This director lacks vision.

Chapter 19 He was still just a child

On the morning of March 28, Tian Yusheng returned to his room with a breakfast in his hand.

After graduating from the Central Academy of Drama, he and a few friends jointly opened a screenwriting studio called Sanctuary.

After several years of development, the studio is doing so-so, barely making ends meet.

After sitting down, Tian Yusheng turned on his computer, intending to read the news while eating breakfast.

As a screenwriter, Tian Yusheng excels at urban-themed stories.

He browses news websites and forums every day to gather material for his script.

"Brothers, I found a really funny web series on Sohu Video called Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils: The Great Hero Jiang Xiaoyu. The whole series feels like watching martial arts dramas on VHS tapes when I was a kid. It's full of parodies and is really fun!"

"I just went to see it, it's really hilarious. He's just a kid, it's killing me! The scariest creatures in the world are brats!"

"The female lead is so beautiful! Does anyone know anything about her?! I'm begging you, someone please tell me!!!"

"The director of this show is Jiang Yifeng. He previously produced a program about the Michael Jackson child molestation case, which was taken down."

"So it was him. I have no choice but to go and see!"

……

On Tianya Forum, Tian Yusheng saw this popular post.

Tian Yusheng also watched the Michael Jackson episode, and his analysis of the child molestation case was quite reasonable.

He clicked on the webpage link in the post, which redirected him to Sohu Video.

"The Family Parenting Secrets of the Great Hero Jiang Xiaoyu".

Upon seeing the title, Tian Xiaoyu felt nothing; he simply clicked play.

The video starts with a 30-second advertisement for the online game Tian Long Ba Bu.

Tian Yusheng was already used to this situation; nowadays, major video websites have all introduced intro ads.

After the commercial ended, a burst of upbeat music played.

Waaaaah...

Tian Yusheng immediately recognized it as Ironside, the background music from Kill Bill.

This piece of music is very catchy and immediately captures your attention.

Accompanied by background music, a silhouette of a person appears.

Subtitles appeared at the bottom of the screen.

Screenwriter and Director: Jiang Yifeng.

An aged voiceover appeared.

"Flying snow connects the sky, shooting white deer!"

The narration is rhythmic and powerful.

At the same time, the lights came on, and Dapeng appeared.

He was dressed in ancient costume, with a resolute expression on his face.

Although the eyebrows were drawn strangely, paired with catchy music and serious narration, it really gave off a bit of a chivalrous vibe.

But the narration takes a turn for the worse in the next sentence.

"Great hero, you love celebrating the Chinese New Year!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the foreground zoomed out to a background shot, revealing Dapeng in his entirety.

He had a chicken in his left hand and a duck in his right, looking rather rustic, completely lacking any heroic aura.

The story begins with a plot twist, which made Tian Yusheng chuckle.

The following plot involves a conversation between Jiang Yifeng's hidden master, the Sweeper Monk, and Jiang Xiaoyu, his disciple.

Although there are some jokes in it, in Tian Yusheng's opinion, the use of jokes is not very smooth and there are still some awkward parts.

Until his master began to teach Jiang Xiaoyu unparalleled martial arts.

"Whoa!~" "Ha!~" "Whoa!~" "Ha!~"

"Who brought you to my side? It was the crescent moon, the bright moon."

This segment combines the "ho-ha" from the opening theme song "The World Will Always Be Good to You" from the 83 version of The Legend of the Condor Heroes with the "ho-ha" from the Journey to the West interlude "The Girl from Tianzhu," along with Dapeng's animated dance, and introduces the premise that Jiang Xiaoyu dances whenever she hears a song, creating an explosive comedic effect.

Tian Yusheng couldn't help but burst out laughing.

In particular, the video skillfully captures this comedic moment, twisting and turning it to its fullest extent, making it hilarious.

The following plot involves Jiang Xiaoyu's wits and courage in dealing with the mischievous children after returning to her hometown for the Chinese New Year.

The article uses a satirical approach to mock the terrible behavior of unruly children and the parents' unbridled indulgence of them.

"He's just a child!" This phrase became the brat's shield and resonated with Tian Yusheng.

This reminded him of his experience going home for the Chinese New Year, where a naughty child in the seat behind him kicked the back of his seat repeatedly. He tried to correct the child's behavior but was criticized by his grandmother.

