A widower's entertainment

Although Lin Youcheng provided 100,000 yuan for Lin Zhaomei's short film, he, as her father, would naturally cover any shortfall if Lin Zhaomei lacked funds. Not to mention, he was also the producer of Lin Zhaomei's short film.

However, Lin Youcheng also gave Lin Zhaomei free rein to organize and film the production team herself. After all, Lin Zhaomei needed to familiarize herself with these things, especially since a girl who wants to make it in the film industry naturally needs to have the ability. Lin Youcheng was just protecting and supporting Lin Zhaomei.

In Lin Youcheng's view, this short film was just a practice piece for Lin Zhaomei.

In reality, this is just a matter of different resources and starting lines. A simple 100,000 yuan is just the shooting budget for a short film. You should know that when Director Jia was shooting his feature film "Xiao Wu", he had a hard time getting 200,000 yuan in shooting funds from Hong Kong.

Lin Zhaomei was well aware that she had gained a lot of advantages by using her father Lin Youcheng's name. For example, Zhou Xun, the female lead in this short film, would not have acted for free if she hadn't been an actress in her father's company and had a good relationship with her. Most importantly, Zhou Xun's acting skills really satisfied her.

If we were to find another actress, who knows how much effort it would take.

Lin Youcheng shouldn't interfere with Lin Zhaomei's filming. Of course, he would provide help if needed, but for now, it's just Lin Zhaoman, her little follower, running around for Lin Zhaomei.

"Zhao Mei is filming in the suburbs right now, aren't you going to go check it out?"

Xie Shuhua naturally knew that after Lin Zhaomei received her admission notice to the Directing Department of Yanjing Film Academy, she was busy filming a short film, which was currently being filmed in the countryside of Beijing. This could be considered as filming scenes set in the countryside.

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "We'll go check later. Zhaoman and Zhaoqing are there too, so don't worry too much."

Because Lin Zhaomei was going to film in the countryside outside Beijing, not only Lin Zhaoman accompanied her, but her older brother Lin Zhaoqing also went to the film set. After all, Lin Zhaoqing was also a sports student at the Physical Education Teachers College, so he was naturally able to take good care of Lin Zhaomei.

Of course, this was filming in the suburbs of Beijing. If Lin Zhaomei were to go to a remote mountainous area to film this short film at this time, Lin Youcheng would naturally not agree, since who knows what might happen in such a place.

Xie Shuhua also knew this, and said, "It's not easy for her to make this short film."

Lin Youcheng naturally knew that making short films was not a simple or easy task for his daughter Lin Zhaomei, and that there were many things he had to do himself. As her father, all he could do was create better creative conditions for Lin Zhaomei so that she wouldn't have to worry about funding for the filming.

It's important to understand that film production at places like Yanjing Film Studio is extremely difficult these days, and they've accumulated a lot of debt. The director of Yanjing Film Studio is no longer Cheng Zhigu, but Director Han. The employees' wages are a problem, let alone film production. They've all been going to other state-owned enterprises to beg for money.

Because of Lin Youcheng's status as a screenwriting mogul, his film scripts fetch incredibly high prices when sold to Hollywood. Since Lin Youcheng also owns his own film company, he naturally receives offers to invest in films. However, it's clear that Lin Youcheng isn't going to be taken advantage of. He already invests in television dramas and owns several properties, so it's understandable that he might not have the funds to invest in films. Of course, if a film is good, Lin Youcheng would be willing to invest, but such opportunities are rare.

The domestic film industry is in a slump, but the overseas film market is booming.

Meanwhile, another sci-fi film, "Source Code," written by Lin Youcheng, has been released in the United States. It is undoubtedly a sci-fi suspense film with outstanding box office performance. In fact, compared to Lin Youcheng's previous film, "The Butterfly Effect," this low-budget sci-fi film, "Source Code," may have achieved even more explosive box office results due to its large-scale explosion scenes.

