Chapter 47 Trailer

The moment you click on this video, the gentle sound of a flute accompanies a distant male chorus, and the intro alone is enough to catch your ear.

The video footage was slightly dim and shaky, giving the impression of a spying perspective.

Ning Li quickly realized that the overhead shot was from the angle of a girl peeking silently from the wall. The flute intro sounded very cheerful, but the dense drumbeats interspersed in the background gave people a strange sense of tension.

As the camera gradually focused on the courtyard, the woman's playing of the zither suddenly stopped, and the flute music slowly turned into mournful sobs.

The subsequent drumbeats suddenly became so heavy they seemed to jolt one awake from a dream. The girl nimbly leaped into the courtyard, her fingers swiftly plucking the strings of the guzheng—

The light flute music in the background music turned into a fast zither sound, and the originally gentle male vocals suddenly became more powerful.

The camera slowly zooms out, revealing a young girl awkwardly holding a guzheng while sitting in the courtyard. As the perspective rises, the surrounding scenery transforms from a farmhouse courtyard into a vast garden with breathtaking views at every turn.

The entire winding and secluded courtyard covers at least tens of thousands of square meters, containing numerous low hills, ponds, pavilions, and towers.

The magnificent garden features a grand and spectacular golden palace, and even a short zoom-out shot reveals hundreds of servants performing their respective duties.

Ning Li is usually a person who is easily distracted, but at this moment her eyes are fixed on the quantum computer.

As someone in the industry, he has seen countless films and television shows. Other TV dramas often use night scenes to cover up the flaws when showing such large scenes, and many production teams simply use special effects instead. How could Juyu be so eager to show every detail to the audience?

In a professional film and television base, a building area of ​​tens of thousands of square meters may be crammed with two or three film crews at the same time. It is impossible for a film crew to clear the area specifically for such an ordinary shot.

In other movies, when filming street scenes, there are often only thirty or forty passersby. Those extras walk on the street like zombies who haven't eaten meat for ten days, each of them exuding an expression of getting by and hoping to get off work.

But this scene is different. Even the extras, huddled in the corner of the frame and barely bigger than a melon seed, act like real servants from that era.

Ning Li couldn't help but click her tongue.

This is not something that can be accomplished solely by the coordination ability of the assistant director of the production team, unless the production team of Giant Entertainment paid these extras far more than expected.

This behind-the-scenes clip with the soundtrack is only a little over three minutes long, and the background music seems to have been made for this movie.

This song not only fits the style and plot of the movie very well, but also shows no signs of being rushed.

Ning Li had heard Qiao Ankuang’s score for “Grandma Taizu” before. He originally thought that such a magnificent piece of music would take at least a few weeks to write, but he didn’t expect that a similar work could be produced in just two or three days.

Where did Mr. Fang find so many geniuses...?

This creation speed is almost as fast as the cockroach poison taking effect.

The thought that there is someone else in the world who stays up all night creating just like him gives him a sense of mutual appreciation and admiration.

The composition of the last shot in the video is truly masterful. A perspective directly facing the courtyard gate connects the main gates of the three courtyards that advance step by step, and the Liu family of four happens to be passing by the gate.

Outside the main gate stood Liu Ji, who was on guard duty. Liu Dazheng stroked his beard as he came out of the main courtyard.

Shifting the perspective further in, in the second courtyard, Madam Xu is passing by carrying a basket of eggs, while behind the many deep gates, Liu Fu sits in a corner of the courtyard, holding a zither.

A shot with a strong sense of depth connects all four of them. In this unfamiliar and magnificent courtyard, they exchange a tacit glance as their figures overlap, and the music just happens to fall to the last drumbeat.

This is amazing! Ning Li has seen quite a few movie trailers and behind-the-scenes clips during the National Day holiday, but none of them have reached this level of seamlessness.

The music, the composition, the venue... every element in it is perfectly matched.

If the finished film can be of this high quality, it has the potential to compete for the top spot in any release window.

If she weren't still on the spaceship, Ning Li would have jumped up and shouted excitedly.

Awesome! Lying down is that simple; this is the feeling of following the right person.

