The first release of the luxury guest lineup was more than 20 first-tier big-star names. The second release of luxury lineups was still more than 20 first-tier big-star names![1]
Regarding grandness[2], no movies in recent years could be comparable to Black Clouds.
Although many netizens knew that these big names may only pop in to show their faces in the movie without being included in any substantial drama, this was still enough to make them thoroughly excited. One movie ticket could let them see so many big-name celebrities, how could it not be watched, how could it not be bought!
Must Buy, Buy, Buy!
The Black Clouds crew had only used a short video and caused a stream of discussion on the Internet. As long as one person discussed it, the popularity of this movie would continue to rise, and more and more netizens would see news regarding this movie.
Moreover, the Black Clouds crew did not spend a hefty amount, only placing many advertisements on Weibo and Tieba, as well as many video platforms and social networking sites. As soon as one opened these apps, they would immediately see a short advertisement video for Black Clouds. The screen would quickly circulate through the faces of many first-tier stars. At the end, the screen would suddenly darken and a handsome, clean youth would slowly walk towards you.
Behind him are meteors, where light and shadow circulated as if in a dreamy and colorful galaxy. He reaches out to you, slightly hooking up his lips, and a smooth and gentle smile blooms on his mouth. One couldn't help but stare into his bright eyes and listen to his clear, musical voice: "I am Rong Xu, would you like to listen to Black Clouds with me?"[3]
[Want, want, want, want, want, want ! ! Ahhhhhhh, hugs Rong Rong. I'll give you 120,000 kisses! ! ! ]
[Wu wu wu~ how can my family's RongRong be so good looking! How! ]
[In this life, I do not not regret loving RongRong! Let's make an appointment at the cinema, I will watch Black Clouds three times! ]
This ad was filmed while Rong Xu was still working with the Black Clouds crew. Soon, the ad spread throughout the entire network. The homepage of several well-known apps premiered this advertisement and filled the attention of all netizens. The overwhelming advertising offensive made Black Clouds more and more popular.
Finally, the first variety show that the Black Clouds crew participated in was officially broadcasted.
Because the crew was based in S City, the first show they chose was a well-known and acclaimed talk show in S City. Director Liang, Rong Xu and Yu Siyu were all present. The three sat on the sofa and chatted with the talk show host, Wu Xiangmeng.
The show, Chasing Dreams, ranked among the top three in viewer ratings in the country and was famous for its sharp and bold comments. This program could be considered half-R[4], with some words that were not suitable for children. For example, there would be occasional inappropriate jokes, and sometimes violent movie and TV scenes would be shown.
Of course, Black Clouds didn't have those violent scenes, but the host Wu Xiangmeng still dug many traps for the three main crew members.
At the beginning of the show, Wu Xiangmeng directly asked Director Liang: "Why did you choose Rong Xu to appear as Ling Xiao? It seems that he only debuted half a year ago. When you first started auditions, his Vie for Supremacy hadn't even finished filming, right? Choosing Rong Xu, was it because he had some sort of unique advantage compared to the other auditioners?"
Just this one question and immediately the viewer ratings increased by 0.1%!
Faced with such a tricky problem, Director Liang laughed and turned to look at Rong Xu, praising without hesitation: "The reason is that he performed spectacularly during the audition! Very, very well! I always believed that there were just some actors who had the ability to rely on their birth advantages to eat[5], like Qin Cheng. His very first movie acquired rave reviews. Before that, he didn���t even have a single work."
This was the best time to promote the movie. Director Liang naturally needed to protect his actors. Right now, even if Rong Xu was an extremely poor actor who loved to throw around the identity of a celebrity, Director Liang would still not say a word about it. Instead, he would only say good things. If even the director said that his actor's strengths were subpar, who would think this actor was excellent, who would think that the movie was excellent?
At this moment, Director Liang said with a clear conscience: "When we held auditions, every actor was required to sing. Rong Xu's singing touched me the most. His voice is very pure. I couldn't believe that he is an actor rather than a singer. His singing skills are very professional, and I think Siyu can testify to that, too."
