novellhall Chapter 53: Classic Short Essays
Chapter 53: Classic Short Essays
2006 years.
January 10th
There are still two weeks until the Spring Festival film season.
Wei Yi's "bad movie warning" strategy has been fully implemented through the collaboration between Tianya and Sina Entertainment.
The internet was filled with criticism, but also with curiosity.
The two groups of people argue on various forums every day.
Every time they argue, they inadvertently spread the name "One Shot" even further.
Wei Yi felt that enough groundwork had been laid.
It's not enough to just let people know that this movie is bad.
This makes people curious about what kind of movie it is.
We can't just give the audience an impression; we have to give them a hook so they'll actively come over and want to watch.
He thought of blogs.
Sina Blog is on the eve of a major explosion.
Xu Jinglei's blog is about to reach the top of the global rankings.
Korean Air's blog is also gaining followers rapidly.
Film stars are just beginning to realize that this platform can be used to communicate directly with fans, but no one has used it to promote a movie yet. Not even once.
Wei Yi began contacting the main actors one by one.
The first call was to Chow Yun-fat.
The phone rang a few times before being answered. It was a bit noisy on Chow Yun-fat's end; he was probably on set. "Little Wei? What's up?"
"Brother Fa, I'd like to ask you to write a blog post."
"Blog? What blog?"
"It's just writing an article on Sina Blog. It won't be long, just a few hundred words. I've even thought of a title for you: 'My First Time as a Lighting Technician in a Movie.'"
Chow Yun-fat paused for a second on the other end of the phone, then laughed.
"You made me write a blog just so more people would watch your movies?"
"right."
"Interesting." Chow Yun-fat's laughter subsided, his tone becoming more serious. "Little Wei, you're a very interesting person. Other directors only ask me to cooperate with press conferences and interviews, but you want me to cooperate with writing a blog. Okay, I'll write it. Are there any specific requirements?"
"Should I send the sample text to your email address later?"
"Ha, okay. That's even simpler, I'll just copy it directly!"
The second call was made to Gong Li.
Gong Li was drinking tea at home when she answered the phone; the background was as quiet as a library.
"A blog? I'm not very good at writing that kind of thing."
"Write anything, the more casual the better. The title is 'My First Time as a Makeup Artist: More Nervous Than Playing the Empress.' Just write about your experience doing Binbin's makeup on set, how your hands trembled when you held the brush, and how you felt your makeup looked terrible but Binbin said it looked good."
Gong Li was silent for a moment, then chuckled softly.
"Xiao Wei, do you know what my strongest impression of you is? It's that you always do things differently from others. Okay, I'll send it. But I can't write it, so how about you write it and I'll send it too?"
"That's also true. Chow Yun-fat said the same thing."
"That's settled then."
The third invitation was extended in person.
Wei Yi went to Fan Binbin's apartment at noon.
Fan Xiaopang opened the door for him, dressed in his pajamas, his hair casually tied up, looking like he had just woken up.
The two had a meal together, and Wei Yi told her about the blog.
The title and content are already written: "Everyone in this crew laughed during filming."
Fan Binbin understood immediately.
He also asked if he could mention that he also took those photos for VOGUE.
Wei Yi stopped him, saying, "This post will only talk about the film crew; the VOGUE stuff will be in the next post."
Fan Xiaopang pursed his lips, but didn't insist. "Fine, I'll do as you say."
The fourth call was made to Huang Xiaoming.
Huang Xiaoming is filming another movie in Hengdian.
His voice was hoarse with fatigue when he answered the phone, but the mention of "blog" energized him. "Director Wei, what do you suggest? How should I write it?"
"The title is 'I Played a Non-existent Character.' Don't write too much, under 300 words. Just say that you read three versions of the script for this role, and each time you felt like you were playing a different person. End with the line, 'Maybe the audience will eventually realize whether I actually exist or not.'"
After listening, Huang Xiaoming remained silent for several seconds, then said, "This is a good topic. Director Wei, have you studied psychology?"
"A perfect score on the college entrance exam does not include psychology."
"Ha ha."
Of the four people, only Xiaoming didn't want to copy; he wanted to improvise.
Wei Yi arranged four time points for the four blog posts.
周润髮1月10日，巩丽1月11日，范彬彬1月12日，黄小明1月13日。
One post a day, at a moderate pace, with the topic generating wave after wave of buzz.
Other main actors include Wei Yi himself, Bao Qiang, and Mu Tingting.
There's no need to write it.
In a word.
Not enough fans and not enough fame.
The first blog post was published on the evening of January 10th.
Chow Yun-fat's online name is "Chow Yun-fat".
The profile picture is a selfie taken casually on the set of "Curse of the Golden Flower".
The background is the Ming and Qing Palace Gardens in Hengdian.
The main text is less than 500 words, written by Wei Yi, and written in Chow Yun-fat's voice, describing his feelings when he first stood on the film set holding a reflector.
He wrote that Gong Li was standing under the light while he held the light, and he thought to himself that lighting technicians are so tired, and he should treat them to coffee more often in the future.
The entire crew was laughing, and he wanted to laugh too, but the actual lighting technician couldn't laugh because it would make the lights flicker.
Two pictures are attached.
One photo, taken by Wei Yi, shows Chow Yun-fat in profile holding a reflector; the lighting and shadows are so well done that it looks like a still from a blockbuster film shot on film.
The other photo is a group photo of the entire cast and crew. Everyone is smiling. Bao Qiang is smiling so hard that his gums are showing. Fan Binbin is covering his mouth and bending over. Huang Xiaoming is smiling so hard that his face is covered with crow's feet. Even Tian Erzhuang, who is usually the most serious, is grinning.
Half an hour after this blog post was published.
Sina Blog editors featured it on their homepage.
