Chapter 213: Zhang Zhang Guoli's Request

Fan Fan Bingbing was at a loss; where had she gone wrong?

What surprised her even more was that her scene partner, Liu Liu Yifei, seemed to have grown so much since they last met, whether in finding her marks or in the tone of her lines.

Seeing Lu Kuan walked in front of the three of them: "It's like this, Fan Bingbing. This shot is called a 'moment of shock.' When the two of them turn to look at you, the over-the-shoulder shot will push in very aggressively."

"Aggressive enough to isolate your face and place it at the center of the frame. The feeling for the audience will be that in just one short second, it's as if a chasm has opened up between you and them."

Fan Fan Bingbing nodded. That was how she had understood it too; where was the mistake?

Seeing Lu Kuan explained patiently: "Do you know what your role is right now?"

"My role? The female student of Lan Lan Jiangshui, Fan Bingbing."

"And what else?"

Fan Fan Bingbing was a bit bewildered: "What else?"

Seeing Lu Kuan laughed: "You are also the camera! You are the eyes of the audience!"

Fan Fan Bingbing:???

Tian Tian Qiwen and the others on the side were completely confused, having no idea what Seeing Lu Kuan was talking about, let alone Fan Fan Bingbing, who was on the set.

"Xingzai, what does this Director Lu mean?"

Zhou Zhou Xingchi stood with his arms crossed, the knuckles of his left hand rhythmically tapping his right forearm.

Hearing Tian Tian Qiwen's question, the surrounding Dong Dong Shuangqiang, Yu Dong, Wang Changtian, Zhang Zhang Baizhi, and others also pricked up their ears, waiting for this Xiangjiang director to clear things up.

"He... is a genius."

Zhou Zhou Xingchi pursed his lips, revealing a helpless expression. No wonder Liu Liu Yifei would rather be his stunt double than play the female lead.

"In this shot, Fan Fan Bingbing and the male and female leads are in opposing positions; the three of them are standing side-by-side in a 1-versus-2 spatial relationship."

"Before Seeing Lu Kuan directs the cinematographer to take the over-the-shoulder close-up, Fan Fan Bingbing is in dialogue with the leads, hearing the news that her junior sister will never return."

"But!"

"When the camera cuts to the over-the-shoulder close-up, I bet Seeing Lu Kuan will use a zoom."

"This will make the shoulder of the female lead, who is currently facing away from the camera, go from sharp to blurry, foreshadowing that these two will leave the human world and live out their lives in loneliness in the foreign realm."

"And all of this! It all needs to be conveyed through Fan Fan Bingbing's expression. That is why he said that in the subsequent close-up, Fan Fan Bingbing is actually playing the role of the camera; she is responsible for expressing this sense of desolation and alienation to the audience."

"As well as the helplessness of the leads as they head off alone to a foreign land to save the human world. This is the thematic core of the entire film."

Holy crap! A simple shot had so many layers; everyone present, whether they understood it or not, was stunned.

Zhou Zhou Xingchi patted Tian Tian Qiwen, didn't say goodbye to anyone, and turned to leave.

He came with high spirits and left when his interest was satisfied.

The cast, crew, and directors on set acted as if they hadn't heard a thing, immediately moving on to the second and third takes to finish this final segment of the scene.

Striking while the iron was hot, Liang Liang Jiahui and Gary Oldman quickly put on their makeup and went on set; the two experienced actors contributed a brilliant scene for the guests present.

Liang Liang Jiahui fell to the ground with a miserable smile, locking eyes with Dr. Ciemat, played by Gary Oldman, who was about to meet his own death, unable to close his eyes even in his final moments.

Seeing Lu Kuan picked up the intercom: "Jib arm, give me a high-angle shot. Cut the angle after three seconds."

The cinematographer complied, first giving a close-up of Liang Liang Jiahui's bloodshot, tear-filled face, a trace of relief still lingering at the corners of his mouth.

