Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 311 The Devil's Golden Globe Nominations Announced
As the year draws to a close, the domestic New Year's film season is already fiercely competitive, with film companies launching massive promotional campaigns. Meanwhile, across the ocean in Hollywood, the competition is equally intense, with major film companies pulling out all the stops to promote their films during the Oscar season.

In his office in the China Film Group building, Han Sanping leaned back in his chair, his eyes fixed intently on his secretary as she walked in carrying a stack of documents.

"How's the investigation going? What's the status of Director Wu's 'Black Peony'?"

The secretary opened the documents in her hand and reported word by word: "Paramount designed nearly fifteen different award season posters for 'Black Peony,' with diverse styles. I heard the results were very good, and the film received excellent media reviews."

"Ok!"

Han Sanping was slightly pleased, and his brows relaxed.

Sure enough, at this point, collaborating with major Hollywood studios would offer a greater chance of success.

"By the way, what about 'Lust, Caution'?"

"Focus Pictures has redesigned nearly ten posters and advertisements in North America, with Tang Wei's image appearing in most of them. Moreover, I heard that Focus Pictures is mainly promoting 'Atonement' this year, not Li's 'Lust, Caution'."

Li An, who was in Chicago at the time, clearly felt the pressure as well.

It's worth noting that last year, "Brokeback Mountain" had over ten magazine ads during the awards season alone, and even the walls near the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences headquarters were plastered with them, making it virtually ubiquitous.

But this time, "Lust, Caution" is obviously much worse.

“Come with me to the Chicago Film Critics Association awards,” Li An casually said to Tang Wei, who was also involved in the promotion.

Tang Wei was stunned for a moment, then a look of excitement appeared in his eyes.

These days, as she travels with Li An to promote the film in North America, she can't help but feel a growing ambition to win the Golden Globes and Oscars. After all, wasn't the purpose of acting in Li An's movie to achieve this moment?

"Hey, Sisi, why don't you need to go to North America for promotion? I think Tang Wei is practically following Li An around all the time." Shu Chang looked at Liu Yifei's leisurely appearance and couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.

These days, Tom Cruise is riding high, and with "Lust, Caution" receiving some nominations and awards in some early North American theaters, it's been frequently featured in Hollywood media reports.

"My junior colleague said it's not worth the trouble. Paramount will handle the minor outposts, and going there wouldn't be of much use. Paramount has already done its publicity work; now we just need to wait for the Golden Globe Awards."

Liu Yifei shrugged. Although she wanted to visit Wu Chen on set in Los Angeles, it was best not to disturb him.

Filming for "Black Swan" is already in its later stages and will wrap up soon.

"Okay. By the way, come with me to the premiere at the end of the month."

"Crazy racing?"

"Ah."

The battle for the Lunar New Year film season has begun with the premiere of "The Warlords." The directors of the three films are all formidable, at least from the outside perspective.

Ning Hao was also invited to attend the premiere of "The Warlords".

Andy Lau, Jet Li, Takeshi Kaneshiro
Seeing a bunch of big-name movie stars in attendance, Ning Hao thought of his film "Racing" and what Xing Aina had said, "Damn, it really does have a bit of a distorted and flawed feel to it."

"What's wrong?" Han Sanping, sitting next to him, asked, puzzled.

"Chairman Han, it's nothing."

Ning Hao smiled and continued to look at the screen.

"What did you think of the movie?" Han Sanping asked Ning Hao for his opinion after the screening.

Chen Kexin, Li Lianjie, and the others also looked over.

"The quality is quite high!"

Ning Hao recalled the movie's plot and thought it was indeed quite good, but when he talked to Wu Chen on the phone, he couldn't help but bring up other things.

"To be honest, the plot of 'The Warlords' is really good, but I don't understand how they spent 100 million yuan on those shabby costumes and props."

There are many things I don't understand.

"I have a feeling that Mr. Han was tricked, but the box office shouldn't be too bad, it should be alright. I'm also worried about my own movie at the end of the month."

Ning Hao has a pretty good eye for commercial films. "The Warlords" grossed 1000 million yuan nationwide in just 6 hours on its opening day, which is commendable.

Although it's uncertain whether it will ultimately be profitable, the pressure is now on Huayi Brothers' "Assembly".

At this time, the filming of "Black Swan" also entered its final sprint stage.

The winter night in Los Angeles was deep, and the chill outside the studio was growing stronger, but inside the studio, the lights were on, and a passionate yet tense atmosphere permeated the air.

All the sets, props, and lighting were being prepared intensively for the final few climactic scenes.

The earlier scenes in "Black Swan" weren't particularly difficult, but the scenes involving the stage were very challenging, and there was also a scene added by Wu Chenjia.

The stage area was set up to resemble the final performance segment of "Black Swan": a pitch-black backdrop adorned with snow-white feathers, and a pristine white wooden floor in the center of the stage, bathed in soft light.

