Chapter 765
First Time Taking the Lead
Due to the last-minute changes to the action scenes, the action scenes that were originally scheduled to be filmed in Baijiang that afternoon could not be filmed.
The fight scenes need to be changed a lot, and they haven't yet envisioned the entire fight sequence.
So Director Chu temporarily arranged for Bai Jiang to film other scenes. He didn't go with him personally, but instead handed the filming over to the assistant director.
They were all very simple dialogue scenes.
At the same time, he also sent Gu Cheng to learn from the assistant director.
He also openly hinted to the assistant director that if Gu Cheng really wanted to do it, he could let him do it himself and shoot a segment.
This afternoon, many actors had already gathered to watch.
Some actors weren't so well-informed and thought that Gu Cheng was constantly trying to get more screen time by sticking close to Director Chu, hoping to outshine Bai Jiang.
Upon hearing Director Chu's blunt hint, the actors were all taken aback.
"What? So Gu Cheng is following Director Chu to learn directing!"
"Wait a minute, it seems that Gu Cheng's major at Tsinghua and Peking Universities was directing. No wonder he's always been by Director Chu's side."
"Judging from what Director Chu said, he's willing to teach Gu Cheng, and even more willing to let Gu Cheng practice on the set. That's too much of a spoiling gesture!"
The others whispered amongst themselves, discussing the matter animatedly.
"Does Gu Cheng and Bai Jiang still need to determine a winner?"
"Of course not, we're not even in the same league anymore. Maybe if Gu Cheng's movies become hits, even Bai Jiang will want to work with him!"
It just so happens that Bai Jiang was temporarily assigned by Director Chu to a dialogue scene with Jin Li, which was to be filmed in two acts.
The first scene depicts Ruan Tang and her clone Ji Ming greeting each other when they meet at work during the day.
Ji Ming was very talkative, constantly talking about the progress of his experimental projects, and even invited Ruan Tang to go out on the weekend, although Ruan Tang declined.
But even though he refused, it didn't affect his enthusiasm for Ruan Tang.
Only Ruan Tang would make him say so much, and his thoughts were so obvious that even his colleagues noticed something was wrong.
Those people didn't say it to Ruan Tang, but they would tease Ji Ming, asking him when he planned to take action.
When Ji Ming was leaving get off work, he deliberately waited and pretended to bump into Ruan Tang in the elevator, just to say to her, "Have a nice night."
These scenes were all filmed with Ji Ming.
After filming these scenes, they had to immediately start filming the second scene.
The second scene was filmed at night, but the location of the laboratory made no difference.
Because the laboratory is brightly lit both day and night.
The second scene was filmed with Ji Ruibin.
He awoke from his slumber and, after eliminating a squad that had come to capture him, found information on Ji Ming, who looked exactly like him, in the squad's data tablet.
He decided to visit the laboratory.
Ji Ruibin is very intelligent. Even after being asleep for so long, he was able to quickly adapt to the technological changes of the past few decades and successfully infiltrated the laboratory.
He was to move around the laboratory under Ji Ming's identity and investigate top-secret information.
This laboratory is hiding too many secrets. Why are there so many clones? What kind of research are they conducting? What organization is it affiliated with?
During this time, Ruan Tang had to return to the laboratory due to some matters, and there she met Ji Ruibin.
Although they look exactly alike, their temperament and personality are completely different.
Ruan Tang only exchanged a few casual words with him before her brows furrowed slightly, sensing that something was amiss.
She silently pressed a button, executing the arrest plan.
That concludes the filming of the dialogue scenes.
Next, we'll be filming action scenes, which will be shot at a different time.
The filming of the second act will be more important, but the first act is purely dialogue-based, and the scenes are very simple.
Director Chu handed over the first scene to the assistant director for filming.
The assistant director's shooting style is different from that of Director Chu. He will deliberate for a long time and has an almost strict aesthetic sense regarding the composition of the picture.
He really likes to use all sorts of composition techniques and positions the actors quite high.
The first scene was filmed smoothly.
When the assistant director was filming a scene where a colleague was teasing Ji Ming, asking him when he would take the initiative to pursue her, he suddenly asked:
"Gu Cheng, do you want to take a picture?"
Gu Cheng was taken aback; he had thought that Director Chu was just being polite.
Even if it's not just polite talk, the assistant director is a person with real power in the crew and may not necessarily want him to participate in the filming.
The assistant director might agree to Director Chu's request one minute, and then secretly go against it the next.
