sinovels Chapter 50 The Final Warm-up of the Movie
Chapter 50 The Final Warm-up of the Movie
The production team asked Luo Jinnian to do some promotion on Weibo, so he opened his nominal main account.
(Luo Jinnian)
My movie has finished filming and is officially scheduled for release during the Spring Festival. I hope everyone will support it.
His main account only gained significant traffic during his school's National Day performance, when he sang "Ode to Young China" and it was reprinted by mainstream newspapers. After that, his account remained inactive. So when he posted this Weibo, it didn't attract any attention—completely as he expected.
He then opened another of his literary accounts:
(Early Spring Tea)
[@Luo Jinnian, Director Mo has always been a very insightful director. The two young leads in "Ice Love Song" are both very reliable. I will definitely support this movie.]
His pen name has changed quite a bit lately. The impact of two consecutive science fiction works has made him a "model child" in the eyes of many adults. Media recognition has also propelled him to the forefront of public attention—in other words, he hasn't lacked attention at all lately.
This Weibo post was immediately shared and commented on by many people.
"What kind of movie is it? It has an ice-themed title, it can't be related to ice skating, can it? I don't think there are any movies like this in China."
"I'm guessing it's an art film. But what I'm really curious about is the relationship between these two young people. Whenever something happens between them, they always seem to help each other out."
"Perhaps geniuses attract each other. That Luo Jinnian, although I don't know what other special talents he has, he can act in movies directed by big directors and compose his own music, which is quite impressive."
"I think I recognize him! Isn't that Luo Jinnian the creepy boy from that hugely popular suspense drama a few years ago? The one who played the little psychopathic killer!"
Someone dug up clips of Luo Jinnian from a suspense drama back then. The sinister look in his eyes when facing the camera at such a young age was just as impressive as when acting with adult actors, sending chills down people's spines.
In contrast, his performance of "A Young China's Manifesto" at the school's National Day celebration showcased a completely different aura—clear, upright, and with a rich, resonant voice. Comparing the two clips side-by-side, netizens expressed a stark contrast, asking, "Just who is this kid?"
"Wait a minute, even a big shot like 'Early Spring Tea' personally endorsed him? What kind of amazing social circle is this?"
Finally, finally, Luo Jinnian's identity was fully exposed—although Director Mo was also secretly involved in the process.
Director Mo revealed some more details about the film on Weibo, posting a still from the movie set on a frozen lake in Northeast China: a boy and a girl wearing ice skates stand backlit, with rows of snow-covered pines in the distance. The composition is exquisite, brimming with atmosphere. The caption is simply: "See you during the Spring Festival."
Once this still was released, even casual observers started to show interest. After all, Director Mo's aesthetic sense is widely recognized; although his previous art films weren't box office hits, every frame was wallpaper-worthy. Now, with the endorsement of a top figure in the cultural circle like "Early Spring Tea," coupled with the filter of Luo Jinnian being a "former suspense drama pervert + sunny arts performance youth + hidden composer," his popularity has visibly surged.
Luo Jinnian raised an eyebrow as he watched the constant stream of follow and comment notifications popping up in the backend of his main account. He hadn't had any hope for this account at all, but thanks to the pseudonym, it had been dug up by netizens with their relentless digging. After thinking for a moment, he decided to strike while the iron was hot and cooperate with Director Mo's arrangements.
Director Mo quickly sent a private message: "Film a video of you and Xiao Gu together. Keep it simple. Just wave to the camera and say a few words about the movie. Don't act, the more natural the better."
Luo Jinnian relayed Director Mo's message to Gu Yanxi. Gu Yanxi was an experienced child star, and was very familiar with the publicity process, so it was no problem for him.
The two met at a makeshift studio set up by the film crew and filmed a few takes using their phone's front-facing camera. In the first take, Luo Jinnian introduced himself in a serious manner: "Hello everyone, I'm Luo Jinnian, and I play... the male character in 'Ice Love Song'."
He got stuck for a while, which made Gu Yanxi laugh for ages.
The two relaxed a bit and took turns saying the movie's release date information. At the end, Gu Yanxi suddenly leaned close to the camera, smiled, and whispered, "Actually, we practiced the skating part for several months and fell terribly. Everyone must go see it, otherwise all those falls will have been for nothing." After saying that, she deliberately rolled up her sleeves to show the bruises that had almost faded away—they were practically invisible now.
Luo Jinnian added casually from the side, "She fell twenty-eight times, I fell thirty-one times. It's obvious who suffered more."
Gu Yanxi immediately turned her head and glared at him: "That's because you did more things than me! You were counting?!"
"Definitely not, it's all in my mind."
After the video was filmed, Director Mo reviewed the footage and sent a long string of exclamation marks in the WeChat group for top directors, saying, "This is the secret to generating traffic."
Humans are ultimately creatures of appearance. No matter how many other methods are used, nothing beats a boy and girl smiling sweetly at each other on screen. This video, less than a minute long, was shared over 50,000 times within two hours of being posted. The comments section was filled with "They're such a good match," "So cute," "Those two kids are just too adorable," and "Why am I actually starting to ship them?"
Even better, Director Mo had a stockpile of "materials" on hand. He had his assistant open the camera and pull out a massive amount of footage he'd taken when he'd taken the two kids to Northeast China for a life experience trip: the two of them helping each other up and stumbling along on the ice the first time they went on the ice; Gu Yanxi almost doing the splits because her skates slipped, and Luo Jinnian quickly grabbed her down jacket hood, resulting in them both falling into a snowdrift; the two of them sitting on a bench by the ice rink during breaks; and one scene from after work in the evening, the setting sun turning the ice surface orange-red, the two of them gliding slowly on the ice, with no music, only the soft rustling of their skates cutting through the ice…
There aren't any particularly dramatic plot points, but everyone really enjoys the heartwarming everyday life of the children.
The concept of making a vlog isn't popular yet, but what Director Mo did was exactly the logic of a vlog. He posted two videos every day, following the schedule of the movie's release, showing the two children from the time they met to when they became friends, from clumsily learning to skate to later being able to spin, lift, and dance freely on the ice.
It keeps the audience in suspense.
The first day will feature "First Encounter", the second day "First Skating Experience", and the third day "Teamwork".
On the fourth day, the fifth day… viewers followed these daily scenes like they were watching a TV series, eagerly awaiting each new episode. Some even began analyzing the micro-expressions of the two actors frame by frame, writing lengthy posts. Before the movie was even released, the pairing of Luo Jinnian and Gu Yanxi had already become a sensation.
Luo Jinnian leaned back on the sofa, scrolling through the lively comments, when his phone vibrated. It was a message from Gu Yanxi: "Director Mo is amazing. I'm almost shipping us after watching the video."
That's bad.
The number of followers on the official Weibo account of the movie "Ice Love Song" has steadily increased thanks to Director Mo's daily "feeding" campaign, and the anticipation under the official posters is growing stronger. The competition during the Spring Festival film season is always fierce, but Director Mo doesn't seem worried this time.
He still had a trump card up his sleeve—an original end-credits song that Luo Jinnian wrote for the movie, with lyrics and music composed entirely by him.
At this moment, everything is just beginning.