Chapter 458
There were still differing opinions within CCTV regarding the use of external talent. After a period of stalemate, the director team ultimately decided to use a director trained in-house. However, the live broadcast of the Qixi Festival Gala at the end of August clearly demonstrated the error of their decision.
When it clashed with NINE STAR's graduation concert, even CCTV, which has a large audience base, experienced the first time of low online discussion, just like other local TV stations.
But CCTV, after all, was the main station. Even with Nine Star's popularity overshadowing it, many agencies were willing to spend money to promote their artists on CCTV. While lack of promotion wouldn't have been a big deal, at most it would have been a useless appearance on the show. However, the initial promotion allowed many viewers to spot issues with CCTV's directing.
Being a director for a national broadcaster naturally puts one at the top of the hectic industry. With systematic training, extensive experience, and advanced equipment, they present a professional standard that surpasses the industry average.
But problems also followed. With the increasing aesthetic standards of the audience, on the stage of large-scale live broadcasts, misjudgments on the timing of camera switching and lack of smoothness and naturalness in continuity were all problems that occurred in this Qixi live broadcast party.
Simply put, they use close-ups during group dances and wide shots during individual parts. Coupled with excessive training, most stage angles and presentations feel stale and familiar to the audience.
If everyone could have swallowed it whole and reluctantly accepted the familiar stage before, but after watching the direct footage of NINE STAR's graduation concert released by outstanding fans, led by "Pianran Xindong", they are completely unwilling to tolerate the director who refuses to change.
Not only was she no match for the fans, she was even no match for the director of the NINE STAR concert. The station's leadership had also noticed the online buzz, and the meetings had been going on non-stop.
But in fact, after the May Day Gala, some people had already started learning it. However, what they learned was not enough to support the entire stage, and it was a bit of putting the cart before the horse.
Watching netizens' criticisms and suggestions to the director on the projection screen, and pondering the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival Gala, in the conference room that had been quiet for several minutes, Du Huiyue, who was sitting in the lower right corner, mustered up the courage to raise her hand.
…
"Sister Du, you are really my idol!" After the meeting, Shang Xia, who was assigned to the same group as Du Huiyue, almost screamed wildly! At this moment, she was looking at her with starry eyes, giving her quite enough emotional value.
Du Huiyue was also excited at this moment. Although she could feel that many colleagues passing by her were looking at her with scrutiny and doubt, this also made her more determined.
"Don't be too happy yet," Du Huiyue shook her head. "We need to talk to Teacher Zhou first to see if she agrees."
Being the director of a large-scale gala is a lot of pressure, and the time spent on ensuring the completeness of the stage is also very high. Given Zhou Xiao's current skills and fame, Du Huiyue was a little embarrassed about the remuneration.
At the meeting, Du Huiyue brought up the video of Zhou Xiao's performance at the campground for NINE STAR during the May Day Gala. Everyone in the room had seen the video, but few had considered this point. This was primarily because Zhou Xiao wasn't a contract employee for the TV station.
Du Huiyue shared a video of the stage with her colleagues, which she then projected onto the screen. Besides the stage itself, she also saw numerous netizens praising the performance. Many fans of the actor commented below, questioning why CCTV treated its own artists differently by not inviting Zhou Xiao to film.
Although most of the comments were made in a joking tone, like "I'm going to make a scene," after all, being on CCTV was already a good thing, and no one dared to really criticize the official. Of course, Du Huiyue only dared to make such neutral remarks.
These comments have been kept in a separate album by Du Huiyue. She is the one who is learning, but her learning is a bit wrong. After realizing this problem, in addition to seeking help from her teacher, she stopped watching the stage performances of foreign directors and instead looked for stage cuts of outstanding domestic fans to draw inspiration and experience from them.
So, when everyone in the conference room was silent, Du Huiyue bravely took action. Although her proposal was initially controversial, after learning that Zhou Xiao was the Chinese national who had won an international photography award, the plan strangely became unpopular.
"This..." Shang Xia also fell silent. Although she was a lively person, she felt a little embarrassed at this moment.
It's mainly because insiders know what's going on. While CCTV doesn't treat employees and interns as harshly as some local stations, only the top brass can claim to reap both fame and fortune in terms of salary and benefits. For these junior staffers in their department, the weight of the CCTV brand is clearly paramount.
