Chapter 140 (Filming in progress, Qingxi video)
Chapter 140
The online public opinion shifted very quickly. The most obvious point was that after Qin Panyun and other directors reposted the news, the Golden Wing Award gradually lost its name in the eyes of netizens and was replaced by the "watered-down award".
The organizers of the Film Expo and the Spring Creek Awards have repeatedly stated publicly that they will adhere to the principles of fairness and impartiality and will not allow the audience to be fooled.
Public opinion has reached this point, but Pan Jun wants to play dead. His agency has always been fiercely protective of its artists, issuing lawyer's letters at the slightest sign of trouble or making sarcastic remarks about other artists. This time, however, he remains silent, trying to pretend that nothing has happened.
However, the comments made by Pan Jun's fans were spread like wildfire.
Both Pan Jun himself and his agency's actions are rubbing salt into Tang Yonglei's wounds.
Pan Jun's reputation plummeted as a result.
But netizens are well aware that the problem isn't that Pan Jun showed off, but rather—who gave Pan Jun the trophy when he shouldn't have received it?
It is obviously Xu Lijia.
Moreover, in order to protect Pan Jun, Xu Lijia has already fallen out with the other judges of this year's Golden Wing Awards.
When Tang Yonglei made his move, apart from Cao Yan, none of the other judges responded, mainly to uphold the dignity of the Golden Wing Award as one of the three major awards.
The awards ceremony has been held, and the trophies have been awarded. It would be too undignified to bring up the previous issues at this point.
However, as public opinion shifted rapidly, this year's jury was dubbed the "shame of the Golden Wing Awards," and the Golden Wing Awards became known as a "watered-down award" by netizens. Coupled with the sudden and harsh criticism online, should they still insist on the so-called "collective decision" at this point?
If it were a collective decision, that would be fine.
At that time, they were clearly very dissatisfied with the result of the Best Supporting Actor award, but Xu Lijia arbitrarily decided on Pan Jun.
They can't all be forced to take the blame when they're not the ones making the decisions.
Sun Suqin, one of the judges, was the first to speak out on Weibo: "It is a pity that I did not stick to my initial choice."
The word "initially" was successfully captured by netizens.
Other members also expressed their views: "There were also disagreements among the judges regarding the Best Supporting Actor award, but we yielded due to some unavoidable circumstances."
"Fairness and impartiality have always been my principles."
Netizens: "..."
The use of terms like "force majeure" and "yielding" makes it quite clear who the target is.
The judges all switched sides, and now everyone knows that Pan Jun was single-handedly pushed into the Best Supporting Actor position by Xu Lijia.
The conflict between Xu Lijia and Lin Yuan was explained in detail.
The conflict between Xu Lijia and Tang Yonglei has also been explained by netizens.
Xu Lijia had no choice but to respond.
He stated, "There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes. There is no distinction between high and low performances. What one person considers outstanding may not be good enough in the eyes of others."
Xu Lijia also said things like "breaking with tradition" and "innovation," but anyone could see that he was just being sophistical.
The reputation of the Golden Wing Awards has been ruined because of him.
What the industry finds most unacceptable is that when Xu Lijia had the ability to fight for awards for Chinese filmmakers overseas, he did nothing because of personal conflicts, and then at the Golden Wing Awards, he deliberately pretended to be blind and completely ignored the excellent performances.
When he did nothing, Xu Lijia emphasized that he was fair and impartial, saying that some actors' performances were not up to standard and were not as good as a certain overseas actor.
Tang Yonglei and Lin Yuan were clearly much better than Pan Jun, but he pretended not to see it.
"That old double standard is weird."
“They’re not applying double standards; this has always been their style—being self-centered.”
Xu Lijia has faced the fiercest criticism of his acting career.
Initially, Tang Yonglei's dissatisfaction was insignificant to Xu Lijia, but now, many people in the industry have expressed their dissatisfaction.
The director, screenwriter, producer, and others who expressed their dissatisfaction will naturally not cooperate with Xu Lijia in the short term.
The Golden Wing Awards organizing committee invited Xu Lijia to serve as the chairman of the jury this year mainly because of his influence overseas and wanted to align with international standards.
Even though Xu Lijia had some unconventional aspects, the organizing committee took his personality into consideration and was quite tolerant of him.
After all, the organizing committee invited them on their own initiative, so we can't just interfere with their decisions because of some circumstances.
Since its inception, the Golden Wing Awards organizing committee has always granted the chairman of the jury sufficient autonomy, and in turn, in each previous awards ceremony, the chairman of the jury has always respected the opinions of other members.
No one expected that Xu Lijia would act unpredictably.
