Chapter Seven: Music Video Shoot

The next morning, Zhang Qianjun arrived at a photography studio—the very advertisement job that Glasses Brother had introduced yesterday.

“Director Li, hello. I’m Zhang Qianjun, a freshman from the Beijing Film Academy’s Acting Department. Brother Yan Jing sent me,” he said.

The man called Director Li sized him up and nodded slightly. Then he remarked, “Old Li wasn’t bluffing. This young man here is like a high-definition, filtered version of Erlang Shen.”

“You flatter me. I’m nowhere near Erlang Shen,” Zhang Qianjun replied modestly.

“No need to be so humble. Let me explain today’s shoot. Yan will walk along that green carpet, stop at the marked spot, raise his hand with the palm facing the camera. Later, they’ll Photoshop a phone into the shot. No lines. Two thousand yuan. Any questions?”

“No, I’ll follow your instructions.”

“Good. You brought a black suit, right? Try it on. If it looks good, you can wear your own clothes.”

Zhang Qianjun changed into the suit and returned. Director Li took one look and thought, damn, this guy is seriously handsome! Broad shoulders, narrow waist, long and strong limbs, flawless skin. Just a quick trim and some light makeup—powder and lip gloss—and he’d be camera-ready. No heavy makeup needed.

This young man was comparable to how Li was in his youth.

“All right, this suit it is. Xiao Wang, take him to sign the contract.”

While preparing for the shoot, Zhang Qianjun chatted casually with the crew. For ads like this, the client sets the requirements, the advertising company takes the order, and then outsources the production to a content team.

The young man he spoke with said, “Don’t be fooled by the short shoot. Including post-production, the client probably pays over a hundred thousand yuan.”

The shoot was simple—just walking back and forth. After it wrapped, Zhang Qianjun received twenty pink tickets on the spot. Director Li left his contact info and promised to reach out for future jobs.

Everything went smoothly. Zhang Qianjun had completed his very first advertisement. But what was unusual was that on the way back to his residence, he casually opened his system and was amazed to find that the mere two thousand yuan payment had yielded 120,000 points.

“Could it be that the person responsible in a project gets the full output points of the entire project? So this client must have spent 120,000 yuan on this ad?”

If that was the case, then filming ads was his most important source of points—though he should stick to solo shoots only.

Back home, Zhang Qianjun resumed his daily routine: attending classes when there were any, and studying stocks or submitting resumes online when there weren’t.

The next day, he got up early and headed to school.

“This acting department even has morning classes. It’s like the old days when theater troupes trained early in the morning. No wonder those who could get acting gigs had already left. Waking up early to practice like this every day is tedious. Many productions don’t even use original voices. Actors who aren’t ambitious just get by.”

At noon, as scheduled, Zhang Qianjun went to the cafeteria and met Director Liu, whom he had contacted via an online forum a couple of days earlier. Liu appeared to be about twenty-two or twenty-three, with a buzz-cut rounded hairstyle, curved eyebrows, and a moustache and beard framing his lips and chin, giving him a strangely comical yet earnest look—much like a science major preparing for graduate school in a web drama.

“Hello, I’m Liu Chang from the 2006 Directing Department. I just graduated last summer and am currently in charge of the 2007 Acting Department’s graduation play.”

“Hello, senior. I’m Zhang Qianjun, from the 2010 Acting Department. This time, I want to shoot a music video for my new song.”

“Sure, what’s the song? Is it recorded? I’ll listen while checking the lyrics. Are you a singer? Why do you want to shoot your own MV?”

Zhang Qianjun handed over the prepared lyrics and got his phone ready to play the song.

“I’m just an amateur online singer. I post songs online casually. I mainly want to shoot an MV to show my face. Otherwise, people just hear your voice without seeing you, and then the song is famous but the singer isn’t.”

Liu Chang looked up from the lyrics, a bit convinced. “Your singing is indeed not bad.”

“I’m a few years older, so can I just call you Qianjun? By the way, with that singing skill, haven’t any record labels signed you yet?”

“Just call me Qianjun, senior. Several labels have approached me, but the contracts aren’t worthwhile. Plus, you know how rampant piracy is here; you can’t make money just by releasing songs.”

Liu nodded. “True. Singing well isn’t enough; you need someone to promote you. Only when you’re popular can you make money. It’s like acting. Even Zhou Naichai was a junior songwriter at Wu Zhongxian Company for two years before getting a chance. But after all these years, she only has one hit.”

“Exactly. That’s why I just casually release songs. I want to shoot an MV; if it gets popular, maybe I can make some money performing gigs. Just want to earn a bit more.”

Liu agreed. “Right, making money is always good. Though, I might be wrong, but these lyrics have a certain meaning.”

“The song does focus on minority groups,” Zhang admitted.

