April 17th, Shuntian Film Academy.

  Early in the morning, several thousand people suddenly surged into this not-so-large courtyard, and it's easy to imagine how lively it was.

  Moreover, the problem is that at present, those who enter this courtyard, even if they are parents accompanying their children to take an exam, almost none of them are ugly. As for the young boys and girls, they are almost all handsome men and beautiful women.

  Wang Jinglu tightly grasped Li Qian's hand, occasionally tiptoeing forward to take a look.

  It was already April, but after standing in the courtyard for half an hour, both of them were sweating from their noses.

  Time slowly came to eight thirty, finally, the crowd was in a stir - the person responsible for maintaining order in the college came out.

  As the only film academy in China at present, Shuntian Film Academy has set up various disciplines related to film that are among the most comprehensive in the world.

  Wang Jinglu applied for the acting department, and Li Qian applied for the photography department.

  Yes, that's right, he is going to study photography.

  In his past life, he was an actor and had some understanding and skills in acting. In this life, although his main job is studying, music is also a big part of it, but he has never stopped training himself in acting. Although studying acting for a few years would definitely improve his acting skills, at least he could integrate the unconventional methods he learned into the systematic framework of the academy, but to be honest, Li Qian thought about it repeatedly and didn't want to be confined to that big frame.

  And in his own life plan, although he will definitely act in the future, the focus of this life's career will not be just acting.

  So, the performance department was excluded from this.

  Then, he also worked as an assistant director, group director and other roles in many film crews before. He has been a director's assistant several times. Although studying in a professional school for a few years will definitely bring some improvement, just like the reason why he didn't study acting, he thinks what he lacks most is not those directing systems that can be taught in school.

  After careful consideration, he felt that photography was the most suitable for him.

  Firstly, photography is very important.

  For a film or TV series, the most important component aside from acting is scriptwriting, cinematography and editing - in fact, these three are also the key to whether a story is good or not.

  Li Qian had been in many film crews in his previous life, and he already had a foundation for both acting and directing. Even with things like art and set design, although he couldn't say he was proficient, he could still tell you one or two things about them. But there was only one thing that he had never touched on in all the years he had been in the industry: photography.

  However, when film and television first emerged, they didn't need directors, screenwriters, editors, or even professional actors, but they couldn't do without cinematography.

  It can be said that photography is the first step in the entire film industry's takeoff.

  So, although Li Qian will not be involved in too much photography work in the future, his future work focus is on music production, singer-songwriter and film producer, director, screenwriter, but he still decides to use four years of professional study to make up for the shortcomings of his future career.

  He doesn't expect to reach the level of a certain national teacher in his previous time and space, who was so infatuated with the camera and colors that he became one with them. At least, he wants to make the movie look better.

  Secondly, well, it's quite simple.

  Because the photography department is relatively easier to get in by just a little bit!

  Although Li Qian has a lot of professional experience, he doesn't have much confidence in being admitted to Shun Tian Film Academy, which only recruits dozens of students each year.

  As far as he knew in his previous life, some people had already acted in many movies and TV dramas before taking the BJ Film Academy exam, and some had even won awards for Best Actor, but still couldn't get in, and it took several years of trying to succeed.

  So, you see, performance majors are definitely the most popular and also the hardest to get into.

  The director is also closely followed, and it's definitely a mess.

  The scriptwriting major shouldn't be so popular, but many people think that as long as you have good writing skills, you can get in. As a result, a large number of people who want to squeeze into the entertainment industry and this school rush in without thinking, making this originally relatively niche major just as hot as the directing major.

  So, okay, photography department probably won't be that popular anymore?

  But in fact, there aren't many people either.

  With the arrival of graduate students and senior students from the Film Academy who were in charge of maintaining order, several big brands stood up. Li Qian thought that the photography department would definitely be crowded with only a hundred or two people, but when they passed by and lined up, wow, there were nearly a thousand!

  You know, the photography department only recruits 20 people a year!

