtled into the distance, sending the lovers a hundred meters away. The recoil, however, shattered his ribs.

In slow motion, his backward fall towards the vampire's fangs gradually overlaps with the bride's falling posture in the photo.

"Pfft!"

As the bone spur pierced his chest, his blood-stained fingers gently caressed the void, as if lifting a non-existent red veil.

"So this is what you've been protecting..."

On the smoke-filled battlefield, the howls of vampires and the roars of werewolves intertwined to create a symphony of death.

The exorcist leaned against a half-broken wall, the barrel of his revolver burning hot and turning dark red.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, and tremblingly pulled out half a crumpled pack of Anjiang cigarettes from the blood-stained bandages. The pattern on the cigarette box was already soaked red with blood.

As the shrill scream of claws tearing through the air drew near, he suddenly laughed.

"laugh--"

The moment the flint lighter ignites, the embers of the talisman suddenly burst into a wall of ghostly blue flames.

His profile, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, was brought close to the flame, frozen in slow motion amidst the swirling claw marks.

The sparks from the burning tobacco, like falling meteors, illuminated the relieved curve of his cracked lips.

The moment you inhale that first puff of smoke into your lungs, time seems to stand still.

Every frame on the screen is burning through budget!
Under the lens, the burning tobacco appears to be squeezed tightly by an invisible hand, the sparks suddenly shrinking to the size of a pinhead, and the tobacco paper curling and turning black under the high temperature.

When the vampire's bone spike was only three inches from his throat, the trembling of his Adam's apple as he swallowed the smoke was clearly audible.

That wasn't fear, it was satisfaction!

"call--"

He exhaled the smoke very slowly.

The white mist first seeped out in wisps from between the lips, then suddenly burst out, forming a circle that gradually dissipated into the world.

The sound of cigarette ash falling into the pool of blood was amplified tenfold.

When the cigarette burned down to the filter, he suddenly used his bloodied hand to crush the sparks.

Amidst the scorching smell of burning flesh, the last wisp of smoke transformed into a phoenix spreading its wings, carrying all the unexploded talismans as it charged towards the enemy ranks.

Immediately afterwards...

"boom!"

In the earth-shattering explosion, his figure gradually became transparent in the flames, and finally turned into dust.

………………

When the exorcist's figure on the screen turned to ashes in the flames, the entire screening room fell into a brief, deathly silence.

The image of that mysterious Eastern exorcist lighting a cigarette in a desperate situation still lingers in the minds of all viewers...

This character, who was supposed to be the villain, made everyone's hearts tremble with his broken yet holy performance.

Just at this time……

A suppressed sob suddenly came from the back row of the screening room.

Elena stared intently at the ashes scattering on the screen, a feeling of indescribable despair and reluctance welling up inside her...

"It's not fair..."

She heard the girl next to her making a tearful accusation, and when she turned around, she met the girl's red-rimmed eyes—this girl, wearing a Leon Kraus support bracelet, was crumpling up a poster with a vampire image on it, her voice a little hoarse…

Along with her voice, more faint sobs rose from all directions.

Some people covered their mouths and trembled, some buried their faces in their boyfriends' shoulders, and an Asian girl suddenly stood up and shouted, "He should have lived!" which attracted the attention of security guards who rushed over.

"That photo! God, He clearly kept the photo close to his heart! Why did he do this!"

"Why do good people have to die! Those damned vampires should be in hell!"

"The way he smokes... God, I can't stand it..."

"..."

Before the movie started...

These girls are all here to support Leon Kraus.

but now……

A brief commotion arose, and in the middle, some American boys asked if the cigarettes really tasted that good, seemingly wanting to come in and take a puff themselves...

They stared at the screen, that puff of smoke echoing in their minds...

A strange sense of longing welled up inside me.

true!
Is it really that good to smoke?

The movie was still playing, but it was already in its second half.

As the plot progresses to the point where the male protagonist recovers from his injuries and seeks revenge, the screen begins to feature the clichéd scenario of the female protagonist taking meticulous care of him and ultimately defeating the enemy.

When the male and female protagonists kissed under the moonlight, what should have been a sentimental ending left the audience feeling uninspired...

Even before the lights were turned on, some people had already started leaving.

It's as if with the passing of that Eastern exorcist, the most captivating soul of this film also vanished.

........................

[Flint Lighter] Company.

Business Department.

One of the staff members quietly answered a phone call.

He was somewhat bewildered after receiving the call.

"What did you say? Someone in the US wants to buy a large quantity of our lighters?"

(End of this chapter)