Chapter 133 Following the Camera [VIP]
Chapter Summary: This isn't about romance, it's about business cooperation.
On September 30, the movie "Role Models of the Times" was released.
Mu Zhi has been signed with Lanxing Media for 3 years. This is the first time that she doesn't have to travel to other places for promotional tours on the day of the release of her starring film. She is in Beicheng.
Today, as usual, the company booked a theater for all employees to watch a movie after get off work. Employees who were free usually went along happily, since they didn't have to pay for their own tickets. If the boss or the brokerage director was with them, they would even treat the audience to snacks during the movie.
It is a benefit provided by the company to its employees.
Mu Zhi and her team, who had just finished their roadshow promotion yesterday, also joined the company's team building activities.
He Zhiyue, who was on a business trip out of town: ...unfortunately, I missed it.
Ji Binghe was also absent when she accompanied newcomer Bian Wu to record a variety show in Bincheng.
Mu Zhi drove alone to the movie theater to meet everyone. The boss had booked the entire theater and treated all the employees to movie tickets. She treated everyone to drinks and snacks such as popcorn, chestnuts, and fried chicken that they could bring in.
I noticed that Xia Xinyan was there too.
"Zhizhi, congratulations, your new movie is out."
"Thanks."
After a brief greeting, everyone walked into the theater together.
He Zhiyue had Lu Ke book a large theater, and dozens of employees from Lanxing Media came. The theater was almost full.
Once everyone was seated, the movie started very quickly.
Directed by Hong Yan and starring Mu Zhi, "The Most Beautiful Teacher" is the third segment in the entire film and is the shortest of the five story chapters.
Because Ms. Zhou Rong's life story is actually quite simple: after graduating from university, she came to a rural area to teach. There, she went through a process of adapting to teaching and living there, and gradually became familiar with the children. The focus is on her help to one student, enabling him to continue his schooling...
The environment, every blade of grass, every tree, every mountain, and every river in the film are all shot with great texture and realism. The actors' performances are almost entirely natural, and the audience sitting in front of the big screen feels as if they are watching a cinematic record of the past.
Filming took a month, but the final cut of this story was only 18 minutes long.
Not a single second of the shot was wasted.
Xia Xinyan, who was sitting in the row behind Mu Zhi, was shocked by Mu Zhi's performance after watching "The Most Beautiful Teacher".
Unlike Zhou Jingzhu, Liu Cai, and others who read every single one of Mu Zhi's works, she only read "The Bell Ringer" and "Countdown," and then today's "Model of the Times."
The last time Xia Xinyan watched "Countdown," she was amazed by Mu Zhi's acting skills, but also distracted by Mu Zhi's beauty in the movie. She felt that the director had filmed Mu Zhi so beautifully that it made her yearn to appear on the big screen.
During this movie viewing, I completely forgot that the character in the film was Mu Zhi; I was simply drawn in by the story and fully immersed in the character.
After rescuing her students, teacher Zhou Rong herself was overcome by exhaustion and her limbs became stiff, causing her to be submerged over her head in the icy river water...
Xia Xinyan couldn't help but burst into tears.
At the same time, I sighed in my heart again: Mu Zhi is a true actor. She can play any role and play it well. Her future is truly limitless.
It also completely dispelled my longing for performing.
She was well aware that if she were to enter the film and television industry and be compared to Mu Zhi by netizens, she would be utterly humiliated.
Xia Xinyan had to accept a fact that was most likely already a fait accompli:
Even if she studies well at a music academy and produces one or two songs that become popular across the internet and are widely sung, it's still not enough.
Her achievements and status in the entertainment industry are no match for Mu Zhi's.
The End.
Because of the film's limited runtime and the limited stories it can tell, "Role Models of the Times" only tells the stories of five role models of the times, but it features far more than just five exemplary heroes.
So, as the end credits rolled, instead of the usual credits, there was a three-minute "post-credits scene" featuring photos and brief biographies of several individuals awarded the title of "Role Model of the Times," allowing more viewers to learn about and pay tribute to them...
The audience members who had stood up to leave spontaneously burst into applause, and the theater erupted in thunderous applause.
Underground parking lot.
"Zhizhi, wait a minute."
Xia Xinyan walked towards Mu Zhi.
Xiang Muzhi solemnly thanked him: "Zhizhi, thank you again. If it weren't for you last time, I might not have been able to make up my mind, couldn't see my own heart, and just went along with the crowd and acted."
"Unlike now, I won't be able to get into a music academy abroad so easily."
I've already shared my congratulations on WeChat about Xia Xinyan being admitted to the music academy.
Mu Zhi: "You're welcome."
Xia Xinyan was speechless with embarrassment, so she had no choice but to say goodbye to Mu Zhi and walk with her assistant toward the parked car.