Paramount Pictures bought the script for "Source Code" for a hefty sum and released it in the United States. It was a truly amazing science fiction film that caused an unprecedented sensation in Hollywood upon its release.

Although Hollywood film companies knew that Paramount Pictures had acquired a science fiction script by Lin Youcheng, and given the impressive performances of "Coherence" and "The Butterfly Effect," they naturally had high expectations for Lin Youcheng's "Source Code."

Even now that the movie has actually been released, it's truly shocking!
Clearly, neither American audiences nor film critics expected that Lin Youcheng, the screenwriter from the East, would have such an incredible imagination.

Most importantly, Hollywood filmmakers are well aware that Paramount Pictures' *Source Code* was filmed in just two months with a relatively low budget. Even with large-scale explosions, the film's cyclical plot allowed for the reuse of these explosions from different angles. Despite the repetition of the same shots, the film cleverly uses a compelling storyline to make this repetition feel natural. Furthermore, the film maintains clean, crisp editing and a concise narrative style, allowing it to maintain a commercial pace while also offering experimental narrative challenges, and significantly reducing the film's budget.

Of course, the most important thing is that the plot of the science fiction film "Source Code" is quite exciting. It tells the story of a dead man trying to save a city from a nuclear disaster. With its intricate and careful plot, it conveys to the world the message of not forgetting the groundhog effect. Full of suspense and beautifully produced, it is a classic horror work.

The story of a lone hero undoubtedly resonates with American audiences, especially since the film tells the story of someone who chooses to save the world in the last minute before his death, makes a fake phone call to his father while holding back tears and asks, "Sir, how are you doing lately?", bets that the comedian can't make everyone in the train car laugh, so the comedian is provoked and tries his best to make everyone in the train turn around and laugh at him, and kisses the girl he sees repeatedly when he wakes up.

So much sadness, anxiety, and unease—from the financial crisis affecting businessmen, from the psychology exams college students were about to take, from the hurried lives of coffee-serving ladies, from the daily grind of train conductors, from the cynicism of comedians. Everyone had their own worries and negative perspectives just a moment before, but in the last minute, they stopped at a joke about names. They turned around, bent down, and all looked at the person telling the joke with beaming smiles. The most touching part, of course, was that the ending still held hope; the world stopped at such a beautiful second.

This kind of science fiction story is full of touching plots. Although it is not an art film but a typical commercial film, there is no doubt that such commercial science fiction films are worthy of cheers from the audience.

Viewers who have seen the film might even revisit this unique sci-fi movie, almost as if searching for clues, because there are still many aspects of the time-travel loop in the film worth discussing and pondering. For example, there are questions that audiences constantly exchange and discuss outside the theater, such as the captain chasing the train in the third time travel, but because he chased the wrong person, the train still explodes. However, if the culprit still detonates the explosion at the time the train is about to explode, then at the time of the explosion, the captain's time travel has exceeded eight minutes. Compared to the two previous time travels where he died in explosions, this time has been longer. In fact, if there hadn't been an accidental fall onto the tracks, it's hard to say whether this time travel would have stopped on its own.
During the eighth time travel, the captain was shot by a prisoner with a pistol and died shortly after the explosion. Although the time seemed similar to the previous time travels, the prisoner looked at his watch and muttered to himself after shooting him, which clearly indicated that the time of the explosion was different from the previous ones and should be later than the previous ones. This time travel may have also exceeded the 8-minute limit.
These detailed questions will naturally make moviegoers willing to spend more money to see the movie and find the answers, which will naturally make the movie's box office even more amazing.

Numerous media outlets and newspapers have been reporting on the unique science fiction film "Source Code," sparking endless discussions and receiving rave reviews from film critics for its impressive box office performance.

A film critic in the San Francisco Chronicle praised the movie, commenting, "This sci-fi thriller is truly excellent; it's mind-blowing."

