After confirming that there was really only a pile of magic components and crystal arrays on the stage, Count Bahrain thought that he had grasped the essence of the so-called 'new drama'.
It was not a brilliant new technology, but he still had to praise it. It was a great idea.
Traditional dramas were recorded in photographic crystals, and then using the magical network terminal's characteristic of being able to repeatedly broadcast over a large area, the drama was turned into a 'product' that could be reproduced endlessly. The cheap magical device instantly reduced the cost of such 'dramas' to an inconceivable level, but the effects would not be discounted.
That was why there was such a "popular" theater, why there were tickets that cost only six Els, and why there were "new plays" that ordinary citizens could watch at will.
There was no doubt that this was in line with the 'new order' promoted by His Majesty Gwen Cecil, and the two core principles of 'technology for the public' and 'mass production'.
It was no wonder that this thing had received the support of the Government Office and was able to be promoted in such a grand manner in the Imperial Capital.
Count Bahrain could see this, and so could everyone else present. Those who followed Victoria were not stupid, and they had seen many cases of magic technology in the process of maintaining the Government Office. At least from their understanding and imagination, they could easily guess how this new drama was achieved. The technology itself was not surprising, but they still admired the person who came up with this good idea. In such an era of rapid development, it was a great ability to come up with a good idea.
After figuring this out, Count Bahrain adjusted his position on the chair and prepared to watch the drama on the stage from a relatively comfortable angle. There were too many people around, and the seats were not spacious enough. There were no senior servants around to provide service, desserts, and private balconies to kill time. This was not a comfortable environment for watching a drama, but it could be a novel and interesting experience.
Not long after he adjusted his posture, the sound of a bell rang out from an unknown location.
Light rose on the stage.
The noisy hall gradually quieted down. The civilians who entered the 'theater' for the first time finally quieted down. With anticipation, nervousness, and curiosity, they watched the crystal array on the stage light up one by one in the light of magic. Then, a holographic projection rose in the air.
Many people understood that this was similar to the magic network terminal that played the show on the street, but it did not affect them from staring at the content on the projection.
After a brief advertisement introducing the Coade Family Entertainment Company and stating that the Coade Family Entertainment Company was one of the investors of this drama, the magic movie ushered in the opening ceremony. The first thing that caught everyone's eyes was a messy street and a group of children running and playing in the mud and sand.
There was no castle, no Knight, no princess who came to play in the folk, and no garden and fountain overlooking the manor terrace.
There were only characters who lived in the streets, wandered between the streets and alleys, trying to maintain food and clothing.
Count Bahrain frowned in confusion, and several people around him frowned in confusion.
Victoria Weld, on the other hand, watched all of this in silence and expressionless silence.
The camera moved between the crisscrossing alleys, passing through the crowd of people who were bargaining loudly, working hard, crying, and laughing. It was as if this was not an arranged stage, but just a pair of eyes shuttling through an old city. This city did not exist, but it was very real. It showed something that was unfamiliar to Count Bahrain, but very familiar to most people in the hall.
It was the place where they used to live, and the neighbors they used to live in — and who they used to be.
…
In a room next to the screening hall, Gwen sat next to a monitor. The monitor showed the same scene as the 'stage.' Around him, the room was filled with all kinds of magic devices. A few magic technicians were staring at the devices attentively to ensure that the first screening went smoothly.
Gawain retracted his gaze from the monitor.
He had already watched the entire magic movie in advance, and frankly speaking, this drama was a very simple story for him.
It just told the story of a few young people living in the north. Because of their difficult life and uncertain future, and because of the outbreak of the war in the north, they had to sell their family property and leave their hometown with their family. They took a mechanical ship across half of the country and came to the south to start a new life.
In the middle, there were all kinds of people on the immigration ship. It told the story of a series of small people.
A taciturn watchmaker was framed and expelled from his hometown because of his unsociable personality, but he found a new place to live in a factory in the south. An old couple who lost their only son in the war wanted to go to their relatives, but they accidentally boarded the immigration ship. When they were about to get off the ship, they found that the 'gear monster' who had been staying in the mechanical cabin at the bottom of the ship was their son who had lost his memory in the war. A down-and-out mercenary who was chased by his enemies stole a ticket and boarded the ship. He tried his best to pretend to be a decent Knight. When the ship passed through the blockade of the war zone, he bravely stood up and dealt with the officers who wanted to board the ship in the name of inspection like a real Knight. He protected a pair of brother and sister who did not have a pass on the ship.
In this magic movie, Firm and his friends did not pursue any sensational palace intrigue or empty preaching metaphors. The only thing they were doing was trying their best to tell a good story.
They wanted to make it feel like it was really happening around them.
"Its plot is not complicated." Gwen turned his head and looked at Firm who was standing not far away, looking nervous and restless. "It's easy to understand."
"Yes, yes, Your Majesty," Firm said in a panic. "It's … a little simple indeed …"
Gwen smiled and shook his head. "No, I'm not finding fault with it. On the contrary, I think it's just right. The first magic movie needs to be easy to understand."
He was not comforting Firm, but it was exactly what he thought.
