Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 312 - Chapter 312 Chapter 305 Dedication to Art

Chapter 312: Chapter 305: Dedication to Art Chapter 312: Chapter 305: Dedication to Art Da Mi looked the same as when Zheng Tan had seen him at the cat exhibition; still with very little expression and appearing indifferent to the people and things around him. Only when glancing over did his eyes grow a bit wider and his pupils dilate slightly, making him appear less sharp than usual.

As for Xiao Mi, this was the first time Zheng Tan had seen him since he was taken away. He recognized the familiar patterns and the mole, just like his father’s, two traits that ensured Zheng Tan couldn’t mistake him.

Unlike Da Mi, Xiao Mi showed a bit of confusion when he saw Zheng Tan for the first time since leaving. Zheng Tan didn’t know whether the little guy still remembered him.

Xiao Mi’s gaze followed Zheng Tan around. Probably feeling that the space was too cramped, he squeezed Da Mi aside. He didn’t mind even when Da Mi slapped him on the forehead; he continued to squeeze and was continuously hit on the head.

Both cats were squeezed against the car window, making it difficult for Zheng Tan to enter. In the end, it was the driver in front who called for Zheng Tan to jump in through the front window.

Zheng Tan hadn’t met the driver before, but he learned from the man’s conversation with Charlie that this was the person mentioned by Fang Shaokang who helped take care of things in Beijing. Since everything was arranged in advance, Charlie felt a bit more at ease and, after watching the car drive away, reported Zheng Tan’s whereabouts to the people of Chuhua City as Xiao Guo and Professor Jiao had instructed.

In the car, Zheng Tan sat in the front passenger seat, with Fang Mengmeng and the two cats in the backseat, along with a person he didn’t recognize, sent by Fang Mengmeng’s mother to help take care of the child and the cats.

Zheng Tan noticed that Xiao Mi was wearing a harness with the leash’s other end held by the woman unfamiliar to him. Xiao Mi’s cat card was attached to a buckle on the harness, which was quite exquisite. The harness passed under Xiao Mi’s front legs armpits, meaning the leash wouldn’t put all the force on the cat’s neck when pulled. However, such harnesses were usually used for more active cats. Da Mi wasn’t like that.

Just as Zheng Tan had guessed, Xiao Mi showed signs of hyperactivity, totally different from Da Mi’s tranquil and steady demeanor. After Zheng Tan got in the car, Xiao Mi was initially very curious, occasionally sniffing around, uncertain whether he remembered Zheng Tan or just felt he wasn’t a threat. He moved close to him and even patted Zheng Tan with his paw, staying active in the backseat until Fang Mengmeng firmly pressed him down into the seat.

Even while lying down, Xiao Mi couldn’t stay still, rubbing here and there, playing with various things, his tail swishing back and forth. Zheng Tan wondered whom this personality resembled – Huasheng Tang certainly wasn’t like this, was he?

Another thing that bothered Zheng Tan was the difference in size.

To Zheng Tan, Huasheng Tang was a junior, and Da Mi and Xiao Mi were even younger. Standing beside these younger generations, Zheng Tan had to look up to them.

It was only when he arrived at Fang Mengmeng’s house that Zheng Tan realized he had underestimated Xiao Mi.

Zheng Tan lay on the sofa, watching Xiao Mi play with a tennis ball all over the room, occasionally provoking Zheng Tan on the sofa and Da Mi on the cat climbing frame. Then, he would be slapped by both, without getting tired of it.

Zheng Tan wondered if it would cause trouble during filming, but those were concerns for Yang Yi and the filming crew. Zheng Tan didn’t ponder on it anymore.

Fang Mengmeng took many photos of Zheng Tan, Da Mi, and Xiao Mi with her camera. Da Mi had already gotten used to it, and Xiao Mi didn’t seem to mind the camera either. Sometimes he curiously approached the lens, resulting in a few close-ups of his big nose with the distinctive mole by his mouth especially apparent.

Zheng Tan didn’t stay long at Fang Mengmeng’s house; the next day, he was picked up by Yang Yi, who drove over. The film crew couldn’t spare much time; many things still needed adjustments, and Yang Yi had placed great hopes on Zheng Tan.

Many people say that documentaries are the elder son of films, the poor sibling of feature films. As Zheng Tan knew, not every documentary wins public recognition. Most documentaries are shelved, with their titles unknown to many. Even if people have heard of them, they won’t be interested in watching.

Many people were also skeptical of the film that Yang Yi invested so much effort into. Why make a documentary when you could film star-studded commercials instead?

Yang Yi didn’t care about that at all.

Zheng Tan was not a Beijing cat, and since the story was about cats in Beijing, the stories definitely wouldn’t feature the real Zheng Tan. Authenticity is the essential attribute of a documentary, which records things that objectively exist, allowing audiences to have a more genuine experience. Therefore, Yang Yi wouldn’t talk nonsense nor would he have Zheng Tan act out those fake stories.

What Zheng Tan was meant to reenact were real events from the past. In other words, Zheng Tan was to portray another cat that was no longer on this earth, changing locations as well as mentality.

Compared to 20 or 30 years ago, nowadays Beijing had changed a lot. The scenes and items in Yang Yi’s memory couldn’t be replicated accurately, which involves the technique of using scientific and technological means to virtualize. Of course, virtualization doesn’t mean fabrication–the stories remain real, and the virtualized scenes and items have historical foundations. Thus, some segments of the documentary required a combination of virtual and real filming techniques to recreate genuine story content.