He did exercise the full power of the jury chairman, but he completely disregarded the opinions of the other jury members.
For the Golden Wing Awards organizing committee, inviting Xu Lijia this year was clearly a complete mistake.
As one of the most prestigious awards in the film industry, the Golden Wing Awards are composed of filmmakers who are qualified to compete for the award.
Xu Lijia's actions have essentially offended this group of filmmakers.
Xu Lijia's commercial achievements are mediocre. His reputation and status mainly come from awards, especially overseas awards. However, most of the films that won him awards and the projects that are well-known overseas are still from China.
While industry peers wouldn't proactively say things like "I refuse to work with XXX again," subconsciously, they gradually stopped collaborating with Xu Lijia.
Lin Yuan and Xu Lijia fell out because Lin Yuan got the role in "Bloody Past".
The falling out between Tang Yonglei and Xu Lijia stemmed from a trivial matter many years ago. Anyone else would have forgotten about it long ago, but Xu Lijia chose this moment to deliver a fatal blow to Tang Yonglei.
This only shows that his emotions have become quite unstable.
Who knows what ridiculous and inexplicable reason might offend him?
Moreover, offending him for such a trivial reason comes at the cost of a Golden Wing Award trophy—the price is far too high.
At the subsequent Film Festival and Spring Creek Awards, Tang Yonglei and Lin Yuan each won a Best Supporting Actor award. Tang Yonglei didn't say much about losing the Golden Wing Award, but the credibility of the Golden Wing Award was greatly affected.
It took the Golden Wing Awards almost five or six years to shake off the label of "water award," with the most direct cost being business and star power. Before this year, the Golden Wing Awards partnered with high-end brands in the luxury, beauty, automotive, and telecommunications sectors, which are generally considered high-end. However, since the beginning of this year, the Golden Wing Awards' title sponsorship, which was originally the least of its worries, has become a problem.
Big-name celebrities no longer attend the Golden Wing Awards, resulting in many vacancies in the guest seats.
Most importantly, although the three major awards are collectively known as the "Big Three," filmmakers also have a hierarchy among them.
The Golden Wing Awards were originally the most authoritative of the three major awards, but after this incident, the Golden Wing Awards were severely damaged. Even though it gradually regained its prestige, its influence was not as great as before.
As for Xu Lijia—according to Feng Zeng's authoritative information, Xu Lijia originally had a contract signed and was ready to join the film crew, but was replaced by someone else at the last minute.
Xu Lijia then went through a long period of inactivity.
Given his personality, he naturally wouldn't remain indifferent to the cold treatment he received. He later served as a judge at an overseas film festival, and whether out of revenge or something else, he used the same trick again, swindling another award.
“He wanted to use this award to exchange for resources, but the director didn’t agree,” Feng Zeng said. “He was too anxious. If he wins the award for them this time, it’s like they owe him a favor. He can work on it slowly later. For the sake of the trophy, they will repay him with the resources.”
According to his agent, Xu Lijia clearly had a hundred ways to broaden his path, but he chose the narrow one.
...
What happened after that had little to do with Lin Yuan; he was still diligently filming "Bloody Past" on set.
The filming location was getting colder and colder. In the dead of winter, it got dark early and dawn late. For Lin Yuan, crawling out of the heated house to film every day was a huge ordeal.
Fortunately, the filming location was moved to the county town. If they were still filming in the mountains, Lin Yuan suspected he would freeze to death.
"It's so bitter, so bitter."
The director walked past Lin Yuan with a blank expression. In the director's words, Lin Yuan's "bitter" sounded like a bird.
As for what kind of bird it was, the director couldn't remember: "It was the kind of bird that's talkative and has an unpleasant voice."
Filming during this season is incredibly slow.
When the temperature drops, the equipment becomes unusable. And then there are frequent heavy snowfalls. Just when you think it's snowing, an hour or two later, the snow is already knee-deep. Winter here is completely different from the A City where Lin Yuan lives.
In City A, even after two whole days of snowfall, the snow still wouldn't reach knee height.
However, the ice and snow tempered Lin Yuan's strong will.
"You added those lines yourself, didn't you?" — He Xun directly hit Lin Yuan where it hurt.
"What can you do without cultivating a strong will? Can you run now?" — Yu Ying is clearly a realist.
"Can't you at least show some sympathy for me?"
"I'm freezing to death after filming a water scene, I don't want to understand the feelings of some people who are holed up indoors watching the snow."
The film crew had a day off today, and Lin Yuan was very free again.
It's unclear how long this snow will last. There's a scene in "Bloody Past" set on a day when the snow is so heavy it could kill people. Lin Yuan guesses that if things go smoothly, they might have to film it tomorrow.
