A widower's entertainment

Chapter 444 [Daughter's Short Film] (Please Subscribe)
Xinghua Hutong, Beijing.

Lin Zhaomei naturally wanted to make a short film. She had wanted to be a director for a long time. Although it was just a simple idea at first, she is now very clear about her goal, which is to get into the directing department of Beijing Film Academy.

The reason for choosing the directing department of Yenching Film Academy is naturally because most directors, such as Zhang Yimou and Chen Aige, graduated from Yenching Film Academy.

She has also acted in film crews. After all, she had real experience in the film "War Meridian". Later, she also went to the Yanjing Television Art Production Center to learn. It can be said that she has been exposed to film and television production from an early age. Not to mention that her father is a well-known writer whose novels have been adapted into films and television series, and he has also written screenplays.

It can be said that these experiences, without her even realizing it, gave Lin Zhaomei a considerable understanding of the light and shadow on the big screen.

The more she learned about the art of filmmaking, the more serious she became, especially as she realized just how remarkable her father, screenwriter Lin Youcheng, truly was. Initially, she had planned to have her father write a script for a short film, but now that Lin Youcheng was asking her to write it herself, she naturally began to think about what kind of script she wanted to write and what kind of story she wanted to film.

Although Lin Zhaomei never talked about it much, she was actually very clear about many things: her mother's passing, her father taking care of her and her siblings, and her father's remarriage a few years later.

Lin Zhaomei even knew very well why her eldest sister, Lin Zhaoxi, wanted to become a doctor, and specifically an obstetrician-gynecologist. She was well aware of all of this.

Lin Zhaomei is now planning to write her own short film, but she doesn't intend to write about ordinary stories from school. She has considered writing about her mother, but she feels that it might make her current mother, Xie Shuhua, feel uncomfortable. After thinking it over, Lin Zhaomei decides to write about her cousin, Zhao Gensheng.

Lin Zhaomei naturally knew that her cousin Zhao Gensheng had taken the college entrance examination in Yunnan Province, but someone had impersonated him. If her father hadn't discovered this, her cousin might never have known about it.

Lin Zhaomei found the story very impactful; at least when she first heard it, she was terrified, especially after seeing her cousin Zhao Gensheng crying. She now finds such things truly frightening, as a person's fate can be altered so drastically.

However, Lin Zhaomei felt that how to write such a story in a way that would fit the script into a short film was difficult, since the matter was actually very complicated and it seemed that even a short film would be hard to explain it clearly.

"destiny".

Lin Zhaomei looked at the title of the script she had written in her notebook. She thought the title was good, but how should she write it? A person's fate was taken over by someone else. What kind of life would it have been if it hadn't been discovered?
In Lin Zhaomei's view, this matter is truly terrifying.

Lin Zhaomei also went to the cinema with her father to see the movie "The Truman Show". Although the story was different and not as unrealistic as the "The Truman Show" written by her father, Lin Youcheng, Lin Zhaomei believed that Truman's fate was actually manipulated at birth and that the truth was always hidden from those around him. If the truth had not been discovered, Truman might have lived in a false world for the rest of his life.

Lin Zhaomei's thoughts were in turmoil. She really wanted to film this story because she felt it was terrifying—a person's fate was altered because their identity was stolen, and then they went down different paths.

If you're actually filming, you can use a handheld camera to shoot with shaky, unstable shots, objectively and realistically presenting the characters' inner emotions. Through the shaky shots, you can express the characters' inner confusion and struggle, as well as their sense of being adrift in fate...

As Lin Zhaomei thought this, she felt an even stronger urge to express herself, and thus began writing the script for "Destiny".

……

Undoubtedly, Lin Youcheng was surprised when he saw the short film script written by Lin Zhaomei, because he never expected that Lin Zhaomei would think of writing such a profound story. Looking at Lin Zhaomei, who was not yet seventeen years old, Lin Youcheng really felt that his daughter's thoughts were very unusual.

Although the story of the short film is simple and straightforward, or even too rough, Lin Youcheng believes that Lin Zhaomei also has her own ideas.

