Chapter 34: Zhang Songwen and Wang Baoqiang

Zhang Songwen was influenced by his mother from a young age, taking refuge at the Nanhua Zen Temple in his hometown and practicing while living in the secular world.

However, at the age of 23, he changed his indifferent personality, gave up a job with a monthly income of 20,000, and rushed to the Beijing Film Academy to pursue his dreams.

In 2000, the Beijing Film Academy's vocational class had not yet opened a directing department, so he had no choice but to apply for the acting department; he stuck to this path to the end and stayed on as a teaching assistant for the vocational class after graduation.

Life was not easy, and his chance encounter with Lu Kuan at the Fan Bingbing Film and Television School was when he went to work as a part-time acting teacher.

Sitting in a private room at the Jimen Hotel near the Beijing Film Academy at this moment, Zhang Songwen felt somewhat as anxious as he had been before applying for the vocational class.

A text message from last night had received a response, which was perhaps the biggest harvest of this winter break; otherwise, he would have had to take on part-time jobs like washing dishes to save up for rent.

The door was suddenly opened by a man in his forties with short hair, wearing a shabby, unkempt cotton-padded jacket, with heavy dark circles under his eyes.

Li Yang, who pushed the door open and entered, was stunned, then stepped out of the private room and glanced around; that was right, it was 007, so why wasn't Lu Kuan inside?

"Director, what's wrong?" A young, dull-looking man followed him in, grinning from ear to ear, looking very happy.

Having been successfully cast by the crew, and with an investor treating them to a meal today and specifically asking to see him, the "Foolish Root" (Sha Gen), who was the same age as Lu Kuan this year, could not have been happier.

He hadn't been home for two years, and the salary for this movie was a full 2,000 yuan; he was already looking forward to the day of wrapping up...

By the time Lu Kuan arrived, the people in the room were already chatting; in addition to the previous three, there were also the cinematographer of "Blind Shaft," Liu Yonghong, and the lead actor, Li Yixiang.

"Mr. Lu!"

Li Yang was the first to greet him, as he was the only one here who was more familiar with Lu Kuan, and the others also hurriedly stood up to greet him.

Zhang Songwen had traveled far and wide and was much more sophisticated in the ways of the world; seeing that Wang Baoqiang was still cracking melon seeds, he hurriedly gave him a tug.

In this society, or in the entertainment industry, a small detail could offend someone and subsequently ruin one's career.

"Everyone, please sit."

Lu Kuan took off the scarf around his neck with composure and first conveyed an exciting piece of news to Li Yang.

"Director Li, in addition to the initial 1 million, I will pay the remaining 1 million in batches according to your filming progress; you don't need to worry about the money anymore."

Li Yang graduated from the Cologne Film Academy in 1994 and had just returned to China last year.

When he was in Germany, he had set a four-year plan for himself to save money, doing whatever made money.

He had been a painter, a mason, worked in restaurants, been a driver, and worked as a cameraman at a television station.

The documentary director, who had less than one million in initial investment in his hands, let out a long sigh of relief at this moment; poverty is hard to cure, and underground films are too difficult these days.

Li Yang didn't feel that he had lost much face, and in front of his cinematographer and lead actor, he stated: "Don't worry, Mr. Lu, I will definitely complete this film with quality and quantity; even if it cannot be released in theaters domestically, I will never let your money go down the drain."

Lu Kuan chuckled inwardly; it was just that he was kind-hearted and left some shares for Li Yang, otherwise, he would have regretted it when selling the copyright at the film festival.

Zhang Songwen, being very observant, went out of the private room to greet the waiter to serve the dishes, and everyone ate and chatted.

"Director Li, has the crew insurance been purchased?"

Li Yang stammered for a long time: "The lead actors and the main creators have all bought it, but the others..."

In his previous life, "Blind Shaft" had a landslide accident that killed people, which scared the lead actress away.

"Get the maximum accident insurance for everyone; I will cover this budget, outside of the 2 million investment."

The others were surprised, but they didn't say anything on the surface; at this time, the head of the crew was Li Yang, and everything had to be based on his stance.

Even with such a good thing, who could guess the director's true thoughts? It was possible he felt Lu Kuan was buying people's hearts and was feeling dissatisfied and resentful inside.

"Foolish Root" was someone who couldn't hold back his thoughts; he raised his glass and said excitedly: "Thank you, Mr. Lu! You are the best investor I have ever met!"

