Huayu: This producer has no bottom line.

Chapter 115 Let's Cooperate

When it comes to school bullying, Ren Pingsheng's first thought is the movie "Better Days" starring Jackson Yee and Michelle Yim.

But that was a feature film, a story over a hundred minutes long, which wasn't suitable to be condensed into a short film of a few minutes.

Thinking further, there's also Xiao Si Niang's "River Flows to the Sea of ​​Sorrow".

To be honest, Ren Pingsheng had never seen that film.

He was allergic to bright and melancholic literature about suffering, only knowing that it was Seven's debut work as a human being, and that its evaluation was hard to describe.

So after initially deciding on the subject matter, he wanted to remake a work by students from the Communication University of China that went viral on Bilibili around 2020 in his previous life.

Bad Students

This is a short film with a runtime of just over five minutes, which perfectly fits the requirements of the Youth Image Project.

The film consists of only six scenes, yet it vividly portrays the hidden malice and prejudice within the school campus.

In the opening scene of the short film, the female lead's face is scratched. The teacher asks if the second female lead did it, and the female lead looks like she has suffered a great injustice and has no way to explain herself.

The scene shifts to a male classmate who comes to tattle, saying he saw Anzhu being forcibly forced into the gymnasium by Ansan and his group yesterday.

The next second, the teacher, holding a recording pen, questioned the second female lead. The recording clearly revealed the second female lead's arrogant voice: "Take off your pants!"

In the teacher's inherent prejudice, the female lead is an excellent student with good character and academic performance, while the second female lead is a bad student who smokes and fights. The evidence in this case is irrefutable.

But as the perspective of memories unfolds, the truth begins to surface.

It turns out that the female lead got injured while playing ball, and the second female lead took her to the bathroom. The line "Take off your pants" was actually the second female lead trying to bandage her wound.

The teacher then found blood-stained shards of glass in the restroom.

The final flashback reveals the female lead's character reversal and motivation: she likes a boy in her class, but that boy happens to like the good-for-nothing second female lead.

At the end of the short film, amidst the background noise of the school-wide announcement of the expulsion of the second female lead, the female protagonist stands alone in front of a mirror.

She cut her own face.

Initially, Ren Pingsheng felt that this structure of controversial topics + extreme assumptions + fatal reversals was really suitable for short film competitions.

Moreover, there are exactly three male and three female characters in the film.

Naza, who just signed a contract, is perfectly suited to play the seemingly innocent and pure female lead; her exotic features are precisely the reason she is targeted.

With the addition of Tong Liya, Guo Zhenni, Da Peng, Bai Ke, and Yin Zheng, the cast of Shengping TV is a perfect match!

The original film's satire of stereotypes about good and bad students can continue the themes he laid out in "Old Boys" and also echo the depth requirements of the Youth Image Project.

With just a little extra funding, the student's work could be upgraded with its rough lighting, costumes, and props, making it an excellent exam preparation piece.

But when he pulled out the script, he realized something was wrong, and the more he looked at it, the more wrong it seemed.

A teenage high school girl, just because "the boy I like likes you," could hurt herself so badly, slashing her own face to frame someone else?

When the second female lead was questioned by the teacher, she did not explain herself. Facing the punishment of being expelled, she refused to say "I was bandaging her wounds" in order to leave suspense for the audience.

But what he really couldn't stand was what was tucked inside the notebook.

In the serious topic of reflecting on school bullying, an extremely childish and melodramatic plot is used to forcibly explore the profound question of human nature's good and evil, such as what you see is not the truth.

Essentially, this is an attempt to whitewash bullies, and it will definitely be met with a barrage of criticism from the audience.

But even before others criticize him, he can't get over his own conscience.

To fix this major flaw in the script, Ren Pingsheng worked tirelessly in his studio for two days.

I revised it five or six times, but I was still not satisfied with any of them.

If the motive is made more believable, the reversal won't be ruthless enough.

The plot twist was too drastic, and the characters' logic collapsed again.

