The creative challenge group met at the school on Friday.
They nailed down the story details and negotiated a short outline for drawing the storyboard.
"On the steps of the Opera House, the opera artist holding his fallen wife, this painting is certain, it is the real beginning of our story."
Julia ticked off the scenarios everyone listed.
Cheng Kesong was cutting out his sketches and handing them over to Hugo to make a research report. Hearing that, he glanced at the list in Julia's hands.
"There is also a very good artistic sense of the scene by the Seine on the night of the full moon, I think it can be added." He said.
"Although Aram Kadean's tombstone is not next to the steps, we can do something artistic and draw a high step that leads to his tombstone, and the opera artist kneels at the top of that step, begging for Alain Kadean's guidance. ." Hugo added.
Julia really agreed: "This painting must be painted too!"
Cheng Kesong handed the cut painting to Hugo, the two made eye contact, Hugo stroked Kesong playfully and gave Hugo a wink. Cheng Kesong couldn't help raising the corners of his mouth, and kicked Hugo lightly with his toes under the table.
Hugo Kong clenched his fist against the tip of his nose, smiled and coughed lightly.
"Are you listening to what I said?" Julia spread her hands helplessly.
Over there, Bruno and Valentine, who were whispering to each other, immediately sat upright and pretended to look at Julia seriously.
"What?" Cheng Kesong asked.
Julia said: "There are only three paintings. If you painted the scene in front of the opera house and the tombstone, the third one may need to be changed. Just a scene by the Seine cannot express what we want to say. Story of."
"It's better to cut the picture into two parts, one is the real world, the other is the reflection, and they are symmetrical with each other." Hugo suggested.
"But instead of painting the real reflection, we painted the plot on the other side of the reflection as the opera artist and his wife holding hands and standing happily together," Cheng Kesong added.
Valentine whistled and looked at Cheng Kesong and Hugo with a smile.
"Joining together, we are invincible!"
He said this and made a gesture between the two.
Hugo said: "I will organize the research report, and it may take a whole day to transcribe all the pictures and words you gave me to the official brochure. Croissant is in charge of the storyboard, and he will be under a lot of pressure and time-consuming. Long time. So I hope the four of you can work together on those three paintings."
Leia frowned: "I don't have much time today. At most, I can determine the composition and draft... Tomorrow is the weekend, and the school is closed. We need a place to meet."
"Which house is bigger and can accommodate the six of us?" Bruno asked.
Julia raised her hand first: "I live with my parents, and there is a ten-year-old brother at home who is very naughty. I don't recommend going to my house."
The situation at Valentin and Bruno's house is similar, while Leia shares a rented house with others, so it is inconvenient to bring so many people back.
Cheng Kesong also shook his head: "The room I rented is only twenty square meters."
So everyone's eyes were focused on Hugo.
Hugo raised his hand in a gesture of surrender, and said helplessly: "Okay, tomorrow and Saturday, everyone will meet at my house, and we will complete the task even if we spend an all-nighter!"
Hugo lives near Quesar station on Line 6.
Early on Saturday morning, Cheng Kesong carried his painting equipment and followed the mobile phone navigation to find the downstairs of Hugo's house.
Hugo went out and took Cheng Kesong into the building, and the two walked up to the top floor of the apartment building along a spiral staircase with the characteristics of French classical romanticism.
The corridors of the old-fashioned apartments in Paris are dark and narrow, and the doors are also wooden doors that look some years old.
Pushing the door in, you will see a sloping roof with a window facing the sky on the roof.
"This is the attic?" Cheng Kesong was surprised.
"Yes, I like the attic." Hugo laughed.
The room is not small, but there is no other wall partition except the bathroom. It is a large room where you can see the head at a glance. Hugo nailed a rope on the sloping roof in the middle of the bay, and hung some narrow European-style flags on it. The flags hung down, forming a simple visual partition.
To the left of the door is a small open kitchen. A workbench and a few folding chairs are placed just two meters away from the cabinets. Visually, it also functions as a dining table.
Hugo walked in with Cheng Kesong, passed through the hanging flags, and came to the bedroom on the other side.
There is a huge circular carpet in the bedroom, the mattress is placed close to the inside of the angled roof, there is a TV at the foot of the bed, and three different brands of game consoles are stacked on top of each other in the TV cabinet. Controllers and game disc cases were haphazardly tossed on the carpet.
