Reshaping the landscape of the Chinese entertainment industry

The news on TV continued to broadcast.

"Recently, newcomer director He Yi'an has been embroiled in a fierce war of words with several veteran directors. The cause is that He Yi'an received funding from the China Film Group Corporation to shoot his debut film, 'Fireworks in the Human World,' which led to accusations of 'nepotism'... He Yi'an publicly responded with strong words, causing a stir in the industry..."

"His teacher, Mu Deyuan, also stepped in to support his student, publicly exchanging insults with Lu Chuan's teacher, Jiang Shixiong..."

"It is understood that He Yi'an just turned eighteen this year and is a freshman in the Photography Department of Beijing Film Academy..."

Liu Xiaoli watched TV with a strange expression.

Ever since they met at the airport that day, she had been waiting for He Yi'an's call.

In her opinion, there was a very high chance that He Yi'an had called!

But He Yi'an didn't contact them at all!

In reality, Liu Xiaoli had no idea that He Yi'an was so busy that he had long forgotten about the matter.

Several months passed, and He Yi'an still showed no intention of contacting them. Only then did Liu Xiaoli realize that the other party probably really didn't want them to compensate her, and she almost forgot about the matter.

I didn't expect to hear from him again today.

What surprised her even more was that He Yi'an was actually a student, an alumnus of the Beijing Film Academy, the school her daughter was about to apply to, and also a director.

And it seems like it has quite a personality.

"Mom, look how amazing he is!" Liu Qianqian's eyes sparkled. "He became a director at eighteen and even dared to argue with those veteran directors. That's so cool!"

Liu Xiaoli glanced at her daughter: "You think he's amazing?"

"Of course it's amazing!" Liu Qianqian nodded.

Then, somewhat surprised, she said, "But when we met him that day, he seemed very easy to talk to. I didn't think he had such a bad temper."

"You're not bad either." Liu Xiaoli patted her daughter's head. "You're going to take the entrance exam for the Beijing Film Academy soon, right? Maybe you'll run into each other at school someday."

Liu Qianqian paused for a moment, then laughed: "Oh right! He's also from the Beijing Film Academy!"

Liu Xiaoli smiled and shook her head, saying nothing.

"It's just that the name is a bit strange. He Ye... He Yi'an... Yi'an... Why did you change your name? And why did you change it to this?"

"Didn't they say it was because of her stage name?" Liu Xiaoli knew what her daughter was thinking, but she didn't dwell on it. "Don't overthink it, Qianqian, it's probably just a coincidence!"

"Oh, right!"

……

Tianjin Old Wharf, February 17, 2002.

The New Year celebrations were not yet over, and the spring chill lingered; the wind was strong at the dock.

He Yi'an stood behind the viewfinder, watching Li Baotian and Yan Danchen move in front of the camera.

Today is the last scene of "Fireworks in the Human World".

After filming this scene, the entire series wrapped up.

The last scene, which is also the last scene of the movie.

Old Zhou collapsed, and Chen Xiaoyu went on stage to sing.

According to the original French film, the ending shows the protagonist chasing a car thief on opening night, eventually collapsing, with the scene interwoven with his adopted daughter's belly dance, creating a strong montage.

He Yi'an changed it to a more Chinese-style expression. Chen Xiaoyu stood on the stage and sang "Father's Prose Poem", but the screen was full of Lao Zhou's continuous struggle and the figure of him chasing the car in the end.

Of course, the car chase scene had already been filmed before; today's main focus was on filming Yan Danchen's scenes.

"On your marks!" Liu Guonan shouted into the walkie-talkie.

Lighting engineer Zhang Shudong led his team to adjust the last set of lights, while sound engineer Li Xuelei led Zhou Jia to debug the equipment.

He Yi'an walked over and gave Li Baotian his last few words.

"Teacher Li, the running scenes have already been filmed, so you don't need to run or say any lines in this scene. Just lie there with your eyes closed, and focus on the emotions and expressions at the very end."

Li Baotian laughed: "That's easy."

