Chapter 641: The Director Who Was Wasted

For the film The Martian, Fang Hong still guided Liu Tianxian's performance as usual, overseeing every moment.

He merely helped her fill in gaps and refine the details.

Although he wasn't a good director, he shot seriously, never cut corners, never let a shot pass without thorough coverage, and always tried to shoot as much as possible.

Just this one point made him better than many directors, who were always rushing deadlines.

With two crews shooting separately, he had plenty of time to focus solely on refining Liu Tianxian's acting.

And Liu Tianxian was no longer the inexperienced actress she once was—she was Temple of Heaven Best Actress, Golden Horse Best Actress, and Macau Film Queen, her craft long honed.

Although she never won the Golden Horse, it didn't affect her performance.

After all, Fang Hong had told her to treat herself as an ordinary person, to hold back emotion, to be restrained and calm.

Every shot in this film was rehearsed over ten times, striving to capture the emotion precisely and gather ample footage for editing.

One of Liu Tianxian's strengths was that once in work mode, she worked tirelessly and obeyed every direction without complaint.

Perhaps she herself didn't know whether her performance was good—actors always lack self-awareness.

This scene took about eighteen takes to complete, ending only when Liu Tianxian entered Huoxing Jidi, where she could remove her spacesuit.

The next scene, of course, was pulling out the iron spike embedded in her abdomen.

Inside the base, Liu Tianxian removed her helmet and the heavy outer shell, took off her gloves, and prepared to pull out the iron spike "planted" in her abdomen.

Liu Tianxian took a deep breath, gripped the spike, and yanked it out sharply—then let out a piercing "Ah!" of agony.

Of course, it wasn't real—she was acting.

"Cut!" Fang Hong called out again.

The crew remained at their posts, unmoved—they knew the Principal was about to personally teach his wife how to act.

"Don't grip the spike tightly—pull it out decisively and swiftly. Have you ever had an IV? Nurses remove needles with lightning speed." Fang Hong stepped closer to explain.

Hearing this, everyone thought back to their own needle sticks—yes, nurses always pulled out needles fast and steady—the Principal was truly professional.

They felt they could act better just from listening to the Principal's guidance, but unfortunately the Principal never bothered to guide anyone else.

"I see." Liu Tianxian nodded seriously.

"Watch me demonstrate." Fang Hong said, then settled his mind and entered character.

He first wore a serious expression, lowered his head toward his abdomen—where there was nothing at all—and hesitated slightly.

Then he rapidly exhaled "Hu hu hu" several times and executed a swift "pull-out" motion.

"Waaahhh!" Fang Hong bent forward slightly, letting out a violent scream, as if he were truly in excruciating pain.

The entire sequence—exhalation and extraction—flowed seamlessly, without hesitation; his scream and bent posture felt utterly natural.

"The Principal is truly an actor wasted as a director—he'd have been an absolute Best Actor otherwise," Shen Ao observed.

"No, the Principal was wasted by commerce," Li Anran crossed her arms.

"That's true. But given the Principal's personality, he could achieve greatness in anything," Liu Yin said.

He was highly goal-oriented and meticulously planned.

After his demonstration, Fang Hong said: "Understand? The pull-out motion must be fast. Rapid breathing gives you courage and reduces pain. The scream must convey unbearable agony—that's how you transmit it to the audience."

"I understand," Liu Tianxian replied.

She had only studied astronauts' traits, not medical self-rescue methods—these were standard procedures.

They also helped the audience emotionally invest.

"Tired? Want a break before the next take?" Fang Hong asked.

"No, I'm not tired."

Liu Tianxian shook her head, then added: "I never realized you knew so much."

"As a very very very professional director, of course I must know everything from astronomy to geography, right?" Fang Hong emphasized "very" three times.

Liu Tianxian smiled, her tense filming mood easing slightly—though she'd always believed her husband was a great director, just wasted.

But there was no choice—if no one held up the "sky," these films could never be made.

Because there were no resources, no funding, no channels, and people would sabotage them.

Filming resumed. With Fang Hong's demonstration and her own understanding, Liu Tianxian nailed the scene in about ten takes.

Afterward, she removed her spacesuit, quickly cut away her clothing, revealing her snug bustier and bare abdomen.

The bustier was still modest, but her abdomen was made up to look like a bloody, mangled wound.

Shooting was nearly done—next came the scene where she lay on the operating table, performing self-rescue: digging out debris from her abdominal wound and suturing it herself.

This segment was even more gruesome and unbearable—a huge challenge for Liu Tianxian.

But they shot slowly, guided patiently—if ten takes weren't enough, a hundred would do.

While The Martian was still being filmed, Wu Shuang, which had been in theaters for a month and a half, had finished its run.

Even a month later, the film still earned box office revenue.

Its final box office reached 1.273 billion yuan—another film surpassing one billion.

Chen Daoming entered the one-billion-yuan film club for the first time, elevating his status and commercial value.

In an interview, he told the host: "I'm still grateful for the Principal's guidance back then."

"He coached you in acting?" the host asked, astonished—could anyone coach this veteran actor?

"It wasn't exactly coaching—he just analyzed the character's performance. I remember his analysis clearly, then I re-performed the scene." Chen Daoming recalled—he even paid to cover the cost of the reshoot.