Because he had already arranged for his daughter to head to the foreign realm to shut down the farm, the entire human world would not be destroyed by his seemingly great invention.

Three seconds later, the close-up shifted to Gary Oldman; the cold-blooded Federation Chairman's eyes, filled with hatred, slowly closed, ending a life full of controversy.

The camera panned down from above, the bodies of the two former teacher and student, who had once respected and loved each other, left exposed in an irregular heap.

A breeze swept through the streets of Chinatown, filled with a sense of desolation.

Seeing Lu Kuan checked the monitor behind the scenes to ensure everything was correct.

He stood up with the intercom, looked around, and saw that the cast and crew, both Chinese and foreign, were looking at him with anticipation.

"Foreign Realm! Wrap!"

Boss Lu spoke in Chinese, but it didn't hinder the foreigners' understanding; everyone cheered and applauded, celebrating the arrival of this moment.

But for a sci-fi film, the real test was still to come: the four or five months of special effects production.

The guests finished their observation, took turns coming over to exchange pleasantries with Seeing Lu Kuan, and then left. Seeing Lu Kuan scanned the area a few times but didn't see Zhou Zhou Xingchi.

What a weirdo.

Leonardo was already surrounded by reporters, a professional smile on his face.

"Yes, the day after tomorrow we will go to Beiping. I will stay in Beiping for a few days; it's rare to come here."

"Of course, I know the Forbidden City, I know the Great Wall, I know the hutongs! Lu told me all about these."

"Our crew will go climb the Great Wall together. I'm looking forward to it; I've been building up my stamina for a long time for this, haha!"

"Lu? There's nothing to say; you've all seen his professionalism. I feel honored to be able to work with such a director, and I look forward to him developing his career in Hollywood in the future."

"Crystal? A very professional actor. Let me think, when I was 16, I had just acted in the TV series *Growing Pains*. Honestly, if I stayed on a set for more than three days, I would go crazy."

"But she is different. She can stay from 6 AM to 8 PM and still be reading the script. I can't do that. I think you can look forward to Crystal's performance."

In the dressing room, Liu Liu Yifei and Fan Fan Bingbing sat back-to-back, letting the makeup artists remove their makeup.

Fan Fan Bingbing recalled Liu Liu Yifei's performance just now; she didn't know what she had gone through in these past few months to suddenly become so mature and composed.

Fan Bingbing broke the silence first: "Liu Yifei, you've improved so fast."

Liu Liu Yifei was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Thank you, Sister Fan Bingbing. Seeing Lu Kuan always says I'm quite slow and have to work harder than others."

Fan Fan Bingbing was a bit startled, not knowing if she was intentionally provoking her or if it was unintentional.

She was hardly the type to admit defeat, so she said as if casually: "Liu Yifei, I bought a courtyard at Huabin Golf with an outdoor grill. I'll invite you and Director Lu to be my guests another day."

Liu Liu Yifei didn't suspect anything: "Okay!"

"I also bought a courtyard in Gongjian Gongjian Hutong. It's open-air and also great for grilling! Let's go play together next time."

Fan Bingbing's willow-leaf brows furrowed, confusion +1. Was she truly innocent, or was she some ageless Tianshan child-spirit?

Outside the dressing room, Boss Lu reached out to push the door open, then pulled his hand back and turned to leave.

A-Fei followed, confused.

In the evening, Ren Ren Zhonglun from Shanghai Film Group stepped forward to invite Seeing Lu Kuan and all the cast and crew of *Foreign Realm* to fulfill the duties of a host.

Baijiu and red wine were prepared on the dining table. Seeing Lu Kuan egged Leonardo on to take a sip of Moutai, which made him wrinkle his brow in agony.

"Whoa! Lu, it felt like I drank a mouthful of floor cleaner!"

The surrounding crowd burst into laughter.

Liu Liu Yifei asked curiously: "You two can drink two bottles of whiskey on set, how come you can't drink Chinese liquor?"

