Best Director in Literature Department of Huayu

Chapter 14: Our Literature Department Can Still Produce Great Directors

For the next week, Lin Ruiyang locked himself in his dormitory to draw storyboards.

Storyboarding isn't exactly difficult, but it's not simple either. The real challenge isn't whether you can draw it, but whether you have a complete movie in your mind.

The saying "Opportunity favors the prepared mind" is absolutely true.

Lin Ruiyang felt somewhat fortunate that the years he spent doing odd jobs on film sets in his previous life, when he wanted to switch careers and become a director, weren't wasted. He followed the director and assistant director to the set, monitored the camera positions, listened to the scheduling, and whether he was scolded or secretly learned, he eventually figured out the process.

Otherwise, he would definitely have to learn it from beginning to end little by little, which would have taken up even more time.

As he drew, all the related knowledge from his memory flooded back, a clarity of mind he hadn't experienced in a long time.

As he finished writing the last storyboard, Lin Ruiyang flipped through the entire manuscript without making any changes.

He's not the type to strive for perfection in this area, and besides, this version is already good enough; further revisions would just be a waste of time.

He bound the storyboard and script together, stuffed them into a file bag, and pressed down the corners as he did so.

Midway through, Lin Ruiyang also inquired about Jin Kai and Li Li's recent situation, asking them what they were doing after graduation.

Unexpectedly, the two of them got together again and took on a short film for a graduate student from the directing department. They are currently on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia.

We chatted briefly before hanging up abruptly.

The air quality wasn't very good the day I went out; only wearing a mask could offer some protection against the sand particles.

The residential compounds along Xitucheng Road are quite old; the buildings are grayish-white, covered with ivy, and several bicycles are parked downstairs.

Lin Ruiyang went to the address and went up to the third floor.

The door was ajar, and he knocked once before a sound came from inside.

"Come in, no need to change your shoes."

The old man told him to sit wherever he liked: "Old Tian hasn't arrived yet, please wait a little longer."

Lin Ruiyang glanced around. The living room wasn't very big. Several printed scripts and photos were on the coffee table. The walls were covered with storyboards and scene diagrams, all hand-drawn, densely marked with camera positions and movement directions.

Having memories of his past life, he quickly recognized that these were the preliminary preparation materials for "Go Master".

In 04, Tian Zhuangzhuang was preparing for this Sino-Japanese co-production biopic, but later encountered funding problems, which delayed post-production for a long time.

About ten minutes later, the door was opened.

Tian Zhuangzhuang was in his early fifties, with slightly long hair, wearing frameless glasses, a faded polo shirt, and carrying a few sesame seed cakes in his hand.

"Old Liu, your student is here?"

He placed the sesame seed cake on the table, glanced at Lin Ruiyang, and asked, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"I've already eaten, thank you, Teacher Tian."

"Okay." Tian Zhuangzhuang sat down, picked up a sesame seed cake, and took a bite.

"So you must be Lin Ruiyang, right? I heard Lao Liu mention your film 'Comfort'. It was shot in one continuous take with a fixed camera and was even nominated for Venice. It's not easy to make something like that in your freshman year."

His tone was casual, as if he were talking about something very ordinary.

"Did you bring the script and storyboards?" Liu Yibing brewed tea and poured a cup for each of them.

Lin Ruiyang took the materials out of the file folder and handed them over. Tian Zhuangzhuang took them and first opened the storyboard, while Liu Yibing looked through the script next to him.

The living room suddenly fell silent, with only the sound of turning pages and Tian Zhuangzhuang chewing on a sesame seed cake.

Tian Zhuangzhuang watched slowly, occasionally pausing on certain frames to tap a few times with his finger before flipping back to check the camera angles. When he got to the scene of the confrontation in court, he paused for quite a while.

"How long did it take you to draw this set of scenes?"

About a week.

Have you drawn this before?

"I did a simple drawing once before when I was making a short film, this is the second time."

Tian Zhuangzhuang didn't respond, but continued flipping through the pages. After finishing the storyboard, he exchanged pages with Liu Yibing. He opened the script, but instead of reading from the beginning, he went straight to the end.

After watching the last scene, he closed the script and glanced at Liu Yibing.

"Old Liu, this student of yours is quite good. He writes excellent scripts and draws storyboards even better than some graduate students in directing. Why don't you transfer to our directing department?"

