Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 290: The "Hanging B" in the Spy Drama

In 1935, at the Harbin Railway Station under the rule of the Puppet Manchukuo, Chen Jiaying, an underground member of the Communist Party of China, came here to meet with the liaison officer of the Soviet representative. Wang Dading, the second in command of Heixiaziling, who was preparing to rob the stolen goods from the opium dealers, was also stalking here. Dou Shixiao, the chief of police of the Puppet Manchukuo, led a team to round up the "fugitive" who was carrying the 731 crime evidence film.

The three parties accidentally bumped into each other's cars and misunderstood each other, and finally arrived at the most luxurious international hotel in Northeast China - Peace Hotel.

For a time, the Chinese Communist Party, bandits, the puppet Manchukuo Kwantung Army, Nanjing, the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France gathered together, each with their own concerns, and spent ten days together in the blockaded hotel.

This is the main plot of "Peace Hotel".

This kind of spy drama similar to "Escape Room" is rare in the market. The last one of similar nature was the movie "The Sound of Wind".

Because the main plot takes place in the various rooms of the hotel, the filming is basically focused on interior scenes.

The biggest advantage of indoor shooting is that you don’t have to consider the influence of time and weather factors.

Anyway, the lighting engineer can adjust the lighting to create any scene.

It was for this reason that, after discussion, Meng Bai and Yang Lei added a lot of night shows, exchanging workload for progress.

Among ArcLight’s projects, the last one with so many night scenes scheduled was “Soul Ferry”.

But it has to be said that this way the overall shooting speed is indeed much faster, but the actors will be more tired.

Especially the two leading actors Qin Hao and Qin Lan, who have the most scenes, naturally have greater pressure.

Several times at night, Meng Bai went to Qin Lan's room to "discuss the script", but the other party was so tired that he fell asleep before they even started discussing it.

Looking at his sister sleeping soundly, Meng Bai could only shake his head and sigh.

Does this count as digging your own grave?
However, he did not adjust the crew's shooting plan because of this incident. Apart from occasionally finding opportunities to kiss and hug his sister to quench his thirst, he used his extra energy to observe the performance of the leading actors.

Needless to say, Qin Hao's acting skills are very strong and he grasps the characteristics of the characters just right;

Although Qin Lan is not as good as her, this kind of "mature female elite" role is within her comfort zone, so they can get along well in the acting.

What is really surprising is the performance of several supporting characters.

For example, Gao Weiguang, who plays the role of "Police Chief Dou Shixiao", was a little skeptical at first because he was born in Jiaxing. Unexpectedly, although this guy was a little greasy in playing the role of a domineering boss, he was surprisingly suitable for such a rough role.

There is also Jiang Yan. The role that impressed Meng Bai the most before was the red-haired, sometimes cold and sometimes cute "Western Factory spy Liu Ruoxin" in "The Medical Clinic" co-starring with Chen He.

I thought she would be a mature queen like Wang Ou, but she turned out to be surprisingly down-to-earth. Especially when she put on a fancy cheongsam and cotton-padded jacket, it didn't feel out of place in my impression of a "Northeastern woman".

However, what surprised Meng Bai the most was Wang Yang, who played "Tang Ling".

The character "Tang Ling" is considered a plug-in added to the heroine in the plot.

He is invincible in fighting, has excellent marksmanship, and can climb walls and run on rooftops as if walking on flat ground. He can pick locks, disguise himself, decipher codes, and speak multiple languages...

In short, he is almost an all-round warrior.

But we can't say that this is "forced cheating". After all, when Comrade Wu Hao led the Central Special Branch's Red Team to dominate Shanghai, he had many such talents under his command.

If Gu Shunzhang had not betrayed and provided intelligence and secret manuals to the Kuomintang, the so-called "Central Bureau" and "Military Bureau" would have been completely insignificant.

But reality is reality. In the plot, this kind of character does make the audience easily think of it as a "deus ex machina".

This situation tests the actor's understanding and control of the role.

Obviously, Wang Yang has a good grasp of this point.

His image tends to be mature, introverted, low-key and steady, and coupled with his meticulous acting skills, it is easy to be convincing.

Although the character does not have many scenes, he is able to capture the scene firmly whenever he appears on the screen, and he does not lose out even when acting opposite Qin Hao.

Meng Bai couldn't help but feel tempted and wondered if he could sign him.

After all, there are quite a few actresses in Arclight, but there are only three or two male actors, and the middle-aged one is Wang Longzheng himself. Moreover, Wang Longzheng's image is that of a bit of a ruffian, while Wang Yang is closer to the type of "gentlemanly villain".

To be honest, he is very similar to Liu Yijun who played "Wang Tianfeng" in "The Pretender".

This is the type of character that makes people feel that even if he only appears in one shot, this character must be extraordinary.

"Teacher Wang Yang."

On the set, Meng Bai greeted everyone as a segment of filming was about to end.

"Producer Meng." Wang Yang responded politely.

By the way, this guy is a native of Harbin, and he is also a rich second-generation. During the filming period, he often served as a "guest tour guide" for the other leading actors who went out to play.

Meng Bai didn't waste time talking. After a few pleasantries, he got straight to the point: "Your current agency is Qianyi Times, right?"

Qianyi Times is also a relatively well-known agency in the circle. Its boss, Chang Jihong, was formerly the agent of Sun Li and Jiang Wenli, and has a similar status to Wang Jinghua and Li Shaohong.

Wang Yang signed with Qianyi when he graduated from university. At the beginning, Chang Jihong was very optimistic about him, after all, he had a good image and acting skills.

He even personally took him to have dinner with director Zhao Baogang and helped him get resources.

Unfortunately, the guy was still young at that time, and he had been a rich second-generation since childhood, so he was a bit "aloof and dull", which led to him missing a lot of opportunities.

Finally, it was abandoned.

It wasn't until I was over 30 that I finally changed my temper. And because of all the years of wasting time, I became even more mature and reserved.

So, some actors may be born to achieve success late in life.

Hearing Meng Bai's direct question, Wang Yang was stunned for a moment. But then he had an idea and vaguely understood what the other party meant.

"Yes." Wang Yang nodded and added, "However, the contract will expire at the end of this year."

"That will be very soon." Meng Bai smiled, knowing that the other party had heard his subtext, "Have you ever considered switching to a new company after this?"

After that, he continued, "Our Arc Light is mainly based on suspense themes, and we will need more Mesozoic actors. If you are interested, Mr. Wang Yang, you can learn more about it."

This statement is already a very straightforward recruitment.

Of course, Meng Bai also has the confidence to be so straightforward.

As an emerging force in today's film and television industry and one of the first-line production teams, ArcLight's influence and status are growing year by year.

So Meng Bai no longer needs some of the routines he used in the past in many cases now.

For a mid-level actor like Wang Yang, you can just invite him directly. If he can do it, it's fine. If not, forget it.

Faced with Meng Bai's invitation, Wang Yang was actually quite tempted.

It has been about a month since he joined the crew. He has become familiar with the young producer and has learned a lot about Arclight Films.

As far as he knew, what Meng Bai said was indeed true.

There are more opportunities for male actors of his age in suspense genres, but there are not many male actors in arc roles.

Therefore, if we can really sign ArcLight, at least in terms of film and television resources, it will definitely be much better than it is now.

However, he did not agree to it just like that, saying that he needed to think about it.

Meng Bai didn't ask him to agree immediately. Anyway, he still had more than half a year left in his contract with his current company, so he had to wait.

(End of this chapter)