Global Film Emperor

Chapter 241 Preparing for Filming (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader Huanyu)

Spitting out the last bit of toothpaste foam, Lu Ze rinsed his mouth with his head tilted back, shaved his beard, changed into a tracksuit, and pushed open the door to leave the room.

Good morning, Brother Lu.

A male voice greeted him, and Lu Ze turned his head to find Ding Zhiyi, who was also wearing sportswear and had a towel around his neck. It seemed that he was also going out for a morning run.

"Good morning, you're up so early?"

"Yeah, I go for a run every morning, it's become a habit. Do you also go for a morning run every day, Brother Lu? Can I join you?"

"What's there to say about whether I can or can't? Let's go. But I probably can't outrun you. How about this, whoever can't run anymore will treat everyone to a meal."

Ding Zhiyi didn't refuse; on the contrary, she was very happy. She smiled and nodded vigorously, following Lu Ze down the elevator. Lu Ze turned on his sports watch, planned his morning run route, put on his headphones, and the two of them did some simple warm-up exercises without disturbing each other. Then they started running towards the nearby riverside park.

Just as Lu Ze had predicted, he really couldn't outrun Ding Zhiyi, this muscular young man. In his early twenties, Ding Zhiyi was young and strong, with frighteningly abundant stamina. Plus, he was a seasoned morning runner, so he ran incredibly fast. As for Lu Ze, at his age, it has to be said that his physical fitness had already begun to decline. In addition, his extremely unhealthy diet during filming had caused damage to his body, so it was normal that he couldn't outrun this young man.

After running about four kilometers, Lu Ze sat on a bench, panting heavily, breathing in the fresh oxygen by the river. The old people around him were spinning large tops, making a constant cracking sound. He glanced at Ding Zhiyi, who hadn't stopped and was gradually running away, but he lost the will to get up and chase after him. He picked up a towel, wiped the sweat from his forehead, closed his eyes, and slowly recovered his strength.

"Brother Lu, have some water. What flavor do you want? Take a break and drink it in small sips."

Turning his head, Ding Zhiyi was also covered in sweat from running. Wiping his sweat, he handed Lu Ze two bottles of Gatorade and let him choose. Lu Ze didn't stand on ceremony, picked the blue one with the small opening, put it in his mouth, and slowly swallowed it.

"Let's go, I'll treat you to xiaolongbao. Let me check which place is good. Should we walk or... never mind, let's take a Mobike. Did you study the script again after you went back yesterday?"

Throwing energy drinks into the bike basket, bending down to sweep the bike aside, kicking the bike step, and slowly pedaling the bike, the two celebrities pedaling Mobike one after the other on the pedestrian crossing was quite comical.

"Yeah, I feel a lot of pressure, after all, I have a lot of scenes with you, Brother Lu, so I'm a little nervous."

Ding Zhiyi was telling the truth; he was genuinely nervous. After all, he was going to play Lu Ze's best friend, and they would have a lot of scenes together. Lu Ze was arguably the best actor he had ever worked with, and the one with the most accolades. Because of his meticulous attitude towards Lu Ze's acting, he was really afraid of making a mistake that would displease Lu Ze.

This is a very normal junior's mentality, but in reality, if he really makes a mistake, Lu Ze will not be dissatisfied. After all, no one is a robot. Lu Ze himself makes mistakes. It is unrealistic to expect to get every take right the first time without making mistakes. As long as he is serious about filming and not messing around, Lu Ze will not complain even if a scene takes a whole day to film.

"Hey~ What's there to be nervous about? We're all actors. I don't have an extra eye or an extra leg like you. You don't need to put so much pressure on yourself. If you feel numb from memorizing the script, just relax. We're filming at a university, so going to see the lives of ordinary college students will be very helpful to you."

"Okay, Brother Lu, have you ever had a similar experience while filming before?"

"Of course I was nervous! I was also nervous when filming with many veteran actors, afraid that I wouldn't do well. Every time the director said 'cut,' it felt like a weight on my heart. But after filming with many talented veteran actors, I didn't have time to be nervous anymore. All I could think about was how to make the film good. I even forgot about the pressure, and my performance naturally improved. Okay, let's talk about it when we get there. I need to speed things up!"

With no one on the road ahead, Lu Ze lifted his buttocks off the bicycle seat and pedaled hard. Ding Zhiyi followed closely behind, and the two resumed their race, chasing each other. (Dangerous actions, please do not imitate).

After dinner, we went back to the hotel to take a shower and set off for Zhejiang University. On the way, we also picked up the cripple. The guy got angry when he saw Lu Ze, seemingly complaining about why Lu Ze had left him at the pet store. He turned his head and lay on the car seat.

