HuaYu: Starting with Photography to Navigate the Entertainment Industry

Xu Lang remembered that in his previous life, after the release of "Painted Skin", the box office was about 2.3 million yuan, ranking third that year after "Red Cliff" and "If You Are the One".

As for the profit, it's around 3000 million.

All things considered, it was a very popular film.

This figure is satisfactory for Ningxia Film Studio. After all, going from the brink of bankruptcy to a profit of 3000 million is a huge turning point.

But Xu Lang could not meet this requirement.

"I can earn tens of millions from a single TV series, but I only make a small amount from a movie after working on it for half a year. How can that be acceptable?"

Moreover, Xu Lang had high hopes for the movie "Painted Skin" and was even counting on using it to accomplish something special.

Therefore, Xu Lang had to find a way to make this movie a huge hit.

To become a blockbuster, you need to work hard in many aspects: the film's style, plot, visuals, characters, special effects, as well as its post-production promotion and distribution.

Now, Xu Lang is only concerned with the film's style and plot.

Fantasy was a rare genre in Chinese cinemas at the time, and had never been seen before.

In his previous life, Xu Lang was amazed when he watched this movie.

But after watching it, I felt it wasn't amazing enough.

How to describe the feeling? It's like you really ate some good food, but after watching it, you feel like you didn't get enough of the food.

"Just like intimacy between men and women, the addiction is aroused, and the process can bring pleasure, but it's not enough, or the orgasm isn't intense enough."

It's like a bow that's only half drawn; the audience waits for the arrow to pierce the heart, but it ends up as fireworks—beautiful, but not painful enough.

These days, Xu Lang spends his free time studying the script. He's been studying it for a long time, thinking about how to make the audience truly enjoy the show.

After Chen Jiashang finished speaking, he glanced at everyone present one by one. Seeing that everyone else looked surprised and amazed, he couldn't help but feel a little smug.

After all, this is the culmination of his many years of hard work as a director.

But when he saw Xu Lang's expression, he was stunned. His expression clearly showed his dissatisfaction with the movie.

Frowning, Chen Jiashang asked:

"Coach Xu, do you have any comments on what I said above?"

"Director, you're absolutely right. This Eastern fantasy theme is indeed excellent. It's a pioneering work in the domestic market and has a very promising future."

Xu Lang's affirmative words not only failed to satisfy Pang Hong, Liu Hongtao, and Chen Jiashang, but also caused them some unease.

After all, everyone can tell that there must be a twist to this statement, and the key point is what comes after that twist.

Sure enough, Xu Lang continued:

"But I feel that our movie isn't magical enough."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

Xu Lang's words piqued everyone's interest, and they all stared at him.

Xu Lang, holding the script, said:

"Think about it, this plot is supposed to be a fantasy or even horror story, but inside it is a clichéd love triangle story."

You guys count how many love triangles there are:

The male protagonist Wang Sheng, his wife Pei Rong, and the fox demon Xiao Wei;

The male protagonist, Wang Sheng, his wife, Pei Rong, and Pei Rong's ex-boyfriend;

The male protagonist, Wang Sheng, is a fox spirit named Xiao Wei, and Xiao Wei's unrequited love interest, the lizard spirit Xiao Yi.

In the end, the main theme of our film is that "love can conquer all," and in the end, even the demons who ate human hearts were moved.

Is that still a demon?

At this point, Xu Lang gave a definitive assessment:

"To be honest, the current 'Painted Skin' is just a clichéd drama about a wife fighting off a mistress while wearing a fantasy guise."

Why don't we take fantasy to the extreme and make a groundbreaking, truly magical drama?

"Well..."

After hearing Xu Lang's words, everyone present was somewhat stunned.

Pang Hong, Li Hongtao, and Chen Jiashang, in particular, looked at each other in disbelief, their eyes filled with shock.

Originally, the three thought that even if Xu Lang offered his opinions, his real purpose was simply to make his presence felt and highlight his status as the second-largest investor.

But now that I hear it, it's not like that at all!

This is like starting from scratch!

Isn't it just overthrowing?

Even the film style is being changed; what else could this be but a complete overhaul?

Pang Hong couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from her forehead, thinking to herself,

"This Xu Lang is just as rumored; he's definitely not a law-abiding person."

You really know how to cause trouble!

Liu Yifei, Liu Tao, and An Yixuan, who knew Xu Lang quite well, had stars in their eyes.

They were all used to Xu Lang's antics, and the important thing was that he actually managed to produce something worthwhile.

Moreover, they felt that Xu Lang's words made sense. Nowadays, what China has no shortage of, whether it's movies or TV series, is clichéd romance films.

Even though love is an eternal theme, you'll get tired of it if you eat it every day!

A moment of silence fell over the meeting room.

After a long pause, Pang Hong, the head of Ningxia Film, finally spoke to Xu Lang:

"Xu Lang, we understand what you mean, but you also have to consider our actual situation."

Just think about it, changing from a love triangle to a true fantasy genre, not to mention anything else, the budget would increase dramatically, and the filming difficulty would be completely different!

What Pang Hong said is true.

The reason why domestic productions love to make clichéd Qiong Yao dramas is because they are easy to make. They don't require big scenes or large productions; all you need is a few actors engaging in some tearful and tiffy scenes.

But this was not Xu Lang's goal.

After hearing Pang Hong's words, Xu Lang waved his hand dismissively and laughed:

"Mr. Pang, you don't need to worry about that. I'll cover any shortfall, I won't even ask for shares, it's purely a loan!"

"Well..."

Xu Lang's domineering words stunned Pang Hong, Li Hongtao, and Chen Jiashang.

They really do have money and confidence!

Even without holding shares, just a pure loan?

That's just throwing money away; whether it recoups its investment depends on the film's future box office performance.

Xu Lang really went all out!

But it's clear that Xu Lang really values ​​and has high hopes for this film.

Thinking of this, Pang Hong exchanged glances with Li Hongtao and Chen Jiashang beside her, all of them somewhat tempted.

After all, whether it's love or career, the greatest sincerity a person can show is:

They're willing to spend money!

After a moment's hesitation, Chen Jiashang looked at Xu Lang and asked:

"Director Xu, how do you plan to shoot this movie?"

As a renowned director, it's quite something that he's now asking Xu Lang how to make a movie.

Xu Lang didn't care; after all, if you want to get things done, you can't focus on these small details.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Lang said:

As stated in *Liaozhai*:

There are many fools in the world. Demons paint their skins to deceive people, while people paint their skins to deceive themselves. Demons desire to devour people's hearts, while people desire to conceal their animalistic nature. Which one is the demon?

It means that there are too many people in this world who are stubbornly unenlightened. Demons paint human skin to deceive the world; but people paint human skin to deceive themselves.

The demon's desire to devour humans is blatant, while humans "eat" each other, or rather, the cannibalism of social norms, is concealed beneath a veneer of morality. Ultimately, who is the true demon?

Why don't we elevate the theme of love triangles to the level of human nature?

In the end, it didn't portray the demon as a "saintly mother," but rather revealed the complexity of human nature.

At this point, Xu Lang noticed that everyone seemed a bit confused, as if they didn't understand.

He then pointed to a line from the male lead, Wang Sheng, during the final climax of the script.

The fox spirit Xiaowei asked Wang Sheng:

Do you love me?

Wang Sheng's answer was:

"I love you, but I already have Pei-Rong."

Xu Lang pointed to this line and said:

"Don't you guys find this dialogue, which is the core of the entire drama, awkward?"

To erect a moral high ground?

"Pah! What a scumbag! He wants to have his cake and eat it too!"