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

Chapter 88 I am the soul ferryman!

When Meng Bai arrived at the crew, he happened to catch the crew's first night scene.

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone."

Meng Bai greeted everyone along the way and walked to Wang Wei's side.

"Come on, Lao Wang, have a cup of coffee." Meng Bai took a cup of iced American coffee and handed it to Wang Wei, and asked his assistant Hua Yan to distribute the rest to the staff on site one by one.

"Boss Meng is here to bring us coffee at this hour. He wants us to shoot all night long."

Wang Wei took the coffee and made a joke, but he still took a sip. The cold taste immediately made people feel much cooler.

It was summer vacation in Blue Island at the end of August. Even though it was night, it was still full of boredom and heat. It was just right to have a cold drink at this time.

Looking at the shooting area in front of the lens, Li Qin and the others were rehearsing their movements. The bright light from several headlights was evenly scattered around to ensure that the picture in the lens could clearly see the actors' expressions while maintaining the night atmosphere.

"Is this the scene where the characters escape from the mental hospital at the end of the second episode?" Although he had just arrived at the crew, Meng Bai, as the producer and screenwriter, was familiar with every scene. Therefore, he only took a glance and immediately knew which shot was being filmed.

This night scene happens to be the last and ending shot of the "Red Acting" unit. The male and female protagonists awakened the "Zhao Li" with the function of "peach wood to exorcise evil spirits and avoid danger", and with the help of the power of Buddhism, they defeated the soul detained and controlled by the enemy and escaped from the mental hospital.

Of course, the "mental hospital" in the plot could not have been filmed in a real hospital. The actual scene was shot in an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Landao.

"By the way, it's a good coincidence that you're here. I have a line change I want to talk to you about."

Wang Wei called the cameraman over, connected the equipment to the viewfinder and opened the last shot. He pointed at the screen and said, "It's the scene where 'Zhao Li' finds out that the only means of transportation is bicycles. After we finished filming, Mr. Yu Yi said it felt a bit flat. He thought it could be more intense to better fit the character's personality."

Meng Bai looked at the images broadcast on the viewfinder——

Zhao Li: What is this?

Xia Dongqing (taking a photo of the bicycle seat): I see you are really stupid, the bicycle.

Zhao Li: Only something with four wheels can be called a car, okay? What is this thing of yours?
Ya: It’s good enough to have a seat at all, why are you being so picky?

……

"Tsk." Meng Bai sighed. When he was writing the script, this part of the rant was just a few words in passing, and he hadn't thought about adding more emotions. But when it was replaced with real footage, it did feel a little bland.

"Do you have any ideas?" Meng Bai asked.

Wang Wei said: "It wasn't our idea, it was Teacher Yu Yi who said he wanted to play with this emotion. Look, he's designing the lines there."

Looking at the filming area, I saw Yu Yi muttering to himself and shaking his head from time to time.

"I'll take a look."

Meng Bai said this and walked towards Yu Yi.

Li Qin, who was waiting on the side, saw Meng Bai coming out. Her eyes suddenly lit up and she waved at him.

Meng Bai naturally saw it, but it was not convenient to say hello at this moment, so he just waved his hand, made a gesture of "let's talk after the shooting", and came to Yu Yi.

"Brother Yi, are you busy?"

"Hey, you're finally here." Yu Yi was surprised and happy to see Meng Bai. After exchanging a few words of greeting, seeing that he already knew the current situation, he talked to him about some of his own views.

Simply put, because the main style of "Pendulum" is "horror + comedy" complement each other, the first plot is the trio's escape, and the second plot is the farewell to the trapped souls such as "Yulan". The former is terrifying, and the latter is touching, so some interesting and funny plots are needed in between to buffer the audience's emotions.

"So, I think we may need a more intense and exaggerated performance to achieve the desired effect." Yu Yi frowned and said, "I just thought about it for a while and came up with a few ideas, but I still feel that the lines I came up with are not quite right."

Meng Bai took over Yu Yi's script, which was indeed marked with a lot of notes and many ideas that were crossed out. Looking at some of the notes he had written, Meng Bai pondered for a while and said to him, "Hey, Brother Yi, how about changing your career like this..."

Seeing Meng Bai and Yu Yi chatting and laughing while discussing, Wang Wei couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Although Yu Yi had just told him that "Meng Bai is willing to accept his suggestions for optimizing the original script", he had had little contact with him before, so he was still worried and was thinking about whether he should call him to talk about it.

Don't think it's an exaggeration. Many big-name screenwriters are very stubborn about their script lines and sometimes won't allow even a modal particle to be changed.

If Meng Bai knew his concerns, he would definitely say, "Brother, you think too much." In this regard, he did not have any obsession that "no one can change it."

As long as you don't make random suggestions or add unnecessary "additions", he will generally listen. If it improves the plot or the level of the lines, he will also gladly accept it.

In Meng Bai's understanding, the screenwriter is responsible for the entire story, so many times he may not be able to perfectly take into account every detail of every character. At this time, it depends on the actors' own performance.

Whether you have your own unique understanding of the role and whether you can independently design details to perfect the role is the difference between a good actor and an ordinary actor.

If one simply acts as a puppet without any thinking on his own, then the profession of actor will become a purely technical job. Why should it be classified into the category of art?

Wang Wei was wondering what the result of the discussion would be. On the other side, Zhang Ruoyun, who had just returned from a phone call, saw Meng Bai suddenly appear and asked Xiang Liqin in confusion.

"Just now." Li Qin stared at Meng Bai's back from a distance and said, "Are you there discussing the line changes with Brother Yi?"

"I'm worried now that Teacher Meng might have a fixed mindset about the original lines and won't be able to change them." Zhang Ruoyun frowned.

Many content creators have this problem. They think of a point at the beginning, and then are restricted to this range. Even if they are asked to modify it, they will eventually go back to the original direction.

"No, he always has a lot of ideas and suggestions." Li Qin said confidently.

Zhang Ruoyun glanced at Li Qin who was staring at him intently, and smiled with the expression of an experienced person.

Young people, that’s great!
Meng Bai and Yu Yi discussed for nearly twenty minutes, both talking and gesturing, before finally deciding on the lines and performance.

Returning to Wang Wei, the other party couldn't help but ask: "What is the final decision?"

Meng Bai smiled, but didn't say anything. He just gestured, "The positions and routes haven't changed. No additional adjustments are needed. As for the rest... just wait and see."

In fact, he himself was also quite curious about what kind of performance Yu Yi could perform.

After preparing for a while, Yu Yi over there felt that he had figured it out and signaled to the director team.

Wang Wei saw this and immediately arranged for the various teams on the scene to prepare. After everyone said they were ready, he gave the order.

"Action!"

Yu Yi, wearing a hospital gown, stood in the middle. Zhang Ruoyun and Li Qin were half-supporting and half-fencing him on the left and right. The three of them were looking at a bicycle parked in front of them.

"I'll go, what is this?"

"I see you are really ill, bicycle."

Up to this point, the lines and plot were similar to those in Meng Bai's script. But then, Yu Yi quietly turned his head to look at Zhang Ruoyun beside him, and then began a wave of passionate output -

"I, Zhao Li! I'm the soul ferryman! I'm going to take this car back? I'm not well yet! I want my dark clothes! I want my gun! I want my big jeep! Believe it or not, I can get someone to pick me up with just one phone call! Hey, what, you don't have time, get lost..."

Yu Yi was interrupted by a burst of laughter before he finished his lines.

However, neither Meng Bai nor Wang Wei were angry, because it was not just one person who laughed out loud, but the entire audience, including the staff, could not help laughing.

(End of this chapter)