Chapter 210: International Advertisement? We

Tian Hongshan, following the address provided by Jiang Xiao Yan, arrived at an alley south of Xiushuijie and saw a sign hanging at the gate of a courtyard: "Pengcheng Seventh Factory Beijing Office."

After knocking and entering, he was met by two young men with sharp eyes who sized him up from head to toe, making him feel as if he'd walked into some important government department.

Then, upon entering the reception room of the main house, he saw Jin Peng and a young man he recognized.

He exclaimed in surprise: "Aren't you that student from Beijing University studying economics? Do you know Manager Jin and the others?"

Li Ye hadn't expected Tian Hongshan to show up today, so he simply said: "I'm from the same hometown as Manager Jin. Sometimes I come over to offer advice."

"Oh, offering advice is good, very good."

Tian Hongshan sat down awkwardly, secretly wondering whether he'd already stepped into their trap back when he first came to Xiushuijie to "steal knowledge."

But Li Ye and Jin Peng had no time to explain to him now—they were busy watching the commercial.

Because the newly established trading company in Hong Kong had previously agreed with Hao Jian that it would take charge of export matters,

and because Hong Kong's entertainment industry had influence across East Asia and Southeast Asia, Hao Jian supported the idea of having Hong Kong produce the commercial, then importing it back to the mainland under the "export then re-import" model.

Due to the impact of TV dramas like "Shanghai Beach," "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," and "Shaolin Temple," Jin Peng, Hao Jian, and even Li Ye all trusted Hong Kong's capabilities and fully expected to produce an unforgettable commercial.

But when the commercial arrived, Hao Jian couldn't accept it; despite repeated communications, no solution was found, so they urgently sent the videotape to Li Ye, the "economic consultant," for final approval.

Seeing that Li Ye and Jin Peng had no intention of kicking him out, Tian Hongshan stayed to take a look.

As the videotape was inserted into the VCR, a color TV screen displayed the commercial footage.

First came the breathtaking view of Victoria Harbour, then a group of male and female actors stood by the seaside railing, gazing out with haughty, dismissive eyes and exaggerated, arrogant expressions.

Then, the models walked back and forth in two loops, their movements like ducklings on a runway, waddling and squawking.

At that moment, heavily accented Cantonese Mandarin boomed: "Fenghua Apparel—make your vibrant youth truly magnificent."

Then, black screen. End.

That's it. That's it. That's it.

Where's Xu Wenqiang?

Where's Chu Liuxiang?

Where are Feng Chengcheng and Jade Guanyin?

Li Ye stared blankly—he didn't recognize a single one of the actors in the commercial.

Not recognizing them wasn't the issue—but one after another, they were all ugly.

【Did I know every handsome or beautiful Hong Kong star? Just how obsessed was I with celebrity chasing back then?】

Besides, if you're ugly, fine—but at least have decent acting skills!

Instead, every single one was over-the-top and artificial; that "magnificence" was truly legendary.

Li Ye clenched his teeth and asked: "How much did Hao Jian say this commercial cost?"

Jin Peng replied: "Two hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars—no editing, no trimming. If you want cuts, that's extra. And because of the Mandarin dubbing, they suddenly added fifty thousand, but finally waived it out of respect for Old Pei's connection."

"What the hell!"

Li Ye nearly threw the videotape across the room.

"This commercial is absolutely unacceptable—the actors are terrible, the cinematography is terrible, the sets are terrible—nothing is good. And they dare charge two hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars? Do they really think people on the mainland are all fools?"

Jin Peng sighed helplessly: "Hao Jian said the same thing to Hong Kong, but they replied that if we wanted better actors and directors, the cost would be several times higher,

and they've already paid half the fees; the actors and director refuse to reshoot, saying shooting twice means paying twice."

"Refuse to reshoot?"

Li Ye's gaze turned cold. After a few seconds of silence, he said: "Then we'll shoot it ourselves—with our own director, our own actors. From now on, forever and ever—we cut all ties with those actors."

Jin Peng nodded: "I was thinking the same thing, but the Hong Kong filmmakers said we couldn't produce an international-grade commercial, and it would hurt exports and cause astronomical losses."

"Hmph~. They still don't realize where the God of Wealth actually lives, do they? Do they really think the God of Wealth moved house?"

Li Ye's cold words made Jin Peng grateful that neither he nor Hao Jian had blindly believed the Hong Kong side—that the moon was rounder over there.

"Xiao Ye, after I watched the tape the day before yesterday, I immediately went to Beijing Film Studio, TV stations, and several other units—but some wouldn't even let me in. If we want to shoot this ourselves, it'll be a hassle."

Shooting a commercial in mainland China in 1983 wasn't as easy as it would be in later years. Forget smartphone cameras or tiny DVs—those shoulder-mounted cameras requiring two operators were rare luxuries, not fully widespread until the mid-1980s!

Even if Li Ye had gotten Pei Wencong to bring him a portable camera, he still wouldn't know how to operate it professionally.

"I have a solution!"

A sudden voice rang out, triggering in Li Ye a memory of babysitting his little niece while she watched "Paw Patrol."

Tian Hongshan declared confidently: "I can connect you with Beijing Film Studio—my wife works there, and she's a group leader."

Jin Peng and Li Ye both laughed in surprise. After receiving a glance from Li Ye, Jin Peng extended his hand to Tian Hongshan.

"Brother Tian, shouldn't you change your wording? Replace 'you' with 'we'?"

