"Hello, Director Lu, I'm Cao Gan."
In the office.
Cao Gan was wearing a light yellow jacket, jeans, sneakers, and a pair of black-framed glasses. He looked like a simple and honest young man.
Compared with his movies, his image really seems plain and simple, without that avant-garde vibe.
Standing in Lu Hao's office, his posture was a little restrained.
He just wanted to give it a try, so he submitted his work to DreamWorks and participated in the Young Directors Creative Support Program.
According to the detailed plan of DreamWorks Young Directors Creative Support Program, there are five funding levels, namely 500,000, 1 million, 2 million, 5 million, and 10 million.
Cao Gan did not dare to aim too high, so he only applied for the lowest level, 500,000.
For this movie, it's more than enough.
"Roadside Picnic" is a low-budget art film, and several of the main actors are his relatives and friends.
The starring actor is his uncle
An important supporting role is his grandfather.
One of the old ladies was his third aunt.
The two female characters are his wife and his wife's best friend.
The other extras are all fellow villagers or classmates.
Basically, the whole family is mobilized.
The total cost budget for a movie will not exceed 500,000.
The bulk of the cost is still the shooting and post-production costs.
To be fair, Cao Gan never thought that such a movie would come to this point——
His own film caused such intense controversy within the DreamWorks jury that the decision-making process came to Lu Hao.
"Well, you too, take a seat."
Lu Hao smiled and nodded, stood up to pour him a glass of water, and sat behind the boss chair.
On the table in front of him was a stack of documents.
These are the full evaluations given to the film by the seven members of DreamWorks' internal jury.
…
"20 points. I have no idea what the director wants to express. The timeline is confusing, the relationship between the characters is confusing, the camera language is confusing. The only bright spot is the feeling."
…
"99 points. It's no exaggeration to say that this is a genius film from a genius director, a pinnacle of modern magical realism, with a poetic atmosphere and many scenes that make you cry uncontrollably. Whether it's the characters, the plot, the camera, the dubbing, or the lines, the emotions are extremely rich. I strongly recommend that the company sign this person."
…
"0 points, absolutely incomprehensible. The director is a professional, but his filming techniques are extremely amateurish. There's a 42-minute long shot in the film, and I even suspect he simply forgot to turn off the camera. Of course, it could also be that his aesthetic taste is limited. The artistic value of this film is debatable, but its commercial value is basically zero."
…
"100 points! The plot is tightly linked, and the clues and emotional foreshadowing are extremely well-placed. It's a rare masterpiece among domestic art films, combining both artistic and commercial appeal. Domestic box office performance is not optimistic, but the overseas rights, especially for European audiences who enjoy magical realism and stream-of-consciousness, are estimated to be worth over $5 million."
…
The evaluation shows a very strange two-level differentiation.
You should know that the seven members of the DreamWorks jury are all senior veteran filmmakers.
Of course, there are differences in personal aesthetics and professional skills, but even so, this is the first time that the score gap is so large.
Many of the movies that were submitted for application before had similar tastes among everyone.
Only this one.
Lu Hao had nothing to say about this.
As I said, aesthetics is an extremely subjective thing.
What is magic to others is poison to me.
"You haven't finished filming this movie yet?"
At this moment, looking at Cao Gan, Lu Hao asked with a smile, handed him a cigarette and lit it himself.
Cao Gan felt a little flattered. He used his hands to block the wind, lit the cigarette, took a deep puff, smiled shyly, and spoke softly.
"I really don't have the money to film anymore. My uncle's family had some problems recently, so I got a job at a factory, working the night shift, so I really don't have time."
He was honest.
“What do you think of these comments?”
Lu Hao handed him the stack of papers and asked with a smile.
To be fair, Lu Hao himself is not optimistic about the commercial value of this movie.
The intricate timeline, complex character relationships, and numerous symbolic clues make the viewing experience really unfriendly for ordinary audiences.
You may not understand it even if you read it once or twice.
This is something that should be appreciated in film and television school classrooms.
It can be said with certainty that if this movie were released in theaters, it would definitely lose money.
However, whether you make money or not is actually not that important.
The quality of the movie itself is still remarkable, especially... the feeling.
This feeling, if described in words, is - numb.
The tingling sensation that arises from the bottom of the heart spreads to the scalp and brain, and finally reaches a spiritual perfection.
Especially for a half-baked literary youth like Lu Hao, this kind of pleasure is particularly strong.
The whole movie, taken as a whole, feels like... a dream.
What happens in dreams are things that you particularly hope to happen and things that you particularly fear to happen.
Perhaps this is the ultimate source of emotional experience.
"I... I don't know how to say it..." Cao Gan considered his tone, his face became more serious, and after thinking for a while, he continued:
“Being misunderstood is the fate of those who express themselves.”
Um?
Hearing this, Lu Hao's eyes lit up slightly.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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