Huayu: When the director changed his major

Chapter 115: Filming at the same time

The filming continued in an orderly manner, and Li Xiaoran finally agreed to join the "Beginning" crew.

She even took two days off to film her scenes.

When Cheng Xi saw Li Xiaoran dressed in a police uniform with an impressive cleavage, he suddenly felt what the temptation of uniform was.

Of course, Cheng Xi has great respect for the people’s police.

But thinking about Li Xiaoran's background, if she were to try out some other style uniforms to seduce her, it would be really hard to say.
"Director, this scene is over."

Oh oh, stop drooling.

We're still filming, and it's not even night yet.

As for other things, we will talk about them later.

Thinking of this, Cheng Xi quickly shouted "cut".

Li Xiaoran saw that Cheng Xi didn't call "cut" for a long time and thought there was something wrong with her performance.

So he went to the monitor and watched the replay with Cheng Xi.

Cheng Xi felt Li Xiaoran pressing towards the camera and smelled her fragrance.

I thought to myself, this Public Security Bureau Chief is really nice.

"It seems a little too delicate. The Public Security Bureau Chief is at least stern when he encounters a bombing case."

"Director, let's do another one."

As expected of a good actor, he found the problem for himself without the director saying anything.

Next time, actors should learn from Da Ran’s self-cultivation.

Cheng Xigang was still thinking about how to save himself, and now he said directly:

"Well, it's a little soft. Let's have another one."

It was enjoyable to film with Li Xiaoran. I don’t know whether she did it intentionally or not, but she always liked to squeeze next to me to see how the scene I just filmed was going.

In particular, there was one time when he suddenly pinched his upper arm muscles.

No wonder every time I touch your arm, it feels like touching a wall. It’s good to be young, and your whole body is strong.

In fact, Cheng Xi also wanted to say to her:

Sister Da Ran, your chest muscles are also very strong.

But unfortunately, Sister Da Ran’s role only lasted for two days.

Before Cheng Xi could even finish directing, she had already finished filming.

When Da Ran's scenes were finished, Cheng Xi specially invited her and teacher Jin Miaomiao to have a seafood meal at the hotel.

Thanked her very much.

Through this collaboration, Li Xiaoran began to appreciate Cheng Xi more and more.

If my little brother wasn't so young, maybe it wouldn't be bad to be together.

But there is a huge age gap between him and me, and I thought of the scene where Jin Miaomiao joked with each other last time about Xiao Cheng and Da Ran.

Li Xiaoran couldn't help but look at Cheng Xi's muscles a few more times.

I remember when I was squeezed together with him in the morning, his body was as tight as a piece of iron.
I hope we can cooperate again next time.

As for Cheng Xi, looking at the low-cut dress that Li Xiaoran was wearing tonight, he couldn't help but sigh that Sister Ran really had something good.

So he deliberately said:

"I have to continue filming tomorrow, so let me drink tea instead of wine. I wish Sister Xiaoran further success in her career and a happy love life."

"I'm especially grateful to you for coming to support our crew. Next time if you have any problems, just call me directly."

When Li Xiaoran heard this, she covered her mouth with her hands and smiled, then raised her cup.

But at this time Jin Miaomiao joked:
"Sister Xiaoran, your career will definitely be fine, but finding love is a little harder. Xiao Cheng might be able to help you."

Cheng Xi couldn't help but smile. Teacher Jin is really a good helper. So Cheng Xi also deliberately said:
"No problem, if there's a suitable one I'll introduce to Sister Xiaoran. If not, I'll make a sacrifice then."

"That's called sacrifice, that's called taking advantage, okay?"

Jin Miaomiao hit Cheng Xi angrily.

At this, all three of them burst into laughter.

After all, neither of the two people opposite took Cheng Xi's words seriously.

During the break in filming, Cheng Xi also took the time to watch the filming of "Wan Wan" and the second season of "Diaosi Men".

After all, one of them is the real boss of "Wanwan" and the other is the producer of "Diaosi Nanren".

Even if you are busy with your own things, it is really unacceptable not to take a look.

Especially the second season of "Diaosi Men", I made several million from it.

As soon as Cheng Xiyi arrived at the crew of "Diaosi Men", Dapeng and some old friends came over happily to reminisce about the past.

Ask yourself if the filming of "The Beginning" went smoothly.

