Chapter 29 The Fallen Child Star 29
Soon, the role of the leading actress was decided.
It was an acquaintance, Wen Qiu.
Wen Qiu called Yao Rong to express her gratitude.
Although she was a first-line actress, she had been stuck in TV dramas and could never get good film resources.
If Yao Rong hadn't recommended her to the director, she might not have been able to get the leading actress in this big production.
Yao Rong didn't take credit for it: "I just recommended it casually, and it was you who conquered the director with your acting skills."
If you don't have your own strength, you won't be able to catch the opportunity when it comes.
Wen Qiu smiled and didn't dwell on this matter with Yao Rong.
She just kept the favor in mind.
"Aunt Yao, when will you come to the crew?"
"Wait until Weiheng finishes his final exam."
Wen Qiu laughed, "Oh, I forgot that it's the final exam season. When you come, I'll treat you to a delicious meal. I'm familiar with the Film and Television City."
The day after Xu Weiheng finished his final exam, he and Yao Rong flew to the crew together. When
they got there, Wen Qiu was the first to greet them, followed closely by the director and the leading actor.
After they met, the director pulled Yao Rong away: "Ms. Yao, you're just in time. I have some plots to discuss with you."
Wen Qiu introduced the male lead: "This is Xu Weiheng, whom I often told you about."
The male lead Di Zheng is already 35 years old this year. He is a well-known good guy in the circle. He smiled and greeted Xu Weiheng: "Have you finished your final exam? How did you do?"
Xu Weiheng couldn't help laughing: "It was OK. Hello, Teacher Di."
"Don't call me teacher, just call me brother like Wen Qiu."
The three of them wanted to make friends, so the atmosphere of the chat was always active.
The relationship between the protagonists was harmonious, and the other supporting actors and extras naturally did not make trouble. The atmosphere of the entire crew was very comfortable. Xu Weiheng felt like a fish in water here and quickly entered the shooting state.
More than a year has passed, and Xu Weiheng's acting skills have improved a lot compared to when he was filming "In the Prime of Life".
He did not lag behind the leading male actors Di Zheng and Wen Qiu.
In addition, his eyebrows and eyes have grown up compared to before, and his youthfulness has faded. His camera performance has reached a higher level.
After a few scenes, Di Zheng smiled and asked Xu Weiheng which film and television school he planned to apply for.
"What do you think of our Huaying?"
Wen Qiu was proud: "It's too late. As early as a year ago, I made an appointment with Weiheng. He will come to Huaxi to be my junior."
Di Zheng slapped his thigh: "You are too fast."
"Of course, good seedlings must be decided early."
Di Zheng complained: "Are you picking vegetables?"
Xu Weiheng sat next to them, smiling and listening to their quarrels.
The director passed by and saw this scene. He said to the producer with emotion: "Among the three of them, Xu Weiheng looks the most stable."
The producer of this movie was the person in charge of Lan Zhiying who met with Yao Rong at that time.
He also praised: "He is not arrogant or impatient, his acting skills are good, and his future is limitless."
The director laughed: "The old guy Chen Shuangqiu was always hunting eagles, but he was pecked in the eye by the eagle."
At this time, Director Chen, who was the center of other people's topics, was busy filming his "Endless Darkness".
When he heard that Xu Weiheng went to play the second male lead in "Sinking Ashes", Director Chen snorted coldly and was quite dissatisfied in his heart.
Both "Endless Darkness" and "Sinking" are 300 million big productions, and the former's film and television company Black Era has been a sworn enemy of the latter's film and television company Blue Shadow for many years. Director Chen and the director of "Sinking" have also been sworn enemies for many years, and they have been fighting each other for countless times.
However, Director Chen invited Xu Weiheng to play the leading male role in "Endless Darkness", but Xu Weiheng did not agree and instead played the second male role in "Sinking", which made Director Chen very upset and felt that he had lost a game here.
In order to make up for this, Director Chen worked harder when filming "Endless Darkness".
***
New Year's Eve is approaching.
The crew gave everyone a few days off.
After discussing with Xu Weiheng, Yao Rong decided not to return to D City for the New Year, but to travel to a tourist city.
