HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 255 [255] Ah Yuan, I told you long ago you're a genius!

Li Xue's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

Although she had already experienced it once, she was still somewhat unaccustomed to it.

"Cough cough!"

Qi Yuan almost choked on the water. After putting down the teacup, he added, "That's not what I meant. Tian Tian is too young. My songs are mostly love songs, and Tian Tian is not suitable to play the female lead in a music video."

Why not put her on my album cover? It would create a pure and warm atmosphere, making the image more loving.

Jing Tian is indeed too young and has never studied acting, so it's doubtful she'll be able to make a music video.

It's easier to put something on an album cover, the exposure is the same, and it might even be better than a music video.

Many years have passed since my past life, and people are still curious about who the cover girl of "Seven Mile Fragrance" is, whether she has grown up, and how she is doing now.

As the most popular pop star in the Chinese music scene today, the appearance of a little girl on the cover of Qi Yuan's album is sure to attract a lot of attention, and there will definitely be dozens or even hundreds of posts discussing it on Tianya.

Years later, the album cover will become an interesting Easter egg.

From being the female lead in a music video to becoming the cover girl, Qi Yuan was too embarrassed to actually accept 300,000 yuan.

But Uncle Lu insisted, "Mr. Qi, a gentleman keeps his word. We'll pay you every penny of the agreed-upon 300,000. Just think of it as Tian Tian and I wanting to be friends with you, and we'll have the opportunity to collaborate again in the future. You can sell us the songs you write that are suitable for Tian Tian to sing; we'll definitely not shortchange you on the price."

Rich people aren't stupid; that's the main reason Uncle Lu was willing to give 300,000.

If you can build a good relationship with Qi Yuan, you can invite him to be the producer when Da Tian Tian releases an EP in the future.

Qi Yuan knew exactly what was going on, so he accepted the 300,000 yuan.

It's often said that Jing Tian hasn't become a big star, but that's largely because she chose the wrong career path.

Jing Tian doesn't have much talent in singing, so it was the right decision for her to go into acting after her EP failed.

They just shouldn't have started making a movie right away.

It would be much safer to make a few TV series to lay a solid foundation before making movies.

In her past life, when Jing Tian made movies, she was constantly criticized and called the queen of bad movies; any movie that had her in it was bound to be terrible.

She didn't have many fans when she was making movies.

The first work that gained her fans was "The Glory of Tang Dynasty," but it was "Si Teng" that truly made her famous; both were TV dramas.

As it turns out, TV dramas are more effective at making people successful.

During his conversation with Uncle Lu, Qi Yuan learned that Da Tian Tian would be coming to Beijing to study at the Affiliated High School of Beijing Dance Academy in the second half of the year, and would be developing her career in Beijing long-term.

"Sweetie, don't you want to be a movie star? Your Brother Qi is an outstanding student at the Beijing Film Academy. He won the Best Actor award for his movies. You should learn from him," Uncle Lu said with a smile.

Da Tian Tian's eyes lit up even more when she looked at Qi Yuan.

Overall, both parties enjoyed the meeting.
Little Tian Tian was quite cute, and you could tell she had a good upbringing; she didn't have the arrogant air of a rich kid.

In fact, most children of truly wealthy families are like this; at least they are very polite on the surface!

Those arrogant and domineering kids are either spoiled or the children of nouveau riche.

When they parted, Qi Yuan patted Da Tian Tian's head, giving her a sweet head pat.

"This little girl is quite amazing. I can't find any detailed information about her, I only know that her family is well-off."

Li Xue shook her head. Maybe they did a good job of keeping it a secret. She only asked around among people in the industry and didn't hire a private investigator, so it's normal that she didn't find anything.

"Why bother with all that? All I know is that I can earn 300,000 yuan by taking a few photos for her."

Qi Yuan didn't care about those things.

Let alone Li Xue, even the all-knowing netizens couldn't uncover Jing Tian's background.

All people know is that Jing Tian lost tens of figures trying to become a movie star but still didn't become famous.

Qi Yuan only knew that Da Tiantian was rich, generous, a good person, had a good personality, and was quite friendly—that was enough. If Da Tiantian and that Uncle Lu wanted him to make money, he wouldn't refuse.

……

For the music video "Hua Tian Cuo", Qi Yuanrang's studio found a group of professional Peking Opera actors.

The female lead was Zhang Ziyi, but she wasn't cast in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Before Zhang Ziyi becomes an international star, Qi Yuan should quickly capitalize on this opportunity.

Next year, Zhang Ziyi's salary will rise to more than two million, and in 02 it will rise to eight million.

Now, a few tens of thousands of dollars would be enough for her, since Warner will pay for it anyway.

Zhang Ziyi did not refuse; in fact, she was pleasantly surprised when she received Qi Yuan's invitation!

Her favorite type of guy is a talented musician. What if they spark a romance during a collaboration? Either way, she won't lose out.

She also offered to take the photos for Qi Yuan for free, but Qi Yuan refused and insisted on paying her tens of thousands of yuan.

What's free is often the most expensive, because it requires you to owe someone a favor.

Zhang Ziyi received 130,000 yuan for filming "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and the price of tens of thousands of yuan for shooting a music video is in line with her current status.

However, if another singer invited her, she definitely wouldn't pay any attention to them, not even for 100,000 yuan.

Zhang Yingmou once told her, "Never make TV dramas, no matter how much money you offer."

As for later... even Zhang Yingmou himself started making TV dramas, so it's quite normal for Zhang Ziyi to do the same.

In addition, Warner Bros. paid for Zhang Ziyi.

The cost of hiring a national-level Peking Opera actor to shoot a music video is also very low, cheaper than hiring Zhang Ziyi.

The relevant authorities considered that Qi Yuan's decision to film a music video with Peking Opera elements would, to some extent, promote Peking Opera, and therefore charged him a friendly price.

Zhang Ziyi and the other Peking Opera actors did not disappoint Qi Yuan.

Those Peking Opera actors have a dance-like beauty in every gesture and movement on stage; they truly deserve to be called national-level Peking Opera actors.

Zhang Ziyi needs no introduction; she's a natural-born film actress. Although she has many flaws later on, there aren't many criticisms of her acting skills.

Moreover, she has an advantage that all female stars envy: she's photogenic and has a natural screen face.

While others worry that they will look worse on camera because of the camera's stretching effect, she is the opposite; she looks better on camera than in real life.

Zhang Yingmou had a very keen eye for actresses in his early career, and each of his leading ladies was very distinctive.

By the way, Chen Kaige heard that Qi Yuan had returned to Beijing and was even learning how to direct music videos. He immediately became interested and came over to see how his practice was going.

Then Chen Kaige froze, seeing a familiar shadow in Qi Yuan.

The composition, color, lens, lighting, and so on are exactly the same as his.

The technique was a bit immature, and Chen Kaige felt there was a lot of room for improvement.

That's already pretty awesome!

Chen Kaige felt that if he were to do it, he would have the exact same approach as Qi Yuan, at most making a much better film than Qi Yuan.

Chen Kaige became even more convinced that Qi Yuan truly understood him and was definitely his biggest fan.

He incorporated "Farewell My Concubine" into his script and learned his techniques and skills when directing his music video.

He was certain that Qi Yuan had watched each of his movies dozens of times, even slowing them down ten times and watching each frame repeatedly, otherwise it would be hard to explain why Qi Yuan was so much like him.

“Ah Yuan, I told you long ago that you are a genius. You really have the talent to be a director.”

Chen Kaige praised her with a slightly excited voice.

(End of this chapter)