Chapter 370: How Could One Forget Journey to the West

【"To see a thousand miles further, ascend another level."】

Once this calligraphy was posted, the fellow disciples understood what it meant, but outsiders were frantically overthinking it.

"Literally speaking, it just means that if you stand high, you can see far."

"Does this mean that after defeating the ceiling of the music scene, he still wants to stand higher and see further?"

"Luo Mo: Redefining the ceiling."

"If you build the floor one level higher, doesn't the ceiling just get higher too!"

"Good heavens, this implication is something else!"

"I feel like he means: whoever wants to be the ceiling can be it, I have no interest in being the ceiling; I only care about building floors and going up levels!"

——Open up your perspective, cast your gaze far, and expand your ambition!

But in all honesty, Luo Mo's foundation is indeed in the music scene.

But his ambition is indeed never just in the music scene.

………

………

The outcome has been decided; when Luo Mo goes to the set these past few days, what he hears are no longer words of encouragement, but congratulations, or even flattery.

Now when Tang Shiyu sees Luo Mo, this woman with a heavy air of tea-drinking sophistication sometimes makes no effort to hide the admiration in her eyes.

But this admiration is indeed from the heart.

It is just like how many Singers will go into acting after they develop well. Many Actors also try to record songs and try to release songs.

Tang Shiyu has not only released singles and sung interludes for her own film and television works, she has even released a complete album.

Of course, the final result was that it didn't break out of her circle, with only her die-hard fans supporting it.

The entire album of ten songs didn't even have a total download count of two million.

At the same time, many Actors also love to participate in various large-scale festival galas.

And for galas like the Spring Festival Gala, many Actors who go might be arranged to sing.

If it's lip-syncing, the feeling it gives people is at most—it doesn't sound that great.

But Blue Star strongly supports live singing, at most allowing you to use a half-track.

Therefore, Tang Shiyu has also left behind quite a few "car crash" live performances.

The filming progress of "Nirvana in Fire" is already about one-third complete.

The entire filming speed compared to other crews is considered very, very slow.

For this reason, some of Luo Mo's haters are still mocking him all over the internet: "Heh, you hired so many veteran actors, are you a bit unable to handle them?"

"They say film and television is the director's art, but I've heard there are quite a few actors who like to overstep their bounds, hehe."

These remarks and smear articles are the lowest level.

Because once the TV series starts airing, the answer will naturally be revealed.

Today, the entire crew still has night scenes to film.

When they were almost done filming, Luo Mo glanced at his phone and discovered that He Yuanguang had sent him a WeChat message an hour ago.

"I have already arrived at your crew's hotel."

Luo Mo looked at this message, patted his thigh lightly, and muttered: "Good heavens, the one chasing for the manuscript has come to the door."

He Yuanguang's Tongguang Studio had already completed all production of the first season of "Spirit Cage" over a month ago, including all post-production.

It was just that a voice actor had some issues, and they had to replace them with someone else to dub, which is why it kept dragging on until now.

But don't forget, the promise Luo Mo made when he let He Yuanguang's studio produce "Spirit Cage" was: "Preparing for the production of a 3D feature film."

Simply put, although the anime "Spirit Cage" is a Niche type and subject matter, its production is very refined, making it perfect for the studio to practice on; it couldn't be better as a whetstone before producing a feature film.

Luo Mo is very satisfied with the final effect presented by "Spirit Cage".

After watching it, he indicated that the team could take a break and go on vacation.

But He Yuanguang didn't want to take a vacation, and the people below didn't want to either.

It's very strange; people, once they have tasted the flavor of success, will have plenty of drive for a period of time.

The people at Tongguang Studio are all elites in the anime world; they can clearly feel that the entire industry is developing rapidly, and they seem to be standing right at the forefront of the trend.

At this time, they really don't want to rest for even a day.

Therefore, it can be said that He Yuanguang is chasing Luo Mo, the screenwriter, for the manuscript every single day.

Luo Mo's reply every time is: "I'm writing it."

But over a month has flashed by, and he hasn't even sent a story synopsis!

He Yuanguang sent a query for this reason: "Didn't you say that you use the time you spend drinking Coffee to write?"

Luo Mo replied: "Isn't it that I haven't been drinking Coffee lately?"

He Yuanguang: "???"

He actually understands that Luo Mo has been very busy lately, but having failed in the area of feature films before, he has a deep obsession with film projects and is impatient to get started as soon as possible.

At the same time, he is very clear that Luo Mo must have already thought of the story in his heart, otherwise he wouldn't have mentioned it in passing before.

He flew over today just like someone coming to collect a debt, just wanting to chat with him for half an hour to an hour so he could have a rough idea of the whole story in his mind.

"I have to at least let me know what the subject matter is, right?" He Yuanguang said in his heart.

Luo Mo opened WeChat and replied: "I still have half an hour before I wrap up here, and then I have to make arrangements for tomorrow's filming work; I estimate it will be over an hour before I get to the hotel."