Anyway, as long as the mother and son are together, it doesn't matter where they spend the New Year.
After a few days of fun, the crew went back into filming.
It took another week to finish all of Xu Weiheng's scenes.
After all, the most time-consuming part of filming a science fiction movie is the post-production special effects.
On the day Xu Weiheng was shot, the crew prepared a very large cake for him to send him off.
After eating the cake, Xu Weiheng had to fly back to school, and Yao Rong had to stay here until all the filming tasks of the crew were completed. At
the end of February, all the scenes of "Sinking Ash" were shot and entered the intense post-production.
At this time, Tiangong Vision's naked-eye 3D technology had been fully mature and could be put into use in movies.
As the post-production of "Eternal Darkness" was coming to an end, Chen's new film "Eternal Darkness" began to release promotional videos one after another and was scheduled to be released during the Spring Festival next year.
At the same time, many movies were also scheduled to be released during the Spring Festival next year.
Among them, there are as many as six movies with an investment of over 100 million yuan.
In addition to "Eternal Darkness", there are also spy films shot by two winners, family-friendly dramas co-produced by several popular comedians, and the return of a great director who has been dormant for many years...
Each one is extremely threatening, and it can be said that it is a fight between gods.
"How long will it take for "Eternal Darkness" to complete the post-production?" Yao Rong called Tiangong Vision to inquire about the progress.
"Half a month to a month."
After getting a definite answer from Tiangong Vision, Yao Rong contacted the director and the person in charge of Blue Shadow: "I suggest that "Sinking" be released directly during the Spring Festival next year, preferably on New Year's Eve."
The director asked: "Will it premiere on the same day as "Infinite Darkness"? "
"Without a doubt, our biggest rival in this year's Spring Festival is "Infinite Darkness". If even "Infinite Darkness" loses, which other movie can beat "Infinite Darkness" in the entire Spring Festival?"
" Infinite Darkness
" is the confidence of "Infinite Darkness".
After a pause, Yao Rong smiled and added: "Also, don't forget, the goal of "Infinite Darkness" is not to win the Spring Festival championship, but to become the No. 1 box office in Chinese film history." As soon as
these words came out, the director and the person in charge of Blue Shadow were excited and their blood boiled.
The director said: "That's right, "Sinking" is not afraid of any opponent. The one who should be afraid is the opponent of "Sinking"!"
The person in charge of Blue Shadow slammed the table and said: "Then let's make a deal!"
***
Half a month later, "Sinking" completed the special effects production and sent it for review at the fastest speed.
As soon as the review was completed, "Sinking" immediately announced the premiere time and claimed that "Sinking" would use a new and revolutionary special effects technology.
Seeing the premiere time of "Sinking", Director Chen was so angry that his face turned black.
But thinking of the quality of "The Endless Darkness", Director Chen's floating heart was slightly stabilized.
And because his first two movies were a succession of failures, in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes in this movie, Director Chen specially spent a lot of money and invited the world's best special effects company to produce the post-production.
As far as he knows, that company did not take over the post-production of "Sinking Ray".
He did not believe that the special effects of "Sinking Ray" could surpass "Infinite Darkness".
It was probably just a gimmick for hype.
Unlike Director Chen's contempt, many netizens expressed their expectations for "Sinking Ray".
[A big production with an investment of 300 million yuan, our Wen Qiu's film resources are finally not bloodbathed]
[The screenwriter is actually Yao Rong! Amitabha, I wish the quality of "Sinking Ray" can be on par with "Starry Sky" and "Light Years"! ]
[Oh my God! Wei Heng is finally going to make a movie again! ]
[For the combination of Wen Qiu, Xu Weiheng and Yao Rong, I also want to go to the cinema to contribute a box office ticket]
[+1 upstairs, I like these three people the most in the third season of "Dear Family"]
Soon, the first trailer of "Sinking Ray" was released.
Director Chen clicked on it and watched it immediately.
The desolate world, the humanity on the verge of despair, the creatures that depend on misfortune and happiness... In just
two minutes of video, a shocking picture is presented.
