161. We Are Professional Cinematographers

The community's sewer system was repaired quickly.

Qin Tiantian no longer had a reason to ask for a place to stay.

To be honest, although she slept quite comfortably at Lu Ban's house, the lack of live streaming equipment meant she could only broadcast on her phone, which was incredibly frustrating for Qin Tiantian, a virtual streamer.

She felt that as such a dedicated streamer, how could he touch her like that?

So, the day after the sewer was repaired, Qin Tiantian returned home.

They didn't even leave behind a change of clothes.

Lu Ban continued working and completed the second half of the film production.

This time, he only asked Hammer to make the end credits song; Lu Ban didn't prepare any other background music.

After checking it several times and revising the details until I was satisfied, it was already early November, and the final deadline for submitting the master tape was approaching.

Lu Ban sent the copied film to the judging panel of the Yannan University Student Film Festival.

Then came the waiting.

On the other hand, the organizing committee of the Yannan University Student Film Festival, whose member in charge of reviewing the films is also an industry insider, Professor Jia Wenbin of Yannan University of Media.

He was a professor of photography and had previously served as the cinematographer for several famous films. He had unique insights into the use of light and shadow. However, his attempt to become a director was unsuccessful. After making two films that were only visually decent but not well-received, he retired behind the scenes and devoted himself to teaching at the university.

Of course, he also served as a jury member at this film festival.

I received Lu Ban's video master tape in the evening.

"This is the last one, right, Lu Ban, 'The Cry'?"

After quickly confirming the movie title, Jia Wenbin made a copy, intending to take it home to watch.

After saying goodbye to his colleagues and students, he drove home, had dinner with his wife and children, and then went to his study alone.

He transformed his study into a small home theater with excellent sound insulation, as well as lighting and sound reception improvements, making the viewing experience comparable to a regular small movie theater.

After instructing his wife not to disturb him, Jia Wenbin put the disc into the player and started playing Lu Ban's movie on the high-resolution projection screen.

"This director seems to specialize in horror films. His previous online movies were quite well received, and this one looks like it will also be a horror film."

Muttering to himself, Jia Wenbin then saw the beginning of the film.

"Wow, Mockumentary, that's quite an idea."

Yes, Lu Ban's "Crying" is produced in the form of Mockumentary.

Documentaries are films that record real events and allow viewers to see real experiences, while Mockumentary are films that "pretend" to record real events but actually show viewers fictional stories.

The earliest Mockumentary should be "The Blair Witch Project" from the last century. This film tells the story of three film students who went to a mountain village to film a documentary, but mysteriously disappeared. It wasn't until a year later that someone found their camera and tapes, and thus learned the whole story through what they had filmed.

Much of the film is made up of real footage "shot" by the three people, which looks very real and immersive. It even led viewers at the time to believe that these events were real, causing a certain degree of panic.

Since then, Mockumentary have been widely used in the production of horror films, giving rise to many subgenres, including serious documentaries that record paranormal events, and films like "The Blair Witch Project" that are shot from a first-person perspective using handheld cameras.

Lu Ban's camera is a handheld camera.

The story begins with Lu Ban speaking to the camera, providing a brief background. Then, the audio tape plays, and the story moves into its second phase.

"It's not just handheld; it also utilizes the processing of surveillance cameras. That's very interesting."

Jia Wenbin observed that when presenting the storyline involving the audiotape, Lu Ban employed a different Mockumentary style, using "lenses" such as surveillance cameras and mobile phone cameras to film the subjects. This created a sense of immediacy, and the various shots peeping at the actors from different corners gave the viewer an uneasy feeling, as if they themselves were being spied on by something.

As he watched, a subtle emotion began to stir within Jia Wenbin.

The first tape contained the troubles the workers encountered during construction, which basically set the background for the film. Only when the demolition team leader disappeared into the Room at the end of the corridor did Jia Wenbin get a chill down his spine.

After reading it, Jia Wenbin felt like someone was watching him.

Turning around, Jia Wenbin could only see the walls; the large study was empty.

He continued watching the movie.

"The smell of disinfectant?"

Jia Wenbin noticed a hospital disinfectant smell in the room again. He sniffed, but the smell seemed to disappear.

"Is it through the psychological suggestion of the scene that the illusion is created?"

He analyzed.

Some directors are very good at using scenes, special effects, and visuals to give the audience psychological cues. For example, some violent scenes will show scenes of blood and flesh flying everywhere, making people empathize with the experience.

The hospital scenes in this movie are very realistic, just like a real hospital. Combined with the atmosphere created, it's easy to imagine the air in a hospital.

"Once you see through the filming techniques, it's actually quite boring, and you can't really enjoy the movie."

Jia Wenbin joked that someone like him, with his professional habits, likes to nitpick and analyze movies, making it difficult for him to fully immerse himself in them.

After all, he's a professional photographer; he's seen it all.

However, what Jia Wenbin didn't expect was that after watching the second tape's plot, his previous thoughts completely vanished.

When he saw the old man waving at him, a shiver ran down his spine. Although reason told him that it was because the old man's makeup made him look like a dead person, and that the previous foreshadowing made the audience think that the old man might no longer be alive, and that now it was a corpse or a ghost greeting him, fear is fear.

Even someone like Jia Wenbin, who can understand the director's ideas through the language of the camera, would find it even more terrifying.

This means that Lu Ban didn't use any fancy techniques; he simply used the visuals to make Jia Wenbin feel as if he were there, experiencing the chill of the cold hospital corridor.

When ordinary people see a magician perform, they think it's amazing and they can't understand it. But if a magician can't understand a magician's performance, then it's a bit frustrating.

Now, Jia Wenbin can see the use of camera angles in Lu Ban, the actors' focus, and the atmosphere created by light and shadow. However, he still finds himself empathizing with the doctors, nurses, and workers in the tapes, feeling the same fear, helplessness, and dread they experienced back then.

Having forced himself to finish watching the tape, Jia Wenbin's eyes were bloodshot, and he gripped the sofa tightly to relieve his tension.

He saw in the film that, after the preliminary investigation was completed, Lu Ban personally entered the abandoned hospital.

*

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