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

Chapter 97 Old things
Shanghu, Chedun Film and Television Base.

"Director Li, thank you very much for your help this time." On the busy set, Meng Bai and Li Xue shook hands and expressed their gratitude.

Li Xue's name sounds like a girl's, but he is actually a real man. He is the director of Noon Sunshine, and has been a student of Kong Sheng for many years. He is considered one of the best "Noon School Directors".

When filming of "The Disguiser" started, Kong Sheng was busy with the post-production of "Nirvana in Fire" and had also started a period drama project "Two Families in Wenzhou". He had no time, so the job of chief director fell to Li Xue.

Meng Bai had met him before when filming All Quiet in Peking. Although they were not very familiar with each other, they had some friendship. With the cooperation of the new drama this time, they became even closer.

He happened to be in Shanghai recently to inspect the filming locations for "The Disguiser". When he heard that Meng Bai needed venues and props, he helped to make the contact, which was like a timely help.

Hearing Meng Bai's thanks, Li Xue waved her hand nonchalantly: "It's nothing. You are half of our family after all. We should help each other."

They were in a small antique restaurant, and many crew members behind them were busy arranging the venue. Seeing the two walking and chatting, Li Xue looked at the scene and asked curiously: "Is your play also a modern historical drama set in the Republic of China?"

"No, the whole drama is set in modern times. It's just that this unit involves some flashbacks, and the timeline is during the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, so such a scene arrangement is needed." Meng Bai explained.

The scene being prepared is one of the few side plots that has not been deleted. The unit is called "Old Things" and mainly tells about the memories of "Zhao Li" that happened a hundred years ago.

In that turbulent era, the country was in turmoil and human life was worthless. In order to prepare a dowry for his blind daughter, Lao Chen, who ran a noodle shop, borrowed a loan shark. As a result, her husband's family refused, and the moneylender came to collect the debt and wanted to take Lao Chen's daughter to sell her to a brothel. Lao Chen, who had been honest all his life, was furious and killed the moneylender, burned all the IOUs, and was beheaded himself.

At the end of the story, Lao Chen's daughter begged Zhao Li to send her to the place where "daughters can survive by selling their bodies", because she had promised her father that she would live a good life.

"As long as we keep living, the world will get better one day."

Meng Bai gave Li Xue a brief description of the plot, and Li Xue's eyes lit up with surprise.

"Wow, I really didn't expect that the story structure of your web drama is really no smaller than that of TV dramas and movies." Li Xue exclaimed.

Meng Bai smiled and said: "Online dramas are just a medium. The story itself has nothing to do with where it is broadcast. And I think that because online dramas are more free and flexible, they can often express deeper things than TV dramas."

"Indeed, some things cannot be said anywhere." Li Xue sighed: "Unfortunately, I heard that the censorship of online dramas will also become stricter."

Meng Bai didn't say anything when he heard this, but just sighed. Li Xue then remembered that the reason why the other party suddenly came this time was because of the reform of online drama censorship.

This is really...

Li Xue changed the topic and talked to Meng Bai about the preparation progress of "The Disguiser".

"According to the current progress, auditions for the relevant actors will begin next month, and filming will start around January next year." Li Xue said, "Mr. Hou means that the actors still need to consider your opinion as the screenwriter. Do you think you will be able to audition in time?"

"Almost. I should be done filming next month. Post-production is mainly the director's job, so it's no problem for me to take a few days off to come over." Meng Bai thought about it and agreed.

After that, he asked curiously, "Do we have an expected lead actor now? Will we choose from the leading actors of Nirvana in Fire again?"

Li Xue smiled, knowing that he was teasing her family for using "familiar faces". However, this time he was right. "At present, we prefer Jin Dong and Hu Ge for the two male protagonists, Ming Lou and Ming Tai. After contacting them, they are also interested." Li Xue said, "You should know them, right?"

"I can't say I know him, but I know who he is." Meng Bai said, "If Senior Brother Jin Dong plays Ming Lou, his appearance and temperament are quite suitable. As for Hu Ge playing Ming Tai..."

"Why, do you think it's inappropriate?" Li Xue asked.

Meng Bai said: "It can't be said that it's inappropriate, but the setting of 'Mingtai' is a young man of 18 or 19 years old, which may be a bit too old."

If it was ten years ago, or five years ago, Hu Ge would have no problem. But he is already over thirty years old, I wonder if he can still play that kind of youthful feeling.

"It's okay, we'll see when the audition comes. If he is really not suitable, we can change someone else." Li Xue said seriously.

The two chatted about some issues regarding the plot and location selection. Seeing that Meng Bai was still busy with filming, he took the initiative to say goodbye and leave. Anyway, they still had to stay in Shanghai for a while, so there was plenty of time to discuss.

After seeing Li Xue off, Meng Bai returned to the set and met with several leading actors who had just arrived.

In the unit "Old Things", although "Zhao Li" is one of the main characters in the whole story, he can only be regarded as a "witness" in this chapter. The real protagonist of the unit is "Old Chen", who worked hard and continued to run the noodle shop even if he was beheaded, just to keep his daughter alive.

This role is the "bold actor" of the entire unit, so it requires an "old actor" with superb acting skills. Meng Bai asked his teacher Professor Zou to contact several powerful actors, and finally invited Mr. Zhang Yonggang.

"Teacher Zhang, this scene all depends on you." Looking at the "Buddha Wutan" in front of him, Meng Bai asked solemnly.

"Don't worry, you wrote a good script and I can't let you down." Zhang Yonggang said with a smile.

Although most of the roles he plays are domineering and heroic figures, he is actually a simple and honest person in real life, which is a big contrast.

Seeing the sincerity of the other party, Meng Bai was relieved. For these old actors with real strength, after so many years of filming, they have their own understanding of the plot and characters, so he doesn't need to say anything more.

If we really want to say who is under more pressure now, it is Yu Yi. He is the main character and has a direct rivalry with Zhang Yonggang. He is afraid that he will not be able to cope with the role.

However, this outsider can't help much, it all depends on whether he can withstand the pressure.

In addition to the two of them, there is another important role, that of "Old Chen's" daughter, the "blind girl". Because the shooting time was tight, Meng Bai had no time to do any auditions, so he could only look for the role from actors he had worked with before.

There weren't many candidates, because many of them had appeared in the first film. In addition, not all of them had the right time, so after contacting several people, we finally decided on Liang Jie, who had worked with us in "Psychological Crime".

"Junior sister, thank you for coming to help." Looking at Liang Jie in front of him, Meng Bai said politely.

"I should be the one who thanks my senior brother for giving me the opportunity." Liang Jie said hurriedly.

Seeing the other party's somewhat panicked look, Meng Bai smiled and looked at Zhu Xudan next to him: "By the way, why are you here too?"

(End of this chapter)