  Even if there are definitely some people who come to accompany the exam among so many people, even if 200-300 people are kicked out, this is still a admission rate of 3:40 or 4:40! Moreover, it should be known that photography is a technical subject, and those who dare to take the photography department of Shun Tian Film Academy must not be ignorant of photography.

  Seeing so many people, Li Qian was still calm and composed, while Wang Jinglu's scalp was numb for a moment.

  She leaned in close to Li Qian and whispered, "It seems that the photography department isn't easy to get into either! I thought you chose photography on purpose because it was easy, but now it looks like there are a lot of people too!"

  Li Qian smiled and grasped her hand tightly.

  There are really too many people applying for the performance department, so the film academy has to divide the candidates into several batches and conduct the first round of exams separately. Wang Jinglu's batch is tomorrow, so she came over today just to accompany the exam.

  Of course, even if it's just one batch, standing in the photography department and looking over, there are at least a thousand people on that side!

  However, between the photography and acting teams, there were a few rows of people from the directing department, making it inconvenient to admire beauties. And among those who came to take the directing department exam, although there were also handsome guys and pretty girls, the overall quality was definitely not as good as that of the acting department.

  Fortunately, Li Qian's height is not considered short.

  While waiting for the roll call to start, others were tense and he kept tiptoeing to take a look, then when he saw someone who looked pretty, he would quickly shout "Wang Jinglu, hey, hey, that one, that one is pretty..."

  At first, Wang Jinglu was still curious and followed his finger to look at the beauty together, but after looking around, she slowly became a little jealous. She didn't say anything even though she was jealous. When Li Qian shouted, she kicked him and said: "If you like her so much, then marry her as your concubine!"

  Then Li Qian was disappointed.

  "Can't afford it!"

  But a moment later he asked: "Hey, where's the signed document? I still haven't gotten it yet!"

  Wang Jinglu was too lazy to bother with him, and it wasn't until after a long time that she glanced at him and said: "You want to take a concubine, aren't there many girls willing to throw themselves at you? Why look for me?"

  Li Qian smiled and said: "If you agree that I take a concubine, I'll let you be the first wife, how about it?"

  Wang Jinglu gave him a sudden glare, "Not interested!"

  It's not clear if it was the interesting conversation between the two people, but several people around them looked over. With a glance from the curious eyes of everyone, Wang Jinglu suddenly became a little angry and couldn't help but lightly punch Li Qian, "Don't talk nonsense, look at everyone staring at us!"

  Just at this moment, before Li Qian could speak, his name had already been called out from the other side.

  Li Qian reminded him of two things and then hurriedly squeezed to the front.

  The staff, who looked like he was only in his twenties, glanced at the photo and handed the admission ticket to Li Qian, saying: "You, 10:30 session, Exam Room 11." Then he started calling out names.

  According to Li Qian's understanding, there are three exams in total for the photography department.

  The first round is a written test, which lasts for half an hour. It's not clear what specific content will be tested, but presumably it should be some basic professional knowledge. This round will likely eliminate about half of the registered candidates.

  The second round is watching movies and writing film reviews. It's said that the movie will be randomly selected, which eliminates another half of them.

  The third round is an interview. According to the usual practice, the college will first provide a camera and 15 minutes of time, allowing you to take three photos at will, and then submit them. In the afternoon, your photos are developed according to their numbers, and then it's the interview.

  Although nearly a thousand people have come to sign up for the photography department on this small square, it is estimated that less than a hundred people can make it to the interview.

  After getting the admission ticket, Li Qian squeezed out again and found Wang Jinglu. The two of them looked at beautiful women while chatting about irrelevant topics, waiting for their own game.

  Then, time passed slowly and quickly. In the midst of a long, dull, and stifling wait, someone suddenly stood on the table with a handheld loudspeaker and shouted, "Those for the 10:30 session, gather over here!"

  This scene is too outdated, although Li Qian had seen it several times earlier, but for this extremely outdated exam mode, he still can't help but mock it in his heart a few more times.

  Wang Jinglu's hand suddenly clenched into a fist, while she was extremely nervous herself, and said to Li Qian: "Relax, relax, you'll definitely be fine!"

