Hearing this, Jiang Miaomiao froze.
Although she had hoped for a photography-related position in a film crew, she never imagined she could directly become the cinematographer! In her mind, her role would merely be as a grip or similar position; becoming a photography assistant would have been extremely fortunate, let alone being the main camera operator—she hadn't even considered that possibility.
Yet this Director Shao Yichen was directly inviting her to be the cinematographer!
What status did a cinematographer hold in a film crew? Generally, its importance was second only to the director!
The film's visual language and artistry were entirely the cinematographer's responsibility!
Learning she would take on such an important position, Jiang Miaomiao hesitated. She hadn't even attended university, had minimal photography experience, and absolutely no film crew experience—could she really handle such a role?
Could this person who called herself "Shao Yichen," whom she had just met, really be trusted?
But she looked at the unreasonable customer, then at the studio manager glaring at her, and finally made her decision.
This environment was no longer suitable for her to continue working. She had been striving to learn photography techniques with the ultimate goal of one day appearing in a film's closing credits, but the photo studio could no longer offer her anything beyond a salary. Even that salary was meager due to colleagues excluding her from assignments.
Given these circumstances, leaving had become an inevitable choice!
Regardless of whether this director was telling the truth, with such an opportunity before her, she absolutely couldn't pass it up!
Based solely on how this self-proclaimed "Director Shao Yichen" had stepped forward when she was trapped in a difficult situation and bravely argued with the troublesome customer on her behalf, she was determined to work for this director!
Jiang Miaomiao nodded, no longer looking at the manager or customer, and turned to Shao Yichen: "I'll work with all my effort in your film crew!"
Shao Yichen before her seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and showed a gentle smile: "That's wonderful. Let's exchange contact information and leave this place to discuss salary and benefits as soon as possible—"
Before finishing her sentence, Shao Yichen's expression suddenly froze.
Just as Jiang Miaomiao grew anxious, she saw Shao Yichen quickly walk to the photo studio's reception desk, which had been watching the scene unfold.
"Ahem, although the atmosphere was a bit tense just now—but are my ID photos ready? I'm in a hurry to talk with the cinematographer, pressed for time..."
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Three hours later, Shao Yichen returned to her graduate dormitory room filled with packed luggage. Seeing no one around, she yanked off her formal jacket and excitedly waved it like a battle flag.
Cinematographer search operation: complete success!
Shao Yichen, you're truly a genius! This resolves the cinematographer issue that's been giving you a headache for days!
She had just finalized terms with Jiang Miaomiao. The young woman's working salary would follow the recruitment notice she had previously posted online: ten thousand yuan per week after deducting social insurance and housing fund. She had the system immediately draft a contract, which both parties signed, and she promptly paid the young woman half of the first week's wages—five thousand yuan—as a deposit.
After all, once Jiang Miaomiao resigned from the photo studio, she could no longer squeeze into the cramped apprentice dormitory there, and finding and renting an apartment would require money.
The young woman was visibly startled at seeing so much money and quickly expressed that she was still a novice and didn't dare accept such a high salary. But with Shao Yichen's insistence, she nervously signed the contract, and afterward, they exchanged phone numbers and WeChat contacts before temporarily parting ways.
Shao Yichen didn't know how Jiang Miaomiao felt about this sudden cinematographer position, but she was extremely satisfied with Jiang Miaomiao as her cinematographer.
Minimal photography experience! Zero film crew experience! No formal education in the field, meaning no theoretical knowledge of photography!
This was the perfect novice cinematographer to match her money-losing film crew!
Of course, her stepping forward when Jiang Miaomiao was having a conflict with the customer had nothing to do with whether she would join her crew—she simply couldn't stand seeing a young woman being bullied.
Shouldn't photography requirements be specified in advance? Saying nothing beforehand and letting the other party guess, then complaining about various issues after completion—wasn't that deliberately causing trouble?
However, she actually couldn't tell whether Jiang Miaomiao's photography was good or bad; she only knew it should be better than her own shaky, can't-hold-the-camera technique. At least audiences shouldn't complain about camera shake issues again, and that was all she required from a cinematographer.
Having resolved one problem, Shao Yichen was satisfied. She unbuttoned the top two buttons of her formal shirt, comfortably lay down on her dormitory bed, and opened her phone.
Come to think of it, after officially graduating she would need to move out of the dormitory, so finding an apartment should be added to her agenda...
As she was thinking about this, aimlessly refreshing apps on her phone, a notification suddenly popped up in her message bar.
[From Talent Direct Recruitment: Someone has applied for your {Film Crew Art Director Recruitment}.]
Shao Yichen sprang up from her dormitory bed like a leaping carp.
What a fortunate day! Just after resolving the crew's cinematographer issue, now someone was applying for the art director position!
An art director, as the name suggests, would be responsible for various tasks related to the film's aesthetics and visual appeal during the production process.
