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

Chapter 48: Soundtrack, Editing, Questions, and the End

"Director Cao, this movie is sure to be a success."

Xu Zheng was a little emotional. After crying, he pursed his lips, his eyes burning with confidence and recognition.

"I just hope you can all come when this movie is released and promoted in the future," Cao Zhong smiled. "The pressure on you and me will be quite heavy afterward."

Xu Zheng remained silent upon hearing this.

He knew what Cao Zhong meant.

Putting everything else aside, after this movie is finished, he can forget about getting any Japanese-funded advertising endorsements.

But this time he was noticeably more determined than when he turned on the camera. When he did, he glanced at everyone before remaining still.

At this moment, after letting out a long breath,

Xu Zhengdao said, "I don't care about others. This time, I want to gamble on Director Cao and bet that you can win. Actually, I know very well that I have always been a profit-driven person, but I will be at Director Cao's beck and call afterward."

Cao Zhong smiled; Xu Zheng's attitude caught him off guard.

"I didn't expect you to be so good at self-deprecation," Cao Zhong said, shaking his head. "There aren't many people who would describe themselves as solely driven by profit."

Xu Zheng smiled, though his eyes were still glistening from crying earlier.

“No one knows better than us actors what you’ve filmed,” Xu Zheng said earnestly. “I not only believe in Director Cao, but I also believe in all the viewers.”

In the ten years since he entered the industry, he has acted in all kinds of stage plays, mythological dramas, dramas, legendary dramas, and comedies, and has played many classic roles, such as Zhu Bajie, Li Wei, and Zhu Yunwen...

However, during filming, he himself developed a deep hatred for the character Wang Guanghai.

Xu Zheng was the only actor in the entire crew who stayed with the crew throughout the entire production.

Therefore, he knew that his hatred for this character was not without reason.

This is a misalignment between the actor and the role, a split that arises from his role as an audience member of the character.

This is the only time in ten years.

Xu Zheng was well aware that it was a kind of empathy he felt as a normal Chinese citizen.

That feeling was a deep-seated nausea, a mixture of anger at their lack of ambition, sorrow for their misfortune, and pain at their rarity.

This is a feeling that people in Shanghai had never imagined before.

Moreover, during filming, Cao Zhong had him use the Shanghai dialect throughout.

This made Xu Zheng's personal experience even more touching.

If he has these feelings, why shouldn't the audience empathize?

In "Crazy Stone," there isn't a character who makes people so unsettled.

Those kinds of shoots were work.

The filming of this movie gave Xu Zheng a feeling of being given a second chance at life.

Especially the final scene, even though Xu Zheng knew it was acting.

But as he covered his ears, looked up at the sky, and listened to the sound of machine guns behind him, an extremely painful feeling still lingered in his mind.

He felt it shouldn't exist.

I wanted to make corrections during the filming.

Cao Zhong, however, said to him: "This kind of suffering makes Wang Guanghai seem even more like a beast."

This left Xu Zheng speechless.

There should have been a wrap party, but most of the people who had finished filming earlier had already left, and Xu Zhenggang wasn't in the mood after filming his last scene.

"Director Zhang has been calling me for a while now, I have to go promote 'Love Transfer'." Xu Zheng said goodbye to Cao Zhong, "Director Cao, if anything comes up in the future, feel free to call me anytime."

"I missed the wrap party this time, Brother Xu, I'll be waiting for you to come celebrate next time."

Cao Zhong wasn't really in the mood, so naturally he wouldn't stop Xu Zheng.

Xu Zheng nodded in agreement.

A smart person can see the situation clearly, while a fool can only rely on experience.

Having worked with Ning Hao, Zhang Jianya, and Cao Zhong, and acted in three films, Xu Zheng felt that commercial films were becoming more diversified. Among the three directors, Cao Zhong was the most audacious, but also the most substantial.
As an insider, he knew very well that this film not only had the reputation of being a "mainstream" film, but also resonated with the audience's simple emotions. Although it seemed to go against some of the trends of the times on an artistic level, it was not a big deal.

The plot and content will win over the audience.

Even a selfish and self-serving guy like him was won over. How could anyone not be moved by a movie?
Xu Zheng didn't believe it.

That afternoon, Han Zheng returned to China Film Group first. Cao Zhong had asked him to contact the editing department of China Film Group, and China Film Group still had to provide this support.

Cao Zhong, Qi Jiuzhou, and Wang Renjun also returned to school together that evening.

……

The next morning, Cao Zhong began preparing for the later stages of filming.

Cao Zhong is fully capable in areas such as editing, audio production, and technical processing.

The downside is the background music; Cao Zhong is someone who doesn't understand music.

However, Cao Zhong has connections in this regard.

