The three of them lingered in the corner for a while longer, only slipping out quietly after that batch of audience members had left.
"Shall we go grab a meal?"
Xiao He suggested.
They had originally timed their visit around mealtime, and now that the movie was over, it was already past two o'clock.
He Junhao rubbed his hands together excitedly: "Can I really join?"
"What's there to hesitate about?" Liu Zehang laughed heartily, slinging his arm over He Junhao's shoulder, "By the way, what kind of videos do you mainly make? I feel your thought process when speaking is very clear—you're really suited for careers in the blogging field—"
"I'm in the food category." He Junhao explained somewhat sheepishly, "I usually just make some food content and post it online."
"That's great!"
Seeing that Liu Zehang and He Junhao were getting along well, Xiao He pulled out his phone to search for restaurants.
After the group finished their meal, Xiao He hitched a ride with Liu Zehang to arrive at the KULA company building.
This was their afternoon work—a magazine photoshoot.
Movie promotion includes many aspects, among them magazine-related merchandise and videos. After the movie's release, these become important elements for driving fan engagement and boosting box office revenue through related industries.
Liu Zehang had extensive experience with magazine photoshoots, while Xiao He had only done one before. Fortunately, KULA's collaborative attitude was very good—basically they just needed to show up, as all other work had already been planned and arranged.
KULA magazine was a rising force that had quietly emerged in the fashion publication field in recent years. Its main content involved promoting famous domestic and international light luxury brands and niche designs, building brand image. Its overall style leaned toward niche and dark elements, making it quite popular among young people.
Of course, for someone like Xiao He who was a fashion novice, this made no real difference—it was just working in a different location.
Moreover, the stylists and costume designers here didn't engage in any deliberate difficulties or intentionally assigning ugly roles to actors. They directly arranged matching suits with traditional Chinese elements for Xiao He and Liu Zehang—one black, one white—highlighting two seemingly completely different positions and factions.
Xiao He naturally wore the black suit, while Liu Zehang wore the white one. The overall styling looked conventional and proper, relatively normal and clean.
After finishing his makeup, Xiao He came out and checked his reflection in the full-length mirror, letting out a quiet sigh of relief.
He was actually quite afraid of these creative types who might suddenly come up with some bizarre ideas.
Although Xiao He had done few magazine shoots and walked few red carpets, when he used to browse videos, he'd seen plenty of actors and celebrities with disastrous magazine photos and even worse red carpet outfits.
What left the deepest impression on Xiao He was a certain handsome male star who shot a set with a "cow-licked hair" magazine style, which was widely mocked for a long time afterward, nearly driving away his appearance-focused fans.
Don't misunderstand—"cow-licked hair" didn't actually involve using a cow for the shoot. It referred to hair tightly slicked against the scalp, smooth and shiny, creating a visual effect where the hair tightly conformed to the head's contours, as if licked by a cow's tongue—both greasy and eye-searing.
Although many people said it wasn't the styling's fault but the person's problem, Xiao He directly rejected any association with such looks.
Fortunately, Xiao He hadn't encountered any strange characters among his stylists these past times—or perhaps Sister Liu had already screened them in advance.
Well, that was quite good indeed.
After chatting with Liu Zehang for a bit, they arrived at the shooting set, ready to begin.
The photography studio was relatively simple—just a spacious room with a large white backdrop, surrounded by many lighting equipment and black instruments, with several reflectors scattered on the floor and long cables fixed and taped to the ground.
The air carried a mixed scent of hairspray and plastic, not particularly pleasant.
The photographer in charge was a middle-aged man with foreign features who spoke fluent Mandarin. His shooting movements were very efficient. Xiao He and Liu Zehang first shot several sets of individual photos, then several sets of duo photos, with the entire shooting process advancing very quickly.
During the final shooting period, the foreign photographer suddenly stopped, carefully examining Xiao He and Liu Zehang, then turned and said something to the lighting technician.
So the lighting technician walked over and adjusted the studio lighting, changing the overhead light coverage above the two men, then casting a slanted shadow across the white suit on Liu Zehang's body.
Instantly, the color of Liu Zehang's clothing turned gray-black through the lighting effects, with only his face and half of his body remaining in the light, illuminated brightly.
This feeling actually fit very well with Lin Yu'an's "multi-faceted" character setting in Law of the Jungle.
Lin Yu'an was never a little white rabbit—he was equally a White Outside Black Inside dangerous Vicious Wolf.
And this feeling was actually conveyed simply through a single beam of light.
Immediately afterward, the photographer had someone bring over a ladder over two meters tall, then climbed up it, had Xiao He and Liu Zehang look up simultaneously, and shot a photo of them from above.
When everything was finished, Xiao He, who had maintained a tense expression, finally relaxed his somewhat stiff facial muscles slightly.
The middle-aged photographer named Annison also proactively approached them.
"I went to see your Law of the Jungle yesterday too, I really liked it."
He said.
"Thank you." Liu Zehang replied politely.
No wonder he had suddenly gotten the inspiration to light his white suit to appear dark gray.
So he had actually familiarized himself with the storyline.
"Will your movie get an overseas release later?" Annison continued asking, while giving a thumbs up, "I'll definitely recommend it to my friends later, they'll definitely be very interested too."
"There are plans and intentions for that in the later stages."
Liu Zehang nodded.
Xiao He also remembered Sister Liu mentioning this to him.
After all, Director Ren already had a substantial audience overseas. His first battle royale work had gained considerable popularity abroad. While it hadn't reached blockbuster status, it still had overseas recognition, and its ability to attract box office revenue abroad far surpassed other domestic film genres.
So barring unexpected circumstances, this Law of the Jungle would also be released internationally. Fortunately, Director Ren already had relevant experience, and had established channels for sending Law of the Jungle to foreign cinema chains later.
It remained to be seen whether this movie would achieve similar success abroad as Director Ren's first battle royale work.
"That's wonderful." Annison said delightedly, "Then when it gets an overseas release, I'll definitely have our friends come watch it."
Law of the Jungle's production quality was relatively quite good. Many of the post-production special effects were created by overseas teams Director Ren hired at great expense. The plot content and presentation style also incorporated some violence and bloody elements favored by foreign audiences. The human relationships and Law of the Jungle concepts it explored aligned with cultures worldwide, without significant cultural barriers, making it easily understandable for international dissemination.
Annison genuinely liked this movie.
"Okay, then thank you for your and your friends' support."
Liu Zehang smiled and nodded.