Rebirth 09: Starting from taking charge of Running Man on CCTV

In Chapter 11, the entire screen went dark, yet he was able to make blind cuts.

It was only recorded for a few minutes.

Then a problem arose.

"The footage from Unit 3 has been lost!"

A sentence burst out from the walkie-talkie, and Lao Li's voice crackled.

Immediately afterwards, the sounds of Unit 5 and Unit 7 came out one after another.

"Even Unit 5 is failing; the screen is just static!"

"The image transmission signal from Group 7 is intermittent, and the video is choppy!"

At the director's control panel, three out of the six monitors were simultaneously experiencing static, and the remaining images began to shake.

Chen Yang's hand rested on the walkie-talkie, but he didn't press any buttons.

He looked up at the stadium's dome-shaped steel frame structure and instantly understood.

In 2009, the effective range of civilian wireless image transmission was limited to a maximum of 200 meters. It suffered severe signal attenuation when penetrating walls. When encountering the steel structure of enclosed venues, signal reflection and superposition inevitably led to crosstalk.

He had encountered this problem no less than twenty times in his previous life.

Inside the venue, the seven simulated guests were running around enthusiastically. Da Liu had just cornered Xiao Zhou, while Pang Hu, carrying a 210-pound body, was circling around a pillar to evade the pursuit of the director, Xiao Zhao.

The rhythm picked up, the mood was right, and everyone's adrenaline was surging.

If we stop now, all this momentum will dissipate, and today's efforts will have been wasted.

Starting over? The state these people worked so hard to achieve can't be replicated just by shouting "start over".

The camera crew crouching on the sidelines were already looking at each other in bewilderment.

Zhang, carrying a Sony PDW-700 camera, glanced back at Chen Yang, his face clearly saying, "What do I do?"

"Attention all camera crews."

Chen Yang pressed the talk button on the walkie-talkie, his voice calm and steady, without a trace of panic.

"From now on, turn off all wireless video transmission transmitters."

There was a moment of silence on the walkie-talkie.

Old Li's voice rang out: "Turn off image transmission? Director Chen, if you turn it off you won't be able to see what we're filming!"

"There's no need to see it."

Chen Yang stood up and scanned the positions of everyone in the venue.

"All cameramen, from now on, listen to my walkie-talkie instructions. I say who to film, you film that person. I say push, you push. I say pull, you pull. I say 'Cut to Liu Cixin for a close-up,' and you, camera number three, shove it right in Liu Cixin's face."

"Keep the timecode synchronized, don't stop in-camera recording, no need to send back footage, just send me back every frame of the footage once it's finished shooting."

Old Li paused for two seconds on the walkie-talkie.

"Director Chen, you can't see our footage, how do you know what we should be filming?"

"Because I know the location of everyone in the venue."

Chen Yang spoke in a calm and indifferent tone, as if he were saying something that was taken for granted.

"Guan Tu Chuan, now."

The seven cameramen looked at each other, none of them daring to make the first move.

Old Li gritted his teeth and reached out to turn off the switch on the image transmitter on the side of the fuselage.

He spoke to the other people on the walkie-talkie.

"Listen to Director Chen, turn it off."

Pop, pop, pop.

On the monitoring platform, the few remaining monitors with images were all turned off.

All six screens were filled with static.

Sun Bin stood on the sidelines, watching this scene, his back covered in sweat.

He's been a director for almost twenty years and has never seen a director voluntarily give up monitoring all the footage during filming.

That's not called being bold.

That's insane.

But Chen Yang no longer had time to care what others thought.

He closed his eyes, and the spatial memory bank in his mind automatically unfolded, showing the three-dimensional structure of the stadium, the precise coordinates of the twenty-three fixed camera positions, the predicted movement trajectories of the seven simulated guests, and the obstruction angles of each pillar and partition.

Everything floats in my consciousness like a model.

He opened his eyes and pressed the intercom.

"Camera number three, turn ninety degrees to the left, advance five meters towards your ten o'clock position. Liu is coming out from behind the pillar in area C. Give me a mid-range shot from the front."

"Camera number five, don't move. Xiao Zhou will run past you on your right in three seconds. Follow him, keep a distance of 1.5 meters, and use a first-person perspective shoulder-mounted follow shot."

"Unit 7, return to the corner of Sector D and wait. In ten seconds, Fat Tiger will be forced into that dead end. I need a shot of him being pushed out from the shadows to create a sense of oppression."

Instructions came one after another, precise to the second and accurate to the meter.

Just as Lao Li was turning the machine according to instructions, Da Liu popped out from behind a pillar, his face right in the center of the camera lens.

The time difference was less than half a second.

Old Li's pupils contracted slightly.

He carried the camera for five years, and no director had ever been able to predict the guests' movements with such precision without being able to see the screen.

"Camera number five, Xiao Zhou, speed up and lower the camera by fifteen degrees to give me a sense of urgency as you shoot from below while running."

"Zoom out from fixed camera position number two and take a panoramic view of area B. Xiao Meng and Xiao Zhao are right there in that area, forming a chasing line."

"Old Li, Big Liu is about to clash with Old Ma head-on. Get ready, three, two, one... tear!"

A hissing sound came from the walkie-talkie, followed by Da Liu's roar and Lao Ma's scream.

