Huayu: Are you even sitting up straight? You're going to be the director?

Chapter 78 The Clown That Came to Our Door
Changchun Nong'an.

As September approaches in Changchun, the mornings and evenings are getting cooler.

On the set of "Nanjing, Nanjing," Lu Chuan had already prepared all the day's schedule and was just waiting for filming to begin.
In the morning, sunlight had already streamed into the film crew's space. Lu Chuan looked in the direction of the sunlight and could see the two characters "Fight to the death" that he had posted on the set.
Suddenly, Lu Chuan felt a lump in his throat.

Lu Chuan put in all his efforts to make this film, and he successfully moved himself to tears.

To write the screenplay, he read all the books with Nanjing in their titles, and even traveled to Taiwan and the United States to search for relevant materials from the same period, comparing historical details one by one. He also went to Japan six times, and wrote a 14-word screenplay.
However, too many scenes, including some that are explicit or even gory, need to be constantly modified and polished.

And so another six months passed.

On the eve of filming, he raised another million yuan on his own to assemble the crew ahead of schedule.

They begged and pleaded with everyone they knew, and managed to raise over 60 million yuan.

In order to make the props as historically accurate as possible,

In a 600-mu (approximately 40 hectares) farmland in Nong'an, Changchun, he spent over 15 million yuan to build a filming base, replicating the Nanjing city he envisioned.

At this moment, however, he was filled with a myriad of emotions, a mixture of feelings.

When he woke up in the morning, he had already seen the official characterization of "Nanjing Photo Studio," and he was overwhelmed with grief.

Is this China's first mainstream commercial film?

This should be mine, this should be mine!

I initiated the project first!
The colors that flashed in Lu Chuan's eyes included envy, surprise, and an overwhelming sourness, as if he were experiencing the pain of fate playing tricks on him.

When he was preparing to make this movie, he made a bold statement to himself, determined to make a movie like this.

May your name be remembered forever!
Only in this way can his life be complete!

He was determined to capture the spirit of resistance that ordinary people displayed when faced with such a disaster!

Now, Cao Zhong has finished filming it, and it has been officially recognized by the movie channel. The box office is booming, propelling Cao Zhong to the position of a top director.

Lu Chuan felt very awkward. On the one hand, he felt that he could have done it himself, but on the other hand, he felt that Cao Zhong's movie was very bad, and that the depiction of the Japanese was too cruel.

He was different. In his mind, the consensus among Chinese people has always been that the Japanese are "clowns." But that would prove that we were defeated by clowns, which is an insult to us. He didn't want to use a lamenting perspective, but rather wanted to retell this history from a civilized perspective.

Therefore, he decided to present this history from the perspectives of both ordinary people and Japanese soldiers, and to objectively and truthfully recreate this history.

This is what he's most proud of!

Therefore, his feelings toward Cao Zhong were quite complicated. On one hand, he saw Cao Zhong's pioneering work in this type of film, but on the other hand, he felt that his own film was better than Cao Zhong's!

But in this world, only those who are number one will ever be respected.

Lu Chuan's emotions were surging, and he was finding it hard to breathe.

He's very conflicted.

I was also very angry.

Although he had never met Cao Zhong, the feeling Cao Zhong gave him was the same as the feeling he had for Jiang Wen in "Looking for a Gun" and for "Kekexili: Mountain Patrol" in "Me and the Tibetan Antelope".

It was clearly his film that was directed, but outsiders insist that it was directed by Jiang Wen.

It was clearly his film that he directed, but outsiders insist that he plagiarized it.

He was the one who initiated the project, but Cao Zhong insisted on stealing the credit from him!

Cao Zhongtai is a fucking bastard!
A short while later, Qin Lan arrived.

Looking at his new girlfriend, Lu Chuan couldn't help but complain, "Qin Lan, I'm suffering so much!"

"As for the extras, these crew members managed to take two cuts. They reported 700 extras but managed to get 1,000. The bidding for the Dajing project cost 10 million, but the winning bidder was a relative of the producer. They claimed it was a construction company, but it was actually a three-no company. These people are too shady! They ruined me. If it weren't for them, my movie would have been finished long ago. How could Cao Zhong take away what belongs to me?"

Lu Chuan was about to cry from anger; all he wanted was to make a decent movie.
Why did those people treat him like that?

Why did Cao Zhong steal his fame?

"Director Cao's films are very strong. But I believe you can too."

A hint of heartache flashed in Qin Lan's eyes as she comforted Lu Chuan.

After a while, the actors finally arrived, including Gao Yuanyuan and Liu Ye.

Today's announcement was a very solemn and depressing message.

In scenes with explicit content, male actors even dared not place their hands on female actors.

As filming officially began, Lu Chuan finally displayed the aura of a director, his gaze sharp and piercing as he said:
"Gentlemen, if you don't actually act in it, these actresses will have to stay naked forever..."

We filmed all day.

The news about the Nanjing Photo Studio kept flashing before Lu Chuan's eyes.

An unpleasant feeling immediately assaulted the folds of his brain.

Frustrated, Lu Chuan couldn't help but speak out on Tencent Weibo:

The fact that a certain person's uncivilized, sentimental, patriotic film dominated the Chinese film market during the summer season is a tragedy for culture.

He was furious.
Seeing Cao Zhong standing in the spotlight, Lu Chuan felt angry, as if something most important to him had been taken away.
That was the destiny that led him to become a world-class director.

……

dormitory,

beep.

The phone rang. Cao Zhong glanced at it and saw it was Cui Xinqin, so he answered it.

"Hello, Teacher Cui." "Cao Zhong, Principal Zhang said that you will be speaking at the freshman ceremony as a senior student representative."

