Entertainment News: I'm Not a Scumbag After Rebirth!

The door to the dean's office closed gently behind Li Jun. He glanced down at the list: fifty places for students from various majors in the music academy.

He grinned, carefully folded the paper, and stuffed it into his pocket. These were all valuable resources.

For the next few days, Li Jun and Jia Peng practically lived in the warehouse.

Even if you only provide one meal a day for fifty people, it's still an expense.

Li Jun carefully planned and contacted a lunchbox stall near the back gate of the school, negotiating a bulk discount price: two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, and unlimited rice.

Jia Peng was responsible for clearing out a larger area of ​​the warehouse, planning the filming area and waiting area, and drawing crooked marks on the ground with chalk he had taken from the school.

This made Li Jun very angry!

"This is ridiculous! Taking things from other people makes our production team look poor."

The next day, Li Jun brought back more than a dozen boxes from the school.

"Brother Jun, fifty people, that's a huge group, can we manage?"

Jia Peng dragged boxes of chalk along, his face filled with worry.

If Li Jun had found a student from Jia Peng's college, he could have trusted him more, since they were all in the same major.

But they found a bunch of music academy students, are they going to hold a concert here later?

"Thirty a day, meals included, and an internship certificate. These are incredibly good deals anywhere. With such great conditions, if you don't give me a serious performance, you're out."

That being said, at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, when the first batch of sleepy-eyed students were brought to the warehouse entrance in several rented, dilapidated minibuses, Li Jun couldn't help but feel a jolt in his heart.

There were more people than I had imagined, chattering like a flock of birds just released from their cages, curiously observing the secluded old warehouse and the two directors and photographers at the entrance who looked just like them.

"This is not Senior Li Jun."

A sharp-eyed girl recognized Li Jun first.

"It really is!"

The little girl next to her echoed her.

"Wow!"

The little girls around gathered around, chattering excitedly.

Li Jun is very famous on campus; many people know him as a celebrity at the music academy.

He's only a junior in college and he's already created so many famous songs, so naturally everyone is very curious about him.

Li Jun waved his hand helplessly, signaling everyone to quiet down:

"Quiet down, everyone!"

Li Jun jumped onto an overturned wooden crate, holding an electric megaphone in his hand. "You can do without anything else when filming, but you can't do without this."

"I'm Li Jun, the person in charge of this short film shoot. This is Jia Peng, the cinematographer. We'll be working here for the next three days."

Li Jun paused for a moment, the students below already intimidated by his aura.

"The rules are simple: follow instructions, don't touch the equipment, silence your phone, and only move when called. Those who behave well will be hired into my studio!"

A cacophony of responses erupted from below; some were excited, some indifferent, and others were clearly still half asleep, yawning.

On the contrary, it was the young girls who were interested in Li Jun's studio. This young, rich, and talented man was someone that girls of that age admired.

However, some male students don't care, believing that they can reach the same level after graduation, it's just a matter of time.

Without further ado, Li Jun began to divide the team into groups.

He divided the group of about twenty people into several teams according to the needs of their roles:

Office workers, passersby on the street, and restaurant customers.

The students in the second group were assigned to learn from Jia Peng how to lift the pole and how to detect ambient noise.

Three groups of people, carrying brushes, paints, and a pile of old furniture, were responsible for building the scenes to be filmed next, based on Li Jun's rough storyboard sketches.

The warehouse instantly became lively, with chickens flying and dogs barking, and students constantly coming and going.

Like a protective mother hen, Jia Peng nervously watched several students near the camera, repeatedly emphasizing:

"You can't touch this."

"Um, please be extremely careful!"

Li Jun weaved through the crowd, moving like a dragon, constantly helping with the repairs.

Time flies by in the midst of busyness.

The boxed lunches were delivered on time at noon.

The actors received their meals and ate in small groups, squatting in the corner of the warehouse or in the open space outside.

Li Jun and Jia Peng also held lunch boxes and squatted next to the monitor.

While eating, I checked the afternoon's shooting schedule.

"In the afternoon, we'll film an office group scene where Huang Xiaoxian returns looking distraught, and her colleagues are gossiping about her."

Li Jun chewed on eggplant and mumbled:

"How is Tang Yan doing?"

"I just called her and she said everything is almost ready."

Jia Peng looked at the noisy students with deep concern:

"With so many people watching, won't she be nervous?"

"That's exactly what we want—the pressure of being watched makes it more real."

"Have you decided on the camera angles? Use a moving camera to follow Huang Xiaoxian from the doorway to her workstation, capturing the reactions of her colleagues along the way."

"I've thought it through."

Jia Peng looked distressed:

"But with so many people, will it actually be effective?"

"Take more shots."

Li Jun finished his meal in a few bites and threw the lunchbox aside.

"Filming starts right after dinner! You, you, and all of you, come here."

Tang Yan changed into a slightly wrinkled, inexpensive business suit. Her face looked a little haggard, and her eyes were slightly red. It was clear that she had put on a role.

Her appearance brought a moment of silence to the noisy scene.

This is the star of the night, and she is indeed more beautiful than anyone could have imagined. The extras stared at her with curiosity in their eyes.

Li Jun didn't give everyone much time to observe him before immediately starting to explain the play.

"The core of this scene is Huang Xiaoxian's loss of soul and the indifference of her surroundings."

Li Jun stood in the center of the makeshift "office" area, surrounded by seven or eight old desks and extras playing his colleagues.

"Tang Yan, you're like someone who just came back from outside, having just experienced a huge blow. You're completely empty and mechanical."

"His eyes were unfocused, and his movements were a beat slower than usual, but he was trying hard not to let anyone notice anything was wrong."

Li Jun simply gave a brief overview of Tang Yan's condition.

But these were said to the extras; he was naturally confident in Tang Yan's acting skills.

"You are both the background and the source of pressure."

Li Jun gave instructions to the extras.

"They whispered amongst themselves, their eyes following her every move, displaying a mix of curiosity, schadenfreude, and indifference."

"But remember, it has to be secret, not blatant! The kind of suppressed, low-voiced discussion that's unique to offices."

He began to meticulously plan everyone's positioning and reaction timing.

"You, the boy with glasses, when Tang Yan passed by you, you happened to look up from your documents, glanced at her, and then immediately pretended nothing was wrong and lowered your head, but there could be a subtle, amused smile on your lips."

"The girl by the window, you can pretend to tidy up the potted plants, but actually observe Tang Yan through the reflection in the glass."

"Those two in the back row were whispering to each other, their eyes glancing at Tang Yan's workstation every now and then."

Li Jun moved back and forth between the extras and the cameraman, arranging everything in an orderly manner.