Chapter 233: Niche Themes: Fortune Lies in Peril
Unexpectedly, Qizhi played such a beautiful game after such a difficult start, successfully turning defeat into victory and advancing back to the first division league. Many people who were the first to react to the wonderful moment of the last-minute goal immediately cheered along with the Qizhi team celebrating their victory.
Aside from those who bet on Xiangdao Football Club to win in underground betting and are still caught in a contradictory state of mind—wanting to praise but not really in the mood—most of the fans at the stadium were amazed and cheered for Qizhi's performance in this match.
The happiest person was undoubtedly the owner who took over Qizhi and was determined to reorganize the team. He originally invested in the team with the goal of preserving this veteran team. Because of the complete overhaul of the team, he was even prepared for Qizhi to stagnate in the second division for the next few years. Unexpectedly, only a year later, under the leadership of Lei Shenglin and the efforts of a group of newcomers, Qizhi returned to the first division league with a brand new look.
Moreover, judging from their performance in this match, as long as they can gradually solidify their position in the following games, they will definitely not follow in the footsteps of Xiangdao Football Club, which was a "yo-yo club," but will be able to stay in the top division safely.
Thinking about this made Qizhi's boss extremely happy. He was already considering finding a famous designer to design the team's new uniforms this year, as a reward for these young people who had worked hard all year...
That's right, by pulling some strings indirectly, he should be able to get in touch with the famous designer who helped the champion team, Southern, this year—Southern is the newest champion of the Division A league, while Qizhi is the newest champion of the Division B league. They should find such a famous designer to give their players a makeover and help them return to Division A with a brand new image!
Unbeknownst to them, Qizhi's boss was already considering how to reward the team members. After congratulating Qizhi on their victory and advancement, Li Sishi and her group, as family members, went with them to the celebration banquet.
Such a victory celebration was naturally a joyous occasion for both host and guests. Watching her promising younger cousin being surrounded by his teammates and receiving praise, his bright and excited eyes filled with anticipation and hope for the future, Li Sishi watched quietly, feeling genuinely happy.
Now that all her loved ones have a bright future, she can finally put down a heavy burden and devote herself wholeheartedly to her career.
Thinking this, Rong Juezhang, who was sitting next to her, nudged her arm and asked, "So, are there any family tickets left for your new movie premiere in a few days?"
Knowing that he was worried about the success of his new film and was therefore trying to indirectly help build popularity, Li Sishi pondered for a moment.
He smiled and shook his head: "You must be very busy lately, right? Filming for 'Suddenly Male, Suddenly Female 2' is about to start, and the shooting schedule is very tight. I should be fine on my end."
"Don't be shy, I do have time for a midnight screening, and I'm quite interested to see what other creative approaches this subject can be taken to..." Rong Juezhang smiled. "Don't forget, I also come from a 'hero film' background—"
When heroic films were popular in the 1980s, he starred in many ensemble films with two or three male leads, which are still considered benchmarks for this type of Hong Kong film.
Having experienced the "gathering" of the last "Chasing Dreams" show, Li Sishi probably doesn't want to or finds it convenient to see those top-tier celebrities this time. In addition, the subject matter of her film inevitably involves some romantic scenes with the male lead, so the only guest she can invite is probably her cousin, with whom she has no romantic entanglements.
"Sigh, it's true that the capable are always busy, but time is something you can always squeeze out if you want," Rong Juezhang sighed inwardly.
Seeing Rong Juezhang like this
Li Sishi, on the contrary, didn't want him to come even more: "If you like, I'll send you a DVD set later, the plot is more complete."
Currently, Hong Kong films have a fixed length standard for screening in cinemas. If the film exceeds the standard, the production team will discuss cutting some content. If the film is later adapted for television and shown on a small screen, further cuts will be made to comply with advertising and classification regulations.
However, this restriction does not apply to audio-visual products. As long as the medium has enough capacity, all the content and extras can be included.
This increases the likelihood that viewers who have already seen the movie in theaters will continue to purchase audio-visual products. Secondly, because the film market in Taiwan stipulates that the longer the movie, the higher the ticket price, many film companies, in order to make money, will cut in unnecessary scenes to pad the runtime, sometimes to the point that the Hong Kong version and the Taiwan version can differ in length by more than 30 minutes...
This is also a key reason why online discussions about the plot of the same Hong Kong film differed across different regions in the later internet age.
Although Li Sishi has not yet seen the first run of the movie "The People of Jianghu" in theaters, she has heard that the series of films has been controversial over the years and has had to be adjusted accordingly.