Although the students were already preparing for their winter break, Cao Zhong asked Cui Xinqin and Wang Hongwei to contact the principal and inquire why there was still no follow-up to the Ozu incident.

A message was sent.

The principal was abruptly awakened from his vacation dream.

The mentality is broken.

It's very difficult for schools to handle things like this.

The principal felt that getting involved with Cao Zhong made things even more difficult.

He's only a sophomore! He still has two and a half years left! The principal felt a surge of emotion, almost to the point of tears.

If we take too hard and get rid of Cao Zhong, what if Cao Zhong continues to bombard us, and bombards us continuously?
And Cao Zhong didn't do anything wrong either!

The softening process is like a landmine; it'll explode sooner or later.

If we were to deal with this issue directly, there would be considerable resistance.

The situation has reached a standstill.

Wuhan University later encountered a similar incident, which was actually quite similar.

The principal was a bit flustered and contacted Cao Zhong directly: "Xiao Cao, can I take your words as a threat?"

Cao Zhong expressed his absolute loyalty to the Beijing Film Academy:

“Principal, what are you saying? I am a student of Beijing Film Academy. How could I threaten the school or the principal? I am just heartbroken. I am afraid that those people will retaliate against me and kill me. I was busy filming a while ago and didn’t have time, but now I am free and full of energy. I can continue. Only public opinion can protect me, only the people can protect me.”

The principal was immediately startled.

This guy didn't have time; he left Jia Zhangke half-dead.

If we had time, wouldn't the school be torn up?
Previously, the president of Beijing Film Academy and his group actually held a closed-door meeting and discovered that Cao Zhong was not an ordinary student.

Every step was a routine, each link connected to the next, it was premeditated. When they were making the movie, it was to bring glory to the Beijing Film Academy.

The school teachers will certainly support it.

But things got really complicated after Cao Zhong attacked Ozu at the project launch ceremony. Everyone was caught off guard.

The main reason is that there was indeed feces on his body.

I can't shake it off!
If a student with no voice says this, of course it won't have any impact.

But most importantly, when he launched his project and launched his attack, he had already received funding from China Film Group and became a veritable new director among the students of Beijing Film Academy. This status put the school in a passive position in every way.

Later, at the opening ceremony, Cao Zhong shouted, "Will you only give up on 'Nanjing Photo Studio' if I die?" which left Cao Zhong's opponents speechless.

Jia Zhangke took a bite.

As it turned out, Cao Zhong didn't fall for it at all. With a simple question about whether Jia Zhangke's backside was crooked or straight, Cao Zhong knocked out Jia Zhangke's teeth.

Zhang Weiping responded with a mixed doubles attack and a rumor-mongering response.

More than a month has passed, and there's still mud in my pants; it's not poop, but it's still poop.

It's totally inexplicable.

A while ago, Jia Zhangke called the school, demanding fairness from the school.

Fairness my ass.

The school would love to hide it even more tightly.

"Still Life" has just finished its run in theaters and grossed 156 million yuan.

Later, all I heard were curses.

The war is still ongoing, but rumors are already circulating that the Film Bureau under the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television will soon intervene to mediate.

However, the mediation was between Zhang Yimou and Jia Zhangke, not Cao Zhong.

There's no way to mediate Cao Zhong's matter.

Which department would dare to mediate this?
The principal was truly numb; he was genuinely afraid that Cao Zhong would escalate the situation further.

"What are you talking about? In a society governed by the rule of law, who can kill you?"

The principal offered earnest advice and patiently explained:
“You’re a star at school now, a celebrity. We’ve already reported this incident and are waiting for the results. Even if we get a result, won’t we have to go through the proper procedures? Even if we have to change the textbooks, won’t that be in September?”
The problem is that you didn't bring this up before, but had to do it in October. We've already assigned teaching tasks, how could we possibly change the textbook?
However, the teachers reminded you of that matter during the freshman orientation this year, so you can rest assured about that.

This matter has been attracting attention from the outside world. Please don't speak up; give us old men some peace and quiet. I assure you, there will be a resolution.

Cao Zhong felt that the principal was manipulating him and felt a little wronged. After thinking about it, he said, "But I'm so annoyed. My post-production editing is already very tiring, difficult, and stressful. I feel awkward if I don't vent my frustration on the two of them."

The principal immediately sensed something was amiss. "Don't always feel annoyed by school matters. You should know that our school can still support its own people. Tell me, what do you want?"

Cao Zhong thought to himself, "The person has arrived."

“I need a master composer,” Cao Zhongdao said. “I want Shu Nan.”

Before contacting the principal, Cao Zhong had already chosen a candidate. However, Shu Nan was a lecturer at the school, and Cao Zhong couldn't easily invite her, nor could he treat her like an actor, or freeload off a teacher.