After watching Giant Entertainment's behind-the-scenes trailer, he was still a little reluctant to leave and watched it several times before clicking on the rough cut trailer for "About Lovers" with a bit of trepidation.

Before Giant Interactive entered the fray, most film critics believed that the top-grossing film during this year's Confederation Day holiday would almost certainly be either "About Love" or "Old Tales of the Sea".

The screenwriter of "About Love" is Liang Xinyuan, the male lead is a popular actor known for his acting skills, and the second lead is Ruan Zihan, a TV King. All the insert songs are written by the well-known singer-songwriter Chi Yingying. Even the theme is a romantic comedy, which is most popular with audiences in this time slot.

The production company can afford such a star-studded cast, so the investment must be substantial. I wonder if the quality will surpass that of Giant Entertainment's "Shadow".

She was slightly nervous before clicking, but Ning Li frowned after only a short while.

This is clearly a light comedy about ancient costume escorting, but the interlude written by Chi Yingying sounds like it was ripped from the audio track of some fantasy drama.

The heavy cello sound was pleasant to hear, but it didn't fit the subject matter at all.

Moreover, perhaps because I had just watched Juyu's short film, the props and set details in "About Lovers" were noticeably lacking.

The entire trailer is over four minutes long, and the actors are basically on muddy rural dirt roads protecting the guards the whole time.

The only escort agency that appeared was entirely an indoor scene, and the props looked very light and flimsy, as if they had no weight at all.

If you take this trailer out of the box, it's barely acceptable, since the plot was written by Brother Sun, so the storyline and logic are guaranteed. But Ning Li just finished watching Juyu's 10,000-square-meter garden, and "The Traveler" instantly looks like a short video on the Yinxi platform.

This comparison is just too stark...

Acting and plot are the least of our concerns in this movie, but Ruan Zihan's performance in some of his scenes with his co-stars was inexplicably lacking.

The trailer mostly features scenes of the male lead, Ruan Zihan, who just joined the cast. He only appears for about twenty seconds, delivering a divine performance that seems to be completely out of his mind.

Judging from the behind-the-scenes footage, it seems that he needs to take a long break to catch his breath every so often during filming, frequently interrupting the emotions of his fellow actors.

Huh, what's going on?

Is someone who's only just turned thirty already this weak?

With a "wait and see" attitude, Ning Li clicked into the comments section with a smug look on her face. Thousands of comments had already swirled up below.

[@Xinhe Entertainment, @Xinghan Media, @Guazi Media, judging by the long list of investors, this movie must have been heavily invested in by the industry... And it turned out like this?]

You guys can't even film properly, can't you even learn how? Everyone else is in period dramas, and you guys are completely outclassed, you know that?

[+1, I was completely outclassed by another company in every aspect – the set design, music, and acting.]

[@AboutTheMovies, stop filming, go home, kid. Look at your shabby security agency, is it even one percent the size of other places?]

Why has Chi Yingying's skill level dropped so drastically? Is she only capable of writing the same type of music?

The background music and the movie plot are completely different styles. Did she really put any effort into writing it? Please don't let me hear such a heavy background music in the movie theater!

[Hehe, before Qiao Ankuang debuted you all called her Goddess Yingying so much, now you all change your tune so quickly]

[I'm so proud of myself for not criticizing Qiao Ankuang back then. Is Yingying ashamed enough that she got slapped in the face after falsely accusing someone of plagiarism? How dare she take on the job of providing the background music for "Love Trip"? It's hilarious!]

[Could I say that the only songs she wrote that had similar melodies to Qiao Ankuang's were actually quite good? I suspect she found some of Qiao's accidentally discarded early drafts from her early works.]

[I really don't understand the overwhelming praise for Giant Entertainment in the comments section. The Love Trip is almost finished filming, while Giant Entertainment has only just started shooting. Can the filming quality at the start of filming be the same as the final product?]

[Fun fact: A movie costs dozens of times more than a short film, and its shooting time is also dozens of times longer. This is the first time I've seen someone go to another site's comment section to criticize it before the finished product has even been released.]

Don't argue with those ignorant people; they simply don't understand the concept of volunteer teaching.

With only three months left, it's safe to say that "Shadow" is destined for a disastrous ending.