[Ah ... 】 【Let alone Wen Qiu, Xu Weiheng and the male lead only have a few seconds of footage together. I suspect the crew is deliberately making trouble to whet our appetite】 【Brothers, see you at the beginning】 【See you at the beginning +1】 The barrage quickly passed over the top of the mobile phone screen. Director Chen glanced at it and felt very annoyed. He turned off the barrage, lit a cigarette, and went back to the beginning of the promotional video while smoking. After watching the promotional video again, Director Chen had to admit: The special effects of this movie... are not much worse than "Infinite Darkness". His heart, which was sure of victory, gradually sank, and he was no longer as calm as before. Even the investors called Director Chen to ask if "Infinite Darkness" could win against "Sinking". What can Director Chen say? He just assured the other party repeatedly. After hanging up the phone, Director Chen found that he was sweating. He patted his chest and comforted himself: Although the special effects of "The Fall" are very good, it is a joke to say that there is any revolutionary breakthrough! Director Chen and netizens are waiting for the official Weibo of "The Fall" to release the second promotional video. Strangely, the official Weibo of "The Fall" has been silent since then. If it were not for updating some stills from time to time, people would really think that the official Weibo account is dead. But then, Director Chen didn't have the heart to pay attention to "The Fall". All his energy was put into promoting "The Darkness". This is his big production to turn things around. Just as the promotion of "Infinite Darkness" was coming to an end and there was only one week left before the premiere, "The Darkness" finally made a new move - the official Weibo of Tiangong Vision released a statement, claiming that it had achieved a breakthrough in film special effects technology and completed the research and development of naked-eye 3D technology. From today, human film history will get rid of 3D glasses and enter the era of naked-eye 3D. At the end of the official Weibo, it also @ed the official Weibo of "The Darkness". The Weibo of "The Darkness" reposted and responded immediately: [Naked-eye 3D technology has been first applied to the post-production of "The Darkness". Now all theaters under the name of Blue Film are being renovated. Please stay tuned.] As soon as these two Weibo posts came out, everyone went crazy! [Is this true! When was this achievement achieved, and why was there no news before! 】 【Related industry workers said that naked eye 3D technology has always been an important breakthrough direction in the future, but I don’t know how many teams have fallen in front of this technology. There was a rumor that Tiangong Vision has realized naked eye 3D technology. I didn’t believe it. Now I believe it and I will buy a ticket immediately! ! ! 】 【Ahhhhhhh, I just went to the Blue Shadow Cinema today and said that I did see that the cinema was being renovated! 】 【Such a big company should not make false propaganda. Even if the naked eye 3D technology is not mature enough, it doesn’t matter. I must go to join in the excitement】 Many netizens found it hard to believe, but soon, the relevant departments forwarded it to confirm the authenticity of the news. On Weibo, the relevant departments said that this technology is already very mature. As early as a year ago, Tiangong Vision started cooperation with relevant departments. In the near future, naked-eye 3D technology will be used not only in the film industry, but also in all walks of life. With the endorsement of relevant departments, the attention paid to "The Fall" has skyrocketed at an alarming rate. Some slow-reacting netizens went to the cinema to buy tickets, only to find that the tickets for the first three days of the premiere of "The Fall" were basically sold out. Especially the screenings in the Blue Cinema, which were packed.
In the end, many netizens either bought tickets for the show a few days later, or had to go to other theaters to make do.
With this kind of hype, the crew and investors of "The Fall" were naturally overjoyed, but the crew and investors of "The Dark" were not so happy.
Director Chen stared at the trending search #The Fall was the first to apply naked-eye 3D technology#, watching its popularity quickly rise to tens of millions, and even rising continuously. He felt a surge of blood rushing to his head, and he almost fainted on the spot.
How is it possible!
How could such technology be broken through silently!
There is no doubt that the audience's pursuit of new special effects technology will greatly help the box office of "The Fall".
Compared with special effects, "The Dark" lost.
Compared with the actors, the cast of "Eternal Darkness" is stronger, but the cast of "Heavenly Heights" is not bad either.
Director Chen can only pray that the plot of "Heavenly Heights" is lame.
***
Fidgeting with anxiety, Director Chen called a friend and got the premiere ticket of "Heavenly Heights" from an insider, intending to watch the movie as soon as possible.