In particular, some regions with stricter regulations, such as Malaysia, even filmed an extra ending where the male lead was actually an undercover police officer, to facilitate his entry into markets in Malaysia.
Although for this
Overemphasizing "correct management regulations" is a bit of a mixed feeling, but when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. So Li Sishi tries her best to be open-minded and look at these different versions.
Seeing that Li Sishi was really so stubborn and didn't want him to come and help, Rong Juezhang wasn't annoyed. He just nodded gently in agreement with her words: "Then thank you."
"I should be thanking you." Li Sishi smiled at him again, and all the unspoken understanding was there.
After the celebration banquet, everything proceeded smoothly according to the original plan.
Because the film company "Perfect Partner" wasn't very optimistic about the movie, and since they were a new company, there was very little promotional activity in the early stages. This gave Li Sishi a little "leisure time" to practice and record songs. Once the movie is released on schedule and becomes a huge hit, she will probably have to get busy again.
Putting aside the fact that film companies in Hong Kong love to chase trends and shoot sequels, just considering the upcoming filming of Lo Kee's New Year advertisement, dance practice for her scenes in "Big City, Small Love," and all sorts of other events, Li Sishi will inevitably be extremely busy for the next period.
However, in this industry, being "busy" is a state that everyone envies. Being "busy to the point of being flying" proves that you are either famous enough or have enough resources.
If you're not busy, that's when people should be worried—because there's only one reason for that: it proves you're not popular right now.
Busy and fulfilling times always pass quickly. At midnight on January 18, 1996, at a time when gangster films and heroic films were already in their twilight years, in this mediocre release window—neither Christmas nor New Year's nor the Spring Festival—a "niche film" that many didn't have high hopes for was released.
"The Man from Nowhere" officially premiered at a cinema in Tsim Sha Tsui East.
This cinema isn't small in size, but Hong Kong is known for being a melting pot of all sorts of people. Holding the film premiere here was partly motivated by a desire to "category to the market" and attract a large audience through the film's subject matter...
Director Liu Jixiang, screenwriter Wang Yunjun, and producer Huang Zheng, after setting the midnight premiere time, arrived at the cinema early to wait for the screening.
Originally intended as a trial run, and rushed out under budget constraints, the film's producer, Huang Zheng, was not optimistic about it and was basically prepared to break even.
However, to their surprise, the film was still...
Even before its release, the venue was already packed with people.
There were even quite a few people loitering around the movie theater entrance, complaining to those around them about not being able to buy tickets, while also talking at length about their past as extras in the film. Their flashy floral shirts and the tattoos that their clothes couldn't hide were quite obvious hints at their true identities and roles in the movie...
Unexpectedly, the fact that they initially hired "real people" to make cameo appearances as extras to save money has had such a positive effect on the word-of-mouth marketing. Producer Huang Zheng glanced appreciatively at director Liu Jixiang, and screenwriter Wang Yunjun also looked pleasantly surprised.
These three clever fellows were clearly of one mind, and they loved to seek fortune in danger—and this situation perfectly suited their nature.
"Looks like tonight's results should be pretty good..." The three clever guys whispered to each other in the car, then adjusted their expressions, got out of the car with big smiles, and squeezed towards the poster wall in the middle of the crowd.
Before long, Wu Jinru and others who played supporting roles also arrived one after another, and the noise on set became even louder. Reporters also began to call on their photographers to turn on their flashes: "Director Liu, I heard that this movie is adapted from a comic about a local gang. Why did you have such an idea?"
"Manga adaptations have achieved considerable success in many places, especially in Japan. In recent years, Hong Kong has also tried purchasing the rights to Japanese manga to make live-action films, with similarly good results. So I wanted to adapt our local Hong Kong manga into a live-action film, opening up a completely new avenue... Director Liu Jixiang is quite eloquent. Facing the flashing lights and microphones, he immediately used his persuasive skills to elevate their semi-fast-food-style opening film to the level of promoting local culture..."
"Wow, Director Liu, you really have ideas. But this subject matter is a bit sensitive. Aren't you worried that some people will think you're making a mess of things and have 'opinions' about your film?" Looking at the group of people in floral shirts wandering around, another reporter asked a question.
Before Liu Jixiang could recall the scene he had just witnessed and carefully consider his words to respond, Li Sishi and Cheng Erjian, who were the main characters and therefore busier, hurriedly drove to the scene to attend the premiere.
However, the two were spotted by sharp-eyed loiterers as soon as they got out of the car.
"Boss! Sister-in-law!" As one of the wanderers shouted out, a group of people in floral shirts immediately turned their gazes toward them, their eyes filled with an indescribable admiration.
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