[Aren't we all just trying to urge the Love Travel official team to step up their efforts? You're the one who's being paid to promote their services...]

Judging from your profile, you're a fan of Han Han. I really didn't want to bring this up earlier, but could you explain why there are needle marks near your idol's collarbone on his neck? And why does he act like he's sleepwalking?

[Holy crap, where are the pinholes? I knew people at Mudstar Entertainment were secretly using drugs, but is this how they do it so blatantly?]

[Look at 3:15 for yourself.]

[@Xinhe Entertainment, you're not even going to offer a refund?? Shouldn't you send the person for a blood test?]

Seeing the discussion about Ruan Zihan's condition trending on social media, Ning Li was so engrossed in the gossip that she forgot to leave the spaceship docking station.

It wasn't until twenty minutes later that Ruan Zihan came forward to clarify that the marks on his neck were not needle marks, but insect bites he had received on set.

Ning Li chuckled as she watched.

Who but the fans would believe such a crude explanation?

Seeing that no one in the comments section was buying it and the controversy was escalating, he finally felt relieved and turned off his personal computer. He planned to take his suitcase to the mall for a short stroll and buy some daily necessities before moving into the dormitory.

Before coming to Star 399, he had already heard that General Manager Fang had launched the first round of leasing for the shopping mall. Ning Li originally thought it would be a small community shopping mall, but he didn't expect it to be so large that it was no different from the central shopping malls in several important areas of the main star.

The types of businesses that have moved in are also diverse, including large chain supermarkets, luxury handbag and clothing stores on the first floor, and various restaurants on the upper floors.

He heard that there were several thousand merchants in the first round of applications, but he didn't yet understand what criteria were used to select these stores.

Since this place is not yet open to tourists, the people who come here now are all employees of Giant Entertainment. Everyone can get half-price shopping in the mall by showing their employee card.

As Ning Li passed by a few girls, she overheard them chatting while looking at a map:

"Hey, where's that blind box store you voted for? It's on the first floor, but I can't see it."

"It's underground. Come with me later. I heard that the store here has launched a large-sized limited edition blind box. I also want to get a box of the new Piggy series."

"Finally, I don't have to queue up with scalpers to buy the latest models anymore. Thank God, thank you, Mr. Fang. I want to work here for the rest of my life."

Where should we eat later?

"Let's go to the hot pot restaurant I picked before. I really love their coconut chicken hot pot."

"Before, I always had to wait three hours to get a table when I went to the main star to eat. Fortunately, I don't have to wait now, hehe. I'm going to perform a binge eating show."

"If it opens to tourists in a couple of days, will we have to start waiting too...?"

"No, did you not read our employee card instructions carefully? In addition to 50% off all purchases, there are also exclusive coupons and a card to get a free wait."

If Ning Li hadn't also been an employee of Juyu Entertainment, she would have collapsed to the ground upon hearing this conversation.

It turns out that the selection of a few dozen stores from thousands was actually decided by a vote of Juyu employees based on their personal preferences...

Merchants who weren't selected shouldn't be too upset. It's not that you're not good enough; it's just that your employees might not like you.

Fortunately, he also had an identical employee card, which prevented him from becoming unrecognizable from jealousy.

He bought several large bags of daily necessities at the supermarket, and only spent a few hundred yuan when he came out to pay.

The feeling of having prices drop by half worldwide while your money doesn't lose value is incredibly satisfying.

When he got back to his dorm and opened the door, he let out a gasp of surprise.

No, with such a large dormitory, how could the employees of Giant Entertainment resist taking 360-degree photos of it and posting them online?

The area here doesn't seem to be only eighty-odd square meters; it looks like it's nearly a hundred square meters.

Not only is the room fully furnished with all the furniture and smart appliances, but looking out through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room, you can also see the vast ocean in the distance, which looks like a blue ribbon.

Previously, in Liang Xinyuan's studio, Ning Li and Brother Sun each lived in a small cubicle separated by a partition in the living room, and Sister Liang would even strictly control their water and electricity bills.

Here, he was able to enjoy living alone in a huge 90-square-meter suite that used to house five grown men in the studio.

My heart is beating so fast, it feels like I want to work for Boss Fang again.