That's not surprising; he wouldn't have a falling out with the assistant director over such a small amount of filming.
The assistant director asked Gu Cheng to film the scene himself. Gu Cheng was a little stunned, feeling like he had been hit by a huge pie.
Gu Cheng: "Huh? Me, can I do it...?"
The assistant director chuckled: "You're a proper directing student. I've seen your work; you've directed a few short dramas and even a short film of ten minutes or so. What do you say, is it up to you?"
Gu Cheng: "I, I am... but this drama..."
Assistant Director: "Alright, stop dawdling, you're a grown man. If you're going to shoot, hurry up and get on with it. You'll miss this opportunity if you don't act now."
Gu Cheng walked forward and subconsciously stood in front of the camera lens.
Jinli was reading a book when she suddenly looked up and saw Gu Cheng in front of the camera. She couldn't help but smile.
She gave him a thumbs up.
Gu Cheng saw this action through the camera lens and couldn't help but smile.
shoot!
Since the assistant director was willing to give him the opportunity, he would definitely want to give it a try.
Even if it's only for a dozen seconds, it's still a valuable experience.
When Gu Cheng was filming, the actors around him subconsciously looked at Bai Jiang, as if they were expecting him to have any other reaction.
Watching excitement is in many people's nature; when life is too peaceful and uneventful, they want to find some thrills.
Unfortunately, Bai Jiang remained calm.
Even though Gu Cheng directed the filming of this scene, his expression didn't change at all.
As for the brocade pear.
Aside from giving a thumbs-up, he didn't do anything else and went back to reading.
The actors watching: ...
Your daughter is so outstanding! Your daughter works so hard!
Even with her popularity so high, the little girl still doesn't forget to study!
Previously, when they saw Jinli reading in the film crew, they thought she was just putting on an act.
But the longer they saw her, the more they admired Jinli's ability to study diligently no matter where she was.
Even if they can absorb the material, they can't maintain a high level of focus in the noisy film crew environment.
Jinli's concentration is terrifying!
Meanwhile, Xu Ting, whom the other actors in the crew occasionally thought of, was attending an event.
After the announcement ended, she walked to the lounge, where she was stopped by several media outlets.
Her agent wasn't around, and her assistant wasn't there either, as she had gone to get her coffee.
This meant that Xu Ting couldn't directly send the media away; she had to stay for a while and give interviews.
She used to refuse these kinds of short interviews.
Because she has many engagements scheduled, she doesn't need to gain more exposure through interviews.
In other announcements, she is always able to express her thoughts.
But things are different now.
She's getting old, her acting skills are mediocre, and her transition hasn't been very successful.
Only one of the movies he made in the past few years has been released, but it received poor reviews and performed poorly at the box office.
She felt that there was nothing wrong with her performance; the problem was entirely the script.
Although she remains at the top tier, her appearances are fewer than those of typical top-tier celebrities, and her popularity is somewhat weak.
She also has a bad personality and doesn't have any funny moments on variety shows.
Other has-been celebrities can still appear on variety shows to maintain their presence, but she can't.
Her agent is worried that she might say something wrong on the variety show.
Variety shows really test your quick thinking and reaction time. If you can't think straight, you're likely to get caught out by netizens for making mistakes.
Many celebrities were once considered the "white moonlight" in the hearts of netizens and synonymous with a certain level of acting talent before appearing on variety shows.
As a result, once she appeared on a variety show, the childhood memories and positive feelings of netizens were shattered.
That's worse than not going at all!
A reporter asked, "Xu Ting, filming for 'Dawn 2' has already started, but you haven't joined the cast yet. Does that mean you won't appear in the second installment?"
Another reporter asked, "Xu Ting, you have high hopes for 'Dawn 2'. Compared to 'Dawn 1', what are your thoughts?"
The third reporter asked, "Xu Ting, will you appear in the second season? There are rumors online that you will be making a special appearance in the production. Can you tell us about that?"
Xu Ting maintained a refined smile, but inside she was incredibly agitated.
Dawn 2, Dawn 2, it's Dawn 2 again!
Since the start of filming, she has become synonymous with Dawn 2.
Wherever she went, people would mention the show to her, asking her all sorts of questions and trying to find out why she hadn't joined the cast yet.
Even when attending events, many celebrities and even hosts ask this question.
Don't they know any manners?
Each celebrity's event announcement includes a list of prohibited words, and hosts are not allowed to ask certain questions.
Her agent was worried that someone might take advantage of Xu Ting's taboo words, so they didn't include "Dawn 2".
