China Entertainment: Director’s happiness is so simple

The Academy Awards have become a way to market movies, and the promotional activities in the process have become no different from political propaganda. Film companies hire Oscar public relations just like political campaigns hire political consultants.

In American political campaigns, directly discrediting opponents is a tacitly accepted strategy.

In this regard, Hollywood seems to care about face and will not be as cruel as ambitious politicians.

After the "Beautiful Mind" incident last year, Hollywood studios have learned lessons from the incident and have become more cautious about "blackmail". It is generally difficult to tell who is behind the scenes.

For example, among the nine works nominated for Best Picture in 2014, "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Blue Jasmine" were criticized the most. The former was due to its content, and the latter was due to the director's conduct.

After carefully tracking the sources of various sources, it is difficult to judge whether this is a "black public relations" for the film, and it is even harder to identify the person behind the scenes.

The same thing happened to Lu Pingan this time. It is almost impossible to determine who is behind the scenes in a short time.

At this point, Hollywood is not as "bold" as its political "teachers".

The problem is that the PR behind the Oscars has a long history and is no longer a secret to the American media or public, so why is it still allowed to exist?

This is the same as political campaigns. "Public relations" represents the will to campaign and the spirit of winning.

Although there may be deviations in the application process, the lack of public relations shows that there is no even the most basic competitive attitude. This will be regarded as an unqualified competitor in the United States, which advocates free competition.

This is the situation that "Heroes" is currently facing.

It is impossible to not do much public relations, just lie flat, and seek to obtain votes based on the quality of the work and the appeal of Chinese culture that are "fair and should be given, and if you don't give them, you are ignorant" and then win the award.

So unless you don’t want to win a prize, since you want to win a prize, you have to spend money and you are in the land of Laos and the United States.

Then make good use of the rules here in the United States.

So what Lu Ping An has to do next is not to clarify to everyone "Can I draw?" but "I want to tell everyone that I came to America just to win an Oscar!"

Clarification is also public relations, public relations is hype, and hype is campaigning!

After the direction was set, Dell's public relations team went into full gear.

Lu Pingan is also willing to spend money. With a budget of more than 1 million, he has only spent a total of 300,000 in half a year, of which nearly 200,000 is the bonus from the 23 awards for "Memories".

It means that he has only spent hundreds of thousands now, and the capital cost is very small. Now that he is richer, he has nothing to worry about next.

Dell began to contact the media and TV stations, Hu Qingquan also began to contact various contacts in the United States, and Lu Ping'an himself also began to contact various contacts, the most important of which was Wattsberg.

At the same time, he is also preparing various painting tools.

It's past 11 noon now.

By 3 p.m., the first wave of work was ready.

At 3:30, Lu Ping'an set up a stall in the busiest square in Los Angeles.

At the same time, the first wave of arriving reporters also began interviews.

At this time, some people began to gather around the square.

Although the people in the United States do not like to watch the excitement as much as the Chinese, there are still some people who like to watch.

Facing this posture, Lu Pingan was not afraid at all. Facing the camera, Lu Pingan began the first stage of clarification.

"Some people say that I can't draw, and that my "Memory Block House" was shortlisted for the Oscar by cheating. Today, I will draw it for you to see!"

As he spoke, he asked the female reporter to sit in the model seat.

Then I picked up the charcoal pencil and simply sketched the shape, then started to paint the paper with a brush.

When drawing portrait sketches, what is the most effective and efficient method to use? The answer is naturally charcoal.

Charcoal pencils are dark enough, labor-saving enough, and can be quickly formed, much faster than ordinary pencils.

With a touch of hula, light and darkness came out.

After a lot of manipulation with charcoal, eraser, paper towel, etc., I then trimmed the details, clicked a little highlight, made the eyes lively, and made the entire face more three-dimensional and fuller. After more than ten minutes, a lifelike four-dimensional portrait was created. The three-quarter profile is done.

It looks a little rough up close, but looks great from a distance.

Such paintings can be regarded as excellent examination works for those who are very knowledgeable. For artists, they are naturally works with some craftsmanship, but it is not easy to get rid of the craftsmanship in sketches.

