2001 Media Godfather

Chapter 105 Film Examination
Old Lu is getting more and more unserious. What is he doing at such an important occasion?

Ma Liangchen felt he couldn't possibly handle everything. If it weren't for Chu An, he would have loved to kick Lu Mingze out!

……

The screening was held in a small screening room at the Central Academy of Drama. Only the first two episodes were shown, and the post-production dubbing and background music were not yet completed, so it was essentially a half-finished product.

However, since everyone present was a professional, these embellishments were clearly not very important.

Ma Liangchen wasn't focused on watching the film. He was rather simple-minded and always believed that using a patriotic theme to compete for the summer movie season was not a wise choice and would have a negative impact on Chu An's development.

Besides, Chu An has already spoken of the benefits of "Love, Death & Robots" to the point of being obvious, so Lao Ma can't just sit idly by.

Therefore, his purpose in sitting here was to have more contact with Zhang Zhi and Sun Jianyi, and try to persuade them to postpone the event.

However, the group of people from CCTV had a different perspective than Lao Ma had worried.

Don't forget, Chu An did the project overview for "Honor" at the State Administration of Radio and Television.

Before CCTV purchased the show, they had read the first draft of the script and knew that "Glory" was not a traditional patriotic drama.

Otherwise, they would not have agreed to Chu An's publicity strategy and allowed public opinion to fester.

The problem is that CCTV is unsure of itself precisely because it is familiar with the script.

The script, which blends urban idol dramas with a mainstream theme, does feel novel and innovative when reading it.

The problem is, what will the photos look like?!

Will we end up with a dog instead of a tiger?

Will this make the two different styles seem out of place?

To be honest, everyone, including Sun Jianyi, was quite nervous at that moment.

The setbacks of the two major dramas produced at the beginning of the year have led the public to question the overall quality of CCTV dramas.

Furthermore, the incompetent scoundrel Liang Guoliang's meddling caused a backlash from the audience towards patriotic themes, which distorted the original meaning of "Glory".

It makes it seem like CCTV is making a bet.

Success would reverse the decline and preserve CCTV's prestigious reputation.

If we lose, the consequences will be severe!

If things go wrong, Zhang Zhi, Sun Jianyi, and other leaders who spearheaded the "Honor of Kings" project will all have to bear the responsibility.

Actually, Sun Jianyi didn't even need Ma Liangchen to persuade her; she came today simply to see what level "Glory" really was.

Even if it's not bad, Sun Jianyi wouldn't want to take the risk if it were just mediocre or average. He would either stop the project or postpone its broadcast.

In such a delicate atmosphere, only Chu An and Lu Mingze, who were the main creators, were relatively relaxed.

The atmosphere in the small screening room was extremely tense until the film started, which puzzled Chu An. He joked, "What's wrong? Don't you have any confidence in us?"

Ma Liangchen glared at him. "I know you're never shy, so stop talking and get started!"

Sun Jianyi said nothing, sitting upright with a murderous glint in her eyes.

There was no other way; Old Master Sun had to lay the groundwork beforehand. If he was truly dissatisfied and decided to strike decisively, he wanted to prepare them mentally.

Gee
Chu An clicked his tongue in surprise, deciding not to engage in pointless socializing, and gestured for Dong Wende to play the recording.

This is where the master film is stored. The security level is no worse than that of bank security escorts, and even stricter than that of banks.

Not only did they hire a professional security company, but they also ensured that their own people were always present throughout the entire process, from transportation to playback.

You have to understand, that small tape represents the hard work of hundreds of people and tens of millions of dollars!
Any mistake could have unbearable consequences.

Dong Wende started playing the film.

There's no opening credits, no subtitles; it jumps straight into the main feature.

From then on, the small screening room was completely silent except for the sound of the film.

Lu Mingze continued his style and strengths in "Honor of Kings", which is that he never showed off his skills.

All the shots, the actors' performances, and the lines were both simple and unadorned, yet perfectly appropriate.

The advantage of this is that the plot is coherent and fast-paced, and the structure is simple and clear.

The opening scene is a technical seminar held by the space agency. The background of the male protagonist, Yu Tu, is explained clearly in just a few simple shots, less than a minute long.

Following this, a conversation between Yu Tu and Guan Zai outside the venue left a suspenseful question: Yu Tu has something on his mind and may be facing difficulties.

Old Ma frowned again, thinking to himself, "Old Lu, are you confused?!"

Although he appreciated Lu Mingze's concise camerawork, he felt that the main theme was inherently unappealing; you had to be flashy at the beginning! You had to show off! You had to be extravagant when the time was right!!

