Chapter 763
Unsettled Hearts, a Turning Point in Lian Baozhi's Career
Gu Cheng was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized that Director Chu didn't know that he had entered Tsinghua and Peking Universities to study directing.
He said, "I understand most of it, but I still don't understand some of your special treatments. I studied directing at Tsinghua and Peking Universities."
Now it was Director Chu who was stunned.
"You? Studying directing at Tsinghua and Peking Universities?"
He looked Gu Cheng up and down, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
"I never expected that you and I would be in the same profession."
Gu Cheng shook his head: "I'm just a student. There are many ways to express myself through camera work that I haven't learned. It's very difficult for me to become a director."
Chu Chenliang said, "You are an actor, and you are naturally sensitive to the camera. If you have a little talent in directing, then your identity as an actor will be enough to help you go further."
He paused for a moment, then said, "I was wondering why you came so early today. As soon as you arrived at the film set, you started hovering around me, staring at the camera every now and then."
I thought you were going to fawn over me, which I found strange. Given your status, you had no need to flatter me. Turns out you really wanted to learn my skills.
Gu Cheng gave an embarrassed smile. Facing a famous director, how could he dare to put on any airs of a star?
Chu Chenliang thought for a moment and said, "What did you learn at school?"
Gu Cheng mentioned it briefly.
Chu Chenliang raised an eyebrow and said, "I once participated in the compilation of textbooks for the directing major at a university. This kind of knowledge is not something that can be learned in the second year of university."
Even if everyone who gets into Tsinghua and Peking University is a top student, the gap shouldn't be that big.
Gu Cheng said, "Yes, I recently learned this knowledge on my own."
I'm worried about school starting in September, but my scenes on set aren't finished yet, so I'm doing some pre-reading.
Chu Chenliang nodded: "In that case, if you're not afraid of getting tired, you can help me with odd jobs whenever you have time, and I'll teach you some camera handling techniques while I'm at it."
Gu Cheng's eyes lit up: "Director Chu, should I pay a fee for becoming his apprentice?"
Director Chu said speechlessly, "You really want to steal my skills? You want to be my disciple, but I'm not willing to take you on as my apprentice."
You're an actor in the crew. If I teach you how to handle camera shots, you'll be able to perform even better.
"As long as you work diligently for me on set, don't cause trouble, and complete your tasks well every day, that's the best way to repay me."
Gu Cheng plays an important supporting male role, but he is different from Jin Li and Bai Jiang.
This is their first collaboration, so getting them to work together is quite challenging.
The key point is that Gu Cheng's previous film was "Desperate Counterattack," which was also a special effects film, but special effects films are not the same.
Director Zheng's filming style is completely different from his usual style.
Although Gu Cheng is very experienced in shooting special effects films.
However, when filming other dramatic scenes, Director Chu always felt that he was a bit out of sync with the pace.
He was originally trying to figure out how to persuade Gu Cheng, but Gu Cheng just happened to provide the reason.
You can take this opportunity to teach him about directing so he can get started quickly.
So from that day on, Gu Cheng became Director Chu's shadow in the film crew, except when he was filming.
Whatever film Director Chu was making, he would sit aside and watch it.
He held a notebook in his hand, making notes from time to time.
Gu Cheng kept staring at the camera, but Director Chu wasn't annoyed. He would even chat with him during breaks in filming.
Sometimes, when the discussion gets going, I'll pat him on the shoulder, give him a thumbs up, and say that he's a promising young man.
This relationship was somewhat difficult for the other actors in the crew to understand.
New rumors have surfaced about the film crew.
"I heard that Gu Cheng is very much favored by Director Chu. If the male lead hadn't been decided long ago, the male lead for the second movie might have been changed."
"Gu Cheng and Director Chu have a very close personal relationship, so Bai Jiang's position as the male lead is in jeopardy!"
"Have you noticed that Gu Cheng, who is a supporting male character, has had a lot of scenes added to him these past few days that weren't in the script?"
"Why are we still clinging to Bai Jiang? We should cling to Gu Cheng. As long as he puts a good word for us with the director, we won't have to worry about our scenes being cut, and we might even get a few more scenes added."
These rumors had barely spread when they reached Bai Jiang's assistant's ears.
Some people deliberately gossiped in front of Bai Jiang's assistant, wanting to see how he would react.
There are many people in the film crew, and their personalities are complex.
When their minds are in turmoil, some actors, even if they don't get any credit, still enjoy doing things that harm others without benefiting themselves.
It's as if watching a big-name actor in the crew make a fool of themselves makes them feel much better about their dark and jealous thoughts.