Next to the head of the bed is a desk, and wardrobes and shelves are placed against the wall away from the sloping ceiling.
This is a small attic with a simple layout, but it was designed by Hugo to be very comfortable.
The house hadn't been tidied up deliberately, the quilt on the bed was not folded, some changed clothes were scattered on the carpet, and there was a bag of unsealed potato chips beside the desk and computer.
Hugo squeezed a slice from the potato chip bag and threw it into his mouth, squeezed another slice, and handed it to Cheng Kesong's mouth.
Cheng Kesong reached out to pick it up, but was avoided by Hugo.
"Or do you want me to mouth feed you?"
He squinted at Cheng Kesong and smiled.
Cheng Kesong reluctantly took potato chips directly from Hugo's hand, turned his head and looked at the paintings and various game posters on the wall.
Hugo got close to Cheng Kesong from behind, put one arm on his shoulder, and took the man half into his arms.
"That poster was drawn when I bought the latest "Halo" at the exhibition." He said in Cheng Kesong's ear, "Do you play games? When our weekly challenge is over, you can come to my house, we will Play games together - Sony and Nintendo, take your pick, and Microsoft's."
Cheng Kesong smiled and said, "Okay."
Hugo laughed happily, and put his other hand on Cheng Kesong's shoulder, wrapped his arms around his neck from behind him, and put his face on his ear.
"Cross, I..."
Hugo was interrupted by the ringing of the phone.
He picked it up in frustration, hearing Bruno's annoying voice: "I went downstairs to your house, but the door is locked! You have to come down and pick me up!"
Hugo let go of Cheng Kesong, scratched his hair irritably, and pushed the door out.
The team members arrived one after another, and the ambiguous atmosphere in the small attic was completely broken up.
Cheng Kesong pulled out a stack of printed storyboard sections from his bag, on which a schematic sketch had been drawn with a pencil. He placed the sketch in the center of the workbench and let everyone see if details needed to be added or removed, or if there were any suggestions or comments on the perspective of the picture.
After discussion, the storyboard was finalized after revising two camera shifts, and the sketches of the three finished paintings were finalized, and everyone began to concentrate on painting.
Hugo organizes the research report in his hands.
The hardcover notebook used in the report book is a uniform style issued by the school. He needs to cut the sketches drawn by the team members and the photos taken into appropriate shapes and paste them in, and mark the source of these graphic research, the causes and consequences, and the story ideas, etc. . Since all these words need to be handwritten, he had to start the draft with a pencil, and then trace it with a pen after confirming that the spelling is correct.
The workload is not too small.
At noon, everyone ordered take-out sushi, and after a simple meal, they immersed themselves in work again.
The first to be announced was the Hugo research report.
He handed the report to Leia to fill in the gaps, and got up and moved his limbs.
Cheng Kesong's storyboard is just halfway through.
He was so focused when he painted that he paid no attention to everything around him. He didn't raise his head until Hugo put one hand on the table beside him and squeezed his shoulder with the other.
"Drink some water and take a rest, you've been drawing."
Hugo pointed to the water glass placed in front of Cheng Kesong.
The glass of water had been there for lunch, and I haven't touched a single sip.
Cheng Kesong closed the drawing paper, took a big gulp from the cup, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"It might really be an all-nighter tonight, and there's still half left."
"No, I've finished it over there, and I'll draw the storyboard for you in a while."
Hugo stood behind Cheng Kesong and said while pinching his shoulders.
At this time, Leia closed the research report, handed it back, and smiled: "It's a perfect report book, I don't think there is anything that needs to be changed."
Valentin looked up from the drawing paper: "Hugo's report book has never been perfect. Our class has circulated the report book he made in the scene design class. It's a pity that he didn't learn binding design!"
Julia said: "Lea hurry back to paint, there are so many sculptures in our opera house, I'm going to paint crazy!"
Bruno interjected at this time: "I have almost finished painting this tombstone, and I will help you paint the sculpture later."
Valentin wailed: "No! Bruno! You just promised to help me paint the water waves! Those damn bubbles and refractions!"
Julia and Leia laughed gleefully.
After chatting for a while, everyone immersed themselves in the work at hand again.
Hugo took a few drafts of the storyboard from Cheng Kesong's hand, moved the chair to his side, observed his way of drawing the storyboard, and imitated the details of the following drafts.
