Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 121, Section 120: Sword Drawn!

March 15, 1997, Saturday evening.

Before the last rays of the setting sun had completely faded, countless families across China had already lit up their homes.

This ordinary weekend night was a pivotal moment for the film studio alliance.

Just as Fan Xiaopang settled down in Beitaipingzhuang, Beijing, an unprecedented "screen trial" was quietly unfolding across the country.

More than 700 local television stations—from provincial stations, provincial capital city stations, prefecture-level stations, to district and county-level stations and cable television stations—like soldiers receiving a unified command, broadcast a television movie called "Crazy Lottery" simultaneously or slightly sequentially in their various programs such as "Weekend Cinema," "Weekend Special," and "Starlight Theater" during their prime or secondary prime time slots.

This is a TV movie that Wang Sheng spearheaded last month and was directed by Wu Yiyi.

The reason for choosing it as the vanguard of the first large-scale broadcast is its dark humor, its relatable themes, and its narrative style that is easy for ordinary viewers to understand and accept.

Costs were strictly controlled, costing only 500,000 yuan, and the filming period was only 18 days. Post-production was completed efficiently by various workshops of Beijing Film Studio, ensuring a "cinematic feel".

Jin Province, with its capital Jinyang.

The Shanxi Provincial Television building stands in the twilight. As a provincial station that has not yet been satellite-connected, its signal coverage is mainly limited to the Shanxi region.

The Jinyang TV station, located in the same city, has a signal coverage area that highly overlaps with that of the provincial station, making the competition obvious.

Tonight, both TV stations coincidentally featured "Crazy Lottery" on their program schedules.

Shanxi TV, with its deep pockets, bought the broadcasting rights for a year for 150,000 yuan and scheduled it for broadcast in the "Weekend Golden Theater" at 8:30 pm.

Jinyang TV acquired the broadcasting rights for one year for 50,000 yuan and moved the broadcast time to 8 pm sharp in an attempt to attract viewers first.

The lower the price is at the provincial level, the lower the purchase price becomes.

at the same time.

The dormitory area of ​​Jinyang City Drama Troupe.

In a slightly old tenement building apartment, Ning Hao, who is not yet twenty years old, has just finished a day's work as a stage designer for a theater troupe.

He was not tall, but his eyes and brows revealed a tenacious spirit that refused to admit defeat and a composure beyond his years.

My parents were ordinary workers at Changzhi Iron and Steel Company, and our family was of modest means.

He loved painting since childhood, and later enrolled in Shanxi Film School to study art design. After graduation, he was assigned to work in the drama troupe in the provincial capital.

He had a stable job, but that wasn't what he truly desired.

He kept a well-worn copy of "The Language of Film" under his pillow, and in his spare time he loved to tinker with his old Seagull camera, dreaming of one day directing his own film and telling stories through the lens.

He had switched his 14-inch Venus brand television to Jinyang TV station early on.

For him, whose monthly salary was only a few hundred yuan, spending tens of yuan to watch a movie in the cinema was a luxury. Movies broadcast on TV were his main and most economical window to the world of film.

He heard that a new kind of "TV movie" would be broadcast tonight, with an interesting title: "Crazy Lottery." It was said to be a new thing that the people at the Beijing Film Studio had come up with.

At 8 p.m. sharp, after the familiar stage logo music, "Crazy Lottery" began.

The opening credits feature the classic worker-peasant-soldier logo of Beijing Film Studio, followed by the words "Produced by the Film Studio and Television Drama Production Collaboration Alliance" and "Co-produced by Shengying Media," along with the names of director Wu Yiyi, screenwriter, co-screenwriter Wang Sheng, and lead actors.

There's no lengthy opening animation; it jumps straight into the plot.

In a Beijing alleyway in the 1990s, a lottery ticket worth 10,000 yuan won by chance circulated among a group of ordinary people by a series of unexpected events.

A laid-off fitter, a shrewd alleyway auntie, an unemployed youth dreaming of getting rich, a conman pretending to be affectionate... all sorts of characters take turns appearing on the scene, staging a series of hilarious yet heartbreaking farces for this little piece of paper.

Ning Hao initially just wanted to take a casual look, but he was quickly drawn in. The cinematography was clean and crisp. Although budget constraints were evident, the composition was quite thoughtful. Several empty shots of alleyways and close-ups of people were full of life and the imprint of the era.

The actors' performances were natural and vivid, without the exaggeration of a stage play, and felt more like real people around us.

What moved him most was the story itself. Behind the absurd plot was a keen observation and gentle satire of the lives of ordinary people. The desires, struggles, kindness and cunning of those little people all seemed so real and believable.

"A lottery ticket has stirred up a whole pool of spring water... This screenwriter is quite interesting."

Ning Hao stroked his chin, completely absorbed in watching.

He particularly resonated with the character in the drama, an unemployed young man who was obsessed with photography and used an old camera to record the changes in the alleyways.

He watched the young man developing photos in the cramped room, his eyes filled with longing for the distance and for art, as if he were seeing himself in a different time and space.

On the television, the plot was reaching its climax.

The lottery ticket ultimately disappeared in a farcical chase, but everyone involved seemed to have found some kind of relief or enlightenment in this farce.

As the end credits roll, a song with a Beijing-style folk flavor begins to play. The melody is simple, but the lyrics are profound, probably singing about the absurdity of "a dream of wealth and glory".

The end credits roll.

Commercials started playing on the TV.

Ning Hao, however, remained immersed in the atmosphere of the story and did not move for a long time.

Outside the window, the night view of Jinyang City is ordinary, with the lights of factories dotting the distance.

His heart was in turmoil.

This production method...

TV movies?

It has low cost, short production cycle, and the stories are close to real life, and are delivered directly to the screens of thousands of households through television stations.

This seems to be... a road?

A path that could allow a young man like him to bypass the lofty threshold of traditional film studios and touch his dream of becoming a director.
He recalled the report he had seen in the China Youth Daily a while ago about the Beijing Film Studio and Wang Sheng.

"Industrialized production line for television and film," "Three thousand Yue soldiers could conquer Wu"... At the time, those words seemed like distant legends, but now, watching the recently concluded "Crazy Lottery," those words have become concrete and clear.

"Beijing Film Studio...Wang Sheng..."

Ning Hao muttered to himself, his eyes sparkling with a mixture of envy, longing, and a strong thirst for knowledge.

Perhaps he shouldn't be content with just painting sets in a drama troupe; perhaps he should try writing something, taking some photos, even if it's just with that Seagull camera...

……

That night, similar scenes played out in countless families across the country.

In Harbin, a boy named Dong Chengpeng laughed heartily while watching the down-to-earth humorous scenes in "Crazy Lottery," and said to his classmate who was watching TV with him, "This is much more interesting than those variety show skits!"

In Chengdu, a magazine editor surnamed Chen nodded as he watched: "It's films that reflect the lives of ordinary people that have vitality."

In Guangzhou, a convenience store owner turned up the volume on his television, attracting many neighbors to stop and watch, discussing the plot...

In the water towns of Jiangnan and in small towns of Northwest China, behind countless windows shimmering with fluorescent light, "Crazy Lottery" quietly touches the hearts of its audience with its unique charm.

The first of the eight swords of the year, without a doubt, will traverse the entire land!
(End of this chapter)