Humans have the ability to relive memories, those events that exist in Yang Yi’s recollections. Yang Yi aimed to reach an ideological resonance, which put quite a bit of pressure on Zheng Tan.

The cast and vibe were vastly different from the studio run by Xiao Guo.

During the shooting process, they focused on controlling the light ratio to enhance the visual effect of the images. This placed high demands on both the technical level of the cameras and the photographers, who had to adjust the light ratio to ensure the aesthetic quality of the images, presenting the content in the most beautiful way possible. With advanced filming equipment and highly skilled photographers, it was evident how much Yang Yi valued this documentary. The post-production also required a high level of technical treatment of the images to enhance the visual effect while ensuring the authenticity of the content, demanding high technical skills from the relevant technical staff.

Indeed, filming a pet commercial was quite different from making a documentary like this. No wonder Xiao Guo had always been neurotic, and Charlie was always fretting alongside, worrying about causing trouble or making mistakes.

Yang Yi and his group, sent over by Xiao Guo, were briefed by Charlie on the next few scenes they were going to shoot, including their positions, where to look, and how they should call, among other things. Zheng Tan listened from the side.

Many in the cast, including the old man acting with Zheng Tan, and the crew couldn’t understand Yang Yi’s approach. They already knew the difficulty of making this documentary, especially with cats, who are famously hard to work with–far more so than dogs. One simply had to look at the ratio of dog to cat movies so far to understand. Having never worked with cats before, one couldn’t grasp just how tricky they could be. So, they thought Yang Yi was just too young and had oversimplified the task.

Yang Yi was aware of what the others were likely thinking, but the knowledge he had gained from Xiao Guo and Professor Jiao, and what he had seen himself at the Pet Center, made him harbor great expectations for this Cat. There was also the story of his grandfather involved, which gave considerable meaning to the film–even if it wasn’t a big-budget movie but just a documentary that many weren’t optimistic about.

Yang Yi always preferred to guess the animals’ emotions through the expressions in their eyes captured in the photos whenever he shot animals. Animals tended to attract more attention than humans. Often, one look from an animal could trump the expressions of stars on television–not that the animals performed better, but their glances had a significant impact on those who saw them. Pet lovers sometimes forgave their pets’ misdeeds in the face of a cajoling look or pitiful eyes, abandoning any thought of scolding them. The eyes of animals also carry emotion.

Despite being a documentary, some acting was still necessary, especially since this time, Zheng Tan was portraying the life of another Cat.

Before shooting, Zheng Tan needed to wear makeup.

Yes, makeup.

This was something that had been discussed before. The cat that Yang Yi’s grandfather had wasn’t entirely black. It had three white paws and one black, a small white spot on its nose, and a triangle-shaped white patch on its chin. Compared to the sheriff, the white areas were not extensive. Zheng Tan had seen the photos that Yang Yi had brought out.

The dye used for coloring was specially procured by Yang Yi, who said it was safe, edible and washable. Mr. Jiao even had it tested to be sure before agreeing.

Before this, Zheng Tan always thought dyeing would be simple, but when it came time for “makeup,” he realized it was not the case at all. The make-up artist hired by Yang Yi was too dedicated, too meticulous, and of course, the effect was very good. Now Zheng Tan was sure many people wouldn’t recognize him; people often identified animals by their color first, and just a bit of white made a big difference–the commanding presence of being all black was diminished.

Charlie held up a mirror for Zheng Tan to see. Zheng Tan was quite satisfied with everything else, which at first glance didn’t seem like makeup at all, but the only thing that bothered him was the spot of white under his nose. He felt that the “moles” on Huasheng Tang and Xiao Mi looked better than his current state. The spot of white under his nose from the makeup looked like dripping snot, going straight into his mouth.

With the makeup done, shooting began.

Many issues only became evident once shooting started.

For instance, the cooing and defensive sounds that Yang Yi said needed to be made.

“Uh… Heitan doesn’t make sounds, or rather, it doesn’t make Cat sounds…” Charlie said helplessly.

Yang Yi was silent. “What do you mean ‘it doesn’t make Cat sounds’?”

Zheng Tan felt that this was indeed beyond his capabilities; normal meows were difficult enough, let alone those coquettish, whimpering sounds.

Charlie, worried that this Mr. would become angry, hurriedly went to explain to Yang Yi.

Yang Yi thought about the ads he had seen; indeed, there seemed to be no instances where this Cat had made any noises.

Yang Yi sighed and said, “Well, forget it if it’s not possible. I’ll figure out something for the sound later, let’s continue.”

…

“Okay, later it will carry a sock in its mouth… What’s wrong?! Won’t carry a sock? Dislike smelly socks?! Hey, those are new, just artificially aged, don’t believe me, smell it… okay, let’s continue!”

…

“Alright, later let it sit on a wooden stool and lick its paw… What? It doesn’t lick paws? What Cat doesn’t lick its paws, people even suck their fingers… There’s dye? No problem, the dye is edible, I’ve even tried it… then just let it lick the paw that isn’t dyed… okay, let’s continue.”

…

After a day of shooting, Charlie and the team were sweating profusely, and Zheng Tan wasn’t faring much better. Yang Yi had very high standards; the director didn’t see anything wrong, but Yang Yi was never satisfied, insisting on retakes to match what he remembered perfectly.

Zheng Tan took a long breath. Well, might as well consider it a sacrifice for art. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for it at Qidian (NovelFire.net), subscribe to monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.NovelFire.net to read.)