Starting from a Fake University
Chapter 609 - 367: New Project in Animation Major (Seeking Subscriptions)_1

Chapter 609: Chapter 367: New Project in Animation Major (Seeking Subscriptions)_1

December, approaching the end of the year.

The teaching work at Mist City Arts and Science University is proceeding methodically.

Xu Bin is actively preparing for the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest together with Chen Jun and Ouyang Chen.

The venue for this ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest is in Zurich, the largest city in Europe.

At that time, Ding Yue will personally lead the team to participate in the competition in Zurich, Switzerland.

During the ACM preparation period, Xu Bin also took out the time to complete his graduation thesis and successfully defended it.

The first batch of nine students who are about to graduate have all been successively completing their theses and defenses.

Ding Yue hopes to be able to hold a small graduation ceremony for the first batch of students who would be graduating early and issue their graduation certificates after returning from the ACM competition in Europe, before the New Year’s Day.

However.

The thing Ding Yue wanted to deal most before embarking on the ACM competition in Europe is still about the animation major.

Because with the growing in-depth exchange and cooperation between the School of Architecture and the School of Medicine at Mist City Arts and Science University and East China Architecture and Engineering University as well as Mist City Medical University, the strength of the two faculties has greatly improved. The School of Architecture has gained several honorary professors from East China Architecture and Engineering University.

The School of Medicine, on the other hand, purchased a batch of advanced equipment, and further tightened their cooperation with Mist City Medical University, so the system’s evaluation of these two faculties’ tasks also successfully reached 100%.

The current progress of the "[Key Major Level]" task has already realized 4/5, just one last major is needed.

Yes.

This last major is Animation Design and Production.

The day before heading to Europe, Ding Yue once again came to Feiyue Animation Studio.

After a long period of rest and everyone having received a substantial bonus, the dozens of members of the Feiyue Animation Studio were once again full of energy.

Even without any project at the moment, everyone is striving to improve their animation design and production skills.

"Principal Ding, what brings you here?"

Upon seeing Principal Ding come to Feiyue Animation Studio, Xu Jiuge immediately got up from her desk and went to greet him.

"I came to have a look."

Ding Yue casually said, then looked at everyone’s condition, and it seemed that they were all in pretty good shape.

Those who initially came to Mist City Arts and Science University with Xu Jiuge are now basically the teachers of Animation Design and Production major. Some of them should be teaching classes to the animation major students in the classroom.

With the admissions in 2021, the number of students in Animation Design and Production major has expanded significantly, reaching four classes along with the previous batch.

The film Super Combat Team was released in October and became a huge hit. It is estimated that the number of students in the animation major might explode by this time next year.

There are undoubtedly a great number of students nationwide who love animation. With the Feiyue Animation Studio and the outstanding hit of "Super Combat Team" by the Animation major of the Mist City Arts and Science University, countless people will be scrambling to enroll next year.

This is good news for the animation major, and for Ding Yue, the more students who sign up, the better.

Mist City Arts and Science University has already started its comprehensive infrastructure construction. When the expansion of the 5000-acre campus is completed, it will have a capacity of more than 100,000 or even tens of thousands of students.

At that time, wouldn’t it be afraid of having an additional few hundred to thousand students in the animation major?

For each additional one, a good tens of thousands yuan in tuition fees and other expenses can be collected each year, isn’t it pleasant?

Xu Jiuge glanced at Principal Ding, even though he said he was here to have a look, the smart Xu Jiuge naturally knew what Principal Ding was here for.

"Principal Ding, as you said last time that we need to improve the hard strength of our animation major, I thought about it, and starting with upgrading the teaching staff is the easiest."

Xu Jiuge followed beside Principal Ding, and said seriously.

"Hmm."

Ding Yue nodded and asked, "Any progress yet?"

"I contacted my former professors at Guangcheng Media University and invited them to affiliate with our Mist City Arts and Science University, but discussions are still ongoing." Xu Jiuge replied.

Currently, there isn’t a proper professor in the Animation Design and Production major. Ding Yue’s thinking was such that the system evaluation of the progress of this major definitely greatly values the teaching staff.

So Ding Yue lets Xu Jiuge start with inviting professors in the animation field to the Mist City Arts and Science University as a breakthrough.

Xu Jiuge’s network is naturally good since she herself came from the animation major at Guangcheng Media University. Among her teachers, there are no lack of professor-level figures in the field of animation.

However.

Ding Yue knows that inviting professors from Guangcheng Media University would not be easy at all.

When Ding Yue invited Professor Luo Xiang from Xia Country Political and Law University, it took so much effort; inviting animation professors from Guangcheng Media University would basically not be any easier.

Of course, sometimes, as long as the money is given, and based on the foundation of Mist City Arts and Science University Animation major’s work, "Super Combat Team", there is also a certain attraction for animation professors of Guangcheng Media University or other universities.

"Are your teachers unwilling to leave Guangcheng Media University? Or do they think that the money offered is too little?"

Ding Yue asked quite directly.

