Chapter 200 On the Eve of Graduation

Time is like a long exposure in Lu Yinzhao's lens, with the sycamore leaves on campus withering and flourishing in turn.

Before we knew it, two years had passed.

During this period, Lu Yinzhao's WeChat contacts piled up higher and higher. Before even graduating from university, he had already worked with more than a hundred well-known artists.

The camera contains photos of collaborations with those artists. On the cover of the international luxury magazine "NOVUM," there is a close-up photo of Bian Ji, taken by Lu Yinzhao.

That cover became a classic of the year, and that issue of the magazine was a bestseller.

At the same time, Bianji is also taking its place on a higher stage with unstoppable momentum.

In just two years, six original albums swept major music awards both at home and abroad.

From winning the Golden Melody Award for Best Male Singer to winning the Best Chinese Single at an international music award, he has captivated countless listeners with his highly distinctive voice and poignant lyrics.

In backstage interviews, whenever Bian Ji was asked about his creative inspiration, he would smile and say, "Inspiration has always been the closest thing to me."

Lu Yinzhao and Bian Ji are like two parallel tracks, each cultivating their own field.

Occasionally, during late-night video calls, one person would rub their sore shoulders after finishing a shoot, while the other would have finished composing a song with bloodshot eyes.

Even though they were exhausted, they still smiled and shared their achievements.

"The artist I photographed today praised me for being very accurate in capturing emotions."

"Today's arrangement only needed three revisions to meet the client's requirements, so I can finally make time to spend with you again."

Two years passed in a flash, yet the tenderness remained undiminished.

Instead, it made the two stars, which grew side by side, shine even brighter in their respective universes.

...

Room 506 on the eve of graduation.

Lu Yinzhao was squatting on the ground packing up his camera bag.

While tidying up, he looked up at the other three and said, "I have something to tell you. The paperwork for my photography studio is almost done, and it should be officially opened next month."

Holy crap! Really?

"Xiao Lu, congratulations! Your wish has come true!"

"Xiao Lu, you always manage to do great things behind our backs! You're amazing!"

The roommates all responded excitedly, feeling happy for Lu Yinzhao.

"Song Shuye, you mentioned before that you wanted to work in finance. We'll keep the position of finance manager for you in the studio, with a top salary in the industry. How about that?" Lu Yinzhao said to Song Shuye with a smile.

Song Shuye, who was tearing open a bag of potato chips, paused.

The bag of potato chips rattled, and his eyes widened. "Really? I thought you were joking! I just turned down a bank offer my family introduced me to last week. If things are settled on your end, I can start anytime!"

Song Shuye was really surprised. A few years ago, he did tell Lu Yinzhao that he wanted to follow him in the future, but at that time it was mostly just a spur-of-the-moment thing.

He figured that if Lu Yinzhao forgot, he forgot, and he wouldn't take it seriously.

Now that the other party is suddenly going to fulfill their promise, Song Shuye feels as if a golden rice bowl has been smashed in his face.

Many students in his major are still struggling to find jobs, while he effortlessly landed a high-paying job simply because he shared a dorm room with Lu Yinzhao?

"Who's joking with you? I've always meant what I said." Lu Yinzhao laughed. "We agreed that you would manage my money so I wouldn't have to look for someone else later. Besides, I trust your professional skills."

"I must have done a lot of good deeds in my past life to meet you in this life, Lu Yinzhao. I don't care, from now on you are my brother, my real brother, and I will be your little brother for life."

As Song Shuye spoke, he became emotional and wiped away two tears.

Xu Zishi, who was tidying up books nearby, suddenly raised the job offer letter in his hand.

"Ahem, well... I also have some good news to share. I got an offer from Shengwen Guofeng Group to be in charge of copywriting for core projects. I'll be reporting for duty next month. If your studio is going to do any photography with a traditional Chinese style theme, come to me for copywriting. I'll polish it for you for free, and I guarantee it will be more tasteful than the press releases on the market!"

"Hey! Old Xu, you're talking about Lu Yinzhao, aren't you the one who's quietly doing great things too?" Song Shuye put his arm around Xu Zishi's shoulder.

"I was waiting until I was sure before I told you properly, wasn't I?"

"Congratulations, Xu Zishi, I think this job is perfect for you," Lu Yinzhao said happily.

At this moment, Jiang Yi also took out a silver metal box from his backpack.

Inside is an exquisite chip model.

"I didn't hold my dorm back either. I got a research and development offer from Starway Technology, where I'm responsible for optimizing the parameters of optical imaging equipment."

"Old Jiang! How come even you..." Song Shuye opened his mouth wide.

Ignoring everyone's surprised expressions, Jiang Yi said to Lu Yinzhao, "If your studio's cameras have any parameter issues in the future, or if you want to customize special lenses, come to me. I guarantee I can help you solve it. I'm more reliable than outside technical teams!"

“Great!” Lu Yinzhao agreed without hesitation. “It turns out our professions are all related. I’m the one who should be clinging to your coattails.”

The three of them shook their heads in unison: "No, no, no, you're still the best!"

"Hahahaha..." After exchanging compliments for a while, the four of them met each other's eyes and burst into laughter for no apparent reason.

...

Before the official graduation ceremony, Lu Yinzhao took on another big job.

It was at the invitation of Zhan Hao, a famous Chinese director.

He invited Lu Yinzhao to take promotional photos for his current film, "Foggy Red Alley".

This time, Lu Yinzhao brought an assistant with her.

The assistant was none other than Xiao Fang, who had been saved by Lu Yinzhao once before.

