Chapter 6

On February 15, 1997, the results of the second round of the literature department's entrance exam were posted.

If one's name was on the second-round list, they could proceed to the third round.

The third round was no longer an "elimination round" but a "ranking round" for selecting the best candidates.

All candidates participating in the third round had their professional scores recorded, and only after they took the college entrance exam would their scores be combined to select the best candidates.

Because of the second-round list, one was closer to their dream.

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

Therefore, many candidates who failed the exam cried even more bitterly.

A girl threw herself onto Wang Qinan's shoulder and burst into tears.

Every year, some candidates who failed the Beijing Film Academy exams, unable to accept reality, would give up. If one specifically targeted the failed female candidates, the success rate of pursuing them would be much higher than normal.

"Miss, Miss, we don't even know each other, don't do this..." Smelling the girl's body fragrance, Wang Qinan, though tempted, was flustered and said nervously.

The girl looked at him with a resentful gaze, then ran out of the school gate, still crying.

Many candidates around them looked at Wang Qinan with envy or disdain, thinking he had wasted a great opportunity.

Wang Qinan paid no attention to the gazes of the people around him. He carefully squeezed to the front of the list and searched carefully.

Finally, he found his name.

Wang Qinan sighed in relief, took his admission ticket, and went to complete the procedures for the next round of exams!

...

At 3 PM, he was scheduled for the third round.

Although the talent selection mechanism of the Beijing Film Academy was not perfect, it was relatively fair.

This fairness was reflected in the selection of talent. For example, the first two rounds of the literature department: the first round was mainly subjective questions to test knowledge, and the second round was a topic-based essay to test writing skills.

The third round was an oral and interview round, which could better test the candidates' overall qualities.

In addition to testing talent, the impression of the examiners was also crucial.

Therefore, before entering the examination room, Wang Qinan carefully tidied his appearance in the bathroom mirror, wearing a black suit, a white shirt, and a pair of black-rimmed glasses, looking very scholarly.

He checked his watch and entered the third-round examination room.

Wang Qinan's appearance made the teachers on the scene exchange glances, clearly showing a hint of surprise—

Such a handsome young man, with a bit of a star's aura, it was a pity he didn't apply for the acting department. Why did he come to the literature department, which focuses on behind-the-scenes work?

"First, I want to ask a question off-topic. I think you're so handsome, why didn't you apply for the acting department?" a female examiner asked.

It's so true!

It was just like the scene in modern TV talent shows, where several judges take turns asking questions to the contestants.

Because of the similarity, Wang Qinan knew that a mediocre answer would disappoint the teachers on the scene.

The teachers actively asked peculiar questions, not wanting to hear perfunctory answers but hoping to hear witty and individual responses.

"Apply for the acting department? I did consider it..." Wang Qinan pretended to think for a moment and then said seriously, "But if I were admitted to the acting department, it would be a waste of my literary talent and imagination!"

"Ha ha!" The examiners all laughed, and the serious atmosphere of the scene was instantly broken by Wang Qinan.

"Also, it's a matter of personality! I prefer to have others perform according to my script rather than perform according to others' scripts!" Wang Qinan added.

A teacher asked, "Then why didn't you apply for the directing department?"

Wang Qinan frankly said, "For directing, cinematography, and other majors, my professional advantages are not significant. First, submitting my photographic works as a stepping stone would be enough to keep me out of the door! Besides, I don't think the literature department is inferior to the directing or cinematography departments. After all, the literature department has also produced many excellent directors! I once heard a saying: excellent writers and screenwriters, if they don't become directors, are often better directors when they do!"

"Good!"

"Excellent answer!"

Many of the teachers on the scene were from the literature department, and upon hearing Wang Qinan's answer, they all felt a sense of goodwill. The literature department, which was severely underestimated, was absolutely not inferior to the popular acting, directing, or cinematography departments!

"One of your answers in the second-round exam mentioned Korean films. Due to time and space constraints, you wrote too little. Could you elaborate more?" one of the five teachers on the scene asked.