Boss Lu was a veteran tested by alcohol in his past life, so he laughed upon hearing this: "Baijiu and Western spirits are both distilled liquors, but the raw materials are quite different. Western spirits are generally made from potatoes and grapes, while Chinese baijiu uses grain crops, and the process is more complex, making it spicier and more stimulating."

He glanced at Leonardo, Emil, and the other foreigners, joking with everyone in Chinese: "This is what they call 'mountain boars can't handle fine bran'!"

Ren Ren Zhonglun and the others were stunned for a second, then all clapped and laughed.

That was a sharp remark!

With the help of an interpreter, Ren Ren Zhonglun introduced the local cuisine to the guests from afar.

Leonardo and the others were used to eating modified Chinese food abroad; at the sight of these dazzling, authentic delicacies, their appetites were piqued.

One moment they were tasting the perch, the next they were picking up a piece of Eight-Treasure Duck.

Boss Lu saw them like Zhu Bajie eating ginseng fruit, and he was determined to let them experience the profound depth of Chinese cuisine.

"Leo, Emil, do you know how special this fish you're eating is?"

The two looked at each other; wasn't it just an ordinary fish? It just tasted fresh and tender.

Foreigners rarely eat fish served whole; they usually have fillets with the bones removed.

Before cooking, the meat on both sides of the spine is cut off; slightly higher-end restaurants pick out the large bones and use tweezers to remove the small ones.

Larger salmon and cod are even easier to handle, and smaller sardines and herring have soft bones that can be chewed up directly.

Ren Ren Zhonglun had the restaurant chef describe it to them vividly, but the two were still confused, as many cooking methods and terms were lost in translation.

Seeing Lu Kuan interrupted the chef's introduction and used the most direct method to educate these bumpkins.

"This is a four-gilled perch. In 1972, when your leader Ni visited, this dish was included in the state banquet."

"Later, due to water pollution, it was once on the verge of extinction. When the stubborn 'Silly White' visited China twice, he specifically asked to eat this dish but didn't get to." (Note 1)

"Leo, do you know how lucky you are today?"

Oh! If you had said that earlier, we would have understood—it's just royal treatment!

Leonardo followed the local customs and learned to toast like Seeing Lu Kuan. Host Ren Ren Zhonglun felt he had saved face and gained respect, and he felt even more admiration for Seeing Lu Kuan in his heart.

It was no exaggeration to say he was a man who understood the ways of the world and was well-versed in human relationships!

Liu Liu Yifei kept her chopsticks moving, listening to Seeing Lu Kuan's introduction while eating to her heart's content.

She thought to herself that this "washing machine" was truly proficient in eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling!

It was just that she didn't know Boss Lu's first pot of gold came from sports betting; otherwise, she would have to add one more thing.

The banquet ended with both host and guests happy. A-Fei drove his boss back to the hotel. Just as they reached the lobby, Seeing Lu Kuan received a call from Ren Ren Zhonglun, whom he had just parted ways with.

"President Ren? You're at your age and still doing a second round?"

Ren Ren Zhonglun laughed: "Not at all, not at all. There is a private matter I'd like to trouble Director Lu with."

"Please, go ahead."

Ren Ren Zhonglun used the classic opening: "I have a friend..."

But this time, it really was his friend.

"Zhang Laoshi Zhang Guoli, the one from *The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan*, Director Lu knows him, right?"

"Zhang Laoshi? I know him. Is something the matter?"

Ren Ren Zhonglun glanced sheepishly at his old friend beside him: "If Director Lu isn't in a rush to rest, in about forty minutes, shall we chat in detail in the business center suite on the 8th floor?"

"Fine, I'll wait for you."

Ren Ren Zhonglun is a man of the world, so he had naturally heard of a director like Boss Lu, who had a reputation for being a playboy.