After cleaning her room, Ning Li sent a message to Director Fang right on time the next morning before she went to work: [Godfather, I've rested well. When can I join the crew to revise the script?]

Two beeping sounds appeared simultaneously on Fang Zhuo's personal computer, along with two messages.

He first gave Ning Li a brief reply, providing the film crew's detailed address, then his gaze lingered on Tian Linzhong's message—

[Mr. Fang, your new project has already started? Why didn't you let me know? Didn't we just sign the contract a couple of days ago?]

Fang Zhuo used a prepared response to brush him off: "[Director Tian, ​​'Shadow' is being filmed in two groups, A and B. Group A has just started filming. Please wait a little longer.]"

Fang Zhuo turned off the personal computer and quietly watched the teaching scene in the courtyard.

To ensure the quality of filming, the casting director initially selected the renowned Yuen Clan stunt team.

The martial arts instructor leading this stunt team is Yuan Yuan, who was the first disciple personally trained by Master Yuan.

After the old man passed away, Yuan Yuan's fellow apprentices all made a name for themselves in the entertainment industry.

Yuan Yuan had thirteen martial arts practitioners under his command, all of them young men in their early twenties, each with bright eyes and an upright demeanor.

There's nothing wrong with this kind of righteousness, but it's quite different from the original character settings in the script of "Shadow".

In the original script, the head steward of the Bao family was an incompetent good-for-nothing who turned a blind eye to the specific recruitment matters in the mansion. He was the gentlest HR person, which is why the Liu family was able to sneak in smoothly.

Similarly, the guards recruited into the manor were all oddballs; they might have some skill, but they were all seasoned veterans.

In other movies, stuntmen might play fleeting, minor characters who can be filmed in one take as long as their fight scenes are impressive. However, "Shadow" is filmed with meticulous detail, and the performances of the other actors are exceptionally fluid, making the issues with the stuntmen's performances particularly noticeable.

Fang Zhuo could tell that Zhang Kaigang was not satisfied with the performance of the stuntmen in the courtyard.

He walked behind the monitor and patted Zhang Kaigang on the shoulder: "We still have a lot of action scenes to come, so we'll switch roles if necessary."

Zhang Kaigang breathed a sigh of relief and then called Yuan Yuan over:

“These young people are not in the right state. We need stuntmen who have some martial arts skills, can fight, and have good acting skills. Ideally, they should be able to portray the kind of clever and slick feeling of someone who is just getting by. They should be around forty years old, but some can be up to fifty.”

Upon hearing this, Yuan Yuan immediately assumed his entire team was going to be returned, and quickly shrugged, saying:

“Director Zhang, how about I act it myself? I can portray the feeling you’re looking for. Just give me a few more close-up shots.”

"Isn't a stuntman just a blurred background? Your requirements are too high. If you can fight and act, why would you be a stuntman? You should either become a martial arts instructor or an action star."

"Besides, we signed the contract a long time ago. The total contract for our team is 1.3 million, which isn't expensive at all. How am I supposed to explain this to these kids...?"

Yuan Yuan looked at the group of young martial artists and was so embarrassed that he could hardly speak properly.

He was a rough fellow, and his speech was indeed crude, but the principle he was making was sound.

Normally, no film crew would nitpick the acting skills of stuntmen... These low-level stuntmen are people whose faces are blurred in the background, people whose names don't even deserve to appear in the end credits of a movie, and whose screen time is at most a few seconds, often without even a clear frontal view.

Seeing how aggrieved the other party was over this million-plus yuan, Fang Zhuo stepped in to smooth things over:

"No refund is needed for this kind of emergency. Just recommend a few people who can perform."

Yuan Yuan first exclaimed in surprise, then his mind raced as he frantically searched for a feasible list, finally saying helplessly:

"There's nothing I can do, boss. Unless you can bring over my fellow apprentices, we're old enough and have acting experience, but that's obviously impossible."

Why is it impossible?

Yuan Yuan seemed puzzled by Fang Zhuo's question: "It's expensive, boss. Think about it, it costs more than a million just for me to lead a team."

“My fellow apprentices all went out on their own to train their own students a long time ago. They are not low-level martial arts performers. A senior martial arts choreographer can earn at least 500,000 to 1 million for a single film. All of that is enough for you to hire a famous supporting actor.”

