Global Film Emperor

Chapter 348 The filming day has arrived.

As the night rain subsided and the sun rose, birds perched on the lush trees in the courtyard, chirping. Rainwater lingered on the verdant leaves, eventually rolling from the tips to the ground. The shouts of the foreign villagers echoed into the dusty room.

The first feeling upon opening his eyes was exhaustion, dizziness, muscle soreness, and a burning throat. Lu Ze sat up straight on the sofa, placed the back of his hand on his forehead to feel the temperature, and finally tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and sighed.

No wonder he had a fever today. He'd only been in England for three days, and he was already suffering from acclimatization issues and jet lag. He went drinking as soon as he arrived in Liverpool, ate random food the next morning, was kicked out of his house that night, drove for two hours straight, and then was dragged to a party. After getting drunk, he was caught in a downpour, took a shower, and slept on the sofa all night. It would be strange if he didn't catch a cold.

Mickey was still asleep beside him, but the occasional humming reminded Lu Ze that the kid wasn't in much better shape either.

Suppressing the urge to vomit from the dizziness, I stood up and felt a throbbing pain in my temples and the back of my head. After leaning against the wall for a while to ease the pain, I staggered toward the kitchen.

The cupboard was covered in a layer of dust, but it was fully stocked with pots, pans, and utensils. The kitchen faucet hadn't been used yet. After turning on the water valve and running the faucet, dark red water with a strong rusty smell flowed out. It took two minutes for the water to gradually clear up.

I rinsed the pot briefly, filled it with water (the gas pipe had been connected when it arrived yesterday), placed the pot on the stove to wait for it to boil, and went back upstairs to open my suitcase.

Unaccustomed to the local environment often leads to a cold that is difficult to treat. The severity depends entirely on the individual's constitution. Lu Ze was experienced and carried a lot of cold medicine and anti-inflammatory drugs with him when he came out of Lü Hua's place.

After the water boiled, he let two glasses of water cool down. He didn't take his medicine right away, but instead stretched his muscles and bones at the door for a while. His neighbor Claire brought over some breakfast, which Lu Ze accepted after thanking her. As soon as he returned to the house, he saw Mickey smoking on the sofa. Because his nose was blocked, only one nostril was smoking, which looked a bit comical.

Doesn't your throat hurt?

"It hurts, and my nose is blocked, it's very uncomfortable."

"Then let's not smoke anymore, let's eat. Claire brought it over."

"I'm thinking about the set design. I usually light a cigarette when I'm thinking. Oh well, let me see what Claire brought over. A sandwich. Looks good. Let me try it... Damn, I can't taste anything."

Presumably taking into account that it was for two grown men, Claire's wife made a very generous sandwich with thick layers of ham and bacon, which looked very appetizing. However, it was a different story once it tasted. Their colds had impaired their sense of taste, making it feel like they were eating grass. After barely managing to fill their stomachs, Lu Ze brought over two glasses of water that were still quite warm and shared the cold medicine he had brought from China with Mickey.

"Oh, you Chinese really know how to live, it's so comfortable."

Feeling the hot water starting from his throat, slightly burning, flowing down his intestines into his stomach, dispelling the chill brought on by his cold, Mickey closed his eyes and praised the Chinese people's habit of drinking hot water. Perhaps there was still a rusty taste in the water, but neither of them could taste it.

After resting for half an hour after dinner, even though they both had colds, the two of them couldn't rest. Elena would be coming over in the afternoon, and the other actors they had borrowed from Saul would arrive tomorrow morning. When discussing the collaboration with Saul, Mickey left behind a third of the script, and filming would begin as soon as the actors arrived.

In other words, the pre-production crew... consisted mainly of Lu Ze and his partner. Of course, Elena would also come to help, but she couldn't do the professional set design, so she could only help with cleaning.

"Come on, move this cabinet away. You lift it over there, and I'll climb down backwards. Okay... slow down, watch your head, don't bump it. Okay, turn around first, otherwise you'll get stuck here and won't be able to get down."

At first, things were fine; the two of them had enough energy to handle it. But as the sun rose, the coolness brought by last night's heavy rain was gone, replaced by muggy and humid weather, and it was another sunny day.

The two men took off their shirts, leaving their chests bare, and carried things down from the second floor. The sunlight shone on them, making them look like the eighteen bronze statues of Shaolin Temple.

Interestingly, both of them have some scars on their bodies. To outsiders, they might not look like a director and an actor, but rather like soldiers who have fought in battles somewhere.

Mickey looked at the three long, narrow scars on Lu Ze's back, reached out and touched them. They were indeed quite deep. He chuckled and asked, "How did you get that?"

"It was an accident while filming; I fell."

Lu Ze casually recounted the origin of the wound. Mickey chuckled, patted the scar twice, and turned back to his room. Lu Ze didn't pay any attention, because he genuinely didn't know he had several dark handprints on his back.

