Super Zoo

Hearing Suming say he didn't want a "labor fee", Jiao Shou was initially a bit excited, but then it dawned on him, no! There was definitely no such thing as a free lunch in the world.

No surprise, the 'but' that followed made his heart skip a beat.

It's the free things that are the most troublesome. It's just like ordering in a restaurant; those people who say 'I'm fine with anything' are the most difficult because you have no idea how to please them, and often you end up having to order a bit of everything...

"You're not going to insert commercials, are you?" Jiao Shou asked tentatively, unable to imagine that there were indeed commercials inserted in the show. However, they were usually presented in a joking and humorous manner, seldom like serious TV commercials, which could severely affect the viewer's experience.

Of course, while Jiao Shou was reluctant to insert commercials, it was a condition he could accept.

He probably thought Suming wanted help promoting the zoo. He said, "Don't worry, we will definitely add subtitles at the beginning and end of the show to thank Yangchuan City Zoo, and I'll read them out myself."

"No, no, no, you've misunderstood me. I'm not about inserting commercials or thanking Yangchuan City Zoo," Suming said, with a somewhat dangerous smile on his face.

"Then what do you want?" Jiao Shou frowned slightly, sensing that Mr. Su, the vice-director of the zoo, was aiming high.

Suming said with a smile, "I don't want to advertise, but to turn this entire episode of 'You'd Never Expect' into a pure promotional film!"

"Impossible!" Jiao Shou was so shocked that he jumped up at once, blurting out without hesitation, shaking his head vigorously to the point that Suming worried it would fly off his neck.

As a commercial web series, adding a bit of advertisement was fine, but Suming's intention was not just product placement, but to turn an entire episode into a pure commercial!

This would fundamentally change the nature of 'You'd Never Expect', from entertainment to advertising. Not to mention the viewers who were already tired of the same old content would abandon the show without hesitation, even the most loyal fans would be full of complaints and desert the web drama altogether.

According to the current situation of 'You'd Never Expect', even if it lost viewers, it would be a slow decline, not causing immediate fatal damage to the program.

But if Jiao Shou agreed to Suming's request, it would be digging his own grave, immediately killing off 'You'd Never Expect'!

"Mr. Su, this request is absolutely impossible. Let's talk about money instead; I can try to pay more for the animals' fees. Product placement in the show can also be negotiated," Jiao Shou made some concessions.

But Suming wouldn't budge. He didn't lack the money, and he didn't need that kind of ineffective product placement advertisement. As Jiao Shou thought, it was just for fun and didn't serve any real promotional purpose.

Jiao Shou came with sincerity, truly wanting to cooperate with the zoo, and Suming was also genuine. But both sides had their own bottom lines they must stick to in the cooperation. Once that line was crossed, the partnership would be meaningless, and might even have negative effects.

Jiao Shou made some more concessions, but Suming firmly refused to change his original intention, insisting on making it a commercial film.

The negotiation between the two parties was on the verge of a deadlock.

"Mr. Su, if you insist, then we can't cooperate." Jiao Shou said, patting his head with a sigh, "It's a pity."
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With that, he prepared to get up and take his leave.

"Jiao Shou, I don't think you need to rush to refuse," Suming was confident, "How about we first shoot a pilot episode according to my concept? I can even finance this episode. After it's made, we don't go live immediately but have an internal screening. You assess it, and if you're satisfied, we go live; if not, we'll do it your way."

That was indeed a solution, nothing more than the crew working overtime to rush an episode.

"Okay," Jiao Shou shrugged, "But Mr. Su, frankly speaking, we are probably wasting time. The audience won't like a purely commercial film."

"That may not necessarily be the case," Suming began to smile, "I'll give you an initial draft of the script as soon as possible. After you refine it, we start shooting."

...

Located deep in the mountains, Dasheng Liquor Factory in Yangchuan City was built halfway up a hill, accessible only by a concrete road from below. To facilitate the lives of its employees, the moderate-sized factory decided to build a dormitory area within the compound. Working and living here, though distant from the bustling city, backed by green hills, surrounded by clear water, with a view of the Huating Reservoir at the foot of the mountain, the scenery was beautiful.

These past few days, the staff of Great Sage Liquor Industry noticed a group of people 'shooting a TV show' around their facility, setting up all sorts of equipment early in the morning and working till dusk. During lunch and after work, the workers would curiously watch the filming, a large group of them squatting on the ground with bowls in hand, eating while discussing the nearby shooting site.

Three minutes of performance on stage requires ten years of practice behind the scenes. An audience only sees a web series episode for a short 20-30 minutes, but in actual filming, a single shot often needs to be taken multiple times, even more than a dozen times to be satisfactory. There's also makeup for the actors, post-production editing, and other specialized work, with the time spent often dozens or even hundreds of times more than what's seen on the TV screen.