They know perfectly well that no matter how embarrassing the big-name actors make a scene, these small fry can't replace them, but they still enjoy it.
The assistant immediately told Bai Jiang about these rumors and asked worriedly:
"Brother Jiang, is Gu Cheng trying to steal your leading role? I've heard them spreading rumors that seem pretty convincing, and Gu Cheng has indeed been staying by Director Chu's side these past few days."
Judging from Director Chu's demeanor, he's treating him quite well.
Director Chu hasn't smiled at you actors for days, but when he was filming, Gu Cheng was right next to him, and he smiled at Gu Cheng countless times.
Bai Jiang's thoughts drifted a little, and he asked curiously, "How do you know that Director Chu smiled at Gu Cheng many times? Were you watching them?"
The assistant, feeling a little guilty, whispered, "I was secretly watching from a corner. Many actors were watching more openly than I was, and neither Director Chu nor Gu Cheng said anything."
"Brother Jiang, aren't you worried that Gu Cheng will curry favor with Director Chu and cut your scenes, giving him all the spotlight?"
Bai Jiang regained his composure and said calmly, "Don't worry, my character is different from his. If Director Chu insists on giving my highlight scenes to Gu Cheng, it will only make the plot fall apart even faster."
The assistant said anxiously, "That's what they say, but are we just going to let Gu Cheng fawn over Director Chu?"
Instead of answering, Bai Jiang asked, "Did you find out what I asked you to find out? What were Director Chu and Gu Cheng discussing?"
The assistant shook his head: "I haven't found out yet. Director Chu is very serious when he's filming. Other actors don't dare to go near him for fear of being scolded."
Although the screenwriter was with them, the actors didn't dare to bother him. What if they angered him and his script killed off their scenes prematurely?
Bai Jiang said thoughtfully, "Just listen to these rumors and don't be hostile towards Gu Cheng. We don't even know what they're discussing, so it's too early to treat him as a potential enemy."
"Also," he paused, then emphasized, "this film is Director Chu's film, he can film it however he wants."
"Director Chu is a man of his word when it comes to filming. Even if he really wants to add more scenes for Gu Cheng, we can't go against his wishes. Think about the filming of Xu Ting in the previous movie."
She gave so many of her leading lady scenes to Jinli, but she only dared to curse Jinli in secret, not dare to go against Director Chu.
The assistant felt a slight chill and immediately nodded.
After finishing his scenes the next day, Bai Jiang did not immediately return to the RV, but instead went to Director Chu's side.
Director Chu glanced at him, assuming he was just there to see his performance on camera, and said nothing. Gu Cheng, on the other hand, felt that Bai Jiang must have come with a purpose, but he didn't care.
Bai Jiang stood beside the two for half an hour and finally understood. His eyelids twitched slightly.
Wow, Gu Cheng wants to be a director in the future!
I initially thought it was a competitor trying to curry favor with the director, but it turns out their target was their dad who wanted to become an actor!
Bai Jiang returned to his room and went online to research Gu Cheng's major at Tsinghua and Peking Universities. He discovered that it was "directing," and everything became clear.
No wonder Director Chu was willing to bring Gu Cheng along.
If his apprentice is a bright student who can grasp things quickly, he is willing to take him on.
Bai Jiang then spoke a few more words to his assistant, telling him not to provoke Gu Cheng.
He pondered for a while and then had his assistant release the news that Gu Cheng was studying directing and was receiving guidance from Director Chu.
The power of the "director" is still very strong.
Even if Gu Cheng is just a "reserve director", he is still very strong.
Even a fool could figure it out: with Gu Cheng's influence, his debut work would have no shortage of big names vying for roles, nor would it lack popularity.
If we could win over Gu Cheng beforehand and secure a role in one of his first works, that would be fantastic.
As a result, the actors in the crew, who were already friendly to Gu Cheng, became even more friendly to him after these rumors spread.
Fortunately, Director Chu was there to keep things in check, and while Gu Cheng was discussing things with Director Chu, none of the actors dared to come over and try to get close to him.
Otherwise, wherever Gu Cheng went on set, there would be several sycophantic actors following him, which would make the atmosphere too awkward.
Gu Cheng thought to himself, he wasn't some kind of innate halo or holy body, so he really didn't deserve to be praised every day.
-
The film crew had just started shooting, and people were restless, with many rumors circulating and updating rapidly.
But after a month of filming, many people in the crew calmed down and everyone became more grounded.
Filming officially got on track, and Director Chu, seeing that they were at ease, then started filming the special effects scenes.
Special effects scenes require acting without props, which is very difficult if the actors are not in the right state of mind.