So now this painting is indeed quite qualified, suitable for a film director's side job.

Lu Ping'an once again expressed his gratitude for the days when he went out to set up a stall with his studio owner.

Others do it for art, but I do it for survival.

I spent a winter vacation and learned many advanced techniques of street painting and sketching from him.

Although it is a bit rusty to use now, with the dexterous hands strengthened by "eleven years of experience in physical special effects", the current works seem to be better than when I was at my peak.

To the ordinary people present, this was naturally "awesome!"

Even in TV cameras, he is naturally so good that his jaw dropped to the point of being stunned.

At least people really saw Lu Pingan draw it from scratch in a very short time.

This feeling is like watching the painting video in the short video later, in the blink of an eye, eh? How to draw it?

Then the comments below were full of "I'm a loser"

"Wow, this really looks exactly like me!"

The female reporter gave a sincere compliment, but it was obvious that he didn't know much about his business.

He signed his name and said, "This is for you."

"Thanks!"

The female reporter once again expressed her sincere thanks.

Painting well is one thing. Lu Ping'an is currently a hotly sought-after Oscar-nominated director and an artist from the East.

His paintings, no matter how bad they are, are of some collection value.

After finishing a painting, Lu Pingan continued to talk to the camera: "Now that I have finished one painting, they may still say that I have been practicing for a long time and specialize in painting this lady, so now I will just pick someone randomly on the street."

After speaking, Lu Ping'an invited a passerby, a white man.

The white guy was not afraid at all and happily came up to say hello to Lu Ping'an.

"Hey Lu, your movies are great and I'm a fan of yours."

"Thank you. If you have a chance, go to the theater and watch my Oscar short film called "Memory Block House"."

"OK, I'll be there in a moment."

For movie fans, Lu Ping'an should naturally pay more attention to it.

So the colored pencils can come on stage.

Half an hour later, the white guy was very happy, and the crowd gathered more and more, and everyone praised it.

Lu Ping'an proved himself again.

A simple clarification, that’s pretty much it so far.

But in Dell's plan, this is far from enough.

So next, the second phase begins.

Soon, a second wave of media arrived, as well as the first wave of celebrities.

There's no shortage of celebrities in Los Angeles during the Oscars.

The first person to come is Jake Gyllenhaal.

This actor starred in the American version of "The Tuner" and is now well-known. Lu Ping'an will also collaborate with him in a newly purchased scripted movie.

So Wattsberg got a call, Gyllenhaal himself was interested, and here he comes.

With celebrities present, the "show" attracts even more attention.

The two briefly chatted for a few words, and then Lu Pingping followed suit.

Less than twenty minutes later, Gyllenhaal held a portrait of himself and stood with Lu Pingping in front of the camera.

Gyllenhaal said: "Those who say Lu can't draw should really come and see it. This is a work of art."

"Thanks, Jack."

"Lu, your "Memory Block House" is really great. I wish you success!"

"Thanks!"

Well, Hollywood actors are better at it.

There is no question of whether you will be discriminated against because you are Asian.

At present, China and the United States are actually still in the honeymoon stage, and Chinese culture is still a trend in Laos and the United States.

The cheongsam dress of the heroine in "Spider-Man 1" is an example. It has now become one of the first choice dresses for many actresses at dinner parties.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language last year, which is somewhat complementary to this.

Even if there is no such factor, Lu Ping'an is still a director of popular works in Hollywood, and now he is associated with the Oscars. Generally, stars who want to gain some popularity will want to take advantage of it.

This is mutual exposure, which has both advantages and disadvantages.

So after Gyllenhaal ended, then the celebrities came on.

Those who are unfamiliar but familiar include: Julianne Moore, who Dell said is this year's nominee for Best Supporting Actress, and this time they are also promoting each other.

Familiar ones include: Lian Jie, David, and Danny Grover, these are all friends.

There is also a small surprise, the 18-year-old widowed sister is also here.

She is somewhat famous now, but there is still a long way to go.