Liu Yibing was holding a teacup, about to take a sip, when he heard this and slammed the cup down on the table.

"Tian Zhuangzhuang, what do you mean?"

"It doesn't mean anything, I just think it's a waste for this kid to be in the literature department." Tian Zhuangzhuang took a bite of the sesame seed cake, chewing it with a crunch.

"Look at this storyboard. The camera position, shot size, and direction of movement are all clearly marked. How many directing students can draw like this?"

"He learned that on his own, what does it have to do with the directing department?"

"Yeah, if they can learn like this on their own, imagine how well they'd do after two years of systematic training in a directing department!"

Liu Yibing laughed in exasperation: "Tian Zhuangzhuang, I don't like hearing that. What do you mean it's a waste to put him in the literature department? What's wrong with the literature department? Can't a literature department produce good directors?"

"Your literature department is where screenwriters are trained—"

"What's wrong with screenwriters?" Liu Yibing interrupted him directly. "Without us screenwriters, what are you directors filming? Filming thin air?"

Lin Ruiyang sat to the side, looking down at his nose and pretending to be a wisp of air blending into the environment.

"Old Liu, don't argue with me, I'm just stating the facts." Tian Zhuangzhuang put down the sesame seed cake and patted the sesame seeds off his hands.

"Look at what our school has produced over the years. It seems like none of your literature departments have produced a single director, while the cinematography department at least has Zhang Yimou and Gu Changwei. Besides screenwriters, how many of you have actually sat in the director's chair?"

"That was in the past. The cinematography department was lucky to produce someone like Zhang Yimou back then. Ask Zhang Yimou, when he was filming 'Red Sorghum,' did he write the script himself?"

Tian Zhuangzhuang did not respond.

"Did he write the script himself when he was filming 'To Live'? Wasn't it supported by screenwriters like Yu Hua and Lu Wei? What is a director? A director is someone who takes a script and directs the film. But the prerequisite is that you have a script. Without a script, you, the director, are like a skilled cook without rice."

Liu Yibing pointed at Lin Ruiyang: "This kid, he was able to write a stage play and publish it in a core journal in his freshman year of college, and even won the Golden Word Award. Then he was able to make a short film and get it shortlisted for Venice."

"He's a sophomore now and hasn't even started school yet, but he's already written a feature film script and even drawn the storyboards himself. He did all the writing, directing, and everything else by himself."

Liu Yibing looked at Tian Zhuangzhuang with a hint of smugness in his tone.

"What does this show? It shows that our literature department can produce not only good screenwriters, but also good directors. And the kind who write and direct their own works!"

"That's why our literature department is much better than your directing and cinematography departments. We literature department understand storytelling. What is film? Film is storytelling. No matter how good your visuals are or how skilled your directing is, if the story doesn't hold up, it's all for nothing."

Liu Yibing got more and more excited as he spoke, as if he was venting all the unpleasantness he had experienced from the directing and cinematography departments.

"Alright, Lao Liu, I've got your words in mind." Tian Zhuangzhuang stood up, tidied up the script and storyboard on the coffee table, and handed them to Lin Ruiyang.

"Put it away and let's go see the dean."

"See the dean?" Lin Ruiyang was taken aback; the pace of the meeting was a bit too fast.

"Your teacher Liu has put it so bluntly. If I don't help you get this paper published, he'll be talking about me in the department for years to come."

Tian Zhuangzhuang walked towards the door, saying as she went, "Whether the Literature Department can produce great directors can't be determined by words alone; it has to be proven by their work. If your script is made into a film and wins an award, that will truly bring honor to the Literature Department."

He pushed open the door, glanced back, and asked, "Old Liu, are you coming or not?"

Liu Yibing quickly got up and finished the last sip of tea in his cup.

"Let's go, we need to strike while the iron is hot today."

Lin Ruiyang followed behind with the file folder. As he reached the door and was closing it, Liu Yibing suddenly patted him on the shoulder.

Did you hear what I just said?

"I heard you."

"Remember what you hear."

Liu Yibing's voice wasn't loud, but every word was substantial: "You're a literature major. Screenwriting is your root, directing is your wings. Only when your roots are deep can your wings fly far."

"If the directing department can produce great directors, if the cinematography department can produce great directors, then our literature department can too!"