Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 414 Secret Base for Big Things

Water scenes are torture for the actors.

The temperature has been around 27 or 28 degrees Celsius these past few days, but after soaking in the water for a while, it still feels cold.

Liu Ye, Liu Yifei, Chen Minghao, and Xia Yu would come up to wipe their faces and hair clean and drink some hot water after each take. But when the take was cut, none of them bothered to come out anymore.

"Forget it, let's not go out. There's no point in wiping it."

The makeup artists had no choice but to row a small boat to touch up the makeup of the four people. Li Qiutang also rode a small boat with the makeup artists to the lake to give the four people acting instructions.

This isn't the only water scene for the entire crew. The part where the four-person group falls into the underground river beneath the palace will be filmed in a pool at the Huairou base. This pool was specially dug by John Woo for filming "The Crossing," and it's about half the size of a football field.

The staff at the scenic area watched from the sidelines and found it amusing; they realized that this was how movies were filmed.

After soaking for three whole days, today is finally the day to film the final scene: Hu Bayi proposes to Shirley Yang.

Liu Ye refused to act as soon as she received the script: "Director, shouldn't you be doing this scene?"

Liu Yifei, standing to the side, pursed her lips and remained silent, wanting to see how Li Qiutang would react.

Li Qiutang didn't react immediately and glanced at the script: "Am I in a cameo role?" Then she realized what was going on, quickly glanced at Liu Yifei, and laughed: "I already asked for a role in 'Inner Beauty'." She laughed it off and covered it up.

A fleeting, unnoticed disappointment crossed Liu Yifei's eyes.

Li Qiutang knew what Liu Yifei wanted, but the time and place were not right; he was still waiting for the best time.

"You all hurry up and get in the water, we'll film Fatty first." Li Qiutang ordered the actors to get in the water, then sat back down in the director's chair.

Before boarding the boat, Liu Yifei complained, "We're soaked to the bone every day, while you're enjoying yourself on the shore."

"Exactly!" Liu Ye, Chen Minghao, and Xia Yu echoed.

"Sooner or later I'll drag you down with me."

"Exactly!" Liu Ye, Chen Minghao, and Xia Yu chimed in.

Li Qiutang, shameless as ever, shrugged and said, "What can I do? I'm the director, after all." She then defiantly took a sip of the iced cola placed in front of the monitor, "Ah~"

Liu Yifei threatened, "I'll beat you up sooner or later after filming is over."

Liu Ye, Chen Minghao, and Xia Yu disagreed. Chen Minghao said, "It's not appropriate for us to fight. You can fight."

After exchanging a few words, the four actors boarded a boat and headed to the lake, where the mobile crew had already set up the crane.

"Check the footage."

"The picture is OK."

Where are the actors?

Tell your former assistant director, "You'll become a great director soon."

The assistant director reiterated the filming precautions to the four actors in the lake before rowing his boat to the side—for convenience, the assistant director's boat wouldn't go ashore.

"Alright, director."

On the shore, the assistant director shouted through the set's loudspeaker: "Alright, actors in position, all departments ready—action!"

Chen Minghao emerged from the water, his head covered in seaweed, and cried out, "I'm so useless! I can't even save my own brother!"

“Hey, your brother’s here,” Liu Ye said from behind. The camera didn’t focus on Liu Ye at this moment, but he was still immersed in his role, providing background for Chen Minghao.

Upon hearing the voice, Chen Minghao's expression was one of shock and joy. He turned to Hu Bayi and Shirley Yang and exclaimed, "You're not dead?! You son of a bitch!"

"Cut!" Li Qiutang called out. "Very good, this take is very good. Let's turn around and shoot the shots after the actors turn around, so it'll be easier to edit. Actors, keep your poses, Lao Hu and Shirley, keep your poses too. If you're not in the shot, give Fatty a shoulder to lean on."

The camera shifts, and Chen Minghao performs the scene from before again.

He turned around and said, "You're not dead, you son of a bitch!"

But Li Qiutang rejected this one: "Fatty, save one."

"You're not dead, you son of a bitch!"

"No." "You're not dead, you son of a bitch!"

"There's a problem with the recording. Let's do another take."

"You're not dead, you son of a bitch!"

"Cut!" Li Qiutang fell silent this time, staring at the screen watching the replay. Liu Ye's voice came through the assistant director's walkie-talkie in her earpiece: "Director, you didn't just have him come here to yell at me, did you? I can't even get a word in back."

"Hahaha!"

After a while, Li Qiutang still didn't speak. She got up and went straight to the crane, picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Kaixuan, let's do one more take. This time, say the last two lines as well."

"Okay." This voice also came from the assistant director's walkie-talkie.

Li Qiutang stood behind the camera crane, looking at the camera screen, and gave the order: "Okay, Lao Zhang, step aside and get ready to start filming."

“Come on,” Li Qiutang called out personally, “begin.”

"You're not dead, you son of a bitch!"

Li Qiutang silently told herself to stay calm.

"What serious business could you possibly have?"

"Come over here honestly and be my witness." This is Liu Ye's line, but the camera still doesn't focus on him.

"Wow, is this a marriage proposal? You're serious this time!" The camera was focused on Chen Minghao.

"Cut!" Li Qiutang called out, "Very good, that's a pass."

Li Qiutang patted the arm of the worker operating the rocker arm; most of the problems mentioned earlier were due to him.

The guy from the mobile team smiled sheepishly.

"It's okay, just a small problem."

Liu Ye put his arm around Chen Minghao's shoulder, and Chen Minghao would also act alongside him. In the later proposal scene, Chen Minghao was still soaking in the water, reciting his lines to create an environment for Liu Ye.

At 3 p.m., with Li Qiutang's "OK," the film crew of "Mojin: The Lost Legend" finished all filming in Inner Mongolia.

Sparse applause rang out by Moon Lake.

"Everyone has worked hard this past month. Let's have barbecue tonight."

When Li Qiutang said this, she didn't see Liu Yifei giving Chen Minghao and Liu Ye meaningful glances.

“We’re going back to Yanjing tomorrow, and then… Hey, what are you doing!” Chen Minghao and Liu Ye tied Li Qiutang’s legs together and lifted him up by his arms. “Let me go.”

Liu Yifei was the most enthusiastic: "Let you go? We've been soaking for three days, how could we let you go? Throw you down!"

"one!"

"two!"

"three!"

With each count, Li Qiutang would sway, her heart leaping into her throat, and she would shout in response.

"Get lost!" As if venting their anger, Li Qiutang was thrown into the water by Chen Minghao and Liu Ye.

Liu Yifei, who was watching the spectacle, laughed heartily and pointed at Li Qiutang in the water, mocking her mercilessly.

On the 10th, the crew of "Mojin: The Lost Legend" returned to Yanjing from Inner Mongolia to resume filming, shooting all the studio scenes.

That evening, Li Qiutang created a WeChat group called "Secret Base for Big Things".

Li Qiutang added all of Liu Yifei's close friends, from her closest friend Shu Chang, to Zhang Liangying, Yao Beina, Tang Yan, Yang Mi, and others, as well as Zhou Yang, Zhu Yawen, Luo Jin, and others from their student days, to the group.

"I'm about to do something big, and I hope all my brothers and sisters will cooperate with me."

(End of this chapter)