Huayu: As a child star, I just want to be famous

Chapter 609 These are all technical adjustments

The seating arrangement by the Oscar organizers has always followed a relatively strict hierarchy, with different seats corresponding to different groups of people.

The seats on the second floor are reserved for social celebrities or special guests who are not in the entertainment industry.

The seats at the back of the main hall are mostly for ordinary celebrity guests or invited audience members, as well as filmmakers nominated for technical awards and their families.

The first few rows, as the most attention-grabbing central area, are usually reserved for nominated celebrities, heavyweight award presenters, and VIPs invited by the organizers.

Families with significant influence in Hollywood are often seated in the front row, such as Coppola.

Even if someone like Spielberg doesn't have any works submitted this year, he won't be moved to the later rounds.

When Chen Linfeng walked to the front row, he saw him.

However, they were quite far apart horizontally, so they nodded to each other as a greeting.

Feng Xiaogang was also in the first few rows, close to the aisle, so it was impolite not to say a few words.

"I haven't congratulated Director Feng on his nomination yet, congratulations!"

Feng Xiaogang hurriedly stood up, "Hey, it was all by luck, and it's nothing compared to Director Chen. I should thank you for the suggestions you gave me back then."

"That's a point of view. We're all filmmakers, and we've all been through this, so it's not fair to make comparisons like that."

Feng Xiaogang pondered these words for a moment, but something didn't feel right; it sounded like something a senior would say to a junior.

But the key point is, I'm the senior.

There's nothing I can do; his achievements can't compare. It's perfectly understandable that he's so humble.

However, the overwhelming joy in my heart has dissipated considerably.

"I hope 'Joker' will be a big hit tonight and make the Chinese people proud."

"I also wish Director Feng all the best in achieving his goal."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two ended their conversation.

Chen Linfeng also found his seat at this time. Qianqian's figure was still very obvious, and there were several people surrounding her, making her very conspicuous.

Putting that aside, according to the theory mentioned earlier, the seat the organizers arranged for him was quite interesting.

That's right, he was in the middle of the front row.

If we take a more optimistic view, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this is symbolic or a sign of bias on the part of the organizers after they knew the final result.

A prime example is Charlize Theron, the star of "Monster," who was the most popular candidate in the 04 competition, highlighting her status as a frontrunner for the award.

The year Kate Winslet won the award, she was also seated in the center of the front row.

Such examples are neither numerous nor few.

However, Chen Linfeng kept repeating to himself, "Arrogant soldiers are bound to be defeated, arrogant soldiers are bound to be defeated," and didn't indulge in any fantasies.

"You are all here."

"Director~"

"Director Chen~"

"Chen~"

The people surrounding his seat greeted him; they were all members of the "Joker" crew, attending the awards ceremony.

There's no need to say more about Cao Yu and Liu Qingshan.

Even supporting actors like Robert De Niro have come.

It looks like we waited quite a while.

Cao Yu and the others were quite familiar with Xi Xi and could talk to her, while the Hollywood actors couldn't join in the conversation and could only chat among themselves.

Goodness, the lines between them are so clear!

"Good evening, Chen. It's been a long time." Robert De Niro was the first to greet him.

Good evening, Robert.

Robert E. Lee is a veteran with a high status in Hollywood. At his age, he doesn't have much interest in making new acquaintances. He just came over to say hello as a matter of courtesy and then left.

The other supporting actors were much more attentive. Even though the award had nothing to do with them, they still offered their congratulations repeatedly, almost to the point of pledging allegiance on the spot.

Chen Linfeng sent them away one by one, then looked back and found someone even more attentive.

"Director, please take a seat."

Like a lackey, Chen Xinzhi pretended to wipe the seat with his sleeve before going over to help him.

Chen Linfeng said irritably, "Why are you making that weird face?"

Chen Qianjin, the assistant director in the crew, mocked, "I don't think he needs to be an editor anymore. It's obviously a waste of his talents. He would be better off as an actor. He's like a translator or a lackey. He's really good at it to the core."

"Go away, what do you know? This is the highest respect we can show to our benefactors," Chen Xinzhi rebuked.

"It seems you all had a good New Year; you were all quite lively."