"My happiness doesn't last long at all."
"At least you were happy."
"You were happy."
Lin Yuan has been on the set of "Bloody Past" for several months. The character Wei Liang is weathered by life, and Lin Yuan feels that his face is so dry that it's about to peel.
In the script, after returning home, Wei Liang was not greeted with the warm life he had hoped for. His death brought indelible trauma to his family. His elderly mother could not accept the outcome and passed away a few days later.
His wife was still at home, but Wei Liang was gone, and they had no money. They had to borrow money to pay for the funeral. As the days went by, the children boarded a bus to the city.
This was not the ending Wei Liang had hoped for.
Although the time was short and the experience was nothing compared to a long life, Wei Liang had completely changed.
A brief but dramatic change.
When Lin Yuan was acting, he sometimes didn't understand what Wei Liang was thinking. Wei Liang was quite different from the characters he had played before. But director Ren Maoxing told him that he didn't need to understand too much. All he had to do was to bring the character to life.
Lin Yuan: "..."
Although he still didn't quite understand, Lin Yuan called it the art of art films.
It's very complicated.
The revenge in "Bloody Past" is also quite different from that in "Mandala". In "Mandala", Han Shen and Han Wen consciously approach their enemies and plan their revenge in a strong and effective manner. However, when it comes to Wei Liang, even revenge is not something that can be easily accomplished.
The enemy who caused him to fall into the mine was also driven by fate.
They lived under a gloomy sky, and their lives seemed to be shrouded in this gloom, making it impossible for anyone to escape.
The scene at his enemy's house was not one of joy and celebration. After learning of Wei Liang's return, he did not flee.
Life was just as difficult for him; he was simply struggling to survive.
After filming the scenes in the county town, Lin Yuan realized he had misjudged the situation. He thought that scenes with other people would be easier to film than his own solo scenes, but in fact, the scenes of Wei Liang returning to the county town were more frustrating.
Director Ren Maoxing wasn't making a revenge thriller at all; he was simply filming an experience.
Lin Yuan also felt that his performance was rather dull.
In the latter half of the script, Wei Liang's motivation is less about seeking revenge and more about venting his frustrations.
He held the knife and slashed wildly at everything in sight.
Under thick clouds and amidst heavy snow, he grappled with his former friend, now his enemy.
The sound emanating from his throat was not human, but rather closer to a wolf's howl. The blade touched flesh, leaving bright red marks on the pure white snow. Wei Liang's suppressed emotions were continuously released in each howl.
...
Just as Lin Yuan had guessed, Ren Maoxing indeed planned to film the snow scene the next day.
Lin Yuan and his co-star took precautions against the cold, and then they kept running and wrestling.
The director wanted to leave enough room for editing, so Lin Yuan ran a long distance. The director asked him to run like a madman, so Lin Yuan ran as required. The snow was frighteningly thick, and Lin Yuan even felt that he could hardly move an inch. It was also cold outside, and Lin Yuan felt a pain wherever his skin was exposed.
He ran until he was almost out of breath, unable to stand steadily, and his breathing became labored. He was just a hair's breadth away from falling when the director finally clapped in satisfaction.
What he wanted was for Lin Yuan to be at his limit. Only when the actor is at his limit can he deliver the most authentic performance.
Lin Yuan: "..."
He was completely exhausted, but the scene had to continue.
Lin Yuan was actually too tired to fight anymore, and so was the actor he was acting opposite—the other actor was nearly 20 years older than him. Under such rapid running, the other actor fell earlier and was then heavily pressed down by Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan even heard the other actor hiss.
But the director didn't call "cut," which meant that no matter how tired they were, the scene had to continue.
In any case, if it doesn't turn out the first time, given director Ren Maoxing's style, he will definitely ask them to film the same scene again, and not just one part, but the whole thing from beginning to end.
Running, howling, and wrestling in sub-zero temperatures.
Lin Yuan imagined the scene and immediately felt a surge of life and energy.
Clearly, his co-stars had the same idea, and their movements also began to be full of life and energy.
Ren Maoxing didn't give much direction, and Lin Yuan felt that the director probably didn't have high hopes for the cultural level of the actors he was working with, so he just asked the actors to follow his instructions and film as far as they could.
However, Lin Yuan could vaguely sense that in this part of "Bloody Past," the director wanted to show the powerlessness and despair of the lower classes.
The actors are filming in this direction, but there's no need to understand too much about it.
Lin Yuan is generally considered an actor who is willing to use his brain in his performances, but during the filming of "Bloody Past", perhaps because the character Wei Liang was rather rough, or perhaps because it was too cold and his brain was damaged by the cold, Lin Yuan always felt that his brain was not working as fast.
