This director lacks vision.

Chapter 369 Special Effects Controversy
Sydney immediately called Anne Hathaway a bitch, and she became quite agitated.

Despite her young age, she is already very well-developed, with her mouth bulging.

At this moment, I am emotionally agitated, and the fluctuations in my emotions are quite strong.

Jiang Yifeng glanced at Sydney, but didn't explain anything. He simply said, "Just focus on playing your role well. It's none of your business to comment on the other actors' affairs."

After saying this, Jiang Yifeng chatted with Daddario for a while longer before going to discuss camera positions with the photography team.

Watching Jiang Yifeng leave, Sydney took Daddario's arm and said, "Daddario, you have to help me this time~ We're best friends."

With the second season of Stranger Things starting filming, if anyone is most anxious, it's definitely Sydney.

Her character, "Eleven," was the absolute protagonist of the youth group in the first season, with a lot of screen time.

However, in the second season, Eleven became a plot device. Although he was still a key character, his screen time was greatly reduced.

This made Sydney very unhappy.

But there was nothing we could do.

After Stranger Things aired, Sydney quickly became a sensation in North America, becoming the new "America's Sweetheart".

After gaining fame, Sydney starred in two movies and a television series, but the response was lukewarm.

It can't compare to Stranger Things at all.

Sydney became famous after the first season of Stranger Things aired in October 2012. Now, a year and a half later, she hasn't had a good project and is starting to fade into obscurity.

This is the cruel reality of the entertainment industry; new topics and new figures emerge every day.

Many people rise to fame quickly, but only a few truly stay popular for a long time.

Under these circumstances, Sydney has high hopes for the second season of Stranger Things, hoping that the show will help her regain popularity and even reach new heights.

When she learned that the second season was going to be filmed, she was so excited that she flew overnight to meet Daddario to celebrate.

But after receiving the script and seeing how little screen time she had, Sydney experienced a dramatic shift in emotions, from great joy to deep sorrow.

She blamed it all on Anne Hathaway, believing that Hathaway had stolen her spotlight.

Upon hearing Sydney's words, Daddario shook his head and said, "Stranger Things is an ensemble piece, and the scenes of the important characters in the first season were all cut."

Not only you, but Winona and David's scenes were also significantly cut.

Jiang is very assertive in his creative process, and I can't help you with that.

Upon hearing this, Sydney instinctively retorted, "Then why weren't your scenes cut? In fact, there were even more?"

Daddario: "..."

As a devout follower, Daddario had sold his body and soul to Jiang Yifeng, this "devil," and even "sacrificed" his sister along with him.

Jiang Yifeng treated her very well, and through his connections with Legendary Pictures, he not only got Daddario to replace Elizabeth Olsen as the female lead in "Godzilla".

Furthermore, in the second season of Stranger Things, Daddario was given a lot more screen time, making her the undisputed female lead of that season.

With her role as the female lead in the high-octane chase, Daddario is now considered a top-tier actress in Hollywood, and her career is thriving.

Seeing Daddario remain silent, Sydney sighed.

When she was filming the first season of Stranger Things, she was still a young girl who had fantasies about love and even looked down on Daddario for sleeping with the director on set.

Now, after working in the entertainment industry for more than two years, she has been exposed to many things and her perspective on things has changed a lot.

Sydney had already anticipated that Daddario wouldn't help.

After all, strictly speaking, they are competitors.

Sydney has to figure this out herself.

She is not a passive person either.

After finishing the first makeup and styling, Sydney walked up to Jiang Yifeng, turned around once, and asked, "Jiang, is this outfit okay?"

Sydney was wearing a khaki shirt, paired with casual jeans and sneakers.

This was one of the most popular casual outfits among American high school students in the 80s.

It's just that she's developed too well.

Whether it's the full curves of the shirt or the round, perky buttocks encased in jeans, everything exudes the beautiful vitality of youthful flesh.

This is precisely Sydney's biggest problem.

As the saying goes, a girl changes drastically at eighteen, and in just over two years, Sydney has transformed from a "cool" girl into a sexy babe.

However, the "October 1st" in the drama did not change so much.

That's why Jiang Yifeng deliberately cut Eleven's scenes, using her as a prelude.

Jiang Yifeng didn't explain, and Sydney was completely unaware of this.

She even did a waist-sinking and hip-lifting movement to show off her growth and try to impress Jiang Yifeng.

From a man's perspective, the Sydney girl at this time was indeed very attractive. Although her face was still very youthful, her body was already fully developed.

But this is even less in line with the role of "Eleven".

This is the awkward situation for many child stars: they no longer fit the characteristics of the characters they played as adults.

Seeing Sydney trying so hard to present herself, Jiang Yifeng asked, "Has anyone ever told you that you and Scarlett Johansson have similar styles?"

Looking at Sydney, Jiang Yifeng always thought of Scarlett Johansson.

Both women are petite and have great figures.

In terms of looks, Sydney is not as recognizable as Scarlett, but Sydney has a better figure, so they each have their own strengths.

Even Durant, in the future, regarded Sydney as a substitute for Scarlett Johansson, and publicly expressed his love for Sydney.

But like Scarlett, Sydney did not respond to Durant.

