Chapter 47

"Did we do a bad job? Those guys, apart from criticizing this and that with their mouths, what else can they do? They've never even held a camera!"

"It will be the same in the future. We work our butts off, and then these 'film critics' just move their lips, and we become a pile of garbage."

"Stop complaining. Who made you not study film theory in the first place?"

"Everyone, do you know what the screenwriting department says about us? We're the new Hollywood slaves with no artistic aspirations!"

"So those bastards aren't planning to write commercial scripts for Hollywood? What noble saints!"

On the grass, a group of five college students, four boys and one girl, walked along, seemingly heading to the sports venue on the other side of the road. They caught a glimpse of a tall Asian teenager and a blonde little girl holding hands, a middle schooler and an elementary schooler, which seemed odd, but they didn't pay much attention and didn't stop.

Unexpectedly, the teenager turned and followed them, smiling, "Hey, guys, this is a bit like '8 1/2,' isn't it?"

The five of them paused, looking at him. One of them, a white young man with freckles and a baseball cap, smiled, "Kid, you know '8 1/2'?"

"8 1/2" is one of the masterpieces of Italian film director Federico Fellini, a classic of stream-of-consciousness cinema, primarily telling the story of a film director trapped in a creative crisis, struggling between dreams and reality. Everyone studying film would have seen this movie, but a middle school kid? Shouldn't he be obsessed with Lindsay Lohan?

"Surprised? There are art house theaters in America too!" Ye Wei laughed, introducing himself, "I'm Wei, and this is Anna. She's the lead actress in my film."

Anna smiled gracefully, "And we're on a date."

"Ha ha ha ha!" Everyone burst into laughter, their faces turning red in seconds. Film crew, lead actress, date...!

Middle schoolers can play with DVs, but they shouldn't talk so seriously, such nerds! Do they want to kill people with laughter!?

The red-haired white guy with the camera almost dropped it; the black-haired, broad-faced Asian guy was also laughing, as if watching a game of make-believe about making movies.

"Are you planning to shoot something like 'All About Eve'?" The big guy's laughter made everyone almost roll on the ground.

"No, no, they're more like 'Sullivan's Travels.' Wei, you're a director, right?" The freckled guy said, then started laughing wildly again.

The others were also laughing to death. "Sullivan's Travels" is an old black-and-white film:

A comedy director wants to make a serious film about the common people. To create it, he disguises himself as a poor person and immerses himself in the lives of the common folk. On the way, he meets a girl who dreams of becoming an actress and travels with her...

It's a classic black comedy in film history, and many later comedies trace their roots to it.

"You're right, I am a director." Ye Wei shrugged, his expression calm.

Anna frowned. Although she didn't know "Sullivan's Travels," she could see their disdain. "You're just a few years older, why look down on us? I think Wei understands film better than you. He wrote a great script!"

Her serious expression didn't stop their wild laughter. Only the female college student, after laughing enough, said, "Alright, they're just kids."

"It's fine, you can laugh all you want." Ye Wei smiled, perhaps you won't be laughing in a bit.

"I'm Darum, kids, how old are you?" The freckled guy asked, his face full of teasing. "Did you just run away from home?"

"Enough!" Anna glared at him. "My parents drove us here."

Oh, my God! Everyone really laughed until they were tired. What could they do with two kids? They just said their names, but the teenager actually asked about their majors and development directions. They were puzzled by how he knew about USC's teaching methods, but it wasn't a secret, so they told him.

All five were third-year film production majors, a typical student film crew: the one with the camera was Pete, majoring in cinematography; the Asian guy, Harry Kim, a Korean, was in charge of lighting; the one with the boom pole and shotgun microphone was Foley, responsible for sound recording; the brown-haired girl, Perea, was in charge of art design; and Darum was the producer and director.

Additionally, Perea and Darum were a couple.

"OK, OK..." Ye Wei looked at them as if they were five juicy steaks, asking, "Are you working on a short film project? Whose project is it?"

"Uh, Darum and Pete's..." The group's sense of strangeness grew. Darum had to ask, "Kid, how do you know so much?"

Anna looked up, as if talking to the sky, "I told you, he understands film."

This wasn't about understanding film; it was about understanding the college's operations! They couldn't figure it out. An alumnus? They hadn't heard of such a person in the college...

"I just know, it's not the Stone Age anymore." Ye Wei smiled, asking his third question, "Guys, how are your grades?"

"Why should I answer you..." Darum was almost driven crazy, and the others didn't want to answer either. Perea asked suspiciously, "What are you doing at USC?"

"Yes, as Anna said, I wrote a ten-minute short film script and am forming a crew to shoot it, so I came here to recruit. Are you interested?"

Everyone looked at each other, unsure whether to laugh or what to do. Darum pointed south, "Bro, are you lost? The arts high school is that way!"