Just as Lu Ze had imagined, these past few days were the most exciting time for the students to see the film crew shooting. When Lu Ze arrived at the entrance of the gymnasium, quite a few students recognized him and asked for his autograph. However, it was the weekend, and most of the students were still sleeping in early in the morning, so there weren't many of them.

He entered the stadium with Ding Zhiyi, then they split up and each found a secluded corner to memorize their scripts. The stage construction was much faster than Lu Ze had anticipated, and it was completely finished by 10 a.m. The props team had been working until 2 a.m. last night and then continued working at 6 a.m. this morning, only getting less than three hours of sleep in between. They were exhausted, and two of them even vomited from exhaustion. As soon as they finished, the group took the remaining polystyrene boards and fell fast asleep in the corridor, leaving only a few people to conduct the final safety checks.

While waiting for the security check, Lu Ze and Ding Zhiyi went into the dressing room to get their makeup done for the camera. Putting aside the temperament aspect, just looking at his appearance, Lu Ze did look a bit old for the role of a college student. That's when the makeup artist came in and applied some stuff that Lu Ze didn't even know what it was to his chin to cover up the more obvious beard marks.

After applying some concealer to cover up his forehead wrinkles, when Lu Ze looked in the mirror again, he wouldn't say he looked ten years younger, but looking five or six years younger was definitely not a problem.

Then there's the issue of clothing and hairstyle. Lu Ze had followed Xiao Fengying's advice and hadn't cut his hair recently, so it looked a bit long. The hairstylist picked up the scissors and quickly trimmed it a few times. Lu Ze's hairstyle was the kind of choppy hair that college students were more into, with short bangs that were tilted to the left and styled. As soon as Lu Ze got off the stool, the stylist came over with a pile of clothes.

"Isn't that a bit too young? I'd believe you if you said I was a high school student."

Standing in front of the mirror, Lu Ze turned to look at the stylist, practically bewildered. The stylist wore a loose red t-shirt over a white vest with a cute monkey logo, black sweatpants, skate shoes, a red sports watch, and most importantly, large-framed non-prescription glasses, making Lu Ze's overall look...quite cute.

"It's alright. You look at least ten years younger now, Brother Lu. It's really just a matter of dressing up. If you dress younger, you'll look younger. That's how college students dress these days."

Lu Ze did not deny this point. Now, standing next to Ding Zhiyi, who had also dressed up, they did look like peers, and it was impossible to tell that Lu Ze was eight years older than Ding Zhiyi.

"You're all done with your makeup? I'm so sorry, Brother Lu, Zhiyi, I'm late. Our schedules didn't align, and I couldn't make it yesterday. I'm really sorry for causing trouble."

Lu Ze was still comparing himself to Ding Zhiyi when someone knocked twice on the dressing room door and then pushed it open. Dai Xilu walked into the room with an apologetic look on her face.

Lu Ze didn't take it to heart. He wasn't that petty. Everyone has urgent matters, especially celebrities. Once a schedule is set, it's really hard to change. Unlike TV stars, who can cancel their schedules with a phone call.

Can you actually cancel your trip? Yes, but you need to have a legitimate reason. For example, you could say you had appendicitis in the middle of the night, had surgery, and couldn't even leave the hospital the next day. That's unavoidable, and the person who invited you will understand. Otherwise, canceling your trip over something trivial would be very offensive.

Or you might be a big star with a high status, the kind of person who wouldn't hold a grudge even if you promoted someone, but there are very few people like that in this circle; they are mostly respected veteran artists.

Seeing that Lu Ze didn't take the matter to heart, Dai Xilu breathed a sigh of relief. Her apology was actually only for Lu Ze, but Ding Zhiyi was also in the room, so it wouldn't be right not to include him. And Ding Zhiyi wouldn't criticize Dai Xilu, nor did he have the right to do so.

"Then Zhiyi and I will go out first. You can put on your makeup and then familiarize yourself with the script."

"it is good."

After saying that, Lu Ze took Ding Zhiyi out of the dressing room and into the venue to watch the staff do the final security check. Seeing that the cripple was still angry with him, Lu Ze picked it up, sat it on a chair, and stroked its black fur while reading the script. The cripple did not refuse, but buried its head in Lu Ze's shoulder and did not make a sound.

"Alright, let the extras in. Lu Ze, get ready. Production assistant, check the cameras. The close-up shots from camera one must have a delay with those from camera two. Start filming in five minutes."

"it is good."

After handing the cripple over to Wang Zixuan, Lu Ze stood up and stretched his shoulders. Under everyone's gaze, he calmly walked into the film set, circling in front of the camera, making final preparations before filming began.

"."

(End of this chapter)