I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

[White Elephant Talks Movies: Before discussing Lu Ban's new film, I want to talk about this director. He debuted with horror videos, short videos, online films, and theatrical films. In less than a year, he went from an unknown nobody to a sought-after director. His rise is worth pondering. First, it's impossible for a normal film to be produced in such a short time, so he must have been prepared and had already filmed it before releasing it step by step. Second, the actors he chose are very secretive; other film companies can't find them. I have reason to believe that there is huge capital behind him preparing to enter the market, and Lu Ban's appearance is just a signal...]

"Huge capital?"

Lu Ban looked behind him and saw only two wisps of mist, one black and one gray, swirling around him; there was no sign of any enormous capital.

Although Song Yunyan's Jiangcheng Industrial Group is a large conglomerate, it is well known that Lu Ban is now self-sufficient and has hardly ever asked Song Yunyan for further investment.

"This won't work."

Lu Ban drew a conclusion.

He ignored the subsequent discussions and let the buzz spread on its own. With the bombardment of modern social media, a hot topic like Lu Ban was bound to become even more popular.

While continuing production, Lu Ban also managed to create a second trailer.

Before it was even posted, Lu Ban saw a screenshot of a post that some public accounts he usually followed had forwarded. The screenshot showed the title of the post.

Analysis of the new work in the Silent Project: Lu Ban is about to fall from grace!

"?"

Lu Ban didn't know how he had become a god. He curiously clicked on one of the articles and read it carefully.

"...Although Lu Ban's horror films are excellent and no one in the market can compete with them at present, if Lu Ban continues to indulge in his comfort zone and does not break out of it, he will soon become stagnant, eventually crash and burn and fall from grace. He should make some more emotionally rich or large-scale productions, instead of continuing to dabble in niche horror films!"

Chapter 238 "The Mouth of a Madman" PV2

After reading this article, Lu Ban roughly understood a few points.

Firstly, although I am now a master in the field of horror films, I cannot keep making horror films. I need to make more films of other genres to prove myself.

Secondly, if Lu Ban continues to make horror films, he will soon be overtaken by others, and if he does not transform in time, he will be overthrown by the next generation.

Why should I make movies of other genres?

Lu Ban found it incredible.

Logically speaking, if a person is good at something, they should do that. Forcing someone to do something they are not good at will cause problems, which is something everyone understands.

If Lu Ban were to actually listen to these analyses and go on to make some kind of romantic popcorn movie, that would be a real disaster.

Moreover, Lu Ban's current films are not only for his own satisfaction, but also for the peace of the world. After witnessing the events in the ruined capital, Lu Ban is increasingly convinced that improving the world's ability to accept knowledge from other realms is the best way to maintain civilization amidst future changes.

If pollution is unstoppable, then it is better to proactively adapt than to passively accept it.

Lu Ban even speculated that the source of this pollution, those indescribable great beings, might maintain their existence by first modifying themselves and then polluting their surroundings, thus avoiding complete madness by actively losing a portion of their rationality.

Of course, if that were really the case, then this world would indeed be doomed.

Ignoring the content of the article, Lu Ban uploaded his second trailer in late March.

Wang Qing, a reporter for "Film Report," was the first person to interview Lu Ban face-to-face, and has been paying close attention to the director's every move ever since his film became a hit.

Then Wang Jing discovered that Lu Ban really didn't move at all.

Aside from regular movie promotions, Lu Ban's social media accounts are quite casual. Sometimes he posts pictures of stray cats downstairs, sometimes he posts about what he ate that day. It's very relaxed and personal.

What fans should pay the most attention to are probably Lu Ban's occasional book reviews and movie comments.

People are trying to glean from these snippets of information about Lu Ban's recent movements and the direction of his future works.

However, these book reviews and film comments are quite abstract.

For example, after watching a romance movie, Lu Ban commented, "The dog in the movie acted very well and was very cute. I want to raise one." Then, many fans in the comments below expressed their desire to be Lu Ban's dog.