"Guang Shu, why don't you go eat some late-night snacks, or go upstairs to the hotel to work out or swim or something?"

"Last time I went to your house for dinner, Sister An'an said she disliked your big belly."

He Yuanguang looked at Luo Mo's WeChat and replied irritably: "What is this, telling me to eat and then telling me to lose weight; your WeChat just looks like it has a lot of words, but the content is clearly not sincere."

He also knew that Luo Mo was probably still busy and overwhelmed at this moment, so he added a sentence: "Don't worry about me, I brought my computer."

For him, since he had brought his computer, a portion of his work could be carried out, and time flew by in the blink of an eye.

"Alright then." Luo Mo stopped worrying about him, and after finishing his work, he immediately set off for the hotel.

Upon meeting, Luo Mo smiled and said, "Are you here to collect a debt already?"

"If I don't start the project in another month, are you going to come to the set and splash paint everywhere?" he joked.

He Yuanguang laughed and scolded, "Splash paint? Have you forgotten that I'm an artist? I'll just paint your Evil, stinking face instead!"

"Let's go upstairs. I had my assistant buy some crayfish; we can eat and chat in a bit," Luo Mo said.

"I'm not eating," He Yuanguang said, patting the fat on his large belly.

"Fine, I won't force you," Luo Mo said.

He truly did not force He Yuanguang to eat the sinful late-night snack with him; he just very considerately peeled one for He Yuanguang to let him have a taste, and then... things got out of hand.

Clearly, men just shouldn't settle for "just a taste."

The two of them chatted while peeling shrimp.

"Aren't you going to send some to your Heavenly Queen?" He Yuanguang asked gossipingly.

"What do you know? Not eating late-night snacks is a basic discipline for female celebrities," Luo Mo said.

He Yuanguang looked at his belly and muttered, "I'm not a female celebrity."

Then, he ate even more happily.

After chatting for a while, the two began to discuss serious business.

"I ran over to find you today, not because you have to start writing immediately. But you should at least give me a general idea of the subject matter and what you're actually thinking, right?"

Luo Mo didn't answer directly, but instead picked at the cucumber in the crayfish sauce, saying as he picked, "Guang Shu, if I recall correctly, you studied under the old master Huang Lun, right?"

"That's right. If the teacher hadn't led me through the door back then, why do you think things went so smoothly for me when I was young?" He Yuanguang said.

"I do have some talent in Animation, but the teacher taught me so, so much," He Yuanguang sighed with emotion.

Luo Mo nodded and said, "The 1991 version of the *Journey to the West* Animation was produced by old master Huang. Did you participate in it back then?"

"How could I? I hadn't even become his apprentice in '91," He Yuanguang said.

In this world, there was also a household-name version of the *Journey to the West* Animation, which was produced by He Yuanguang's teacher and had won major international awards back in the day.

At this moment, He Yuanguang let out a long sigh and said, "A few years ago, the teacher had thought about making a *Journey to the West* animated feature film, but... you know how it is, the animated film industry wasn't doing well back then, and money was hard to come by."

Luo Mo nodded and said, "I understand."

Never mind back then; even if you went to raise investment for an animated feature film now, it would still be just as difficult.

As mentioned before, the entire market is lacking a phenomenal work.

A phenomenal, massive hit is too important.

It can stimulate the entire industry, causing it to be reborn and undergo a qualitative change!

However, this requires someone to dare to be the first and bear the enormous risk.

He Yuanguang looked at Luo Mo and said, "Sigh, look, the production cost of an animated film is absolutely no lower than many live-action films. But look, live-action films at least have stars acting in them, and many stars have Box Office Appeal. But what about animated feature films?"

"Who says? Some animated characters have Box Office Appeal too," Luo Mo said with a smile.

He Yuanguang's eyes lit up and he said, "So you want to make a theatrical version? Is it a theatrical version of *That Rabbit*, or *Fog Hill of Five Elements*, or *Spirit Cage*?"

Luo Mo shook his head and said, "None of those. They aren't at the household-name level yet."

If he was going to do it, he would do a phenomenal work.

And for this type of work, the right time, the right place, and the right people are truly all indispensable.

Therefore, there aren't many choices for the first animated feature film. There are indeed many animated films that are very good, but they require a market foundation.

Just like many years ago, many people were completely unwilling to go to the cinema for an animated film, but now?

Everything has to be turned around bit by bit; it cannot be achieved overnight.

He had a good hand of cards, but the order of playing them was very important; otherwise, he might not achieve the expected results.

"A household-name level character?" He Yuanguang connected this to what Luo Mo had suddenly mentioned earlier, and for a moment, he couldn't help but find his breathing becoming a bit rapid.

"Brother Monkey?" He looked at Luo Mo and pressed, "You mean Sun Wukong!?"

He tore off the disposable gloves on his hands, threw them on the table, and said, "You're going to do... *Journey to the West* subject matter!?"

(End of chapter)