Liu felt a chill in his chest. Could this handsome junior be into that? He had heard some folks really liked burly, bearded ‘bear’ types. Damn, was this guy hitting on me?

Seeing Liu’s silence and expression, Zhang Qianjun immediately got annoyed.

“No, what are you thinking? First, I only like women—fair-skinned, beautiful, well-proportioned, long-legged beauties. Second, even if I were gay, I definitely wouldn’t fancy you! Don’t worry about us ‘appreciating chrysanthemums under the moon’ together.”

“No, no, misunderstanding! It’s just that the song really has that vibe, but the lyrics are well written, and the title ‘Rose Boy’ has a certain charm.”

Liu gave a thumbs-up as he spoke.

“How do you want to shoot the MV? Story-driven or mainly just shots of you singing?”

“I don’t want it like those BL novels,” Zhang said puzzled. “That’s not the core meaning of this song.”

“No, that would be too clichéd and one-sided. We should focus on a beauty that the world doesn’t understand. ‘Rose Boy’ is like a painting, and you are the viewer.”

“Sounds good. Director Liu, you’re truly a top student in directing.”

“If you agree, we’ll do it this way. I’ll contact the crew. Once everyone’s here this afternoon, we’ll discuss it together.”

Zhang felt Liu had some skill and agreed. They set a meeting for the afternoon. Liu went to recruit the team while Zhang stayed to eat.

After two dull theory classes in the afternoon, Zhang received Liu’s message and went back to the noon meeting spot.

“This is senior Han Qiming from the 2005 Photography Department—the top photographer among the post-80s generation here, second only to Teacher Chen. And this is lighting technician Li Kai, also a senior from our school.”

“Don’t listen to his bragging. There are better photographers born in the 80s than me, but I won’t agree that I’m worse than Teacher Chen. Chen’s photography can’t even compare to amateurs; his strength lies in authenticity,” Han Qiming said with a smile, resembling a youthful film lead.

Zhang quickly sized up the two newcomers—both young, about twenty-three or twenty-four. The Photography Department really churned out handsome men.

Han Qiming indeed looked like a modern idol drama’s male lead. As for Li Kai, he was short and ordinary-looking for a lighting tech but had a sincere, honest look, probably skilled.

“Hello, Senior Han, Senior Li,” Zhang greeted warmly, then turned to Liu.

“What else do we need for the MV shoot? When do we start?”

“The MV crew is complete, and we can rent equipment directly from the school. The only issue is casting one more actor. There are two males on screen: a dancer and a singer. The singer is you, so we need a male dancer around 18-20 years old, not tall, with fair and handsome features.”

Not tall, male, fair, handsome, and good at dancing, about 20? Zhang thought about this description and suddenly recalled Xiang Liu. What was Tan Jian doing now? He remembered Tan came from a boy band and was under Glasses Brother’s company.

With that in mind, Zhang took out his phone and said, “Wait a moment, I’ll make a call.”

“Brother Yan Jing, what are you busy with? Did you get the cut I sent you? Haha, I promised you a cut, so you’re definitely getting it. Can’t let my part-time manager work for nothing.

I want to ask you something. Is Tan Jian under your company?

I don’t know him personally, but I’ve seen info online. I’m shooting an MV and need a male lead. Do you think I can ask him? Please analyze if this is feasible.

How much would it cost? I really don’t know. Let me check with our team budget. Hang on, I’ll call you back.”

After hanging up, Zhang asked the three crew members, “What’s a reasonable pay for such an MV?”

Han Qiming and Liu exchanged a glance, then said, “If it’s one of our classmates, just a meal will do. For students from the Beijing Dance Academy, maybe 500 to 1000 yuan, since it’s just an MV, not story-driven, and only one or two days of work.”

Hearing this, Zhang dialed Glasses Brother again.

“Brother Yan Jing, my team said the budget is 3000 yuan. Is that okay?”

“What? Not even adding a zero? Damn, are these mediocre idols really that expensive? It’s just a half-day cameo!

Huh? Shooting a MV for an unknown online singer like you? Doesn’t match your level? What level do you have?

Your company’s expectation is the Chinese version of TVXQ? Brother Yan Jing, your product planning department is totally overthinking this. I can’t afford this. Thanks, see you next time—I’ll buy you a meal. Bye~”

Zhang hung up, feeling a bit annoyed. “Damn actors really make money.” Then he looked at Han.

“Brother Qiming, you said 500 to 1000 for Beijing Dance Academy students sounds about right, right? You seem experienced. I’ll give you 1500 yuan to handle this role.”

Before Han could answer, Zhang added, “Gentlemen, it’s about time to eat. Let’s chat over dinner. Anyone not eat lamb?

There’s a place at the west gate of school that roasts lamb legs. Let me treat you all. Their lamb ribs and legs are the best in Yanjing. Let’s go!”