For example, after reading a biography, Lu Ban commented, "The book is very interesting, and the person is very interesting." Then, the comments below speculated whether Lu Ban was going to invite this guy into the film of Project Silence.

Lu Ban's most recent status update was a photo of an empty living room taken with his phone. There was a large mirror on the sofa, but nothing was reflected in it.

The accompanying text read, "I cleaned the house, and it's very clean."

The comments below are all discussing how the color of the sofa foreshadows a tragic ending for the next installment.

"These people have such divergent thinking."

Wang Qing felt they were overthinking things.

But after examining the work closely, he noticed something was off.

Wang Qing had been to Lu Ban's house and knew the layout of his living room. Therefore, if Lu Ban wanted to take a photo from this angle, he would definitely need to stand in front of a mirror.

So why is there no reflection of Lu Ban in the mirror?

Wang Qing gasped, not daring to think about it further.

He did indeed encounter some unusual things at Lu Ban's house.

I've heard that some movie stars resort to unorthodox methods to improve their luck, and Lu Ban might be one of them.

Otherwise, how could a normal person come up with the kind of plot and visuals that make people think he's crazy?

While Wang Qing was thinking, she noticed that Lu Ban had suddenly updated his status.

[The Mouth of a Madman PV2]

It's a very simple name, but it's packed with information.

Wang Qing clicked on it without hesitation.

"One and a half minutes, that's a long time."

For a trailer, one and a half minutes is already quite long, not to mention that the first PV was released less than a month ago, and now the second one is being released, which shows that the production progress is very good.

Normally, trailers are released in quick succession starting about two months before the film's release.

"Could we be able to see this movie this year?"

When Wang Qing clicked play, the first thing she saw was a person with a haggard face and dark circles under his eyes. In the shadows of the people around him, something seemed to be wriggling.

“I saw those things, they were slithering in the shadows, and I knew I had to take action…”

A voiceover came through, seemingly the person's own monologue, delivered in a frenzied and neurotic tone.

The scene shifts to another person standing in front of an oil painting depicting a bizarre and insane monster. Whether it was Wang Qing's imagination or not, the monster in the painting seemed to be slowly crawling out, moving from the virtual world into reality.

"It's real, it's real, I saw it with my own eyes, the monster walked towards me..."

The even more hysterical wailing sent a chill down Wang Qing's spine. The eerily strange oil painting gave him a strong sense of unease, like seeing a portrait photograph with inverted colors, making him feel uneasy.

The scene shifts again to a man with a gaunt, lifeless expression, staring at the audience outside the video feed.

“I heard those things crawling out from the walls, the ceiling, between the tables and chairs, from everywhere I could see. Yes, that’s it…”

At this moment, countless tiny spiders crawled out from the man's face, ears, nostrils, mouth, and eyes. These spiders were probably only the size of sesame seeds, but there were so many of them that they covered the man's face in a dense mass. Behind him, even larger spiders climbed up the wall, making one's scalp tingle.

Wang Qing subconsciously touched her face, but felt as if she had touched something like a tiny crawling insect.

Holy crap!

He quickly moved his hand away and saw that it was a small winged ant that had flown onto his face without him noticing.

Where did these ants come from?

Wang Qing glanced at the tightly closed window.

Then, the trailer shifted again, showing a series of eerie, suspenseful, and dangerous scenes. For example, the glass next to Lu Ban was shattered by a bullet; a car sped across the fields with countless monsters rushing in behind it; and the three heard a creaking sound coming from upstairs while investigating a house.

Finally, the scene lingered on Sia vomiting, and the background music became much lighter.

"So, even a beautiful girl's vomit smells bad."

Just as Lu Ban finished speaking, the relaxed atmosphere had barely begun when a ferocious-looking monster suddenly appeared outside the car window.

The trailer ends abruptly here, leaving only the title "The Mouth of a Madman".

The title text was also designed; the handwritten font was wild and chaotic, giving one a feeling of discomfort just looking at those few words.

"The level of completion is so high!"

