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

Chapter 42: District 3D Cannot Lose Jerusalem
Beijing North, Changping, new campus of Chinese Opera.

The huge campus was empty. Occasionally, a small van full of renovation workers passed by the campus road, leaving behind a roar of the engine, and then everything returned to silence again.

"The environment at your Central Academy of Drama is pretty good, much better than our Beijing Film Academy." Zhang Ruoyun looked at the brand new campus and recalled the shabby appearance of his own school, and couldn't help but sigh.

"The new campus must be more comfortable to look at." Meng Bai, who was standing by, didn't think it was anything special. He looked at the empty tree pit on the side of the road and said, "Next time I'll take you to see our old campus and let you experience what an old, dilapidated, small house in the city center is like."

"I've made a note of it. I've heard there are a lot of good places to eat around your Central Academy of Drama. I'll come find you later. Don't deny it." Zhang Ruoyun said

"Don't worry, I promise to arrange everything clearly for you after the filming is finished." Meng Bai waved his hands with an expression that said "You still don't believe me."

After filming together for more than a month and seeing each other almost every day, Meng Bai and Zhang Ruoyun have become familiar with each other.

In Meng Bai's opinion, although this guy seemed a little arrogant when they first met, and gave people the feeling that he had a bit of a "snob" quality, but when you get to know him, he is actually quite easy-going and can be considered a friend worth making.

In Zhang Ruoyun's opinion, Meng Bai, a "producer" who is younger than himself, is a bit "hot on the outside but cold on the inside". On the surface, he looks easygoing and doesn't care about anything, but in fact, only after getting to know him more often can you occasionally feel the deep calmness beneath his casual appearance.

However, this is quite consistent with his personality, and after getting to know him, he turns out to be a pretty good friend.

They chatted for a while in the empty campus until they heard the crew members calling them, then they turned around and walked towards the dormitory building behind them.

Of course, they came here today not to express their admiration for the new campus of the Central Academy of Drama, but to shoot the plot of a new unit.

School, orphanage and mental hospital are collectively known as the “Top 3” horror story scenes.

Schools, in particular, have always been the "main battlefield" for various urban legends to flourish. The classic 13 steps, the winking statue, the piano playing in the middle of the night, the abandoned dormitories, the transformed mass graves... have provided a constant source of inspiration for countless creators.

Horror Stories can’t lose the school, just like District 3D can’t lose Jerusalem.

"Soul Ferry" is naturally no exception. The unit "The Senior in Red" is a classic campus story. It is also the only unit in the entire first season that occupies two episodes, which shows its important status.

"By the way, do you know the scene we are going to shoot today?" Meng Bai suddenly asked.

"I know, it's just women's clothing." Zhang Ruoyun said indifferently.

In the plot, the roommate of the heroine "Wang Xiaoya" fell into a coma due to playing a psychic game, so she dragged the hero "Xia Dongqing" to see what was going on. In order to enter the girls' dormitory without leaving any trace, "Xia Dongqing" changed into women's clothes and sneaked in at the instigation of "Wang Xiaoya".

Meng Bai thought that Zhang Ruoyun would be a little embarrassed about this scene, but he didn't expect that he was not bothered at all and looked calm and composed.

Zhang Ruoyun knew what Meng Bai was thinking as soon as he saw the strange look in his eyes, and hurriedly explained: "Men dressing up as women and women dressing up as men are common imitation exercises in our classes, and everyone is used to it. There are also animals, lunatics, and perverts, these are all what we practice."

Meng Bai knew this. When he went to the acting department to look for his ex-girlfriend, he often saw the freshmen practicing in the practice room in a crazy and frantic manner.

Every time he sees this, he would sigh that it’s a good thing he didn’t study acting.

Compared to the quietness of other places on campus, the girls' dormitory is very lively today.

The crew members coming and going were busy moving props and setting up the scene, and because the newly built dormitory building looked too new, they also had to find ways to make some places look old.