It can only be said that Durant really has no star power. Hearing Jiang Yifeng's question, Sydney paused for a moment, and answered truthfully: "No one has ever said that, because my previous image was that of America's sweetheart, and I was going for the sweetheart style."

Jiang Yifeng nodded and said, "Your development is too fast, which doesn't fit the role of Eleven, so your screen time in the second season must be reduced, and that won't change."

But I can give you a suggestion: promote Scarlett O'Hara's persona and ride on Scarlett's popularity.

With proper management, your popularity can recover and rise quickly.

In the entertainment industry of any country, it is very common for newcomers to ride on the coattails of their seniors.

Scarlett Johansson, thanks to her iconic role as Black Widow, is now one of Hollywood's top actresses and enjoys immense popularity.

Sydney has a great figure, so she has the right to try and leech off him.

Seeing Sydney's thoughtful expression, Jiang Yifeng said, "You have to believe that the popularity you've built up with the role of Eleven won't just fall apart so easily."

Don't get anxious just because some media outlets say you're washed up.

Planning your career carefully is more meaningful than constantly swearing.

Hearing Jiang Yifeng say that, Sydney suddenly felt much more at ease.

Her family is also well-off; her mother is a lawyer and her father is a doctor.

Sydney's parents also doted on her.

To support her dream of becoming an actress, her whole family moved to Los Angeles.

However, Sydney's parents didn't understand the entertainment industry, and there were things they were willing to do but couldn't. They couldn't understand Sydney's specific predicament, nor could they give her suitable advice.

This "fading into obscurity" marks Sydney's first setback in the entertainment industry.

Jiang Yifeng, as an "authority figure," offered advice at this time, giving Sydney a great sense of confidence and security.

She toned down her sexy demeanor and said sincerely, "Thank you for your advice; it has been a great help to me."

I won't swear anymore. I'll go apologize to Hathaway right now.

Jiang Yifeng smiled and said, "No need for an apology. Hathaway can be quite a bitch sometimes."

Hearing this, Sydney laughed heartily.

She was about to speak when she realized that Jiang Yifeng had already left.

Watching Jiang Yifeng's retreating figure, Sydney increasingly understood Daddario's feelings.

A brilliant idea struck her. Remembering Jiang Yifeng's suggestion that she ride the coattails of Scarlett Johansson's popularity, she suddenly had a good thought—to ride Scarlett Johansson's popularity, she could start by cosplaying Black Widow...

Compared to the first season, the second season of Stranger Things features four female stars: Daddario, Anne Hathaway, Sydney, and Winona.

Their relationship became even more strained.

In addition, the production team added several important new characters, creating competition with the actors from the first season.

Therefore, the atmosphere on set was far less harmonious than in the first season.

Everyone's expression was always very serious.

In this tense and serious state, the preparations for Stranger Things were completely completed.

On February 14th, the production team held a press conference at Pacific Rim Studios to announce the start of filming for the second season of Stranger Things.

Stranger Things is very popular in the United States, so many American media reporters attended this press conference.

At the press conference, Jiang Yifeng stated that the second season of Stranger Things will be more exciting than the first season, with more special effects shots.

The special effects were once again produced by the Chinese company Monster Effects.

This is a perfectly normal promotional tactic.

While promoting the second season of Stranger Things, they also advertised for the monster effects company.

After all, Stranger Things is a co-production between Netflix and Fengxing Media, making it a Sino-US co-production.

The fact that this co-production didn't use a Hollywood special effects company, but instead chose a monster effects company, is something to brag about in itself.

Many domestic media outlets have also reported this, stating that Chinese special effects companies are on the rise.

However, some people were unhappy when they saw these news reports.

For example, director Wu Ershan, who likes human specimens, posted on Weibo: "I can say with certainty that the level of Chinese special effects companies is ten years behind that of Europe, and more than twenty years behind that of Hollywood."

Some media outlets have no idea what the film industry is, nor do they know how much it costs to cultivate a complete film industry.

He started by talking about the rise of Chinese special effects companies, and even boasted that the monster special effects company's level had reached the world's top.

This is truly a case of being a frog in a well, utterly laughable!

In his previous life, Wu Ershan directed Painted Skin 2 and then Mojin: The Lost Legend.

The project for the Fengshen Trilogy only came about after the success of the Dragon Seeker.

However, now that the Ghost Blows Out the Light IP is in the hands of Fengxing Media, Wu Ershan can't make a film about it even if he wanted to.

However, the total box office of Painted Skin 2 by Wu Ershan, which reached 7 million yuan, still made him famous.

Enlight Media proactively approached Wu Ershan, asking him to direct the film "Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal".

The male lead in this movie is still Cheng Kun, and it also follows the special effects and supernatural genre.

The film's special effects were handled by a Hollywood studio, and it was publicly announced that Douglas, who had won an Oscar for visual effects, served as the visual effects supervisor.

That's why Ursula von der Leyen stood up to criticize Chinese special effects.

If Chinese special effects truly rise to prominence and even rival Hollywood's, then hiring a Hollywood visual effects team for Wu Ershan's films would be a joke.

The film's appeal will be greatly diminished, and the personal kickback will be gone.

This is a naked struggle for interests.

(End of this chapter)