This kind of structure that reverses for the sake of reversing is like building a house; if the foundation is crooked, no amount of repairs on top will help.

In his distress, he even considered another alternative.

Whiplash

In its previous life, this was a short film that started out, and because the short film won awards, it attracted investment, expanded into a feature film of the same name, and eventually swept three Oscars.

This model, in theory, is tailor-made for his current situation.

First, shoot a short film of fifteen to twenty minutes and enter it into the Youth Image Project competition.

He used this short film to pass Han Sanping's exam, secured the theatrical film support promised by China Film Group, and then took the opportunity to turn it into a feature film, officially entering the theatrical market.

Moreover, the story of Whiplash is perfectly suited to the Chinese market.

What is Chinese-style education?

The saying "spare the rod and spoil the child" is just a facade; true control is the real issue.

How many children have been tormented by the phrase "I'm doing this for your own good"?

What's even more interesting is that "Whiplash" stands in stark contrast to "Oldboy".

"Old Boys" tells people that although dreams may be far away, the process of pursuing them deserves respect. Even if you don't end up on stage, you are still the brave young man you once were.

But Whiplash is asking whether, when you make achieving your dreams and becoming great your only goal in life, the person standing in the spotlight is still yourself.

One is extremely therapeutic, the other is extremely depressing.

This contrast would definitely leave Han Sanping and the judges utterly stunned.

But the question is, where do we find the actors for "Whiplash"?

This film has insanely high standards for acting.

Dapeng Baike?

They're fine with playing minor comedic characters, but what about this kind of role?

The scene was so beautiful that Ren Pingsheng didn't even dare to imagine it.

Even if you look outside, it's not easy to find an actor who has both acting skills and high musical literacy.

"It's your turn to speak, Director Ren."

A voice suddenly came from his ear, pulling Ren Pingsheng back from his reverie.

Ren Pingsheng turned his head and saw that the person who called him was a young man with messy hair.

Yang Yu.

Of course, he also has a more famous name: Dumpling.

Ren Pingsheng snapped out of his reverie and straightened his suit.

This is the awards ceremony of the 3rd Tudou Film Festival.

As the biggest dark horse in the online video industry this year, "Old Boys" missed this year's selection due to its broadcast time, but Wang Wei, CEO of Tudou.com, still invited Ren Pingsheng as a special guest to attend.

Stepping onto the stage and facing hundreds of China's most authentic online video creators, Ren Pingsheng exchanged a few polite words with practiced ease, shared some platitudes about emotional marketing in micro-films, and then stepped off the stage amidst applause.

The subsequent awards ceremony confirmed a peculiar phenomenon in the online video industry in 2010.

This was a film festival unilaterally slaughtered by animated films.

The dumpling that I just reminded him of received a Best Animation nomination for "Hit a Big Watermelon".

"I am MT" won the Most Popular Podcast Award.

The highest award of the event, the "Golden Potato Award," was won by "The War on Internet Addiction."

The most competitive Best Animated Short Film award was won by "The Adventures of Li Xianji," which features a bizarre art style and a wildly imaginative narrative.

Apart from Chai Jing's "People I Know, Things I Understand" winning the "Best Scene" award, which is more of a documentary, almost all live-action films and television shows failed to win.

This is why the sudden emergence of "Old Boys" brought such a huge shock to the industry.

The awards ceremony concluded in a warm and enthusiastic atmosphere.

The meeting then transitioned into a free-flowing social exchange session.

Ren Pingsheng had just stood up from his seat, ready to get acquainted with Ning Hao, when the two blocked his way.

"Director Ren, please wait."

The man walking in front handed over a business card. "I am Yin Le, the producer of Magic Culture. This is director Li Yang, the director of 'Li Xianji's Adventures'."

Yin Le was clearly an impatient person; after a few pleasantries, he got straight to the point.

"Director Ren, let me be frank. Li Yang and I are planning to turn 'The Adventures of Li Xianji' into a live-action film. I wonder if you'd be interested in collaborating?"

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