Huayu: Are you even sitting up straight? You're going to be the director?

Chapter 94 Aftermath and the New Movie!

March 10, 2007, morning.

Nortel.

Zhang Huijun held a joint meeting this morning with teachers and professors from the directing, cinematography, and acting departments.

Zhang Huijun looked up at a 45-degree angle, gazing at the leaves outside the window that were beginning to turn yellow, his expression aloof.
He tapped the table and looked around at everyone.
"The Ozu issue has been a thorn in my side for many years."

"When I was in the photography department, there was no such textbook. Later, when this textbook came out, I only focused on studying the art of light and shadow and the photography techniques in it, and I didn't have time to study the people's lives."

By the time I learned about it, many of you had already embarked on this research path.

The purpose of today's closed-door meeting is to have frank and open discussions.

Does the definition of Ozu's film as the best film in East Asia in "Sight and Sound" mean it is? I haven't seen any of you questioning it.

From the first time I saw Cao Zhong dare to defy the art school and criticize Ozu at the project approval ceremony,
I knew it; our art students have backbone.

Throughout history, it has been said that scholars despise each other. But in Cao Zhong, I see his courage as a student of the Beijing Film Academy, and his encouragement and motivation for you all!
For example, you photography majors are trained to help directors navigate the challenges and difficulties in visual arts and technology.
But when I asked some photography students what ISO they wanted for their cameras, they didn't even look up and just told me 800.

Those students didn't realize that such a high ISO setting would severely compromise the detail in the shadows of an image under artificial light. Insufficient exposure, inadequate contrast in the shadows, and an overly large aperture would put them at a technical disadvantage from the start.

There's also the directing department. Every scene is different, with outdoor shots, real locations, studio sets, and composite scenes. During filming, they might shoot daytime scenes, dusk scenes, dawn scenes, and night scenes. Night scenes might include those with light sources and those without, and they might even shoot night scenes during the day, among other things.

However, some directing students don't think carefully about the differences and have no concept of them at all, throwing all the questions to the cinematographer.

This is the dilemma in education, caused by a lack of seriousness, carelessness, review, and error correction in teaching on the learning path!
Let's put aside the debates about artistic paths, creative control, professional technical requirements, and collaborative models for now.

Let's talk about Ozu!

Zhang Huijun's voice suddenly turned stern, his tone unfriendly.
"I'm doing this for the greater good! For you all!"
But what about you? You all just turn a blind eye, don't you?
Why wasn't Ozu's life mentioned in class? Why wasn't the students told? Why wasn't art and humanity taught and discussed in a complete and independent way? Why didn't anyone speak out to demand that the textbook be deleted, revised, or even replaced?
As a result, a serious misjudgment occurred between them and Cao Zhong, an outstanding student and director from Beijing Film Academy who is also the top-grossing student in China!
This has had a very serious impact on the reputation of our school.

Even worse, there are bad apples like Su Mu who want to attribute this incident to a simple art debate!

This is a very serious issue; ignoring the voices of the people is morally wrong.

The literature department isn't here today, but you can tell Su Mu what I'm saying. Make sure to emphasize this to him: this is a very serious issue that must be addressed!

The meeting room was completely silent; the atmosphere was somewhat tense.

Tian Zhuangzhuang looked at the teacup in front of Zhang Huijun and wondered if Zhang Xiao could drink something iced.

Zhang Huijun said in a deep voice:

"I am deeply saddened by this matter, as it fully demonstrates the current state of teaching in our school's directing and cinematography departments."

The teachers' level of responsibility, their judgment of the teaching materials, their understanding of the students, and even their sensitivity to special events are not clear enough.

In the future, we must prepare lessons practically, teach rigorously, emphasize communication, and avoid misjudgments!

We should learn from teachers Cui Xinqin and Wang Hongwei.

Their teaching method enhances students' critical thinking, creativity, and imagination.

This has brought our school a new generation of young directors that everyone can be proud of!

Being a third-year student is the greatest honor for our school!
Acting students, students who were halfway through Wang Hongwei's career, I'm ashamed for your directing and cinematography departments!
Furthermore, especially you professors from the directing and cinematography departments, you need to quickly compile a textbook without any problems.

We must change the textbooks before next September, before next spring.

Did you all understand?
Go back and perfect it!

After Zhang Huijun finished speaking, he waved his hand and said, "Teacher Cui, Teacher Wang, please stay behind."

Before anyone else had even left the office, Zhang Huijun had already begun discussing the matter.

"Judging from the current situation, we should be able to break through the 400 million box office mark."
When the time comes, I think we should hang the banners in every corner of the school.
Then, Cao Zhong will probably be quite busy with the lecture, so we won't invite him.

However, the school's current support for Chengying Studio is too limited. I think the school should, based on its support for students, allocate a larger office space for Cao Zhong through the Entrepreneurship Office so that he has a place to stay on campus.

Even if he opens a company outside, the Beijing Film Academy can still be used as an audition venue for his new works, a place to select actors.

What do you think of my idea?

Cui Xinqin and Wang Hongwei exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.

……

Tang returned to China.

I tried calling Jiang Zhiqiang, but couldn't get through; I tried calling Wang An, but also couldn't get through.
She contacted all the people in the entertainment industry she could reach, but the response was very negative.

Although it was just a ban and didn't involve her issues.

However, everyone knows very well that she is the easiest person to manipulate.

Especially someone who paid a huge price to become famous, only to become infamous.

Finally, having no other choice, she called Tian Yu.

Even at this moment, Tian Yu still answered the phone.

"Can you help me?"

