Huayu93: From Selling Magnetic Cards to Entertainment Tycoon

Chapter 59 Motorola StarTAC, The Concept of an Advertisement

The next morning, at the Beijing Film Academy auditorium.

The stagehands were laying tracks and setting up lights on stage. The lighting technician was squatting on a ladder, tightening light bulbs, while the cameraman was carrying his equipment, looking for the perfect shot.

A black grand piano sat in the center of the stage, its lid propped up, the keys slightly yellowed.

The morning rehearsal started with the scene where Li Si'an fainted. Li Si'an sat down at the piano, his fingers hovering over the keys. Zhou Xun stood beside him, her hand on his shoulder. The lights shone from the side, a warm yellow hue.

"Let's go through it once." Zhang Yibai squatted behind the monitor.

Li Si'an played a few notes. Zhou Xun's body suddenly went limp and she fell to the ground. Li Si'an caught her and picked her up.

"Cut." Zhang Yibai stood up. "Li Si'an, your way of carrying her was wrong. What you did was scoop her up, not carry her. When she fainted, her whole body was limp; you had to support her."

Li Si'an put Zhou Xun down. Once she steadied herself, she rubbed her neck. "You were choking me just now."

"Let's start over."

The second time, Li Si'an managed to hug her, but she lost her balance and swayed slightly.

"Cut. Lower your center of gravity, support your neck with one hand, and support the back of your legs with the other."

On the third try, the movement was correct, but Zhang Yibai called for a stop again. "Zhou Xun, you're fainting at the wrong time. You should faint when he plays the third note, not before."

After the fifth take, it was finally a good one. Li Si'an put Zhou Xun down, his arm a little sore. Zhou Xun leaned against the piano, fanning herself with the script. "Your stamina isn't what it used to be."

"I'm in great shape, and besides, you're not heavy."

"Then why can't you carry him?"

"It's not that I can't carry you, it's that I don't know how to carry you." Li Si'an shook her arms. "When you fainted, I was afraid I would strangle you."

Zhou Xun smiled. "Don't be afraid next time. A little strangulation won't kill you."

Next, they prepared to film the formal performance. Zhang Yibai instructed the stagehands to fill in the audience seats.

The staff of Beijing Film Studio, the old man in the gatehouse, and the canteen aunt were all pulled in to act as extras, filling almost half of the auditorium. The lighting technician turned up the spotlight and shone it on the piano in the center of the stage.

The props team placed the prop phone next to the piano bench. It was a dark, candybar phone with a plastic casing and a screen as small as a postage stamp.

Li Si'an sat on the piano bench, glanced down at the phone, picked it up, flipped through it, and put it back.

Then he stood up and walked over to Zhang Yibai.

"Director Zhang, please pause for a moment, I need to go out for a bit."

Zhang Yibai, who was directing the lighting technician on the dimmer panel, turned his head. "Where are you going?"

"Something urgent has come up. I'll explain in detail when I get back."

Zhang Yibai glanced at him, didn't ask any further questions, and waved his hand. "Hurry up."

Zhou Xun sat in the first row, legs crossed, flipping through the script. She saw Li Si'an leave through the side door and looked up. "Where did he go?"

Zhang Yibai shook his head.

About forty minutes later, Li Si'an returned, carrying a paper bag. He walked to the piano, placed the bag on the piano lid, and took out a box from inside.

The box was printed with the Motorola logo, with a prominent "M" in the center against a silver-gray background. Inside the box lay a mobile phone.

The laptop has a silver-gray body, is palm-sized, and features a gleaming metal hinge at the fold. Opening the lid reveals the screen lighting up, with the earpiece half standing above the keyboard like a silver butterfly with outstretched wings.

The Motorola StarTAC. Released earlier this year, it was the world's first flip phone. In China, it's known as the "Pocket Treasure."

Zhang Yibai walked over, picked up the phone, weighed it in his hand, opened the cover to glance at the screen, and closed it. "How much does this thing cost?"

"Nine thousand eight, less than ten thousand."

Zhang Yibai put the phone back in its box, leaned against the piano, and looked at Li Si'an. "This is the urgent matter you mentioned?"

Li Si'an took the phone out of the box, opened the lid, and placed it on the piano lid. The screen was lit, reflecting a small patch of light onto the black piano lacquer surface.

"Director Zhang, I want to use this for the formal performance scene."

Zhang Yibai didn't respond.

"Look, when it's opened, the top half is upright. When the camera zooms in, it captures the words 'Calling' on the screen, along with the call duration. Viewers will remember it at a glance."