Meanwhile, after several discussions with her agent, Lu Shanjie, Lian Baozhi decided to hone her acting skills by going to the stage.
Lü Shanjie was not optimistic about the play, believing that it was unnecessary for her to do so.
“Your career is going very well right now. If you feel that your acting skills are not up to par, then you can enroll in more acting training classes and hire an acting coach to accompany you on set so that he can guide your acting skills at any time. Why bother to participate in stage plays?”
Stage plays are still too high-end for the entertainment industry; apart from your die-hard fans, no one else will buy into them.
It's not embarrassing for you to go to a play; it's embarrassing if no one buys your tickets.
Lu Shanjie is right; even Baozhi isn't someone who won't listen to advice.
But this time, she was a bit stubborn.
"My acting skills have reached a point where there's no room for improvement. No matter how many teachers you hire to teach me, it won't help. I can't become like them."
My acting skills are still not as good as Chien Li-ting's a few years ago. Back then, Chien Li-ting's acting skills were also excellent, but she couldn't break through for a long time. Everyone thought that she needed to choose other types of roles, such as specializing in art films, to make a breakthrough.
"But she hasn't filmed any movies in the past few years, she's only performed in stage plays."
Her acting skills are quite different from before, and even Jinli praised her performance.
"So going to film a stage play will definitely hone my acting skills!" Lian Baozhi said earnestly.
Lu Shanjie choked on her words.
Okay, that's true.
But she also knew that Jian Liting had no other choice, which is why she plunged headlong into theater.
But even Baozhi had choices; there are many ways to improve her acting skills, not just through stage plays.
Lian Baozhi's words continued to echo in my ears, "A stage play cannot be filmed only once or twice; it requires continuous investment for my acting skills to improve."
I have some online following now, so I shouldn't have trouble selling tickets.
Upon hearing that Lian Baozhi wanted to delve deeper into this area, Lü Shanjie immediately said, "No way!"
“Your schedule is usually so busy, so we can just let you film a play once every few months. You are still in the rising phase of your career and haven’t encountered any bottlenecks yet.”
"Once you've truly reached your limit, then you can focus your energy on stage plays. Right now, you need to keep pushing in the entertainment industry and take on more gigs to establish yourself."
"If you turn around and focus on drama now, you're essentially making way for someone else. Think about Li Xunfang."
Even though she's married, she's still constantly building her career. You and she have so much overlap in resources, aren't you worried that if you step down, all those resources will end up benefiting Li Xunfang?
"Why would you give Li Xunfang a cheap deal when you could get a good deal from anyone else?"
Lian Baozhi immediately said, "We can't let her get away with this!"
Lu Shanjie: "That's right. We can let you film stage plays. We didn't say you can't. You can film for a period of time, but you can't miss your monthly schedule."
She said with a serious expression, "But you have to think it through. Once you take on a stage play, you will become busier and more tired than before."
You told me a while ago that you wanted to rest, but once you take on this play, your rest time will probably be completely taken up by it.
Lian Baozhi thought of how her acting was completely outshone by Jian Liting on set, and then of Jinli's recommendation, and gritted her teeth, saying:
"Shoot! At worst, I'll just not take a break for the next two years!"
She gave herself two years.
If her acting skills don't improve at all even after using her spare time to film stage plays over the past two years, then she will give up.
Lian Baozhi sent a WeChat message to Jinli.
Jinli saw it that night and called Jian Liting.
It sounded quite noisy on Jian Liting's end. When she spoke, her voice was full of energy, a very standard theatrical warm-up voice.
Jinli said, "I mentioned to you before that because I joined the film crew, I couldn't participate in the play you invited me to, but I will find a suitable actor for you."
Jian Liting hummed in agreement. "Yes, have you found the actor?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she hurriedly added, "It doesn't matter if we can't find them. There's no shortage of actors in the theater troupe lately. Many actors have heard about my relationship with Director Zheng and are busy trying to curry favor with me, wanting to film the play I'm in."
Jinli smiled, and hearing the smile in her words, she felt relieved.
She spoke very sincerely; she truly has no shortage of actors to perform in her plays.
Jinli said, "I found an actress. She has a solid foundation, but lacks agility. Although she may not be able to replace my role, she is still quite good. You can assess her and then make arrangements."
Jian Liting asked curiously, "Who?"
Jinli: "Lian Baozhi."
Jian Liting was stunned for a moment, "It's actually her. I thought that a popular young actress like her wouldn't be performing in a stage play."
Jinli said meaningfully, "Don't underestimate her; she has more perseverance than you think. Stars who can climb back up from a slump are no ordinary people." (End of Chapter)