The sky was completely dark before I knew it, and it was not until ten o'clock in the evening that the three finished drawings were all completed.
Hugo stepped forward and carefully hung the still-painted paper on a drying line by the window, Valentine packed up the palette and bucket, and Leia got up and wiped the tabletop and floor.
"I have to go back. My mother has sent tens of thousands of text messages to urge me." Julia said, rolling her eyes.
Bruno said: "I'm also going to take Line 6. Let's go together."
"How far is the storyboard? Do you need me to stay and help?" Valentine asked with concern, looking back.
Cheng Kesong said with a smile: "It's almost over, it's only an hour or two."
"I'll help him paint, you all go back first."
Hugo took the life to himself.
All four felt that Hugo and Cheng Kesong's partner was impeccable, and they didn't insist. They said goodbye to Hugo with friends and went downstairs to the subway station.
Hugo returned to the room and sat down beside Cheng Kesong.
The two continued to storyboard without a word.
The last line was drawn, Cheng Kesong put down the pen, pinched his fingers, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Have some supper and rest for a while."
Hugo had already checked and proofread all the previous storyboards, and put a plate of salty cheese biscuits and a glass of juice in Cheng Kesong's hand. He took the last page from Cheng Ke Song's hand and looked at it carefully.
Cheng Kesong yawned and stretched, drank all the juice, and ate two more biscuits.
"Ah, it's almost twelve o'clock!" He was startled, and immediately got up to pack up his painting equipment.
Most of the subways in Paris stopped around one o'clock in the morning. If he didn't leave quickly, he might miss the last train. Although the city has night buses, he is not familiar with the bus lines here, so it is more convenient to take the subway.
Hugo paused while holding the drawing paper.
He hesitated for a moment, and finally got up and helped Cheng Kesong pack up.
"I'll take you downstairs."
The lighting in the corridor of the old-fashioned apartment was a little dim, and the two of them walked side by side on the narrow spiral steps, the skin of their arms inevitably bumping against each other.
Hugo's footsteps suddenly stopped.
Cheng Ke Song went down a few steps and looked back at Hugo in surprise.
The big boy carried the light behind his back, and the expression on his face was a little blurry. The drill nails on the tip of his brows reflected an extremely shiny highlight, which flickered with the slight movement of his breathing.
"No need to send, I know the way, you go back to rest." Cheng Kesong said.
Hugo went down one step and stared straight at Cheng Ke Song.
"Are we... a veneer farewell?"
In France, veneers are not only used to say hello when friends meet for the first time every day, but also to say goodbye every day.
Cheng Kesong smiled, stepped up a step, and pressed his cheek to Hugo.
Hugo raised a hand and touched Cheng Kesong's ear.
Then he suddenly pushed Cheng Kesong against the wall of the spiral staircase and kissed his lips.
The painting bag on Cheng Kesong's shoulder slammed down on the steps.
He raised his hand to hug Hugo's waist and kissed back passionately.
The two stood on the revolving steps full of French romanticism, wrapped their necks and shoulders, hugged each other tightly, licked their lips, and kissed each other sticky.
They kissed for a long time, until the voice-activated lights in the corridor went out, and the two gradually stopped.
Breathing chaotically, Hugo murmured in a low voice: "Ke Song, I think... I'm in love with you."
"Whether you're going back to your country in the future, whether we'll be separated in the future, I can't control this moment! I think we deserve... at least a few years of good memories. No?"
Cheng Kesong put his forehead against Hugo's eyebrows and met his breath: "...Yes."
Hugo lightly pecked Cheng Kesong's lips: "It's past twelve o'clock."
Cheng Kesong picked it up immediately: "...I might miss the last train for the transfer."
"stay?"
"Tomorrow is Sunday anyway."
"We can play games together... or something..."
"… it is good."
Hugo laughed a few times, and the slight vibration passed through the chests of the two people who were close to each other.
Cheng Kesong sighed inaudibly.
Hugo: "What?"
Cheng Kesong: "About the steps... I have a better story now."
Hugo chuckled lightly and kissed Cheng Kesong's lips again.
"What a coincidence, I also know the same story."
…
The author has something to say:
FIN
The text ends here
There is a postscript to the next chapter, bits and pieces of nagging