I really don't want to make bad movies!

December 3rd.

5:30 p.m.

When Xia Ming returned to his dormitory after class, he took out his phone and found that Yan Shu had sent him a message.

Director Xia, I've been working hard to promote your new drama these past few days!

【Thanks】

Aren't you going to give me some reward? (Starry-eyed emoji)

Xia Ming was speechless, so he sent a red envelope.

Yan Shu didn't accept the red envelope and said, "Director Xia, you didn't even mention that your drama was a collaboration with Director Jiang! I was shocked when I saw Director Jiang promoting it!"

[Isn't that written in the script? Producer: Jiang Wen]

I thought it was just a coincidence of names.

Director Xia, you're amazing!

[Could we try a different reward method? Red envelopes are too boring!]

Xia Ming turned on his computer, logged into Tencent Video Network, and replied with a question mark.

[Shall we video chat and watch "The Swindler" together? It's my first time filming a drama with such a huge following, I'm so nervous!]

Yan Shu hummed a song as she turned up the heat, then took off her trench coat, black stockings, and other clothes.

She changed into a purple lace nightgown and made a video call before Xia Ming could reply.

[Hang-up has been disconnected]

Yan Shu was taken aback.

Xia Ming only sent two words: 【No time】

Yan Shu's eyebrows immediately lifted, and her exquisite makeup fluttered slightly.

"I refuse to believe I can't hook you!"

After spending a month with the crew, she felt that Xia Ming would definitely become a famous director in the future.

Ever since she learned that Xia Ming had a close relationship with Jiang Wen, her desire to control Xia Ming has become even stronger.

In the cutthroat entertainment industry, unknown actors must use every means at their disposal to open up channels for themselves and control resources.

Yan Shu tapped her manicured nails on her phone screen, making a "tap-tap" sound, as she racked her brains for a reply.

5:50.

On the other side, Xia Ming simply turned off his phone and tossed it aside.

He really doesn't have time.

The data from the premiere is crucial. He not only has to keep an eye on the number of views in real time, but also patrol various forums to monitor public opinion and sentiment.

He even managed to get rid of his three roommates by offering them a free meal voucher from the Little Peace Hotel.

At 5:58, a message suddenly popped up on my computer's QQ.

Xia Ming's QQ account is set to log in automatically when the computer is turned on.

Just as I was wondering who had found me on QQ, I realized it was Jiang Xixi.

Jiang Xixi's message was very simple, consisting of only a trembling polar bear emoji.

Based on what Yan Shu had said before, Xia Ming could roughly guess her emotions.

He only replied with three words: 【Don't be nervous】

Jiang Xixi deleted the content in the chat box and finally sent only one word: 【Hmm!】

At 5:59, Xia Ming closed QQ and clicked refresh again.

At this moment, those clicking into Tencent Video were not only a large number of netizens watching the show, but also students from various film and television academies, staff members and lead actors of the "Mao Pian" production team.

At the same time, tens of thousands of viewers were also waiting on Tencent Video's streaming platform to refresh and wait for the series to be released.

Among them were fans of Chen Kun and Jiang Wen, who came specifically to see them.

Some netizens who saw the rumors online wanted to know if "Mao Pian" was really that miraculous, being hailed as a god even before it aired.

There were also casual viewers who saw the poster and were attracted by the good looks of the lead actors.

Chen Kun is also watching it. This drama was released before "Let the Bullets Fly" and is his first work in preparation for a career change.

Jiang Wen was also watching. He was nominally the producer, but he trusted Xia Ming's abilities. However, he was also a little worried that Xia Ming might not be able to control the crew and ruin his good reputation.

Another large group of people are fans of "Chinese Paladin 4" or Ju Jingyi, who are waiting to flood into "Mao Pian" as soon as possible, ready to nitpick and find fault.

There are even curious viewers who have seen "The Big Hornet" and are wondering what other bizarre dramas Xia Ming can come up with.

Apart from a small number of viewers who genuinely want to watch the web series, the vast majority of people who immediately tuned in to Tencent Video's streaming platform didn't even care about the plot of "The Swindlers."

Even the top executives of Tencent Video and iQiyi were glued to their computer screens at the appointed time.

This is not just a web series, but also a battle between two leading video websites for the year-end slot.

With a massive investment of 300 million yuan, Kiwi is poised to dominate the top headlines of the online drama section this year.

Tencent Video, on the other hand, spent only 20 million yuan to produce a low-budget drama series with a production cost of less than 8 million yuan!

Kiwifruit took the lead and seized the initiative in terms of traffic.

But no TV series has yet named itself "Quality"!

Just as everyone was eagerly waiting.

At 6:00 PM sharp, "The Swindler" went live as scheduled!

