Is Film Not Art?

What kind of movie is Whiplash?

It tells the story of a nineteen-year-old music student who plays the drums and, under the extreme pressure and harsh criticism of his strict teacher, gradually becomes an elite jazz drummer.

The two protagonists are extremes colliding with extremes. One is willing to push, and the other is willing to endure. One constantly whips his student with perverse methods, while the other seems possessed, wanting only to become the best drummer.

"Jade must be carved before it can become useful, and one must go mad to truly live." This was the first impression Whiplash gave people. The former clearly carried an inspirational element, while the latter represented the movie's darker side.

It looked a lot like an inspirational movie, but it absolutely wasn't one.

It would be more accurate to call it an extreme descent into madness, a transformation completed under immense pressure.

"I'd rather lose my family, drink myself into madness, die in my thirties or forties, but be remembered for music, than be rich and safe all my life yet remain unknown!"

This line from the protagonist directly summed up the movie's tone.

The most extreme fanaticism, an insane shot of adrenaline!

This was a movie about going mad if one failed, a story about someone who became a lunatic because of music.

When it came to choosing a script, the first thing Bai Youlou did was eliminate movies made purely for the box office.

With his current reputation, even if he used a cheat and somehow made The Wandering Earth on the spot, he would probably have to endure a wave of "purification" first.

Wasn't good wine unafraid of a deep alley?

That wasn't necessarily true in the entertainment industry.

Otherwise, why would the publicity and marketing for so many projects be so important?

For some movies, the publicity budget was even higher than the production budget.

They might as well take the arthouse route first.

Arthouse films had their own ways of making money. Generally speaking, as long as a movie won an award at a major film festival or received a strong response, and its production cost wasn't too outrageous, selling the distribution rights alone could recover the investment and even bring in a hefty profit.

If it was released after that, however much it made at the box office would simply be a matter of fate.

Anything would count as profit.

That was how quite a few arthouse films survived commercially. It wasn't as though they had been made entirely to win awards and gain fame.

Of course, Bai Youlou wasn't completely without expectations for the box office, but that was another plan.

After finishing the script, he also wrote a few other things on the side.

Old Zhou spent some time reading through the script. Then, when he looked at Bai Youlou, his eyes seemed off, as though he were looking at some kind of monster.

He had been puzzled before. How had this kid managed to write a script himself?

Now he realized that the kid really had gone insane!

The movie script he wrote was insane too.

It did fit his current situation quite well.

Reasonable.

However, the quality of the script also left Old Zhou utterly astounded.

He looked at Bai Youlou, who had already "gone mad," then at the script in his hands.

Then he thought about the fifty thousand yuan that had just arrived in his bank account. Suddenly, a surge of heroic spirit welled up inside him.

"I'll go crazy with you!"

Bai Youlou wasn't excited in the slightest. It would have been strange if a movie script that had received six Oscar nominations, along with a pile of other awards, failed to stir anyone's heart.

But the two of them, this makeshift crew, definitely couldn't make a movie on the spot.

Besides, Bai Youlou's few million yuan might not actually be enough. They might have to find a way to attract investment.

"How about this? Find a way to get some investment. If you bring in one million, you'll get a hundred and fifty thousand in commission."

"Wait!" Old Zhou immediately interrupted Bai Youlou. It wasn't that he was especially pure and incorruptible; he was merely confused. "Isn't that too much?"

"You bring in one million. Four hundred thousand goes toward making the movie, I keep four hundred and fifty thousand, and you get a hundred and fifty thousand. Reasonable."

Old Zhou fell silent.

Wasn't film art?

If Bai Youlou had come up with a script for some trashy adult movie, that would have been fine. They could throw away all shame and go make money. There was nothing wrong with being businessmen.

But he had come up with such an incredible script, and yet the first thing he thought of was still making money.

That was just strange.

The two images were far too contradictory, yet they had genuinely appeared in the same person: Bai Youlou.

Old Zhou could say with certainty that if he had been Bai Youlou's age and written such an incredible script, he would have wanted to spend even the money meant for buying condoms on the movie, let alone think of ways to make dirty money.

The previous second, he had looked like a madman, completely embodying the image of an artistic lunatic. The next, he had been dragged back into the mundane reality of commerce.

Old Zhou, who couldn't accept it, slammed the table. "Fuck, are you really Bai Youlou? Give me that stupid kid from before!"

Bai Youlou: ???

He didn't speak at first. He reached into Old Zhou's cigarette pack, shook out two cigarettes, handed one to him, then slipped the other into his own pocket.

Click~

He lit the cigarette and took a deep drag.

"You're disgusting now. You look like some kind of gay guy!"

Registering the company, filing the project, submitting the script for record, and obtaining the filming permit—

Whether it was Old Zhou or Bai Youlou, they showed plenty of drive while handling these matters.

After all, with only two people in their makeshift company, they couldn't come up with any long-winded, pointless procedures.

Although everything was difficult at the beginning, the two of them got things started quickly. After that, however, their progress slowed down instead.

Old Zhou took care of all the subsequent "miscellaneous tasks." After all, Bai Youlou had already paid him his salary in advance, so he had to show that he was worth something.

Of course, a person couldn't remain completely idle. Otherwise, their physical functions and brain would deteriorate. Even Patrick Star knew to call SpongeBob out to catch jellyfish when there was nothing else to do.

Bai Youlou actually wanted to put the crew together himself. There was only so much money available, after all, and it would be wonderful if he could manipulate some hot-blooded idiots into helping. Maybe he could save quite a bit of money.

There had never been a shortage of people like that in the entertainment industry. It was both ironic and amusing. The world of fame and fortune was never short of "fools" who genuinely yearned for art.

The Bai Youlou of his previous life had once been one of them too.

But just as he was getting ready to go out, Old Zhou stopped him.

The reason was simple. Given his current circumstances, he was better off staying away.

No matter what kind of gathering it was or how the crew was assembled, Bai Youlou's appearance would inevitably have the opposite effect. At least, that was how things stood for now.

The online discussion surrounding his scandal had cooled somewhat, but it was still ongoing.

The "Bai's nonsensical remarks" he had come up with were spreading across the entire internet at astonishing speed. Some netizens who hadn't even been following the incident could now casually quote a couple of them. That was the true destructive power of a viral catchphrase.

It was practically foreseeable that the female lead would become the most famous "slut" in the entertainment industry in recent years. Bai Youlou's "stinking pile of dog shit" had successfully gotten his revenge.

But Bai Youlou was still that bastard who had seduced another man's sister-in-law. Both sides had suffered.

It was lucky they were in the entertainment industry. If they had been involved in organized crime, he would have been stabbed three times and pierced six times.

So Bai Youlou didn't object to Old Zhou's suggestion. He really did have a "repellent" quality right now.

He simply holed up at home to refine the shot breakdowns, secretly worked out the budget, and played the hands-off boss.

Well, he also wanted to see whether Old Zhou would cheat him.

Bai Youlou had always liked to assume the worst of other people. His own heart was rather dirty, so naturally, he imagined everyone else as bad too.