The stage is decorated with handcrafted mirrors around its perimeter, mimicking the narrow corridors of a theater backstage, creating both a physical space and a labyrinth leading into the depths of one's heart.

This was a solo dance scene, and they'd already had three takes. "Lighting, follow her movements, give me more shadows," Wu Chen said in a deep voice, standing by the monitor and holding the storyboard.

Keira Knightley wore a black and white feathered ballet tutu and striking black swan makeup. She knelt on one knee, her hands folding like black wings, and slowly rose to her feet.

The music began, a variation from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, with slightly somber strings echoing in the studio.

"Cinematography, one continuous shot, follow her body, don't be afraid to get close!" Wu Chen whispered to the photographer.

The camera moved steadily forward, starting from Kayla's toes and moving upward along her dancing body, capturing the slight tremor on her face and the determination in her eyes.

Every breath, every turn, the camera follows closely, giving no room to breathe.

The camera pans across her trembling eyelashes and the beads of sweat sliding down her cheek.
This is the footage transmitted from the monitor.

Kayla spun, sank, and then rose again in the center of the stage.

It has to be said that Keira Knightley, who is 1.7 meters tall, is more stunning and breathtaking than Natalie Portman in the original version when she dances this scene. No camera angle is needed, it is all filmed on location. The only pity is that the high-difficulty dance scenes still have to be done by a stunt double.

"Cut! Good. Let's take a break, and we'll do another one later," Wu Chen called out, clapping his hands.

"call!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Keira Knightley was even slightly out of breath.

Wu Chen walked over and said, "Kayla, during your solo dance later, it would be even more captivating if your toes could make a slight 'tap-tap' sound as they lightly tap on the wooden floor. The sound will be picked up, making it even more perfect."

“Understood.” Keira Knightley nodded, then joked, “Wu, I feel like you're a different person when you're filming these difficult scenes, like…”

"like what?"

"Like a devil"

Upon hearing this, Wu Chen couldn't help but smile. "You'll thank me when the movie comes out."

"Is Crystal treated the same way?" Keira Knightley pressed.

"No, I'm much gentler."

Wu Chen's words drew laughter from everyone, with Keira Knightley slapping her forehead, "Oh, no wonder she didn't mention these things when she told me."

Just two days after Wu Chen entered the final stage of "Black Swan", the Golden Globe Awards, which is considered the ultimate indicator of the Oscars, announced the nominees for the 65th Golden Globe Awards at 22 pm Beijing time.

Wu Chen and Li An's works have now come into direct competition.

In the "Best Foreign Language Film" category, both "Black Peony" and "Lust, Caution" were shortlisted for the top five, becoming the most anticipated Chinese-language films at this year's Golden Globe Awards.

However, what is even more remarkable is that "Black Peony" not only successfully entered the Best Foreign Language Film category, but also received nominations for Best Actress in a Drama and Best Director, while "Lust, Caution" was eliminated in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

In that instant, this news almost dominated the headlines of domestic media:

Wu Chen's "Black Peony" receives three nominations, crushing "Lust, Caution," and is once again vying for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director!

[Liu Yifei nominated for Best Actress at the Golden Globe Awards; "Black Peony" becomes the biggest winner among Chinese-language films!]

[Black Peony VS Lust, Caution: Wu Chen and Li An's Golden Globe Showdown, Wu Chen Takes the Lead in Award Nominations!]

Various portal websites, entertainment weekly magazines, and film critic columns have begun analyzing the award trends of the two films, and the discussions are in full swing.

Meanwhile, the attitude of the Taiwanese media was quite different, with their headlines mostly featuring:

"Lust, Caution" is poised to create another Golden Globe Award miracle, with Li An potentially emerging as the biggest winner!

"Lust, Caution still has a higher chance of winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film than Black Peony!"

"The fact that Tang Wei was not nominated for Best Actress at the Golden Globe Awards and did not win the Best Actress award at the Golden Horse Awards was foreshadowed!"

"."

"Damn, the Taiwanese media are shameless! It's obvious they didn't want to give the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress to a mainland filmmaker, and they still have the nerve to say that."

"If you didn't win, you didn't win. Is it really that big of a deal? Poor Tang Wei, he took off his clothes and didn't win any big prizes, he just gained some fame."

The petty attitude of the Taiwanese side has made many netizens very unhappy, since, at least for now, the outcome is still quite clear.

The domestic actresses fell silent upon seeing the news, then took a deep breath.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Zhou Xun, who had just finished filming her evening scenes for "The Equation of Love and Death," couldn't help but exclaim in amazement upon hearing the news.

"Sister Xun, who's the best?" Wang Baoqiang, Deng Chao, and Zhang Hanyu followed from behind and asked.

"Director Wu, who else?"

(End of this chapter)