On New Year's Eve, at 10 a.m., "Eternal Darkness" and "Heavenly Heights" premiered nationwide.
At noon, Director Chen put on a duckbill cap, made a disguise, and went to the theater under Blue Shadow. People
didn't have to wait for long, and the lights in the screening room went out.
When they came on again, the movie started.
Without wearing 3D glasses, the pictures of "Heavenly Heights" are more three-dimensional and vivid than when watching with 3D glasses.
Ten minutes before the movie, the end of the world has not come, but a rainstorm has swept the whole world.
When everyone saw Xu Weiheng, dressed like a student, come on stage, their eyes lit up.
The boy was tall and slender, wearing a shirt and trousers, with the last button fastened. When the tip of his eyebrows slanted into his temples was slightly raised, he walked slowly like a proud son of heaven in the book.
Later, the end of the world came.
Almost in an instant, the earth became desolate.
Everything was annihilated into ashes at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Everyone was shocked by this scene.
Watching Xu Weiheng and his friends wandering between life and death, making choices between life and death, and looking for a touch of green for mankind in the desolation, the audience who would have whispered or eaten snacks and drank drinks fell silent.
Director Chen was silent too.
He didn't want to admit it.
He didn't want to admit it at all.
However, "Sinking" was actually more to his taste and aesthetic than the movies he made himself...
Was it because of the director?
No.
The director of "Sinking" was his old rival for many years, and he knew his opponent's level very well. What
really moved him was the script.
The plot of "Sinking" was not only not bad, but excellent to the extent that it amazed him.
***
When the movie was coming to an end, the character played by Xu Weiheng fell first.
His body, which was so thin that it was almost inhuman, fell heavily into the desert, and his whole body sank into the soft sand, but his eyes were always staring at something.
The boy's eyes were filled with despair at the cruelty of the end of the world, as well as the pursuit of life.
He didn't need to speak or get hysterical about those deep emotions. He just raised his head calmly, and the audience could read everything from his eyes.
His eyes gradually swept across the desolation, and his eyes slowly became dull. But when his gaze returned to his teammates, his eyes regained some brilliance and longing.
Director Chen had seen such vivid eyes twelve years ago.
-- Twelve years ago, "2050" came out, opening the era of China's apocalyptic disaster movies, and the child named "Xingxing" became the brightest star in the entire movie.
Director Chen stood up in shock.
"What's going on? Sit down! You're blocking us!"
"That's right. Do you have any sense of public morality?"
The complaints from the surroundings brought Director Chen back to his senses.
He sat down in a hurry, but his mood could not calm down for a long time. The look of Xu Weiheng kept flashing in his mind.
It was obvious that when filming "2050Ⅱ", Xu Weiheng could no longer perform the effect he had in mind, but now, two years later, in this movie, the little drama bone that once amazed him is back again...
Is it because Xu Weiheng has no ability, or is it because the overall environment of the crew is too harsh on Xu Weiheng, which leads to Xu Weiheng's inability to perform that effect?
Thinking of the conflict between the leading male Xu Yiyuan and Xu Weiheng in "2050Ⅱ", he always impatiently asked Xu Weiheng to give in... Thinking
of the reporter stepping on Xu Weiheng's biological mother and praising Xu Yiyuan's biological mother in "2050Ⅱ", Xu Weiheng was so angry that he had an argument with the reporter and accidentally knocked the reporter's camera to the ground. He pointed at Xu Weiheng's head and cursed...
Director Chen had to face one thing -
his indulgence almost killed a talented actor who had not yet fully grown up.
***
After the character played by Xu Weiheng died, others were still carrying the final fate of mankind.
When they finally saw the fragile flowers swaying in the cold wind on the snowy peaks where humans were almost extinct, the theater erupted in warm applause.
The movie went dark and then lit up again.
This shot was Xu Weiheng's speech at the beginning of the apocalypse when he insisted on participating in the search for green plants -
"Perhaps when we have gone through thousands of hardships and overcome all difficulties to find green plants, the apocalypse is still far from over. But as long as the apocalypse does not completely wipe out humans in the first place, the human race can survive."
"The cruelty of the apocalypse also testifies to the greatness of the human race."