It was only a 10-minute drive from the place where they ate to the Peace Hotel, but he told Seeing Lu Kuan it would take forty minutes just to give this "washing machine" director time to clean up his mess.

Of course, if Seeing Lu Kuan said it was inconvenient tonight, then there would be no second option.

As the head of the Shanghai Film Group, he didn't originally need to be in such a rush to find someone to handle things, but his old friend Zhang Zhang Guoli was pushing him too hard.

What was the matter?

Damn! It was the same as with Liu Liu Zeyu—a son screwing over his father!

It was the love-hate dispute between Zhang Guoli's beloved son, Heizi, and Tong Yao.

Ren Ren Zhonglun put down the phone and asked in confusion, "This matter is fermenting on the blog site; what use is it to find Seeing Lu Kuan?"

"A fellow townsman of mine from the Communication University of China, the deputy director of the Journalism Department I ate with last time, gave me a tip. He said this Seeing Lu Kuan is familiar with the vice president of the blog site and told me to find him to think of a way."

This referred to Qiao Sheng, the teacher who had failed to act pretentious at the table last time when Boss Lu was pursuing progress and joining the China Association for Promoting Democracy.

Ren Ren Zhonglun still didn't understand: "That's not right, either. You flew over overnight just for this? Wouldn't it be finished if you just contacted Han Zong and told him?"

Zhang Zhang Guoli was a bit embarrassed and didn't want to go into detail, but since he was asking the head of the Shanghai Film Group for a favor, he couldn't keep hiding things; that wasn't the right attitude for someone asking for help.

"I played Fei Mo in *Cell Phone*, and this Director Lu has some minor conflicts with Yanda Huayi, so I was afraid that contacting him rashly would be counterproductive."

"Han Zong is also cautious, and I didn't want to trouble him."

"Old brother, you are the head of such a large state-owned enterprise, and you have business dealings with his company. I really had no other choice but to find you to put in a good word for me!"

Since becoming famous, Zhang Zhang Guoli had rarely been so dejected; right now, he wished he could beat his own good-for-nothing son to a pulp!

Boss Lu was smoking in his room, thinking again of Zhang Zhang Guoli, whom Ren Ren Zhonglun had mentioned on the phone.

The entertainment, film, and literary circles were full of elites, and this man was a representative of someone with both high emotional and intellectual intelligence.

His career started in Rongcheng in the 1970s.

The comfortable city of Rongcheng had two benefactors for him: Old Han and Old Mi.

There is no need to waste ink on Old Han, but who was Old Mi?

The veteran director Mi Jiashan.

The three of them met when they were nobodies, working together at the Emei Film Studio in their early years. At the time, Old Han was still just an ordinary lighting technician, commonly known as "Lamp Master."

Old Mi was an art designer, and this Old Zhang had the lowest status—he was an extra.

When the three brothers had nothing to do, they would drink tea and chat at a teahouse in Feng Qingyang District.

But people have different fates; Old Han and Old Mi were both "red-rooted" successors, which will not be detailed here.

Although Old Zhang had no background, he had high emotional intelligence and was very clever, so he played very closely with his two older brothers.

In 1988, the film *The Troubleshooters*, adapted from Wang Shuo's novel, had Old Mi as the director and Zhang Zhang Guoli as the assistant director.

The lead actress was Old Mi's wife at the time, Pan Hong, a top-tier domestic dramatic actress.

Zhang Guoli just kept moving up like this. Later, when Old Han went to the capital, he followed the trend and went north, quickly completing his initial capital accumulation.

The reason Zhang Zhang Guoli didn't rashly contact Seeing Lu Kuan himself was that his relationship with Yanda Huayi and "Pants" was too deep.

How deep?

"Feng Xiaogang Cannon's" first war blockbuster of his career, *Assembly*, was a script Zhang Zhang Guoli found for him, and his shadow could be seen in later films like *1942* and *Youth*.

And the executive producer and producer of Zhang Zhang Guoli's *The 601st Phone Call* were both "Feng Xiaogang Cannon."

