blueteamnovel Chapter 77 Who Changed the Opening Credits?
Chapter 77 Who Changed the Opening Credits?
Chen Yan stepped over the scattering of film reels on the ground.
The man with the scissors was about to lower his head when the sharp tips of the scissors pressed against the beginning of the film.
"Mr. Luca, make him stop."
Chen Yan stared at the back of the figure wearing the old jacket.
Luca emerged from the shadows and stood to the side in front of Chen Yan.
"There's a problem with the film; that's the procedure. The technician is cleaning up the scrapped film."
Zhang Yuan strode up the steps behind Chen Yan.
"Clean up my ass! This isn't our copy at all! You dare to switch it out?"
Zhang Yuan grabbed the man's shoulder.
Luca stepped to the side to block Zhang Yuan, and pushed his arm horizontally.
"This is the screening room. No outsiders are allowed to touch the equipment until the technical verification is complete."
Chen Yan raised his hand and pressed down on Zhang Yuan's fist.
"Projectionist, look down at the film base at your feet."
The man with his back turned didn't move.
Chen Yan took a step forward.
The leather shoes made a dry, crisp sound as they stepped on the rubber sheet.
"35mm negative film, Kodak 5246. Our copies were produced at the Shanghai film processing plant using a vertical development process."
Chen Yan pointed to a section of film hanging down from the film inlet of the projector.
"The base color of this film is greenish. There are horizontal scratches up to five centimeters long on the edge of the film base."
He turned to look at Luca.
"These scratches are only seen on horizontal washing machines."
"This is not 'Thunder,' nor is it the master tape."
Luca's eye muscles twitched.
He looked at the light path directly below the projection port.
"Due to the power supply fluctuation in the hall just now, the mounting plate position may have shifted."
"We are checking the tablet box numbers."
Chen Yan sneered.
He took the roll of film out of his pocket and pulled out a sample piece.
"Six yards from the beginning of the film, there are traces of hand-applied glue around the edge of the fourth hole. This was done to increase the interlocking force."
"The roll hanging on the machine now has extremely smooth perforations; it's a brand new print."
Two short claps came from the doorway.
Henry leaned against the door frame.
He held an unlit pipe in his hand, his gaze fixed on Chen Yan's face.
"Director Chen. It seems there's been a slight misunderstanding between the artists and the technicians."
"Perhaps one of the early practice pieces accidentally got mixed in with the two sets of copies you brought?"
"After all, young people often confuse passion with career. This is not good news for competition scoring."
Henry took two steps forward.
The sound of his leather shoes tapping the floor tiles was very steady.
"The jury has been sitting in the front row for five minutes. If the screening is delayed by more than fifteen minutes, according to the rules, your score will be reduced by twenty percent."
"If I were you, I would quickly get this diligent projectionist to fix the machine, even if the picture quality is a bit bad."
Su Wan walked up the steps.
She was holding three brown paper folders, with blue signatures peeking out from the edges of the documents.
"Mr. Henry, since we're on the topic of rules, let's talk about the handover checklist."
Su Wan slapped one of the folders into Luca's arms.
"This is the receipt issued by the warehouse management office at 8:34 pm last night."
"Receipt number WB-092. Two copies of the injection library are provided, with seal numbers SH-001 and SH-002 respectively."
Su Wan turned to the second page, her fingertip pressing on the signature.
"There is no 'OLD CITY RAIN' written on it. There is also no record of the third roll of film being received into the warehouse."
"Director Luca, if you can't find that original copy with the SH-001 seal within five minutes, then we'll have to talk somewhere else."
Luca looked down at the documents.
He didn't speak, but his breathing began to quicken.
"The warehouse is very large, so there may have been a mistake during handling."
Chen Yan didn't wait for Luca to finish speaking.
He took out his Seagull camera and flipped to the close-up photo of the lead seal taken the night before.
On the camera screen.
There is a slight bend in the edge of the frosted label at the lead seal.
Chen Yan pointed to the new label on the aluminum alloy box next to him.
"The seal was still on last night. Now, the labels on this roll don't even have a crease."
"You cut open my lead seal and stuffed the scrap pieces inside."
"Mr. Luca. Destroying copies of the competition in Venice is not only a technical accident, but also a criminal offense."
Henry's expression froze.
He stopped fiddling with the pipe and glanced at the man with the scissors.
The man with the scissors flinched.
He put down the scissors and tried to slip out the back door.
The back door of the screening room was kicked open.
Wu Gang locked the back door from the inside.
He had a hand on the back of the neck of a porter in blue overalls with his left hand, and held up a red piece of paper with his right hand.
"Director Chen. He found it behind a fire hydrant."
That's the red seal on the original copy of "Thunder".
The date of printing and the name "Chen Yan" are clearly written on it.
The seal had been torn off.
The broken surface still smelled of fresh paste.
Wu Gang pushed the porter forward.
The porter slipped and fell to his knees in the pile of film.
"He was trying to throw it into the garbage chute. I stopped him."
Wu Gang stared at the man.
"And this too."
Wu Gang took a small black metal box out of the porter's pocket.
Zhang Yuan recognized it at a glance.
That's a high-intensity demagnetizer.
"Son of a bitch!"
Zhang Yuan cursed loudly, slamming his fist into his palm.
"You want to use this thing to magnetize your vocal cords and make the whole audience hear noise?"