After watching the trailer, Wang Qing's first impression was this: the trailer featured many scenes and special effects, and Wang Qing knew very well that these couldn't have been made specifically for the trailer; it was clearly filmed and almost finished before being edited.

In other words, the completion level of "The Mouth of a Madman" may far exceed everyone's imagination!

Chapter 239 Is this just empty promises?

After the release of the second trailer for "The Mouth of a Madman," the internet remained silent for a short period.

Because it's too fast!

Everyone initially thought that since Lu Ban's first trailer was so short and lackluster, the full movie was probably just starting to be prepared, and the actors might not even have been found yet. The whole thing was still in the early stages of development.

Unexpectedly, within a month, Lu Ban's second trailer was already so well-made.

The first three monologues in the trailer are similar in style, but the terrifying aspects they present are not the same.

The first is shadow. Dark places always make people instinctively afraid. Everyone has probably fantasized about a hand or something else suddenly appearing in the shadows and grabbing them when they were young. Because darkness represents the unknown, the fear of the dark is a human instinct.

The second is color. If pure darkness brings people the unknown and unease, then overly bright and unique colors that do not belong to nature give people a sense of danger. Just like poisonous mushrooms and insects, which use bright colors to protect themselves, the eerie paintings bring people such a primitive terror.

The third is insects, such as spiders, centipedes, and centipedes. These creatures with more than four legs are usually highly venomous. There are probably very few people in the world who are not afraid of spiders. Seeing spiders crawling out of a human body, densely packed together, can give you goosebumps.

Moreover, Lu Ban's films possess a certain power that transcends reality. When you see a monster in the dark, it's as if something is stirring in the shadows around you. When you see an oil painting with a strange monster, it's as if that thing is about to crawl out of the screen. And when spiders crawl all over the people on the screen, the audience can also feel the sensation of insects crawling all over their bodies.

As for the later scenes, they follow the standard tropes of an adventure/suspense film: some grand scenes, some individual performances, some lighthearted banter, and finally, a thrilling finale.

These combinations created a chemical reaction under the special effects visuals of Lu Ban's film, which, simply put, is very addictive.

On the movie rating website DouDou.com, in a discussion group that gathers many industry professionals, discussions about Lu Ban's new film have increased along with the release of the second trailer.

[Actor Zhao Kuo]: It seems that Director Lu used the same actors in his second film. Does anyone know how to contact them?

[Movie Bricklayer]: What do you want to do if we get in touch? Steal someone else's talent?

[Actor Zhao Kuo]: No, don't you guys find it strange? The actors in Lu Ban are all top-notch. The girls are beautiful and the men are very well-suited to their roles. For example, the dean in "Crying" is just like a real, heartless doctor. It's unreasonable that such a character hasn't appeared in any other movies!

[Hengdian Xiaozhi]: What's unreasonable about this? There are so many actors you don't know about. There are so many extras all over the country, and even in Hengdian there are hundreds of new people every day. Lu Ban probably has some special channels to find these actors who are suitable for the roles.

[Ordinary screenwriter A Xiang]: Indeed, sometimes great directors like to use newcomers, like so-and-so, and so-and-so, like Lu Ban. I guess they have some quirks when it comes to casting.

[Yan Nan Xiao Liu]: Speaking of which, I've been working on a production recently. One of the male supporting actors is a rich second-generation who got the role by bringing his own investment. He used to be a variety show actor with terrible acting skills, but then he somehow found Lu Ban and supposedly received guidance and instruction from him. Now his acting skills are off the charts. You'll probably see it soon. That terrified expression of his is just like seeing a ghost!

[Red Bean Popsicle]: Is Lu Ban really that amazing? He seemed like just an ordinary, mediocre graduate a year ago. Is there some kind of person behind this creating a persona for him?

[Movie Bricklayer]: Speaking of this, it cracks me up. A friend of mine told me the other day while we were drinking that last March or April, a handyman handed him a horror movie script, which he rejected without even looking at it. But now, looking back, wow, that handyman was Lu Ban! Isn't that a coincidence?