Zhou Ziheng was in a trance for a week because of Xia Xiqing's reply in the comment section. Every day, he would smile at Xia Xiqing and do some weird things.
One day, Xia Xiqing was watching a movie in Zhou Ziheng's bedroom when she heard some noise downstairs. She went downstairs and found that it was Zhou Ziheng and Zhao Ke. They were carrying two large cardboard boxes. She didn't know what was inside. She asked curiously, but both of them were hesitant to answer.
"What are you holding in your hands? Let me help you."
"No need, no need," Zhou Ziheng laughed dryly and kicked Zhao Ke's leg, "Let's go to the rooftop."
"Is there a key to the rooftop?" Xia Xiqing frowned in confusion.
Zhou Ziheng nodded and said, "I asked the property management for it yesterday." Then the two of them carried the boxes upstairs.
As Xia Xiqing passed by him, he glanced at the English words on the box.
It looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where it was. It wasn't until he went to bed that night that Xia Xiqing remembered that he seemed to have seen a similar paper box at Xia Zhixu's place before, but his brother's box contained astronomical CCDs and photographic equipment.
What is Zhou Ziheng doing with that thing
If you think about it carefully, it's not surprising. Brother Xia Zhixu studied astrophysics and Zhou Ziheng studied physics. It's normal for the two to have the same interests and hobbies.
The fact that "Tracking" was selected for the main competition unit of the Berlin Film Festival was not publicly announced at first. It was not until the official list of selected films was released in early December that the official Weibo account of the movie "Tracking" made the official announcement and announced that the release date would be moved to the opening day of the Berlin Film Festival.
[Official Weibo of Movie Tracking: The movie Tracking, directed by Kun Chengcheng Chengzi and starring Zhou Ziheng and Xia Xiqing, has been rescheduled to February 3! The 1 minute and 30 second "fate version" trailer has been officially released. Born like an ant, fighting for your life! ]
During the post-production period, Kuncheng and the production team called Xia Xiqing several times to ask for his advice from an artistic perspective. However, Xia Xiqing was not a professional film art director and had declined the offer, but Kuncheng insisted.
"You have a special identity. You are not only a painter, but also Jiang Tong in the play. We need to show the world from Jiang Tong's perspective."
Xia Xiqing immediately understood what Kun Cheng meant. What he needed was to use artistic means to restore as much as possible the world that Jiang Tong saw in the eyes of the audience, a world of raging fire, blooming flowers, but also extremely cruel.
On the day the trailer came out, Xia Xiqing was also very nervous, a feeling that was almost comparable to the first time he participated in an auction of his own paintings. Unlike painting, in this film, he used his own complete person to interpret a soul that was very similar to him. This kind of creation was extremely rare for him, and he might never have a second chance.
So even though he had participated in the entire filming, his heart was still a little shaken when he saw the trailer.
Because it is the first trailer, it is only one minute and thirty seconds long, so the content and plot are very limited. The opening scene is Gao Kun, played by Zhou Ziheng, sitting in a crowded and shabby clinic. Close-ups quickly switch between two faces: Gao Kun, with red hair and a violent look, and the doctor with a face full of flesh and disdain.
"You don't even tell me what's wrong with me?"
"Why, you still want to get a terminal illness?"
The door of the clinic slammed shut. The outside of the walls was covered with graffiti, with small advertisements stuck on them like psoriasis, and the bright red painted words "Fake Certificates" were intertwined, covering each other like people who had done something shameful.
The camera only shows a pair of legs moving forward in the muddy narrow alley, with mud spots splattered on the black jeans. The elongated camera shows the community that is as messy as a decaying ant nest, with all kinds of people from the lower class walking in and out. A ten-second shot is like a microcosm of the lowest class of human beings, with curses mixed with shouts for children to go back for dinner, and shouts and hawking mixed with the shrill honking of horns in the crowded culvert. But these are just background sounds, and the real voice-over accompanies the pair of legs moving forward.
[Your mother ran away after giving birth to you. She was tricked into giving birth to a child!]
