Nobody knows movies better than me

Chapter 1 Neglecting One's Proper Duty

In the early summer of 2004, Zhang Jun stared blankly at the unfamiliar campus of Tsinghua University.

"Jun-ge, what are you looking at? Which junior are you looking at?"

Ma Qiang, a student from the same department and dormitory, came over and handed Zhang Jun a bottle of Coke.

Zhang Jun snapped out of his chaotic thoughts and looked at Ma Qiang, the burly man with a thick beard, and suddenly felt a kind of absurd black humor.

He put aside those distracting thoughts and chatted with Ma Qiang: "It's nothing, just taking one last look at the familiar scenery on campus."

"We've been watching this for years, what's so interesting about it?"

Ma Qiang gulped down a mouthful of cola, wiped his mouth, and said, "Besides, I'll still be in school when I'm doing graduate school. I'll be watching it every day."

By the way, whose graduate program are you planning to apply to?

"I want to make movies..."

Ma Qiang was taken aback: "Huh? What did you say?"

"I said, I want to make movies?" Zhang Jun emphasized again.

Ma Qiang patted Zhang Jun's head: "You don't have a fever. What happened to you?"

Shui Mu Nian Hua goes to sing, and you go to make movies? Is this still Tsinghua University? Are we an art school?

Besides, do you even understand movies?

It's worth mentioning that quite a few students from Tsinghua University go on to pursue artistic creation. A prime example is Shui Mu Nian Hua, whose song "You'll Be With Me All My Life" is extremely popular.

Zhang Jun slapped Ma Qiang's hand away and said seriously, "I'm not joking, I'm serious. I want to make movies and become a director."

"hiss!"

Ma Qiang took a breath and still advised, "Buddy, don't be impulsive!"

Just a few days ago you were planning to pursue graduate studies, and now you…you…you…you can’t let your emotions get the better of you and give up the opportunity to study for a master’s degree on a whim!”

"I didn't act impulsively."

Zhang Jun turned and walked towards the dormitory, his voice echoing in the air.

"You'll see what I'm going to do then."

Zhang Jun was also helpless. His original name wasn't Zhang Jun, and he shouldn't have been here.

He is a film director who has just achieved some success forty years later, and is preparing to make a few films to make money overseas in line with the cultural export strategy.

He just didn't expect that the night after having dinner with the investors, he would have a strange dream.

In his dream, a game sent him back forty years to continue working as a film director, leading Chinese-language cinema through its chaotic first thirty years and getting it back on track as quickly as possible.

Zhang Jun initially refused, not to mention that he had only just begun to make a name for himself. Going back forty years, he was still an embryo; was he supposed to be making a movie while still in his mother's womb?

But the dream didn't give him a chance to refuse; it threw him back forty years in the past, replacing a Tsinghua University graduate named Zhang Jun.

Then, due to the spacetime distortion, the so-called game was uninstalled directly from his mind, but the memory was still clear.

The resulting butterfly effect has also led to some changes in history.

Most of the changes are related to film, such as the disappearance of some films and the addition of others, or the fact that Big Scissors' censorship standards are more lenient than in his previous life.

Zhang Jun is still studying the specific changes that have occurred.

Since he was already there, he decided to make the best of it. Zhang Jun wasn't one to complain or blame others; there was no going back anyway, so complaining was pointless.

Besides, he was a graduate of Tsinghua University as soon as he arrived.

Forty years later, Tsinghua University remains one of the best universities in the world. Only the most outstanding students can get into this university.

Now I've become a graduate of this school without even having to take the exam, which makes countless other test takers envious.

However, the problem for Zhang Jun is that although he inherited the original owner's identity and education, his knowledge level has not kept up, and he will definitely be exposed in the future.

As for why he wasn't reincarnated as a student in the directing department of Beijing Film Academy or Central Academy of Drama, Zhang Jun guessed that since it's a game, there might be a bug.

It might seem a bit of a waste for someone from Tsinghua University to go into filmmaking, but it's unlikely that Zhang Jun would use his academic credentials to swindle and deceive people.

Fortunately, although the game was uninstalled, my experience as a director in my previous life was still there, and I remembered the movies produced over the past forty years very clearly.

Then I'll stick to my old profession and try my luck in the film industry.

In the following days, Ma Qiang noticed a change in Zhang Jun.

He stopped preparing for graduate school and started sketching and drawing in his notebook. Ma Qiang glanced at it and, to be honest, Zhang Jun's drawings were quite good.

How come I never noticed before that Zhang Jun has a talent for minimalist painting?

That being said, Ma Qiang was still somewhat worried.

Hoping to persuade his good friend to turn back from the wrong path, Ma Qiang tried to dissuade him several times, but Zhang Jun remained unmoved and continued toward his goal.

After several attempts, Ma Qiang gave up.

After all, it's his own life, and Zhang Jun should know what he's doing; no one else can make decisions for him.

Perhaps once Zhang Jun hits a wall, he will naturally give up his current unrealistic ideas.

Zhang Jun first organized the content in his memory, and then reviewed the film history before 2004.