"No, I'm from Harvard-Westlake. Are any of you Wolverines?" Ye Wei asked, hoping an alumnus would make things easier.

"We're all poor kids." "Wow, that's my dream place. I heard many children of stars go there. You're not one of them, are you?"...

No alumnus, Ye Wei didn't waste time with them: "Anyway, that's the deal. I'm here to seek collaboration sincerely. We'll shoot for three days, from the 12th to the 14th next month."

"Not interested..." Darum raised his hands in frustration, and everyone shrugged. If it weren't for the interesting Romeo and Juliet pair, they would have continued walking.

Anna looked at Ye Wei nervously, unsure what he had up his sleeve.

"Really?" Ye Wei smiled, already prepared with bait. He took something out of his backpack, a poster of "American Graffiti," and said, "Now, what do you see? Yes, this is 'Travolta's' autograph; and this, Lucas's."

"American Graffiti" (1973) is George Lucas's breakthrough work, and "Travolta" is one of the main characters, played by Ron Howard. Both are famous directors and USC alumni.

However... both signatures were his own imitations, which he had aged to look real.

"Wow!" Everyone's eyes lit up. They weren't star chasers; the college had many celebrity guest professors, and they often met big names at various events, including George Lucas. But this poster was still extremely attractive and valuable to them.

"How did you get it?" Darum asked urgently.

"eBay, money." Ye Wei seemed indifferent, scanning them, "Want it? Let's play a game. If you win, it's yours. If you lose, you have to help me. Of course, you can back out if you lose; I can't really sue you. What do you say?"

"Good idea!" Anna clapped excitedly, "What game?"

Everyone looked at each other again. What was this? Who was this kid? Why was he so confident...

"What game?" Darum also asked, wanting to hear what the kid had in mind.

"Maybe you've played it, maybe not." Ye Wei tapped the poster, a game he and his classmates often played in that dream:

"Names and names, first choose a filmmaker, then a type of work. Then take turns naming one of their works, no repeats. The one who can't name a work loses. If all works are named, it's a tie. Best of three or best of five, your choice."

Everyone laughed again. In other places, this was a nerd game, but at film school, it showed one's film knowledge and memory! The kid even wanted to play by profession, making the game extremely difficult.

Although the film production program didn't analyze films as much as the film theory program, students still had mandatory film history courses, focusing on specific periods and movements, like the 1940s-1950s, 1950s-1960s, the French New Wave, the Hollywood Golden Age, etc...

Plus, they were all film enthusiasts, having seen countless movies. A middle schooler playing with them? It was like a baby boxing with Tyson! An old lady playing basketball with Jordan!

"By the way, it's me against all five of you, at the same time." Ye Wei added.

"Wei! Are you sure?" Anna exclaimed, this was not only unfair but also too difficult.

The five college students were speechless. They had studied different periods of film history. Imagine the combined effect? It would be like an ant boxing with Tyson?

"No problem, I can handle it." Ye Wei winked at Anna, then held up the "precious" poster, "One word, play or not? College boys and girls."

Strange! The five hesitated, not out of fear, but because the situation was too strange...

After a while, Darum suddenly laughed, scratching his freckled nose, "Alright, but one-on-one. I don't want to bully a kid too much."

"Right." "Darum alone is enough." The other four agreed. It was just about teaching a kid a lesson; no need for all five.

"No, my crew needs all five of you, if you're good enough." Ye Wei's tone was already quite arrogant, "All at once."

"Kid, do you know how funny you are..." Darum was starting to want to teach him a lesson but held back out of moral considerations.

At this point, some curious students began to gather around, and after learning what was happening, they all laughed, "Play!" "See how many rounds he can last?" "Kid, are you selling that poster?" "Forget it, he's from Harvard-Westlake, he's not short of money."...

"If you don't play, I'll find others." Ye Wei looked at the new arrivals.

"They're scared..." Anna whispered mysteriously, and everyone could hear her clearly.

"Alright, alright, this is on you. I'll play! Best of three!" Darum shouted, "Sorry in advance for making you lose face in front of your little girlfriend." The crowd around them cheered, "Kid, choose a filmmaker, Lindsay Lohan?" "Or those Disney kids, which one?"

"You choose the filmmaker, I choose the profession. Speak up, no nonsense." Ye Wei smiled, and Anna started warming up, making punching sounds!

"Alright, let's go with Fellini." Darum was casual, since the kid had seen "8 1/2," let's go with Fellini, an Italian, to show his sophistication.

Ye Wei thought for a moment and said, "Director, of course. Listen, 'La Strada.'"

This kid was ruthless! Starting with the masterpiece "La Strada," Darum didn't hold back either, "8 1/2."

Whistles sounded, and the crowd's laughter grew even louder.