Age of Legends

Chapter 313 Accident
The first episode of "Seven-Day Agreement" was actually in the midst of intensive preparation and limited publicity time. There weren't many applicants, so there wasn't enough time to verify their backgrounds and conduct screenings. Therefore, apart from Chen Xingrui, who genuinely volunteered and was deemed suitable after screening, everyone else was recruited through brute force.

The other three male and female guests are: Ma Hongrui, the overseas-educated owner of Huang Huifen's Xu Hui Real Estate's go-to design studio; Yang Jing, a master's graduate from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and the head of the art group at their Wanxiang Jianghu; and Yang Xiaole, who was also a substitute host for the show, joined in at this time.

The first episode went quite well. Chen Xingrui is a quiet, reserved person, while Yang Xiaole is lively and outgoing, naturally creating a good on-screen couple. The other couple, Ma Hongrui, is a returned overseas student and an independent designer, possessing a certain "elite quality." Yang Jing, despite her cold demeanor, is very opinionated and decisive. She seemed to dislike the rather flamboyant Ma Hongrui from the start, and during their conversations behind a wall, she repeatedly confronted his bluntness, adding to the show's appeal.

Ma Hongrui even went so far as to ask, "Does girl number three have a problem with me?", which escalated the initial conflict and tension.

Of course, they were informed beforehand that they could exaggerate a bit. There was no script, because the uncontrolled development was already entertaining enough; reality shows, after all, are about authenticity. There was no need for a script; nothing beats the freedom to improvise and then edit together from a large amount of footage. Whatever content you want to create, editing can achieve it.

Based on this principle, Yang Jing deliberately displayed her dissatisfaction with Ma Hongrui. In normal interactions with people, she wouldn't usually be so obvious about her dissatisfaction. But since this was a TV show, and they needed to create drama, it was okay to express her true feelings a little.

In comparison, Ma Hongrui seemed somewhat affected. Actually, he was quite humble, but he probably put on a show to fit his persona as a domineering CEO and elite returnee on the show. Zhang Chen even wondered if this was something he was suppressing inside, something he couldn't usually express, probably only when facing himself, and his sense of superiority couldn't find an outlet.

Filming was done by Wang Bowen and Wei Nanchun together. Wei Nanchun's filming skills were originally a step behind Wang Bowen's, but after the experience of "Food in Fuzhou," he has caught up. The editing looks so smooth, but in reality, Jiang Rong brought in reinforcements. There's no other way; the Avid workstation requires highly specialized personnel to operate. Even Jiang Rong's editing courses in university were a struggle with the thick instruction manuals. Unlike simple software like VideoStudio and Premiere, the workstation requires understanding "source/recording windows," "multi-layer timeline tracks," "Trim trimming mode," and so on. Being familiar with and proficient in using a large number of keyboard shortcuts is essential. Just doing a multi-camera switch, adding effects, and outputting a standard signal requires a lot of tweaking and adjustments.

After searching high and low, it turned out that no one in the provincial station was proficient in using Avid. This was not surprising, as in this day and age, only the top teams at CCTV had this high-end gadget. The provincial station was still using a linear editor, which was like comparing a bolt-action rifle to an automatic rifle.

Shanghai TV only had this in 2002. Looking at the later development, it wasn't until 2005 that provincial TV stations introduced the Avid workstation and began training their own editors.

After searching high and low, it was surprisingly difficult to find relevant technical personnel in the vast province of Sichuan. But then Wang Bowen had a sudden realization: he had connections at CCTV. So he immediately called Chen Xiao. At that moment, Chen Xiao was entertaining a French art film director with CCTV leaders. Upon hearing the request for help from Fuzhou, his eyes widened.

"You guys actually have Avid?"

"bought."

"Wow, they're really going all out!"

Do you know how to use it?

"Isn't that obvious? CCTV documentary teams are equipped with either Avid or NewsCutter; that's a basic requirement! But only top-tier teams have that. What makes a top-tier team? CCTV documentary teams are top-tier! We need to be in line with international standards, and this is industry standard internationally! But if you don't know how to use it, you can ask the equipment supplier to find you a trainer!"

"It's too late. The other people's schedules are already booked for a month in advance. You come and help us with the operation and review this program. We won't treat you unfairly! You can step up and help with the editing and train Jiang Rong! It won't take up much of your time. If you have other work to do, we'll reimburse your airfare. You can come and go anytime."

"Alright! I'll be going back to Rongcheng whenever I have free time. I usually travel between Beijing and Rongcheng, just looking for good food. Money isn't important to us, I'm just really interested in your project. And you're a production company, yet you dared to use Avid. Considering your creativity and equipment, I'll help you out while I'm in Rongcheng looking for restaurants!"

