This director lacks vision.

Chapter 31 Two Rewards
The three roommates got excited when it came to making short films.

After taking photos in the morning and having lunch with their class, the three of them didn't go to the bathhouse. Instead, they went with Jiang Yifeng to find actors.

In Chinese universities, finding Black actors is very easy; there are plenty of them among international students.

Jiang Yifeng quickly found a male and a female lead and made preparations before filming.

The filming of the short film officially began early the next morning.

To create a sense of realism, Jiang Yifeng did not use professional equipment, but instead used a handheld DV camera.

The entire shoot was completed in 9 hours, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tian Qingguo exclaimed, "That's it? I feel like I could film that too."

Jiang Yifeng said with a smile, "Of course you can do it too. There's not much of a barrier to entry for short films, and the production process is quite flexible. If you have an idea, you can get started."

After filming "The Hero Jiang Xiaoyu" and "The King of Bathhouse", Jiang Yifeng's progress is obvious.

Before shooting the short film, he already had a picture in his mind and knew what materials he needed.

So the filming went very smoothly.

That evening, Jiang Yifeng finished editing the "jogging" video, uploaded it to YouTube, and then sent it to Tian Qingguo, asking him to help him register for the college student video short film competition.

To be honest, Jiang Yifeng was quite hoping that he could win an award.

Although it's just a small award at a small film festival, it's still an encouragement, and it might even improve the system's evaluation of the short film.

But the reality is cruel.

Without public relations and connections, winning an award is not an easy task.

On April 26th, the 16th Yanjing College Student Film Festival held its awards ceremony at the Olympic Sports Center.

Jiang Yifeng's short film "Jogging" did not receive any awards.

Fortunately, the short film was well received on YouTube, with views exceeding one million within a week and over 5000 comments.

People were having a heated discussion about racial discrimination in the comments section of the video.

With two consecutive videos receiving high view counts, Jiang Yifeng's account gained 8 followers, a rapid increase that caught the attention of YouTube, which sent him a contract offer.

At that time, there weren't many YouTubers who had signed contracts.

Jiang Yifeng's successful signing will not only bring him financial gains, but also provide him with some traffic support.

In any case, the primary goal of filming "jogging" was achieved.

Since "jogging" didn't win an award, Jiang Yifeng uploaded the short film to his Sohu Video account.

They even gave it a title.

"Jogging - A Chinese director creates an English short film that amazes foreigners!"

The King of Bathing has now uploaded 6 episodes, creating a bathing craze across the internet, and various bathing-related memes have become popular.

Several bathhouses even offered to have Dapeng and Qiao Shan as their spokespeople.

Jiang Yifeng's account on Sohu Video has seen a steady increase in followers, reaching 83.

This account already had a high level of followers, and the addition of a title like "Foreigners are in awe" that appeals to Chinese people immediately attracted a large number of netizens.

After watching the short film, some netizens thought it was very good, as it exposed the true face of racial discrimination in the United States.

Some netizens also felt that the short video was inexplicable, with shaky footage and poor filming.

Many of his nephews came running after hearing the news, and they launched into a tirade about how things were not like that in the United States.

The short film "Jogging" has gradually become popular amidst controversy.

Unfortunately, the short film has a simple plot, is too short, and has mediocre filming techniques, so it hasn't yet met the system's standards for stardom. But this won't stump Jiang Yifeng.

He immediately filmed the second episode of Jogging – "Jogging: I Can't Breathe".

This episode's story is adapted from the future George Floyd killing incident. Jiang Yifeng put even more effort into filming it, and the entire short film is 11 minutes long.

After the short video was uploaded to YouTube and Sohu Video, it once again attracted a lot of attention and discussion.

Jiang Yifeng was certainly aware of the living conditions of Americans, which was related to their own self-destructive behavior, but what he wanted was traffic and popularity; as long as the short film could stir up emotions, that was enough.

The rest is none of his business; let the Americans worry about it themselves.

Moreover, the "jogging" video content is upright and correct, and it even received a boost from YouTube.

By May 5th, with the help of a new short film, "jogging" finally met the standard and became a one-star work recognized by the system.

Meanwhile, the first season of "The King of Bathing" has also finished airing, with a total viewership of over 2000 million, and has successfully met the criteria for being broadcast on a major television network.

Jiang Yifeng was given two chances to win a prize.

[Congratulations, host! You have drawn the white item "Growth Potion".]

[Developmental Elixir: After taking this, your body will undergo secondary development.]

Like the constitution potion, the growth potion is also in pill form, but its color is not blue, but a "vibrant" green.

Jiang Yifeng swallowed it without hesitation.

The tingling, itchy sensation persisted, but there were no obvious changes in my body; I just felt hungry.

It felt like I was back in high school, when I was a teenager who could eat my father out of house and home, and I had a really good appetite.

After eating some snacks, Jiang Yifeng participated in the second lottery draw.

[Congratulations, host, you have drawn the white talent "Level 1 Language Sense".]

[Level 1 Language Sense: You possess an extraordinary ability to perceive language and writing, and your ability to learn and use language is significantly enhanced.]

This talent is extremely useful; it can not only enhance Jiang Yifeng's ability to learn foreign languages, but also improve his written expression skills.

This will improve scriptwriting skills.

This is still very important for a director.

Akira Kurosawa once said, "If you really want to be a director, then write a screenplay. All you need is paper and pen to complete your story."

Only by writing a screenplay can you understand the structural details of a film and its essence.

Many successful directors started by writing screenplays.

Although it's no longer the era where having a good script guarantees becoming a great director, scriptwriting ability remains fundamental to being a good director.

With his natural talent for language, Jiang Yifeng took out the script for "Old Boy" and immediately felt that the characters' dialogue and lines were not very accurate or distinctive.

Some optimization ideas naturally came to mind.

For example, when the male protagonist finally gave up pursuing the school beauty, his inner monologue wasn't very good.

With his natural talent for language, Jiang Yifeng's expression improved significantly, and he directly revised the monologue.

"Everyone who decides to turn around has stood in the wind for a long time."

It is a simple and concise expression that accurately conveys the complex emotions in the male protagonist's heart, and it has a lingering charm that can evoke emotional resonance in the audience.

This is the power of a natural talent for language.

Improving the quality of the script will enhance the overall quality of the film.

(End of this chapter)