"I'm doomed, I'll need to get my brain treated when I get back."
Lin Yuan: "..."
Neither He Xun nor Yu Ying could utter a single kind word!
It's worth mentioning that Lin Yuan didn't film this snow scene in one go.
The director not only needed their fighting, but also wanted it to be artistic. One take was clearly not enough; two or three takes were needed.
Back at the hotel that night, Lin Yuan felt like he couldn't even lift his legs, and his head was buzzing.
The actor who acted opposite Lin Yuan was named Shi Ming. He joined the crew much later than Lin Yuan, but he suffered just as much.
Lin Yuan was at least more resilient, and on the way back to the hotel, he heard the other person groan several times.
According to him, when Lin Yuan first fell during a fight scene, his elbow hit his ribs, and he was in so much pain that tears came to his eyes.
The director thought this could be used as footage and planned to have Shi Ming do it a second time, but he shook his head and refused no matter what.
“I suddenly remembered that I worked with Director Ren 15 years ago,” Shi Ming said.
Lin Yuan leaned closer curiously: "And then?"
He thought he would hear gossip about the director.
“I just realized—” Shi Ming said seriously, “After that collaboration ended, I made a solemn vow that I would never work with Director Ren again.”
Shi Ming had forgotten the specifics of what happened back then, but according to him, it must have been a painful experience that made him delete it with a single click, so much so that after all these years, the first thing he remembered was his vow.
Lin Yuan: "Actually, I also..."
He also thought every day that this was the last time, and that he didn't want to work with director Ren Maoxing again for at least ten years.
Every day, they scream and howl, wrestle, run several kilometers, eat unknown creatures, lose weight drastically, and suffer from the cold.
Shi Ming patted Lin Yuan on the shoulder, expressing his sympathy for his plight.
Despite his complaints, Lin Yuan also learned a lot during the filming of "Bloody Past".
Wei Liang was a role he had never tried before, and the first lesson Lin Yuan learned in portraying this character was adaptation.
Wei Liang was perfectly suited to this winter and this heavy snow, while Lin Yuan's presence seemed out of place. However, during filming, his way of thinking, his actions, and his struggles all had to be switched to Wei Liang's mode.
Wei Liang's base of operations is in this area, around the mine.
He was silent, completely unlike Lin Yuan's personality.
Lin Yuan also tried to keep quiet, and in the days of silence, he got closer to Wei Liang.
As an actor, Lin Yuan is able to sense whether his performance is good or bad.
Although filming was tiring, Lin Yuan also experienced a sense of accomplishment.
Wei Liang is not a character that he has played countless times within a familiar framework. On the contrary, every time Lin Yuan enters the set, he feels that he is constantly pushing his limits.
He was tired, but he enjoyed the joy of being an actor.
"After this film is finished, I will not film for at least six months, or even a year," Lin Yuan first set out his plans for next year.
“This film won’t be finished so soon,” Feng Zeng said. “You mean, next year’s release schedule will be cleared out?”
Lin Yuan nodded.
"Alright."
Feng Zeng felt that Lin Yuan really needed to get his health back in order and adjust his condition first, putting everything else aside for now.
In any case, with the addition of "Bloody Past", Lin Yuan has several works in the pipeline, so the number of his works is definitely enough.
"Mandala" was originally scheduled to air this year, but the schedule was changed and it is said to air in January next year.
"So I only made two movies this year?" Lin Yuan sighed. "I feel like I haven't stopped all year. I've been filming non-stop."
Compared to other celebrities, Lin Yuan releases works very infrequently. However, when "Ghost Art" was released, Lin Yuan had a showdown with Xu Lijia. During the Golden Wing Awards, he made another appearance, so even though Lin Yuan is no longer active in the entertainment industry, his legend still lives on.
Lin Yuan could only say that his constitution was destined for bloodshed and violence.
There was no word of the filming of "Bloody Past" being conducted. The filming location was too cold, and no paparazzi would travel from afar to come.
If you want to film celebrity gossip, the chances of doing so are much higher abroad than here.
...
The broadcast date for "Mandala" is approaching in January. After filming wrapped up, Lin Yuan had little contact with the main cast and crew, only exchanging a few words when the series was scheduled for release.
Lin Yuan is still filming in the "Bloody Past" crew, so even if he can participate in the promotion, it will be a long time before he can.
Lin Yuan expects to be able to take some time off in January, and then discuss it with director Ren Maoxing.
After the weather got colder, the filming schedule became less packed. There was also a segment where they filmed outside, which Lin Yuan didn't need to participate in. So promoting "Mandala" shouldn't be a problem.
