88: The MV is so awkward that you can dig a castle out of your toes

Chen Fang had only taken two steps when he heard a voice from his parents' bedroom: "Chen Heng, come help me zip this up."

Chen Fang tilted his head in confusion.

Mom practices classical dance, so she should be able to zip it herself, right? Is she not feeling well?

Chen Fang asked with concern, "Dad, I remember Mom being able to zip it herself. Is her arm bothering her?"

"No," Dad stood up and draped his arm over Chen Fang's shoulder. "Theoretically, she can zip it up. But home isn't a place for logic; it's a place for love. I just love feeling needed. You single dogs wouldn't understand."

"??"

No, why is this different from what the videos say? Why does it feel like he was a freebie with a phone plan?

He didn't want to stay with them anymore.

The room was filled with the sour stench of an old-age romance.

Chen Fang walked back to his study. As soon as he sat down, a creamy white furball jumped onto the desk, squeezed itself into the gap between the screen and the keyboard, rolled onto its back, and extended a paw towards him.

"Xiao Bai, lie still and don't move."

Xiao Bai rolled a few more times, and seeing that its seduction wasn't working, it obediently lay still.

Chen Fang turned on his computer, opened his email, and sent the first part of "ghost blows out the light" to the Wenyuan Bookstore submission email.

After pressing Enter, Chen Fang exhaled deeply and leaned back in his chair.

Next, he would sleep well tomorrow morning, then go to the company in the afternoon to meet Yue Laoban. After that, he would enjoy his vacation while waiting for news from Morning Sunshine.

As for the days after, he would figure it out then.

Anyway, he would start as a singer and actor, improve his status, and find opportunities to become a director and invest in projects.

So, the first step now is... to play games all night!

There's an e-sports room in the villa!

Let's go!

What's so bad about being single? One hundred percent immune to the long stun skill—the significant other's phone call.

Chen Fang walked into the e-sports room, drew the curtains, and the blue light from the e-sports room diffused onto the fabric.

...

Outside the slightly swaying curtains, a few dozen meters directly ahead.

A window of the same shape opened. The sheer curtain was suddenly lifted by the wind, filling like a sail, then quickly fell back down.

Inside the window, a few strands of dark hair were blown by the wind, like the tail of a black goldfish, sweeping past the window and instantly disappearing at the edge of the window frame.

Yue Qingzhu pulled out the chair in her study and sat down, opening her computer.

Nine days ago, she received the lyrics, music score, and other materials for "flammable and explosive."

Generally speaking, you would finish recording the music, then make the MV, and then promote it.

But with the Music Billboard Season in June approaching, the team adopted a parallel workflow, simultaneously producing the music, preparing for the MV shoot, and promoting. This is not uncommon in the music industry.

This meant using a temporary version of the music during the MV shoot, and then replacing it with the final version later.

Four days ago, she recorded the temporary version. Two days ago, she went to shoot the MV.

She had just received a message from her manager, Sister Liu, saying that a short segment of the MV was ready and asking her to take a look to see if she was satisfied.

This was her request.

Because when she shot the MV two days ago, she felt a bit unsure.

The company has a professional production team. But her project was too time-sensitive, and her colleagues had their own work, making it difficult to quickly assemble an MV production team and have everyone fully commit to this. So she found an external team to do it.

The Director Cai was quite professional, but he had a lot of demands, and they were very abstract—

"Your gaze isn't right. Your eyes need to show the struggle in the mire, as well as strength and unyielding spirit, just like a fiercely burning flame."

"Your body should sway slightly with the rhythm, like broken porcelain, and your gaze should be more vacant."

"Teacher Yue, your micro-expressions aren't quite there."

Each shot was filmed repeatedly about ten times, and finally, Director Cai, looking helpless, ended the shoot.

Although she maintained a poker face on the spot and didn't show her uncertainty, she couldn't feel at ease. So she asked her manager to contact them and let her see a segment as soon as it was ready.

Yue Qingzhu opened her email, downloaded the video, and clicked play.

A deserted Opera House appeared on the screen, with a huge mirror on the stage.

With a boom, a beam of light hit her.

A mysterious and low prelude began, as if a flame or a heart was starting to beat, with a power poised to erupt.

The camera zoomed in, focusing on the left half of her face. She tilted her head slightly, her eyes full of mockery, and a low, suppressed singing voice began: "Hoping I go mad, hoping I don't live alone."

Yue Qingzhu immediately pressed the pause button and covered her eyes with her hand.

Ah, she couldn't watch, couldn't watch. It was so embarrassing her toes could curl a castle out of the floor.

The MVs she had filmed before were relatively simple; if it was explosive, she would explode freely; if it was cheerful and sweet, she would be as cheerful and sweet as possible.

But this time, it was both restrained and explosive, with a hint of madness. Her performance wasn't quite there, making it very awkward.

Watching it for a few seconds felt like showing her diary to relatives; she wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Yue Qingzhu gritted her teeth and watched the remaining ten-odd seconds.

Sure enough, it was extremely shameful.

Yue Qingzhu pressed the pause button. No, she had to talk to Director Cai.

Time was tight, so she wouldn't entrust it to Sister Liu; she would do it herself.

She picked up the mirror next to her, put on a cold face in the mirror, took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and once she looked fierce enough, she picked up her phone and dialed Director Cai's number.

The call connected quickly, "Hello, Teacher Yue."

Yue Qingzhu said coldly, "Hello, Director Cai. I've watched the first 30 seconds of the video. I think..."

She quickly voiced all her dissatisfaction.

As soon as she finished speaking, Director Cai's troubled voice came from the phone:

"Teacher Yue, the current effect is already very good. This song requires very strong on-screen expressive power, and you are not an actress. Your expressions are not natural enough, which leads to the picture lacking appeal and immersion. Moreover, your body movements are difficult to meet our envisioned standards."

"Furthermore, I know you feel this song is very fitting for your state of mind, but it doesn't quite match your physical appearance. This song is suitable for an actress with sharper features and distinct lines, someone who suits smoky eye makeup. Although your long black hair makes you seem cool, your eyes are relatively round, and your chin is a bit short."

"To be honest, your own appearance is more suitable for singing sweet songs. Of course, I'm not saying you can't sing this kind of music; we don't need to be limited by outside perceptions."

"I think it's quite good to preserve this sense of contradiction, don't you agree?"

"If you absolutely insist on matching the music, then we can find another actress, or make it an animation?"

...

Director Cai continued to speak.

His tone was very tactful, but every sentence pointed to her issues.

Yue Qingzhu became more and more upset as he spoke.

Was her acting that bad? It seemed pretty bad.

Her eyes were indeed round and her chin a little short, which is why she usually acted a bit cool, to avoid looking like a soft persimmon.

In that case, Director Cai didn't seem to be wrong; she was indeed being a bit demanding.

But... she paid for it!

Yue Qingzhu clenched her fist, took a deep breath, "I don't believe there's no solution. If it's really not possible, we'll reshoot. I paid you to solve problems, not to tell me they can't be solved."

"Teacher Yue, this... we'll try our best. You should also relax; the MV isn't that important, right?"

"It is important. I have something else to do. For other issues, talk to my manager." After saying that, Yue Qingzhu hung up the phone, threw her phone on the table, and instantly deflated like a balloon.