Huayu: Are you even sitting up straight? You're going to be the director?

Chapter 2, "Nanjing Photo Studio"!
Cao Zhong finished the "Film and Television Performance Training" course while his mind was elsewhere.

I didn't listen at all.

My mind has already wandered off.

During class, Cao Zhong would doodle and write in his notebook.

I've already made up my mind.

Having been given a second chance at life, I originally wanted to pursue a career as a director. Given the current era, it would be a shame not to give it a shot.

The subject matter and content have been decided: Nanjing Photo Studio!
The most popular Nanjing-themed film in China over the past decade or so, with 18% of screenings, it defied expectations and raked in 3 billion yuan at the box office during the summer season, becoming the best mainland war film!

Low production cost.

Short shooting period!
From the start of filming to the end, it took a total of 54 days to shoot!
The box office revenue was also enormous, which can be described as a miracle.

Most importantly, your buttocks shouldn't be crooked.

You can't make a good movie if you don't have the right perspective.

Having watched so many movies in his past life, Cao Zhong gained a great deal from this experience.

Those with crooked buttocks can win awards.

Those who have a straight back can really make money!
In fact, Cao Zhong had also considered making a film like "Persian Language Lessons" to leave some seeds for Chinese directors.

However, it's not easy to operate. Unlike German and Persian, which are completely different languages, Japanese is, after all, a descendant of Chinese, and it's impossible to capture that kind of misalignment effect in a film.

Throughout the entire China-Pacific region, films like "The Persian Lesson" simply cannot be made.

After all, they were both vassal states back then.

The culture has been assimilated.

After much thought, I still think "Nanjing Photo Studio" is the most suitable.

The only problem we face is, where will the money come from?
Despite being described as a low-budget film, Cao Zhong roughly estimates that even with the lead actors' salaries kept to a minimum, the production cost would still be around seven million yuan.

This is where mathematics comes in handy.

Although he didn't need to use the squeeze theorem or L'Hôpital's rule, Cao Zhongzhen was truly exceptional in his meticulous calculations.

Because it involves renting, setting up the venue, and extras.

This is a portion of the money that is very difficult to save.

Moreover, the selected cinema projector must be an entry-level model; any slightly higher-end model would cost a fortune.

To avoid any unforeseen circumstances, at least eight million in investment is required.

Cao Zhong had considered starting with low-budget films and taking it slow, but with the 70th anniversary approaching, he really didn't want to miss out.

After much thought, I've made up my mind: I still want to make this movie.
There are definitely risks involved—script risks, investment risks, and even risks related to actors—but if it succeeds, the rewards are enormous.

It's way more profitable than Ning Hao's "Crazy Stone".

Whether it's in terms of publicity, storytelling, status in the eyes of superiors, or even the allocation of resources by the school.

If successful, it can be said to be extremely profitable.

As the saying goes, fortune and misfortune are intertwined.

We have to take a gamble!
No money, no people, let's go!
Can a living person die from holding in their pee?

Cao Zhong did not believe it.

Cao Zhong hadn't thought about the actors in class; it was difficult to choose. For the role of Lao Jin, they would have to pick from actors from Nanjing.

As for the others, Cao Zhong hadn't thought about it yet.

I'll go back and ask my homeroom teacher, Ms. Cui, for advice.

"Old Cao, what were you doing, writing and drawing during class just now?"

As soon as get out of class ended, Yang Mi, a little curious, asked.

Actually, there were quite a few male students in the 2005 undergraduate class of the Performing Arts Department. Among them, Cao Zhong was the only one who was familiar with Yang Mi. He was handsome and honest, and didn't talk much.

In Yang Mi's mind, Cao Zhong wasn't that cunning.

Another person I know well, who is also from Shandong Province and is studying in the performing arts department, is named Ma Tianyu. He will officially enroll next March.

The three of them used to always go out to Happy Valley to play.

"I'm thinking about making a movie."

There was no need to hide it, Cao Zhong replied frankly, then his eyes lit up suddenly, "Yang Mi, do you get paid a lot? Do you want to invest?"

"I?"

Yang Mi bent over with a huge arc, but because she was wearing a lot of winter clothes, you couldn't see the hammer. However, the girl's expression was full of question marks.

"You, a performance major, want to make a movie, and I, another performance major, invest in it? Do I look like I've got a screw loose?"

"Since you've asked that question, of course it exists!"

Cao Zhong asked the question casually, his expression subtle.

Tsk, this girl is definitely not cut out for making money~ Just hope she doesn't regret it.

Yang Mi's curiosity was piqued. "You want to compete with the directing students? You weren't really provoked by what you just said about Director Lu, were you? Or do you really want to see goddess Gao Yuanyuan perform completely nude?"