Cui Xinqin didn't delay things either. "No one is more suitable than you. You'll only be a junior when school starts, but you've walked this path much longer and more steadily than others. Now that Nanjing Photo Studio is gaining momentum, it's a good thing for the school to have you speak."

"He's pretty bold, isn't he afraid I'll say things I shouldn't?" Cao Zhong chuckled.

“So I’m the one making this call,” Cui Xinqin said. “It seems like your matter with Jia Zhangke is over. He hasn’t shown his face much for a week. So feel free to make a few sarcastic remarks, but don’t cause too much trouble at the ceremony. Also, Principal Zhang’s action is a way of protecting you. Your interview was a bit too explosive, and the school’s action is a form of implicit support.”

"I understand, but it's still early days."

Cao Zhong thought to himself that once this year's Golden Lion Award was presented, Jia Zhangke would be completely nailed down.

But he couldn't say it.

"I understand, thank you, teacher."

Cao Zhong originally wanted to refuse; he wanted to contact Shen Ao to quickly start production on his second film, with himself serving as producer.

But then I thought, it's only two days, and I'll happen to run into Jing Tian at the opening ceremony, so I don't need to make another trip to find him.

It just so happens that Shen Ao and Jing Tian will both be at school at that time.

We can discuss it together in person then.
Cao Zhong is preparing to start filming the movie for the script he previously sold to Jing Tian. He has already consulted with Han Sanpin about the possibility of it being approved, as the script contains words like "zombie" and "zombie."

Cao Zhong could only revise the script, changing it to "My Rabies-Stricken Daughter." After the revised script was shown to Jing Tian, ​​the funds would be allocated, and then filming would begin.

Director Cao Zhong wanted Shen Ao to come.

Because filming is not difficult.

This low-budget comedy film, "My Zombie Daughter," despite being overshadowed by two major South Korean films, attracted nearly seven million viewers, which translates to approximately 3.5 million RMB in box office revenue—a rather impressive achievement.

Actually, Cao Zhong wanted Xu Zheng to learn as well, and he would ask Xu Zheng for his opinion later.

Although Xu Zheng has no experience directing comedies, he certainly has plenty of experience acting in them.

It can also become a helper for Cao Zhong in developing his comedy career.

While bidding for the Olympics could be considered a case of forcing growth, it also allowed for a 20-year head start.
Cao Zhong will process the storyboards and then personally guide Shen Ao for a few days.

Cao Zhong kept a close eye on things and believed there was no chance of messing it up.

Previously, when filming "Nanjing Photo Studio," the scale of the event was so large that even the Olympic bid had witnessed it; it wouldn't be like this.

Cao Zhong is also full of confidence in his performance.

This type of film is very novel to the current film market and has a lot of room for development.
This also facilitated Cao Zhong's later creation of a comedy film universe for Chinese cinema. Most importantly, this film not only has a very positive premise, but also a very important narrative structure.

Parents' love for their children.

In short, it's about emotional narrative.

Cao Zhong found it strange that many Korean films from his past life always ended with an overwhelming sense of emotion.
South Korea and Thailand both belong to the Chinese civilization sphere, but when it comes to heartwarming films, China can't compare to these two countries.
Films that are moving may fail to sell at the box office, indicating a poor balance between narrative and commercial appeal.

It's absolutely hilarious!

Films like "My Zombie Daughter," "Miss Granny," "Along with the Gods," and "Grandma's Grandson" all have moments that can bring tears to your eyes, but China simply doesn't have similar commercial films.

They even remake existing works.

Can this be blamed on the censorship?

Cao Zhong absolutely did not believe it; ultimately,
Some domestic directors aspire to win international awards, their interests are skewed, they want to make blockbusters but don't understand how, while others are overly self-important and unwilling to make small films. This divide has resulted in this situation.

He believes that it is not that Chinese directors "cannot make" such films, but rather that the environment, market, and creative thinking of the entire film industry have not yet formed a mature system for mass production of this type of film.

"Emotional narrative" is the core, and "genre film" is the outer shell. The film first has a very solid genre film framework, such as fantasy film, comedy film, family ethics film, and then uses abundant emotion as filling material and lubricant.

In its previous life, Chinese cinema had already reached the point where films like "Life's Big Events," "A Little Red Flower," and "Hi Mom" ​​were made.

People are only just beginning to figure out the patterns of this type of creation.

Its industrial system lagged behind South Korea's by fifteen years.

As for the fusion of fantasy elements, only "Light Shop" shows a slight power in this regard.

In fact, China is very suitable for this type of film. Perhaps this type of film will not be a huge box office hit, but for the current Chinese film market, it is enough to raise the market ceiling.

As long as it's not over-marketed to the extent of "Hot and Spicy," there won't be any backlash.

Cao Zhong did engage in excessive marketing for "Nanjing Photo Studio," but he doesn't regret it. Only by generating enough public opinion and achieving sufficient box office success can he interrupt a group of directors who are trying to pursue a "civilized" anti-war narrative, such as Lu Chuan.

For his future films, he will inevitably need to accelerate the pace, advance the content, and maximize the capacity of the Chinese film market.

Emotional narrative films, by incorporating comedic elements, can also unlock a promising new market for future comedies.

Cao Zhong wants to be a game-changer.
We need to show those directors what kind of film industry system they look down on and don't want to build.
Sometimes it's very simple, even unbelievably simple.

It's not that Chinese films are bad, it's just that you're confined to a small circle.

They complain about the bad environment all the time, but in reality, they are the ones who are destroying the environment.

Moreover, Cao Zhong is also preparing his second film script, which is also related to Nanjing.

As they were studying it, Wang Renjun came in.

"Brother Zhong, someone is insulting you online."

Cao Zhong smiled after reading the message.

He had no reason to target Lu Chuan in the first place, but now the clown has delivered himself to his doorstep.

(End of this chapter)