Tang cried very loudly.
"Could you help me get in touch with Director Cao? I want to know if I still have a chance. I've contacted many people, but no one is willing to help me."

When I walked the red carpet in Venice, I was surrounded by friends and flashing lights, but when I got back home, they had all changed, they had all changed.

Tian Yu paused for a moment, then did not refuse: "I can contact the teachers at the drama theater for help, but I don't know the outcome."

"thanks, thanks."

Tang's emotions at this moment were a mixture of feelings.

He and Tian Yu broke up just a month ago.

But now, the only person willing to help her is her "fiancé" who has been with her for three years.

But she didn't tell him that it was real guns and ammunition.

She kept it from him, but showed it to the whole world.

At that moment, a powerful sense of humiliation overwhelmed her; she felt a deep-seated self-loathing. Not long after...

Tian Yu received the message from her teacher.

"I contacted Ms. Cui Xinqin and asked her to ask her."

"Director Cao, did you respond?" Tian Yu took a deep breath; for some reason, he was also very nervous.

The theater teacher shook his head and said:

"Director Cao said that she didn't know she was wrong; she just knew she was going to die."

Tian Yu was suddenly stunned.

The theater teacher was clearly shocked by these words, shaking his head and sighing:

"These young people nowadays, they talk so fiercely! They're so ruthless!"

"But Xiaotian, when it's time to give up, don't look back. People always have to move forward. The other party may not want to let you go, but you need to let yourself go."

"Let her fend for herself, she's beyond saving."

Tian Yu squatted in the corner, not saying a word.

……

Hong Kong Island.

Liu Jialing looked at Liang Chaowei: "How are you feeling right now? You filmed the movie, slept with the woman, and now look what happened, the movie can't be released, and you've gotten yourself into a mess."

Liang Chaowei sighed, "I didn't expect the mainland to be so tough."

"Why would you choose to play a rare character instead of a perfectly normal person?" Liu Jialing asked. "Won't that affect you?"

"I do not know either."

Liang Chaowei replied, "I can't get through to Jiang Zhiqiang and Wang An by phone. They seem very uneasy. I contacted Yindu, but they're also asking around."

“Redhead, this is the first time,” Liu Jialing said. “You’ve made history.”

“I’m just an actor, what does it have to do with me? But I really didn’t expect that in such a short time, the whole mainland would be turned upside down! Cao Zhong just popped out of nowhere and disrupted the entire landscape of the Hong Kong and mainland film industries.”

Liang Chaowei felt a chill run down his spine just thinking about it.

“In the past, only stars from Hong Kong Island could generate box office revenue; it was none of the mainland’s turn.”

Liang Chaowei pursed his lips, "This time, Cao Zhong has shattered the mold, and in a way that's earth-shattering! The directors in Hong Kong are probably all very nervous now."

"Many people are moving to the mainland, and mainland directors and actors are rising in popularity, which is not a good thing for us."

Liang Chaowei said, "It's almost four hundred million. Even if I, Liu Dehua, and Cheng Long came together, it would be difficult to reach that box office."

“He benefited from the subject matter after all,” Liu Jialing said.

"Who knows what his next movie will be about? What if it's the same kind of subject matter again?"

"Which director in Hong Kong would dare to mess with him? They'd all be terrified."

Liang Chaowei narrowed his eyes. "These people in Hong Kong probably see him as a thorn in their side now."

……

9 month 11 day.

Before the victory banquet, Cao Zhong was going over what he would talk to Han Sanpin about that evening.

The script has already been written.

He prepared a film for the Olympic bid, a low-budget comedy called "My Disqualified Daughter," and today is the day to finalize the allocation.

Although Cao Zhong lost money on "Nanjing Photo Studio", he didn't want Lao Deng to benefit, so he decided to give China Film a premium.

What originally cost around ten million was turned into twenty million.

For every dollar Lao Deng invests, Cao Zhong recoups half of it.

At the same time, mainstream commercial films will continue to be made, but given the current state of the film industry, creating large-scale war scenes is challenging.

Therefore, Cao Zhong took a different approach and decided to start with faith, telling everyone why we were able to win the war back then.

We also need to tell the people around us why we are fighting this war!
"Li Yannian, a man of both literary and martial talents!"
Cao Zhong wanted everyone to see the spirit that exists within the Chinese people!

However, Cao Zhong will not be directing this film himself, and the selection of a director still needs to be discussed.

Cao Zhong himself was preparing to walk his dog.

At the same time, it lays some foundations for promoting the technological advancement and imagination of China's film industry.

The movie he chose happened to have most of its plot that didn't require special effects and could be filmed practically.

There are relatively few places where special effects are truly needed.

The various criticisms that followed had subjected Cao Zhong to a lot of abuse, and Cao Zhong felt wronged. Was it wrong to be patriotic?
He wants to continue provoking this group of anti-China elements.

Throw down a stone and listen to the dog bark.

Then I wrote their names down in a small notebook.
Finally, when the movie was released, seeing the dumbfounded looks on these people's faces, they were shamelessly dragged out and ridiculed, allowing them to be bombarded by the public.

There must be a group of people who are heartbroken about the matter of "Ailing".

But not enough.

Cao Zhong wants to maintain a regular crackdown on anti-China elements.

We must strike hard when a dog is down.

Don't try to gain fame like Xiang Yu!
We must fight! We must fight them hard! We must smash them! Smash them until they're bleeding profusely!
We need to inflict a deep, thorough wound!
The more intense Chinese films are, the more they suffer.

Cao Zhong wants to find a powerful one to outmaneuver them!

(End of this chapter)