PNB Chapter 308: Another Oscar Nomination
Chapter 308: Another Oscar Nomination
Chapter 307: Another Oscar Nomination
Someone has compiled a list of the other nominees for Best Original Screenplay at this year's Oscars online.
Birdman: The top favorite at this year's Oscars, ultimately sweeping four awards including Best Picture and Best Director. Iñárritu used a pseudo-one-shot technique to expose the glitz and absurdity of the Hollywood industry. In the pre-awards season, it almost swept all the screenwriting awards and was the undisputed favorite to win.
"Boyhood": Richard Linklater spent 12 years making this film, which records the complete growth of a boy. It is a rare creative sincerity in film history. The script uses extreme simplicity to express the weight of life. It has long been regarded as a masterpiece of the year by the industry.
The Grand Budapest Hotel: Wes Anderson's masterpiece, with its exquisite aesthetic style, seamless script structure, and absurd yet tender narrative, achieved both box office and critical acclaim worldwide, making it the uncrowned king in the hearts of countless movie fans.
Nightcrawler: Dan Gilroy's screenwriting debut, using the story of a cold-blooded journalist to tear open the dark side of the media industry. The script is fast-paced and the characters are well-developed, and it has been called "the best thriller script in the last decade" by film critics.
They are all favorites to win the championship.
The Hollywood Reporter immediately issued a breaking news report with the headline, "The biggest dark horse in Oscar history! Student short film breaks into Best Original Screenplay, Chen Xun is aiming for the Oscar again."
Variety delved into the film's background: "Chen Xun played a decisive role in making this short film stand here!"
Shock was followed by questions.
Many public relations teams from major Hollywood studios and film critics have publicly spoken out, implying that the nominations were rigged.
"A 30-minute student short film does not meet the criteria for the main competition. Its inclusion is solely due to the connections Chen Xun made at the previous Oscars."
"Best Original Screenplay is an award for feature films. To nominate a short film is disrespectful to the creators of the other four feature films that put their heart and soul into their work."
Soon, information was leaked by USC students.
Many of them were Chen Xun's students when he taught at USC, and many of them also participated in the filming of the movie.
"This film was originally Lee So-yeon's graduation project. It was Chen Xun who set the core theme of memory fighting against forgetting, which led to the story that followed."
"During filming, Chen Xun not only acted for free, but also guided the crew through everything from emotional control in crying scenes to the blocking and choreography in long takes. He personally guided them through the entire process."
"The final cut was all dictated by Chen Xun. Chen Xun was absolutely the core of this film's journey from a student project to the Student Oscars, and then to the main Oscar competition."
Once the revelation came out, Hollywood's doubts immediately diminished by more than half.
No one can deny that Chen Xun's Best Supporting Actor win at the last Academy Awards for "The Hunger Games" proved his acting prowess.
But no one could have imagined that his control over scriptwriting and the entire film production process would be this formidable.
They managed to push a student's graduation project, which was on the verge of being scrapped, all the way to an Oscar nomination.
On the other end of the phone, Lee So-yeon's voice trembled uncontrollably as she sobbed uncontrollably, crying and laughing at the same time, shouting, "Chen Xun oppa, we've been nominated for an Oscar! We've really been nominated!"
This South Korean girl, studying alone in the United States, went from the despair of not being able to write a script, to the excitement of winning a student Oscar, and now to the ecstasy of being nominated for an Oscar.
She knew very well that without Chen Xun, there would be no "The Last Roll of Film".
"The academy sent an official invitation; the entire production team needs to attend the awards ceremony together. Oppa, you absolutely have to come back to Los Angeles! Without you, I don't dare stand on that stage alone!"
As Chen Xun looked at the nomination news popping up on his phone, a smile flickered in his eyes.
Helping Lee So-yeon revise the script and direct the film was just a side job, and also a way to get off to a good start for the long-term mission of "the road to independent films".
Unexpectedly, this short film actually made it all the way to the Oscar main competition.
[Progress of "Ten Thousand People Draw Out the Streets" +1%, Current Total Progress: 83%]
[Hollywood film industry reputation rises slightly]
When the news of the nomination reached China, Weibo crashed instantly.
Related topics skyrocketed to the top of the trending search list:
#TheLastRollOfFilmOscarNominations#
#ChenXunWinsOscarsForSecondTime#
#Those who laughed at him for taking on students' assignments have shut up#
Three topics topped the charts in a row!
The harsher the mockery before, the more humiliating the reversal is now.
When Chen Xun was filming this short film at an old video store in Koreatown, Los Angeles, a passerby took a picture of him and posted it online.
The hashtag #ChenXunRelegatedToTakingStudentAssignments# trended on social media for an entire day.
Countless marketing accounts and haters mocked him for ruining his career.
Many industry insiders privately speculated that Chen Xun had no resources in Hollywood because of the photo scandal, which is why he took on these student short films that offered no fame or fortune.
This student project, which was widely ridiculed, has now made it all the way from the Student Oscars to the main Oscar competition, where it has been nominated for Best Original Screenplay.
