Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 174: Run for Your Life, Sister

"Look at how he used the lights." Director of Photography Cao Dun was explaining Li Qiutang's filming techniques to his apprentice. "When Yang Peng first entered Mr. Zhang's lecture hall, Qiutang specially asked him to sit under the window. Look at the three beams of light he used, three on his head, three on his shoulders, and three on the table in front of him. This symbolizes that although Yang Peng is in a low position, his future is still bright. Do you know why the lecture hall was placed in the basement?"

The young apprentice nodded: "Yang Peng and the group of comrades who came to listen to the revolutionary speech are all from the bottom of society, so they were arranged in the basement."

"Yes." Cao Dun called up a shot he had taken yesterday, "What are the particulars about the lighting here?"

As they were talking, Li Qiutang came and said to Cao Dun with a smile: "You are teaching your apprentice, what are you talking about?"

"Director, the master is telling me about your lighting."

"It's okay, it's okay, just sit down."

Li Qiutang did not object to Cao Dun using on-site conditions to train apprentices, as all apprentices were trained in this way.

"Now that you are here, you can speak." Cao Dun gave way to others.

Li Qiutang sat in the director's chair and saw that the footage on the monitor was shot at a night market stall yesterday, a conversation between Yang Peng and his good friend Zhao Wangsheng.

Zhao Wangsheng hoped that Yang Peng could come to listen to more speeches and preferably participate in some struggle activities. Yang Peng was very excited when he heard this.

"Tell me first, what did you see from this shot?" Li Qiutang asked Cao Dun's apprentice first, "This shot is very simple, it shouldn't be difficult."

"Zhao Wangsheng and Yang Peng sat opposite each other. I noticed that there was a yellow light behind Zhao Wangsheng, and the lighting on him was also warmer. Behind Yang Peng was the road, with no lights, and the light on him was colder. This meant that Zhao Wangsheng was extending an olive branch to Yang Peng, and a bright future was beckoning to Yang Peng."

This is not difficult to understand.

“What else?” Li Qiutang asked. In fact, the little apprentice’s analysis was correct. The conversation between the two characters also showed that Zhao Wangsheng was persuading Yang Peng. The same meaning was expressed in the lighting in the same way as Li Qiutang did - the contrast between cold and warm light.

This contrast between cold and warm light is mostly used by Li Qiutang in "In Time" to express the gap between the rich and the poor.

"I don't know about the rest." The young disciple shook his head.

"You're right about the lighting. Look behind Yang Peng. After Zhao Wangsheng finished speaking, a car drove past him." Li Qiutang said, "This car is Yang Peng's inner thoughts. The opportunity is right in front of you. Do you want to get in?"

"There is no deeper meaning. Lao Cao, you are a good apprentice. You can become a master in two more years." Li Qiutang complimented him and turned around to see Liu Yifei standing behind him. "Hey, why didn't you say anything? You scared me."

"The two teachers were teaching so seriously that I couldn't bear to disturb them." Liu Yifei said with a smile.

"Stop it, and get ready quickly." Li Qiutang didn't fall for the flattery.

Liu Yifei went to prepare it herself.

Beep, beep. Li Qiutang's cell phone rang.

Liu Yifei’s text message: “Tell me about it in the evening.”

Li Qiutang laughed in her heart, this little girl is playing this trick.

After Liu Yifei finished sending a text message on the set, she saw Li Qiutang holding her phone and pretending to be serious. She glanced at it and put it away, then pursed her lips and smiled, put away her phone and started working.

The scene to be filmed today is relatively simple. The male protagonist Yang Peng takes Lan Xin away and runs all the way.

Liu Yifei's outfit today is a damaged version of the expensive dress she wore at Lan Xin's birthday party. This dress was imitated by the crew. The original one is too expensive, and the brand does not allow the crew to make it look old or torn.

When Liu Yifei wears this dress, she really looks beautiful, strong and miserable.

"Ready - run!"

Yang Peng was in front and Lan Xin was behind, and they ran away.

"No, director." Liu Ye shouted stop, "Should I wait for Yifei?" If Liu Ye really ran as hard as he could, Liu Yifei would definitely not be able to catch up. The distance between them was too big, and the photo would definitely not look good.

"Keep one or two body lengths, it will be hard to shoot if it's too long." Li Qiutang said, "Pull her over at the critical moment."

Liu Yifei laughed and said, "I used him to pull me? Director, who are you looking down on?"

"Don't be so stubborn." Li Qiutang glared at Liu Yifei.

Liu Yifei squatted on the ground and said, "Should I fall down halfway or sprain my ankle or something, and then let the male lead run with me on his back. I've seen it played out like this on TV."

Li Qiutang said, "You should watch less romance dramas. Run for your life, sister. You will die if you are caught. You want to live more than the male protagonist. If you were not physically unable to keep up, you would run faster than him."

This made Liu Yifei and Liu Ye laugh.

"Come on, get ready, let's do it again." Li Qiutang sat back in front of the monitor.

Liu Yifei and Liu Ye ran around for the whole morning before they were told that they had passed. At 2 p.m., the crew had lunch and a break.

Liu Yifei wanted to have dinner with her boyfriend, but she couldn't find him in a moment.

"Where's the director?"

"I'm meeting a client."

"What client? Someone's here to visit us."

"I'm not sure. They said it was some venture capital fund that wanted to invest in the director's company. The director went to meet it, but left without even having dinner."

Li Qiutang is now chatting with the fund manager of CDH in a cafe. Li Qiutang didn't even have lunch and came directly to have afternoon tea with them.

It's a good thing that a fund wants to invest in his company, but Li Qiutang didn't expect that the one coming today was the famous SAIF.

"Can you invest in the film and television industry?" SAIF is SoftBank's investment fund and a foreign capital. As we all know, foreign capital cannot invest in the mainland's film and television industry.

So the other party made a subtle move: "We will invest in your Autumn Pictures' parent company in Hong Kong, Begonia International."

Haitang International is just a shell parent company used to provide blood transfusions to Autumn Pictures. Investing in Haitang International seems to be the same.

Li Qiutang was naturally willing to talk if someone offered him money. As the company was just started, Li Qiutang's valuation of his company was not very high, probably between 5000 million and 1 million. The valuation given by SAIF Partners was 7000 million, and there was not much difference between the two.

The other manager said that he was very optimistic about Li Qiutang personally, and that this investment was more of an investment in Li Qiutang than an investment in Haitang International.

Therefore, the price they offered was to invest 2000 million in Haitang International and hold a 29.33% stake.

This price is not too high, as venture capital accounts for just this much.

Although startup company stocks were worthless and founders had to exchange stocks for investor resources, Li Qiutang felt a little uncomfortable when SAIF asked to take away nearly 3% of her shares.

What can SAIF bring me if they take away my 3% of shares? Barely 2000 million in cash? Li Qiutang was not just short of cash, but also of various resources and channels.

So he asked the other party a few questions: Do you have channels in the TV station to help me sell the drama? Do you have resources in the film and television industry to help me attract investment? Even more, can you help me raise money in Hollywood to get distribution? Or, do you have more financing channels to help me raise more money and resources?

Financing Financing means not only raising funds, but also resources.

Financing negotiations are rarely finalized after just one round of talks. Since the deal failed today, Li Qiutang invited several people from the other party to stay in the crew for two days to see more and learn more.

At around 11 o'clock in the evening, Li Qiutang slipped into his girlfriend's room.

(End of this chapter)