HuaYu: Starting with Photography to Navigate the Entertainment Industry

Upon hearing Li Gongda's words, Xu Lang's heart stirred.

"He contacted me alone, that's definitely a good thing."

He immediately and readily nodded in response.

"Okay, Producer Lee."

With that, he got up and followed Li Gongda outside.

On the way, I was chatting idly with Li Gongda when my phone beeped with a text message notification.

Xu Lang secretly picked up his phone and saw it was a text message from Liu Tao.

"Xu Lang, how about I treat you to dinner tonight?"

After thinking about it, Xu Lang was a little worried and replied,

"I don't know what Producer Li wants with me, and I'm worried about the timing."

After sending the message, Liu Tao quickly replied with another text message.

"It's fine, a late-night snack is okay too."

Since Liu Tao had said that, Xu Lang naturally couldn't say anything else.

"Okay, Sister Tao, I'll call you when I'm done."

After he finished replying to the text message, Li Gongda led him back to his suite.

Once inside, Li Gongda casually waved his hand.

"Xiao Xu, please make yourself at home. I'm going to change my clothes."

"it is good."

Xu Lang sat on the sofa and waited for a moment before Li Gongda changed into casual clothes and came out of the room.

Sitting opposite Xu Lang, Li Gongda looked at Xu Lang with admiration in his eyes.

"Xiao Xu, I thought Zhang Da Hu Zi was exaggerating when he praised you to me before, but now that I've met you, I think he's not exaggerating, he's just being conservative."

Xu Lang wasn't sure what Li Gongda's purpose was in praising him like that, so he responded politely.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Li Gongda got down to business.

"Xiao Xu, I called you here to prepare for my next drama."

"The next drama?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Lang's ears immediately perked up.

"right."

Li Gongda took a sip of water from his teacup and said to Xu Lang:

"Didn't I say that CCTV has four major mythological drama adaptation projects? I am in charge of two of them. The Legend of the White Snake is one of them. The second one is currently in preparation and is called The Lotus Lantern."

Hearing him mention "The Lotus Lantern," Xu Lang felt a surge of excitement. He had come specifically for "The Lotus Lantern."

Speaking of "The Lotus Lantern," Xu Lang had a deep impression of it in his previous life.

In 2005, the most popular and widely recognized TV series was undoubtedly "The Lotus Lantern".

The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1 couldn't compare to it back then; they weren't even in the same league.

"The Lotus Lantern" even achieved a record-breaking 9.1% viewership rating that year.

In his previous life, Xu Lang had watched Jiao Enjun's Erlang Shen, Shu Chang's Xiao Yu, and the Korean actress Park Si-eon's portrayal of the Third Holy Mother, all of which amazed him.

This time, he brought Tang Yan and Yang Ying along, hoping to secure two roles for them in "The Lotus Lantern".

Hearing Li Gongda say this, Xu Lang's heart was filled with anticipation.

As he was thinking, he heard Li Gongda say:

"Xiao Xu, although you are young, your talent is truly undeniable, especially your grasp of the character's image, which I admire very much."

He paused, then continued:

"Right now, 'The Lotus Lantern' is just starting to be prepared, and I'm thinking of having you deeply involved in this play. What do you think?"

"Deep involvement?"

Upon hearing these four words, Xu Lang was so happy that he almost rushed forward to grab Li Gongda's hand and thank him.

Suppressing his excitement, he calmly asked:

"Producer Li, it's an honor that you specifically asked me to participate. However, what do you mean by 'deep involvement'?"

"It's very simple. I plan to appoint you as the visual director for the TV series 'Lotus Lantern'."

"Visual Director?"

Xu Lang knew about the position, but wasn't familiar with it.

In his previous life, when he first graduated, he also wanted to develop his career in the entertainment industry. One of the roles he played was "visual planner," which involved working on the visual presentation of the entire series, including pre-production, publicity, character costume design, costume photos, promotional photos, posters, and distribution.

Visual director?

At that time, it was something that was high above him and unattainable.

Now, hearing Li Gongda offer him this position, Xu Lang felt a surge of excitement.