Half an hour later, the comment section completely exploded.
"Chow Yun-fat is in it too? I always thought he only acted in big productions! He's only playing a lighting technician in this movie??"
"Why is everyone smiling in that last group photo? What is this film crew filming? I'm getting more and more curious."
"Those who call it a bad movie, please come out and explain. What are the chances that Chow Yun-fat and Gong Li are both in a bad movie?"
"Who is Wei Yi? Anna Wintour specifically requested him as her photographer. Chow Yun-fat and Gong Li made cameo appearances, and even LV postponed its fashion show for him. And you're telling me he's a fraud?"
"The photos are unbelievably beautiful. Are these really behind-the-scenes shots or professionally retouched photos?"
"If photo studio retouching reached this level, it would be world-famous long ago."
Many people were just passing by and taking a quick look.
I was captivated by the quality of the group photo and the smiles on everyone's faces, and I looked at it over and over again.
After looking at the group photo, I looked at the one of Chow Yun-fat holding the reflector, and then I looked at the group photo again.
This is exactly the effect Wei Yi wanted.
The following day, January 11, Gong Li's blog went online.
Title: "My First Time as a Makeup Artist Was More Nervous Than Playing an Empress."
The short essay was still written by Wei Yi.
She wrote that her hands were shaking so badly when she held the makeup brush to Fan Binbin's face, and that she felt her makeup looked terrible, but Fan Binbin kept saying it looked good, which touched her deeply.
Two pictures are attached:
One photo is a black and white picture of her holding a makeup brush and pointing it at Fan Binbin's profile. Only Gong Li's focused profile and her hand holding the brush are shown; Fan Binbin's facial features are not revealed at all.
Another photo shows Gong Li taking a selfie in front of a makeup mirror. The mirror reflects half of the film set, with Bao Qiang squatting in the distance eating a boxed lunch and Huang Xiaoming making a phone call on the other end.
This blog post, along with Chow Yun-fat's, created a multiplicative effect.
Two superstars, one said he would be a lighting technician, and the other said he would be a makeup artist.
On January 13th, Fan Binbin's blog went online. The title was: "Everyone in this crew laughed during filming."
As always, Wei Yi wrote a short essay, recounting several embarrassing incidents in the tone of a conversation with her friends:
She wrote about herself getting stuck and looking down at the script, about Bao Qiang cursing after being smeared with flour, and about Mu Tingting squatting in a corner crying while being comforted by seven or eight people.
The final sentence became the highlight of the entire piece: "The last person who didn't laugh was the director. He had a dark face the whole time, but in the end, he couldn't hold back anymore and hid behind the monitor to chuckle."
Three pictures are attached:
The hilarious moment of Bao Qiang getting flour smeared on his face, the whole crew surrounding the crying Mu Tingting's back, and Wei Yi's candid shot of him hiding behind the monitor and secretly laughing.
Only half of his face was visible.
The comment section of this blog post went completely crazy.
Because these days, netizens haven't realized that celebrity blogs can also be an important marketing platform for celebrities.
At that time, most netizens still subconsciously thought that blogs were similar to QQ Space or WeChat Moments in the future.
Most netizens believe that the celebrities' personas in the show are real.
Everyone assumed that was how celebrities behaved in private.
Even the celebrities themselves don't really treat blogs as a marketing platform right now.
Instead, it's treated like a WeChat Moments post for venting and complaining.
This remained unchanged even in the early days of Weibo.
Later, with the massive influx of internet capital, new strategies emerged.
Social media platforms like blogs and microblogs, which are geared towards the general public, have been transformed into marketing channels.
That's why these blog posts were published.
Everyone believed it.
They suddenly discovered that the "bad movie director" who had been criticized online for almost two weeks was actually a director.
Actually, he's a young man who secretly laughs behind the monitor.
He scolded his girlfriend for crying, but he actually filmed the whole crew surrounding her and comforting her.
It just... it feels like a scene from real life.
On January 14, Huang Xiaoming's blog went online.
The title is just one sentence: "I played a 'non-existent' character."
This time, it's finally not a short essay produced by Wei Yi.
Xiao Ming wrote it himself.
The main text is less than 300 words.
The last sentence: "Perhaps the audience will discover whether I actually exist or not as they watch."
There were no stills included, only a black and white silhouette of the character, with the side profile and facial details all hidden in shadow.
This is in stark contrast to the "happy film crew" atmosphere previously created by Chow Yun-fat, Gong Li, and Fan Binbin.
This blog post is like suddenly placing a dark blue piece on a warm-toned puzzle.
Readers began a frenzy of discussion: Who exactly is he playing? Why is he called a "non-existent" character? Is this a horror movie?
Four blog posts, four different tones, four different perspectives.
From January 10th to January 14th, the film and television section of Sina Blog was dominated by content related to "One Shot" for a whole week.
Chow Yun-fat's post had the most views, Fan Binbin's post had the most comments, and Huang Xiaoming's post had the highest repost rate, because everyone was trying to guess the riddle.
Three days after the fourth blog post was published, the homepage headlines of major portal entertainment channels began to quietly shift.
Sina Entertainment changed the headline to: "Celebrities and bloggers spark a craze for visiting film sets; Wei Yi's new film is already a hit before its release."
NetEase Entertainment followed up with: "From 'Bad Movie Warning' to 'All-Star Blog,' the Road to Public Opinion Reversal for the Top-Scoring College Entrance Examination Student's Debut Work."
Sohu directly used the last sentence of Fan Binbin's blog as the title: "The last person who didn't laugh was the director, but he secretly laughed too."
From "Top-scoring students in college entrance exams may have movies with disappointing endings" to "Celebrities and bloggers are sparking a trend of visiting film sets".
In just ten days, Wei Yi stirred up a complete mess of online public opinion.