"Hard to imagine—the Principal is so young, yet he could analyze your role," the host said.

"Nothing unusual. A good director is always a good actor—he thinks from the actor's perspective," Chen Daoming said.

The host asked: "Do you think the Principal is a good director?"

"Of course he is. He always has been," Chen Daoming said.

"But the Principal has never won any awards—no official recognition. What do you think of that?" the host asked.

"There are many factors that lead to winning an award; not winning doesn't mean you're not a good director. Even legendary directors like David Fincher and Charlie Chaplin couldn't win an Oscar—does anyone doubt their achievements? No!"

"."

"The end of 'The Missing' doesn't affect the annual Mid-Autumn and National Day box office rush, which has already entered competition mode."

"This year's Mid-Autumn Festival is on the 27th; counting that day, it's four days before National Day."

"'The Lost City' dominated the Mid-Autumn slot, releasing on the 25th, roughly six days before National Day."

"The production company behind this film isn't just Yutu; Xu Guangtou's company, Zhenledao, sold part of its share to Guangxian."

"Although Yutu is also an investor, it never held exclusive rights—only partial rights."

"Originally, Xu Guangtou shot it himself and organized everything; Yutu merely invested money and held partial rights, unable to let go."

"Guangxian is backed by Alibaba, which took a stake—it's their second-largest shareholder. This is the butterfly effect brought by Fang Hong."

"So this film is essentially co-released by Tuyupiaopiao and Taopiaopiao, two industry giants—this is their first collaboration."

"Actually, there's no real collaboration—each invests separately, with Xu Guangtou in the middle."

"With the 'Jiong' series plus the two giants, no one dares provoke them; all eyes turn to the National Day slot."

"This year's Mid-Autumn and National Day slot is lively, featuring Liu Tianwang's 'Rescue Me,' his second film collaborating with Neidi."

"His first was 'The Dwelling of the Rich and the Poor'—everyone knows how that film turned out; it ruined his reputation completely."

"'Rescue Me' is decent, but whether it can carry the box office depends on whether his fans support him—only the theater release will tell."

"There was originally 'Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe,' but the rights were held by Yutu, so Lu Chuan self-wrote and self-directed 'Heavenly Demon Tower!'"

"He just wanted to ride the Ghost Blows Light hype, ride the tomb-raiding trend, and made this thing."

"This year, tomb-raiding themes are wildly popular—novels and TV dramas both exploded, like 'The Lost Tomb,' starring Yang Yang, so it extended to film."

"'The Lost Tomb' had five-cent special effects, but each episode's streaming exceeded 100 million views, dominated Weibo trending topics, and became a phenomenon."

"Ghost Blows Light and The Lost Tomb both have massive fanbases."

"Lu Chuan's 'Heavenly Demon Tower' is purely riding the trend; whether its plot relates to the original? Definitely not."

"Not only this one—his past film 'Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe' was also a shattering adaptation, unrelated to the original."

"It caused fans to rage, so bad even the original author couldn't watch it—he sued the man, accusing him of gross distortion and alteration of the source material."

"But in this life, Yutu didn't grant him rights, so he self-wrote and self-directed, changed the character names, and kept the plot nearly identical to his past 'Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe.'"

"The actors are still the same: Zhao You Ting, Da Zui, Li Chen, Tang Yan, and others."

"The backer investors are LeEco and China Film Group."

"Yutu's countermove is 'Goodbye Mr. Loser,' same cast, produced by Yutu and Mahua FunAge."

"The distributor is still Tuyupiaopiao—this is the real child."

"The main competition in the National Day slot is these three films: 'Rescue Me,' 'Heavenly Demon Tower,' and 'Goodbye Mr. Loser.'"

"As for other films, no one's even heard of them."

"'Goodbye Mr. Loser' and 'The Lost City' feel like they're fighting themselves, but it doesn't matter—there are only a few good slots each year."

"Later come 'Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe,' 'Mojin: The Lost Legend,' 'Lucy,' 'The Mermaid,' 'Tangrenjie Tangan,' and other films."

"This year is Yutu's breakout year, crushing competitors—after years of accumulation, they've netted nearly all new-generation filmmakers and hold all the IP rights."

"Countless screenplays lie idle in Yutu's Literature Bureau!"

"Naturally, competition among these National Day films spills into online 'dark warfare'—the tactics? Still hiring Water Army to boost scores or smear rivals."

"For example, 'Heavenly Demon Tower' was accused of plagiarizing and distorting 'Ghost Blows Light,' sparking collective boycotts from fans."

"This news was naturally leaked by the rival side."

"They don't sue—just incite boycotts, because suing would get them nothing; the plot has nothing to do with the original."

"'Rescue Me''s pre-sale box office was accused of being artificially inflated through locked screenings; director Gao Qunshu publicly stated: 'A good film shouldn't be buried by screening allocation.'"

"He was hinting that certain films use resources to squeeze out competitors."

"'The Lost City' and 'Goodbye Mr. Loser' even clashed, trading barbs."

"'Goodbye Mr. Loser' emphasized: 'True comedy doesn't rely on IP!'"

"The media implied: 'The Lost City' relies on IP to make money."

"But 'The Lost City' ignored it—this film is far hotter than 'Goodbye Mr. Loser.'"

"Whether in IP or actor popularity."

"(End of Chapter)"