[A bastard who was born by a mother but not raised by her.]
[My father is dead, and if my grandmother dies, I’ll be complete, a nemesis.]
[Why are you working in the city? Are you an adult? I don’t dare to use child labor. Get out of here and don’t delay my business!]
[Hey, why can't you survive? Why save grandma? In this day and age, just save yourself.]
[Go to a big hospital if you can! You will be poor and sick for the rest of your life!]
The sounds grew louder and louder, mixing together like countless out-of-control machines, and finally fell silent with a piercing noise.
The screen was completely black, and panting sounds could be heard in the darkness.
"I have AIDS." There was a brief pause in the voice.
When the screen lit up again, it was a scene of Gao Kun smashing the iron door of A Long's rental house. With a loud bang, Gao Kun's distorted and hideous face appeared through the gap in the railings.
"AIDS! Did you know?!"
Under the montage effect, the green wall outside the iron gate gradually turned into a night convenience store covered with a green filter.
Gao Kun, who had cut his palm, smeared scarlet blood on the shelves of the convenience store, his legs wandering like a lonely soul until he walked to the last row of shelves near the warehouse with bloodstains, and met another pair of footsteps, a pair of worn, cracked but clean white sneakers, and a pair of dusty convenience store uniform pants.
The camera only captured the lower body. The man in uniform loosened his hands, and the box in his hands fell to the ground, scattering colorful lollipops all over the ground.
The orange lollipop transformed again, turning into an orange sunset. In the shadow reflected on the wall, a weak voice curled up on the ground, beaten so hard that it couldn't stand up.
The music suddenly speeds up, and two images begin to intertwine. It is also a tracking perspective, one is the thin figure following in the darkness, and the other is the limping back following on the road at sunset. The picture repeatedly flickers and switches between midnight and twilight, and finally turns into two close faces in the sound of music.
The scene flashed, and Gao Kun was pinching a man's neck fiercely. Veins bulged and even his voice was made of gritting teeth.
"I can't die alone in silence..."
After finishing this sentence, the screen suddenly went dark.
Drops of blood appeared in the completely black screen and gradually turned into the word "Tracking", but the blood color faded again and again, and light and shadow intertwined, like the sunset light shining through the gaps in black paper-cuts.
The scene cuts and all the background music disappears, leaving only the frightening silence.
The camera shows Jiang Tong standing there with empty hands, his pupils flickering, his face pale, his mouth open, wanting to speak but finding that he can't make a sound, his hands are empty, and lollipops are scattered around his feet.
A lollipop rolled to the feet of the person standing opposite. He picked up the candy with his bloody hands and handed it to Jiang Tong.
The last shot is a close-up of Gao Kun.
He wiped his face with his bleeding hand and smiled at Jiang Tong, or the audience.
Sinister, twisted, horrible, a desperate smile.
The screen went black again, and the list of main creators appeared on the screen. I heard the last line in the trailer, the voice was trembling, but it was full of determination.
"If your life is worthless... you deserve to die?"
Although he had seen all the shots, this first trailer still shocked Xia Xiqing deeply, especially Gao Kun's last smile. That was the first time he met Jiang Tong when his mentality completely collapsed.
Xia Xiqing was pleasantly surprised that the director did adopt his suggestions in art. The color tone in the trailer was different from the dark and cold tones used in many previous reality films. It was a very rich and even sticky high-saturation and low-brightness color setting.
The moist green walls like moss, the bright red sticky blood, the light green filter of the convenience store late at night, the mint culvert, the orange-red lollipops and the sunset in the syrup.
"In Jiang Tong's eyes, the world is both good and bad, and that's why he wants to survive. And he likes painting. For someone who loves art in his heart, even the worst world is a decadent beauty in his eyes."
These are Xia Xiqing's original words. How wonderful it is that they were reproduced into images by an entire production team.
As soon as the trailer was released, it was hotly discussed by netizens. Apart from other things, the traffic of these two leading actors is almost unmatched at the moment, but they are different from traditional traffic. One of them is a 20-generation national actor with more than ten years of acting experience. There are almost no bad movies he has starred in. It is rare that he is a top-notch actor who did not go to art schools and was admitted to a famous school by his own ability.