The Washington Post praised it, saying, "A fast-paced, captivating sci-fi thriller, reminiscent of Phil the groundhog's harbinger of spring. A very clever sci-fi thriller story, with screenwriter Lin Youcheng's imagination as excellent as ever."

A film critic in The Denver Post wrote: "The story of the film Source Code is constantly permeating the audience with the theory of parallel universes, but under the director's control, the story fills the audience with curiosity and desire to watch, and makes them think about the meaning of humanity. Screenwriter Lin Youcheng is also challenging the audience's thinking with a special film theme, making the audience forget the specific characters in the film, and making the audience fall in love with this kind of structured film."

The New York Daily News directly praised screenwriter Lin Youcheng's imagination: "Lin Youcheng, this amazing Eastern screenwriter, has once again made Hollywood cheer with his amazing imagination!"

A film critic in The New York Times even praised the film, saying, "The film 'Source Code' is similar in type to Lin Youcheng's previous work, 'The Butterfly Effect.' Both films win with creativity and conquer the audience with solid creativity and imagination, but they are not empty words. You can clearly feel Lin Youcheng's amazing imagination. This time, 'Source Code' rises to the level of bioethics, and each film is about an individual fighting against the authorities with their own strength, attempting to break through the lies and constraints of life."

……

Source Code was a huge hit in Hollywood. Countless film critics began writing reviews, praising and discussing the movie. Compared to The Butterfly Effect, Source Code was undoubtedly just as good, and its explosive scenes caused quite a stir at the box office.

Actually, before "Source Code," there was another science fiction film released in Hollywood, and it was a big-budget film called "Waterworld." This film had a budget of $2 million, but its box office performance was not impressive, as it only grossed $8800 million in North America. Of course, there would be box office revenue from other regions later, but even so, this film dealt a heavy blow to Universal Pictures.

To be honest, the post-apocalyptic world depicted in "Waterworld" and its visual effects were quite good, and the scenes looked realistic and explosive. Unfortunately, at the time, the mainstream of sci-fi blockbusters were works such as "Jurassic Park," "Jumanji," and "Terminator 2." While "Waterworld" was in no way inferior to the former in terms of sci-fi setting, its failure was more due to the weak plot and the audience's unfamiliarity with the new visual style, resulting in a dismal box office performance.

Compared to Waterworld, Source Code is obviously not a sci-fi blockbuster, because the production costs are simply incomparable; they are not even in the same league.

But the fact that such a low-budget sci-fi film achieved such high box office numbers, and also received excellent reviews, is enough to make many film companies tremble with fear. It's safe to say that along with the fear, there's also envy, jealousy, and resentment.

Universal Pictures, in particular, is incredibly envious. They had previously collaborated with Lin Youcheng, but his scripts for several subsequent sci-fi films were snatched away by other film companies. Furthermore, "Waterworld" dealt a significant blow to Universal Pictures, and now, seeing the astonishing box office success of "Source Code" only makes their hearts ache even more.

Yes, it really is angina.

Without a doubt, the most talked-about and hottest movie in the entire United States, and even in the entire North American film market, right now is Paramount Pictures' "Source Code".

Paramount Pictures is well aware that this is also due to the excellent script written by screenwriter Lin Youcheng. Moreover, Lin Youcheng, this Eastern screenwriter, has unknowingly become a major highlight of the film's promotion. It can be said that American audiences are naturally very much looking forward to the film works of Lin Youcheng, this is the capital accumulated by Lin Youcheng's previous works, his real reputation.

The stories written by Lin Youcheng, an Eastern screenwriter, are bound to be good. With his previous works such as "The Night the Comet Came" and "The Butterfly Effect," audiences will naturally be even more eager for Lin Youcheng's next science fiction story.

Hollywood film companies now believe that there's no reason why a film with screenwriter Lin Youcheng shouldn't be a hit.

One could even say that the name of Lin Youcheng, the screenwriter from the East, is more captivating and appealing to audiences than the explosion scenes in the movie trailer. (End of Chapter)