The hall of the dormitory building was noisy at this time. A dozen girls with outstanding looks were gathered in twos and threes. They looked at the crew's installation curiously, whispered, and laughed from time to time.

These girls are basically all students from the Central Academy of Drama, who were tricked by Meng Bai into being extras.

The reason for choosing them is very simple, they are cheap. They only need to take care of the transportation and meals, and give each person a small red envelope after the photo shoot, and that's it.

Although it was almost like "voluntary work", these girls were quite happy. After all, they usually only practiced in school, and it was a rare opportunity to see how a real crew filmed. Don't worry about whether there were shots or not, just treat it as a real-life experience, and it was free, so everyone had a lot of fun.

Apart from being a college student, his mental state is really reassuring.

Of course, there are also non-Chinese Academy of Drama actors here. For example, the girl who plays the role of "senior sister in red" is named Cai Wenjing, who is from Beijing Film Academy and is also Zhang Ruoyun's junior.

Of course, her getting this role had nothing to do with Zhang Ruoyun, but was recommended by director Wu Bai.

When Meng Bai and Wu Bai met for the first time, he mentioned a short film he had made called "Washing a Car". In that short film, the male lead was Zhang Yi, and the female lead was this Cai Wenjing.

Meng Bai met her once when she came to the crew. She was a very artistic girl.

Unfortunately, because of the role requirements, the makeup artist painted her face blue, and paired it with a blood-red dress. Not to mention at night, even if you suddenly glance at her during the day, it would still make people feel a chill.

"How about this look?" Wu Bai asked from the side.

Meng Bai glanced at Cai Wenjing, who looked like an Avatar, then looked away and nodded, "Not bad, very atmospheric."

After saying that, he took a step back and said, "By the way, I have to focus on the post-production visual effects these days, so I won't be here for now. If there's anything on the crew, you can handle it first."

Although it is the original author, the horror effect from the text to the pictures is really enhanced a lot.

Thinking about the fact that this part of the plot is basically all night scenes, Meng Bai now feels sorry for Li Qin and the other girls who will be playing opposite them.

But what he said was not entirely an excuse. He really needed to follow up on the progress of post-production visual effects in the next few days.

Many viewers' understanding of film and television special effects is that they are scenes such as the left and right waves fighting each other or gods fighting each other in fantasy or science fiction films.

But in fact, special effects as a post-production method are also widely used in many ordinary urban dramas and daily dramas.

For example, green screen cutting and wire wiping are the most common special effects. In addition, in many movies and TV series involving large-scale scenes such as concerts, large-scale events, and busy streets, most of the characters in the panoramic pictures are also generated by special effects.

Even in some rural dramas of the period, in order to present the atmosphere, the crew would plant some plants or crops in advance, but they were found to have died during filming. It was too late to replant them, so post-production special effects were needed to erase the dead plants and replace them with some thriving and lush materials.

The post-production company that Meng Bai contacted was a film and television special effects studio called OVE (Orange Visual Effect). The studio's owner, Ding Lai, used to work at Weta Digital in New Zealand, but he resigned last year and returned to China to create his own special effects studio.

How to put it, just like the "Pendulum" crew, it's a makeshift team.

There was no other way. Meng Bai wanted to find a big special effects company like More VFX or Tiangong Yicai. But firstly, the prices of these big companies were too high; secondly, they were not willing to take small orders like "Pendulum".

In comparison, a small studio like Orange Vision seems very approachable, and they accept even small orders for 20 to 30 special effects scenes like "Pendulum".

With the special effects in place, the post-production editing work is gradually being put on the agenda. Although the filming of Wubai has not yet ended, the previously completed units can start the rough cut in advance.

Shooting, editing, and post-production visual effects all operate simultaneously.

At the end of November, the early winter season in northern Beijing, the "Soul Ferry" project entered its final sprint stage.

　In the new April, I’m asking for a new wave of votes from all of you big guys!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)