Huayu: From an ordinary person to a happy director

Chapter 4 Shooting starts

Zhou Xun thought for a moment and said, "I have time in the next few months, but I need two months to experience the role. We can start filming in two months."

Shi Lei looked at Zhou Xun in surprise. Experiencing domestic violence?
This……

"Sister Xun is very professional." Shi Lei gave a thumbs up and praised.

The film "Empty Room" won the Silver Lion Award for Best Director, which focuses most on the overall feeling of the film, not the Best Actress Award.

Of course he wouldn't stop it. The better Zhou Xun performs, the greater the chances of his film winning an award.

"I'm going back to experience the role. You can talk to my agent about the remuneration."

"it is good."

After Shi Lei negotiated a salary of 100,000 yuan with Zhou Xun's agent, he immediately started calling the third actor.

When he thought of domestic violence men, the first person he thought of was Teacher Feng Yuanzheng. Unfortunately, when he called and told her it was domestic violence, he was rejected.

I made several calls to some veteran actors, but was rejected every time.

After several days of hard work, we finally succeeded in persuading Mr. Wang Jinsong to play the role.

The other roles are all supporting roles or extras, which are easy to find. The younger ones are played by students from the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy, and the older ones are played by suitable actors.

The supporting roles don’t require very high acting skills, so they were quickly found.

A few days later, the assistant director that the director asked for help arrived. His name was Fang Kelong, a director he didn't know, who had worked as an assistant director in several crews.

I don't have any impression of the name Shi Lei. I guess he will either change his career or continue to be an assistant director.

Not everyone wants to be a director. There are also people who like to be assistant directors. There is an unspoken rule in the entertainment industry that the director and producer are responsible for the female lead and supporting actresses, while the assistant director is responsible for the actresses who can appear.

He didn't know if Fang Kelong was the assistant director who was obsessed with this. Fang Kelong was like a worker. He didn't make any suggestions for revisions to the script. He directly discussed with him the equipment and scenes needed for filming, as if he was doing the job for money.

With the assistance of Fang Kelong, the two found the right lighting and photography.

Photographer Shi Lei found Ning Hao, who was from the 01 class of the Photography Department. Ning Hao would become a famous commercial film director a few years later, and he had to get on board.

The lighting director is a graduate of Beijing Film Academy named Yuan Zhengchuan, who has experience in lighting for TV series. TV series experience is better than nothing for movies, but it doesn’t matter. His two and a half years of study were not in vain, and he can direct the lighting to achieve the effect he wants.

Shi Lei, along with Fang Kelong, Ning Hao and Yuan Zhengchuan, began filming, mainly in various suites and villas.

More than a month later, Zhou Xun joined the team.

Shi Lei held a small opening ceremony and then started filming directly.

The first day of filming was not smooth, with all kinds of mistakes popping up one after another, some of which were understandable, while others should not have happened.

Shi Lei was not in a hurry. The crew members were mainly students from Beijing Film Academy, so it was reasonable for them to make mistakes. He was not in a hurry, but made adjustments patiently.

When someone made the same mistake twice in a row, he was very decisive and fired him directly.

At this time, everyone remembered that Shi Lei was the director and investor, and had the power of life and death over the entire crew. Everyone immediately became more serious and obedient, and no one dared to do anything tricky.

After seven days of running-in, the crew was able to work normally, and half a month later they were able to carry out filming smoothly.

A month later, the filming progress stalled and the problem lay with Zhang Songwen.

Even though they were acquaintances, Shi Lei couldn't suppress his anger and said to Zhang Songwen: "Your eyes should be full of emotion! Do you understand me?"

"I understand, I understand. I've been in love since elementary school." Zhang Songwen responded repeatedly.

"Primary school romance is nothing. It's just a vague affection between classmates... You almost led me astray. Your eyes don't show love, but pity. I'll give you two days to try to feel the same way with Zhou Xun. If it doesn't work, go on a date with her."

