1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

Chapter 27 Booting up

Wednesday, September 3th.

Today marks the start of filming for the TV series "Cow".

It's been raining for the past few days, but today it's sunny; otherwise, the opening time would have to be postponed.

Perhaps this is a good omen.

The film opening ceremony in that era was not as complicated as it is in later years. Some might set off firecrackers, while others would simply have the director stand up and shout "Go for it!" before everyone started working.

In later generations, not only was a pig's head displayed, but everyone in the crew took turns offering incense. Afterwards, some crews might even hold a press conference to mark the start of filming.

Actually, the press conference for the start of filming was quite reasonable, since it was for the purpose of promoting the movie.

However, those practices of praying to gods and Buddhas are simply bad habits that originated from the Hong Kong entertainment industry.

Yes, at least that's what Chen Fusheng thinks.

Anyone with common sense knows that the shooting order of a movie is not the same as its playback order. Therefore, the first scene that the crew will shoot after filming begins is not the beginning of the movie.

The scene actually filmed was a two-line dialogue scene depicting Chen Fusheng and a cow living together and relying on each other.

The reason for this arrangement is that this scene is relatively simple, and if it can be done in one take, it will be a good start and bring good luck.

Of course, even if the scene is simple and Chen Fusheng is confident in his performance, he still needs to rehearse the empty shots a few times to make sure there are no problems or flaws before the cameraman turns on the camera.

The reason for this was that film cameras were used for filming in that era. Many people may have heard that film was very expensive, but that's not the key point.

The key point is that a film's film stock is not unlimited; it is finite. Take their "Cow" crew as an example. The film was planned to be 120 minutes long, but it might not actually be that long. However, Emei Film Studio still allocated them 360 minutes of film stock at a ratio of 1:3. At the same time, big-name directors might get special treatment in this ratio. Conversely, some films that are not well-regarded might not even get three times the film's length of film stock.

Because film was so precious, a young man named Jiang Wen was criticized in the industry for frequently wasting film during filming.

"I think that's enough, let's start the next take."

After rehearsing again, Chen Fusheng suggested to Han Sanping that he be afraid that if they continued to rehearse, he would lose his focus.

"Okay, then get ready, and we'll start filming the next time."

Han Sanping also felt that it was about time. After pushing the increasingly crowded onlookers back a bit, and seeing that the actors and crew were all looking at him, he decisively gave the order:
"The crew of 'Cow Fighting' has officially started filming. The crew member is dressed as a script supervisor."

The script supervisor, who had been waiting patiently, slammed his clapperboard down in front of the camera, and the two pieces of wood collided with a clear click.

At the same time, the script supervisor announced, "Scene 193, one take, one shot."

Han Sanping then exercised his directorial authority: "3, 2, 1, Action!"

In the scene, Niu Er, played by Chen Fusheng, and his cow are sitting and lying down, leaning against each other, their eyes gazing at the rising sun in the east. Although both of them are covered in dust, the sunlight shining into their eyes makes it seem as if light is shining in their eyes as well.

One second, two seconds, three seconds later, Chen Fusheng—no, Niu Er—suddenly turned around, patted the cow's head, and said with a bittersweet sigh:
"You mean, this is what they call men plowing and women weaving, right?"

Seeing that the cow didn't respond, Niu Er looked up at the sky and said, "This is what we call a human life! Hehe, hahaha~"

"Okay, click!"

Han Sanping saw this on the monitor and immediately called "cut".

Then, under Chen Fusheng's gaze, he gave two thumbs up and said, "Pass!"

Chen Fusheng also went behind the monitor, checked the effect of his performance, and found no obvious flaws. He then looked at the sky and realized it was still early before lunchtime, so he looked at Han Sanping and asked:
"I see we still have some time, should we film the afternoon scene together?"

Han Sanping only had two scenes scheduled for today. He was even worried that he wouldn't be able to finish filming them, since filming efficiency was really low in this era, and it was the first day of filming for the crew, so they still needed to get used to each other. But now it seems that two scenes won't be enough.