If Ma Liangchen were to direct this opening, he would definitely spend a lot of money on special effects. It would be either a rocket launch or a satellite encountering danger in space, leading to a technical discussion.

That's how you keep the audience interested, right?
The outlook for "Honor of Kings" is becoming less optimistic.

Turning to Sun Jianyi beside him, he added, "Hehe, Lao Lu's style is always slow to warm up. Xiao Chu's performance was pretty good, right?"

Sun Jianyi ignored him and kept her eyes glued to the screen.

Old Ma thought to himself, "That's it, half of it's gone!"

Just as he was racking his brains to come up with some nice words, the scene changed, and the background and suspense of Yu Tu were explained in the meeting.

The scene changed abruptly without any transition, and the change was quite abrupt.

Next comes the dazzling lights of the city, the lavish and extravagant layout, and the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the bustling city of Shanghai.

Every pixel exudes the city's extravagance. Against a backdrop that contrasts sharply with the beginning, Qiao Jingjing, played by Su Manqing, turns around in a stunning outfit.

In just a few shots, the heroine's identity and background are clearly explained.

Ma Liangchen was completely dumbfounded. What's going on? Is the female lead a female celebrity?
A question arose in my mind: how did an aerospace engineering student and a female celebrity get together?

Then, in the next shot, the director provided the answer.

Qiao Jingjing is embroiled in a scandal involving a high school classmate who was rejected by her. That classmate is none other than Yu Tu.

It's quite natural to link celebrity gossip with male STEM whizzes.

What surprised Lao Ma even more was that this was a story where the roles were reversed, with the woman pursuing the man.

Needless to say, the subsequent plot developments are excellent; Chu An's scripts are always trustworthy.

Qiao Jingjing is constantly in trouble. She endorsed a game, but it was revealed that her gaming skills were very poor, which triggered an endorsement crisis, and the game company did not renew her contract.

In an effort to salvage her endorsement deal, Qiao Jingjing diligently practices gaming and is unexpectedly drawn into a game by Yu Tu.

Then, Qiao Jingjing was both bad and tall.

He's bad at the game, but has high emotional intelligence, and his paths cross again with Yu Tu.

The first two episodes, each a little over an hour long, were tightly woven together, making even an older viewer like Ma Liangchen quite engrossed.

The key point is that not only is Lu Mingze's plot compact, but there are also too many novel elements in it.

For example, in games, the gameplay of Green Field New Game, the game rank displayed by subtitles and narration effects, etc.

For example, the everyday life of celebrities, Qiao Jingjing's down-to-earth private life, and her high emotional intelligence in dealing with ordinary people are all highlights.

Of course, there was also a website that Ma Liangchen had never seen before.

Qiao Jingjing posts her daily life on it, and netizens use it to discuss trending topics.

In short, during the more than one-hour screening, everyone was as if they were nailed to their chairs, not moving an inch.

It wasn't until the film ended and the lights came on in the small screening room that everyone snapped back to reality, their expressions a mix of emotions.

Ma Liangchen was completely dumbfounded. This was the mainstream ideology?

Are you guys fucking lying to me?
This is clearly an urban idol drama! It's a contemporary fairy tale of "a big star falls in love with me," isn't it?
But you know what, after two episodes, I had only one feeling:
I haven't seen enough!!

My heart was pounding like a cat's claws. According to the normal plot, the next episode would definitely be the scene where Qiao Jing and Yu Tu meet in real life.

Old Ma couldn't accept not seeing it; he was almost ready to curse the "broken chapter dog."

At the same time, I still had a big question mark in my mind: Is this really the main theme?
Sun Jianyi and Zhang Zhi exchanged a glance, their hearts pounding with anxiety.
Okay, it's still up in the air!
Finally, Sun Jianyi, representing CCTV, gave her comments, her face still devoid of a smile: "The combination is not bad! The overall style is also something young people like."

He then asked, "Can this level of performance be maintained going forward?"

Lu Mingze stated, "Don't worry, leader, the best is yet to come!"

“Hmm!” Sun Jianyi nodded solemnly, then said, “I remember that the main theme of the original script became heavier and heavier as it went on, right?”

Chu An: "Yes! But we also took entertainment into consideration."

"Alright!" Old Sun finally nodded, but his brows still furrowed.

This left Chu An feeling uncertain, thinking to himself, "Is this level not good enough?!"
结果
Mr. Sun then asked, "How's the post-production dubbing and music preparation going?"

Chu An, "..."

The reply was, "It's already in progress, but the synthesis hasn't been done yet!"

Old Master Sun, "After synthesizing it, review it again!"

what! ?