"Number three is great! Cut to a close-up of the designer brand on Liu Cixin's hand, two seconds, that's enough, pull back to a medium shot."

One instruction after another spewed from Chen Yang's mouth like a machine gun, without pause, without hesitation, and without a single wasted word.

Throughout the stadium, seven cameramen acted like marionettes, each precisely executing a command, as if guided by the same string.

They couldn't see each other's shots, but under Chen Yang's direction, there wasn't a single second of collision, a single blind spot, or a single empty shot.

Sun Bin stood on the sidelines, his knuckles white from gripping the walkie-talkie so tightly.

He didn't say anything.

Because he could no longer speak.

The 24-year-old in front of me isn't directing a film.

He was simultaneously running a complete 3D real-time map in his mind, taking over the eyes of all seven cameras.

What kind of ability is this?

Sun Bin worked at CCTV for nearly twenty years, and the most impressive live coordination he ever saw was the chief director of the 02 Spring Festival Gala.

But the chief director had thirty monitors, a twelve-person directing team, and a complete wired communication system.

What does Chen Yang have?

A walkie-talkie.

One brain.

enough.

……

"Final round, the name tag ripping showdown! All cameras, take note!"

When Chen Yang's voice came through the walkie-talkie, only two people remained in the center of the venue.

Liu and Zhou.

One is 1.85 meters tall and weighs 190 kilograms, while the other is 1.67 meters tall and as thin as a bamboo pole.

Force versus speed.

Da Liu hunched over, like a black bear poised to pounce.

Xiao Zhou took two steps back, his toes barely touching the ground, ready to change direction at any moment.

"Camera number three circles behind Liu, camera number five locks onto Zhou's front, camera number one, fixed position, pulls out a panoramic view..."

Before Chen Yang could finish giving his instructions, Xiao Zhou suddenly moved.

He feinted, darted to the left, then suddenly turned back and circled around to the right.

Da Liu missed his target, but the momentum was too great to stop, and his shoulder hit a pillar next to him.

Xiao Zhou's hand had already reached Da Liu's back.

"hiss!"

The sound of name tags being torn off echoed throughout the stadium.

"Perfect! All cameras shut down!"

Chen Yang took off his headset and stood up.

Seven people were sprawled on the ground, panting heavily, their T-shirts soaked with sweat, their faces covered in perspiration.

But everyone was laughing.

Da Liu lay on the ground, looked at the torn name tag for a moment, and then suddenly sat up.

"Director Chen, let me speak from the bottom of my heart."

He wiped the sweat from his face.

"You are the most perverted director I have ever met in my life."

"Thank you for the compliment."

Chen Yang walked over from the sidelines and threw the towels to them one by one.

"You've worked hard today, let's call it a day."

"I'm treating everyone to a barbecue tonight. Those who don't come will have extra practice tomorrow."

Nobody said they wouldn't go.

……

7:30 p.m.

Outside the east gate of the CCTV compound, at the corner of an alley, lies a long-established roadside food stall.

There was no signboard, no decorations, just a tin shed, four rows of benches and plastic tables, and a string of yellowish incandescent light bulbs overhead.

The smoke from the grilled lamb skewers billowed from the iron stove, mingling with the aroma of cumin and chili powder, drifting across half the street.

A case of Yanjing beer sits in the center of the table.

Fifteen people squeezed two tables together, making it extremely crowded.

Seven simulated guests, seven cameramen, plus Chen Yang.

After pouring the first round of wine, Chen Yang stood up, holding his glass.

"This meal today isn't a celebration; it's something I, Chen Yang, owe everyone."

He first raised the cup to Old Li.

"Old Li, you were the first to turn off the image transmission today, willing to take the lead and listen to my wild instructions. That gave me a sense of control. Without your step, everything would have fallen into chaos."

"This glass is for you."

Old Li's lips moved, but he didn't say anything polite and downed the drink in one gulp.

Chen Yang turned to Da Liu.

"Big Liu, you're 1.85 meters tall and weigh 190 pounds. I pinned you against the wall and tore off your name tag twice, but you didn't get angry. Instead, you just kept running with more energy. When it comes to enduring hardship, no one here can compare to you."

Da Liu's face turned red, whether from the heat or something else, it was hard to tell.

"Director Chen, please stop praising me. If you keep praising me, I'll carry your equipment for free next time."

"You said that?" Chen Yang immediately replied.

The whole table laughed.

He held the cup up to Fat Tiger.

"Fat Tiger, you weigh 210 pounds, and you've been running around all day without taking a single day off. Do you think I don't know if your knees hurt?"

Fat Tiger's hand holding the cup trembled slightly.

"Director Chen, what's wrong...?"

"I saw you sneaking off to the sidelines to rub your knees during lunch break."

Chen Yang touched his cup.

"From now on, if you work in my group, I'll get you the best knee braces."

Fat Tiger lowered his head, took a big gulp of wine, and said nothing.

Chen Yang held the cup and went through each of the fifteen people one by one.

I can call everyone by name and tell you about the most outstanding moment of each person's day.

It wasn't the kind of clichéd speech typical of leaders; every sentence was specific, truthful, and poignant.

After three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere at the table completely changed.

Xiao Zhou put down his phone and, for the first time, proactively poured wine for Chen Yang.

"Director Chen, let me tell you the truth."