This kid had also learned to flatter; he had been an extra for two years and had never seen an investor before.

Zhang Songwen knew that it was hard to persuade a doomed ghost with good words, so he stopped tugging at his sleeve; the words were already out, so whether it was appropriate or not, that was for later!

Li Yang let out a long sigh, stood up solemnly with a full glass, and toasted Lu Kuan: "Mr. Lu, thank you so much; I won't say anything else, it's all in the wine!"

An investor who did not interfere with the crew's daily affairs, an investor who could provide constructive opinions on script structure and cinematography.

And an investor who was people-oriented and treated the underground film's rat-like creators as human beings; there were too many people talking about interests these days, and too few talking about conscience.

The lead actor and the cinematographers also followed suit, expressing their gratitude respectfully, whether out of sincerity or to go with the flow.

Lu Kuan returned the toasts one by one, then pointed to Zhang Songwen and introduced him: "This is classmate Zhang from the Beijing Film Academy, my alumnus; I would like to ask Director Li to see if he is capable of taking on the role of Tang Zhaoxia."

Li Yixiang asked curiously: "Is Mr. Lu also from the Beijing Film Academy?"

He was from the 1992 class of the Beijing Film Academy's acting department; eating this meal until now, he still thought Lu Kuan was just a dabbling "coal second-generation," but he didn't expect him to be an insider too.

"Oh, I'm preparing to take the art exam after the holidays, for the directing department, haha."

Boss Lu didn't notice that he had let it slip; the last time he stepped onto the Beijing Film Academy campus was decades ago, before he traveled through time.

Li Yang was grateful to Lu Kuan, but he wouldn't remove a role that had already been tentatively decided just because of a simple recommendation from him; he immediately made an appointment with Zhang Songwen for a screen test and didn't talk about it in depth during the meal.

At the dinner table, cups were exchanged, and a group of filmmakers talked about the land, looking forward to starting the creation of this crime film earlier.

Cinematographer Liu Yonghong had previously worked as a reporter for a television station and had even spent a year filming weddings to make a living.

He was very curious about the 16mm handheld and shoulder-mounted photography that Lu Kuan had proposed earlier, and at this moment, he took the opportunity to ask for advice.

"Mr. Lu, I'm still worried about the exposure issue regarding the cinematography..."

Except for Li Yang, the other three were full of question marks; how could this investor even understand cinematography?

Lu Kuan smiled and said: "Kodak 16mm film only has a maximum sensitivity of ASA 500; although it can't compare with the current baseline sensitivity of 800, what we want is this oppressive atmosphere of insufficient lighting."

Friends with cinematography knowledge all know that this kind of T1.3 Zeiss lens has a very low reflectivity in deep pit scenes like mine shafts, and the resulting underexposure is consistent with the scenes shown in the original "Blind Shaft" film.

And this is exactly the effect Lu Kuan was pursuing, and it is also the point that the Berlin Film Festival values most: authenticity!

It is precisely this darkness and pseudo-documentary effect brought about by underexposure that intensifies this authenticity, just like a documentary about criminal activities.

Of course, such authenticity also doomed "Blind Shaft" to be banned in China; it is two sides of the same coin, which is unavoidable.

After the meal, everyone dispersed.

Wang Baoqiang and his fellow extra friends rented a low-rent apartment near the Beijing Film Academy; the Beijing Film Studio and the Beijing Film Academy were separated by a wall, which was convenient for them to find work.

Zhang Songwen was graduating in the summer, so he was naturally living in the school dormitory at this time.

Lu Kuan walked with them for a while and took out a business card to give to Baoqiang; he didn't have a mobile phone, so he could only contact him one-way if there was anything.

He then patted the shoulders of the two future talented actors and left.

"Act well, and sign with my company in the future!"

"Foolish Root" was a bit flattered; now he would be grinning from ear to ear if he could just be a small or medium extra, let alone signing with an entertainment company.

"Brother Wen, does Mr. Lu have an agency?"

Zhang Songwen shook his head silently, inexplicably thinking of a Buddhist verse from the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, whom he believed in:

A single lamp can dispel a thousand years of darkness, and a single wisdom can eliminate ten thousand years of ignorance.

Would this Boss Lu be this thousand-year bright lamp for him?

(End of chapter)