After finishing his speech, he bowed, and the star pendant on his neck fell out and swayed in front of his neck.
Watching this shot, Director Chen suddenly burst into tears for some reason.
The ending song of the movie started playing, and Director Chen was distraught and walked out of the cinema with other audience members.
The two girls behind him were talking fiercely.
From time to time, voices drifted into Director Chen's ears.
"The special effects of "The Fall" are so amazing! Oh my god, let's buy tickets together in the dormitory to watch it again." "
Okay, okay, I only paid attention to the special effects at the beginning, and then I was immersed in the plot, and missed a lot of wonderful scenes."
"Originally, after watching "Infinite Darkness" this morning, I thought "Infinite Darkness" was the best of the year. Now that "The Fall" is out, I feel that the former can only be regarded as a passable level."
"Indeed, there is no big problem, nor is there any big advantage. I feel that Director Chen's movies have become more and more similar in recent years, with similar backgrounds, similar characters, and similar sensationalism."
Hearing his own name, Director Chen paused abruptly.
The two girls were stopped by him and looked at him curiously.
With the dim light of the theater, one of the girls saw Director Chen's profile clearly and opened her mouth in surprise.
"What's wrong with you?" The companion didn't know what happened yet, and continued, "The role of Xu Weiheng that surprised me the most in the whole movie was played so well! The look in his eyes before he died was simply amazing! They were both the second male lead, and they performed so-so in "2050Ⅱ", but in "Sinking", it was like riding a rocket, with amazing performance. I don't know what happened."
Hearing this, Director Chen quickened his pace and left in a hurry.
Outside the theater, the sky was full of wind and snow.
At this time, the reviews of "Sinking" came out one after another.
Director Chen stood in the snow and slowly flipped through these reviews.
A professor at a film school wrote on his Weibo:
[My students once asked me a question, what is the way out for Chinese science fiction films? At that time, I was at a loss as to the answer to this question.
But today, I saw an answer in "Sinking".
"Sinking" is the best answer that Chinese science fiction films have given to the audience.
In addition to the special effects, the most surprising thing about the whole movie is the sinking star played by Xu Weiheng. When the stars sink, the sun will rise as usual. He is the brightest color in this movie.
I am looking forward to the future of this actor.]
There are also many film critics that Director Chen is very familiar with, and they all gave "Sinking" very high praise.
At this time, it is inevitable to compare "Eternal Darkness" with "Sinking".
"Infinite Darkness" is a very good movie. If it was released at another time, it would have the potential to become the box office champion. But unfortunately, this year's Spring Festival movie schedule is a kill game for "Infinite Darkness".
No matter what movie it is, it will only be crushed in front of "Infinite Darkness".
Now, what everyone is looking forward to is not whether "Infinite Darkness" can win the Spring Festival schedule championship, but how high the final box office of "Infinite Darkness" will be!
After reading these film reviews, Director Chen smiled bitterly and saw the latest hot search.
#The past and present of "2050Ⅱ" and "Infinite Darkness"#
Netizens never live up to the reputation of "meat eaters". At this time, many people have come to know Yao Rong's intentions.
[In "2050Ⅱ", Xu Weiheng plays an 18-year-old computer genius.
Coincidentally, in "Sinking Cloud", Xu Weiheng plays an 18-year-old computer genius.
The screenwriter of "Sinking Cloud" is Yao Rong.
You should think about it carefully. 】
【In "2050Ⅱ", Xu Weiheng was pushed out by Director Chen to take the blame, and his acting skills attracted a lot of criticism and controversy. He was even forced to apologize for it.
But in the movie "Sinking Cloud", Xu Weiheng's acting skills became the most surprising existence in the whole movie. The director of "Sinking Cloud" praised Xu Weiheng again and again in the interview.
The difference between them is simply a world of difference. 】
【Hahahahahahahahaha, I feel like Yao Rong is using "Sinking Cloud" to teach Director Chen a lesson.
The most criticized part of "2050Ⅱ" is the perfunctory special effects and the confusing plot. A good apocalyptic disaster movie almost became a love movie, and the special effects gave way too much to the characterization.