This even has a callback function, right?

Cao Zhong was a little speechless. "Actually, you seem like a good person when you're not talking."

"Roll the ball!"

Yang Mi reached out and grabbed a handful of Cao Zhong's notebooks.

Yang Mi could clearly see the five large characters "Nanjing Photo Studio" above, but then there were crooked numbers written on the paper, which made her feel overwhelmed.

"What kind of rubbish is this? I thought it was a screenplay."

Yang Mi looked disgusted. "The script is easy to work with, but the money is hard to come by."

Cao Zhongshi told the truth that he had another class later, but he didn't plan to attend it; he was going to go to an internet cafe to finish typing the script.

The only problem is money; we really need to think about it carefully.

I truly didn't understand the stock market in my past life.

There's no capital to spare.

I know a little about football, but it seems like there haven't been many games lately.

The World Cup was over long ago this summer.

The script is easy to handle. I'll first go see our homeroom teacher, Ms. Cui Xinqin, and then I'll probably show it to the people in the directing department.

It all depends on Teacher Cui's connections.

Cui Xinqin, their class teacher for the 05 undergraduate acting class, was also the class teacher for the 96 undergraduate acting class. Those famous actors were all her students.

"You're quite the actor." Yang Mi didn't take it seriously.

Cao Zhong, she still knows her own limitations.

Naturally, no one believed he would actually make a movie, so they just laughed it off.

But Cao Zhong told them he was skipping class.

Yang Mi was genuinely surprised.

This honest guy never skips class.

Watching Cao Zhong's departing figure, Yang Mi squinted her eyes, feeling a little surprised.

"Honey, do you think he's really going to make a movie?" Yuan Shanshan asked, puzzled.

"Who knows?" Yang Mi was also confused.

"A performance major becoming a director?" Zhang Xiaofei absolutely did not believe it.

"How many directors at Beijing Film Academy graduated from the directing department?"

Yang Mi casually remarked, and her comment completely crashed the minds of several people.

The other male classmates around, Wang Renjun, Qi Jiuzhou, and Bao Wenjing, were also speechless.

That's something you really can't refute.

……

cybercafe.

Cao Zhongfen's pen flew across the paper.

The original version of "Nanjing Photo Studio" has a very complete script structure.

However, there are a few areas where Cao Zhong could improve.

In the first instance, Wang Guanghai's wife and children were shot and killed by gunfire on the riverbank during a human sacrifice, but the film did not show Wang Guanghai's reaction to this event.

Did they not know, or did they forget to mention it?
This could actually be solved by adding a single line of dialogue.

The second place, when Lao Jin and Lin Yuxiu escaped from Nanjing, how far was it from the Japanese gate to the foreign safety zone outside Nanjing?
In the original script, Lao Jin took a picture and stepped forward to block the Japanese army, but Lin Yuxiu actually escaped, which seemed too casual.

This is actually a problem that can be solved by adding a line of dialogue.

For example, previous communications revealed that once the pass was issued and the city gates of Nanjing were open, the foreign security zone was only 30 meters away.

The third place was Cao Zhong's own idea.

Cao Zhong has no intention of modifying the original footage elsewhere. When making this kind of film, there is no need to see actresses showing their breasts and legs, or watching scenes of clothes being torn, or watching bloody scenes with excessive force.

Even if it were filmed, it wouldn't be easy to get it approved.

The original's restrained flavor is well done.

But only in the sacrificial ceremony section...
The machine guns were used to mow down the crowd and drive them into the river.

Cao Zhong felt it wasn't impactful enough.

Cao Zhong felt this needed to be even more extreme; he wanted people, an overwhelming number of people, a dense, overwhelming mass of people.

We need to see the faces of beasts under cruel commands, and the insignificance of all living beings as seen from aerial photography.

Cao Zhong felt that if he was going to film, he wanted to film the best possible version.

Even if this scene might cost Cao Zhong tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, to produce, the finished image might only last thirty seconds.

Cao Zhong also thought it was worthwhile.

He also did not intend to show the Japanese army's unconditional surrender in abruptly, as in the original version.

Instead, she wants to use the character of Li Yuxiu to have her take photos of Japan every year after she escapes Nanjing.

Major events every year since seventy years ago.

Let each of the distressed photos be combined and fill the screen.

After being exposed by international media, he had to post countless photos.

From enslavement, robbery, and drugs to bacteriological experiments, from being bombed with atomic bombs to unconditional surrender, to the Tokyo Trials, and then to the stubbornness and pilgrimages every year thereafter, all the way to the Kannon statue in the Shinto latrine.

He wants to put them all on.

No judgments, just photos.

Let people comment.

Because guns and cannons need no embellishment or simplification, and so does the truth.

(End of this chapter)