"It's not easy." He Yi'an shook his head. "You have to portray a feeling of 'gone, but not completely gone,' somewhere between life and death. It's not easy to make people believe that."

Li Baotian thought for a moment and nodded: "I understand."

After speaking about Li Baotian, He Yi'an walked up to Yan Danchen.

"Senior, this scene is the most important one in your entire movie." He looked at Yan Danchen. "The entire emotional buildup of Chen Xiaoyu's storyline, from beginning to end, will be released in this scene."

"You can't cry too hard, but you can't not cry either. You have to make the audience feel that Chen Xiaoyu is laughing, but tears are flowing uncontrollably, Chen Xiaoyu is singing, but her voice is trembling, and her emotions are being completely released."

Yan Danchen took a deep breath: "I'll give it a try."

"It's not a 'try,' it's a 'must' approach." He Yi'an's tone was very serious. "If this scene is successful, your character will be established; if it's not, all the groundwork laid before will have been wasted."

Hearing He Yi'an describe it as so serious, Yan Danchen could only nod vigorously: "I understand."

He Yi'an went back behind the viewfinder and picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Scene 117 of 'Fireworks in the Human World,' Shot 5, Set..."

Liu Miao raised the clapperboard.

"Action!"

The camera starts with Lao Zhou.

He lay on the ground, eyes closed, face pale, his breathing so light it was almost inaudible.

The camera slowly zooms out, switching from him to the new restaurant on the dock.

The restaurant was packed with people.

On the first day of business, the people who came were all neighbors, old coworkers, and Lao Zhou's former colleagues.

Because Lao Zhou hadn't arrived yet and hadn't brought the ingredients and preparations needed for the opening, everyone started helping to stall for time, and some even went to the kitchen to help out.

Chen Xiaoyu's job was to keep these increasingly agitated customers occupied.

She had no choice but to stand on the stage wearing a faded floral dress and holding a microphone.

Her eyes were red after receiving news of Lao Zhou's accident, but she forced a smile.

"Dear uncles, aunts, grandfathers, and grandmothers," her voice trembled slightly, but she tried her best to remain steady, "today is the opening of my dad's... my uncle's restaurant."

The restless crowd below the stage fell silent for a moment.

"So," Chen Xiaoyu said emotionally, "I'll sing a song for him. This song is dedicated to my dad."

Upon hearing that there was still a program to be performed, the scene finally quieted down.

"In 1984, before the crops were fully harvested, my daughter was sleeping so peacefully in my arms..."

Well, Yan Danchen's singing isn't professional, but her strength lies in her immersion in the role. She's full of emotion, and her enunciation is clear. Every word seems to come from her heart, carrying warmth and weight.

As He Yi'an watched the performance, he thought to himself that when it came time to edit the video, he would need to make two versions of this video.

The version submitted for review will definitely need to switch back and forth between car chases, rescues, and hospital wards; it will all be a constant change of shots of Lao Zhou and Chen Xiaoyu.

However, for the award-winning version, more montage and realism are needed. Here, we only edited the scene of the car chase and the final scene of the character dying from lack of breath.

The reality and pain here are forcibly contrasted with the laughter and tears inside the restaurant.

The camera cuts back to the stage.

Chen Xiaoyu's eyes grew increasingly red, but a smile remained on her lips.

"These are words from my father's diary, prose poems left behind from his youth..."

"My father has grown so old that he's like a shadow..."

The camera zooms out.

The stage lights, the tears in the audience, the subtle laughter—all of these intertwined.

then……

"Click!"

He Yi'an called a halt, and the entire audience fell silent.

Everyone was looking at him.

He stared at the viewfinder for a long time.

Yan Danchen was still standing on the stage, her face covered in tears, but she was smiling, her voice still trembling: "Director He... is it over?"

"Passed."

He Yi'an picked up the walkie-talkie.

"I hereby announce that filming for 'Fireworks in the Human World' has wrapped!"

------

P.S.: The bonus chapter has been posted. I originally wanted to post this chapter at noon, but it would be more comfortable to read it continuously, so I decided to post it together.

Today is Tuesday, so please keep reading! Also, please leave comments and vote!

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