The other one is even more legendary. He became famous overnight because of his looks, but in fact he was a painter who created an oil painting at the age of fifteen that was auctioned for 800,000 yuan. After experiencing the coming out storm, he almost became a pioneer figure in the LGBT community.
These two people put together, plus a new director who has won many awards abroad for independent films, plus a lot of sensitive subject matter, it is hard not to be discussed by the public.
[Study hard for me: An alpha who doesn’t want to be a physicist is not a good actor.]
[The sweetest CP of fans: A beautiful top who doesn’t want to be a good actor is not a good painter.]
[Fake Smart: Oh my god, that last laugh gave me goosebumps. I swear I’m not a Zhou fan!]
[Am I sick: Zhou Ziheng should also win an award. I can smell the nomination after watching the trailer.]
[彩虹堂biubiubiu: Originally, I didn’t want to watch Xia Xiqing. I didn’t mean to scold him, but I questioned his professionalism in acting. But after watching the preview, I was actually attracted to it???]
[ala: Xia Xiqing is so pretty... I am so obsessed with her beauty that I can't think]
[od: I don’t watch any movies with high traffic, the fans’ control over the comments is just too much, don’t you feel embarrassed?]
[Whoever gets married first is a dog: The whole screen is filled with long legs. Wow... Zhou Ziheng looks really handsome with red hair. I didn't recognize him at first sight. His smile at the end is so evil!]
[Movie Peter Pan: From the perspective of the trailer, the production is still very conscientious. Whether it is the camera or the music, you can see the sincerity of the production team. The color tone is also very special. It goes against the grain. There is a feeling that the more gorgeous, the more tragic it is. I really got goose bumps when I heard the last line. Zhou Ziheng is an excellent student in the film industry. His usual good performance will make people ignore his efforts. I think this movie may be able to win him an award. In addition, Xia Xiqing’s last appearance was still a surprise. He always had an indelible upper-class temperament in his previous appearances. It was innate, but it was worn away in the movie. It fits the movie’s setting of "living like an ant", which is unexpectedly good. ]
[Our Us: I wasn’t interested at first. Many people mentioned this movie before Xia Xiqing came out, saying that he had AIDS due to promiscuity, which is why he acted in this movie. At that time, I felt that some people’s hearts were so dirty that I couldn’t watch it. Now it seems that this movie is really a sincere work. How many people dare to touch this subject? Just for Xia Xiqing’s courage in coming out, I will support him and buy a movie ticket.]
Although there are many discordant voices, especially a group of homophobic middle-aged straight male netizens accumulated during the October turmoil, most of the voices are good. Given the quality of the trailer, it is hard not to be convinced.
Xia Xiqing is a person who is not easily shaken by other people's evaluation, but anyone would feel touched if he gets affirmation.
It is a lucky and happy thing to be a surprise under low expectations.
As the main creative staff member, Xia Xiqing cooperated very well and forwarded the trailer on the official Weibo.
[ng_summer: I am not wrong to be born as a human being.]
If Jiang Tong was played by another actor, this sentence in the repost would not cause any discussion. But it happened that it was Xia Xiqing, who had experienced the coming out storm. This grafted emotional bond easily allowed everyone to put themselves in Xia Xiqing's perspective and generate a subtle empathy, thus further binding the actor and the role.
Soon, Zhou Ziheng, who was shooting a perfume commercial, also reposted the Weibo.
[Actor Zhou Ziheng: Hello Gao Kun, you are not wrong.]
Xia Xiqing became busy in December. Because of the previous controversy on the Internet, the art museum was exposed and attracted an explosive influx of visitors. Although most of them had only a vague understanding of art, more people were always better than fewer people. Xia Xiqing also took good care of the things left by his mother with an attitude of running the business well. Faced with this situation, he had to work overtime with the team and hold meetings to come up with some plans to limit the flow of traffic. At the same time, he also specially organized some exclusive activities for non-professionals, such as art popular science.
