I really don't want to make bad movies!

"Zhang Jun?"

Xia Ming certainly remembered Zhang Jun, but he didn't know why the other party had added him.

After I clicked "agree," Zhang Jun quickly sent me a message.

Zhang Jun: [Aren't you asleep yet, junior?]

Xia Ming: [Just getting ready to sleep]

Zhang Jun sent a message a while later: [I won't bother you anymore then. Do you have time tomorrow?]

Xia Ming thought for a moment, realizing he hadn't finished making the吐槽 video for "The Big Hornet" yet, and replied: "[I have things to do tomorrow]".

Okay, I won't bother you anymore.

Xia Ming felt confused and put down his phone to take a shower.

……

Jinghai Film and Television Academy, basketball court.

After leaving the office, Zhang Jun and Zhou Yi spent the entire day on the basketball court.

It wasn't about playing ball, it was about filming a video.

At their feet was a thick stack of A4 paper, covered with hastily drawn storyboards.

Zhang Jun brought his Sony cinema camera, which he used to film GG, and spent a whole day working on it with his teacher, but they still couldn't recreate that one-shot scene from "The Big Hornet".

"Teacher, he said he's busy."

Zhou Yi, who was sitting under the backboard drinking water, immediately bristled and glared when he heard this: "He's a freshman on summer vacation, how could he not have time!"

Zhang Jun sat down as well: "How would I know?"

"Fine, we'll figure it out ourselves! I refuse to believe we can't get it right!"

Zhang Jun's expression instantly fell, and he pleaded, "Teacher, don't you even look at the time? I need to edit the photos tomorrow!"

Zhou Yi is a stubborn man. Despite decades of dedication to photography, he couldn't even replicate a shot of a freshman in the directing department, which left him feeling extremely frustrated.

The school website crashed, and after searching around, he finally managed to get a downloadable version of the resource from a student.

Every time he filmed the scene, Yang Kai's face would pop up out of the picture, which made him even more irritable.

We'll have to go ask the acting department later which brat is so careless about acting!

"Xia Ming is such an unlucky kid. He clearly has such amazing camera skills, but he ended up with such terrible post-production!"

Zhang Jun reminded him, "Teacher, he's the director. Maybe he edited it himself."

"How is that possible!" Zhou Yi slammed his teacup down. "With such a deep understanding of the camera, how could he possibly film such a terrible story!"

"There's definitely someone in their crew dragging things down! I think Yang Kai is one of them. The post-production team and the screenwriters also deserve blame!"

Zhou Yi is a veteran photographer who believes that people who can take good pictures are also good storytellers.

In their eyes, the camera is the vehicle for telling stories.

"Sigh, I see everyone in the group is cursing 'The Big Hornet'. Xia Ming is really pitiful."

After finishing his tea, Zhou Yi sighed, "That's why movies are so complex. You can't win applause just because you're good at one aspect. Besides, Xia Ming's movie is unwatchable except for the camera work."

Even though they were a teacher and student in the photography department, it was only by chance that they discovered the exquisite details of the shots in "The Big Hornet".

For an average person, they would have started cursing within three minutes of the movie starting.

Zhang Jun complained a few more times, but Zhou Yi still pulled him up to continue filming.

……

Three days passed quickly.

Although there was a minor mishap, the school website has already been restored to normal.

Xia Ming got up early, left the webpage for the micro-film competition open, and refreshed it from time to time to check the number of views for "The Big Hornet".

In fact, although the competition is still ongoing, the first place has already been decided.

"The Big Hornet" is far ahead of the competition, leading the pack with 3502 views.

Keep in mind that the entire film academy only has a little over four thousand students.

The second-place film, "King of Comedy," barely reaches a fraction of the popularity of "The Big Hornet."

Meanwhile, Xia Ming's low-quality videos also stirred up traffic on various video websites.

Although his video title says "Transformers," many people didn't notice, and some even thought it was a typo.

After three days of buzz, "Transformers" and "Transformers" are now trending on various video websites.

As soon as someone posts a video saying "I have Transformers 5 initial version resources", the comments section is filled with "accept" and "request resources".

Many people don't actually understand what's going on, but they still get involved for the sake of traffic.

I sat in front of the computer eating fruit until midnight, when the short film competition ended on time.

"The Big Hornet" ultimately took first place with 3611 views.

Soon, Xia Ming received a message from his mentor.

