NABC Chapter 26 Dramatic Literature Award
Chapter 26 Dramatic Literature Award
Early the next morning, Lin Ruiyang arrived at the Qingying Film Studio as usual.
The lights in the editing room were already on; Zhou Xinxia had arrived even earlier than him.
"Let's get into the rhythm today." She didn't exchange pleasantries.
"Based on the current amount of footage, we can probably finish the rough cut of this film in about a week."
"A week? That's fine. Thank you, Teacher Zhou."
"Being able to do something doesn't mean you can relax; you still have to keep moving forward every day."
Over the next few days, the schedule was compressed into a fixed work rhythm: checking and reviewing materials in the morning, assembling the structure in the afternoon, and reviewing and making adjustments in the evening.
From the initial framework on the first day, to the detailed character development on the second day, and then to the discovery of problems later on, the emotional buildup in the middle section was too intense, leaving the audience with insufficient breathing room.
"This part needs to be disassembled and cut off." Zhou Xinxia clicked twice on the timeline.
"You can't give out all your emotions at once."
She simply broke the whole section apart and distributed it according to different nodes.
Lin Ruiyang sat silently to the side, watching without refuting or arguing, like air that couldn't speak.
On the fourth day, under Zhou Xinxia's conscious guidance, he began to edit independently, becoming much more decisive than he had been at the beginning when he hesitated to leave the camera.
"You're starting to develop an awareness of editing now," Zhou Xinxia commented casually.
Lin Ruiyang cut out the part about the couple arguing. After Zhou Xinxia dissected it piece by piece over the first three days, he stopped insisting on dragging it out.
After selecting a scene, he inserts an earlier detail of daily life, then returns to the silence after the argument, making the rhythm more realistic.
Just as I was about to continue to the next section, my phone suddenly rang.
He originally planned to hang up immediately, but he had finally started to feel something and couldn't let it end.
However, the phone number displayed on the screen was an unfamiliar landline number with an area code of 010.
"Take the call, maybe it's a film company contacting you."
Zhou Xinxia took over from Lin Ruiyang and continued editing the footage.
Lin Ruiyang took his phone to the door and answered it. A capable female voice came from the other end.
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Lin Ruiyang? I am Zhang Hua, Assistant Secretary-General of the China Dramatists Association, responsible for liaison work for this year's Cao Yu Drama Literature Award."
Congratulations! Your unit's submitted Wuju opera script, "The Three Battles with the White Bone Demon," has been nominated for this year's Script Award!
Lin Ruiyang stood there stunned. He hadn't received any prior notice, nor had the school mentioned helping with the application process.
"The awards ceremony will be held from December 11th to 15th in Shaoxing, Jiangnan. Official award notifications and invitations will be sent to your submitting organization; please check your mail."
"Thanks."
He stood there after hanging up the phone, which was a pleasant surprise.
Coming to his senses, he dialed Liu Yibing's number. After the call connected, he simply said, "Teacher, I received notification that my screenplay was nominated for an award."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then the old man's voice came through with pride and satisfaction: "Not bad, my judgment was pretty accurate. Come to my office this afternoon, and let Xiao Zhou handle the editing himself for now."
At 10:30 a.m., domestic media outlets began releasing breaking news reports online.
The official website of the magazine "Huaxia Drama" published the complete list of winners of the 14th Cao Yu Drama Literature Award in 2004.
There are a total of 8 screenplay awards and 10 screenplay nomination awards. "The Monkey King 2" ranks fifth.
The comment above reads: "The play offers a modern interpretation of traditional myths and characters, with a rigorous structure and solid design."
The theater industry receives far less attention than the film and television industry, but winning an award is a sign of recognition within the industry.
That afternoon, Liu Yibing handed the certificate to Lin Ruiyang: "An award named after Jiabao Gong is already the highest award for domestic drama literature. Being nominated is a form of recognition."
This notebook finally ended up in Jinhua, thus fulfilling its mission.
Lin Ruiyang understood the expectations in Liu Yibing's words. From the publication in the "Script" journal to the nomination for the Cao Yu Award, every step had been perfectly executed, but the final step still needed someone to speak up and take over.
The excitement of winning the award quickly faded, and Lin Ruiyang's focus returned to editing, except for the slight embarrassment of discovering that the department had put up a banner for him.
For the next few days, the lights in the editing room were on at seven in the morning and didn't go out until eleven at night.
Zhou Xinxia established a core rule: once a segment is edited, it cannot be edited again.
The remaining space in the editing room was also filled with film canisters and rewind sheets, and even the corners were marked with labels to divide the area into three zones: reviewed, pending revision, and final cut.
The air was filled with the faint acidic smell of the cleaning solution.
As they worked together more, Lin Ruiyang became less attached to the camera, and the arguments about keeping the footage disappeared.
By the afternoon of November 5th, thanks to Zhou Xinxia's highly efficient work, the rough cut version was successfully completed.
She clicked the button to play the entire film, from the first shot to the last, a nearly three-hour runtime.
"The rough cut looks better than expected. You did a good job with the initial filming, which saved me some trouble cleaning up your mess. But the subsequent fine editing still needs to be polished, and we need to bring back the actors to re-record the audio, add background music, and so on."
I'll go home and rest for two days before coming back. I need to calm my mind before I can continue cutting.
Zhou Xinxia's words made Lin Ruiyang realize that he was indeed too excited, but at least he could reserve a spot to register.
He called Wang Hai, and since Wang Qingqiang was currently in Beijing, the two arranged for the screening to be held the day after tomorrow in the internal screening room of China Film Group.
On the morning of November 7, Wang Qingqiang arrived on time, accompanied by Tian Zhuangzhuang.
Lin Ruiyang and Wang Hai sat with them on either side, and together they watched the rough cut from beginning to end.
When the final scene, where Yang Lixiao is silent in the courthouse corridor, was shown, the only sound in the screening room was the projector running.
After the lights came on, Wang Qingqiang looked at Lin Ruiyang:
"Young man, the Berlin Film Festival receives two to three thousand submissions for the main competition every year, but only a little over twenty make it to the finals. Your rough cut is structurally sound, and the actors' performances are solid."
"It was thanks to Mr. Han's influence and Lao Tian's personal connections that I came here. My only promise is to send me the complete film by the end of December, and I will forward it to the organizing committee."
Lin Ruiyang immediately agreed.
Wang Qingqiang slowly walked out, carrying his coat. Tian Zhuangzhuang patted Lin Ruiyang on the shoulder and said, "Good pat." Then he followed him out.
As soon as the door closed, Wang Hai let out a long sigh and put the pen, still capped, on the table.
"That means we've passed the primary selection."
"After the initial selection, there are still editing, mixing, color grading, and subtitles to come. I will do my best to make each step perfect."
"I'll handle the paperwork in Berlin; you just need to focus on editing the film."
The two-day break passed in the blink of an eye, and Lin Ruiyang returned to the editing room as agreed, ready to begin a new round of work.