But perhaps that description was too general. Focusing specifically on Shao Yichen's small-budget film crew, with a total budget of only one million yuan, the art director would primarily handle two aspects—props and set design. Props involved designing and creating or purchasing items related to the film script, while set design meant creating indoor and outdoor scenes according to the story's environment.
Speaking of the art director tasks in her previous film, Shao Yichen had actually delegated them directly to the system, just as she had eventually abandoned doing the post-production editing herself.
Evidence showed that the system had performed excellently—too excellently!
Whether it was car accident photos, incident notifications, or death notices, everything could almost pass for authentic. As for the rental apartment set design, the system hadn't made many changes, but had added very useful props like couple photos and double toothbrush holders.
Having learned from the previous film's profit-making lesson, Shao Yichen realized she couldn't let the system put in full effort to undermine her again.
She needed to actively promote her "de-systemization" plan in her second film!
With this in mind, when posting cinematographer recruitment notices on websites and apps, she had also casually listed an art director position. The salary standard was the same as the cinematographer's: ten thousand yuan weekly after deductions, equaling forty thousand monthly, with a specific note about potential bonuses based on the film's performance after release. The job requirements, like those for the cinematographer, were basically non-existent.
Of course, this recruitment notice, like the cinematographer posting, had been equally ignored.
Shao Yichen had already given up hope—unlike cinematographers, art directors weren't strictly necessary for a film; if worst came to worst, she could even take on the role herself. Unexpectedly, just as she was about to give up, a resume suddenly arrived!
However, Shao Yichen wasn't blinded by excitement over this resume. She still cautiously reviewed it—what if she recruited a master who would elevate the entire film? She had to be vigilant against any unstable factors that might hinder her money-losing plan!
Yet the more she examined the resume, the more perplexed she became.
This resume didn't seem... like one for a film crew member?
This applicant appeared to be a manga artist!
Shao Yichen had a sudden thought and immediately set an interview time for ten o'clock the next morning.
If this person actually became her film crew's art director, they would be even more of an outsider than an amateur. When trying to lose money, hiring outsiders was definitely the right approach!
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The next day at ten in the morning.
Qin Lu sat awkwardly at the designated interview location—a coffee shop inside a university campus—feeling anxious and somewhat confused.
Had he really not encountered some kind of scam organization?
Otherwise, why hadn't they screened him out immediately after seeing his resume?
Hadn't this HR person realized that he had accidentally submitted the wrong resume last night?
Upon seeing the interview invitation this morning, he felt uneasy and doubtful, but ultimately abandoned further thought and came to this seemingly unprofessional interview location.
Because he truly had no money to pay next month's rent, which meant he had no money to be scammed out of anyway.
Qin Lu, pen name "Doghead Master," was originally a web comic artist. However, he didn't come from an art-related major and was entirely self-taught in drawing. The reason he had managed to gain readers was purely because his manga topics were innovative and conceptually unique, attracting readers who weren't solely focused on drawing technique.
He had begun creating manga during university, initially just as a hobby, but due to his distinctive conceptual approach, his first work actually gained modest popularity, providing him with some income. Coincidentally, he was graduating at that time, and with the difficult job market, he decided to turn his hobby into a profession and became a full-time artist.
But when he made manga his sole source of income, he realized how truly difficult it was to earn money from it.
Previously, he had updated his manga once a month. After becoming a professional artist, to maintain income and work popularity, he was forced to switch to weekly updates. With increased publishing frequency, his workload doubled, and he had no choice but to sacrifice some quality. This action angered some longtime readers, causing his income to decrease. Moreover, weekly updates reduced his thinking time, and the declining income triggered anxiety, preventing him from generating ideas he would have normally come up with, further causing the work's quality and income to decline...
He had fallen into a vicious cycle.
Finally, after six months of full-time work, he developed a stomach condition and was hospitalized, spending all the small savings he had accumulated during that half year.
After being discharged, he reflected painfully on his situation and made a firm decision.
No more full-time work!
Even if he worked as a graphic designer at a supermarket, making basic template posters, he would no longer work full-time!
With this mindset, he began submitting resumes on recruitment websites, sending his application to any position with the word "art" or "design" in the title without much consideration.
...But he hadn't realized that a film's art director could also be abbreviated as "art designer"!
Author's Note:
Qin Lu much later: It was through this coincidental opportunity that I rediscovered myself and ultimately embarked on the path of becoming an art director... Thanks to film, thanks to Director Shao.
Shao Yichen: No need to thank me, I didn't want this either.
First update today! Let me resolve both the cinematographer and art director issues today! Second update tonight.
Thanks to the little angels who cast Emperor Votes or poured Nutrition Fluid~
Reader "Long Live Sergeant Sa," poured Nutrition Fluid 168 bottles;
Reader "Cheng Feng," poured Nutrition Fluid 20 bottles;
Reader "My Beloved Yue Rong," poured Nutrition Fluid 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
(From the author's manual gratitude system~)