Filming Begins

Heihei is a little ant who lives in an underground city.

— Zheng Yuanjie, "Heihei on Honesty Island" (1979)

……

"What brings you here? Can't you see Ah Bin is writing?"

Zhang Guoli wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and, enraged, roared at Wang Gang.

Wang Gang grinned wickedly and muttered, "Oh dear, my bad, I shouldn't have bothered you. I'll come in when you're wailing."

Zhang Guoli was immediately speechless. He was still quite inexperienced and no match for Wang Gang.

"What brings Mr. Wang Gang here?"

Huang Wenbin enjoys watching the two of them bicker and joke around, but now is not the time; it's better to do it in a TV series.

"Don't call me teacher anymore, just call me Lao Wang, or Gangzi."

Wang Gang stopped teasing Zhang Guoli and said with a smile, "It's like this, I have a favor to ask, but I really don't know how to bring it up."

"No need to be polite, just say what you have to say." Huang Wenbin looked at Wang Gang with some curiosity.

Wang Gang smiled and sat down beside Zhang Guoli's bed.

Zhang Guoli kicked Wang Gang in the buttocks.

"Why did you kick me!" Wang Gang turned around and glared at Zhang Guoli.

Zhang Guoli rolled his eyes, put his hands behind his head, and casually replied, "Who kicked you? This is my bed. What's wrong with me stretching my legs?"

"Forget it, I can't be bothered with you!" Wang Gang ignored Zhang Guoli and then turned to Huang Wenbin, saying, "I'm a broadcaster for China National Radio, you know, I often broadcast novels and storytelling..."

"Cough cough..." Zhang Guoli coughed.

Wang Gang turned and glared at him: "Don't you know any manners? I'm talking, why are you coughing like that!"

"I choked on my phlegm, what's it to you!" Zhang Guoli retorted, then deliberately coughed twice more.

Wang Gang was annoyed: "Did you do this on purpose?"

Zhang Guoli turned his head away, completely ignoring him.

Looking at their state, Huang Wenbin realized that at least two or three TV series were already brewing in his mind.

Fortunately, Zhang Guoli was just annoyed by Wang Gang's mockery of him earlier; he didn't really intend to ruin his plans.

Wang Gang waited a while before continuing, "China National Radio is also short of good scripts. In the past two years, I've been broadcasting foreign novels. Although listeners like them, they are ultimately not as appealing as domestic novels."

"I understand, you want me to write a novel for you?" Huang Wenbin asked bluntly.

"Yes, yes, yes." Wang Gang clapped his hands lightly and said with a smile, "I've been observing you these past few days, and you really are talented, incredibly talented. So could you give us a novel, or rather, authorize me to broadcast one of your previous manuscripts?"

"However, the longest I've ever written is only a little over 100,000 words, so it won't be able to be broadcast for very long."

Huang Wenbin thought of the work that made Wang Gang famous overnight, namely the storytelling version of "Harbin Under the Night".

"Harbin Under the Night" is a novel of more than 700,000 words written by Chen Yu, a writer from Heilongjiang Province. It was published in 1982, but it should be in the writing stage now.

He conceived the idea of ​​creating a novel about the secret anti-Japanese struggle of the people of Northeast China while compiling his revolutionary memoir, "Underground Beacon Fire," in 1978.

After more than two years of hard work, the novel was finally completed in 1982 and caused a sensation throughout the country upon its release.

It was quickly bought by China National Radio and adapted into a 75-episode series, broadcast by Wang Gang, which also became a huge hit.

However, Huang Wenbin does not have "Harbin Under the Night" on hand, but he does have a similarly high-quality work, namely "Lurking".

The original novel of "Lurking" was a short story of mediocre quality, but the TV series adaptation was a complete transformation and has the potential to be a masterpiece.

If Huang Wenbin were to plagiarize, he would definitely plagiarize TV dramas, which would be easier since there would be direct visual images to refer to.

"How about this, I'll authorize you to adapt an existing work first." Huang Wenbin considered for a moment, then said, "After filming is finished and we return to Yanjing, I'll write a long novel about espionage. You can broadcast it for quite a while, which will also satisfy Changchun Film Studio. It's a win-win-win situation."

"That's wonderful!" Wang Gang clapped his hands excitedly. "Your novel must be of high quality. I thank you on behalf of China National Radio and myself."

"Stop using such formal terms, just call me by my name, or call me Abin." Huang Wenbin couldn't stand the respectful address; it was too polite and made him feel a bit distant.

Soon, Wang Gang took his leave, and everyone went to rest.

The next morning, the bus was waiting outside the guesthouse.

Huang Wenbin didn't have much luggage; he could carry it all by himself.

Once everyone had arrived, the bus slowly started moving and headed towards the Meiyuan compound.

Transportation was indeed inconvenient in those days. Many towns and villages did not have paved roads; most roads were just gravel, and some were even dirt roads.

After a bumpy five-hour journey, we finally arrived at Duanfen Town People's Commune on the shore of Datong Lake.

Chen Huaikai, along with several production assistants and members of the commune, were already waiting for everyone in the square of the Mei family compound.

Arranging food and lodging for more than a hundred people is also a troublesome matter.

This time, it was four people per room, and Zhang Yimou and Li Xuejian were assigned there.

Huang Wenbin's assigned room was fairly clean. It was on the second floor of an arcade building, with two wooden beds and two temporary beds made of planks.

From the second floor, you can see the large square of the Mei Family Compound.

Zhang Mazi shouted "Gun in hand, follow me" in this very square, and it was also in this very square that he beheaded his body double.

These are all major scenes, and it's clear that Director Chen wants to get all the big-scale scenes done in one go before moving on to the more detailed indoor scenes.

Sure enough, after resting for an hour.

Chen Huaikai immediately convened a meeting with the main members of the crew and all the lead actors.

"We received a notice that the Fourth Congress of Literary and Art Workers will be held at the end of October."

Chen Huaikai didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "So we only have two months to shoot, and we must complete all the outdoor scenes within that time. The remaining indoor scenes will be filmed in the studio at Beijing Film Studio."

"Therefore, we have a tight schedule and a heavy workload. Especially at the Mei Family Compound, there are many large-scale scenes."

"Regarding the guns, ammunition, and horses, I had already informed the local officials that the militia would provide them."

"I know you can ride horses, Zaibao and Daqi."

"Anyone else who can't ride a horse? Raise your hand, let me see."

Chen Huaikai said to the main actors present.

Only Zhang Guoli raised his hand, because he had never even seen a horse before.

Huang Wenbin didn't raise his hand because he had spent two months at his classmate's home in Inner Mongolia before his time travel and learned to ride a horse.

The veteran actors present were either soldiers who had fought in wars and were no strangers to horseback riding, or they had ridden horses in war scenes long ago.

Chen Huaikai said directly, "Okay, Xiao Zhang, when the horse arrives, I'll have a militiaman who knows how to ride teach you. I don't expect you to be able to ride, just make sure you don't fall off."

"I understand," Zhang Guoli nodded in response.

Chen Huaikai then emphasized some points to note and encouraged the actors and production staff present to exchange their opinions.

Solve what can be solved on the spot; write down what cannot be solved and find a solution later.

For example, there's no need to go to Japan to find women who can play the drums; these days, there are plenty of talented women in the commune.

"Okay, all the facts are almost ready."

Chen Huaikai carefully scanned everyone present and said solemnly, "After lunch, filming will begin at 2 PM. I hope everyone will work together to successfully complete these scenes!"

"Let's work together and accomplish it!"