A New Editing Method

A week later, Irene requested leave from school once again and stepped into the professional editing suite at 20th Century Fox.

The editor was the familiar Hill Cook, whom Fox had specifically borrowed from Zoetrope Studios in the hopes of replicating the brilliance of her previous film as closely as possible.

He had already preset bright, vibrant filters for the rough cut of Mean Girls, following the successful formula of Legally Blonde, and had paired it with several upbeat, lively pop tracks as placeholders.

"Irene, what do you think? It continues our previous style, ensuring the audience stays in a good mood." Hill handed a coffee to Irene and pressed the play button with full confidence.

On the monitor, the opening scenes of the film played smoothly: Cady's bewilderment upon entering school for the first time, her initial clash with The Plastics... The visuals were bright, the music was pleasant, and the narrative was clear. This was practically the standard paradigm for teen movies today, and it was almost identical to the original film in her memory.

Irene crossed her arms, watched the rough cut in silence, frowned slightly, and then slowly shook her head.

"Hill, this time it's different. Legally Blonde was a straightforward underdog story, so the overall tone was cheerful, light, and uplifting. But Mean Girls is a campus war wrapped in a candy coating. It can be funny and light, but we need a faster pace and more intense internal conflict, not a sense of total harmony."

"Take shots 06, 45, and 73 and create a rapid cross-cut, with each shot lasting one second."

When Cady first secretly observed The Plastics, the close-up of Cady's eyes, the moment Regina tossed her hair, and the shot of Gretchen curling her lip in disdain were all intercut to create a contrast.

She then explained: "Use these shots to replace Cady's internal monologue. She is rapidly assessing threats, analyzing everyone's status and characteristics. This editing rhythm represents her high-speed, functioning brain."

Hill nodded thoughtfully and began splicing the footage according to her vision.

Later, when depicting the scenes where the girls gossiped behind each other's backs, Irene boldly utilized jump cuts.

After a girl finished a mean remark, the frame would jump slightly; she might have changed her posture, but the conversation continued.

This lack of continuity created a bizarre comedic effect and a sense of alienation, as if to say: "Look, their lives are composed of these fragmented malicious acts." This narrative style made the film seem far less simple.

After Aaron invited Cady to the party, only for Regina to sabotage it behind the scenes, Irene deleted the lyrical music Hill had preset to express Cady's disappointment.

"Here, no music," she emphasized. "I want absolute silence, just ambient sound—the noise of the hallway in the distance, the sound of the villa door opening and closing. Then, give Cady a five-second close-up of her face. I want to see the light in her eyes go from extinguished to igniting into flames. Silence is sometimes more powerful than any soundtrack. This is the beginning of her descent into darkness; the audience must clearly 'hear' the sound of her internal decision."

At the end of the film, when Cady broke the crown in her hand to share it with everyone, Irene did not simply record the process. Instead, she constructed a complex montage sequence: the expression of Cady's total awakening—the brightest diamond on the crown—the broken "remains"—Regina's look of disbelief—the shocked expressions of the other girls—the flickering phantoms under the lights—and finally, the cheering crowd.

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Irene guided him while saying: "Combine the protagonist's awakening with the celebration. Use the broken crown to symbolize her waking up from revenge and saying goodbye to the turbidity of the past. This isn't just a simple action; it's a ritual."

Hill Cook went from initial confusion to gradually widening his eyes, until finally, he was left in awe.

These techniques of Irene's broke away from the blandness of current teen movies, injecting a fast-paced tension similar to an action film.

She wasn't just telling a story; she was dissecting and reassembling the characters' psychological activities. This sharp, incisive editing style was a massive improvement over her first film.

Time in the editing room always passed quickly. In just five days, Irene had used her precise sense of rhythm and powerful control over the narrative to organize the core footage. There were still some details regarding the soundtrack that lacked direction, requiring further communication with the composer.

At the same time, she also edited a trailer and handed it to 20th Century Fox for pre-release promotion.

On this day, while Irene was out getting some air during her free time, she bought a newspaper at a street corner newsstand and saw a scene that was expected, yet whose effect exceeded her wildest expectations: the news of her and Britney appearing at the Victoria's Secret Night had already been heavily publicized across North America.

Unlike the simple text and image reports of typical entertainment news, the breadth and depth of this coverage clearly bore the marks of careful orchestration. Irene knew that behind this, Chen Shiyu and his team had begun to exert their influence.

Chen Shiyu did not blindly spread his limited resources.

He avoided the chaotic melee of traditional entertainment sections and instead focused on placing carefully edited text and image materials on the "Fashion" and "Entertainment" channels of rising internet portals, as well as several early, high-traffic film and television forums.

The headlines of the reports were not uniform either; they were cleverly set with different themes.

On some websites, the focus was: "Cross-border Inspiration! Up-and-coming Director Irene and Pop Icon Britney Appear at Victoria's Secret, Exploring New Directions in Visual Art," elevating Irene's status to that of an "artistic explorer."

On other forums, the topics were closer to the fans: "Britney Successfully Fan-girls at Victoria's Secret Backstage! Smiling Sweetly in an Intimate Photo with Supermodels," which greatly stimulated the fan base's desire to share.

Most importantly, the core press release written by Chen Shiyu's team repeatedly emphasized the keywords "invited to watch" and "exclusive backstage access," subtly shaping the public image of Irene and Britney as being "recognized by the top fashion circle."

On the well-known Movie Database forum and several popular fan gathering spots, "organic" posts began to appear. These posts appeared to be from ordinary netizens, with natural writing styles but clear objectives.

"Did anyone see the photos of Director Irene at the Victoria's Secret show? Her aura is incredible; sitting among a bunch of celebrities, she doesn't lose out at all!"

"Britney is so cute. I feel like she and Irene are genuinely good friends; they were whispering to each other the whole time they were watching the show."

"I have a bold guess: will Director Irene's next film be related to fashion? Was this a research trip?"

Of course, there were negative discussions as well, such as "Is a lingerie show some high-end place? What's worth promoting?" or "Britney appearing at a lingerie show—is a teen idol going to fall from grace?"

However, such discussions were quickly discovered by Chen Shiyu's team and nipped in the bud before they could spread.

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