Otherwise, once it's exposed, and someone accuses Xu Ting of "looking down on Dawn 2," she might end up being held accountable by Director Chu!
When the first film was shot, there was a clause in the contract that required the company to actively maintain "Dawn 1 and the subsequent development of the Dawn IP".
Xu Ting took a deep breath, smiled, and said:
"I can't say right now, it needs to be kept secret."
"When this show comes out, you'll know whether I'm in it or not."
"I hope the Dawn series will get better and better, and that the IP will be developed more and more. I have a lot of confidence in this series!"
Xu Ting gave a few perfunctory replies, and her agent and assistant, hearing the commotion, rushed over and drove the reporters away.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief once they were inside the car.
The agent glanced at Xu Ting and said seriously, "We'll be getting stopped for interviews more and more often from now on. How about we take on a variety show with closed-door filming?"
Xu Ting's face darkened slightly: "Didn't you say that my personality isn't suited for variety shows?"
Now, to avoid these problems, they actually want to throw me into a variety show. Are you really doing this for my own good, or are you deliberately trying to harm me?
Upon hearing this, the assistant shuddered.
These past few days, the agent and Xu Ting have been arguing frequently. Xu Ting's temper is getting more and more volatile, and the things she says are becoming increasingly outrageous.
The agent frowned, rubbed her temples, and instead of arguing with her about whether she had deliberately thrown her into the variety show, she said:
“Your emotions have been too unstable these past few days. Letting you do media interviews makes it easy for you to say things you shouldn’t. I just want you to stay out of the spotlight.”
Xu Ting was a little agitated: "Hide, hide, hide! I always have to hide!"
"What's wrong with going public with them? I didn't say anything bad about the production team, and I didn't receive an offer to film Dawn 2. Is that a scandal?"
"Xu Ting!!"
The agent's tone was stern, and his eyes held a warning: "If you want your competitors to know you're washed up and all come to snatch your resources;
Netizens think you're washed up and are listing all the mistakes you've made over the years online;
The fans know you're past your prime, and they're cursing the company out of frustration. Just release this message publicly, since you don't want to work here anymore anyway!
Xu Ting was stunned for a moment before saying, "I don't mean I don't want to do it."
The agent's tone softened a bit, "I know you're just too anxious, but now is not a good time to go public."
The second part of Dawn is being filmed in full swing. If you release some vague news about the collaboration, it will be much easier to negotiate announcements.
I've been in contact with Director Chu these past few days, actively inquiring about your role in the second season. Don't worry, this series is estimated to take four or five months to film; this is only the first month, so there's still plenty of time.
As long as the production team continues to promote the show, Xu Ting will have many opportunities thanks to her role as the female lead in the first installment of Dawn.
Xu Ting used to have fewer announcements than she does now.
If it weren't for the start of filming for Dawn 2, Xu Ting wouldn't have been able to get many gigs.
The agent had an idea and said, "Your personality isn't suited for highly interactive variety shows, but you could do well on acting-related variety shows. Why don't you try being a mentor?"
Xu Ting's expression relaxed a bit; she could accept what her mentor had said.
That evening, Xu Ting returned to her apartment and couldn't help but pick up her phone to send Bai Jiang a message, asking him about the situation of the "Dawn 2" crew.
After Bai Jiang finished filming the night scene, he saw Xu Ting's message.
He sighed softly.
Other minor supporting characters didn't receive the full script, but he, as one of the main characters, did.
The script didn't include any scenes featuring "Su Yuxuan," and even the clone didn't have "Su Yuxuan."
She didn't die in the first movie, but the writers seemed to have forgotten about this character and didn't write about her at all.
Once "Dawn 2" is filmed and released, netizens will definitely speculate whether Xu Ting offended the director when they see that she has no scenes at all.
That was the most dangerous time in Xu Ting's career.
Xu Ting had offended Director Chu too much before, to the point that Director Chu had no desire to work with her at all.
However, if Xu Ting behaves herself during filming and doesn't deliberately spread rumors to create hype for the production team...
When "Dawn 2" is released, Director Chu will not go to extremes and use public opinion to crush Xu Ting.
Bai Jiang: [There's not much to say, that's just how filming is.]
Bai Jiang: [Be careful, Director Chu is very strict, don't let him find any fault with you.]
Bai Jiang had typed "Try to behave yourself and stay quiet" before deleting it.
Never mind, we don't know each other well enough to talk about such things.
I've reminded you many times before, and those two sentences I sent were also a reminder. (End of Chapter)