Don't Look Down on College Students, Uncle
The film festival in this world is quite similar to the one in the world Lu Ban originally lived in.
Most of Europe's three major film festivals are held during the summer months, while several important annual film awards take place in the spring months of March and April. By autumn, smaller film festivals in China, such as the Jiangcheng Film Festival, also come to an end. After October, film exhibitions and festivals enter their off-season.
The closest and largest of these is the Miskatonic Film Festival in North America, located in Massachusetts. It primarily awards science fiction and fantasy films, and the awards are given out before Christmas each December.
However, the film festival's submission process had already ended, and Lu Ban wouldn't bother to add money to squeeze in at the last minute. Besides, the bigger the film festival, the more impressive the entries, and the lower the chances of winning awards, which would be detrimental to Lu Ban's professional mission.
Smaller film festivals, such as the Chenghua Avenue Film Festival, may not fit the positioning of a mainstream film festival, and may not even have awards.
Lu Ban consulted the information and quickly found a suitable film festival: the Yannan University Student Film Festival.
Yannan is the capital city and a hub of people. The Yannan University Student Film Festival is held every November and is the only film selection in China open to university students. In addition to awards for young directors and actors, it also awards works by current students to encourage them to devote themselves to the film industry.
This film festival also has a public jury, which consists of university students. In addition to academic awards, such as Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director, there are also popularity awards. Lu Ban felt that even if he didn't win Best Actor, he should at least be able to pick up a popularity award such as Most Popular Film, making him a perfect candidate for this film festival!
More importantly, due to the time constraints of student works, the deadline for submitting entries to this film festival is quite late, at the end of October, giving Lu Ban plenty of time to register and participate.
Some might say, "Lu Ban, you've already achieved great success and have so many excellent works, yet you still want to compete with college students? Don't you have any shame?"
Lu Ban wanted to clarify this matter.
College students are people too, and they will also be future film professionals. Spielberg was able to make his own movies in elementary school, not to mention the many young people who become content Uploader in high school and start their own businesses in college.
So don't look down on college students, uncles.
It is a college student's right to compete with outstanding young directors like Lu Ban on the same track!
Sacred and inalienable!
"But this season's lineup seems pretty strong?"
Lu Ban looked at the works currently on display. He thought he had a better chance of competing in the category of young directors. Here, "young" refers to directors under the age of thirty. After all, making movies is a complicated job, and it is rare to become a director and make your own movie before the age of thirty.
Moreover, most young directors make art-house films that mainly depict the urban lives of modern young people. It's not because everyone is a literary youth, but mainly because these films are low-cost. Students can become actors, and their own homes can be used as sets. As for suspenseful, mind-bending, or sci-fi and fantasy films, the costs are too high for college students to afford.
This film festival features several films by young directors that have garnered significant attention. For example, there's "Ashes of the Past," which tells the story of romance during college years; "College Entrance Exam! College Entrance Exam! College Entrance Exam!", which deals with family conflicts among high school seniors; and "The Short Spring Nights," which depicts the anxieties of recent college graduates entering the workforce. In short, they are all emotional, realistic, and urban-themed.
"My film, if you round it off, is also urban!"
Lu Ban thought to himself.
He made his decision, made a phone call to inquire about the situation, and after receiving a reply that he could still apply to participate, he immediately began working on making the film.
This time he had to make a 90-minute film. As far as Lu Ban himself felt about the exploration time, expanding it to 90 minutes was a bit empty.
He decided to take a look at the materials first.
Opening the folder labeled "Crying" on his computer, Lu Ban saw that it was categorized into various sections, showing his adventures from different angles and in different ways. It also included some third-person and first-person perspectives. For example, there was a shot of Lu Ban moving in the corridor from the ward, which felt very immersive.
In addition, there are some archives from Nanhua Private Renji Hospital, which contain far more detailed information than those that Song Yunyan took over.
In addition, Lu Ban also saw the materials about the previously missing workers, and even the video records of the events recorded in those memos. It seems that this incident has lasted for a long time. Just judging from the time span of the materials, it has exceeded all of Lu Ban's previous ones.
"That makes things easier. We can also incorporate the groundwork laid in the early stages to create a complete story."
Lu Ban's previous videos were mostly disjointed and lacked a clear beginning or end, focusing more on creating an atmosphere and setting.
But this time, Lu Ban can tell the story properly from beginning to end.
He picked up his graphics tablet and began organizing the timeline, deciding which parts of the content to present.
For example, if a worker goes missing, it can be handled by showing it through surveillance cameras, which would be more realistic, and at the same time, the audience wouldn't be able to see the worker's face clearly.
Then, in the archive section, video footage can be directly processed to create video clips, which can enhance the sense of immersion.
With these plans in place, Lu Ban began to work with confidence and boldness.
The next day, Lu Ban was working at his computer when his phone vibrated.
The caller ID showed Li Zijian.
Is there a problem with the hospital?
Lu Ban was somewhat suspicious, but he answered the phone.
What's wrong with your health?
Li Zijian was still thinking about how Lu Ban had climbed out of the elevator when he asked worriedly.
"No problem, running a marathon should be very easy now."
Lu Ban spoke the truth.
"That's good. Well, your previous online movie was quite popular, and some reporters wanted to interview you. They couldn't find your contact information, so they came to me. They are reporters from some professional media outlets and websites, so they shouldn't write anything wrong."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Li Zijian spoke.
"Reporter?"
Lu Ban thought for a moment. He wondered if reporters still really liked big news these days, but it was always good to get some exposure. He might even be able to take the opportunity to promote his new movie.
"No problem, let them come and interview me!"
Lu Ban patted his chest.
After asking Li Zijian to give his contact information to the reporter, Lu Ban thought for a moment and then added his contact email to his video website account so that he wouldn't be unable to find someone if a client wanted to do business with him in the future.
Lu Ban's own reduced earnings are secondary; the main problem is that his sponsor's products are not being promoted and are simply going to go unnoticed, which is such a pity.
The reporter arrived just as Lu Ban had begun the initial work of slicing up the footage over the weekend.