Cao Zhong remembered Shu Nan because of "Let the Bullets Fly" and "The Founding of a Republic". In fact, he was most famous for leaving the recording studio in his previous life and traveling to all over the country to explore the beautiful and difficult places to discover musical treasures, which earned him many May Day Project awards from the Ministry of Education.

The principal, eager to please this troublesome child, quickly agreed, saying, "Leave this to us."

With the principal's permission, Cao Zhong once again devoted himself to the post-production editing of the film.

Cao Zhong also kept in touch with Shu Nan. Although he didn't understand music, he remembered the lyrics. So he wrote down the lyrics of the two versions of the original song, "May Fourth Version Misplaced Time and Space" and "Light," for Shu Nan, hoping to give Shu Nan some inspiration. Later, he even invited Shu Nan to watch the first version of the movie so that he could have a deeper understanding.

In terms of editing, Cao Zhong did it himself to save money, and Ning Hao also helped out for a while when the Olympic bid was submitted.

As a result, Cao Zhong didn't go home for the New Year, working day and night for two months straight.

Qi Jiuzhou and Wang Renjun also met with Cao Zhong several times.

Both of them saw Cao Zhong's efforts and felt deeply for him.

"Jiuzhou, tell me, Brother Zhong is such a hard-working director, he works so hard to prevent the Chinese people from forgetting, to record such positive things, and to make such a mainstream film, why are there still people criticizing him?" Wang Renjun was very puzzled.

"I'm actually a little confused myself. But I know that Brother Zhong is right."

Qi Jiuzhou clenched his fist and said.

"Are some people really that awful?"

Wang Renjun asked again,
“I’ve recently studied a lot of award-winning films in detail, and I’ve found that what Brother Zhong said is right. The so-called reflection of human nature and art are actually all determined by themselves.”

I saw the film yesterday, where director Wang Quan'an just won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. I learned as I watched. The film tells the story of the real life and impoverished habits of Mongolian herders in Inner Mongolia. It depicts the immense suffering caused by industrial development and environmental destruction, which has brought harm to the people. It is against this backdrop that the film explores human nature, hence the Golden Bear.

The other films, such as "Getting Home," which tells stories of conscience and strength, and the myriad aspects of life, were not even selected for the main competition. I wonder, is this film inhumane?

Fan Bingbing's "Apple" hasn't been released yet, so I don't know what it's about.

But I found the Jury Prize winner "Others" and the Golden Bear winner from two years ago, "Carmen of Cayalissa".
The first film tells the story of a protagonist who witnesses the death of his seatmate while on a business trip. He then assumes the deceased's identity and escapes his own life. It's humorous, funny, simple, and quiet. There's no hardship involved, yet it still won an award.

The second film is a direct copy of the 1980s Palme d'Or nominated film "Carmen," which is terrible. It's about a crime of passion and has no social issues, yet it won the Golden Bear.

I can't tell the difference at all.

This year's Academy Awards have completely lost all shame.

When "Infernal Affairs" was submitted to the Oscars, it was rejected and didn't even get a nomination.

They bought the rights and made "The Departed," which was only half a level below "Infernal Affairs," but it still swept four Oscars.

I'm really puzzled now. What kind of recognition are so many of China's top directors seeking?

Qi Jiuzhou swallowed hard, completely at a loss for words.

Wang Renjun saw these news reports, of course he did too. When he got home, he even asked Qi Jian about them, but Qi Jian just laughed and replied, "If I could understand them, wouldn't I be a famous director by now?"

……

During the time Cao Zhong was meticulously editing, the hottest topic in the entire entertainment industry was precisely what these two were discussing.

Tuya's Marriage won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

The Departed swept four Oscars.

Cao Zhong's previous discussion about Jia Zhangke naturally stirred up controversy again.

However, Cao Zhong completely shut himself away from visitors, refusing interviews and responses.

Yang Mi came to find Cao Zhong and even tried to scare him by saying that she was pregnant.

Cao Zhong completely ignored her and let Yang Mi run off with the ball while he gave birth.

Yang Mi was so angry that her chest swelled up.

And so, time flew by and it was April 12th. The final editing was finally completed. Cao Zhong's familiarity with the plot allowed him to edit quickly, but he wasted a lot of time on aspects such as music and rendering.

The two and a half months of post-production were like a war. With the final cut, the finely edited version of "Nanjing Photo Studio" was finally completed.

Cao Zhong was exhausted, but he was extremely excited. With the finished product in hand, he felt confident enough to criticize others.

I quickly searched for recent news about Jia Zhangke.

I called Cui Xinqin, Wang Hongwei, and Han Sanpin respectively.

The three were all somewhat shocked by Cao Zhong's efficiency.

Han Sanpin, in particular, said with a hint of mockery, "Then hurry up and find a time to let us see if you're really that eagle-like."

(End of this chapter)