Feature Shows Extravaganza - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Motion Design

The legal department of Pengda wasn’t what it used to be.

Meng Lang, who had more than enough money to spend now, had acquired the law firm they had outsourced to.

Piracy might have been cracked down in this world, but copyright infringement would still happen from time to time.

It wasn’t the same as piracy!

Sometimes, the person doing it didn’t even realize that it was an infringement of intellectual property.

For instance, to promote their product, a bakery shop in Jiangchuan had used the images of the fairies without Pengda Pictures’s authorization. The verdict of the court was that the shop was to pay Pengda Pictures 20,000 yuan as a compensation.

Other examples were like the case with Old Qiao, who had built something not to make a profit. In fact, many people had done such things, but Old Qiao had been reported, and that was why Pengda had found out about it.

Hence the lawyer’s letter.

The verdict wasn’t all that important. For instance, did Pengda really care about the 20,000-yuan compensation?

Of course not!

They wouldn’t care even if it was 200,000 yuan.

But Pengda had to take a stand and show that they wouldn’t tolerate any copyright infringement. Only then would people show them their due respect.

The email address and contact number were all listed on Pengda’s official website. Anyone making an effective report on an infringement conduct would be rewarded with money.

Copyrights were everything to Meng Lang. In order to keep them untouched, Meng Lang had to make others realize that there would be severe consequences if they crossed the line.

Otherwise, after taking care of Old Qiao, they would have to deal with more people like him in the future…

Although some of the conduct might not seem harmful, things would only worsen if Pengda didn’t take care of it now.

And Pengda wouldn’t let that happen.

With its legal department and its many toy manufacturing partners, Pengda had built its own “defense system”.

Messing with Director Meng’s toys would be the same as messing with dozens of toy manufacturers around the world.

“Our lawyers will be in touch with you!”

…

Once the sample popping balls had been made, the filming was finally ready to start.

The young actor playing Zhou Yihuo was called Wang Bin, a 15-year-old boy with a bright smile. He wasn’t as handsome as Meng Lang, but could still be considered very good-looking among boys of his age.

Tao Mi was also 15 years old, but Wang Bin was at least 15 cm taller than her.

Boys sure grew up fast!

Of all the main roles, the boy playing Zhou Yihuo’s best buddy, Ah You, was the most special one.

He was a butter ball and was played by Li Yu.

“Come to think of it, why does the protagonist always have a best buddy, and the buddy is always a chubby kid? Where does that setting come from?” asked Wang Kui curiously.

Meng Lang gave it some thought and guessed. “To serve as a contrast?”

Wang Kui was speechless.

That actually made sense.

Li Yu came from a family of crosstalk comedians, and his father was a famous one in his city. The boy had little interest in cross talks, but he liked acting a lot.

His father was very open-minded about it and showed no objection when he wanted to pursue his interest. Instead, he had been actively trying to find a casting opportunity for his son.

Meng Lang had chosen Li Yu, who was a very new actor, among all the “butterballs” only because of his father.

Old Meng was a big fan of Li Yu’s father.

The master had spoken, and the “fan boy” couldn’t bring himself to say no.

So what if the boy was a little green…

The show wasn’t exactly House of Cards, so it wasn’t as demanding in the acting skills as other shows.

All Ah You had to do was to look funny, and it wasn’t a difficult part.

Zhou Yihuo was the absolute main character of the show.

Wang Bin, the boy playing Zhou Yihuo, was quite incredible as well.

He was a genuine prodigy and had been admitted to a famous film academy at the age of 14.

And he was indeed a genius!

Learn from him!

That was why his salary was worth 10 times of Li Yu’s.

To teenage actors and actresses, being a part of Explosive Boys was as amazing an opportunity as an annual big show for their adult counterparts.

It was a chance that no one wanted to miss!

Pengda Pictures hadn’t been established for long, but after its previous two shows, the company was already deemed as a “child star maker”.

Pengda’s shows were great at making actors and actresses famous, especially the young ones!

All teenagers who had played in one of Pengda’s shows had become extremely popular among the kids. Although all their fans were kids of their own age, once they grew up, they would make up an excellent fan base.

“Do we have to list the names?”

Knowing how valuable this opportunity was, Wang Bin had studied the script meticulously since he received it.

During a break, Wang Bin went to Meng Lang and asked him about the hand gesture when he threw out the popping balls.

“Director Meng, should I throw or flip out the popping balls?”

By “throwing out”, he meant the common throwing motion, maybe holding his hand a bit higher than he usually would.

But if he were to “flip out it”, his palm would be facing backward when he threw out the ball with a “flicking” motion.

After much consideration, Wang Bin still couldn’t decide which motion he should choose.

To “flip out” a popping ball?

Meng Lang raised an eyebrow. “Are you that lack of imagination? Are those the only two hand gestures you can think of?”

“Is there another one…” Wang Bin was lost in his thoughts.

“Hurl it!”

Seeing that the boy didn’t understand, Meng Lang snorted. “Give me your popping ball and let me show you.”

Wang Bin obediently handed Meng Lang the Gallon Flaming Dragon, and Meng Lang picked the ball up with his index and middle fingers, as though they were chopsticks.

Still pinching the ball between his two fingers, he raised his hand and slowly moving it from his left eye to the right in a wiping motion before quickly pointing his hand straight ahead, shouting, “Go! Gallon Flaming Dragon!”

Wang Bin was dumbfounded.

Tossing the popping ball back to Wang Bin, Meng Lang asked, “Get it?”

“I… think so!”

Wang Bin picked up the ball with two fingers like Meng Lang did and asked, “Should I keep it this way at all times?”

“It’s totally up to you!”

Meng Lang didn’t want the hand gesture to steal too much attention; otherwise, he really wanted to include a complicated series of hand movements that resembled a stretching exercise.

One was to cross their arms in front of their motions, make a tai chi motion, raise both hands, do a two-and-a-half twist, step forward, show the fist, open the palm, and throw out the popping ball with a ferocious look on the face while shouting, “Go! Gallon Flaming Dragon!”

That would be so amazing!

All sorts of feature show characters had used such moves.

However, what was left of Meng Lang’s sensibility stopped him from doing it. This wasn’t a show that focused on transformation, and those moves wouldn’t be appropriate.

The fairy transformation could take forever, so that the audience could be impressed when they saw all the details.

The same procedure couldn’t have been applied to Blazing Teens.

If Li Fei had to go through a ritual every time he used his yo-yo, the audience would have changed channels a long time ago.

Without the “transformation” element, no fancy movements were needed.

How the popping balls should be thrown out was hence determined. The main character might have a specially designed move in the future, but the rest could make do with this one.

Toss it or throw it, whatever.