The sun continued to climb higher, and the temperature rose higher and higher. The two of them already had severe colds, and they were exposed to the sun while doing strenuous physical labor, so they naturally felt extremely dizzy and had splitting headaches.

Then Mickey, who was in slightly worse physical condition, started by vomiting up the sandwich he ate that morning. Lu Ze followed closely behind and also began unloading. However, time was tight and the two of them couldn't rest. They were given another injection of medication and carried a large wardrobe downstairs. Then... the second round of vomiting water and undigested pills began.

They kept vomiting and working, working and vomiting, until all the unnecessary and bulky furniture was moved out of the room. Their lips were white, their faces bluish-purple, looking like they were about to die. "Give me a high five, buddy! We made it through! We were fucking dying! I'm having trouble breathing, I need to catch my breath. Whose car is this? Hey! Elena!! Over here! Come here!"

When they saw Elena drive into the village in a rather old black Jetta, the two of them were so happy they almost cried. Asking them to keep wiping the dust off the ground would be torture. It was perfect to have some extra labor, so why not use it? After all, it was just for cleaning the filming area, which wasn't very big, and one girl could finish it in an hour.

"What happened... Are you two alright? What did you do last night?"

"Don't say anything more, we're really dying and need to rest. Elena, could you please help with some work? Wipe off the dust. Lu Ze and I have finished the big things, the rest is up to you."

After saying that, Mickey draped the rag over Elena's shoulders, put his arm around Lu Ze's shoulder, and went back to the room, leaving Elena alone in the yard, bewildered. She shrugged and went into the room where Mickey told her where to start working.

……

Elena wasn't a pampered child; she worked efficiently, grabbing a rag and getting to work. Most importantly, she didn't mention payment for dusting. You see, labor costs are very high in Europe and America. A simple lawn mowing job can easily cost forty or fifty pounds an hour, and housekeeping starts at twenty pounds an hour.

Meanwhile, Lu Ze and his companion were also busy. They spread out the entire script, refined the storyboard content on A4 paper, and began to sort out each scene to determine the shooting order for tomorrow.

Mickey picked up the home video camera he had rented in Cliff, charged the other two batteries, turned on the camera, and pointed it at Lu Ze.

"This thing... will be very shaky when filming, it needs someone with a steady hand to hold it, it's really rudimentary, but the picture quality is barely acceptable. Lu Ze, sing a song for me."

"Get lost, you can't sing."

"Okay... The sound recording is a bit poor, so it seems we can only use it indoors, but it's enough. The other two professional cameras are perfect for shooting outdoor scenes. You still need to teach Elena more. I think this girl has some acting talent, so she should pick it up quickly. The role isn't too difficult either, so you'll have to work hard."

"There's nothing I can do. I got on your pirate ship. This is the most tiring film I've ever made. I had to participate in everything from pre-production to post-production. And the salary was only 50,000 pounds. I feel like I'm getting ripped off."

"Hehehe, to use a Chinese idiom, 'the capable are always given more work,' I'm calling. You guys start after Elena finishes her work. Get ready early, good luck, hey Thor..."

Mickey answered the phone and walked out of the room. As he turned around, he threw half a pack of cigarettes at Lu Ze, who covered his chest with his hand, took out a cigarette, lit it, crossed his legs on the sofa, and quietly watched Elena.

Elena finished her work, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and was about to pour out the dirty water when she inadvertently noticed Lu Ze's gaze and stopped in her tracks in a panic.

She was a little afraid of Lu Ze, though she didn't know why. It might be because of his stern demeanor, his rigid temperament, and his strict attitude in teaching her. In any case, this was the first time Elena had ever felt afraid of a teacher.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. Take a rest, and then we'll continue from where we left off yesterday. I'll go prepare now, and come find me on the second floor when you've rested enough."

He picked up his coat, dusted it off, and seeing that Elena understood, picked up the script and turned to leave, leaving a somewhat uneasy Elena alone, patting her chest and letting out a long sigh.

Saul called for no other reason than to review the actors Mickey needed. But none of them were famous; they were all minor actors who had to do commercials and play small supporting roles. They had some acting skills, but for various reasons, they just couldn't make it big.

With things to do, time flew by, and before they knew it, it was 6:30 p.m. The two were called downstairs by Mickey to enjoy a modest dinner. After a short rest after dinner, Lu Ze pulled her to continue her class, which lasted until about 10 p.m. before they went back to their rooms to rest.

After a verbal argument, Lu Ze finally gave up his bedroom to Elena, and quietly lay down on the living room sofa, hugging his pillow.

Looking at the completed set, he turned off the lights one by one. As the set fell into darkness, he also felt the drowsiness brought on by the cold medicine and finally fell asleep. Time carried Lu Ze's expectations and kept moving forward. When the clock struck twelve, the shooting day that Lu Ze had been looking forward to had arrived.

"..."

(End of this chapter)