Minmin watched Xia Xinyan leave, thinking about how Xia Xinyan's acceptance into a foreign music academy had recently become a trending topic, and how many netizens had also mentioned Mu Zhi.
The article compares Xia Xinyan and Mu Zhi, noting that they both came from talent shows but took completely different paths.
One is an idol, the other is an actress; they shine in their respective fields and are both outstanding girls.
Regarding their future career development, most people naturally have a higher opinion of Mu Zhi.
This angered Xia Xinyan's fans, who felt that their idol had always been an idol since her debut through a talent show, and that she was both knowledgeable and practical. They felt that she was much more ambitious and wanted to study at a music academy abroad in order to improve herself.
They said with a sense of superiority that the two were not the same.
Minmin thought to herself: It's different.
Her impression of Xia Xinyan: If we only consider her professional skills as an artist, her dedication to her career, and her self-discipline, she is indeed quite admirable.
However, Mu Zhi has a bad relationship with her family. Her biological parents severed ties with her and cut off contact for several years, so Mu Zhi has no feelings for her family.
Although Xia Xinyan posts a few photos with her grandmother on social media throughout the year, she first spent four years abroad at a young age, then spent more than three years busy with her career after her debut, and now she is going abroad to study at a music academy.
Since he didn't bring his grandmother to live with him, it's easy to imagine that he won't spend much time with the grandmother who raised him.
In Minmin's opinion, Xia Xinyan on social media is a carefully crafted celebrity image, not the real Xia Xinyan.
Mu Zhi and Xia Xinyan chose different paths to develop.
Mu Zhi chose to become an actress out of her love for acting; she never considered becoming an idol. Xia Xinyan, on the other hand, had considered acting, but is her dedication to being an idol also driven by pure passion?
Or perhaps it's to maintain the idol's image and prevent it from collapsing, and to consider their image in the eyes of fans.
Perhaps only Xia Xinyan herself knows the answer.
The day after the movie "Role Models of the Times" was released.
Mu Zhi began her plan to check in for [martial arts training].
Upon arriving at the training venue, Director Hong Yan was also there and introduced her to martial arts instructor Yuan Hao.
Mu Zhi knew Yuan Hao, who had collaborated with director Hong Yan on many martial arts films. He had once founded the Yuan Family Troupe, which was very famous in the industry, but it disbanded later as martial arts films declined.
During the last dubbing session, I heard director Hong Yan mention with emotion that he reunited the team he had worked with in the past in order to make a martial arts film.
"Hello Master Yuan, please give me your guidance."
From working as a stunt double on film sets in his teens to becoming a martial arts instructor, and later establishing the Yuan Family Stunt Team, which enjoyed a period of great success, more than 30 years have passed since then.
This is my second collaboration with director Hong Yan, and this time I'm bringing along his personal disciple who has inherited his martial arts mantle.
Seeing Mu Zhi's polite attitude, Yuan Hao said kindly, "Teacher Mu, you're too kind."
He beckoned to the disciple standing to the side to come over and greet Mu Zhi...
Since returning to Beicheng after finishing the promotional filming for "Countdown", Mu Zhi has been going to the gym with a coach whenever she has free time in the morning and evening to exercise according to a personalized fitness plan. Over the past two weeks, she has been building a foundation.
Martial arts training for movies is also a gradual process.
The first day's training consisted of squatting in the horse stance in the morning and practicing a few simple moves in the afternoon.
Minmin had some business to attend to at the company in the morning, but came to accompany Muzhi for training in the afternoon.
After Mu Zhi finished training, the group was on their way back by car.
During training sessions at the venue, Mu Zhi would only drink some water and wipe his sweat during breaks, and he wouldn't look at his phone at all, because Min Min was afraid of disturbing Mu Zhi's training and getting him distracted.
Only now have I started talking about the related trending topics online.
That's a good thing.
"Sister Zhizhi, Professor Zhou Rong's student posted a long Weibo post today praising you!"
Mu Zhi was very surprised to hear this: "Is he the student who was able to continue his studies with the help of Teacher Zhou Rong, and who later got into his ideal university and chose to return to the countryside to teach, just like Teacher Zhou Rong?"
"Mhm."
In a long post by Zhou Rong's students, they said that a group of students who had received help from their teacher and were influenced by her in the past had their destinies changed, and they rented out a theater together to watch "Role Models of the Times".
I was deeply moved after watching the film. It reminded me of my teacher. Through conversations, I learned that many people online learned about Teacher Zhou Rong because of this movie and wanted to know more. Some people also discussed and questioned whether choosing to film Zhou Rong's story, given that there are so many role models and heroes of our time, is representative enough.
So she decided to step forward and share her thoughts.