Dapeng simply let everyone rest for an hour.

Cheng Xi smiled helplessly and said that he usually doesn't come here, and it will delay the crew's filming.

Today's filming mainly focused on the rivalry between Dapeng and Liu Yan. Liu Yan hasn't come to see him since the last time he defeated three people at once.

One is that he is too busy and has no time to allocate to her; the other is that he may be a little angry about what he did last time.

Of course, Cheng Xi didn’t care much.

Neither of them owed the other anything.

I chose to come today specifically because I knew that Liu Yan would be performing tonight.

So I negotiated with Liu Yan again in the hotel that night.

Being angry is one thing, but the two things don't conflict with each other, right?

After this was done, Liu Yan became much more obedient and felt better.

In Cheng Xi's opinion, there is nothing between men and women that cannot be solved with a meal.

If so, then two meals.

What's more, there are more than them.

"No, no, I have a show tomorrow."

"You have a play, but I still have to direct it. Isn't that more tiring than you?"

Cheng Xi looked like he had her in his grasp.

"I'll go somewhere else. People are really going to disperse. I'm 31 years old. I can't keep up with you and Jin Chen and keep going all night."

Looking at Liu Yan, she raised her head and looked at him with charming eyes.

Cheng Xi knew what "other places" meant.

It can be regarded as a good relief from the recent fatigue.

Seeing what Liu Yan said, that these were also very nutritious, Cheng Xi almost went berserk.

Liu Yan also reacted quickly and ran to the bathroom before Cheng Xi caught her.

It's like fleeing.

can.

This is a good visit.

I want to come again next time.

Another week passed, and the crew of "The Beginning" continued to proceed in an orderly manner according to the shooting plan.

The scenes at the Public Security Bureau and on the bus have been mostly filmed.

The driver played by Zhang Songwen and Aunt Guo played by Liu Dan did give Cheng Xi a big surprise.

Although I have seen it in my previous life, the shock was undoubtedly greater when I saw this scene where every expression was clearly visible in front of the camera.

Occasionally, if they handled something incorrectly, Cheng Xi would also base his decision on his memories from his previous life and his current understanding of the play.

Help them correct it.

There are actually not many revisions to Aunt Guo's play, but Zhang Songwen may not have yet experienced the process of slow cooking and gradual accumulation to his sudden fame with "Kuang Biao".

Now he should still be in the early stage of gradual accumulation, and he has the same problem as Zhang Tianai, which is that he is not open to himself.

I haven't found my own characteristics.

The acting is okay, but lacks personal identity, making it difficult for the audience to remember.

At this point, Cheng Xi tried his best to discuss with him and provide help based on his experience in his previous life.

Whether it works or not depends on the actor's own luck.

The scenes on the bus were actually not difficult, and the male and female protagonists, who needed acting skills, and several important actors did not lag behind.

So the progress of the shooting was actually much faster than planned.

The key difficulty now lies in the post-production stage, how to ensure that the scenery outside the window is realistic.

Cheng Xi is still unsure until he sees the special effects are completed.

For some more important scenes, Cheng Xi still insisted on shooting on location.

But it is impossible to handle all the scenes in this way. There is no time and financial cost.

So most of the scenes were shot using green screen.

I hope the later stage of this invitation will be powerful.

Next, Cheng Xi prepared to start the most difficult bridge explosion and chase scenes in "The Beginning".

A week ago, Cheng Xi had instructed the External Relations Team to request bridge traffic control. However, only one suburban area in Yanjing agreed to film Cheng Xi's crew, and this was only after Sohu's mediation.

There is no way. It is unlikely that the urban area of ​​Yanjing will provide you with a crew with a budget of 10 million yuan to carry out bridge traffic control.

The traffic in Yanjing is already extremely congested. If it is really controlled, the crew of "The Beginning" will be scolded to death.

Before filming began, Cheng Xi and Zhang Mingzhong confirmed the camera position, explosion time, and explosion point with the blasting team many times.

And the aerial photography team also has to follow and shoot at the same time.

Unlike other scenes, you can keep doing NGs, which will only waste some time.

For explosion scenes, try to complete them in one go, otherwise you won’t be able to afford the cost of the explosives and the risks involved.

This was also Cheng Xi's first time performing an explosion scene, so he was definitely a little nervous.

