The more academic the student film production, the more they obsess over details during the shoot.
It can't be helped.
That is how the professors teach them, and you can't exactly ignore the professors, can you?
The "line" in "crossing the line" refers to the axis of action.
This axis doesn't exist within the camera lens; it exists in the mind of the audience.
To use the simplest terms that everyone can understand...
Take a scene where a man and a woman are eating and chatting.
In the shot:
Man —— (Table) —— Woman
The man is on the left side of the frame.
The woman is on the right side of the frame.
A distinct left-right axis exists between the two of them.
In this scene, if the camera cuts to the man's face:
The man's face must still appear on the left side of the screen!
The blurry over-the-shoulder outline of the woman must appear on the right side of the screen!
The left-right positional relationship must remain constant.
This ensures that the "axis" in the audience's mind remains unbroken.
If the positions suddenly swap, that is called "crossing the line," or "jumping the axis."
When Lin Yu first took cinematography classes, he was completely dismissive of this rule.
He used to think to himself...
*So what if I break it?*
*What if I repeatedly cross the line? What are you going to do about it?*
*Does that mean the footage I shoot is unwatchable?*
After being publicly roasted during class screenings multiple times, Lin Yu finally understood back then.
What happens?
You certainly won't die.
It just lacks *flavor*!
It's like Sweet and Sour Pork without the vinegar, or a steamed bun without the filling.
Is this axis absolutely unbreakable within a scene?
Actually, no.
There are many legitimate ways to shift the axis.
For example, introducing a third person, cutting to an empty shot, or inserting a close-up of an object, and so on.
Some directors even intentionally use crossing the line to emphasize a shift in a character's internal state.
Like when a character is about to explode in rage, telling a massive lie, or undergoing a psychological break... blah blah blah, a whole list of reasons.
So why must students strictly adhere to the rule of not crossing the line?
The reason is actually very simple.
Or else what?
What else are you going to show the cinematography teacher?
Your Oscar-level acting?
*You're just a student!*
Your Hollywood-level post-production VFX?
*You're just a clumsy student!*
Your atmospheric props, makeup, and set design?
*You're just a clumsy, broke student!*
Aside from getting the teacher to praise your firm grasp of the axis and your smooth editing of wide, full, medium, and close-up shots...
What else is there to see!
A ragtag crew like Lin Yu's group was already considered a "super luxury" student team!
At the very least, they had classmates capable of covering every position.
They even had the means to pull in extras and select lead actors.
Most student groups? You want to be picky?
It was a miracle if they could scrape together enough warm bodies to fill the roles and shoot enough footage to meet the time requirements.
They had absolutely no right to talk about good or bad conditions!
Watching Wang Biao perform the scene again, Lin Yu truly felt their team was holding a winning hand.
Brother Biao's acting was incredible!
Lin Yu had seen the original movie, yet he didn't feel taken out of the moment at all.
It was evident.
Just how amazing Wang Biao's acting was.
It wasn't just Lin Yu; the other students on set felt the same way.
"Cut!"
"Excellent! One take!"
"Teacher Wang, the next part will be tough because we need to shoot the fight scene in its entirety."
"Unless there are mistakes with lines, positioning, or laughing, we want to get through it in one go. Is that okay?"
Chi Qingshui was incredibly excited by the performance Wang Biao delivered.
Since Wang Biao was the oldest actor on set, Chi Qingshui was very polite when speaking to him.
Wang Biao picked up the script, glanced at it quickly, and agreed, "OK! No problem at all."
Chi Qingshui waved to the others and said, "The student playing Da Chun... your name is Zhao Yuhao, right? I hope I didn't remember your name wrong."
"Your reaction is especially important. Be sure to pay attention to your cues before and after lines."
"Little Chi, and you too!"
"Look alive, watch the timing for running out."
"Friends and fellow students, please work hard and whatever you do, do not look at the camera. Let's run through it completely."
Chi Qingshui's words on set were infectious.
The reliable image she had built up in daily life played a huge role in this moment.
Lin Yu was genuinely shocked by his little girlfriend's performance.
He knew she was a top student, excellent at theory and exams.
He hadn't expected that her practical skills were equally unmatched.
She managed every aspect of the set perfectly.
Even details that others might overlook, Chi Qingshui, with her big-picture thinking, anticipated them before anyone else.
Soon.
The scene between Lin Yu and Wang Biao began.
This segment took significantly longer to shoot.
With only two cameras, they had to shoot repeatedly to capture all the necessary details.
The script supervisor recorded the actors' movements for every take to ensure they were consistent, avoiding issues with matching shots in post-production.
Finally, after a long grind...
They reached the part where "Yuan Hua" runs out to find the principal and brings him back!
In simpler terms.
The scene where Xia Luo forcibly kisses Qiu Ya was coming up!
In this scene.
Teacher Wang and Yuan Hua...
Meaning Wang Biao and Zhao Bin, were not in the frame.
The two of them became bystanders on the side.
Lin Yu had advised Old Zhao that if he felt uncomfortable, he could go outside and wait.
When it was over, he would let the waiting Old Zhao know to come back in.
He didn't know if Zhao Bin had some weird fetish or what.
He actually insisted on staying on set to watch, claiming he wasn't that petty.
*Bruh, really?*
*Is this the place to pretend to be magnanimous?*
Lin Yu couldn't be bothered to argue with him and went ahead to communicate with Wu Chuntian.
They had to determine exactly where to position the "borrowed angle" for the fake kiss.
Only with perfect coordination could they guarantee a one-take wonder.
If it looked too fake, they would have to shoot it over and over again.
And there were plenty of people on set who really didn't want them to keep repeating that!
Standing by the door, a bored Wang Biao struck up a conversation with Zhao Bin.
"Young man, you and Yuzi are all classmates, right?"
Wang Biao spoke first, sounding very friendly.
Zhao Bin nodded repeatedly and replied, "Yes, Brother Biao, we're all classmates."
"Please don't mind, Yuzi said we should just call you Brother Biao."
"I didn't feel right calling you anything else. I'm Zhao Bin."
Wang Biao waved his hand, speaking heartily, "Hah!"
"Don't treat me like a stranger, Brother Biao fits just fine."
"Little Zhao, hanging out with you young folks makes me feel quite relaxed."
"College students these days are impressive!"
"They're filming a kiss scene next, right? Just two people hugging and gnawing on each other?"
Zhao Bin's smile stiffened: "..."
...
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