Li Si'an tapped the phone perched on the piano lid with her finger.

"When I was going to perform, I would call before I went on stage and put the phone on the piano lid. I played the whole piece from beginning to end, and listened to the whole scene with Zhou Xun in the hospital room."

The camera pans down from my face, past my fingers, and then onto this phone—silver-gray, folded, standing there like a butterfly, the camera zooming in.

In the hospital room, Zhou Xun finally let go of her hand, and her phone fell onto the blanket; the camera gave a close-up shot.

He looked at Zhang Yibai. "This music video is also the end result of Motorola's phone. You can cut a separate version, thirty seconds long, a pure 'GG' video."

Zhang Yibai took out a cigarette case from his pocket, pulled one out, put it in his mouth, but didn't light it.

He walked to the piano, squatted down, and looked at the phone perched on the piano lid from the camera's angle. The word "Calling" was clearly visible on the screen in the viewfinder.

He stood up and took the cigarette out of his mouth.

"Your idea is a good approach. But have you considered this—once your music video is released, will Motorola definitely see it? And if they do, will they definitely be willing to pay?"

Li Si'an leaned against the piano. "Whether there are dates or not, let's try our luck."

Zhang Yibai looked at him.

"Director Zhang, think about it, I've already bought this phone. Even if Motorola ignores us, I'll use it myself, so it's not a waste. Buying a phone for ten thousand yuan isn't a loss."

Li Si'an took her phone off the piano lid and twirled it in her hand. "But I'm betting that our film will be a masterpiece."

Zhang Yibai remained silent for a moment. The lighting technician squatted on the ladder, unaware of what was happening. The stagehands leaned against the wall, pretending to be busy.

Zhou Xun stood up from her chair, walked to the piano, picked up the phone, opened the cover, and, imitating the way in GG, held it to her ear, then closed it and twirled it in her hand.

"I think it's a good idea." She put her phone back in the box, glanced at Zhang Yibai, and said, "Director Zhang, if Motorola isn't interested in this film after it's been edited, then they're blind."

Zhang Yibai put the cigarette back in his mouth, struck a match, lit it, and took a puff. He glanced at Li Si'an, then at the silver-gray cell phone on the piano lid.

"The scene in the hospital ward has already been filmed."

"I'll reshoot. I'll pay for the extra cost myself."

Zhang Yibai exhaled a puff of smoke. "You really dare to gamble."

"We've already filmed it, so what's one more hurdle?" Li Si'an said. "Director Zhang, don't worry, if Motorola has any vision, they won't let this film go."

Zhou Xun leaned against the piano, arms crossed, tilting her head to look at him. "I really don't know how your brain works. Even shooting a music video makes you think about taking advantage of Motorola."

Zhang Yibai flicked the cigarette ash and shouted at the cameraman.

"Camera."

The cameraman peeked out from behind the camera.

"Push it up and take a picture of this phone. Make sure the 'Calling' message on the screen is clear. Also, make sure the call duration is clear. Adjust the lighting to avoid glare."

The cameraman leaned over for a look and nodded. "It's clear enough."

Zhang Yibai put a cigarette in his mouth, turned around and shouted to the stagehand, "Come on, put this phone on the piano lid, adjust the lights, and let's go through it once."

He turned to look at Li Si'an. "I've contacted the hospital about the scene in the hospital ward. When should we reshoot it?"

"The sooner the better."

Zhang Yibai nodded. "You're really daring, kid."

The scene where the performance was actually filmed took an entire afternoon to shoot.

Zhang Yibai instructed the cameraman to repeatedly film from three different angles: Li Si'an opening her phone, close-ups of her fingers on the keyboard, and the phone standing on the piano lid with its screen lit up.

He filmed five takes just for the shot of the phone on the piano lid, and he squatted in front of the monitor to watch each one repeatedly, adjusting the lighting and angle.

Until the words "Calling" on the screen became so clear against the black piano lacquer that they looked as if they were engraved on.

When it was time to wrap up, Zhang Yibai took the videotape out of the machine and weighed it in his hand.

"The final cut of this film will be a masterpiece."

Zhou Xun leaned back in her chair, fanning herself with her script. "If a high-quality product still can't sell well, then it's their problem."

Li Si'an sat on the piano bench, looking at the silver-gray cell phone on the piano lid.

The screen had gone dark, and the folding hinge gleamed slightly with a metallic sheen under the light. He reached for the phone, picked it up, closed it, and put it in his pocket.

Whether we gamble or not, let's take the photos first and then talk about it later.