Ren Maoxing was rumored to be difficult to talk to, but after spending some time with him, Lin Yuan felt that he was a kind person who wouldn't deliberately make things difficult for others. However, he did have very high standards for filming, and his eyes were more accurate than a ruler. He could spot any problems with the actors immediately.
Lin Yuan filmed the snow scene for a whole week. After that week, Lin Yuan felt like his eyes were almost blinded by the light—he wouldn't crave snow for at least a year.
Romance, goose feathers—it's all fake.
Whose good people fight in the snow every day?
"No wonder it was mostly poets from the south who wrote poetry in ancient times," Lin Yuan remarked. "In the days before central heating, even going to the toilet felt like your bottom was cold, so how could you write poetry?"
Feng Zeng: "...You are an idol."
At least it used to be.
Can you please not be so vulgar?
Lin Yuan pointed to his face: "Does my current appearance have anything to do with idols?"
Lin Yuan can only say that after joining the filming of "Bloody Past", he gained a wealth of wilderness survival experience.
Why is it that He Xun can play models and handsome, popular men, but he can only play rough, unrefined men?
Lin Yuan was very dissatisfied.
"Cherish it. I can't even get a chance to direct a movie like Ren Maoxing's." He Xun didn't mince words with Lin Yuan and shut him down directly.
"Sigh." Lin Yuan sighed heavily.
...
"Mandala" was originally scheduled to air in the second half of this year, around November, but it was later confirmed to air in January next year. For the production team, this is a normal adjustment and there is no special reason.
However, according to marketing accounts, this change was described as "the performance of 'Mandala' at the internal preview was mediocre, the platform was not optimistic about it, and the release date was postponed."
"Revenge dramas are too profound. Viewers lack patience and may not be able to wait until the protagonist gets his revenge."
Lin Yuan & other actors in the crew: "..."
Lin Yuan was always amazed by the incredible creativity of the marketing accounts.
At least no one in their crew thought of that.
Marketing accounts don't need to analyze the accuracy of their statements. For example, they might claim that "Mandala" wasn't a project spearheaded by a particular platform, but rather that the platform specifically bought it.
If no one is optimistic about it, why should the platform insist on buying it?
Why would you turn down money?
At this point, the marketing account said again, "It is obvious that the platform is pinning its hopes on Lin Yuan and trying to turn things around with his influence."
Yes, yes, the platform didn't think highly of Lin Yuan's performance in "Mandala," so they bought the rights to Lin Yuan's work in an attempt to make a comeback.
When Lin Yuan read this sentence, his tongue got tied, and he felt that he might not have learned Chinese well in elementary school.
This is no longer as simple as the left and right hemispheres fighting each other.
Surprisingly, no matter what the marketing accounts posted, people actually believed it.
After all, Lin Yuan's last work was last year, a year and a half ago. The entertainment industry is ever-changing. A young actor who became popular in the first half of this year had a drama that was so bad that it was unwatchable in the second half of the year. Every year there are hit works. In terms of time, Lin Yuan's rise to fame is a long time ago.
Compared to other actors, Lin Yuan's output is indeed very slow. While other actors film one drama after another without a break in the production, Lin Yuan is filming dramas and movies at the same time. Films like "Bloody Past" can take several months to shoot.
He's too slow; he can't keep up with the pace of development in the entertainment industry.
The pessimism surrounding the Mandala began from this point.
However, the marketing accounts still held back, after all, Lin Yuan had been predicted to fail countless times before, but he always managed to turn things around.
This time, the analysis of "Mandala" by marketing accounts mainly focuses on the subject matter rather than attacking Lin Yuan himself.
The consequences of attacking Lin Yuan himself... are obvious to everyone.
The revenge plot in "Mandala" is too cliché. Audiences are under a lot of pressure in their lives and don't like revenge dramas. Winter is a depressing season, so we can't watch depressing works...
"Mandala" was sold to AIR Video for exclusive broadcast. It is said that AIR and Xingyao Video were originally going to broadcast it together, but they ultimately failed to reach an agreement.
During the airing of "Mandala", Qingxi Video happened to be airing a major drama with a heavy cast, not only with a top-notch cast, but also with two of the industry's top directors and screenwriters.
It's worth mentioning that "Tomorrow's Star" was a talent show produced by Qingxi Video, and "Let's Travel" is also a variety show produced by Qingxi Video.
In recent years, Lin Yuan has gradually gained popularity in the entertainment industry, but he has never collaborated with Qingxi Video.
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Author's Note: [doge][doge][doge] Here it comes!!!
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