Chapter 66: The First Directorial Work of My Life

  The sound of the door opening came from next door, Ogawa Yoko knew that the boy who had just made a million sales had returned. Good heavens, his own lyrics and composition had sold a million copies, he must have earned so much money, in that case, there was no need to live here anymore.

  The house with a monthly rent of 100,000 yen still has good sound insulation. In the quiet room, Kojo Soko could only faintly hear the sounds from next door.

  Is that the TV? The boy seemed to have turned it on after entering his room. I remember hearing guitar sounds coming from his room a few days ago, which was quite annoying at the time... and now I've forgotten what song he was playing...

  People are strange creatures, Ogura Yuko has been a super-absolute two-dimensional beauty since she was a child, absolutely eye-catching, but the kid next door seems to have paid little attention to her, at least not showing any curiosity about her. This made Ogura Yuko feel a bit resentful, unaware that Zhou Xiao had actually started making plans for her since the day he moved in. As for why he didn't show anything? It's mainly because Zhou Xiao didn't want to scare the girl off, after all, he's a guy with a nearly thirty-year-old uncle's heart, and if at thirty years old he still went after seventeen-year-old Ogura Yuko, her family could directly call the police.

  So, although he is now wearing the skin of an eighteen-year-old, he is still relatively cautious about getting in touch with Ogura Yuko, and will not take the initiative to get to know her unless there is a very good opportunity.

  At the time Ogura Yuko was struggling, Zhou Xiaoke on the other side of the wall knew nothing about it. He was still worried about how to make Inoue uncle believe that he could create miracles.

  "To promote Toshiba Lighting's pioneering LED light, Toshiba is holding an advertising competition. Simply design an ad for our new product, the LED bulb, whether it's a script or a self-shot video. We will select the best ad to be broadcast nationwide and reward the winner with 1 million yen and cover all filming costs! Only three days left until the deadline! Don't miss this great opportunity, with a prize of 1 million yen within reach!"

  "One million yen? That's just 80,000 RMB? Hmph, it's really little, not even a bit of sincerity." Zhou Xiao reflexively retorted upon hearing such an advertisement. A person's appetite is indeed nurtured this way, someone who was starving to death in a 50,000-yen house now dares to say that one million yen isn't considered money.

  But soon he became serious, an advertisement? This thing from preparation to shooting and editing, the whole time is just two or three days, right? And it's related to filming, seems quite suitable.

  One million yen is neither too much nor too little. Those big-name directors will definitely not participate, but some second-rate directors are likely to submit their works.

  "Not much time to think, I'll go check the information first!" Zhou Xiao decided and put on his clothes again, running out of the room. His destination was a nearby internet cafe. Just now, when the TV commercial was broadcast, there were specific instructions on the web, so he had to go and inquire to confirm."

  "Huh? How did he go out again? What a strange guy." Next door, Ogura Yuko, who had been worried about him all along, also heard the sound of the door closing and curiously ran to the balcony, watching Zhou Xiao run out of the apartment.

  The original luminosity of LED lights was very low, and they could only be used as indicators and not as lighting fixtures. However, with the development of technology, this rule has disappeared. LED lighting is a high-end lighting method that emerged just this year, and its characteristic can be summed up in two words: durability! How durable? Toshiba's technical parameters indicate ten years! In other words, one light bulb can run for at least ten years without any faults!

  "It seems that's where the advertisement is focused...” Zhou Xiao thought as she looked at the various information on the monitor.

  He had all sorts of ideas in his mind, including some particularly popular ads on video websites that he also stored in his mind, trying to find something among these things. Zhou Xiao was not looking for ideas that could be directly plagiarized, but rather seeking suitable inspiration.

  "How to embody ten years of time? Moreover, such an advertisement cannot be too surprising, and there is a more important point, the budget cannot be too high. It's not that I'm afraid to spend money, it's just that preparing for shooting and editing within three days is really not easy, if we spend too much time preparing, it will definitely not work."

  Suddenly, his eyes lit up!

  "Is this okay? Then like this...like this...and then like this...en! It feels pretty good! That's settled then! I'll go home and write the script!" Zhou Xiao quickly finalized her submission plan, handed over the money, and ran out of the internet cafe once again.

  "On his way home, he made a phone call to Uncle Inoue: "Uncle Inoue, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I'd like to find a place to take some photos. Can you find a suitable one?"

  "You've decided on a target so quickly? If you're looking for a photography studio, it's hard to find a big one, but there might be some small ones available. However, just having a studio alone is not enough, what else do you need?"

  "Actually, just a backdrop would be enough... a floor-to-ceiling window with curtains, surrounded by walls, giving the feeling of looking into the room from outside. I haven't thought about what props are needed yet, I'll call you back after I get home and work out the shot list." said Zhou Xiao.

  "Alright, I'll get in touch and see. But we've got a deal, you're doing this, if it doesn't work out, you have to listen to me and develop your own career steadily!"

  "Just you wait and see! It's definitely possible. By the way, Uncle Inoue, don't you know anyone who does post-production? You don't have to be very skilled, just knowing how to edit footage and add subtitles is enough." Zhou Xiao asked.

  Actually, in his past life as a half-baked media person, he was quite familiar with these things. But the problem now was that he had no idea what software Tokyo used for editing 14 years ago, and he didn't have his own computer either. So finding someone to do it would be much simpler. Moreover, according to his estimate, after he finished filming, there wouldn't be much material that needed to be edited, maybe just about an hour's worth."

  After returning home, Zhou Xiao spread out the paper and started writing again. He had become quite skilled at this recently. In the past month since crossing over, he estimated that he had written more than in the nearly ten years since graduating from university before crossing over. No choice, who let computers become widespread in those ten years?

  Because the advertisement he designed was simple, the storyboard script was also quickly completed. Zhou Xiao picked up the phone again and began to apply for what was needed with Uncle Inoue:

  "A table, five chairs, some children's toys including a wooden horse and tricycle, three to five child extras, one female extra, a set of building blocks, a ping-pong paddle and ball, a small box containing rings, some ribbons and balloons... oh, and also a lampshade!" said Zhou Xiao.

  "What's the age and appearance of the little kid and the actress?" Uncle Inoue asked.

  "Boys and girls under the age of five are fine, at least two, and if there's a newborn baby, that's even better. If not, then a doll that looks decent will do. As for the actress, she needs to have a good figure, be no taller than me, and there are no requirements for her appearance." Zhou Xiao said.

  "Are there no requirements for appearance?"

  "That's right, as long as it meets those requirements I mentioned earlier, acting skills and experience are not necessary." Zhou Xiao said.

  "That's a strange shooting plan, I'm starting to get curious about what you're going to shoot," said Uncle Inoue.

  "I'm counting on you, Uncle. We only have three days, and if we subtract the last day for editing and other things, and then subtract another day for preparation, we might only have one day for actual filming. Time is very tight." said Zhou Xiao.

  "Don't worry, uncle, I may not be good at other things, but in the past 20 years of struggling in the TV circle, I have a wide network of connections at the grassroots level. Anyway, the shooting time you requested is not long, and it's even possible that we won't need to use a studio, just find a small corner, set up some lights, and we can finish it perfectly!"