This comparison revealed that several films were indeed missing.

Isn't it a coincidence that these are all movies he made while bragging to female celebrities about how great they would be?

I never imagined that this opportunity would actually come.

But the hardest part of making a movie isn't the filming itself, it's how to secure the opportunity before filming even begins.

Forty years from now, it will be very simple: the AI ​​industry will be highly developed, and it will be easy to get opportunities to create a few AI-themed works.

But in this day and age, even an expert faces numerous difficulties in making a film. An outsider, even a graduate of Tsinghua University, can hardly be respected.

But wanting to direct your own movies is just wishful thinking.

Relying on family is not realistic.

The original owner's family was relatively well-off; both parents were middle school teachers, and she had a younger sister who was in her first year of high school.

But if Zhang Jun goes back and says he's going to make a movie, he expects a lot of opposition from his family.

After all, in the eyes of her family, it was simply self-destructive for a bright graduate from a prestigious university to pursue a career completely unrelated to her major.

Therefore, Zhang Jun needed to resort to opportunism to secure his first opportunity.

Therefore, Zhang Jun, who was about to receive his certificate, began to frequently participate in exchange activities organized by the student film association.

As a soon-to-be graduate, Zhang Jun's active participation in club activities surprised his juniors in the Student Film Association.

However, they did not turn Zhang Jun away, even though he was not a member of the Student Film Association before.

More importantly, the club members suddenly discovered that this senior from the astronomy department knew just as much about movies as they did, and perhaps even better.

Often, during discussions, they would listen while Zhang Jun did the talking.

It was only then that the members of the Student Film Association realized that senior Zhang Jun knew so much about film, so why didn't he join the Student Film Association before?

Zhang Jun's explanation was simple: "I used to be more interested in the dance association."

"Why?" someone asked curiously.

"There are lots of long-legged beauties over there..."

"Well……"

This reason is irrefutable.

Zhang Jun's unusual behavior quickly caught the attention of his class advisor, Lao Hu, who soon spoke with Zhang Jun.

"Zhang Jun, your classmates have been saying you're acting strangely lately. Didn't you say you were going to pursue a master's degree? Why are you going to the Film Association every day now?"

Zhang Jun spoke frankly: "I want to be a director, I want to make movies."

"You want to be a director... What did you say?"

Old Hu almost thought he misheard: "Are you alright? Why do you suddenly want to become a movie director?"

Besides, do you even understand movies?

Zhang Jun prepared a plausible reason for this.

"Movies are a country's calling card, and many people learn about the other side of the strait through Hollywood movies."

I want to make good films so that Westerners can also learn about our ancient civilization through movies.

Even Zhang Jun himself didn't believe what he said.

Movies are never just about the movies themselves. It's not that if a movie is well-made, it can go abroad and Western audiences will buy it.

It will be over thirty years before Chinese-language films can achieve that.

In this day and age, you have to go to great lengths to vilify certain people and events in a movie in order to receive so-called awards and recognition, and then come back and wait to be blacklisted.

Even Zhang Jun himself didn't believe it, and their homeroom teacher, Lao Hu, was even less convinced.

"Is that not right? Do you feel that pursuing a master's degree is too stressful? It's okay, everyone goes through this. Just relax and prepare well."

Zhang Jun shook his head and said, "Class teacher, I'm serious."

I am aware of my own limitations. I am not a genius, and even if I pursue a master's or doctoral degree, I will not become an expert in this field.

Of course, this might lead me to a job at the planetarium.

But this is just a compromise made to make a living, not what I truly want.

"What you really want is to make movies?"

Old Hu looked at Zhang Jun with surprise, as if he were meeting him for the first time.

And he even dated female celebrities...

Zhang Jun silently added a sentence in his mind, but nodded seriously on the surface.

"Yes……"

The child is sick, that's what Lao Hu thought. But since he couldn't persuade him otherwise, he gave up.

As the saying goes, good advice is hard to persuade a damned ghost. Once Zhang Jun hits a wall, he'll turn back.

Old Hu is not Zhang Jun's relative, and he has no obligation to stop a student who is stubbornly clinging to his ways.

He came to persuade them out of conscience and a sense of responsibility; this was the best he could do.

Zhang Jun wouldn't listen to advice, and there was nothing he could do.

After all, he still had so many students' issues to worry about.

After the class teacher's attempts to persuade him failed, Zhang Jun continued to do as he pleased, and soon he became famous.

I heard that there's a senior in the astronomy department who's about to graduate and is preparing for graduate school, but he still goes to the film association every day. Everyone thinks he's crazy.

This incident became a topic of conversation, with some saying he gave up because he felt hopeless about taking the postgraduate entrance exam, while others said he went to pick up girls.

Because Ye Xiaoyi, the president of the film association, is pretty and cute, and is the most beautiful girl in the Department of Economics and Management, she has many male admirers.

Zhang Jun heard these comments, but he was thick-skinned and didn't care at all.

Moreover, from an outsider's perspective, he himself would think he's mentally ill.