Xiao Fang resigned from Cheng Heyan's company on his own initiative, and Cheng Heyan knew what he was thinking and didn't make things difficult for him.

Lu Yinzhao's studio has just been established, and Xiao Fang's involvement has saved him a lot of trouble when he goes out.

Xiao Fang himself was very happy. He had to admit that after serving the young master, he felt he was capable of handling any assistant position.

In the past few years, he had done all sorts of dirty and tiring work under the Crown Prince, but he found himself with a much more relaxed job under Lu Yinzhao.

This place is simply paradise! What kind of miserable life did he live before?

Early on the day of the shoot, Lu Yinzhao was already standing in front of the backdrop, holding a storyboard sketch covered with annotations.

The areas circled in red on the paper represent the lighting and shadow schemes he customized for the male lead character after reading the script twice.

"Teacher Lu, the actors are already waiting in the dressing room. The director just asked if the set for the first scene, the rainy night chase scene, should be darkened a bit more." Xiao Fang ran over with her camera bag and handed over the lens that had just been calibrated.

Lu Yinzhao nodded, then quickly walked towards the cloth scenic area.

"For a dark tone, we need to retain the foggy feel and avoid making it too stuffy. We need to have the lighting team replace the side lights with soft light screens and spray some water mist on the ground to simulate the texture of rain reflection."

Lu Yinzhao bent down and touched the old wooden table in the scene, his fingertips tracing the aged texture of the table corner.

"Loosen this tablecloth a bit more, let the edges touch the ground."

"Okay, Teacher Lu."

Just as the lighting technician finished adjusting the equipment, director Zhan Hao walked over with a thermos cup in hand, smiling and patting him on the shoulder.

"When I saw your fashion magazine shoots before, I always thought you were better at shooting close-ups of celebrities. I didn't expect you to have such ideas about the scene and atmosphere of my suspense film."

Lu Yinzhao smiled slightly: "Director Zhan, thank you for trusting me. This is a bold attempt for me. I personally feel that this is different from simply shooting celebrities. Movie promotional photos should serve the story and not just pursue good-looking images."

“You’re absolutely right. That’s exactly the kind of realism I want, without any filters or enhancements.” Zhan Hao looked at Lu Yinzhao with a kind expression. “Speaking of which, I should also be considered your father’s student.”

Lu Yinzhao's eyes widened slightly. "You know my father?"

"Hahaha!" Zhan Hao laughed heartily. "I doubt anyone in the country doesn't know your father. I was fortunate enough to take a few classes with Director Lu when I was young."

"Then...you wouldn't be doing this because of my dad..." Lu Yinzhao asked cautiously.

"No, not at all. I hired you because I value your photography skills. I thought that since you can use light and shadow so well, you must have some talent. Now that I see you working, I feel that I made the right choice." Zhan Hao stroked his chin seriously.

Lu Yinzhao said sincerely, "Director Zhan, I will do my best to make this film, and I also hope that your movie will be a huge hit."

As they were talking, the actor playing the male lead came out wearing a dark trench coat that was "drenched in rainwater".

Lu Yinzhao stepped forward and pointed to the other person's collar.

"The pleats here should be gathered towards the shoulder line, and the cuffs should be rolled up a little bit to show the scar on the wrist."

After he finished speaking, the costume teacher immediately stepped forward to help him adjust the costume.

Lu Yinzhao took two steps back, raised his camera to frame the shot, and said, "Your eyes don't need to be too fierce. They can look a little tired, with a hint of wariness."

Zhan Hao nodded repeatedly from the side.

He was genuinely surprised that Lu Yinzhao had thoroughly understood the characters in his script; it seemed she had done a lot of preparation before coming.

Lu Yinzhao pressed the shutter the moment the actor adjusted his posture.

Lu Yinzhao stared at the finished product on the monitor. "Let's add another set of close-ups."

He moved the camera up from the character's hand clutching the pocket watch, stopping at the shadow on the brow bone, where the metallic reflection of the pocket watch echoed the light in the actor's eyes.

At this moment, the assistant director leaned over to look at the monitor and couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, "Xiao Lu, you found the perfect angle! This is exactly the feeling we wanted!"

Zhan Hao couldn't help but praise, "That's the right feel! The cinematographers I've hired before either turned suspense into horror films or only thought about shooting celebrity look-alikes. Only you can capture the sense of character and the visuals so accurately. It seems... I'll have to hire you again when I direct an art film next time."

Lu Yinzhao said, "You're too kind. If you need me, I'll definitely agree."

Lu Yinzhao believes that this is a great opportunity to cross over from the fashion industry to the film and television industry. If he can do well in the film, he can establish himself in the film and television industry.

This was a significant breakthrough for Lu Yinzhao, and he was willing to try more new fields.

Actually, he had visited his older brother and sister on set when he was a child. He had never eaten pork, but he had seen pigs run, so he was not entirely unfamiliar with the process of the actors filming.

His older brother was an excellent actor who got into character very quickly. He probably already paid a lot of attention to the actors' eyes back then.

The ability to draw viewers into an unknown emotion through a single image is greatly influenced by the eyes.

After taking a break during a photo shoot, my phone vibrated a few times in my pocket; it was a message from Bian Ji.

[Brother Aji]: Are you getting used to filming on set? I heard the director has high standards for promotional photos.

Lu Yinzhao didn't waste any words and simply replied with an emoji.

【Zhaozhao】: [Playing hard to get.jpg.]

The accompanying picture shows a young Zhao Zhao stretching out two fingers and pinching the middle.

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Author's Note: Zhao Zhao: Life is as easy as turning one's hand. (Zhao Zhao is smug) [Okay]