Chapter 632

After resting at home for over a week, Miss Luo Quan's good days finally came to an end.

After nearly half a year of preparation, Miss Luo Quan finally received the news.

The costume, makeup, and props teams, along with all other crew positions, are nearly ready—shooting can begin now.

But before actual filming starts, they still need to build momentum.

In plain terms, that means increasing exposure—things like walking red carpets, appearing on talk shows, and so on.

Coincidentally, Penguin's variety show "Director, Are You Ready?" is currently airing and trending.

Since most guests are controversial figures, and the production team deliberately stirs up conflict, the atmosphere is thick with tension.

Everyone has seen plenty of celebrity feuds, but few have ever seen famous directors clashing.

This is far more interesting than ordinary variety shows—Penguin may not excel at much else, but it always comes up with fresh ideas.

Thanks to Miss Luo Quan's relationship with Penguin, securing a spot as a guest episode was effortlessly simple.

This is Miss Luo Quan's first variety show this year, and likely her only one.

After all, she only did one last year—the Bilibili music variety didn't generate much buzz, and the only somewhat decent guest, Hao Hao Shuai, was eliminated in episode two.

This year's Penguin show is completely different: the lineup is powerhouse-level, with directors, stars, and talking points galore—even managing to lure Miss Luo Quan herself.

Although she personally requested to appear, the production team will publicly claim they went to great lengths to secure her, exaggerating how hard they worked.

After all, it's a consensus in the industry that Miss Luo Quan is hard to invite—this kind of promotion naturally elevates her status.

This kind of commercial puffery suits her just fine.

Of course, Penguin and the audience are equally pleased.

Penguin gains more traffic; viewers get to see their favorite stars on their favorite variety show—a triple win.

"Director, Are You Ready?" has already reached episode three; the production team isn't using a talent-show format to pick the best director.

Instead, they invite prominent professionals to discuss the current struggles and possible directions of Chinese cinema.

Specifically, several main guests shoot short films, then flight guests and public judges offer constructive feedback.

Flight guests are mostly industry insiders—mostly directors, producers, and screenwriters, with two or three distributors mixed in.

The public judges are a mixed bag—each carries a title like "professional film critic" or "film industry practitioner," but how much credibility they actually have is known only to themselves.

Notably, the show includes one particularly clever segment.

That is: "If you think you can do better, then go ahead."

After a main guest finishes shooting a short film, if they're dissatisfied with a flight guest's or public judge's critique, they can invoke this right—telling the critic: "If you think you can do better, then go ahead."

If the critic accepts, they must shoot their own short film and compare it directly with the director's; the winner earns applause and respect.

The loser also gets applause—only by recognizing your shortcomings can you correct them and improve.

It must be said that this approach has indeed added many appealing elements to the variety show.

If your fridge doesn't cool, you can't judge the problem unless you know how to build a fridge—the show has found a solution.

If you say my film is bad, then make one yourself and see just how good you really are.

Because of the challenge segment—and since shooting a short film takes at least three to five days—the show is split into two parts.

The first part shows the director's own film, including the judges' critiques and scores.

The second part is the explosive "if you think you can do better" challenge and response stage.

Since Miss Luo Quan has extra footage, she appears not only during the critique segment but also during the "if you think you can do better" segment.

So although Miss Luo Quan is only appearing for one episode, she actually has to film as if for two.

All variety shows have scripts, and her script is to challenge one of the main guests—the focal figure.

This focal figure's surname is Fei; in the industry, he's known as Director Fei.

His main claim to fame is directing the lowest-rated film in Chinese cinematic history—"Entertainment Is a Circle."

Words can't fully describe how bad it is; after watching, you're left dizzy, confused, and utterly lost.

As Professor Li says on the show, watching it feels like sitting on needles.

Penguin invited him specifically to generate buzz.

The strategy has proven wildly successful—the first two and a half episodes delivered excellent results.

Although Director Fei received heavy criticism in the first two episodes, he himself acknowledges his shortcomings and hasn't argued much.

Two other directors with fiery tempers absorbed most of the heat.

In every "if you think you can do better" challenge so far, the challenger has lost.

It's clear that people who live by words alone may have solid theoretical knowledge, but they still can't match a real director—after all, that's what he studied and what he does for a living.

Director Fei, however, seems to have adequate theoretical knowledge but practically zero hands-on ability—he might actually win the "if you think you can do better" challenge.

Fortunately, the production team felt sorry for him after two episodes of criticism, so they assigned Miss Luo Quan as his challenger.

Losing to Miss Luo Quan wouldn't be embarrassing for a director like him—it's expected.

The pressure now falls on Miss Luo Quan: winning is normal, but losing would be a disaster.

Of course, Miss Luo Quan herself feels no pressure—this pressure refers to public opinion.

She is extremely confident, because episode three's theme is free choice—she can shoot anything she wants.

And no matter how she critiques, the scene she plans to shoot is from "Farewell My Concubine"—perfect for promoting her film, a win-win.

News that Miss Luo Quan will appear in episode three of "Director, Are You Ready?" immediately topped trending charts.

Penguin led the charge in buying trending topics, and countless marketing accounts aggressively reposted the news, driving traffic to maximum.

The public and fans were thrilled by the coverage—after all, seeing Miss Luo Quan on a popular variety show still feels fresh.

Everyone says stars behave differently on screen; they want to see how Miss Luo Quan, known for her sharp critiques of news reports, will deliver her biting opinions on this show.

The most likely outcome: the criticized director can't shoot better than her, can't argue better than her, and even can't fight better than her—a threefold domination.

Just imagining this scenario is thrilling.

Some netizens directly tagged Director Fei's Weibo, pointing out this is clearly targeting him.