He originally thought that these things would not be too busy, but in practice they were much more troublesome. For someone like him who had only been painting since childhood, he now had to learn business management experience from scratch. For the art museum event on Friday, Xia Xiqing stayed up for three or four nights, personally selecting the collections to be displayed and inviting well-known domestic art masters to give lectures. Even Zhou Ziheng, who was always busy with work, felt sorry for him.
"Why are you working so hard?" Zhou Ziheng draped a thick blanket over Xia Xiqing who was sitting in front of the workbench. He was still bending over the desk, modifying the design plan.
Xia Xiqing raised his head and turned his neck. "Do you know why Jiang Tong is so poor and has to work several jobs to rent that old rental house? He could just rent a single room and live a better life."
This was something outside the script. Zhou Ziheng hesitated for a moment and suddenly understood.
But he didn't say it. Xia Xiqing just smiled and lowered his head to continue.
Zhou Ziheng hugged him from behind and kissed the top of his head.
Because Jiang Tong wanted to keep the house where he and his mother once lived together.
On December 21, Friday at 3 pm, the event planned and organized by Xia Xiqing began. As the owner of the art gallery, he also attended the event in formal attire. Many fans of Xia Xiqing came to the stage. Since he had previously explained it online, these fans were also very obedient and did not bring any support items such as light boards or banners. They came in a low-key manner, without any noise, and in an orderly manner.
Xia Xiqing specially made a flower basket by hand and asked fans to put their letters in the basket. However, not long after the event started, the flower basket was full and could not hold any more letters.
"Boss, many people brought gifts. Do you want to accept them?"
Thinking that this was the norm in the fan circle, Xia Xiqing shook his head and said, "I won't accept gifts, but letters are fine."
"But there are too many gifts. We initially placed them in the corner of the outer hall, but now that corner is no longer big enough..."
"Who told you to pile them up? I told you not to take them." Xia Xiqing, dressed in a black suit, pressed his earphone and hurried to the outer hall. Unexpectedly, the other end said, "No, boss, they insisted on giving it to you because..."
"Don't make excuses, I'll..."
"Because they said it was a birthday present for you, and there was a big cake."
Xia Xiqing's footsteps suddenly stopped.
Birthday
He slowly took out his phone and unlocked the screen. December 21st.
It really seems to be his birthday...
He had been too busy and chaotic lately to have any time to take care of time. Besides, he had never had a good birthday since what happened on his tenth birthday.
Looking at the girls waiting in line at the ticket checking area, Xia Xiqing felt a complex emotion. They were very obedient, not noisy, and did not offer any support. They just quietly put the letter away and handed the gift to the staff. They were so quiet that they did not even dare to say "Happy Birthday" for fear of disturbing him.
It is always a happy thing to receive love from others.
Xia Xiqing called his assistant, "Go, buy me as many flowers as possible, pink roses, for each of these girls."
The assistant quickly handled the matter and gave flowers to the fans one by one while checking the votes. Xia Xiqing cut the big cake personally and shared it with everyone.
Soon, the assistant pushed in another shelf covered with dark blue velvet.
"Mr. Xia, this is also a gift for you."
Xia Xiqing didn't have time, and without even looking up, he said, "Put it in the outer hall for a while..."
"Would you like to take a look first?"
He raised his head and glanced at the shelf in confusion. On the shiny velvet under the crystal chandelier was a card with the words "Happy Birthday" written on it.
The moment he saw the signature, Xia Xiqing was stunned.
from： thief.
He stretched out his hand, his heart beating loudly, and every beat hit his barren, empty chest, as if resonating with the thing covered by the velvet.
When Xia Xiqing lifted the cover, he saw an oil painting in which a beautiful woman was sitting.
It was a painting of his mother that he drew when he was fifteen years old, and it was also the first painting in his life to be auctioned.
After ten years of wandering and displacement, I finally returned to him.
The author has something to say: A birthday gift is more than just a painting.