I really don't want to make bad movies!

The next morning.

Xia Ming made a video call with the business team of the QuanQuan secondhand trading platform, and the two parties agreed on the GG (Good Things) matter.

You need to post a new video within a month, and include a 30-second GG in the video, as well as a pinned GG in the comments section.

The video must have at least 300,000 views, otherwise the order price will be reduced to zero.

After signing the contract, Xia Ming opened the iQiyi website and immediately saw the entrance to the "Big Hornet" fan art contest.

In just one day, they collected over a thousand submissions.

If you randomly click on a few videos, most of them are of very low quality.

Most of them are just edited clips from the original "The Wasp" video, with background music added, and that's considered a secondary creation.

The ease with which one can participate in kiwifruit's lucky draw has naturally attracted many people looking to take advantage of the offer.

Someone shared a video of themselves winning the annual party prize on the music platform, which attracted even more netizens to participate.

Some Transformers fans used the competition to seemingly criticize Big Hornet, but in reality, they were venting their dissatisfaction with Transformers 5.

Oh, so they're criticizing "The Big Hornet"! I thought it was "Transformers"!

Looking at the search popularity of this innovation and entrepreneurship competition on various platforms, it basically exceeds one million.

Xia Ming also registered an account on the iQiyi website and, following the instructions of the second creation competition, uploaded the two videos he had submitted on Bilibili.

This innovation and entrepreneurship competition consists of three rounds.

In the first round, each account can submit a maximum of three entries, and each entry will be entered into a prize draw.

Fifty percent of the contestants were eliminated based on their number of views.

In the second round, based on the number of likes from netizens, one thousand people will be selected to advance, and each advancing account will be eligible to participate in another lottery.

In the final round, the top 100 will be determined by combining comprehensive data and online voting, and rewards will be distributed according to their rankings, with a total prize pool of one million yuan.

It seems like kiwifruit is at a slight disadvantage.

However, a closer look reveals that the competition interface is cluttered with GG (game-related terms), and the prize wheel also contains limited-time free memberships and discounted gift cards from other platforms.

The entire competition interface also features high-quality resources from the iQiyi main website.

In such a short period of time, Huang Xuke still managed to attract a considerable number of investments and partners.

In short, capital will not lose money.

Xia Ming finished submitting his entry, opened the lottery wheel, and used up two lottery chances.

[Congratulations! You have received a 7-day Premium VIP membership on the iQiyi video website!]

Congratulations! You have received a 9% off coupon for electronics on JD.com (limited time offer, 30 days only)

Sure enough, winning the year-end party prize was a scam...

Xia Ming didn't care, closed the webpage, and began working on the script for "The Swindler".

……

Jinghai Film and Television Academy, North Gate.

An MPV was parked at the school gate.

The car door slid open, and a burly man with a broad forehead, thick eyebrows, and a small mustache stepped out.

Several older men were standing at the school gate. When they saw this big man, they immediately smiled and went up to greet him.

"Old Zhao! Director Xie! Long time no see!"

The big man laughed heartily and quickly stepped forward to shake hands with the group.

This burly man is none other than the well-known actor and director, Jiang Wen.

The "Old Zhao" he mentioned is Zhao Fei, his personal cinematographer and a professor of photography at Jinghai Film and Television Academy.

Another director surnamed Xie is Xie Fei, the veteran director who collaborated with Jiang Wen on the film "Black Snow" in his early years.

Both of them are professors at Jinghai Film and Television Academy and are highly respected in the industry.

Jiang Wen not only has a good background, but his abilities are also appreciated by the two of them, and the three of them have a long-standing friendship.

"You still call me Director Xie? From now on, the world of directors belongs to your generation."

Xie Fei, with his gray hair and thick reading glasses, nodded to Jiang Wen: "There aren't many good directors left who insist on making their own films; you, Jiang Wen, are one of them. I watched 'The Sun Also Rises,' and it was very well made!"

Jiang Wen immediately waved his hand: "I'm satisfied, but I didn't hear a sound about the money!"

The three of them burst into laughter. Zhao Fei, as the director of photography for "The Sun Also Rises," naturally knew all too well what was going on.

To create a sense of period and splendor in the film, Jiang Wen burned countless rolls of film, and the budget kept increasing.

As a result, he lost everything, including his underwear.

This time, Jiang Wenxue has behaved himself and plans to focus the new film on the story.

When asking Zhao Fei to find people, he repeatedly emphasized that he should find several photographers who are good at storytelling.

"So," Jiang Wen looked at the two of them, "do you have any suitable people I could lend you?"

Xie Fei was both amused and exasperated: "Your wallet's empty? You're even eyeing my alma mater's talent pool now."

"Ugh, I get a headache just thinking about budgets."

Jiang Wen lit a cigarette and said as he walked, "When I went to solicit investment, people would hear that two movie stars were endorsing me, and they'd definitely invest!"

Xie Fei joked, "Wow! Director Jiang really has a lot of influence!"

"Bullshit!" Jiang Wen exhaled a smoke ring. "I was just fooling them. Even the movie star himself didn't know about this!"

