155. "Movie Report"'s Sharp Review of Lu Ban

Five days later, the new issue of "Movie Report" was quickly released.

Among the key points on the cover, there is a line of text that is neither too big nor too small.

Interview with emerging horror film director Lu Ban.

The article, centered on an interview with Lu Ban, uses the development of domestic horror films as a subplot to showcase the current state of the genre. The reporter also mentions seeing clips of Lu Ban's upcoming film and giving it high praise.

The impact of this magazine article was neither huge nor small.

Movie Report is a relatively high-end film magazine in China. Unlike gossip weekly magazines that focus on celebrity gossip, Movie Report focuses more on the industry and can be considered a semi-official media. Therefore, this report may just be a feature interview in the eyes of ordinary people, but in the eyes of industry insiders and relatively core film enthusiasts, it is a signal.

On Doudou.com, a well-known film and television exchange and rating website, discussions about this report quickly increased in related discussion groups, some of which included directors, actors, and industry professionals.

[Actor Zhao Kuo]: What was Lu Ban filmed before? I don't think I've heard of him.

[Movie Bricklayer]: Have you seen "Hyakunin Isshu" (百人诗) from the online movie forum? It was quite popular a while ago.

[Hengdian Xiaozhi]: I watched it, it was really scary, and it made people feel the same way. I didn't expect him to participate in the film festival this time. It seems like he came prepared.

[Actor Zhao Kuo]: Online movies? Are they really that scary? I feel that online movies are all poorly made knock-offs, and there aren't many watchable ones.

[Ordinary screenwriter A Xiang]: You're probably just jealous. Those web series that aired recently were both popular and well-received. Compared to them, the TV dramas airing on satellite channels now are really disappointing.

[Red Bean Popsicle]: I've seen his previous movies, and I have to say the atmosphere is very well done and the special effects are amazing. Visually, it's on par with big-screen movies. However, the films participating in this year's Yannan University Student Film Festival are all very strong, so I guess he won't win any awards.

[Yan Nan Xiao Liu]: Horror films are a disadvantage because they're not mainstream enough, and he's had too little preparation time. It's only been a few months since his last film was released, so I'm a little skeptical about the quality of his new film.

[Hengdian Xiaozhi]: He stars in all the movies himself, and most of the other actors are newcomers. Once the sets are set up, filming should be quick.

[Movie Bricklayer]: But it's quite rare to see an editor in "Movie Report" praising it like this. I wonder what the actual movie is like.

As seen in the discussion group, many people working in the film and television industry, especially those who have already acted in dramas broadcast on the big screen or television, do not really think highly of online movies and web dramas. Many relatively core enthusiasts also hold a skeptical attitude towards this emerging media.

The main reason is that there are too many of them, and many of them are poorly made or involve deception, which leads the public to see mostly those of low quality, thus solidifying the overall impression.

However, with the popularity of some web series and online movies, coupled with the intensification of competition in the film and television industry, more and more practitioners who originally focused on film and television series have begun to try to get involved in online movies and web series, which has gradually changed the original impression. There were even movies that were originally intended to be released in theaters but were directly released online. The boundaries between traditional and emerging are gradually becoming blurred.

Lu Ban didn't care about these doubts.

He studied the composition of the film festival awards, such as Best Director and Best Actor, which were highly competitive, but awards like Best Special Effects were much less competitive.

After all, it's a college student film festival, and most young directors don't have the ability to attract so much investment to make special effects blockbusters. Their films tend to focus on small things to reveal big themes. Even if they make science fiction films, they're usually science fiction romance films, maybe with some gimmicks like time loops or going back to the past.

Lu Ban's videos, while not many in other aspects, feature a lot of large-scale scenes.

This time, in particular, the self-starting elevator, the thousand-eyed, thousand-throat monster in the room at the End of the Corridor, and the final scene of the hospital collapsing are all incredibly realistic, something that most directors couldn't handle.

Therefore, Lu Ban's goal is very clear: the Best Special Effects Award.

Two days after the article was published in Movie Report, Lu Ban's phone vibrated while he was working.

Looking at the caller ID, it was Sergeant Feng Yu.

Wow, you're in a magazine! It's Movie Report! You're the second person in our class to be featured in this magazine!

Feng Yu sounded very happy and excited.

"The second one? Who was the first one?"

Lu Ban was somewhat surprised.

It's not that he thinks he's amazing, being able to appear in a state-run magazine interview at such a young age; it's just pure curiosity.

"Huh? You didn't know? Zhou Ying, she was sexually harassed by a famous director, which brought up a lot of his dirty laundry. She was on two shows!"

Feng Yu is, after all, a girl, and she takes these kinds of gossip quite seriously.

"How awful!"

Lu Ban complained that many people nowadays take advantage of their power and influence to bully others, and this should really be dealt with properly!

"Let's not talk about that. By the way, I saw you said you were going to participate in the Yannan University Student Film Festival?"

"Right."

"What a coincidence! My film crew will also be doing promotional work soon, so we can meet up in Yannan!"

Feng Yu's voice sounded light and cheerful, like that of a primary school student about to go on a spring outing.

"What a coincidence?"

Lu Ban flipped through the calendar.

"Yeah, yeah, let's find some time to eat together sometime. I've heard there are quite a few good restaurants in Yannan."

"No problem."

He chatted with Feng Yu for a couple more minutes before hanging up the phone.

So, which production team did Feng Yu join?

Lu Ban was somewhat confused, but he suppressed the urge to search for Feng Yu's name online. This kind of stalking behavior didn't fit Lu Ban's positive image.

He continued working until all the stories needed for the archives had been processed.

Lu Ban adopts a storyline based on reality. The story begins with problems arising from the demolition of a hospital. The protagonist then goes to investigate, obtains several tapes, listens to the tapes while investigating, and finally enters the hospital to solve the problem.

This structure, which uses several supernatural short stories as a prelude to eventually come together, is often seen in suspense and thriller films. Lu Ban remembers being particularly impressed by "The Great Hypnotist," which uses several hypnosis scenarios to create a coherent narrative, and it's quite good.

In the evening of mid-October, Lu Ban stretched and saw a message pop up on WeChat.

[Wang Chuan]: How are your house's drainpipes?

[Motionless]:?

[Wang Chuan]: The sewer in our building burst, and it's uninhabitable right now. Can you let me stay at your place for two nights?

[Motionless]:?

[Wang Chuan]: Why are you using a question mark? I'm not going to eat you!

[Motionless]:???

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