But the very word "destiny" was enough to startle Lin Youcheng.

This is a very important point, which is why Lin Youcheng initially let Lin Zhaomei write the script herself. This is because Lin Youcheng wanted Lin Zhaomei to think for herself first and have her own ideas, which is very important.

"Zhaomei, how did you come up with the idea to write this story?"

Lin Zhaomei looked at her father, Lin Youcheng, with bright and clear eyes and said directly, "I was thinking of my cousin Zhao Gensheng. I thought that incident was very terrible, so I wanted to make this story. If it weren't for you discovering it, Father, my cousin might never have found out that he had actually passed the exam."

When Lin Youcheng heard Lin Zhaomei's words, he naturally knew how serious Zhao Gensheng's matter was. Otherwise, his second sister, Lin Youfeng, would not have gone out of her way to investigate and report on it. The news later caused a great stir, or rather, a storm, after all, the butterfly effect exists.

As for whether a film like "Destiny," a true story about college entrance exam fraud, would pass censorship, Lin Youcheng thinks it shouldn't be a big problem, since the matter has already been reported in the news.

Lin Youcheng felt that there was nothing wrong with Lin Zhaomei wanting to film this story, but he felt that it would be a bit too easy for Lin Zhaomei's script to be made into a short film. In fact, things like being impersonated in the college entrance examination would have been difficult to report if they hadn't been reported before, since those who were impersonated would hardly know that they had been impersonated.

The next few films and TV series about college entrance exam fraud are probably "The Road of Life," adapted from Lu Yao's novel of the same name. In it, Gao Jialin is admitted to a university in Shanghai, but his classmate Gao Shuangxing steals his place. Another film is "The Calm Beyond," where Song Hao, a top high school student, accidentally kills someone after his guaranteed university admission is stolen, forcing him to live a life of hardship. This film is more of a crime thriller, and it's not just about identity theft, but about a guaranteed university admission. Moreover, the person whose identity was stolen is not ordinary; at the time of the incident, Song Hao's father, Song Jianfei, was already a prominent figure in the Xiyuan City Construction Committee, while Li Tang's father was the deputy mayor of Xiyuan City. Yet, Song Hao was at the top of his class, while Li Tang was academically weak. It can be said that this story is not like Zhao Gensheng, a farmer's son whose identity and name were stolen.

In addition, there is another movie called "Lion Turns Back", which also tells the story of two people who become estranged due to the incident of their college entrance examination scores being stolen. However, ten years later, Ding Shan returns to her hometown and reunites with Zhang Shasha to fight against the dark forces together. It can be said that it focuses on the crime theme from a female perspective, showing the transformation of human nature and social reality through the entanglement of the two female protagonists across ten years.

There are also some lesser-known short films, such as the one named after a real-life incident. Inspired by the college entrance exam cheating scandal, it tells the story of a teacher who, after discovering that he had been impersonated decades ago, chooses to forgive in the face of the truth. It is only fifteen minutes long.

In Lin Youcheng's view, the word "fate" that his daughter Lin Zhaomei came up with was undoubtedly a good one, especially since the story was also very dramatic. However, he wondered how to film the story properly. If it were just a straightforward story, it would simply be about someone whose college entrance exam was stolen, who discovers years later that they have been impersonated, and then seeks answers.

"Zhao Mei, your novel 'Destiny' is very good. Do you want to make a film about the impact of time substitution on people's fate?"

When Lin Zhaomei heard Lin Youcheng ask this question, she nodded and said, "Yes, I just feel that it's very sad when a person's fate is taken over and they go down a completely opposite path."

Lin Youcheng nodded.

In Lin Youcheng's view, such stories are very dramatic, but in terms of fate, the college entrance examination does indeed determine a person's destiny, especially in the 1980s, and of course, the same is true in 1994.

Completely opposite paths?

In Lin Youcheng's view, if it is about fate, then it should present two different fates to be more impactful.

"Zhaomei, have you ever considered the possibility of two different fates occurring simultaneously?"

Upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Lin Zhaomei couldn't help but think for a moment, contemplating the simultaneous appearance of two different fates, and said, "Like Kieslowski's 'Blindfolded'?"

Lin Zhaomei naturally sought out resources to watch works by foreign film masters, especially with director teachers like Tian Zhuangzhuang guiding her. Naturally, she could find and read a lot of materials. This was also why, being in Beijing, it wasn't too difficult for Lin Zhaomei to borrow some film-related books.

Lin Youcheng nodded.

However, what he was thinking about was a movie that would appear later, "The Birth of a Brother," which was released in 1997 in another time and space. What it was most talked about was its repetitive narrative, which was perfectly constructed with a segmented structure. The world-famous "Run Lola Run" completed this conventional challenge two years later.

However, events like being impersonated in the college entrance exam aren't determined by the protagonist's personality. Different choices made under similar circumstances, even something as small as whether Huang Agou would pay the bill at the massage parlor, can drive events in drastically different directions. But regardless of the choice, there always seems to be an unseen hand manipulating things, like an omnipotent God coldly watching humanity maneuver and dodge on a chessboard.

Repetitive narratives are like the garden of forking paths in Borges's painting. In this world full of infinite possibilities, time seems to have countless series, with diverging, converging, or parallel times weaving a constantly growing and intricate web. This revolutionary narrative structure first appeared in film in Kieslowski's 1982 film *Blindfold*, where the gangster Ah Gou faces two choices at the crossroads of his life at the age of 32: continue his aimless life or make a big splash. The film develops into two hypothetical scenarios.

In Lin Youcheng's view, Lin Zhaomei's film *Destiny* could also have a segmented structure with different destinies. However, the original *The Birth of a Gangster* was highly experimental, with the ticking of the second hand altering the protagonist's fate: courage leads to success, while lack of backbone results in a mediocre death. The ending is particularly intriguing, with everything starting anew, symbolizing the uncertainty of the protagonist's destiny. The script structure is highly creative, employing a two-part, cyclical format, with dramatic ups and downs in the characters' circumstances and mindsets, making it extremely captivating. The entire script is quite gripping, and many details are brilliantly crafted.

However, if it is indeed a segmented "Destiny", then the story should not be a short film, but a feature film. The key is that the fate of being replaced in the college entrance examination is not as direct as a chain reaction, but rather a very long period of time. In this way, there is no sense of tension and excitement. But even so, the different fates of the same person are actually a common occurrence in film works.

This naturally requires scriptwriting. Of course, there are stories like the American commercial film "The Family Man," which tells the story of a person experiencing two different fates, or the 1987 film "Song of Chance," which tells the story of a Polish youth studying at a medical university who, after receiving news of his father's death, decides to face his life anew. He rushes to the train station to catch a train to Warsaw, but when he arrives at the platform, the train has already departed. It is here that the film begins to present three completely different possible developments, narrating different storylines from the three scenarios of him catching the train and missing the train.

"Dad, do you mean to have an actor portray two different fates simultaneously, one of the person whose life was stolen, and the other of the person whose life wasn't stolen?"

Lin Zhaomei found this very interesting, because the contrast between these two fates would be even stronger. However, Lin Zhaomei didn't know if she could make a good film about this story, and she felt that if she made it this way, it would no longer be a short film, but very likely a feature film.

Looking at her father, Lin Zhaomei suddenly felt that her short film was about to become a feature film.

Lin Zhaomei looked at Lin Youcheng and said, "Dad, I need to think about it carefully. I also think it would be better if two different fates were to unfold."

In reality, the difference between short films and feature films is simply the length. For example, Jia Zhangke's short film "Xiaoshan Goes Home" is nearly 57 minutes long.

Whether Lin Zhaomei shoots a short film or a feature film doesn't really matter to Lin Youcheng. After all, it's just for Lin Zhaomei to practice. If Lin Zhaomei feels that a feature film is too complicated, she can put the script aside for now and shoot it when she is more confident. These are not big issues. After all, the production cost is very simple for Lin Youcheng, and he will support his daughter.

(End of this chapter)