To his surprise, Fang Zhuo just smiled lightly after hearing this and then asked him how many fellow students there were in that year.

"Besides me, there are twelve other actors who are still taking on roles."

The later plot of "Shadow" features plant mutations and numerous action scenes, making the performances of the stuntmen crucial to the overall quality of the film.

Unlike commercial blockbusters that focus all the shots on the main characters, Fang Zhuo hopes that this work can realistically reflect every detail, including the stuntmen whose faces were forcibly blurred by large aperture lenses in his previous projects.

“The price is the least of our problems.” Fang Zhuo quoted a price while calling Jiang Yu to revise the contract: “I would also appreciate it if you could ask your fellow students if they could accept a package price of 30 million.”

"Also, the male lead I found has never done action scenes before, so I'll have to trouble you to put in the extra effort."

Yuan Yuan's eyes were wide open.

This package deal directly multiplied their original salaries by several times.

Most importantly, this amount of money is enough to hire a top-tier celebrity with a built-in fanbase. Why would any boss be willing to spend money on such trivial details as stunt work?

Having been in the industry for over thirty years, and having followed Mr. Yuan to film sets since childhood, this was the first time he had encountered an investor with this style.

This movie deserves to be a hit; if it's not, all of them, the brothers, can pay to promote it!

His face lit up with ecstasy. He quickly bowed deeply and immediately turned on his personal terminal to call for reinforcements.

Fang Zhuo then turned to Zhang Kaigang and said, "In the future, if something feels off during a last-minute shoot, you can adjust it directly without asking for my opinion. Just use the crew's shared card. The important thing is not to delay the schedule."

Zhang Kaigang placed his thumb on the monitor: "President Fang, I underestimated your abilities."

After activating the crew's shared card, Fang Zhuo quickly checked his own balance.

I spent a few hundred million yuan on film investment in the past two days, but the passive income from short dramas and group broadcast rewards has made up for some of it.

He currently has a system balance of 8.1 billion, and only 85 days left to survive, which is clearly not enough for him to survive the film production cycle.

He currently has enough money, so he spent 1.2 billion to buy himself four months of extra life. This way, he won't have to worry about the disease buff until the movie is released.

[Host's current remaining survival days: 205]

[Having survived more than the system's recommended healthy survival time of 40 days, the random disease condition does not apply.]

Seeing a large chunk of the balance disappear instantly, Yi Dian Dian couldn't help but chime in with a quiet voice: "[I don't know why, but every time you make a large purchase, I feel a heartbreaking sense of having spent my own money.]"

Fang Zhuo: [What, are you so unhappy to see me alive?]

A tiny speck of black water had been poured on him out of nowhere, and it immediately materialized into a ball of light in his mind, fluttering around: [Your Majesty, please understand! Your humble servant has no way to defend myself!]

Fang Zhuo: [Alright, shut your mouth.]

He wasn't actually worried about the temporary drop in his balance, because before the release of "Shadow," there was a project that would provide him with additional funding.

With that in mind, he tried removing Qin Yi from the already full investment section and placing the Juyu Short Drama APP icon in the investment section.

[Investment Target #3: Giant Entertainment Short Drama App]

[Initial valuation: 321,900,000]

Just as he had expected, the system's investment targets were quite broad, including not only individuals, but also groups, technologies, and even apps.

As long as the item is not a fictitious financial concept, the system can determine that it can be placed in the investment category.

This investment could be in a song, or even an independent script.

However, if the content of two investment columns is the same, such as the actor in investment column one performing the script in investment column two, the tenfold return amount will only be calculated once, and the corresponding investment column unlocking judgment will only be accumulated once.

Although the short drama app had already accumulated the initial value of two dramas, the marketing effect of Fangzhuo's plan did not prevent him from subsequently generating ten times the initial profit.

Since the last announcement soliciting content for the Juyu Short Drama APP, the actual operators of several entertainment companies have contacted him to discuss newly launched short drama content. Even leading production companies are planning to take this opportunity to test the waters.

Just one month later, six short dramas from leading companies such as Deshen and Baisheng were simultaneously launched on the Juyu Short Drama APP.