Chapter 9: Unhealthy trends in the photography department

“Teacher Li, Teacher Xu, Songri and I have been borrowed by the Performance Department to be laborers for three days…” Wu Chen and Pu Songri turned and entered the teachers' office, where Xu Bin and Li Wei happened to be, and Wu Chen immediately said.

“You two are going.” Li Wei subconsciously spoke, looking at Xu Bin, “Xu Bin, I remember we used to send upperclassmen, right?”

“You remember correctly, but isn't Wu Chen here? I guess Lao Mu also wants him to get some experience,” Xu Bin replied with a smile.

“Oh, that’s true, I completely forgot,” Li Wei said, laughing heartily after he came to his senses.

“We know, go ahead, but Songri, remember to make up the classes you missed!”

Li Wei’s words made Pu Songri’s face fall.

“Teacher, why do I have to make up classes? Three days of classes, I don’t know when I’ll finish making them up. Why doesn’t Chen Ge have to?” Pu Songri immediately said, looking miserable.

Xu Bin and Li Wei couldn't help but laugh when they saw this scene.

“If you can also explain and thoroughly demonstrate the entire creative process of my 'Feature Film Cinematography Creation' course, from early preparation to practical shooting, just like Wu Chen, and I won't even require you to perfectly combine theory and practice.

Then, you can also be like Wu Chen and not have to make up classes, you don't even have to attend my classes.”

Li Wei replied with a smile.

“Haha, my requirements are the same as Teacher Li’s,” Xu Bin also found it amusing and chimed in.

“Chen Ge is too abnormal, I'll just make up the classes. I can't reach his level,” Pu Songri said, immediately losing his temper.

“Damn it, Songri, are you complimenting me or scolding me?”

“Alright, alright, Wu Chen doesn't need to make up classes. As for Songri, you just need to make them up before the start of next semester. If you don't understand, you can directly ask Wu Chen. No problem, right? This time is very generous.”

As soon as Pu Songri heard Li Wei relax the conditions, a smile immediately appeared on his face, and he nodded repeatedly, saying, “No problem, thank you, Teacher!”

“......”

“Actually, with Songri's talent, three days won't make a difference whether he makes up the classes or not!” Xu Bin said after Wu Chen and Pu Songri had left.

“It’s better to let him build a solid foundation and be stricter. Not everyone is like Wu Chen, who is naturally gifted in this field.”

Li Wei also nodded slightly when he heard this, “That’s true, Wu Chen is incredible. But looking at him, I think he wants to be a director. Last time in my class, when I was patrolling, I saw him already pondering scripts…”

“Did you mention it to him?”

“Why would I mention it to him? It’s the same whether he attends my class or not. If he has this ambition, I think it’s a good thing,” Xu Bin said with a smile.

“Lao Mu just told me that our Photography Department has a ‘bad trend,’ where few people come here to seriously study photography; they all want to be directors.”

“Hahaha…” After Li Wei finished speaking, both of them couldn't help but laugh.

“Hey, don’t say that, I think Songri really wants to be a pure cinematographer, which is rare!” Xu Bin suddenly said, with a hint of emotion.

“He is indeed rare. If Wu Chen can become a director in the future and Songri becomes his exclusive cinematographer, wouldn’t that be a beautiful story for our department?”

“It actually might happen!”

“Right? I think so too. Later, I’ll teach Songri my ancestral photography techniques!”

“Come on, Lao Li, ancestral? Your ancestral techniques are just from our department. Others might not know, but how could I not know?”

“Lao Xu, you’d better give me some face. After all, I’m still an associate director!”

“......”

......

On the other side, as soon as Wu Chen and Pu Songri returned to their dorm, they heard the boisterous voices of their roommates.

“Damn, you’re buying a Nikon F80? Are you crazy? My dad found me a Minolta X-700 for only eight hundred yuan, that’s enough!”

“Cameras are our second life, what’s wrong with getting a better one? Come with me to buy it, I’ll treat you to McDonald’s tonight, alright?”

The boisterous one was their roommate, Chu Tianshu, and the one buying a new camera was Xiang Zhuo, from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, also the one with the best family background in the dorm.

“Who’s buying a Nikon F80? It’s Xiang Zhuo, right? Damn, you’re really rich…” Wu Chen said with a smile as he entered the dorm, also joining in the teasing.

“Right, Chen Ge!” Chu Tianshu quickly agreed.

“I always feel like you got the wrong name, you should be called Xiang Zuo!” Pu Songri was only this bold when teasing his roommates.

“Oh my, you two are teasing me too.” Xiang Zhuo laughed heartily when he heard this, “I’m purely making up for my lack of skill with better equipment. If I had as good skills as Chen Ge, forget a used camera, I wouldn’t care about a third-hand one.”

“By the way, Chen Ge, Songri, want to come along? With you two helping me choose, my hardware equipment will definitely be among the top in the class…”

“…” Wu Chen looked a bit helpless, “What’s the use of your hardware equipment being among the top in the class? It only matters if your grades are! But Songri and I won’t go, we’re exhausted today from running around.”

“By the way, Chen Ge, did it work out?” Xiang Zhuo didn’t insist, but suddenly asked in a low voice.

“Hard to say, just wait for news.” His roommates definitely couldn’t be kept in the dark about this, and everyone knew.

“If it works out, you can all come along and get some experience.” Wu Chen thought for a moment. Although only Pu Songri would make a name for himself in the future, they were roommates after all. For such a small-budget film, bringing them along wouldn't be a big deal.

“We don’t know how to do cinematography yet, we’d just be doing odd jobs.” Xiang Zhuo immediately said, and even Chu Tianshu, who was carefully wiping the dust off the buttons of his Sekonic light meter with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol, looked a bit disappointed.

“Damn, you guys want to do cinematography? Are you crazy? You’d just be doing odd jobs. I definitely have to do the cinematography myself!” Wu Chen said, laughing and scolding them in a joking tone.

“Just tell me if you’re coming to help.”

With Wu Chen saying that, the atmosphere in the dorm immediately became lively again.

“Go, we definitely have to go! Putting everything else aside, just because you’re our roommate, we’ll take care of the odd jobs, right, Tian Shu!”

“Mmm, definitely!” Chu Tianshu nodded heavily.

“Alright, as long as it looks promising, I’ll definitely call you guys!”

“Great, waiting for your good news, Tian Shu, let’s go, we’ll go buy the Nikon F80 first. Maybe the new equipment can even be used by the crew later…” Xiang Zhuo stood up and called out to Chu Tianshu, who was meticulously handling the light meter.

“Let’s go, let’s go! I also want to feel what a brand new Nikon F80 is like. Oh, by the way, what are you planning for the lens? Are you buying a new one too?”

“Do I look like someone with ‘idiot’ written on my forehead? Of course, I have to change it! Who takes a shower and doesn’t change clothes? Isn’t that the truth?”

“I don’t change clothes after showering in winter!”

“......”