At this moment, whether it's a small mobile phone screen, a tablet held in both hands, a monitor standing on a table, or even a projector placed on the wall, they all simultaneously project the same image.

A serious and somber urban scene, yet not gloomy.

It exudes a sense of sophistication at first glance, a feeling that is hard to describe.

Perceiving color is a basic human ability.

Humans instinctively feel that blue is colder and orange is warmer.

In a slightly unsettling cool color palette, the appearance of a beam of warm light will inevitably draw everyone's attention.

The audience unconsciously looked towards that beam of warm light.

Suddenly, a slender figure emerged from the light.

Her features are striking, and her figure is even more stunning; every step she takes draws attention.

As your gaze was fixed on this impeccably made-up woman, she suddenly bumped into a passerby, then smiled and said, "Sorry."

A passerby, attracted by her appearance, smiled and replied, "It's alright, I work here too. Want to grab a coffee?"

Just when the audience thought an office romance was about to unfold, the immersive camera work finally switched.

The scene was now being monitored by two handsome young men in a cramped room.

At this point, everyone realized that it was a targeted scam.

"Snapped!"

Zhou Yi, the photography professor, slammed the spacebar down and looked at his beloved student Zhang Jun: "Do a film analysis."

Zhang Jun froze, clearly wanting to continue reading: "Now? Can't we finish reading first?"

"Analyze this section now! I want to see if you've truly learned Xia Ming's teachings over the past few months."

Zhang Jun bit his tongue, thought for a moment, and said in a deep voice.

"First, use color grading to create a sense of sophistication and arouse the desire to watch. Then, use color to guide the eye and let the character appear with the camera."

"Then a single, continuous shot is used to show the character's state. Wow, this girl is really beautiful."

"Who asked you that?" Zhou Yi slapped his head without any politeness.

Zhang Jun scratched the back of his head and continued, "Then we followed the principle of unpredictable shots, without changing the shot size, so that the audience could not guess the storyboard, and then arranged for the events to happen. The camera followed the characters' actions, using the consistent long take narrative to create a sense of immersion."

"When the event is presented and the camera switches, it is still narrating the same story. The audience begins to expect multiple storylines and wants to know how the deception on the other side will develop."

The story ends here, and Zhang Jun's answer ends here.

After listening, Zhou Yi let out a sudden sigh.

"Is what I said unreasonable?" Zhang Jun wondered.

"That's well said."

Zhou Yi looked at the computer screen and sighed, "Xia Ming has improved even more since he went to Director Jiang's film crew. This isn't just a web series, it's clearly a movie."

"Whether it's the camera work, the colors, the actors' performances, the color grading, the narrative pacing, or even the costume choices, it completely surpasses other online dramas on the market. It's like a game-changer."

Seeing his master sighing beside him, Zhang Jun quietly pressed the space bar and continued watching the show.

When Zhou Yi came to his senses, he realized that the plot had already progressed for several minutes.

"Hey kid, go back, I haven't even looked yet."

……

Within just ten minutes, almost all the viewers who clicked on "The Swindler" out of curiosity did the same thing.

Turn up the volume, or put on headphones!

There's no artificial artificial sweeteners, no garish filters, no awkward dialogue, and no cookie-cutter performances.

Only eye-catching handsome men and beautiful women are presenting the audience with an elaborately crafted scam!

Web series are the cradle that major investors use to cultivate traffic stars.

This distorted genre, filled with domineering CEO novels and romance stories disguised as ancient power struggles, has welcomed an "alternative" drama series!

Its name is "The Swindler"!

It is said that the production cost of this series was only eight million, but its visual effects at first glance completely surpassed those of the three hundred million yuan "Chinese Paladin 4"!

The actors' acting skills and looks are in no way inferior to the popular stars in "Chinese Paladin 4"!

The audience's eyes are honest; they can clearly see the hard work the production team poured into "The Swindler".

As the mind identifies with the story, the brain, following the sophisticated audiovisual language, becomes immersed in the story of "The Swindlers," receiving the plot from the perspective of the main characters.

At that moment, they realized that web series stories could be so exciting!

It turns out that the female lead doesn't become infatuated with the male lead the moment she sees him, and the male and female leads don't inexplicably trip and fall on the ground and then hug each other.

It turns out that the lines of actors in web dramas don't need to be dubbed; the subtitles and lip movements match perfectly.

What kind of food did we eat before?!

I'm talking about you! The Legend of Sword and Fairy 4!

Forty-five minutes is the standard length of a web series.

This is also the length of time that online drama topics have been at a standstill in various forums.

Forty-five minutes after 6 PM, surprisingly no new posts about starting a war appeared on various film and television or social platforms such as Weibo, Tieba, Yinfu, DB, and Hongshu.

However, forty-five minutes later, the forum exploded again.