His mentor, Luo Hong, was a traditional, classically trained teacher who had absolutely no liking for Xia Ming's film "The Big Hornet".

They only told Xia Ming to go to the school auditorium to receive the award in the afternoon, and then there was no further news.

"Brother Chuan, do you want to come with me to receive the award?"

Xia Ming called out to Wang Zhengchuan, who was lying in bed.

Wang Zhengchuan covered his head with the blanket: "I'm not going! What you filmed is too embarrassing!"

"It's a short film award for freshmen, there's no audience, it's just a formality with the teachers."

"I'm not going!"

Wang Zhengchuan's attitude was resolute.

Xia Ming sighed helplessly and could only head to the auditorium alone.

……

There were quite a few people in the auditorium.

The top five all have award ceremonies, although only the director needs to come to accept the award.

However, when the entire creative team goes on stage together, the teacher won't say anything.

The main reason people were there was to have a lively atmosphere. A dozen or so people stood on the stage, taking photos around the certificates of honor, which looked very festive.

Xia Ming was the only one who came to receive the award and certificate. After the staff in the audience took photos, he followed the teacher backstage.

"Xia Ming, although you won first place in this competition, don't be arrogant. A truly good movie is not determined by the number of views."

Luo Hong gave Xia Ming a few earnest words of guidance.

Xia Ming nodded sincerely, inwardly agreeing with what Luo Hong said.

"Alright, leave your bank card number. The bonus will be deposited into your card. Go back now."

Seeing Xia Ming's sincere attitude, Luo Hong didn't say much.

"By the way, teacher, I'd like to ask you about uploading movies to streaming platforms. How are copyright issues handled?"

Luo Hong frowned, somewhat displeased, "Hey kid, do you really expect your movie to sell its rights?"

But he still replied, "The school will handle the copyright for you. As for the review process, it should be approved in the next couple of days."

"So fast?"

"The executives at iQiyi's website are your seniors. They've been working with the school for years, and they've been putting short films on the platform for several years now."

"Moreover, your short film is only called a film and is categorized as such. It's actually a long video, and it doesn't involve copyright sales or profit sharing, so of course it's uploaded quickly."

It makes sense when you think about it.

The fact that the first film was uploaded to a streaming website was just an incentive; the school, the video website, and the student making the film didn't want to profit from it.

The short film made by a freshman has virtually no commercial value.

Uploading content to a website is more like a way for schools to provide students with a platform to enrich their resumes.

"Teacher, do you have this senior's contact information?"

Luo Hong frowned and thought for a long time: "I only remember his name is Huang Xuke. As for his contact information... you can look for it on the wall of outstanding graduates at the school. He graduated from the Directing Department in 08 or 09."

"Thank you, teacher. I'll be going now."

Xia Ming greeted Luo Hong and then turned and walked out of the auditorium.

It's getting late.

Xia Ming has been very busy these past few days and hasn't been sleeping well. As soon as it gets dark, sleepiness comes over him.

He yawned and looked at the system panel.

[We need 38000 more followers to reach the next milestone]

This system is also very intelligent; purchased followers are not counted in the milestone count.

Looking at the next stage reward, "Jiang Wen's Film and Television Language Art and Application," and recalling those familiar lines from movies, Xia Ming suddenly felt full of energy again.

A quick search on my phone revealed that there's also a celebrity on Earth named Jiang Wen.

Looking at the actor's photo, he looks exactly like Jiang Wen from Earth.

"Xia Ming!"

While savoring Jiang Wen's lines, Xia Ming was completely unaware that someone was following him.

He didn't realize Jiang Xixi was beside him until the other person spoke.

"What are you thinking about? Why are you so focused?"

Jiang Xixi tilted her head and looked up at Xia Ming.

"Why are you here?"

Xia Ming turned his head and looked around, only to see Jiang Xixi all alone.

"You won the championship! Of course I'm here to celebrate with you!"

Xia Ming was taken aback, then laughed and said, "What I did was just a shortcut, it doesn't count."

"No, that's not true!"

Jiang Xixi straightened her back, hands behind her back: "That's because they haven't seen your on-site coordination and camera work!"

"It's unbelievable that you single-handedly handled everything: photography, on-set direction, voice-over, editing, and even a cameo as an actor!"

"Once you assemble a full production team, you'll definitely be able to make a highly acclaimed film!"

Xia Ming smiled: "Then I'll take your kind words."