Fortunately, Zhang Mingzhong had filmed military-themed films before, and explosion scenes were commonplace for him, so Cheng Xi felt a lot more at ease.

Everyone first turned on the camera and performed the trick several times without any explosions, and then the blasting team kept reminding the actors of precautions.

"Teacher Liu, follow the markings on the ground. Go from 1 to 3. Then, throw the pressure cooker containing the explosives from the railing at position 4, and then immediately lie down."

The person in charge of the blasting team kept instructing Liu Yijun on the movements for the next scene.

This part is actually a literary scene in the explosion scene, because the real explosives will be picked up by the martial arts stuntman.

However, since the previous scenes would film Liu Yijun's face, he would complete them first.

"Okay, this part of Teacher Liu's scene is done. The blasting team, bring over the real bomb pressure cooker prop."

At this time, the martial arts stuntman's stunt double had already changed into his costume, and Zhang Mingzhong and the people from the blasting team emphasized the positioning to him.

And then they followed Liu Yijun and walked the same path again, overlapping each other.

"Don't make any mistakes in the positioning from 1 to 4, otherwise we won't be able to match up with Teacher Liu and we'll have to use explosives again."

"After throwing the explosives, remember to lie down immediately. We will detonate them after they enter the water."

"Okay, all departments, take your positions."

After everything was ready, the script supervisor hit the board, Cheng Xi called action, and the explosion scene officially began.

When Cheng Xi saw Wu Xing holding real explosives in his hand, he couldn't help but worry about him.

Although this is his job, Cheng Xi couldn't help but sigh that every job has its own difficulties.

You can't just watch the thief stealing food without watching the thief getting beaten.

When Cheng Xi saw the explosives successfully explode in the water in the camera shots, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Cheng Xi and Zhang Mingzhong checked the materials of the aerial photography team and close-up and medium-shot shots again, and found that several angles were not easy to edit.

So they had to ask the blasting team and the martial arts team to do it again, and at the same time reminded the aerial photography team to pay attention to the position and find more angles.

Fortunately, the crew worked together in the end, and this simple explosion scene was successfully completed without any danger.

The next step is to shoot the scene where the police car forces the bus to stop and the bus burns on the bridge.

In fact, there is also a most thrilling explosion scene, in which the pressure cooker explosives explode in the air and kill Officer Zhang.

Finally, Zhang Mingzhong found Cheng Xi to discuss the matter, saying that manual labor would be more dangerous in this scene.

So the filming was changed to the next schedule, and they filmed the shot of the explosives exploding in mid-air in an open space.

The scene on the bridge was shot without explosives, and the two will be spliced ​​together in post-production.

Although it is not as realistic as a real explosion, it is good enough for a fleeting scene.

There was also a bus explosion on the bridge, so we could only shoot the burning scene first, and then splice and process it in post-production in this way.

After all, the risk factor is too high.

It is impossible for the crew to really let a bus explode on the bridge. The risks involved are too uncontrollable and the relevant departments will not agree.

After we roughly discussed how to handle the explosion scene, the next step was to shoot the scene of stopping the vehicle on the bridge.

In just this chase scene where the police car stops and the scene where the bus burns, Cheng Xi fully felt the difference between the crew of a film and television drama and the crew of a short play.

A complex scene in a short play has at most five or six people involved, and even then only one or two people may appear in the painting.

Sometimes the entire crew can be made up of only 10 people, and everyone will make various guest appearances. Sometimes even the mistakes are called little easter eggs by the audience.

This is obviously not the case with TV dramas, as every scene must be rigorous, after all, they are broadcast on satellite TV.

If you make frequent mistakes, even in small places, the audience will think you are perfunctory, unprofessional, and shoddy.

Because the expectations of the two audiences are naturally different, one is a regular audience, and the other is just for fun.

This is no wonder. Even though Cheng Xi’s two short dramas were quite successful, no one believed that he could make a good TV series.

It is understandable that even Senior Brother Lu Fanxi from Youku, who is familiar with him, does not believe in him.

The main plot of this play is when the police begin to set up control on the bridge, preparing to force the bus to stop, and then cooperate with the passengers on the bus to throw explosives to complete the rescue.

There are scenes in which a police car chases and forces a bus to stop, the bus collides with the bus, and people help throw out explosives.