“That’s right,” Cao Yu interjected. “Director, you don’t know, but lately, so many people in the crew are getting restless, all thinking about winning an award.”

Chen Linfeng's team has certainly won many international awards with him, but the Oscars are a different story.

The last film, "Sunset," was a collaboration between Director Chen and Director Zhang, and many people were unable to join in at that time. This time, it's different.

Many people were riding in a bridal sedan chair for the first time.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Chen Linfeng thought for a moment and looked at Chen Xinzhi strangely, “Didn’t you win an award last time? Why are you as excited as Chu Ge this time?”

Chen Xinzhi chuckled and scratched his head, "That's still not quite the same."

Chen Linfeng understood and nodded without saying anything.

It seems his subordinates are quite ambitious.

When filming "Sunset," the editing work was said to be handled by Chen Xinzhi, but in reality, it depended more on his and Zhang Yimou's opinions.

In particular, the two directors had disagreements on editing due to differences in their philosophies.

The more crucial point is that Chen Linfeng's name was also listed in the editing section, and he and Chen Xinzhi accepted the award together at the time.

It can be said that Chen Xinzhi played a role in the editing work, but whether he was crucial is debatable.

Naturally, according to the rule in the film and television industry that whoever is more famous is more likely to reap the credit.

Domestic peers tend to attribute the main credit to Chen Linfeng.

This is also the prevailing view in public opinion.

This time it was different. During the editing process, Chen Xinzhi's initial editing work aligned with many of the director's views, and everyone discussed and worked together on the rest.

It fully demonstrates the functionality that an editor should have.

If they win another award, it will truly be well-deserved.

Chen Linfeng hadn't paid much attention to this aspect of his psychology before, but now that he had a change of heart, there was nothing he didn't understand.

He didn't say anything, but patted Chen Xinzhi on the shoulder to encourage him.

As mentioned earlier, Oscar's seating arrangement rules meant that Cao Yu and his group couldn't sit in the front row, so they had to go back after their conversation.

This is different from the year "Sunset Glow" was nominated. Back then, they were nominated as a foreign language film, and their positions were in the front row but not particularly high, so the organizers were able to arrange for the crew members to be placed closer together.

These days, there's nothing we can do about the first row.

Not long after he sat down, Leonardo DiCaprio sat down next to him.

This was not unexpected for him. Not only were the two in the same film crew, but almost everyone in Hollywood knew that the two had a good relationship.

This is actually one of the principles behind the official seating arrangement.

While arranging enemies or romantic rivals to sit together might boost viewership, it's also incredibly offensive. Normally, couples or friends would be seated next to each other. "Tonight we're sitting in the middle; it's a good omen."

It seems Leonardo DiCaprio understands the appeal of this.

"It can only be taken as a good omen, you must know..."

"I know, we'll open the champagne at halftime," Leonardo interrupted the spellcasting.

He had a pretty good grasp of Chen's habits.

Chen Linfeng chatted with him for a few minutes, and was about to ask if Qianqian was feeling unwell when the curtain in the center of the stage slowly opened.

The ceremony is about to officially begin!

Applause and cheers erupted all around, and music began to play.

Tonight's host, Ellen DeGeneres, walked to the center of the stage. She is the host of the Ellen Show on CBS and one of the most popular female hosts in the United States.

"Welcome to the Oscars. For viewers around the world watching on screens, these past two days have been tough in Los Angeles, with continuous rain."

The audience burst into laughter.

Chen Linfeng felt somewhat helpless. This was why he didn't like attending similar ceremonies in Europe and America; he really couldn't understand these inexplicable jokes.

Although he roughly understood that this was probably referring to the weather in Los Angeles, since it rarely rains in California.

But he still couldn't understand what was so funny about it.

If Allen said California likes to "get angry," he might even laugh out loud.

But that would be a really ridiculous joke.

"...I'm so glad I can come back. I hosted the show seven years ago, and I'm so happy to be invited back so soon."

Time has passed. The last time I hosted, Cate Blanchett (The Scandal Diaries) was nominated, and Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) was nominated.

Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond) was nominated, Martin Scorsese (The Departed) was nominated, this year is truly 'very different'.

The guests in the audience burst into laughter again.

This is somewhat interesting, and Chen Linfeng chuckled twice in response.

"This year also sees actors receiving their first nomination..."

