The Rise of Chinese Entertainment in 2008

The two took a taxi to several animation production companies that Gu Ning had found. The lowest price they offered was 20,000 yuan, and the highest was 50,000 yuan.

Gu Ning hadn't expected a short film of less than ten minutes to be so expensive.

If it weren't for Liu Sanxi's investment, he really wouldn't have enough money.

After comparing various options, they ultimately chose a company that quoted 30,000.

The animation company needs two days to model the characters, even though Gu Ning has already drawn the storyboards and character designs and has specific requirements.

If you only have a script, it will take longer and cost more.

Gu Ning had already had someone register a company and studio for her.

After paying the deposit in the company's name, Gu Ning and Liu Sanxi signed a contract. After going to the bank, Liu Sanxi transferred the money to the company's account.

"Do you think I should start a company too?" Liu Sanxi asked.

"I suggest we get one. It would be easier to coordinate with the company. And if this short film wins an award, I'm going to start making a movie. I'll need Mr. Liu's investment then," Gu Ning said with a smile.

He made short films to win awards, gain fame, and incidentally earn some money.

Long-form award-winning films are too expensive; he simply doesn't have the money.

Secondly, his directing skills were insufficient; even if he had directed those award-winning works, he might not have won any awards.

In his previous life, after graduating from university, he worked as a photographer on set for two years. Unwilling to settle for mediocrity, he conceived the idea of ​​switching careers to become a director.

I've compiled a script, and the gold coins I got from my parents, plus some of my own savings, are still not enough.

After failing to attract investment from various sources, he found Liu Sanxi.

Liu Sanxi invested 1.5 million yuan in him, which was enough to make the movie.

As a result, the total box office revenue was less than half of the cost, resulting in a complete loss.

However, his failure in the film gave him experience in directing, and he became an assistant director for some small film crews.

After several years, I finally got the opportunity to direct a web series. Although it wasn't a huge hit, I didn't lose money either.

After that, several more web series were filmed, and the situation was similar for each one.

There's nothing we can do; a small-time director like him has very little say.

The script we received before filming was not entirely unrelated to the one that ended up being filmed, but the differences were significant.

Although she still had the experience of directing in her previous life after being reborn, Gu Ning was still somewhat self-aware.

My directing skills are sufficient for shooting TV series and some commercial films, but the chances of winning an award-winning film are very slim.

Short films are different; the requirements are much lower, especially the one he chose. To be honest, the director's role wasn't that significant.

However, many investors in the industry prefer to look at awards. They don't care about winning awards; as long as they get nominated, it's much easier to attract investment.

"Okay, I'll find someone to register one later."

Liu Sanxi laughed and said, "As long as this short film can make money, investment is not a problem."

He definitely wouldn't be able to come up with that much money to invest in a feature film right now.

But as long as he can prove himself, he can go home and get a bunch of gold coins from Old Deng.

…………

Two days later, the animation company contacted him and said that the modeling was finished.

Liu Sanxi drove Gu Ning to the animation company.

After Gu Ning reviewed it, he offered some suggestions for improvement. A few days later, the model was finally completed.

After that, things became much simpler. Gu Ning went to the animation company every day to supervise the production of the short film and make timely adjustments.

It took half a month to finally finish the short film.

After paying the final payment, the two left the animation company with the USB drive containing the short film.

"Let's go back to school," Gu Ning said.

He had long planned to send the short film to an international reviewer.

The two returned to school and found their homeroom teacher, Xu Bing.

"Hello, Teacher Xu."

"What's the matter between you two?" Xu Bing asked.

"Teacher Xu, I've filmed an animated short film myself, and I'd like to ask you to take a look at it," Gu Ning said.

"Did you shoot a short film?"

Xu Bing was somewhat surprised upon hearing this, and after regaining his composure, he asked, "Did you bring the short film?"

"I brought it."

Gu Ning took out the USB drive and handed it over with both hands.

Xu Bing took it, plugged it into the computer, and said while operating the mouse, "It's good for young people to try more things, but don't worry too much about the results. What's important is what you learn in the process."

The photography department has produced several great directors, especially Ning Hao, who became famous a couple of years ago for directing "Crazy Stone," which made many photography students eager to try their hand at it.

The fact that his own students are now also exhibiting this kind of "neglecting their duties" makes him feel exhausted.

"Teacher Xu is right. That's what I was thinking too, which is why I came to you for help so that I can improve my studies," Gu Ning said with a smile.

"Hmm, let me take a look first."

Xu Bing was quite satisfied with Gu Ning's attitude, nodded slightly, and clicked play.

The short film opens with a gray clay figure, who suddenly appears in a white house. The clay figure rubs its eyes, looking somewhat incredulous.

Then he looked around, surveying the room.

When he looked down, he saw many mud marks on the ground. The mud figure looked around, lifted his foot, and realized that he had left all the mud marks.

The clay figure paused for a moment, then squatted down and tried to clean the mud off the ground with its hands.

But the more he cleaned, the more mud he found. Just as he was looking at his muddy hands, not knowing what to do, a sound suddenly came from inside the room.

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a drawer on the wall.

The clay figure wanted to go over and take a look, but didn't want to make any more mess. After hesitating for a moment, it took big strides toward the drawer.

Inside the drawer was a bucket, with a pair of gloves draped over it.

He picked up the gloves, examined them for a while, understood their purpose, put them on, took out the bucket, and began to clean the mud off the ground.

……

Xu Bing was initially somewhat indifferent, but as the plot progressed, he gradually became engrossed in it.

After cleaning the mud off the ground, the mud figure found that the patch of mud under its feet was still dirty, so it could only step on a rag.

But this meant he could only stand on a very small rag and couldn't leave.

Just then, the drawer was pushed open again, this time revealing a pair of shoes and clothes.

The clay figure happily picked up the shoes and put them on, delighted to find that they wouldn't dirty the floor.

Then, clumsily, he put on his clothes, but ended up putting both legs into one trouser leg, lost his balance, fell to the ground, and knocked over the bucket in the process.

Seeing the mess on the ground, the mud figure broke down. He frantically grabbed handfuls of mud from his body, but found that no matter how much mud he tried, it wouldn't disappear.

The clay figure, in a fit of rage, slammed the clay against the wall, but instead smashed a hole through it.

A hole was smashed in the wall, and light shone in, along with a burst of cheerful music.

The clay figure walked forward out of curiosity and discovered that there was another clay figure just like him in the other room.

The clay figure was listening to music, swaying its body happily as it painted on the wall, creating a vibrant picture.

His muddy fingers were the best paintbrush; with a few casual flicks, a small sailboat appeared on the sea.

He stood on the colorful floor, doing what he loved, and although the paintings he made weren't very good, he enjoyed it immensely.

The last clay figure to be painted also saw the other clay figure and gave him a smile.

The short film ends here, and the title appears on the screen: "Sigh! This life is like a lump of mud."