In her sharing, she mentioned Mu Zhi, saying that she doesn't pay attention to celebrities and idols, but she heard others mention Mu Zhi when she was going to play Zhou Rong. She said Mu Zhi is a very beautiful and popular actress.
After watching the movie, they were impressed by Mu Zhi's acting skills; her performance was very realistic and faithful to the original. They thanked Mu Zhi for her dedicated portrayal...
Some netizens questioned whether Zhou Rong's student was hired by the film company to cooperate with publicity, but she did not mention the child actor who played her in the movie, nor did she mention the director Hong Yan. She only mentioned Mu Zhi a few times at the end.
Whether it's an expression of genuine feelings or not, most netizens have their own judgment.
Mu Zhi logged onto Weibo, read the post from Professor Zhou Rong's student, and then reposted this particular Weibo post...
Minmin exclaimed with pride: "On its second day of release, 'Role Models of the Times' has grossed over 200 million yuan."
More than 30 popular celebrities starred in the film.
Mu Zhi's portrayal of the character conveyed a sense of presence and recognition, earning widespread praise. She's truly amazing.
No role is too small or too big; as long as you perform well, the audience will recognize it.
It completely refuted that negative trending topic before the film's release, haha, I felt so good.
Two days later.
Tai Feng also came to the venue and joined the martial arts training team.
In this martial arts film, he plays a prince who pretends to be sickly. His role has fewer action scenes than Mu Zhi's, with only two major fight scenes.
In addition, he had extensive experience in filming action scenes and was in good physical condition, so he arrived three days later than Mu Zhi.
The director was also there that day, and it was lunchtime after training.
Tai Feng suggested having dinner together to talk about the roles.
Mu Zhi looked a little hesitant, thinking that having a meal might make her trend on social media again tomorrow.
Director Hong Yan knew Mu Zhi's concerns, and considering that the film was going to start shooting in just over half a month, the film crew information and cast would be revealed in the next day or two.
He said nonchalantly, "Let them take the pictures, don't worry about it."
"With me here and so many staff members accompanying me, there won't be any misunderstandings."
Since the director had said so, Mu Zhi agreed.
8 PM.
After the group finished their meal, they walked out of the restaurant.
Mu Zhi, who was constantly followed by paparazzi, looked around alertly and noticed a person standing behind a big tree next to the children on the opposite side of the road, holding a long lens and pointing it directly at her.
Noticing her gaze, he immediately shrank behind the tree.
This guilty act immediately confirmed Mu Zhi's suspicions: it was that elusive paparazzi again.
He waved to the tree where the paparazzi was hiding, indicating that he had seen him.
The paparazzi who had just peeked out: "..." and quickly ducked back down.
Their studio team started filming Mu Zhi after the movie "Back to 17," starring Mu Zhi, became a box office hit.
It's been over a year, almost two years now.
During that time, I considered going to Tibet to film "Countdown" with Mu Zhi for a few months last year, but the cost was too high and I would have to deal with altitude sickness, so I didn't go.
They followed Mu Zhi around every day as she filmed her two movies this year, "The Most Beautiful Teacher" and "Escape from the Game".
As a result, Mu Zhi went back and forth between the film crew and the hotel every day and didn't get to film anything.
Minmin followed Muzhi's greeting gaze and spotted the paparazzi.
I recalled a paparazzi interview video with blurred images that I found on her homepage a few days ago. It was a list of celebrities that left a deep impression on her during the paparazzi's filming process.
The paparazzi subtly claimed that he had been following a top-tier actress for over half a year but hadn't gotten any photos or videos. He praised the actress for her meteoric rise, saying she was only ever on set filming or resting in her hotel room.
He never takes leave to participate in activities during filming, and spends every day on set.
Such a beautiful woman who doesn't date and focuses solely on her career is a rare find in the entertainment industry.
The paparazzi hiding behind the tree at this moment is the same paparazzi who blurred out the image online.
Although Mu Zhi discovered him, he made a big discovery today! Among the group of people who came out with Mu Zhi, he immediately recognized Tai Feng.
He thought to himself excitedly: It seems that even beautiful women can't escape the temptation of falling in love.
Did she and Tai Feng develop feelings for each other while filming "Countdown"?!
He was so excited that he took two more photos, which was then discovered by Mu Zhi.
Hiding behind a tree, reviewing the footage he had shot, he recognized the person standing next to Tai Feng as somewhat familiar. A few seconds later, he realized it was director Hong Yan...
It's not about dating, it's about business cooperation.
Grass (a type of plant)! Never mind, I'll post it tomorrow.
Anyway, after following Mu Zhi for so long, we've finally gotten some scoop.
[Author's Note]
Zhibao: Hehe, thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 00:02:49 on August 28, 2022 and 00:05:59 on August 29, 2022!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: 37891068 (10 bottles); Jiu (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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