Gwen was not short of thrilling, bizarre, complicated, and wonderful scripts. In fact, in such an era where spiritual entertainment was scarce, he could easily find countless stories in his mind that were beyond contemporary dramas in terms of plot structure, suspense setting, world background, and so on. However, those things might not be suitable for the first magic movie.
The first magic movie was meant for the public, and most of the people in the audience had never watched even the simplest of dramas in their entire lives.
If the story was too complicated and bizarre, they might not understand it. If the story was too detached from their lives, they might not be able to pay attention to it. If the story was too rich in connotation and profound in metaphor, they might even think that "magic movie" was a boring thing and stay away from it. It would be difficult to promote it.
In Gwen's view, it was far more suitable for a "local" to write a story for "local" than for him to search for a few legends from another world in his mind. He had to work hard to make the latter fit the local worldview, and it might not be able to arouse the public's interest even after the processing.
"To be honest, there are many things in this story that I know for the first time," Erawen said with a slightly bashful smile. "Father is right. I should come out to see the world and learn something."
As he spoke, the heir of the Western Region glanced at his friend on the other side and asked curiously, "What's wrong with you, Fendil? Why have you been feeling uneasy since just now? "
"I … Nothing. It's probably an illusion." Fendil, who had short silver hair and a tall and sunny temperament, looked a little nervous and worried at the moment. He smiled and shook his head. "I've had a bad feeling since just now. It seems that I'm in trouble."
Fendil suddenly became nervous. "You mean there will be problems in today's' premiere '?"
Powerful Extraordinaries often had some "intuitive premonitions" that ordinary people could not understand. Fendil did not understand this and only thought that this intuition was something like a "prophecy", so he could not help but feel a little nervous when he heard Fendil's words.
"No, it's not that." Fendil hurriedly waved his hand to his friend. "Be confident, Fendil. Your work is excellent. Look at Miss Amber's expression. She obviously likes this magic movie very much."
Next to the monitor, Amber was staring at the holographic projection without blinking. She seemed to be completely immersed in it, but after Fendil's voice trailed off, her ears still twitched. She said without looking back, "It's really good. At least some of the details are quite realistic. The mercenary who stole the ticket — although his trick is crude, it's really good. Did you find someone to guide you? "
"We went to the Security Bureau several times for this." Fendil lowered his head, a little embarrassed. "The actor who played the mercenary is actually a thief … I mean, he used to be a thief."
"Not bad." Gwen laughed. "I mean, your serious attitude is very good."
As he spoke, he turned his head and looked in the direction of the screening hall next door through the wall.
Fendil and others were not the only ones who had a good attitude when making magic movies.
Fendil's intuition … seemed to be quite good.
…
During the two-hour-long screening, the hall was very quiet.
For a group of civilians who entered the theater for the first time, and for Count Bahrain and others who were sitting with so many civilians for the first time, this was a little unbelievable.
Halfway through the magic movie, Count Bahrain realized one thing: except for the background in the picture, castles, manors, palaces, and the like would probably not appear.
Except for the mercenary pretending to be a Knight and a few old noble Knights who were obviously villains, the "Knight" would probably not appear.
Narration poems, hero monologues, priests who symbolized the gods, and philosophers who symbolized the wise nobles would not appear.
The story was not complicated, and at least in Count Bahrain's opinion, it was not too interesting.
Most of the things in it were incomprehensible, incomprehensible, and unable to resonate with this noble from the Captical.
But he still watched the whole story carefully and noticed that everyone in the hall had been completely immersed in the story of the "magic movie."
When the story came to an end, the "Highlander," which had experienced bumpy trials, broke through the blockade of war, survived the monsters, and mechanical failures, finally arrived safely at the port city in the south. The audience was pleasantly surprised to find that a familiar figure appeared on the screen of the magic movie. The beloved witch played a guest role in the movie as a receptionist in charge of registering immigrants. Even the famous businessman, Mr. Codd, the owner of the Codd Family Services Company, played a guide at the dock.
The way the whole story ended was even more novel: after the subtitles of "a few years later" flashed, immigrants who had settled down in the south appeared on the screen. They recounted their previous experience on the ship and their experience of starting life in their new home. The last scene of the magic movie was pieced together with dozens of small pictures. Dozens of characters said the last line in unison in the projection:
"Yes, this is how we start our new life."
The picture gradually dimmed, and the list of actors began to appear on the holographic projection.
Count Bahrain breathed a sigh of relief and was about to get up, but a soft voice suddenly came from the seat behind him:
"Yes, this is how we start our new life …"
Count Bahrain was startled. Before he could turn his head, he heard more voices coming from nearby:
"Yes, this is how we start our new life …"
Many people were still looking in the direction of the extinguished crystal array, and many people were still repeating the last line softly.
In this city, 99% of the people were immigrants, or rather, refugees.
They had experienced everything in the story — uprooting their homes, a long journey, taking root in a strange land, working, building their own houses, farming their own land …
There was no other story that could move the people sitting there like "Immigrants."
Gradually, there was applause. The applause grew louder and louder, and gradually, it resounded throughout the hall.
Amidst the applause around him, Count Bahrain suddenly heard Victoria Wilde's voice enter his ears.
"They came here to see other people's stories, but they saw themselves in the story.
"Mr. Bahrain, what do you think of this story?"
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