Tian Hongshan paused slightly, then firmly shook Jin Peng's hand, emotionally saying: "I can help us connect with Beijing Film Studio—we'll shoot our own commercial, better than anyone else's."

………………

Tian Hongshan wasn't boasting—his wife really was a group leader at Beijing Film Studio, though she specialized in film washing.

But since someone had led them inside, things became easier.

After learning the official process required project approval, discussions, casting, shooting, and other tedious steps, Jin Peng consulted relevant personnel and borrowed a small filming crew.

It included one camera, one cinematographer, one video technician, and several extra actors.

But when Li Ye, still uneasy, saw these actors, he immediately frowned.

"Peng Ge, how come you picked only middle-aged people? Didn't you find any young, good-looking ones?"

"No, Xiao Ye—you said our brand targets the masses, right? These are the actors who best represent the common people. Besides, young actors are too timid—they won't dare take on side jobs."

"You…"

Li Ye was equally helpless. He hadn't emphasized a single detail, and now this mistake had happened.

Fenghua Apparel did target the masses—but could buyer's photos and seller's photos really be the same?

Besides, how many clothes does a middle-aged woman buy in a year? How many does a young girl buy? Don't you even know your target audience?

"Fine, let's shoot two sets of scenes—one with young, beautiful girls and handsome boys, another with middle-aged people closer to the masses. Then we'll intercut them and see what works."

Jin Peng nodded, then hesitated: "Xiao Ye, it's easy to say, but where are we going to find young girls willing to appear in a commercial right now?"

Li Ye thought for a moment: "I'll try to contact a few."

The next day, Li Ye found Wen Leyu.

"Xiao Yu, have you kept in touch with your Qin Jie? Can you ask her if any of the models from her team would be interested in doing a commercial?"

When Li Ye first arrived in Beijing, he'd had a minor clash with some local youths, and Wen Guohua had stepped in to help him out.

Then "Little Qin" had taken Wen's siblings and Li Ye to watch a modeling troupe rehearse.

Though their quality wasn't top-tier, they were still far more photogenic than ordinary people.

"A commercial? For Pengcheng Seventh Factory?"

"Yes. Hong Kong shot one, but it didn't meet our standards, so we want to shoot our own—but we lack young men and women willing to appear on camera."

"Pengcheng Seventh Factory's job?"

Wen Leyu's eyes flickered. "Then go straight to my brother—he knows those models well, and his influence is bigger than mine. One word from him to Qin Jie is worth two from me."

Li Ye hesitated: "Could you just ask him for me? I just bought him a pair of leather shoes—I can't ask him to do me a favor right after."

Wen Leyu replied firmly: "Why not? Are you letting him get a free ride?"

Li Ye thought it over. Wen Guohua was already working daily with Pengcheng Seventh Factory on the Xiushuijie renovation team—why not trouble him? It wasn't much.

But when Li Ye called Wen Guohua, the voice on the other end said strangely: "I can help you, but you have to promise me my sister won't tell our mom about this."

"…"

Li Ye was baffled.

What? Weren't you, Big Wen, the guy who bragged about ruling the entire city over drinks? How come you're still a mama's boy?

………………

Wen Guohua was reliable—he arrived on time with six models: two men and four women.

Li Ye glanced at them and immediately recognized these four women as the cream of the entire modeling troupe.

After over half a year of training, their demeanor had changed—they were now far more suited to commercial filming.

As soon as Wen Guohua arrived, he spotted Wen Leyu beside Li Ye and immediately glared at him.

His sister had a habit of tattling—even just chatting with a few girls could bring down his mother's scolding or even the feather duster. Was it really that serious?

But since he was already here, what could he do?

So he asked Li Ye professionally for the script.

After a quick glance, he sneered: "That's it? No lines at all? Just walking back and forth?"

Li Ye said: "Exactly. Simplicity is hardest—it takes real professionals to pull it off."

Wen Guohua chuckled: "Then how do you want them to act?"

Li Ye shook his head: "No professional director. Just improvise."

"You're really frugal."

Wen Guohua teased Li Ye, then stepped aside.

The cinematographer then explained the details to the actors and models—it was very simple: walk from left to right, then right to left, against different backdrops.

This was Li Ye's idea.

Back then, commercials always featured exaggerated movements and lines, which made Li Ye feel deeply uncomfortable.

So he decided to borrow the video traffic formula from the future: shoot a few clips like street fashion footage from Sanlitun.

Fresh clothing, handsome and beautiful actors, slow-motion shots highlighting the clothes and their faces.

What's the purpose of an advertisement?

To deepen the viewer's impression. You're selling clothing—if you can't highlight "beauty," how will you spark the viewer's desire to buy?

If you're saying it stirred up the male friends' desire to admire?

Come on, when women buy clothes, who ends up paying? Male or female?

After filming began, things went fairly smoothly, since these models had trained extensively on the runway, and they were only walking back and forth on a quiet street—it wasn't particularly embarrassing.

But Li Ye always felt something was missing, because neither the photographer nor the actors or models had ever handled such a "simple" ad before; their gazes and expressions fell short.

Helpless, Li Ye activated his biological hard drive and carefully replayed Hu Da Shuai's classic Animas suit advertisement twice in his mind.

Yes, that suit ad that made two foreign supermodels look like bodyguards.

"Uh, everyone take a break—I'll walk a segment, please give me your feedback."

Wen Guohua, who had been listless, and Wen Leyu, who had been half-asleep, instantly perked up like rabbits hearing a wolf's howl, ears and eyes snapping alert.

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(End of chapter)