"It was Brother Qiu who brought Teacher Zhou here last time, right? Otherwise, we can let him act as a middleman and ask Teacher Zhou," Shang Xia offered her suggestion.
"Brother Qiu has already taken leave," Du Huiyue shook her head. "Besides, we have Teacher Zhou's phone number..."
Du Huiyue thought for a moment, then decided to call and ask the other party herself. She pointed to her phone, and Shang Hui pointed to the corner of the building, then walked towards the rarely visited place while organizing her words in her mind.
The beeping of the phone was like a death knell. Du Huiyue hoped Zhou Xiao would answer, but also hoped she would answer later. But when the gentle voice on the other end of the line rang, her nervousness inexplicably calmed down.
"...That's how it is." After explaining the problems the group was facing, Du Huiyue continued, "Please rest assured, Teacher Zhou, if you come over, you will only need to be responsible for the larger stages. We will actively cooperate with you in everything else."
Besides the multi-person stages, the choreography stages, where Zhou Xiao was required to direct, were also the most criticized by netizens. While Zhou Xiao's initial commitment to such a heavy workload may seem positive, it was also a test. After all, the in-house directing team still had the ability to provide a backup during crucial moments.
On the other side, Zhou Xiao was genuinely surprised to hear Du Huiyue say this. After all, no one would visit someone for no reason. His previous guess was just a random thought. He hadn't expected the other party to be so bold as to directly invite him to be the deputy director of CCTV's Mid-Autumn Festival Gala.
What Zhou Xiao naturally didn't know was that for such a large-scale production, CCTV usually kept the number of assistant directors at around two or three. Adding her wouldn't really have much of an impact. Furthermore, as an outsider, she wasn't affiliated with any factions, which might have made her more adaptable.
Du Huiyue on the other end of the phone didn't think about urging Zhou Xiao to do it. While quietly giving Zhou Xiao some time to think, she was also thinking about what words to use to make him think more if he refused.
Assistant Director of CCTV's Mid-Autumn Festival Gala? Honestly, Zhou Xiao was quite tempted. Otherwise, she wouldn't have agreed to Director Fang's invitation to participate in the filming. This kind of experience was something she had never had before.
However, such a large-scale cultural evening is bound to consume a considerable amount of energy. Even if she only needs to be responsible for a small part of the stage, the content and process of the corresponding program, communication with other departments, and stage performance all require a lot of time.
Zhou Xiao looked down at the spread-out pages. According to her original plan, she would spend two or three months reading the script, occasionally taking on some filming to break things up. This period of time should be very relaxing.
If she accepted Du Huiyue's invitation, this month would definitely be much busier than she had imagined. Not to mention that she would have to write a review of the script for Director Fang every week from now on, which seemed very tight in terms of time.
Du Huiyue on the opposite side seemed to be aware of Zhou Xiao's thoughts. She was gathering her strength and repeating the conditions given by the leader over and over again, emphasizing them in different words.
To Du Huiyue, the longer Zhou Xiao took to think, the greater the probability of success. Although she didn't know Zhou Xiao had already joined Fang Xi's new film, she knew that Zhou Xiao must have other projects on hand, otherwise he wouldn't have thought so long.
Time ticked by. After hearing Zhou Xiao's "OK," Du Huiyue's subsequent words were a little unclear in her ears, already blurred by excitement. Fortunately, she still had some sense enough to hear the words "lawyer" and "contract" and immediately agreed.
Once Zhou Xiao realized she was already thinking about her future schedule, she knew she would definitely accept the invitation. Even though she felt a little surprised that CCTV would trust her so much, she was quite confident in her abilities.
The reason why he agreed so readily on the phone was because after Zhou Xiao realized his thoughts, the long-lost system came online again.
[Ding! Host branch detected, please accept the TV director's invitation (0/1)]
[If the host accepts the invitation from the TV director, he can open the [Director Training Room] for one hour of training every day by passing 10 points of recognition.]
Wow! A new training room is open!
Zhou Xiao's eyes lit up! So while Du Huiyue was still describing the treatment, she agreed directly and told the other party on the phone that she would hire a lawyer to draft a contract.
As for a conflict with Director Fang's script? Impossible! Perhaps she could even seek out Director Fang, who had previously directed CCTV galas, for advice. Zhou Xiao rolled up her sleeves as she stared at the script before her. It looked like she'd have to add another page to her reading notes this week!
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