However, Han Sanping was not an indecisive person. He felt that Chen Fusheng's words made sense, so he decisively adopted his suggestion.

So today, the crew of "Cow" filmed two scenes in just one morning.

The crew initially thought this was fast enough, but to their surprise, the pace doubled in the afternoon, with four more scenes filmed. So, in total, they filmed six scenes that day.

This is equivalent to two days' worth of work for other film crews.

Many people find it unbelievable.

Only Chen Fusheng complained in his heart about the low efficiency after filming was finished.

Because in his eyes, a lot of time can actually be saved.

However, overall, he, the crew, and the other actors all still need to work out together.

He believes that the filming efficiency of the crew can be improved in the later stages.

As for why Chen Fusheng is so focused on filming efficiency.

Why not just do as the Romans do and live a life of routine?

Why must it be 'curled'?
The reason is actually quite simple: Chen Fusheng wants to finish filming as soon as possible so he can go back to be with his pregnant wife.

He didn't want to wait until his wife was about to give birth, before the filming was even finished, then rush back home in a panic, only to have to reluctantly return after just two days.

That situation is just too agonizing to even think about.

"Comrade Fusheng, may I ask you to help me with my lines?"

Tomorrow she will have a scene with Chen Fusheng. Originally, Siqin Gaowa was quite confident in her acting skills, after all, she had played the female lead in two dramas. However, after watching Chen Fusheng's acting style these past two days, she felt that she might not be able to keep up with the scenes he would present tomorrow, so she mustered up the courage to ask him to act with her.

"Yes, Comrade Siqin Gaowa."

Although Niu Er, played by Chen Fusheng, and Jiu'er, played by Siqin Gaowa, had many scenes together in the drama, the two have never had a serious conversation. At most, they would greet each other when they met.

"Thank you, your acting is amazing. I've only been watching from the sidelines these past few days, and I feel I've benefited a lot from it." Siqin Gaowa's words were obviously a compliment, but they weren't entirely untrue.

As mentioned earlier, she transferred from the Inner Mongolia Song and Dance Troupe to the August First Film Studio. During her time at the Inner Mongolia Song and Dance Troupe, she was actually a dancer, just like Liu Xiaoli.

So to say that he has great acting skills, well, not really.

She was just more hardworking, willing to learn, and had good talent. Plus, she had more opportunities, which is why she achieved so much later on.

Chen Fusheng noticed that Siqin Gaowa always used honorifics when addressing him, perhaps she really was a fan of his books.

However, this kind of respect is not conducive to their subsequent acting together, so Chen Fusheng first needs to change their relationship to that of friends or equals.

"You're too kind. To be honest, I might be a little younger than Comrade Siqin Gaowa. If we're talking about acting experience, you're still my senior. So please don't keep calling me 'you' all the time. It makes me feel a bit embarrassed. You can just call me Fusheng or Xiao Chen."

"Then I'll call you Comrade Fusheng."

"also."

Siqin Gaowa clearly came to find Chen Fusheng to rehearse a scene, but then they started talking about their own lives.

Through their conversation, Chen Fusheng learned that Siqin Gaowa was actually remarried.

She and her ex-husband registered their marriage in 68, and she gave birth to a daughter the following year. In 73, she gave birth to a son. When they divorced in 76, the daughter stayed with her, and the son was awarded to her ex-husband.

In 77, she married a male actor from the Daur ethnic group. However, according to Siqin Gaowa herself, after she was transferred to the August First Film Studio, the two spent less and less time together.

It seems this marriage won't last long either.

This not only made Chen Fusheng reflect on his marriage with Liu Xiaoli, but also made him wonder if...

"Pah, pah, pah, people are different."

　A message to those preparing for postgraduate entrance exams: For the sake of the plot, it is assumed that there were already surveillance cameras during filming at this time!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)