Luca took a step back.
He turned to look at Henry.
Henry had already turned and headed towards the door.
He quickened his pace, and his figure disappeared into the shadows.
The lights in the projection room suddenly turned bright white.
The backup power supply is now fully connected.
"Luca."
Chen Yan pointed to the spare turntable on the side of the projector.
"Three minutes. Connect the SH-002 spare disk."
"If you can't do that, I'll take these pieces of evidence to the first floor. There are thirty international journalists sitting there who haven't left yet."
Luca took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He turned around.
The movements were extremely swift.
"Projectionist. Remove the faulty reel. Install the spare reel."
The man with the scissors threw them away.
He looked down and operated the machine.
The discs spun rapidly on the shelf.
The film passes through gears and light paths, producing a regular friction sound.
Chen Yan glanced at his watch.
Seven fifty-eight.
"Su Wan, take Wu Gang back to the audience seats. Keep watch in the back row."
"Zhang Yuan, keep an eye on the light gate. If there's a problem with the grating, pull the manual switch immediately."
Chen Yan walked out of the screening room.
He was standing on the second-floor viewing platform.
Looking down at the screening room below.
The judges' panel fell silent.
The elderly professor in the front row adjusted his reading glasses.
Lin Qingqiu sat in the center of the fourth row.
Her back was extremely straight.
The color of the cheongsam appeared deep and somber under the dim light.
She didn't turn around.
The doors to Hall 3 were slammed shut.
"Smack."
All the wall lights went out at the same time.
The projector emitted a cylindrical beam of intense light.
The screen jerked slightly.
Black background with white text.
The font is bold.
Thunder
The first frame pops up.
The wilderness on the outskirts of Yanjing.
The ground was covered in mud.
Lin Qingqiu's pale hand slowly emerged from the mud.
Fingertips were covered in black mud.
Every knuckle was trembling violently.
A deep rumble of thunder echoed through the hall via the speakers.
It's not a synthesized sound effect.
That was real, muffled thunder with electrical noise.
Several people on the judging panel sat up straight.
Screen switch.
Lin Qingqiu's profile.
The veins on her forehead bulged as she held her breath.
His eyes were bloodshot.
There are no lines.
Only heavy breathing could be heard.
That was a real feeling of suffocation.
Chen Yan leaned against the second-floor handrail.
He closed his eyes.
Listening to the thunderous sounds that pounded against my eardrums.
The sound of the film reel spinning was right behind me.
Steady and powerful.
The screening lasted ninety minutes.
No one left.
There was no noisy conversation.
Until the final scene appeared on the screen.
In the midst of a torrential downpour.
The ruins of that collapsed clock tower.
The camera slowly zooms out.
The black background quickly engulfs the image.
The screening room was plunged into absolute darkness.
Five seconds.
ten seconds.
"Smack."
The elderly professor in the front row stood up.
He didn't speak.
He clapped his hands for the first time.
Then.
A wave of applause spread from the front row.
Henry sat in the last row.
He did not applaud.
His face was hidden in the shadows.
I can't see their expressions clearly.
Chen Yan walked down the second set of stairs.
Su Wan and others were at the exit.
Her eyes were slightly red, but her lips were tightly pursed.
"Did we win?"
She asked softly.
Chen Yan did not answer.
He looked at Luca, who was emerging from the crowd.
Luca walked in a hurry.
He buttoned one of his uniform buttons wrong.
Luca stopped three steps away from Chen Yan.
He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention.
Luca pulled a white note out of his pocket.
He moved very quickly.
The note was slipped into Chen Yan's hand.
"Director Chen. Someone asked me to give this to you."
Chen Yan opened his palm.
The sticky notes were ordinary projection record sheets.
A line of messy penmanship was written on the back:
[Last row, left side, tonight at 9 PM, bring your old movies.]
The ink wasn't completely dry yet.
It leaves a dark blue ink dot on the paper.
"Where's the mover?"
Chen Yan put away the note.
They ran away.
Luca looked down at his toes.
He said there was an emergency at home and left without taking his salary.
Chen Yan looked towards the audience.
The jury members are filing out.
People were whispering about the close-up shot of the mud pit.
Lin Qingqiu remained seated.
Wu Gang stood behind her, holding a black umbrella.
Chen Yan turned around.
He looked at the last seat in Hall 3.
Last row, left side.
That seat with the sensor installed.
There was no one there at the moment.
All that remained was a forgotten, black, empty coffee cup.
A trace of white powder remained at the rim of the coffee cup.
Chen Yan walked over.
He stretched out his hand.
My fingertips brushed against the rim of the cup.
The powder has a slightly bitter taste.
It smells like a cheap stabilizer.
"Go to the hospital."
Chen Yan turned to Su Wan and said.
"No one is allowed in before 9 PM tonight."
He walked out of the screening room.
It was noon in St. Mark's Square outside.
The sea breeze is fishy and damp.
The air became a bit sticky from the blowing.
The sunlight shone on Chen Yan's face.
He pulled up his coat collar.
"bite."
St. Mark's Campanile in the distance.
The clock struck noon precisely on time.
Chen Yan stepped over the paving stones of the square.
The note was in my pocket.
With each step, his thighs pounded against the ground.
he knows.
The real battle has only just begun.
That album, "Rain in the Old City," shouldn't have been included.
It's somewhere in Venice, waiting for him to cut it off himself.