But out of caution, he still asked,

"What exactly is the role of a visual director?"

"There are many."

Li Gongda thought for a moment and said:

"Simply put, it's about all the visual presentation effects of the entire series. You have to be involved from beginning to end, including casting, character design, makeup, promotion, photography, set design, costumes, props and sets."

Upon hearing this explanation, Xu Lang understood completely, and thought to himself,

"This is another hot potato!"

After all, in a film crew, there are dedicated people in charge of everything, from casting and costumes to props, photography, and sets. The visual director sounds very powerful, as they have to get involved in everything.

However, this type of position is also the easiest to be sidelined.

To put it bluntly, if you're bossing people around, nobody cares about you!

Seeing that Xu Lang was somewhat worried, Li Gongda said:

"With me here, what are you afraid of?"

He paused, then continued,

"I know you've never done this before. Here's what we'll do: you can start with the TV series 'The Legend of the White Snake.' Don't worry, you'll definitely be well-paid."

"Ha ha!"

Since Li Gongda had already said that, what could Xu Lang say? If he didn't agree readily, he would really be being unreasonable.

"Producer Li, thank you for your recognition. From now on, I'll work for you. Wherever you point, I promise I'll hit!"

"You little brat."

Li Gongda didn't care about Xu Lang's casualness; on the contrary, he found it quite amusing.

Just as he was about to speak, Xu Lang asked with some concern:

"Producer Li, as the visual director, doesn't he need to be with the crew the whole time, right?"

"You don't need to follow the whole process. Just participate in important moments, such as when the main character's makeup and costume are finalized, or when the scene is determined."

Upon hearing this, Xu Lang immediately felt relieved.

He didn't want to be tied to the film crew.

Afterwards, Li Gongda chatted with Xu Lang for a while longer before letting him leave.

After leaving Li Gongda's room, Xu Lang felt much lighter on his feet.

"Let me participate in the casting process?"

Haha, isn't this like putting a cat in a pile of fish? Well then, I can't be polite!

Tang Yan and Yang Ying will definitely be included. Besides them, what really tempted Xu Lang was the Third Holy Mother, Park Shi-yeon.

Her looks are absolutely stunning!

When I watched the TV series back then, I was amazed by its beauty.

Now that he has the opportunity to meet in person, Xu Lang still needs to make some careful plans.

Looking at the time, it was already past six o'clock in the evening.

Xu Lang remembered Liu Tao's text message and called Liu Tao.

"Hey, Sister Tao, I'm all done here."

"Okay, then come to the garden restaurant at the resort. I'll have to treat you properly."

"Sister Tao, you're being too formal."

"Don't be shy, come on over, I'm already here."

"Okay, I'll go there now."

Xu Lang left the China World Hotel, hailed a taxi, and headed straight for the resort's garden restaurant.

A garden restaurant, as the name suggests, is a restaurant built in a garden.

There are no private rooms in the traditional sense, but each table is surrounded by various kinds of plants, making diners feel as if they are in a flower garden, which is both private and comfortable.

Xu Lang arrived at around 7:00.

Guided by the waiter, he arrived at a greenhouse decorated with bamboo and white toad flowers.

The clump of phoenix tail bamboo grew as tall as two people, with long, dense leaves that curved down from the top like a natural green curtain.

White toad flowers dot the scene, their petals plump and white, shining like tiny diamonds just taken out of the refrigerator when illuminated by the candlelight on the table.

At the entrance, there is a Podocarpus macrophyllus pruned into a pagoda shape, with strong branches and dark green needles that are almost black, which is quite stylish.

Inside the greenhouse, there are two rattan chairs and a small round table covered with a beige linen tablecloth.

There was a candlestick on the table, the candle flame burning quietly inside the glass dome, occasionally stirred by the night breeze that seeped in through the leaves, dancing merrily.

Liu Tao sat quietly in the rattan chair facing him, his hands supporting his chin, staring blankly at the flickering candlelight.

Her delicate face appeared even more charming in the candlelight.

Xu Lang's heart skipped a beat at just one glance.

"A candlelight dinner, is there anything planned for tonight?"