Since the staff were still on holiday, Lu Ban only did the preliminary planning and would start the actual work after the New Year.
In this period, he watched many award-winning works to draw inspiration.
Having made so many movies, Lu Ban still knew how to appeal to the audience's preferences.
He briefly summarized some commonalities among the award-winning films.
For example, many films dealt with themes of growth, but not the ordinary kind involving studying, eating, drinking, and growing up, rather a painful type of growth that deviates from the normal trajectory.
Many films also bore the distinct imprint of an era, reflecting the changes of a greater period by portraying characters within smaller contexts.
Some films focused on specific groups of people, depicting their lives, emotions, and experiences.
Many films did not have a complete ending, or if they did, everyone was in a miserable state by the end, leaving regrets and delivering a gut punch to the viewer.
