Huayu: I Have a Doraemon

Chapter 48 The Horror Cruise

"Greenlight Program? What's that?"

Lin An looked bewildered.

He had only ever heard of Green Lantern.

Ji Tao pulled another crumpled newspaper out of his pocket, unfolded it, and handed it to Lin An.

"Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, you know each other, right?"

Lin An took the newspaper and looked down at it.

The Beijing Youth Daily, a news item the size of a tofu block, had a headline that was translated awkwardly and clumsily:

"Hollywood stars are spending millions of dollars to find top screenwriters..."

Lin An read it through and, finding it to be just an American reality show, threw the newspaper back without interest.

"What? You don't want to participate?" Ji Tao asked, puzzled.

Lin An said irritably, "First of all, I don't have a computer and can't submit my work. It's clearly stated here that it's open to submissions from across the United States!"

He raised an eyebrow and said, "How can I, a true-blue Chinese, participate?"

Ji Tao retorted irritably, "Who told you to participate in the show?"

"what?"

Ji Tao folded the newspaper again, stuffed it back into his pocket, and said unhurriedly:

"These kinds of projects are just shells; their essence is to create a persona and win people's hearts."

He said calmly, "You're practically a professional screenwriter now, so you should know that writing a script isn't just about being entertaining."

Lin An paused for a moment, his brows furrowing slightly.

Ji Tao continued, "Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were discovered when they were filming 'Good Will Hunting'."

He said, "Now they want to use the same method to discover new talent, gaining both fame and fortune, but their real purpose is still to scour for good scripts, even if those scripts can't be made into films."

That makes sense... Lin An pondered for a moment:

"I need to ask Teacher Zhang Hua."

Once bitten, twice shy.

After Ye Daying's incident, he now feels quite wary of the film and television industry.

Ji Tao had no objection, but he did offer a reminder:

"Hurry, the deadline is at the end of the month."

Lin An nodded, indicating that he understood.

……

……

Deep inside the factory, in the props department's temporary clothes rack area.

Three rows of movable clothes racks were filled with all kinds of clothes, from British formal wear to modern casual wear, from Republic of China-era long gowns to sports sweatshirts, all piled together in a colorful array.

Gao Yuanyuan stood in front of the clothes rack, holding a beige knitted cardigan in her hand. She looked at herself in the mirror, then put it down and picked up another light blue dress.

"How about this one?" She turned around and asked Lin An, who was sitting in a folding chair.

Lin An was looking down at the script when he heard this. He raised his eyelids slightly and pointed to a light purple wool sweater, saying:

"Choose that one, it's too cold to wear a dress."

"Shouldn't the focus be on the play?"

"We're a sitcom, so all we have to do is look good."

Gao Yuanyuan glanced back at him, a slight smile playing on her lips. She didn't say anything more, took the gray wool sweater off the hanger, draped it over her arm, and continued rummaging through the clothes racks.

Lin An lowered his head and continued flipping through the script.

He had to go over the lines for the last few scenes again before filming began.

In a corner of the film set, a sudden gasp of surprise erupted.

Several crew members huddled together, making exaggerated exclamations about something.

Gao Yuanyuan stopped rummaging through the clothes hanger and turned her head to look.

Through the gaps in the crowd, a metal helmet could be vaguely seen, its dark metallic sheen gleaming under the light.

"What is this?" someone asked, reaching out to touch it.

"Don't move, don't move, this looks real."

"Really? This thing must weigh several hundred pounds!"

In the center of the crowd was a medieval full-body suit of armor, so complete from head to toe that it looked as if it had been taken directly from a museum display case.

The armor has little decoration on its surface; the iron-gray steel plates are densely covered with rivets, the chest is raised, and the waist and abdomen are tightened inward, with bold and powerful lines.

Gao Lu had somehow gotten close to Lin Cong, her eyes wide, and whispered:

"Senior, you even managed to find this?"

Lin Cong was checking the notice when he heard this. He looked up, glanced at the armor, then at Gao Lu, and waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't ask me, Lin An found all these clothes."

Gao Lu was taken aback. Her gaze swept across the crowd and landed on the figure in the corner who was looking down at a script.