After hearing it, Xu Jiuge thought for a moment, then replied, "The conditions offered by the school are already very generous. I think the reason why my teachers are still hesitating should be because they are under pressure over there."

After all, not every professor can easily adjunct at other universities. Firstly, whether his own school allows it is also a problem.

Otherwise, the only option would be to resign and rejoin Mist City Arts and Science University.

However, Mist City Arts and Science University, after all, is a private university. For those professors, Guangcheng Media University not only possesses societal status and stability, but also a sense of formality.

If they leave Guangcheng Media University for Mist City Arts and Science University, it would be equivalent to switching from a regular army to a ragtag group.

"Well, indeed there are many influencing factors, but it’s best to decide as soon as possible," Principal Ding was impatient to advance the animation department to accomplish the mission progress and thereby complete the "[Key Major Level]" grand task, followed by a generous reward.

He wondered whether this generous reward could be claimed before the end of the year.

If it could be claimed, it would be equivalent to a great way to kick off 2022. What could be a better gift than the reward for this task?

Apparently, there was none at present.

"Principal Ding, I will try hard to negotiate with the teachers," Xu Jiuge spoke earnestly.

Principal Ding naturally trusted Xu Jiuge’s capability of handling matters. However, he pondered that apart from the recruitment of professor-level personnel in the animation department, there might be another way to increase the task’s progress percentage.

That is, to initiate a new project.

Launching a new project implies that the animation department and the Feiyue Animation Studio will invest capital and personnel into producing a new piece of work for the animation department at Mist City Arts and Science University, which might also enhance the task’s progress percentage.

Besides, the Feiyue Animation Studio has been idle for quite a while, and it is about time for a new project to be put on the agenda.

After all, a new project, from conception to production and then to completion, could take a few months or as long as a year and a half.

At the end of 2021, discussing the creation of a new project could be considered starting to plan for 2022 at Feiyue Animation Studios.

There is also a chance to increase the percentage of the task’s progress—it would be killing two birds with one stone.

"Jiuge, while the matter of inviting professors needs to be hurried, there is something else we need to consider thoroughly at Feiyue Animation Studio," Principal Ding said, walking over to a chair and sitting down.

"Principal Ding, you mean..." Xu Jiuge seemed to grasp Principal Ding’s meaning.

She is a clever and vibrant girl who, from Principal Ding’s tone and his previous sentences, deduced that Principal Ding was planning for the future of the Feiyue Animation Studio.

Since its establishment a year ago, the Feiyue Animation Studio had released its first work, "Super Combat Team", which was very successful.

But of course, the Feiyue Animation Studio obviously couldn’t just rest on its laurels from past success.

At least one high-quality piece every one or two years, or even one each year—this is the basic guarantee of an excellent animation studio.

This is the case with several Hollywood animation studios, as they are able to put out a quality animation piece almost every year.

"Exactly, it’s the end of the year, and it’s about time our Feiyue Animation Studio considered a new project," Principal Ding said with a smile and a nod.

"Principal Ding is right. A top-quality animation studio needs to produce notable works every year to secure its position in the industry. What’s more, the potential of the domestic animation market is huge, and there are no dominating giants like Hollywood so far. Therefore, if we maintain good development momentum, the domestic animation market will definitely be ours in the future, and we can go international!" Xu Jiuge spoke in agreement with Principal Ding from a very rational perspective.

Hearing this, Principal Ding found Xu Jiuge a rather visionary girl. She didn’t confine herself to her current success but insisted on maintaining sound development processes, first piercing into the domestic animation market, then marching onto the international stage.

She is indeed the person I, Ding Yue, picked!

"But... Principal Ding, about the new project..." Xu Jiuge, who had just spoken so passionately, suddenly spoke in a discouraged tone.

It makes sense to say such things.

But what should the new project be about?

The "Super Combat Team" featured Big White, a healthcare robot, which was then adapted into an animated film.

First of all, the healthcare robot Big White was popular and well-liked by the public even before the animated film came out.

For the new project, it’s clear that making a "Super Combat Team 2" right away wouldn’t work, would it?

Making sequels is usually frowned upon in the industry, because they seldom surpass the initial production and can even damage its reputation. Moreover, making "Super Combat Team 2" immediately would look like an obvious money grab.

"So you don’t know what to make?" Principal Ding asked calmly.

Xu Jiuge, being quite honest, nodded and responded, "Yes, it’s indeed hard to choose a theme and a creative source at the moment..."

An animated piece needs to have a creative source, right?

Many domestic animation companies frequently produce animations based on topics such as Sun Wukong from Journey to the West, the Three Kingdoms, and others. Of course, there are original pieces too, but the first thing to do is set a premise.

This premise is—what to make?

However, Principal Ding already had an idea before he came here. This time, Feiyue Animation Studio would launch a new project, doing something unconventional.

For animated films, having already succeeded with "Super Combat Team," releasing another animated film in 2023 with a year’s gap might be a good idea.

As for 2022, Principal Ding had a new idea.

"This time, we will not make an animated film, but an animated short film series."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.