Now that she has a chance to win an Oscar, she came as soon as her agent told her that she was in Los Angeles anyway.

Lu Pingan was able to finish the painting for her calmly.

The widowed sister, like other celebrities, praised Lu Ping An in front of the camera.

I simply drew five or six people, and the time came at 5 o'clock in the evening.

The second phase is over.

But this is not over yet. After all, if you want to hype things up, you have to go big.

Moreover, they are all paintings for propaganda meetings, so naturally they cannot always paint Western paintings, but they must also have some Chinese characteristics.

The two-meter-long rice paper painting has been unfolded at this time.

Hu Qingquan said that this was provided by a local Chinese businessman, and it was generally not easy to buy.

Thank you in advance, there is still more than half an hour before the sun sets.

This time is a little rushed, but it’s enough!

Then, Lu Ping'an was seen using a large brush to sweep across the drawing paper under the watch of the crowd and more cameras that had just arrived.

It looks like you are scribbling, and it feels like you are mopping the floor.

But this is what Chinese painting is about.

It doesn’t matter how good you are at shaping the ground, just the taste of rendering.

Hu Qingquan understood this point, so the ink was adjusted well.

With one stroke, knowledgeable people can already see that this is exactly the trend of Hollywood's mountains.

After the painting was completed, Lu Pingan used a towel to absorb water layer by layer on the "mountain". Suddenly, a landscape painting with different distances and distances came out.

The eyes of the onlookers were bright.

What kind of miracle is this?

This was similar to the time when Lu Pingan first saw the practice of traditional Chinese painting.

The feeling of artistic conception is secondary, the main reason is that this painting technique is really magical and casual.

Other paintings, such as sketches, are all carefully completed bit by bit using a pen.

Chinese painting is about broad opening and closing yet delicate. With a splash and then slight modification, the effect will come out.

But in this way, Chinese painting will indeed be more difficult.

Chinese people talk about artistic conception and both form and spirit.

It’s really hard to get to this point.

But it doesn’t mean that there are no copying picture books.

According to a format, how to draw mountains and how to draw water.

The more you practice, the more skilled you become, but you can still be considered a little expert.

Of course, real experts can still see it.

But how many experts are there in America?

How many are present now and in front of the TV later?

Even fewer integrate Chinese and Western cultures.

At the same time, Chinese painting is not a neon underworld culture. No one else can understand it except them.

Chinese painting is an art of human treasure level. It is elegant and popular. It does not require many thresholds for aesthetic appreciation.

So now Lu Ping'an came up with this move, although in his own opinion it can only be said to be good.

But it did make the foreigners at the scene shout "unbelievable".

Then Lu Ping'an used a brush to draw a few buildings under the "mountain" and clicked on some little figures.

An eagle-eyed reporter recognized it.

"Is this Hollywood?"

Lu Ping'an smiled and said: "Yes, this is the Chinese expression of Hollywood. It uses the form of Chinese painting to depict the beautiful scenery here. Does it look good?"

The reporter praised: "It's beautiful, this is a work of art!"

"Thanks."

Lu Ping'an smiled and wrote "Hollywood Landscape Pictures" in cursive script with a brush.

Well, the only failure is that he is not very good at calligraphy.

But fortunately it is cursive, so there is no problem in fooling ordinary people.

Then he took out the cubic wooden building block in his hand, which he bought temporarily and was 10 centimeters wide, just right. He used a carving knife to scratch and carve out his seal on the spot.

With 11 years of experience in physical special effects, I have also dabbled in seal carving, so it is not a big problem to carve a single chapter.

This hand is another example of pretending.

Then apply ink pad and cover, and the "Hollywood Landscape" is completed.

Then he showed it and everyone praised it.

Lu Ping An ended up as planned:

"My short story "Memory Block House" is competing for the Oscar. Someone actually slandered me that I can't draw. Today I used three forms to fight back. I want to tell him that no matter who he is, your slander is doomed to fail. !”

Wow.

The crowd applauded.

This is what old Americans like.

The stronger the smell of gunpowder, the more everyone likes it.