  Li Qian puckered up and went over to peck her on the cheek, then squeezed in with all his might.

  Well, considering the past and present, this is his first time taking the film academy exam, or even participating in an art-related exam. To say that he wasn't nervous at all would be a lie, but to say that he was extremely nervous wouldn't be accurate either.

  For him, whether it's studying or applying to film school, it's just a step to perfect and supplement himself, wanting to make up for his shortcomings before he really starts his career, but it's not a matter of life and death - if he doesn't get into film school, he can still be his own musician, and even go on to act or direct.

  So he was also nervous, but among so many candidates, he was absolutely one of the most relaxed.

  Then, when he followed the crowd and entered the No. 11 examination room behind the staff who had been beaten by the signboard, he sat down and didn't need to adjust his mood at all, and directly looked at the test questions.

  Yes, there are three questions in total, clearly marked on top. Candidates only need to choose one of them to answer.

  If one day you wake up and find yourself suddenly back in the time when you were just entering kindergarten, how would you plan your life from then on?

  When he saw half of the question, Li Qian suddenly felt a burst of white light in his mind!

  Damn it, is this going to make me rewrite everything?

  He stared blankly for half a day, skipping over the large blanks on the test paper and looking directly at the back.

  The second question is: One day you wake up and find yourself turned into a giant gorilla?

  Li Qian shocked again!

  Is this the rise of Planet of the Apes?

  It has to be said that such a test question really stunned Li Qian.

  This would be a suitable exam question for screenwriting or directing, but... hey, I'm taking the photography exam! Is this supposed to test our imagination?

  He continued to look back, and then he inadvertently let out a sigh of relief.

  The third question is finally slightly normal.

  This is a gentle slope, the green grass and flowers are in full bloom. Standing on the slope, what would you think of? What would you want to do?

  After reading all three test questions, Li Qian couldn't help but frown and scratch his head.

  Have to say, this test question really exceeded his expectations, the third question is fine, but the first two questions - the person who set the questions really has a very jumpy thinking!

  What about the promised professional knowledge? Not being tested at all?

  Just as Li Qian was hesitating and didn't know which question to answer first, the students who had finished their exams and were feeling calm began to look at the questions one after another. Then, a burst of gasps suddenly echoed through the examination hall.

  Well, it's obvious that no one expected the Film Academy to come up with such an exam question!

  To be exact, such questions are completely impossible to have a standard answer. The person who sets the question is completely free to do as they please, and the person answering can also do as they please. For students who are already used to having a standard answer when doing exercises, this is really somewhat difficult and confusing.

  After some thought, Li Qian finally chose the second question. He wrote in the blank space -

  "Planet of the Apes"

  When I had been living in a tribe on this planet full of humanoid apes for more than half a year and was not interested in the beauties of the ape tribes at all, one day, we caught a group of humans on an unexpectedly landed spaceship. They spoke the same language as us and said they were researchers from a planet called Earth who had been brought here by the turbulent flow of time.

  Here is the translation:

  In our place, humans are just slaves, apes are the masters.

  I worked hard to make them my slaves, then released them and even sent them back to their spaceship, but I knew I couldn't go with them because I was already an ape. However, the pursuers behind had caught up, after a big battle, the wounded me was forced to hide in the spaceship, and followed them into interstellar space, after passing through the turbulent flow, returned to Earth.

  However, in 2020, the Earth, due to human over-research, led to the emergence of an abnormal serum. This serum can kill humans but can stimulate the intelligent evolution of primates. So, when I followed them back to Earth, I found that the earth's technology had been completely destroyed, and the rebellious primates were gradually occupying the entire earth.

  And the leader that these apes, who are similar to me, worship and follow is the one I heard being referred to as the Creator God on that planet, its name is - Test Subject 148.

  After finishing, he checked it once and saw that there were no mistakes or typos, so he was the first to stand up and hand in his paper. While other examinees were still frowning and thinking hard, he walked out of the examination room.

  ***

  Chapter 1, over 4,000 words!