Yu Siyu immediately followed up: "Director Liang's words really are inaccurate. I know a lot of singers. What level Rong Xu is at, who needs me to testify to it? When the movie is released, everyone who goes to the cinema to watch the movie, wouldn't they know best?"
At this time, Rong Xu forced a smile: "If you keep boasting, I have to blush."
Wu Xiangmeng quickly said: "Rong Rong will blush? Hurry and blush, blush, blush. Troubling the camera person to give Rong Xu a close-up. Our ratings for tonight's show will depend on Rong Xu. Post-production team, quickly write a line in large characters on the screen, write 'Popular little fresh meat's blushing scene'! Hahahaha."
The entire program was recorded very smoothly, and the steady increase in viewer ratings also satisfied the program group.
During this period, although Wu Xiangmeng enjoyed digging traps for the three film crew members, Director Liang and Yu Siyu were both experienced hands. How could she succeed. So, Wu Xiangmeng pointed the cat's head[6] at Rong Xu: Such a young child, there will be times when he says the wrong things, right? As soon as you say something wrong … hehehe, the ratings of our show will explode!
But! Wu Xiangmeng never imagined that every problem she posed was easily bypassed by Rong Xu. Once, she threw a trap and asked: "Rong Xu, did it make you very nervous working with so many big-name celebrities?" In a Normal situation, Rong Xu should answer "nervous", and then she would ask "Why would the seniors make you nervous".
Unexpectedly, for the first question, this exquisite and beautiful youth smiled lightly and calmly replied : "To say I was not nervous is impossible. They are all my seniors. But, all the seniors are very patient and took good care of me, the newcomer. Some seniors and I had been co-stars before, and some not. Although I was nervous, Director Liang was always encouraging and guiding me, so I could overcome any difficult situation. "
Saying that, Rong Xu turned to look at Director Liang.
The smile hanging on the corner of Director Liang' mouth grew even brighter. He lifted his chin proudly and accepted Rong Xu's praise with a smile.
Mutual praising, everyone touted this kind of thing, who wouldn't do so. Our Black Clouds crew is an iron plate, whenever you pry, we will accommodate ~
Until the end, Wu Xiangmeng was unable to dig out any heavy news from the crew. Wu Xiangmeng felt a loss in her heart, but the stable ratings of the program made her smile again.
Chasing Dreams was the first promotional program that the film crew participated in. Afterwards, they went to Very Entertaining.
The last time he came to Very Entertaining was to promote Vie for Supremacy. At that time, Rong Xu was only a Male Number 4 and the program team didn't place much emphasis on him during the show. If Tang Menglan hadn't suddenly pulled Rong Xu on stage to sing, the audience wouldn't have retained a very deep impression of him at all.
But this time, it was different. Before the show started, the stage script Rong Xu received didn't have many lines, only one sentence "During the fourth section, sing Ling Xiao's "Black Clouds"."
Rong Xu's sudden status change within the circle was evident.
Half a year ago, he was still a fledgling newcomer, but half a year later, here he was already male no. 1 (male lead) in a huge film production.
Although the film Black Clouds could be considered more unique, Rong Xu was still indeed male no. 1 and deserved the TV program's respect.
The viewer ratings for Very Entertaining were as high as ever; this season's program rating was especially high! This time, female no. 2 and male no. 3 also participated in the program's live broadcast. Including Director Liang, the five members of the film crew played games together and revealed inside information on the movie. They poked fun at each other and caused constant laughter amidst the audience.
When the fourth program section arrived, Rong Xu stood in the center of the stage. A beam of light shone at his back, creating a hazy silhouette. The other lights on the set were all turned off, leaving only this light, making it seem as though this thin and tall youth was enshrouded by a layer of black clouds, lonely and hesitant.
It was then that he began to sing the first part of the lyrics.
Simultaneously, the viewer ratings for Very Entertaining rose by 0.2 percent, and continued to rise.
"Reminiscing, meeting your smiling face..."
This was the lyrics to "Black Clouds"! Not the movie Black Clouds, but the song "Black Clouds"!
