Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 37: Chocolate Brownies

"Dear teachers, I am candidate number 7, Lu Kuan. Let me share my personal views."

This is a prerequisite for everyone's speech, which makes it easier for the examiner to score.

Liu Zeyu snorted secretly, "You're just pretending. You don't have anything in your head, otherwise you would have grabbed the microphone to speak long ago."

He Yanjiang, Xiao Xiao and others looked at him with sympathy. It was not his fault that he performed poorly. It was really because the question was beyond the scope of the syllabus.

Except for He Yanjiang who had worked in related industries before, the others were 17 or 18-year-old high school students with some basic skills.

It is not easy to ask them to comment on such a professional script all of a sudden and to strike the right balance.

Sitting in the back row of the judges' seats was a freshman from the 2001 vocational school class who came today to help collect the score sheets and do assistant work.

Ning Hao is a student that the department head Xie Xiaojin admires very much and has always wanted to recruit from the photography department.

He had been waiting boredly for the last person to speak so that he could hurry back to the Jimenli community to have dinner with his girlfriend Xing Aina. He looked at Lu Kuan, who had just finished introducing himself, with a very unfriendly look.

What were you doing earlier? If you really don’t understand, just mumble along with the others. You don’t have to be the last one standing and embarrass yourself.

But he was soon stunned by this young man whose image was so good that he should apply to the acting department.

"I don't think this script is even half-finished. If it's actually filmed, Director Zhang's reputation will be ruined. It will definitely be a spectacle movie!"

What is a spectacle movie? It's the kind of movie that's empty and boring, with only big scenes as gimmicks, and you can't remember a single scene after watching it.

It's like an article that's been piled high with flowery words. It looks gorgeous, but in reality it's completely nonsense.

Except for Zhang Yimou and Tian Zhuangzhuang, who had read the script, everyone else thought that the candidate was exaggerating.

This is criticism for the sake of criticism, criticism for the sake of scoring points, and criticism for the sake of attracting attention.

But when they looked at Zhang Yimou who was deep in thought, there was no anger on his terracotta warrior-like face. Instead, he nodded slightly.

Lu Kuan continued to explain.

"I want to use the concept of nut chocolate to explain this point of view."

As the person involved, Zhang Yimou had to show the demeanor of a great director. He took the microphone and said with a smile: "Little classmate, please give me some advice."

"Chocolate is of course sweet, but if you wrap a nut in it, you can satisfy the taste requirements of different audiences."

"For people who don't have teeth, they can taste the chocolate outside and it's not affected by the nut."

“For those with teeth, you can have both chocolate and nuts!”

"But in literary works, or film works, such connotations can be extended."

"For audiences with low cultural literacy and limited movie-watching experience, or those who simply want to see the special effects and martial arts, chocolate is enough to satisfy them."

"But for those who appreciate works with a high level of appreciation, who like to unravel the cultural connotations and see the depth in the simple, I think the current script is not rich enough."

“It’s like chocolate without nuts, it only satisfies the most basic movie-watching needs!”

As soon as the words were spoken, the whole room fell silent.

The students, who did not have much discernment yet, were observing the reactions of the examiners and the principal, all of them concentrating and thinking hard.

Liu Zeyu also looked at Zhang Huijun and Zhang Yimou's expressions in surprise and doubt. There was no sign of impatience, disgust, or desire to interrupt as he had expected.

Ning Hao, who had been so obsessed with making his own film, even shooting countless music videos and commercials, sat up straight. He was deeply stung by Lu Kuan's words. He thought of his own adaptation of Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and recalled The Diamond, which he had revised many times but still wasn't satisfied with.

Lu Kuan made the final closing statement.

"As for the finished film, I can imagine it being just a few creative scenes glued together by a dull and untenable story, and using the action scenes to directly stimulate the audience's attention, just as the lighting and camera positions in the script indicate."

"This kind of narrative is weak and illogical! This 'beauty-first' approach makes people feel like they're watching an advertisement rather than a movie, and the creative team has been completely reduced to technical craftsmen!"

No one dared to breathe heavily anymore. He Yanjiang stared blankly at Lu Kuan who was writing passionately and inspiringly, feeling extremely envious!
Zhang Yimou frowned and thought for a while, then took the microphone and said with a frank smile, "Very good, Mr. Lu, I accept the criticism."

Zhang Huijun was the first to applaud, and the camera was recording the whole process. What a great promotional material!

The candidates did not blindly follow the teachings or the books, but only the facts. Zhang Yimou, a famous director who graduated from the Beijing Film Academy, was humble and did not hesitate to ask questions.

The entire art examination process of the Beijing Film Academy's Directing Department is compact and the examination arrangements are professional and reasonable, making it a lecture hall for artistic discussion and ideological liberation.

Simply perfect!
The examiner announced that today's four tests were over and everyone left in an orderly manner.

Before leaving, He Yanjiang asked Lu Kuan for his phone number, but Liu Zeyu walked away with a pale face, and had no intention of chatting with Lu Kuan again.

This is not his battlefield, he has plenty of ways to manipulate these people.

Zhang Yimou signaled to several of his fellow passengers to wait for a moment and called out to Lu Kuan with a smile.

"Little classmate, please leave me your contact information. I'd like to hear more of your opinions and see if you have any ideas for revisions."

The surrounding candidates and even teachers from Beijing Film Academy looked at him with envy, wishing they could take his place.

Of course Lu Kuan would not refuse, as he also admired the film art attainments of this later generation's national master.

Of course, it would be better if we could get rid of that jerk Zhang Weiping as soon as possible, as all the bad movies are made by him.

Just after walking a few steps out of the gate, a young man with a flat head came running up from behind, panting and blocking the way.

"Classmate...wait...wait a moment..."

Boss Lu took a closer look and saw another tool man online!

"You are the senior who just helped me with the art exam, right? What's your name?"

The young man finally caught his breath and said, "Hello classmate, my name is Ning Hao. I'd like to treat you to lunch!"

Then he pointed to the three-story building behind him and said, "How about I show you a preview of what the Beijing Film Academy cafeteria is like?"

"Let's go!"

The two of them arrived in front of the cafeteria, and before Ning Hao could introduce them, they heard Lu Kuan touching his chin and talking to himself.

"Xingxing Food Street is still called Guagua Food Street now. I think there's still a line for the catfish vermicelli on the third floor every day."

"Tianchi Restaurant is too greasy, so it's better not to go there."

“The white-cut chicken rice and roast goose at Garden in the Garden should be pretty good…”

"Forget it, let's go to the Xinjiang Restaurant! Ning Hao, let's go eat some pilaf and baked buns. Use your card."

The sophomore who wanted to show off was disheveled in the wind. Seeing that Lu Kuan, who was more familiar with the cafeteria than he was, had already walked into the semi-underground Xinjiang Restaurant, he hurried to catch up.

(End of this chapter)