But "Heaven and Earth" has gorgeous special effects, a wonderful plot, a few love lines but touching, and few personal plots of the characters but vivid.
I just want to ask Director Chen, are you convinced? 】
【The above is too reserved. If you ask me, Ms. Yao is using "Heaven and Earth" to teach Director Chen how to be a person.
It's okay if the movie is not well made, but how can his character not be up to standard? 】
【My friend and I seem to have seen Director Chen in the screening room of "Heaven and Earth" today, and I suddenly became curious about Director Chen's evaluation of "Heaven and Earth"】
On the first day of the Chinese New Year, at midnight, the first day box office of "Heaven and Earth" came out.
It topped the list with 340 million.
Many film practitioners were stunned after seeing this data: "With such a high box office on the first day of "The Fall", is there any room for other films to survive?" After all, the pie is so small that many viewers will not choose to watch another movie after watching one.
The fact is that there is really no room for other films to survive.
The first day box office of "Infinite Darkness" was 120 million.
The rest of the other movies combined barely made over 100 million.
The Spring Festival has just begun, and "Infinite Darkness" has an unshakable advantage, stepping on all the movies of the same period to top the list, thus announcing its position as the overlord of the Spring Festival.
After three days of release, the box office of "Infinite Darkness" easily exceeded 1 billion, while the box office of "Infinite Darkness" was less than 400 million.
For this reason, the crew of "Infinite Darkness" urgently held a meeting.
Looking at the fresh results, Director Chen became more and more silent.
Want to make a comeback with "Infinite Darkness"?
With the current situation of "Infinite Darkness", not losing money is the best situation.
After "The Fall" was released for a week and the best time of the Spring Festival was over, the single-day box office of "The Fall" even grew against the trend, and reached a small peak on the ninth day of its release.
This box office trend shocked many people.
But after taking a look at Weibo, many people understood why such a box office trend appeared.
[I didn't see naked-eye 3D on the first viewing, I could only watch ordinary 3D. Today I finally bought a ticket for naked-eye 3D]
[The aftereffect of this movie is so great that I made an appointment with a friend to go to the second viewing together]
[To be honest, I have watched the film four times with my friends. The second time was for the special effects, and the second time was for the plot. This arrangement is very comfortable.]
On the 20th day of its release, the total box office of "Sinking" exceeded 6 billion, making it the undisputed number one Chinese film in terms of total box office.
And "Infinite Darkness" was released with a box office of 1.02 billion, which barely broke even.
After breaking the record, "Sinking" specially held a celebration banquet.
At the celebration banquet, the media swarmed.
Yao Rong wore a dress and walked the red carpet with Xu Weiheng.
Countless spotlights were aimed at the two of them at this moment.
Behind them, Wen Qiu and the leading actor Di Zheng were also walking the red carpet. After
entering the venue, Wen Qiu and Di Zheng ran to Yao Rong together and expressed their excitement.
Especially Wen Qiu, she achieved such good results in her first time as the heroine of a big production. Since then, Wen Qiu has received many film invitations, almost all of which are the heroine.
There are many big productions.
It can be said that her future will be smoother and smoother than before.
Yao Rong heard her words and smiled to express his blessings.
At this moment, there was a sudden exclamation from the media seat: "Something big happened on Weibo!!!"
"What's wrong?" Yao Rong asked curiously.
Wen Qiu was also a little strange.
They were wearing dresses and did not carry mobile phones with them, so Wen Qiu handed over the assistant beside him.
Opening Weibo, Wen Qiu glanced at the hot search and covered her mouth in a panic: "Oh my God!"
Xu Weiheng leaned forward slightly.
When he saw the name of the first hot search, Xu Weiheng's body suddenly stiffened, and a hot current rushed into his eyes.
#Director Chen Shuangqiu apologizes#
[Director Chen Shuangqiu v:
Some viewers asked me if I was convinced. I tell you now that I am convinced. Not because of the quality of "Sinking", but because of Xu Weiheng's acting skills.
He is the most talented actor I have ever seen. I am sorry that I have delayed him.] It
is not shameful to be inferior to others in skills. It is really shameful
for him to be inferior to others in skills and still be arrogant and ignorant, and use others to take the blame.