A 100-minute movie, if well-made, might require years to shoot. 'You'd Never Expect' doesn't need to be crafted with such precision, but the crew still busied themselves for a full three days.

The first time he saw the factory, Jiao Shou was completely stunned for half a minute, looking at the 'bizarre' building in front of him, he said unbelievably, "This... this isn't..."

"Hehe, it's an imitation, it just looks a bit alike. Otherwise, it would be an infringement," Suming said with a smile.

The last shot was done in a spacious room inside the liquor factory. By the time Jiao Shou and the crew arrived, the place had already been cleared, and the several animals that were acting were already dressed neatly, waiting there.

"Action!"

...

After another two days, the crew busily worked on post-production and finally completed this episode of 'Beyond Your Imagination' in the wee hours of the night.

Suming was called up in the middle of the night to the Yangchuan City Zoo meeting room, where he joined Jiao Shou and several key creative staff to watch the internal premiere.

During the short twenty minutes of the episode, the meeting room was almost completely silent, every person's attention focused on the large projection screen in front of them.

Since it was the first time cooperating with a large number of animals on such a scale, the creators involved in the premiere were very nervous while watching the sample. Although they had personally taken part in the filming and knew exactly how the plot unfolded, the key creators were still somewhat unsure whether the scenes unfolding before them were truly completed with those live animals.

The special effects were still the kind that could be laughably edited directly in Word, but the 'actors' were living animals, humans and animals together with the comical low-budget effects creating a strong contrast and comedic effect.

Soon, the episode ended. The lights in the meeting room came back on.

"It's stunning! Very surprising!" Jiao Shou was the first to stand, clapping vigorously, but his face bore no hint of a smile, instead, he looked deadly serious.

"I think it will definitely be OK!" The male lead, Bai Ke, shrugged and said, "If audiences don't buy this, I really don't know what other methods will satisfy them?"

The other key creators exchanged looks, and it was clear they were rather confident, all wearing relaxed expressions on their faces.

Only Jiao Shou kept his face straight, brows deeply furrowed, arms folded across his chest in deep thought.

Suming's gaze shifted to Jiao Shou, "Jiao Shou, why so serious? Give us a word, will it work or not?" Just as Bai Ke said, if this doesn't work, then they really wouldn't know what else to shoot.

Jiao Shou took a deep breath and slowly said, "If we really air this episode, it would be a huge challenge for the crew. We might receive a pleasant surprise, but we can't rule out the possibility of losing a large number of viewers. This makes me very hesitant, to air or not to air?"

Suming couldn't help but laugh at Jiao Shou's tangled appearance.

He understood what Jiao Shou was struggling with. This episode could be said to be revolutionary, and any innovation might cause the original audience to feel uncomfortable, let alone such a significant change? If the audience really couldn't accept it, it could deal a fatal blow to the crew.

When the viewership was dropping, Jiao Shou was worried about the show's decline and was eager to introduce new elements. Now that there were new elements, Jiao Shou worried that the audience wouldn't accept them.

In the end, it was not about whether this episode was well produced or even whether the audience could accept it, but rather that Jiao Shou took the show 'Beyond Your Imagination' too seriously, fearing any mishap that might occur, so he was somewhat worried and undecided.

It's like parents worrying about their children, not wanting them to interact with society for fear of them becoming reclusive and ostracized; and yet when letting them mingle in society, worrying they might be bullied or pick up bad habits.

Any creator who has risen from obscurity tends to be sensitive, and Jiao Shou was no exception. Suming walked over, patted Jiao Shou on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "Jiao Shou, this show is your hard work, so I respect your decision. You can choose to air it or not."

Jiao Shou nodded without a word, obviously still hesitating. Suming continued, "We've worked together these past few days, so we're friends, right? I have a piece of advice for you. When making a show, it's inevitable to receive various critiques. Right now you're just shooting a web series. If a few poor reviews disturb you, how will you face those venomous film critics when you start making films? Brother, take it easy, just focus on producing good content; otherwise, without any outside criticism or abandonment, you'll beat yourself first."

Jiao Shou stared at Suming for a moment, and finally made up his mind, "Release it for streaming!"

...........

PS: Gathering for May Day, not sure what time I'll be back tonight, so just two updates today~~ It's been a long time since there were just two updates, feeling a bit shy to mention it~~

Group number: 332352624. From May 1 to May 3, every afternoon at six o'clock, I'll be in the group to send out red packets~~

About May Day additional updates, what do you think, will there be any...?