There are more than 100 people dispatched here, and all the actors add up to nearly 40 people, including more than 20 police officers and more than 10 people on the bus.

In addition to the driver and other staff members, the blasting team, aerial photography team and martial arts team were all here.

Six police cars, four plainclothes police cars, one bus and four motorcycles were dispatched.

It seemed that the entire bridge was crowded with people from the crew.

Of course, maybe this scene is nothing for a big crew and a big production.

But for Cheng Xi, a new director who has only participated in the filming of "Never Expected" and "The Diaosi Man".

This scene is big enough.

And time is tight, after all, they only applied for two days of bridge traffic control.

We had to work overtime to complete the filming of all the scenes on the bridge.

"Car No. 3, keep up. Pay attention to the distance between you and me. Don't be too far or too close."

Fortunately, only the buses were forced to stop, so everyone's speed was slightly slower and safety was guaranteed.

But with so many people, sporadic mistakes were inevitable, resulting in several car collisions.

This made Cheng Xi, who rarely cursed, start cursing.

After all, time is tight and everyone's safety is involved, so Cheng Xi couldn't help but get angry.

"I've told you many times what's wrong with your car number 3. You were the one who broke down twice."

"The entire crew has done this three times. The person in charge of the driver team, come here and replace the driver of car number 3 immediately. If there is a problem again, you will be the one to take over."

After Cheng Xi lost his temper, everyone in the crew became extremely careful, as no one wanted to be the next person to be named and scolded.

No wonder the directors of the crew like to scold people. One reason is that they are under a lot of pressure, and the other is that if you don’t get angry, some people will really slack off.

This is also what Zhang Mingzhong told Cheng Xi. Never hold back when you need to be angry. We have paid your salary.

You have to let everyone know that you have a temper, there will be punishment if you don't do well, and the director can see everyone's work situation.

This way the entire crew can function better, especially when the scene is large and there are many people, some people may want to slack off.

Because what they think in their hearts is: I am not the main creator, I just get a fixed amount of money to cooperate with the filming, it doesn’t matter whether I do a good job or a bad job.

There is no need to fight hard.

Ever since Cheng Xi got angry, the subsequent filming progress went much more smoothly and the mistakes that occurred were within the tolerable range.

Amidst such tension, the car burning scene on the next afternoon was successfully completed within the deadline.

Finally, we finished filming the show in two days.

Otherwise, you’ll have to spend another day on the bridge and apply for traffic control again.

Since the show at this venue has come to an end, and everyone is really exhausted in the past two days.

So Cheng Xi announced that the crew would take a day off tomorrow.

At this moment, everyone relaxed instantly.

While the crew was taking a break, Cheng Xi was not idle at all.

Because the crew's money was spent like water, Cheng Xi urged the crew of "Wan Wan" and "Diao Si Nan Ren" to move forward as soon as possible.

Now, three weeks have passed, and "Wan Wan" and "Diao Si Nan Ren" began broadcasting on Youku and Sohu respectively a week ago.

Looking at the public opinions from netizens on Weibo, although it is not as amazing as the first part, it has retained the old audience.

After achieving this, Cheng Xi felt relieved, at least his advertisers would not leave.

In this way, the funding chain for filming can be guaranteed.

In the face of extreme financial difficulties, Cheng Xi urged everyone to continue filming three or four extra episodes to generate additional revenue.

I have to say, people need to be forced.

There were better filming conditions before, but Cheng Xi was not interested in filming the second season.

Now we need money. Not only has the second season started filming, but they are also urging us to produce the sequel.

People are just so mean.

What Cheng Xi thought was that he should pay more attention to making money in the future.

Accumulation is part of it, but there is no end to accumulation.

But making money can solve most of the problems.

As a director and a producer, you have to do both well.

Cheng Xi thought so.

(PS: I once witnessed a martial artist’s hand being blown off by explosives on a set. Because they were in the suburbs, they had to wait for over 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. In the past, filming was not as rampant as it is now with the use of cutouts. Most of the explosives and guns were real.

The bullets in the guns are tipless, so they won't hurt anyone. However, there's a flash when they're fired, and it's only handled by martial artists; the average actor can't touch them. When there's a chain of explosives, all the actors, including the extras, fire them together, so they have to remember their positions and follow the markings.
(End of this chapter)