This time, Chu An and Lu Mingze were both unsettled. Was it really necessary to be so strict?

It's important to understand that, generally speaking, even CCTV only needs to review the rough cut of the master tape. Dubbing and background music don't affect the main structure; they're just icing on the cake, and CCTV usually doesn't question them.

Why are you being so picky this time?!

However, before Sun Jianyi could finish speaking, the old man slowly stood up, led Zhang Zhi out, and left, saying, "The special effects are still not refined enough. Put some effort into them, don't just go through the motions!"

Chu An, "..."

Lu Mingze, "..."

If CCTV hadn't already paid, they would both have thought the old man was deliberately making things difficult for them.

For a domestic TV series, the special effects are already top-notch!
Watching the old man leave, Lu Mingze muttered under his breath, "What's wrong with him?"

Chu An shook his head, he didn't understand either.

In fact, even Zhang Zhi, the director of film purchasing, didn't understand what Sun Jianyi's attitude was.

After leaving the small screening room and getting into the car, I didn't dare to speak until we were heading back to the CCTV building, "Director Sun, are you not satisfied?"

"If you ask me, it wouldn't be a bad idea to postpone the broadcast."

Once in the car, Sun Jianyi revealed her true colors: "Slow down?! Not even a day! Once this show airs, let's see who dares to say CCTV is old-fashioned!"

Zhang Zhi, "..."

The old man could no longer suppress his smile, and his old eyes crinkled into crescent moons.

"This is exactly the kind of vibe young people like! This movie was definitely worth the price!"

Zhang Zhi was speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "You scared me! You didn't even give Lu Mingze and the others a good look. I thought you didn't like them!"

Sun Jianyi replied, "Of course I like it! It's so well done! But I can't give it a friendly look."

"We need to keep them on their toes so they won't dare to be perfunctory!"

From Sun Jianyi's perspective, although he may not appreciate this kind of youth-oriented subject matter at his age, as the station director, he still has a discerning eye.

Although "You Are My Glory" is not a blockbuster with high artistic merit, Mr. Sun has no doubt about its market potential.

To put it simply, as long as Chu An and Lu Mingze strive for excellence and pay attention to every detail, creating a landmark work will not be a problem.

"Ouch~~"

The old man sighed, "Liang Guoliang fired a good shot!! It saves us from having to self-promote."

Zhang Zhi's eyes lit up. "We could do a program about it, but instead of talking about our 'Glory,' let's discuss the innovation and development of mainstream themes in the new era!"

……

On the other side, Ma Liangchen was still in shock and hadn't quite come to his senses. In his view, Chu An and Lu Mingze hadn't just made a TV series, but had provided a new idea.

Not only can patriotic themes be filmed this way, but they can also be filmed in a very attractive and relatable way.

When he came to his senses, the first thing he did was to pull strings and force Lu Mingze to show him the complete script.

This really infuriated Lao Lu; it's not in accordance with the rules!

No matter how good our relationship is, you can't ask me for the script before the premiere. What if it gets leaked? Who's responsible then?
But there was nothing he could do. Ma Liangchen said, "I've put aside all my pride and run around for you guys. Look at your script, what happened?"

In the end, Old Ma got what he wanted.

Reading the script is no longer the same mindset I had when watching a film. Back then, I was drawn in by the plot, like an audience member, wanting to know what would happen next.

Now, he wants to systematically study how people combine two seemingly unrelated themes.

I've studied this for several days and gained a lot of insights and inspiration.

Then, I received an interview invitation from CCTV's "Film and Television Synchronous Sound" program.

We invite film and television educators from the Central Academy of Drama, well-known journalists, actors, and directors to participate in a panel discussion on how to innovate and develop mainstream themes in the new era.

Old Ma took a look.
He's such a shrewd person; this is a roundabout way of promoting "Glory"! It's also a counterattack and response to Liang Guoliang's interview.

So you think we'd still tolerate you?

We have to start spraying, and we have to go all out!

What should have been a good episode was turned into a denunciation meeting between Liang Guoliang and Tiandu Culture by Ma Liangchen.

Even on the show, Ma Liangchen bluntly stated that Tiandu Culture and Liang Guoliang were nothing but profit-driven unscrupulous businessmen who cared nothing about film and television development!
The attacks on "Glory" and "Blazing Human" are nothing more than publicity for the new drama, and an extremely despicable tactic at that. Disparaging competitors is shameful.

This has really exposed the true nature of Liang Guoliang and Tiandu Culture.

Once the program aired, Chen Ru wasn't flustered at all; instead, he was secretly delighted. "Look at this, killing two birds with one stone, isn't that half the battle won?"

……

.

(End of this chapter)