Lu Ping'an continued: "Everyone is also welcome to come to the theater to watch my "Memory Block House". Believe me, the more you experience it, the more you will feel the power of the short film. Just be sure to bring tissues before going in, and Wipe away tears!"

Crash. . .

A "show" is over.

That night, various TV stations contacted began to broadcast Lu Ping'an's clarification video.

“Oscar animated short film nominees publicly fight back against baseless smear campaign!”

"The author of "Memory Block House" was actually questioned as not being able to draw, and director Lu Ping'an counterattacked on the spot."

"The director of "Saw", Lu Ping'an, painted on the spot, and Hollywood stars cheered for Lu to win the Oscar."

"Artist Lu Ping'an shows magical oriental art live"

At the same time, more film reviews and promotions about "Memories" have also begun to be printed on various websites and newspaper printing plants.

"The shape and atmosphere of "Memory Block House" are amazing. When people around you leave one after another, and those who survive alone, I don't know whether it is luck or misfortune. Touching those objects with memories, you will definitely feel a mixture of warmth and sadness in your heart. And I ask myself that I don’t have such a strong mind. The whole film has profound meaning, is quiet and warm, and exudes a strong and mysterious Chinese sentiment. It is very precious among a lot of computer works at this year’s Oscars. "Los Angeles Times"

""Memory Block House" revolves around a lonely old man's memories of his wife's love and some family memories. It uses a lot of gentle shots. The short film seems simple, but it has profound meaning. It focuses on showing a spiritual journey. After the pure horror film "Saw", Lu Ping'an has contributed a pure warm short film. The talented director from China is bringing a storm to Hollywood in his own way."

Hundreds of thousands spent, coupled with Oscar fever.

Countering slander is another news point that cannot be ignored.

That night, many American viewers saw this scene on TV news.

Painting on the spot is actually no big deal.

However, eye-catching highlights such as "counterattack against smear", "accelerated painting on the scene" and "splashing ink on Chinese painting on the spot" appeared.

Lu Ping'an became famous overnight.

Then the host continued to introduce.

Only then did many people realize that this painter was actually the director of "Saw"? !

And his "Memory" and "Chainsaw" are completely opposite?

Then many people became interested in "Memories".

There is no telling how many "review members" will fill out the ballots and mail them out.

As I said before, who the review members choose is actually very emotional and subjective. There is almost no professionalism at all, and many of them have not even seen the works.

This also makes PR work even more important.

Now, that’s what public relations is about.

At this time, a producer somewhere in the United States was watching TV and asked his assistant with a headache: "Did we say he can't draw?"

The assistant regretted: "You complained before, these are your original words."

Producer:"..."

He feels that next year the assistant will have to be changed, and the public relations team will also have to change.

He will always be serious about anything he says casually. Why should such a person be left here?

Of course, what made him even more speechless was that with both newspapers and television, it must have cost at least five to six million US dollars.

It’s just a short film, that’s all!

As for that?

Judging from the short film alone, it is certainly not worth investing so much.

But from a personal perspective.

Hu Qingquan looked at Lu Ping'an, who was surrounded by various media not far away.

I feel like I made a lot of money this time!

According to Oscar tracking reports, Lu Pingan and his short films have become the top three most popular among all the short and long films nominated for the Oscars.

Lian Jie on the side couldn't help but sigh: "Ping An has become famous now, and he has almost become the most watched director at this year's Oscars."

Watts said with a smile: "Chainsaw" is very popular now, and Lu perfectly demonstrated his talent and strong desire to win. Don't say I'm belittling you. He is humble and reserved. In fact, most Americans will respect it, but It’s just respect, everyone prefers people with strong competitiveness, Lu did the right thing this time, that’s what he should do, fight back hard, let those people know that he is not easy to bully!”

Speaking, Watts sighed: "I think it doesn't matter whether he wins the Oscar this time or not. He is already famous."

Hu Qingquan said immediately: "You still have to get it, it cost so much money."

Watts showed a confident American smile and said: "Don't worry, if you play around with the rules, you will gain something. This is America!"