It’s not that Shi Lei has high requirements, but the male protagonist of this movie has no lines and can only convey information through actions and eyes. Eyes are the windows to the soul, and eyes account for the majority.

"This... isn't a good idea!" Zhang Songwen was conflicted. Zhou Xun was a senior and he was a newcomer.

"Zhang Songwen, come with me." Zhou Xun, who was standing next to him, suddenly said. "Go ahead, study hard with Sister Xun." Shi Lei urged.

"Uh, okay."

Zhou Xun took Zhang Songwen away.

Shi Lei waved his hand and asked the crew to disband and take a two-day break.

Back to the hotel room, which looks like a hotel but is actually a hostel. I had just taken a shower and was about to send a message when there was a knock on the door.

Shi Lei's heart moved. Could it be that someone came to ask for advice on the script?

Is it Dong Xuan?

Even when looking for a supporting role, Shi Lei subconsciously looked for someone whose name he had heard of. He was deeply impressed by Dong Xuan's interpretation of the Snow Goddess Dragon. The way she bit her hair was quite stylish.

If Dong Xuan had played another memorable role after Snow Goddess Dragon, she might have become more famous. What a pity.

Shi Lei opened the door with excitement, but when he saw who was coming, the smile immediately disappeared from his face.

"Ning Hao! Why are you looking for me?"

"Director, don't you welcome me?" Ning Hao was a little embarrassed. Shi Lei performed the smile disappearing technique in front of him. If he hadn't come to ask for help, he would have left long ago.

"Welcome! Of course I welcome you. I just didn't expect it to be you. Come in first!" Shi Lei opened the door and let Ning Hao in, and reminded him, "Don't close the door."

Ning Hao's hand that was closing the door paused in the air for a moment, then immediately dropped it. He finally understood why Shi Lei was unhappy.

But, do you want to be so extravagant when making a movie for the first time?
Well, it seems possible. Several supporting actors are young students from the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy, and even the extras include many Beijing Film Academy students.

These students were acting in a movie for the first time and were reluctant to leave. They stayed with the crew the whole time. Shi Lei didn't chase them away and provided them with enough lunch boxes.

Ning Hao walked to Shi Lei, handed him the script, and said, "Director, I have written a script. Can you invest in it?"

"Huh? How do you know I have money?" Shi Lei asked puzzledly.

Only the director and Zhang Songwen knew about his album release, and neither of them was a talkative person.

"Uh... the lunch boxes arranged by the director are very rich and there's no limit on the quantity." Ning Hao told the truth.

"There aren't many people in the crew, so there's no need to limit it..." Shi Lei suddenly remembered that this might sound like boasting, so he skipped it and said, "Forget it, let's not talk about this. Let me take a look at the script first."

Shi Lei took the script. The movie was called "Incense". After casually browsing it, he was sure that this was the "Incense" shot by Ning Hao in the future. After reading the script carefully, he asked, "How much money do you need?"

"Five hundred thousand." Ning Hao asked tentatively.

"Okay, I'll vote." Shi Lei nodded in agreement.

Ning Hao almost jumped up with joy when he heard this, and thanked him repeatedly: "Thank you, Director."

The price he had in mind was 300,000, and he said 500,000 in order to bargain.

"Don't be happy yet, you have to help me shoot "Empty Room" before I can give you the money." A good photographer is very important, and he fully understands the director's intentions.

"Okay, I'll make sure it's perfect."

"Okay, let's go! I want to rest."

Shi Lei had a good rest after a day of doing nothing. The next day, Shi Lei calculated the current expenses of the crew and found that the funds were sufficient and there was no overspending.

I don't know what Zhang Songwen and Zhou Xun are doing! How is it going?

Forget it, if they say we’ll have two days, then we’ll have to shoot first, no matter if we can do it tomorrow or not. The crew can’t rest for too long, or they’ll have to get used to it again.

Late at night, Shi Lei was woken up by the noise from next door. The soundproofing of this shabby hotel was not very good.

Standing up and listening quietly for a while, Shi Lei's expression became strange!
(End of this chapter)