“He’s just a child. You’re a grown adult, why are you arguing with a child?”

Tian Yusheng believes that the phrase "He's just a child" captures a shared emotional memory and will definitely go viral online.

The 8-minute video was quickly watched, and Tian Yusheng found it very amusing, leaving him wanting more.

Although this web series has many shortcomings and its production is rough, its structure is complete.

It has both a humorous effect and a satire of the awkwardness and helplessness people feel when they encounter unruly children during their Chinese New Year trip home.

Jiang Yifeng's version of the martial arts hero Jiang Xiaoyu differs from the original.

There are areas that could be improved, such as better acting and a smoother plot and dialogue.

However, there are also shortcomings. The editing and soundtrack are still relatively immature, and the Shaw Brothers martial arts filter effect is slightly inferior.

Jiang Yifeng believes that the overall quality of the work is better than the original.

Tian Yusheng clicked on the comments section of the video and found that the video was uploaded at 7 pm yesterday.

Now, 14 hours later, the video has been viewed more than 300,000 times and has received more than 1,000 comments.

The popularity is rising rapidly.

Jiang Yifeng also commented in the comments section: "If you like this web series, please help to share and recommend it. Once the number of views exceeds one million, the next episode will be updated immediately!"

In 2009, video website advertising fees were still mainly based on the CPM model. Playback volume did not equal ad impressions, nor was it the primary indicator for advertising revenue generation.

Therefore, the viewership data on major video websites is not inflated or fabricated; it is still quite real.

In today's world, getting over a million views for a single episode is considered a very good achievement.

This was also Jiang Yifeng's first small goal.

Tian Yusheng wanted to watch the next episode quickly, so he forwarded the video link to a QQ group.

This is a work group; several screenwriters from the studio are in it.

Shi Chengbing replied very quickly.

"I watched this web series. It's quite funny, but the script structure isn't difficult. It's just a collection of short jokes pieced together."

Shi Chengbing then sent a news link in the group.

[Zhang Chaoyang personally spearheaded the launch of the Creator Partner Program on Sohu Video, initially signing 11 video bloggers.]

"Look at this news. Sohu has signed contracts with video bloggers and will introduce an advertising revenue sharing mechanism. Some video creators who were originally on Youku and Tudou have already switched to Sohu."

Everyone wants to make money.

Jiang Yifeng was also one of the first bloggers to sign a contract.

It's said that the first episode of "The Hero Jiang Xiaoyu" garnered over a million views, earning him tens of thousands in advertising fees, with more to come.

"These kinds of web series aren't difficult to make. Should we write a script and film one ourselves?"

Another colleague, Xiao Shunming, said, "Forget it, do you think videos go viral so easily?"

The hero Jiang Xiaoyu had Sohu help with promotion.

Look at the homepage titles of Sohu.com and the homepage recommendations of Sohu Video.

Without these, who would know about the great swordsman Jiang Xiaoyu?

I'd better stick to being a screenwriter; even though I don't earn much, at least I won't lose money.

"You're just a lazy bum, you have no dreams at all. How much can a screenwriter earn in a year? You can't even afford to support a girlfriend!"

"Even a salted fish is better than a fool who likes to lose money."

"I can't be bothered to argue with you, anyway I'll be making web series! This is an opportunity!"

Seeing Shi Chengbing and Xiao Shunming start arguing again, Tian Yusheng shook his head helplessly.

These two colleagues, one with dreams of becoming a director and the other rather lazy, didn't get along and often argued.

Tian Yusheng said, "The story of Jiang Xiaoyu, the hero, is about the Spring Festival. After reading it, I had an inspiration and decided to write a script about the Spring Festival travel rush."

Xiao Shunming replied instantly: "Spring Festival travel rush? Is this a road movie script? There's no market for this kind of subject matter. Zhang Yang's 'Return to One's Roots' was so well-made, and it even starred Zhao Benshan, but it still lost money in the end."

"I want to give it a try. The Spring Festival is a shared memory for all Chinese people, and everyone has experienced the Spring Festival travel rush."

"Let's put the Spring Festival travel rush topic aside for now. I have a job here, an idol drama script. You're good at writing urban dramas, so I'll give it to you."

Tian Yusheng sighed, "We still need to eat first."

"OK, then I'll start by writing the script for the idol drama."

(End of this chapter)