I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 238 - 238 237. Lu Ban Falls from the Pedestal_1

Chapter 238: 237. Lu Ban Falls from the Pedestal_1 Chapter 238: 237. Lu Ban Falls from the Pedestal_1 After assisting Song Yunyan’s friend, Lu Ban finally had time to continue production.

However, this time, Lu Ban did not remain silent as he had during the Yannan University Student Film Festival.

Using one’s identity and resources for publicity is a part of modern media, an aspect one must taste.

He first created a brief trailer, just a few seconds long—a pie-in-the-sky PV, akin to seeds just sown by players in a host game—and registered all the related intellectual property.

In the trailer, a hand opens a book and writes with a pen, accompanied by a self-narrated voice-over, “When you see this story, I will no longer be in this world,” creating a sense of eerie mystery. It ends with the title “The Madman’s Mouth.”

The images in the trailer did not offer much of an immersive feeling, just common shots. Lu Ban checked it again, uploaded it to the Silence Project’s accounts on various video websites, and then forwarded it from his personal account.

“Cry” was released at the end of last year, and now he was directly releasing a trailer for a new film. The audience was still reeling. Even a regular publicity campaign would require over a month, plus securing theater schedules. To garner more attention and spread the film wider, these steps were necessary.

There used to be a saying, “Fine wine needs no bush,” but nowadays, in the era of explosive internet information circulation, today’s hot topics are forgotten tomorrow. With various types of information constantly being updated, good publicity is essential. Otherwise, even the most beautiful film will suffer.

Of course, sometimes during the promotion, one might find it impossible to finish, leading to postponing the release. Some films postpone their release three or four times, frustrating the audience. Others might raise expectations too high, only to find out that the promotional material doesn’t match the final product, causing the audience to feel cheated.

Less than an hour after uploading, Lu Ban saw the video had surpassed five hundred thousand plays on the Old Day Video website, and its count was visibly increasing with each refresh.

At this time, the majority visiting were longstanding fans of Lu Ban, so their attitudes might be biased, and the comments were mostly flattery. Lu Ban did not look closely.

By evening, he saw a push notification from Understand Media.

[How do you evaluate the trailer for Lu Ban’s new film, “The Madman’s Mouth”?]

Lu Ban clicked on it.

The top-rated comment he saw was from an online film critic—not an industry insider—who often writes analyses and evaluations of films.

[Deep Blue Melancholy: The trailer seems profound, grand, and mysterious, but actually tells us nothing. Whether it’s the shots, dialogue, or scenes, they all have an air of snobbishness, yet reveal nothing. From the trailer, one can see that Director Lu Ban’s visual standards have greatly improved, but it still tells us nothing. So what exactly is this trailer trying to say? I believe, from a trailer’s perspective, this film is far from complete, probably just at the project formulation stage. If we’re to see this film, it will be at least two years from now, so everyone can wait and judge then.]

“Indeed, it’s not very complete.”

Lu Ban agreed. He was a perfectionist and had only completed about a third of the project. To fully complete it would take at least another month, so the degree of completion truly was low.

He then checked the second most liked answer, which came from a practitioner, a screenwriter who had participated in the production of several films and television series.

[My Name is Teacher Zhao: This trailer is very simple, a few images, one line of dialogue. Analyzing the dialogue, one can infer that the narrator is likely already dead and is telling the story. From his attire, it appears to be a modern-day tale. Then, from the title… I’m sorry, I really can’t speculate further. Aside from the title, the trailer seems to convey no useful information, so it’s hard to deduce anything else. Of course, this is also a marketing strategy. Horror films depend on creativity, and Director Lu Ban’s current hit films are also full of originality. If the trailer reveals too much and others clone it cheaply, the final impact will be diminished. Let’s wait for more trailers from Lu Ban.]

“So there’s that consideration.”

Lu Ban also couldn’t help but concur.

Reflecting on Ye Cheng’s participation in the filming of a new horror movie, he realized that many crews were chasing the hot, trending traffic.

Creativity is crucial for horror mystery films, and once key ideas are exposed, the overall effect of the movie could be significantly reduced, making it essential for trailers to retain some enigma.

He turned to the third response, from an account that provides film explanations, the kind that edits film highlights with commentary, enabling audiences to get the gist of a movie in just a few minutes.

[White Elephant Talks Movies: Before discussing Lu Ban’s new film, I want to talk about the director himself. He debuted with suspenseful videos—shorts, web films, theatrical releases—and in less than a year, he went from an unknown to a hotshot director. His rise is worth pondering. First, it’s impossible for normal films to be produced in such quick succession, so he must have been prepared, shooting them in advance and releasing them step by step. Secondly, the actors he chooses are all very secretive and can’t be found by other production companies. I have reason to believe there is a huge capital backing him, and Lu Ban’s emergence is just a signal…]

“Huge capital?”

Lu Ban looked behind himself, seeing only two wisp-like mists, black and grey entwined, but no sign of any vast capital.

Although Song Yunyan’s Jiangcheng Industries was indeed a large group, it was well known that Lu Ban was now self-sufficient, having hardly sought any follow-up investment from Song Yunyan.

“This doesn’t quite work,” he concluded.

He didn’t pay attention to the ensuing discussions, letting the buzz ferment on its own. In the modern era of media bombardment, a topic as hot as Lu Ban would only become increasingly sensational.

As he continued with production, Lu Ban also casually drummed up a second trailer.

Before releasing it, he saw several public accounts he followed reposting a screenshot from a post, showing the post’s title.

“Silence Project’s New Work Analysis, Lu Ban is About to Fall from Grace!”

“?”

Lu Ban didn’t know how he had ended up on a pedestal. Curious, he opened one of the articles and read it seriously.

“…although Lu Ban’s horror films are splendid, with no one able to contend in the market currently, if he continues to indulge in his comfort zone without breaking out, he will soon become complacent and eventually crash and burn. He should make films with richer emotions or those with larger scenes and bigger production, instead of continuing with niche horror films!”