Chapter 35: Everything is Ready

Today, the area outside the small theater of the Beijing Film Academy's Acting Department was exceptionally lively; before the theater even opened, a line had already formed outside.

Those who didn't know the situation would have thought there was an important performance taking place here.

Dong Xuan is a student in the 2000-class of the Acting Department. Yesterday, their teacher told them that a film crew would be recruiting at the small theater today, and those who wanted to try out could go take a look.

At the time, the students in the class were all very surprised. Usually, when film crews come to the school for auditions, the teachers don't really recommend that freshmen go. What was the situation today?

Upon further questioning, the teacher said with a smile, "Today is different. This is a practical film by a junior student from the Directing Department. It's not like the outside film crews; the school supports students currently enrolled in participating."

Hearing the teacher say this, many students were a bit disappointed. So it was a practical film—a short film? Then there was no point.

Subsequently, someone realized that if it were just a practical short film, it would be impossible to have enough face to get the Acting Department to open the small theater for auditions, right?

Someone tentatively said, "It wouldn't be Cao Yang from the Directing Department, would it?"

The class suddenly went quiet, then suddenly turned into a wet market; everyone was saying something, and it was chaotic.

Could it really be Cao Yang?

Isn't his film still in theaters? Is he going to shoot a new one so soon?

The teacher signaled for them to be quiet and told them with a smile that it was indeed Cao Yang's new film.

This time, they are recruiting five actors at the school, all supporting roles—two men and three women. As long as they are currently enrolled students who haven't graduated, they can all go audition.

Dong Xuan was very tempted. For them, this was a rare opportunity. Sign up, hurry and sign up.

"Yueyue, are you ready yet? It starts in half an hour. Let's hurry and go line up. There were too many people signing up yesterday; don't be late."

"Don't rush. Our dorm is close to the small theater; we'll be there in a few minutes. We won't be late."

"In this palm-sized school of ours, which dorm isn't close to the small theater?"

Dong Xuan complained, looked around, and then whispered, "Yueyue, do you think what they're saying is true? Everyone says that film was directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang, but why do I feel it doesn't really look like Tian Zhuangzhuang's previous films?"

Guan Yue looked in the mirror, carefully drawing her eyebrows, and said, "Who knows? Why do you care who directed it? It doesn't have much to do with us anyway."

"Hey, that's not right, it has a lot to do with us."

Guan Yue put down her eyebrow pencil and muttered to herself, "If the film that won Li Xiaoran the Berlin Best Actress award was directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang, and he suddenly stops making films, then what's the point of this new movie?"

"No, are you sure it wasn't directed by Cao Yang?" Dong Xuan looked at Guan Yue, speechless.

"It's obvious. You count back—our school's Directing Department has produced so many great directors, but have you ever seen a director win two Silver Bears in their junior year? Can the National Master do it? Can Chen Kaige do it? Even Tian Zhuangzhuang can't, right?"

"Just because they can't, doesn't mean Cao Yang can't, right?"

As Dong Xuan said this, she lost her own confidence. Can Cao Yang really be compared to the National Master, Chen Kaige, and the others?

Dong Xuan suddenly remembered the gossip she had heard these past few days and hurriedly said, "Didn't the seniors in the Directing Department say, say..."

The words reached her lips, but she didn't know if she should say them. Although those words could refute that the film wasn't directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang, they weren't very friendly toward Cao Yang.

"What did they say?" Guan Yue's curiosity was piqued, and she pulled on Dong Xuan's arm, telling her to hurry up and say it.

"Many seniors in the Directing Department are spreading rumors that this film was actually directed by Cao Yang. How could Tian Zhuangzhuang use such low-level, straightforward camera shots? Even people who haven't studied directing have more complex camera movements than him.

They also said Cao Yang just got lucky, happening to run into Li Xiaoran, whose acting skills are god-tier, which is why he won the Silver Bear."

Seeing Guan Yue nod thoughtfully, Dong Xuan continued, "They also said that if they were given a Li Xiaoran, let alone a Silver Bear, they could even win a Golden Bear. Li Xiaoran is indeed amazing; I wish I had half her acting skills."

"Mm-hmm." Guan Yue nodded repeatedly and said, "They're right. Li Xiaoran's acting is too incredible. Even now, when I think about it, my head is still full of the scene where she was painting on the beach.

Ugh, Tian Zhuangzhuang is such a jerk. Such a charming woman like Li Xiaoran, and he actually didn't go find her. She's so pitiful."

"Hey, hey, don't confuse the movie with reality," Dong Xuan said with a laugh, gently punching Guan Yue.

Then, the two of them started laughing and playing around.

Girls are just so strange.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Oh no, we still have to go to the audition!"

The two of them hurriedly tidied up and rushed toward the small theater.

By the time they arrived at the small theater, there were still more than ten minutes left before the audition time, but a long line had already formed. Almost all the students from the Acting Department who were still at school had signed up.

Dong Xuan didn't quite understand; since so many people suspected the film wasn't directed by Cao Yang, why were so many people still signing up?

She even saw quite a few seniors who were already somewhat famous in the line.

She thought that most people probably felt the same as Guan Yue: who cares who directed it? After all, it's a film. What if it's shot very well and wins an award? This kind of resume is so rare.

!

After nearly a full day of auditions, the two assistant directors, Liu Shan and Li Mingyi, finally selected the five actors.

For the male actors, the righteous police officer was chosen as Yang Zhigang from the '99 class; the correctional officer—the prison guard who beats up the male lead—was chosen as Zhou Yiwei from the 2000 junior college class.

Yang Zhigang had someone put in a good word for him, and since it was a small role anyway, Liu Shan and Li Mingyi felt his acting was up to par, so they chose him.

Zhou Yiwei's audition performance had a bit of an evil streak, and they felt it would be very interesting for him to play that prison guard, so they chose him.

For the actresses, the photographer's young girlfriend was chosen as Che Xiao, the boxer's girlfriend was chosen as Dong Xuan, and the kind and gentle man's girlfriend was chosen as Wen Zhengrong.

There were still a few roles with too little screen time left, such as the three prisoners, the old man's children, and the couple returning halfway through their trip; they would just have the crew staff or interns make cameo appearances when the time came.

With this, all the roles were set, the props were ready, and they could start filming at any time.

At the same time, more good news arrived: after twelve days of screening, the box office for *On the Beach at Night Alone* successfully broke twenty million.

Han Zong and Hou Keming called Cao Yang one after another to share the good news. This could be considered a big hit. They also told Cao Yang that according to the current trend, if it wasn't extended, it could still bring in about three or four million more at the box office.

On March 16th, everything was ready, and the opening press conference for *3-Iron* was held on Ludong Island.

According to what Cao Yang knew, it was rumored that the "Old Monster Kim" prepared the crew and only used thirteen days to shoot this film. He didn't know if it was true, but he definitely couldn't shoot it in thirteen days.

Old Monster Kim's talent was indeed formidable. A man who painted on the streets and beaches of France, couldn't make it there and returned to his country, writing scripts to sell for money because of his dire financial situation, and then several of his scripts won awards.

Then he started making films and couldn't stop; he had won a Berlin Silver Bear, and a Venice Silver Lion and Golden Lion.

He was a genius, a freak, and a pervert... highly controversial. His works focused on erotic themes and ethical explorations, and he liked to play with ethical tropes, often involving sensitive topics like violence, sex, and the lower classes of society.

*3-Iron* was, relatively speaking, already one of Old Monster Kim's more "normal" films.

(End of chapter)