Although many of Ling Xiao's music fans have accepted the Ling Xiao played by Rong Xu, and felt that he played the role well, they couldn't help but worry: Can Rong Xu sing Ling Xiao's songs?
If Rong Xu was to sing on his own, his singing skills worried fans. If Rong Xu didn't sing by himself, but directly used Ling Xiao's original recordings, then upon hearing Ling Xiao's voice, the fans would quickly feel strange about the Ling Xiao played by Rong Xu.
But now, Rong Xu was singing "Black Clouds" and sang it very well!
[Sounds so nice! QAQ It 's been a long time since I had heard such a beautiful "Black Clouds". I finally understand why Director Liang said in Chasing Dreams that he chose to let him play the part of the Music God because of his excellent audition. It really sounds nice! ]
The ratings of Very Entertaining went as high as 2.9!
The Program staff was so pleased they invited the crew of Black Clouds to have supper together. The next day, Rong Xu followed the crew to Z province and participated in a new publicity program. Overall, they participated in the recording of nine variety shows, talk shows, and also reality shows. Of all the famous shows in Huaxia, they had been on almost all of them.
After that, it was a wave of road shows[7].
They held offline meetings[8] in major cities across the country to promote the movie.
The response of the road show was as good as the crew's imagination. It seemed participating in so many good quality programs beforehand made the audience very excited and unable to wait to meet the crew.
Two weeks passed in a flurry, and only one day was left before the premiere of Black Clouds.
That night, Rong Xu dragged his exhausted body and returned to B City with the crew. The film crew of Black Clouds will hold the film premiere at the Capital Grand Theater[9]. Over the past two weeks, they had tried their best to promote the film. Now, they will see the outcome of the promotions after its release.
Director Liang smiled at Rong Xu and said: "You live in B City, Rong Xu. Go home first. Siyu and I will live in the hotel. At twelve noon tomorrow, remember to meet up at the hotel on time. We will be attending the premiere in the evening, do not forget. Have a good rest."
Rong Xu smiled gently, nodding, and Luo Zhentao sent him back to his apartment.
As soon as he opened the door, he smelled a burst of the tangy aroma of vegetables, and the body that he had been pushing the whole day suddenly stopped. Rong Xu looked up in surprise and was met with the sight of a cold, tall man serving a plate of vegetables from the kitchen to the dinning table.
When he saw Rong Xu, the man raised his eyebrows calmly and asked: "You're back?"
These words were generally redundant words[10], but Rong Xu raised the corner of his lips, nodding lightly: "En, I'm back."
In his two lifetimes added together, this was the first time someone was waiting for him to return and welcome him home.
This feeling was very peculiar. Rong Xu only felt that there was a warmth in his heart which was slowly spreading. He changed his clothes and went to the dining room, preparing to eat together. At the same time, on the official blog of the Black Clouds, the promotional staff posted a low-key Weibo update, allowing it to float however it wanted, but this single Weibo post set off a storm on the Internet!
[Black Clouds crew: the premier is imminent, new film is here! The entire creative staff invites you to listen to the song "Black Clouds"! @Director Liang Chao, @Qin Cheng, @Rong Xu, @Yu Siyu...]
The Author has something to say:
Rong Rong: this is the first time I've had someone welcome me home, even though it's the house I rented~
Qin Cheng Cheng: Rong Rong, Rong Rong, do you see, on Weibo it's @Qin Cheng @ Rong Xu, Baby is on top of you~~ \(>∇<)/~
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[1] 20 big-names: Author did not specify which names : (
[2] grandness: original: regarding the size of their handwriting
[3] There is a verb tense shift in this paragraph
[4] Half-R: around Pg-15
[5] "I always believed that there were just some actors who had the ability to rely on their birth advantages to eat": Compliment, saying that some people are born to act
[6] Turn the Cat's head: turned the attention to
[7] Road Shows: Traveling promotions
[8] Offline meetings: meet in real life
[9] Capital Grand Theater: see image below
[10] "Redundant" since QC saw that RX was home, so of course he came back