Allen introduced the filmmakers nominated this year at the beginning, naming them one by one, showing he had done his homework.

Many filmmakers from third-world countries were mentioned, and judging from their expressions, they seemed quite surprised.

Then came the Oscars' indispensable segment of teasing the guests.

Meryl Streep inevitably had to mention her impressive record of 18 nominations.

Jennifer Lawrence was also a major focus. She was quite famous for her fall last year, and she fell again this year, which Ellen teased her about.

Then there's Leonardo.

"Leonardo, we all know Titanic, a globally famous love story that tragically sank, also shattering Leonardo's long-held dream of winning an Oscar..."

Laughter erupted from the audience.

This is a very famous meme.

Chen Linfeng was also laughing, but he was laughing for a slightly different reason.

There's a fine way for a host to make fun of someone; they generally won't expose their sore spots.

Just like I mentioned Meryl Streep earlier, saying that she has so many nominations that she can barely afford to buy dresses.

In a way, it's also a compliment to her acting skills, making her worthy of so many nominations.

And now, when Leonardo DiCaprio's past history of not winning awards is mentioned, perhaps—

Leonardo DiCaprio clearly had the same guess, so he laughed heartily when the joke was made about him.

Chen Linfeng then focused on whether Allen's speech contained any of the classic lines from his previous life, such as "Not giving '12 Years a Slave' an award is racist."

The original sentence probably wasn't phrased that way, but the general meaning is likely correct.

But no such remarks were made until Anne Hathaway took the stage as the presenter for Best Supporting Actor.

He clapped enthusiastically a few times, joining in the applause from the audience.

good sign!
It's really different from my previous life.

Following that, the Best Supporting Actor award was ultimately given to Jared Leto for "Dallas Buyers Club".

This is the same as in my previous life.

As expected, Frozen won Best Animated Feature, which is the highest-grossing animated film of last year and arguably this year.

It could have rivaled "Joker" for the top spot on the global box office charts.

However, since the film was released at the end of the year and is still showing around the world, its box office revenue has been counted in 2014, which is this year, due to box office statistics reasons.

Following the stage performances at the Oscars was the award for Best Costume Design.

Upon arriving at this point, Chen Linfeng's spirits lifted.

The film "Joker" was nominated for this award.

Sitting in the back row, Wayne Ford, the costume designer for "Joker," was thrilled.

The studios broadcasting the program domestically also began to pay attention.

"Although no one from China was nominated for this award, he is a member of Director Chen's film crew named Wayne Ford. Director Zhang, do you think he has a chance of winning?"

"It's hard to say. The costume in 'Joker' is quite distinctive, but everyone's focus is mainly on the Joker's accessories, while the real highlight is the makeup."

“That’s right,” Chen Kaige interjected. “The scene where Arthur uses blood as lipstick to do his makeup is still very impactful, which to some extent reduces everyone’s impression of the Joker costume.”

"So it seems that the chances of winning the award are relatively slim?"

Chen Kaige nodded, "Yes, that's how I feel."

"I share this view."

As expected, the award ultimately went to Katherine Martin, a member of the cast and crew of The Great Gatsby.

Chen Linfeng didn't feel much about this, since they weren't his own people.

In fact, the nominees for Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Score for "Joker" were all from Hollywood, recommended by Warner Bros.

Joker is, after all, a Western-style film. To achieve the corresponding cinematic style, it's better to cast locals rather than blindly using one's own people.

In retrospect, this decision was undoubtedly correct.

Awards such as Best Documentary Short, Best Documentary Feature, Best Live Action Short, and Best Animated Short were not relevant to Chen Linfeng, so he simply followed the crowd and clapped along with the crowd.

"Joker" was also nominated for the Best Original Song award.

But the competition for this award is too strong; it's almost the most predictable one this year.

"Let It Go" from Frozen has become a global phenomenon in the past few months, with no rivals.

Sure enough, the award presenter Jessica Biel read out the name of "Frozen".

At this moment, Sisi leaned closer and spoke softly, covering her mouth to prevent others from reading her lips.

"We've won two awards in a row, but we didn't get one."

"Don't worry, it's normal for technical awards like these to be given to anyone."

"These are all technical adjustments."

(End of this chapter)