So, the production of "Seven Days' Promise" at that time was truly lavish: Chen Xiao, the director of "A Bite of China" in later years, did the editing; at that time, he was already a well-known figure at CCTV and a rising independent documentary director. Wang Bowen handled the cinematography, using a full set of state-of-the-art filming equipment and a Hollywood-level Avid editing workstation. Add to that Zhang Chen's insights from the future.

The tone and special effects of the program were basically based on the creative directions in Zhang Chen's proposal.

During the editing process, Zhang Chen would offer his opinions as needed, such as the rhythm of camera transitions, the order of the narrative, and the points of emotional expression. Chen Xiao, on the other hand, used his understanding of documentary structure and cinematic language to concretize these ideas: rationally allocating the pace of each guest's appearance, skillfully using close-ups and slow motion to enhance the emotional impact, and using light and shadow and composition to create a cinematic feel.

This resulted in a program that, when broadcast on television, had a cinematic quality, a tight and ingenious story structure, and was also lighthearted and humorous.

On the first day of broadcast, the information was actually delayed.

At this time, viewership statistics were collected using both manual and instrumental methods. The former involved households filling out viewing diaries, recording the channels and time periods they watched each day. This raw data, collected from these handwritten diaries, was sent back to the statistics center for cleaning, aggregation, and weighted calculations—a process that often took a long time, sometimes a week, with dedicated personnel collecting the data. The latter involved monitoring devices installed in the televisions used for data collection, recording the television's on/off status, channel selection, and viewing time. This data was then uploaded to partner CRT or Nielsen companies for statistical analysis. This process often didn't produce results on the same day, typically requiring a follow-up day for viewership statistics.

So, after the broadcast, Jiang Rong and Zhang Chen were unsure of the actual effect.

However, on the night the first episode aired, Jiang Rong slept like a log at home, making up for the losses incurred from producing the show.

The following day on the provincial television station, although no ratings data was released, the lines set up for the program were already ringing off the hook that evening. This process had already attracted some attention.

Because we've been in this industry for so many years, we're all quite sensitive to certain things. Even if a program doesn't have viewership data on the day of its release, we can still get a sense of the reaction through subtle clues. For example, are any of the industry professionals' family and friends discussing the program that day? Especially now with the internet, voices also appear online.

Another option is the telephone hotline. These days, phone calls aren't cheap; you have to pay real money to make a call. Calling the production team late at night to share your feelings is definitely a sign of high engagement.

It wasn't just the "Seven-Day Promise" program team that received calls; people also called the hotlines for other programs on the provincial TV station.

And it's often the young audience who say: "Your new show, 'Seven-Day Promise,' is so good, I can't stop watching!"

"Sorry, this isn't that program; we're from 'The Top Mediator'."

"Ugh, the 'Golden Mediator,' that awful show! Tell that female host to get out of here, I hate seeing her! How did this call even happen to your show? What bad luck!"

"........."

The station's phone kept ringing, all from viewers calling to inquire or leave messages.

"The guests on the show are so real, I'm so excited!"

"Hurry up and air the second episode! I've been watching this whole cringe-worthy show! I have to go to work the next day!"

The call center staff at the provincial station quickly compiled these messages and reported them to their department.

Meanwhile, the advertising department approached the station manager early in the morning to report: "Last night, some businesses asked about Jiang Rong's program, saying that the program is very novel and they are very interested in advertising on it. They want to know the schedule for the next episode and whether we can cooperate."

The advertising manager also whispered a message: "Sponsors are proactively calling to inquire about advertising slots, which is very rare during the initial broadcast phase!"

But even more obvious changes come from within the provincial TV station itself.

When Jiang Rong first arrived at work, she could already feel the atmosphere at the station.

Some editors, photographers, and hosts were also talking about "The Seven-Day Promise" in the break room and small restaurant.

"The editing of 'Seven-Day Promise' last night was so cinematic! My friends were all watching it and gave me feedback, saying that your provincial TV station's program is great!"

"I went back and watched it yesterday, and it's really good. How did Jiang Rong manage to produce a program of this caliber..."

"This idea is brilliant... Her previous show was canceled because of that... but unexpectedly, it came back revamped and is completely different!"

"Either die in silence or erupt in silence!"

Even under such public opinion, young employees at the station would use their lunch breaks and rest periods to go to the duty room to watch the replays and discuss the guests' stories and editing methods.

A buzz had already started at the provincial radio station, and eventually reached Wu Yue and Meng Lihui's ears in this widespread manner.

(End of this chapter)