"If the casting deal falls through, they might withdraw their investment!"

Xie Fei was stunned for a moment, then laughed and scolded, "Only you would do something like this."

In order to create a good film, Jiang Wen really went to great lengths.

Zhao Fei spoke up at this moment: "I discussed the cinematography with Director Xie yesterday. The cinematography department will send three people to assist with shots A, B, and C, and the directing department will send two to assist with shot coordination. Five people should be enough, right?"

Jiang Wen pondered to himself that there were many outdoor shooting scenes and a large number of props in the movie, and five camera assistants seemed insufficient.

However, his budget was indeed tight. The actors in this film were all big names, and the salaries alone had already exceeded the budget, putting him under tremendous pressure to recoup his investment.

Because "The Sun Also Rises" was heavily criticized by the media, "Let the Bullets Fly" has to spend a lot of money on promotion to prevent it from being a flop upon release.

Setting up a physical set costs money, and film is another major expense.

There's no other way but to cut a little bit in non-essential steps.

"Is the person you found competent?" Jiang Wen asked, a little uneasy.

Zhao Fei retorted angrily, "Don't worry, they all have experience in filming."

Xie Fei chimed in, "Our students at Beijing Film Academy are technically quite capable! This is a rare learning opportunity; many people would give up everything to get in!"

"How can that be?"

"Alright, alright, leave the assistant role to me." Zhao Fei glanced at the time and urged, "I heard you were coming, and a lot of students rushed back to school to listen to your lecture. Let's go to the auditorium first!"

Jiang Wen glanced at the time: "Alright, let's finish this quickly."

The two led Jiang Wen to the auditorium, squeezing a path through a dense crowd of students.

Many people have heard that Jiang Wen is forming a new group and want to get to know him.

What if I get lucky and get selected for the group?

After Jiang Wen went on stage, Professors Xie Fei and Zhao Fei went backstage and sat down to discuss things.

"Have you decided? Which student do you plan to send to the group?" Zhao Fei asked.

The cinematography team in film is a closed-loop network of personal connections; assistants are mostly brought in by the cinematographer, and there are very few external hires.

Xie Fei sighed: "I have a slight problem. I originally wanted Zhang Jun to join the crew, but Zhou Yi said he was afraid of embarrassing himself."

Zhao Fei chuckled, "Being a photography assistant is nothing to be ashamed of."

Xie Fei, elbow in hand, shook his head incessantly: "They say Zhang Jun is always filming GG (a Chinese internet slang term for someone who is petty and narrow-minded). Wouldn't he get a severe scolding if he went to Jiang Wen's film crew?"

"Hey, I'm not that fierce," Zhao Fei, the director of photography, immediately waved his hand in rebuttal.

"What if we're short one person? Should I find another one?"

Xie Fei was a little helpless. He originally wanted to give Zhou Yi's students some resources, but Zhou Yi was too stubborn, and there was nothing he could do.

"Let's ask him again when he gets here. If it doesn't work, you can find someone else."

A moment later, there was a knock on the door outside the meeting room. The two people said "Come in" at the same time, and seven or eight people walked in.

They were all students preparing to join the group, along with their mentors.

After all, it's a large production crew, and most of the attendees are graduate students who have already been on set several times and are quite experienced.

Logically speaking, these students shouldn't be working as photography assistants in the group.

However, as Jiang Wen's director of photography and a professor at Jinghai Film and Television Academy, Zhao Fei naturally selected people with high skill levels.

Even the photography assistants are carefully selected talents.

Everyone was willing to be chosen by Zhao Fei.

Xie Fei looked at the group of people who came in, his gaze falling on his junior Zhou Yi, and waved to him.

"Where is your student Zhang Jun?"

Zhou Yi came to the conference room alone. Upon hearing this, he lowered his head slightly and smiled, saying, "He was too embarrassed to come."

Xie Fei frowned: "Is he too embarrassed to come, or are you too embarrassed to let him come?"

"You're worried about losing face by being a photography assistant? It's such a small job!"

Zhou Yi said in a low voice, "You know how Director Jiang directs movies, so I need to find someone with high skill, right?"

"I had already found someone suitable, but he wasn't interested, so there was nothing I could do."

Zhou Yi never expected that Xia Ming, a freshman, would refuse such a huge temptation as joining Jiang Wen's film crew.

"You looked for someone? Who?"

Xie Fei was somewhat dissatisfied and pressed for an answer.

Zhou Yi honestly replied, "Uh... Xia Ming from the Directing Department."

"Directing major?"

"Xia Ming?!"

Xie Fei and the other students simultaneously expressed their surprise.

Xie Fei wondered why Zhou Yi had come to the directing department when he was looking for someone.

The other students were surprised.

How did it end up on Xia Ming?

Which student hasn't seen that bizarre movie, "The Big Hornet"?

No, can Xia Ming also join Jiang Wen's film crew?

Judging from Zhou Yi's tone, he still doesn't want to come?

Who is Xia Ming?

Jiang Wen finished his lecture and walked into the conference room laughing.