Dong Xuan, who was standing nearby, also heard this. She was holding a trench coat in her hand, and her hand paused in mid-air, her expression thoughtful.

The rest area not far away.

Shen Teng sat on a folding chair, holding a cup of hot water in his hands, his gaze occasionally drifting to the suit of armor in the corner of the set.

He turned his head to look at Qiao Zhenyu, who was resting with his eyes closed, and lowered his voice:

"Brother Qiao, what's Director Lin's background? How come he has everything?"

Qiao Zhenyu opened his eyes and said with a wry smile:

"Just call me Zhenyu, um, I don't know either."

Shen Teng looked around, then leaned closer and said:

"I heard you were invited here. You've never met Director Lin before?"

Qiao Zhenyu pondered for a few seconds, then nodded and said:

"Yes, if my friend from the Beijing Film Academy hadn't mentioned that there really was such a production crew, I would have thought it was someone's prank."

Shen Teng slapped his thigh and chimed in, "Me too, me too!"

As he spoke, he picked up his water glass and gulped down a mouthful:

"If my teacher from the PLA Academy of Arts hadn't vouched for me, and if I hadn't met Director Lin, I wouldn't have dared to come."

Qiao Zhenyu nodded slightly, indicating that he had also come because of Lin Cong's reputation.

These days there are far too many empty film crews, and even more that run out of money halfway through filming.

He came here on vacation with the attitude that he had nothing better to do, but he never expected to find such a treasure.

With such set design, costumes, props, and sets, it would definitely cost at least three or four hundred thousand yuan.

Considering Lin An's age, his relationship with Lin Cong, and Gao Yuanyuan's frequent attempts to chat with him...

Wow, that's terrifying to think about!

……

……

At 2 PM, the first scene officially began filming.

Lin Cong sat behind the monitor, holding a walkie-talkie in his hand, his eyes fixed on the screen.

The film set fell silent.

Lights, sound, and camera, all in position.

"Scene 3, Shot 1, First Take."

The clapperboard snapped shut.

On the monitor, Dong Xuan sat on the left side of the living room sofa, holding a book in her hand, looking relaxed.

Shen Teng walked over from the direction of the kitchen, carrying a glass of water, and sat down on the other side of the sofa.

Lin Cong stared at the screen, his brows slightly furrowed.

"stop."

She pressed the intercom; the voice wasn't loud, but the set was quiet, and everyone could hear it clearly.

"Shen Teng, you're moving too fast. You're a new tenant now, you should be curious and exploring your surroundings, not going back to your own home. Let's do it again."

Shen Teng nodded awkwardly, picked up his water glass, and walked back to the kitchen doorway.

"Scene 3, shot 1, second take."

Shen Teng slowed down this time, his gaze sweeping around the living room, from the bookshelf to the coffee table, from the curtains to the art illustration on the wall, before finally sitting down on the sofa.

Lin An sat in a folding chair next to the monitor, holding a storyboard in his hand, his gaze shifting back and forth between the screen and the film set.

Once he confirmed there were no problems, he stopped worrying about it and took out his notebook to start writing the script.

The logic of film scriptwriting is completely different from that of television drama writing.

Hollywood movies need "high concepts," requiring a core idea that can be explained in a single sentence yet arouses strong curiosity.

It was 2000, and filming technology was limited. The script couldn't have too many large scenes; it was best to just use a fixed location.

A script that Matt Damon is willing to buy must be one that can be filmed immediately.

However, it shouldn't be too rudimentary, as this would make others underestimate the script's significance and market potential.

After pondering for a while, Lin An wrote the words "suspense" and "thriller" on the script.

Considering his current identity, he also wrote the word "brainstorming".

Suspense scripts are the ultimate test of a screenwriter's logic, and thrills are a universal element, making them ideal for achieving big results with small investments.

The idea was purely for safety reasons.

Only a wildly imaginative script can bridge the cultural differences caused by identity mismatch.

Lin An began brainstorming, and soon his eyes lit up as he lowered his head and began writing furiously.

In his excitement, he completely ignored Gao Yuanyuan's strange gaze.

At this moment, this future national goddess stared blankly at someone's back.

She glanced at the title of the manuscript and murmured unconsciously:

"Triangle of Terror..."