The comment section exploded, with netizens flooding the screen with comments: "My God! I'm stunned! Half a year ago, the whole internet was laughing at him for taking on student assignments, and now he's got those assignments nominated for an Oscar? This is such a slap in the face!"
"Who would understand! This is an Oscar-winning Best Original Screenplay! A student short film got in, what kind of incredible luck does Chen Xun have?"
"Although the nomination was for Best Screenplay, which isn't directly related to Chen Xun's performance, who doesn't know that Chen Xun is the soul of this film?"
"Hilarious! Where are those people who mocked Chen Xun for not doing well? Come out and show yourselves! He won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and then immediately went on to compete for another Oscar with a student short film. How many people in the Chinese entertainment industry can match that level of ambition?"
"I watched the student Oscar-winning version of this short film! Chen Xun's portrayal of the film repairman was absolutely brilliant! The scene where he plays the last roll of film for the Alzheimer's patient brought me to tears! His performance was definitely the key to this film's success!"
"What kind of Oscar-lucky charm is Chen Xun? He won Best Supporting Actor before, and this year he's nominated for another film, a student short film at that! It's unbelievable!"
Meanwhile, in the conference room in the capital.
At the preparatory meeting for the core creative team of "The Wandering Earth," Guo Fan stood in front of the projection screen, excitedly introducing the latest progress of the project to the team: "I can officially announce to everyone that our project's 6000 million yuan funding gap has been completely filled!"
"The new investor, who also plays our male lead Liu Peiqiang, is none other than Oscar-winning actor Chen Xun!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the expected applause did not erupt in the conference room.
Instead, there was only silence.
The production manager, appointed by the investors and seated at the end of the conference table, spoke first, his tone filled with undisguised skepticism: "Director Guo, it's not that we don't believe in you. We acknowledge that Chen Xun is an Oscar winner, but he has always worked in Hollywood, and there are simply no successful commercial film examples in China."
"All of his high-grossing films in the country are Hollywood movies!"
"Our film has a total investment of several hundred million yuan, and it's expected to be a box office hit. Casting an actor who has never acted in a domestic commercial film as the male lead is too risky."
"Would a Hollywood actor experience cultural incompatibility if they appeared in a Chinese science fiction film?"
"In comparison, choosing a popular domestic actor seems like a safer bet."
As soon as these words were spoken, others immediately echoed them.
The head of the special effects team frowned and replied, "Chen Xun only filmed one art film, 'Crosscurrent,' after returning to China. Apart from that, he only made Hollywood action films."
"Whether he can handle the role of Liu Peiqiang, a typical Chinese father figure, and whether he can adapt to the filming pace in China are all unknowns."
"Some people say that he couldn't make it in Hollywood after the previous photo scandal, so he returned to China to look for projects."
The art group leader added quietly, "It's being said in the industry that he used to even take on student assignments, so I'm afraid he's really running out of resources."
One question after another made Guo Fan blush.
He slammed his hand on the table, trying to defend Chen Xun: "You all simply don't understand! Chen Xun's understanding of the script and his control over the film are far superior to the vast majority of directors in the industry!"
"He saw right through the problems in my script and captured the essence of Liu Peiqiang's character in a single sentence. He was absolutely the best choice for Liu Peiqiang!"
"But Director Guo, these are all your subjective feelings."
The production manager remained adamant: "What we need is market feedback, a guarantee of box office success!"
With neither side willing to compromise, the atmosphere in the meeting room grew increasingly tense.
Just as Guo Fan was sweating profusely, trying to reveal all the details of his conversation with Chen Xun that day, the conference room was suddenly filled with the sound of cell phones vibrating.
One sound after another.
The assistant screenwriter sitting at the front suddenly stood up, almost dropping his phone, and shouted in a trembling voice, "Director Guo! Something terrible has happened! 'The Last Roll of Film,' starring Chen Xun, has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay!"
One sentence silenced the entire conference room instantly.
Everyone instinctively took out their phones and opened Weibo.
What greeted the eye was a completely paralyzed Weibo interface and a trending topics list that had exploded.
They casually clicked on a trending topic and saw the complete story.
Following that, the internal leaks from USC also became a trending topic.
The people who were just questioning Chen Xun turned pale as they looked at their phone screens, lowered their heads, and could no longer utter a word of doubt.
They were just mocking Chen Xun for taking on student assignments because he was doing poorly.
But a student's homework that someone casually photographed got nominated for an Oscar.
Chen Xun's ability to transform a nearly scrapped graduation project into an Oscar nominee demonstrates a level of control over the script that they can't even begin to grasp.
How many actors in China today can bring a short student film to crash Weibo and cause the entire internet to go viral?
Guo Fan, standing ramrod straight in the silent conference room, looked at the production manager who had been the most vocal in his criticism: "Do you still think that Chen Xun can't carry this film's box office or the role of Liu Peiqiang?"
The production manager looked extremely embarrassed.
Those who had objected earlier fell silent.
Chen Xun had just received a congratulatory text message from Guo Fan and hadn't even had time to turn off his phone when he saw an incoming call.
The screen displays the name of director Yang Chao.
Chen Xun answered the phone with a smile.
Yang Chao's voice, trembling with tears, came from the other end of the phone: "Chen Xun—something's happened—"
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