A little thought reveals that such a big star appearing on the show couldn't just be a critic—"if you think you can do better" is an essential segment.

Director Fei, as the show's controversy magnet, has already backed down twice; backing down again would be inappropriate.

Besides, among five main guests, it's his turn.

So most people know: this time, Director Fei and Miss Luo Quan will inevitably clash.

It's not really a clash, though—in most people's eyes, this is a match with no suspense.

But before the episode airs, anything is possible.

Some enthusiasts even encouraged Director Fei: at this moment when the whole world doubts you, unleash your potential and astonish everyone.

Although Director Fei quickly posted a Weibo with a trembling meme, clearly poking fun at himself.

But with so many netizens urging him on, he's surely still eager to win this round.

Sometimes netizens' mindsets are strangely fascinating.

Although most people like Miss Luo Quan, now Director Fei is the clear underdog, while Miss Luo Quan holds an unbeatable position.

Yet people still love the underdog who defies odds and turns defeat into victory.

Because such a plot is the most dramatic and most thrilling.

Without doubt, Miss Luo Quan has become the villain.

Under Penguin's deliberate push, Weibo now hosts a vibrant "Cheer for Director Fei" fan campaign.

The hype is at its peak—what the episode actually delivers will depend entirely on the work itself.

Two days later, Miss Luo Quan arrived at the Jiangnan Television Center in Jiangnan City, where Penguin's show is recorded.

After makeup, guests took their seats one by one, and filming began.

As a newcomer, Miss Luo Quan first greeted everyone on the show.

By tradition, new flight guests must introduce themselves—those with new works mention them; those without, highlight past ones, to boost visibility.

"Hello everyone, I'm Miss Luo Quan. I'm honored to be invited to 'Director, Are You Ready?' to discuss the future of Chinese cinema. I have some modest insights and look forward to exchanging ideas with you all. Also, my self-written and self-directed film 'Farewell My Concubine' is about to begin filming—please support and follow it. Thank you."

A very official introduction, yet it didn't dampen the enthusiastic applause from over a hundred guests and two hundred audience members.

At that moment, the large screen displayed Miss Luo Quan's directorial works: "Resident Evil," "Lone Wolf and Cub," "The Queen in Chanel," "The Silence of the Lambs," "Frozen."

Each was a massive critical and box-office hit; the audience erupted in exclamations.

"It's hard to believe these were all made in just two years," remarked Director Wang Jing, a flight guest.

As a major Xiangjiang director, Wang Jing was once famous for his rapid output.

To him, making films was about making money—the faster you shoot, the more you earn.

At his fastest, he completed a film in a month, and many became classics—though most were trash.

But back then, all of Xiangjiang operated this way; if you didn't shoot fast, you couldn't support your crew.

Now, who dares claim they can make a good film in one or two months? Either a liar or a fool.

Even "Entertainment Is a Circle," notorious as it is, claimed five years of preparation before shooting.

Yet Miss Luo Quan's films never take more than two months to shoot—this speed alone is absurd.

More absurd is that every film she makes becomes a classic—her level rivals her extraordinary musical talent.

With this resume displayed, Miss Luo Quan was instantly labeled an international master director.

Many in the industry know that at the upcoming Oscars, Miss Luo Quan will surely win something.

Just days ago, the Oscar selection committee released the list of films competing for each award.

China's sole eligible entry for Best International Feature Film is "The Wandering Earth."

It's the only Chinese film qualified for nomination—and even that isn't guaranteed.

It is also the only domestic film eligible for nomination, and it's still uncertain whether it will make the shortlist.

And Miss Luo Quan has more entries: The Queen in Chanel, The Silence of the Lambs, and Frozen were all submitted.

She also has nominations for the Oscar for Best Picture and the Oscar for Best Actress—prestigious awards.

Although she hasn't been nominated yet, just being eligible to submit is already rare.

And films of this caliber almost inevitably make it to the nomination stage.

This resume has made her stand out among the guests, especially since she's naturally tall.

Barefoot, Miss Luo Quan is 1.75 meters tall; even in sneakers, she's nearly 1.8 meters.

After introducing the new guest, the main program began quickly.

The five presented their new works from last week; everyone watched them in turn and gave critiques.

Since it was free-form, the themes chosen varied wildly.

The first director had previously been in a band and had many popular works, enjoying high fame.

This time, appearing on the show as a director, his film turned out unexpectedly high-quality, surprising many viewers.

Today, he shot a rather abstract short film.

A man smokes in a room, cigarette butts littering the floor, clutching a torn photograph, a shattered photo frame beside him, light and shadow interweaving, music deeply somber.

During the film, the man had a phone conversation—roughly about his impending divorce, trading insults with his wife on the other end until they hurled curses at each other.

As the film neared its end, over half the audience turned off their lights.

According to the rules, if half the audience turns off their lights, the film stops.

But this wasn't surprising—this singer-director's work had already done this twice in a row; today was the third time.

He seemed to be deliberately provoking the audience, creating such things to challenge their limits.

Director Wang Jing launched straight into criticism:

"No plot, no story—just technique. I have no idea what story you're telling; I only see a depressed man about to divorce.

If this were a scene, I'd give it eight points. If this is a film, I'd say even one point is too much."

There was debate and rebuttal; some critics felt the short film was well-made, with highly textured visuals, suggesting real skill.

Limited by time, a full story couldn't be told.

But if this were a real film, it wouldn't produce a masterpiece.

Both sides held firm, deadlocked.

Overall, the first piece was certainly not without merit; at least in cinematography, the technical skill was genuinely excellent.

After the first film ended, the second film followed immediately.