In the second-round exam, Wang Qinan's essay on the film "The Story of Qiu Ju" was quite general.

Even, it was a bit off-topic, discussing the film industry. However, because the off-topic part was substantial, his analysis and insights on the film industries of various countries far exceeded those of his peers, which was the reason he was lucky enough to make it to the third round.

Wang Qinan nodded and said, "Sure, I used Korean films as an example because the Korean film industry was just beginning and was mainly low-budget, which had some reference value. If we had started by imitating Hollywood, the difficulty of catching up would have been much greater and the cost too high.

In the early years, the Korean film industry was restricted by policies, leading to a decades-long depression, almost a film desert. Whether in commercial or artistic achievements, it was negligible.

It wasn't until the late 1980s that South Korea, taking advantage of the Olympic Games, began to loosen and support cultural policies. As the Korean economy gradually rose, its domestic film and television market also entered a period of rapid development.

Now, looking back, the true rise of the Korean film and television industry has only been a few years. Starting from the mid-1990s, South Korea began to increase the export of its cultural works, and some high-quality Korean works sparked a 'Korean wave' in the Asian market..."

"Is it just due to policy support? Our country has been doing that for a long time!" a teacher interrupted Wang Qinan's long speech.

"Of course, it's not just policy support; market factors are also very important. Before discussing the Korean film industry, I must mention the Hong Kong film industry. In fact, the success of Hong Kong and Korean films has many similarities and commonalities!

Both local markets are very small, and relying on the local market alone cannot sustain large-scale productions or cover all genres. They can only prioritize the development of the most skilled and popular genres.

Hong Kong chose to prioritize the development of kung fu and Hong Kong-style comedies. After finding the best profit-making formulas in these genres, they followed the formulas, and a large number of imitations also made money. Before a formula was disliked by the market, they had to find a new successful formula.

During the golden thirty years of Hong Kong cinema, new formulas continuously emerged, so the market trend was upward. By the mid-1990s, when no new formulas suitable for the current state of the Hong Kong film industry could be found, innovation stagnated, and the industry began to decline.

The period when Hong Kong cinema declined was precisely when the Korean film industry rose.

The early failures of the Korean film industry were due to policy restrictions, which prevented the cultivation of a healthy film market. In the 1990s, as policies relaxed, the market grew rapidly, and the number of industry professionals also increased...

Due to the small population, the number of qualified film and television scripts, especially those accepted by the market, has always been very scarce. To solve the problem of a lack of high-quality scripts, starting from the 1990s, the Korean television and film industries widely solicited excellent stories from society. Even scripts written by housewives could be adopted by film and television companies. Therefore, these scripts were more 'down-to-earth' and could meet the aesthetic and tastes of ordinary people, especially catering to the aesthetic preferences of female audiences.

Moreover, these amateur screenwriters, if they became popular, had a high degree of creative freedom in their works, similar to the influence of Qiong Yao in Taiwan. Screenwriters had as much creative freedom as directors, and their tastes influenced the creation of film and television works. Many of these screenwriters were amateurs, and their aesthetic tastes surprisingly overlapped with those of some grassroots audiences.

If the success of Hong Kong cinema in the past was based on catering to the aesthetic preferences of male citizens, it was a 'man's fairy tale.' The commercial success of the Korean film industry, on the other hand, was because it was a 'woman's fairy tale.'"

Wang Qinan thought for a moment, "So, I ultimately concluded that the most important factors for the booming Korean film industry are: first, cultural policies that encourage and provide freedom to creators. Second, they commercialize and summarize successful formulas, promoting and replicating them. Third, they are down-to-earth, with high participation from ordinary people and high responsiveness to market feedback, adjusting their productions accordingly. Fourth, they operate in a market-driven manner, ensuring that successful films are released to the market, using the domestic market as a test bed, and then promoting them overseas to increase their success rate in foreign markets."

Wang Qinan's confident and insightful answers left different impressions on the teachers present.

Some were extremely impressed, while others thought he was too arrogant...

But no matter what, Wang Qinan was definitely the most memorable candidate for the examiners!