This included Heizi's later career, which was backed by Yanda Huayi; after moving behind the scenes, "Pants" had helped him quite a bit, treating him as his own.

If one thought like an ordinary person, why didn't he go find Old Han?

Han Han Shanping was now the implicit leader of all domestic filmmakers. As long as it wasn't a particularly thorny issue, a single word from him would be enough to greet Boss Lu.

That is why they say Old Zhang is a person of extreme clarity with high double-intelligence!

He was truly putting himself in Han Han Shanping's shoes to consider this matter!

For Han Han Shanping, Seeing Lu Kuan was a rising star with a booming reputation, while Zhang Zhang Guoli and the interest-entangled Yanda Huayi were circles he had been rooted in for a long time.

If Zhang Zhang Guoli found him, he would definitely be in a difficult position.

Because he was the most aware of the conflict between the two. Even back when Seeing Lu Kuan asked Han Han Shanping to pass a note to let Wenjie fill in for the bidding work at the Western Film Studio, Old Han had only acted as a middleman, remaining impartial.

He did not want to break the balance between Seeing Lu Kuan and Yanda Huayi.

Just like an ancient Emperor, he didn't like to see his ministers getting along; it was best if they fought to the death every day!

Old Zhang's emotional intelligence was rewarded in these little details.

In the later year of 2009, Han Han Shanping led the production of *The Founding of a Republic*, with a total cost of 30 million and a box office of 430 million—it made a fortune.

Later, this Boss Ren from Shanghai, who was here tonight, once complained that he only got a 10% investment share by relying on the theater chain resources under his control.

Old Zhang had nothing, yet he also got 10%—he made the money just by standing there!

Where can you go to reason with that?

Complaining aside, Boss Ren was also one of the leaders captured by Old Zhang's super-high emotional intelligence.

Also in 2009, Shanghai Film responded to the call and formed a joint venture with private enterprises to establish Shanghai Film Media Asia, with Zhang Zhang Guoli as the general manager.

There is a lot to be savored in this.

Shanghai Film and China Film were nominally at the same level, both being central enterprises under the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television. To inject private capital, Old Zhang had to at least clear the connections one level higher.

As for where this connection led, it is not something to be told to outsiders.

It can only be said that such circle culture, both large and small, is too developed in domestic society, and people are connected by thousands of threads.

Dong Dong Shuangqiang, Han Han Shanping, Li Li Shoucheng—which one of them was not a person of "deep blessings"?

Seeing Lu Kuan using the resources in his hands to make equivalent exchanges with them was, in a sense, not much better than "asking a tiger for its skin."

Once his own films flopped, or he lost the value of interest exchange, just look at how these people would react.

Right now, only Old Tian, that fifth-generation director who was like an old farmer, had some heart-to-heart connection with Seeing Lu Kuan.

That is why he strongly advised Seeing Lu Kuan that he must find some resources and backers on the surface, so as not to have nowhere to turn if he were to be robbed later.

Boss Lu checked his watch; there was still a while before the agreed time, so he dialed the phone of Xu Bo at the Public Opinion Monitoring Center.

The office was on 24-hour duty; the last time, Old Liu's video incident was discovered and handled immediately because of this.

"Boss, instructions?"

"Is there some Zhang Heizi incident fermenting on the internet?"

"Yes, Boss, but because the parties involved are not sensitive, it does not meet the criteria for immediate reporting, so we have not handled it for the time being."

Xu Bo was a little panicked. Why did the leader call directly? Could this matter be very big?

He was one of the few people in the blog site, besides Zhuang Xu and Wang Xing, who knew Seeing Lu Kuan's true background identity.

"Oh, it's nothing, keep observing."

The call ended, and Boss Lu extinguished his cigarette butt.

It really was this matter.

Note 1:

I really don't understand the harmony mechanism; are the names Nixon and Elizabeth also against the rules?

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(End of chapter)