Reborn, my online friend is the real me.

In early December, Su Yu threw himself into the preparation work for "Black Hole".

The first thing to do is find actors.

Su Yu originally wanted to do it himself, but after looking in the mirror, he felt that he didn't look like a corporate slave who was consumed by desire and worked overtime.

He needs an actor who looks a bit颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a sense of listlessness, dejection, or dispirit) and 丧的 (丧的 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a sense of being depressed or dispirited) but has desires deep down.

Lu Yang recommended someone to him: "Why don't you try finding Luo Jing? He's from the 02 acting class. I played basketball with him; he's a nice guy."

Su Yu recognized the name. In his previous life, he had seen Luo Jing in "Beauty's Rival in Palace" and "Diamond Lover". She later married Tang Yan and was considered a talented actress.

In 2004, Luo Jing was probably a junior at the Beijing Film Academy and wasn't very famous.

......

The next afternoon, Su Yu and Wang Boxue went to the basketball court to try their luck.

Sure enough, Luo Jing was playing ball, wearing a gray sports vest, running all over the court.

After Luo Jing finished his match, Su Yu went up to him and said, "Hello, senior Luo Jing. I'm Su Yu from the Photography Department, Class of 04. I'd like to ask you to help me shoot a short film."

Luo Jing wiped his sweat and looked him up and down: "What short film? How long will it take to finish filming?"

Su Yu recounted the story of "The Black Hole," and Luo Jing listened in silence for a few seconds before asking, "Okay, when are we filming?"

Su Yu was stunned for a moment. So quick?

"Don't you need to look at the script?" Su Yu asked.

"A three-minute short film, zero dialogue, one scene, one actor. What difference does it make whether I read the script or not? I'm just playing myself, a poor student."

Su Yu was amused by his straightforwardness, and the two exchanged phone numbers and arranged a shooting time.

Outside the basketball court, Wang Boxue approached and asked, "Is Luo Jing a good guy?"

"It's really good." Su Yu nodded. "Better than yours."

"What do you mean?"

"They agreed without saying a word, but look at you, you make excuses when I ask you to help me carry a lamp stand."

"How can that be the same? I helped you carry the light stand as a favor, while he's making short films to build his own portfolio. Don't get them mixed up."

........

Filming for the short film officially began on December 10th.

The location was an empty office near the Nortel City Film Academy, which Lu Yang helped find.

The prop copier was borrowed from the school's equipment department, and the safe was a large safe that Su Yu bought from a secondhand market for 500 yuan.

The vending machine was rented from a small shop for fifty yuan a day.

Su Yu was so nervous about directing for the first time that his palms were sweating.

Although he had made short videos in his previous life, he only did them by himself and just filmed them casually.

Now, a professional actor is standing in front of him, and behind him sit two "technical consultants," Wang Boxue and Lu Yang. There are also several junior students helping with lighting and sound recording. Everyone is waiting for him to give orders.

"All departments, take your positions!" Su Yu shouted, his voice a little weak.

Luo Jing stood in front of the photocopier, glanced back at him, and said, "Director, I'm ready."

Director, Luo Jing calls him Director.

Su Yu took a deep breath and shouted, "Action!"

In the first scene, the protagonist prints a piece of paper with a black hole in front of a photocopier.

Luo Jing only needed to make a surprised expression and then reach out to touch the black hole.

It's very simple, right?

Luo Jing performed the first take. Su Yu watched the playback and felt that his expression wasn't surprised enough; it was as if he saw a mosquito instead of a black hole.

"Senior Brother Luo, could you exaggerate any more? What you're seeing isn't just a hole, it's a wormhole that can traverse space. Your expression should be like... like you've found out you've won five million in the lottery."

Luo Jing nodded. The second one.

This time, the expression was spot on: wide eyes, slightly open mouth, and a slight backward lean.

Su Yu shouted "Pass!" and felt as if he had won a battle.

The filming lasted for ten days, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, with a one-hour break in between for meals.

Su Yu did the work of three people: director, cinematographer, and on-set producer.

Wang Boxue helped him operate the machine, and Lu Yang helped him watch the monitor; both of them were doing this voluntarily.

Su Yu felt bad about it, so he treated them to boxed lunches every day, occasionally adding a chicken leg.

On the tenth day, in the final scene, the protagonist crawls into the safe, falls into the black hole, and the screen goes completely black.

This scene was filmed eight times. The safe was too small, and it was very difficult for Luo Jing to squeeze in. He was covered in sweat every time he came out.

Su Yu looked at the monitor, feeling that something was off.

"Senior Brother Lu, what do you think?"

Lu Yang stared at the screen for a while. "The light is too bright. The last moment should be when desire reaches its peak and then plunges into darkness. Give it backlighting, make his shadow long, and then suddenly cut to black."

Su Yu did as instructed, and the ninth rule was perfect.

"Cut! Filming wrapped!"

Su Yu's voice was a little hoarse when he shouted those two words.

.....

That evening, Su Yu hosted a wrap party at a hot pot restaurant next to the film set.

There were more than a dozen people, sitting at two tables.

Lamb, cabbage, vermicelli, tofu—it's packed full.

Su Yu paid for several cases of beer out of his own pocket.

Wang Boxue stood up, raising his glass: "Come on, a toast to Director Su! Your first film, it wasn't easy!"

Everyone raised their glasses, and Su Yu stood up, a little embarrassed: "To everyone! Without you all, this film wouldn't have been made."

Luo Jing sat opposite him and said with a smile, "Director Su, remember to contact me when you make a feature film in the future."

Su Yu felt a warmth in his heart, "Definitely."

After a few rounds of drinks, Su Yu's phone vibrated. He looked down and saw it was a message from An Qian.

Anxi: "Su Yu, what are you doing?"

Su Yu typed back: "Just finished filming, eating hot pot."

Anxi: "Filming wrapped? You're making a movie?"

Su Yu: "I made a short video for my final project. How come you have time to be online? Weren't you saying you were busy?"

Anxi: "I've been sent to Zhejiang by the company again; I just arrived at the hotel, I'm exhausted."

Su Yu: "Why does your company keep sending you around? Last time it was Sichuan, this time it's Zhejiang, is it going to Xinjiang next time?"

Anxi: "Is it any of your business? By the way, what was that short film you made about? Tell me about it."

Su Yu originally wanted to say, "It's a three-minute suspense film, you wouldn't understand even if I told you," but after thinking about it, he realized that the other person was, after all, a "stand-up comedian," and was practically in the entertainment industry, so maybe he was genuinely interested.

He typed: "It's about a greedy office worker who uses a black hole printed by a photocopier to steal things, and ends up trapping himself in a safe."

Anxi sent a shocked emoji: "This sounds really interesting! You wrote the script?"

"Of course."

Anxi: "Wow, you're something else; show me when you're done filming."

Su Yu: "Okay, we'll wait until it's finished editing."

Anxi sent a "It's a deal" emoji, then added, "You go ahead and do your thing, I'm going to take a shower. Goodnight."

Su Yu replied with "Goodnight" and put his phone in his pocket.

Wang Boxue leaned closer, his face full of gossip: "Who is it? Your girlfriend?"

Su Yu rolled her eyes at him: "Online friend."

"Male or female?"

"A woman."

"Is it pretty?"

"Never seen it before."

Wang Boxue gave him a look that said, "Are you kidding me?": "You're chatting so enthusiastically even though you've never met? Are you stupid?"

Su Yu was too lazy to explain, so he picked up a piece of mutton with his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth.