Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 2 The Magical Use of Intelligence—Seeking Advantages and Avoiding Harms

Hengdian, steamed bun shop
Yan Li was very tactful and paid for the breakfast of the two before Kou Zhanwen.

It wasn't much money. Considering the prices at the beginning of the century, the total cost for two people was no more than 10 yuan.

Kou Zhanwen naturally had this quality, but he enjoyed Yan Li's understanding and cleverness.

In addition, when they were talking just now, Yan Li kept praising him by calling him Teacher Kou, which made him feel very comfortable. His attitude towards Yan Li was obviously closer, and he even gave Yan Li some advice.

"Director Hu has a pretty good temper. The producer rarely comes to the set. The executive director and production manager are mainly responsible for the on-site and logistics. The crew is generally quite quiet. We just need to stay away from those Hong Kong and Taiwan people. They are very troublesome."

"Thank you, Mr. Kou, for the reminder."

Perhaps because of the daily intelligence system and various exercises, Yan Li is now more sensitive to information collection, analysis, and judgment.

Even without system intelligence, some useful information can be extracted from other people's words.

Kou Zhanwen didn't say much, but Yan Li felt that he contained a lot of information.

The first thing is to point out who has the final say in the crew of "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties". Yan Li, who has been to various crews in Beijing, knows that the situation of each crew is different.

Take the position of production director as an example. Some are really powerful in the crew, and the director has to look at his face and get his approval for any spending; some are just logistics staff in charge of lunch boxes and cars in the crew, and anyone with a little face dares to order them around.

As a newcomer to the crew, it is definitely a good thing to understand the high-level structure of the crew as soon as I arrive.

In addition, Kou Zhanwen's next sentence also revealed that the crew of "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties" was not particularly peaceful.

Judging from this, there may be a conflict between the Hong Kong and Taiwan and mainland actors and even staff.

Yan Li is just a minor supporting role and dares not get involved in the fight here, so he has to pay more attention to this aspect in the future and hide quickly if the limelight is not right.

When they arrived at the crew, Yan Li and Kou Zhanwen separated. The latter went to put on makeup, and Yan Li had to report to the deputy director Wang Decai first.

Wang Decai, deputy director of "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties", was responsible for a certain part of the casting work, and he played a crucial role in Yan Lineng's joining the crew.

When they arrived at the agreed place, Wang Decai was not there yet, so Yan Li simply helped with some odd jobs and asked about the crew in a roundabout way.

It would be best if you could get the information on your own. If you can't, there is a chance that the system will be triggered, and maybe you can get some useful information for Yan Li.

I'm free anyway, so I might as well try it out first!
Yan Li was chatting happily when someone patted his shoulder. He turned around and saw a short and fat man looking up at him with a smile on his face.

"Brother Wang, you are here."

"Ahem, the group calls us Director Wang."

Wang Decai is about thirty years old, a bit fat, and about 1.6 meters tall. He looks honest and simple, but his pair of smart rat eyes betray his shrewdness that does not match his appearance.

"Are you used to being on the set?"

Wang Decai had a good impression of Yan Li and felt that the young man was very much to his liking, otherwise he would not have helped him join the group.

Yan Li was also very grateful: "Please take care of me and get me a single room."

"Hi, little thing."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Wang Decai was just about to take Yan Li to meet the director when his cell phone rang. It seemed that there was a problem with the equipment and he needed to go and take a look.

Yan Li was very sensible: "You go ahead and do your work, I'm not in a hurry."

Previous intelligence showed that Director Hu Mingkai was unwell and in a bad mood yesterday. Yan Li was worried that if he went to see the director now, he would easily get into trouble.

Now that it's all right, let's just get off the ground and delay it for a while. Maybe the director will be in a better mood by then.

"also."

Perhaps they were in a hurry, so Wang Decai didn't hesitate. After thinking for a moment, he instructed, "How about this, don't just sit there and go to the dressing room to put on some makeup. That way, the director will have a better idea of your image. I'll find you when I'm done."

"Okay, you go ahead and do your work."

This would be beneficial for him to meet the director, so Yan Li naturally didn't mind the trouble and agreed readily.

The two separated, Yan Li asked someone and went to the dressing room. It was not far away and he arrived there in a short while. When he opened the door, he saw that there were not many people inside.

This is normal. For those who have scenes to shoot in the morning, many of them start putting on makeup at four or five o'clock. Now the peak time has passed. Those who are still in the dressing room are actors whose scenes are scheduled after ten o'clock in the morning or even in the afternoon.

Yan Li looked around and saw a few idle makeup artists eating or reading magazines nearby.

He remembered the information he had received this morning that two makeup artists were jealous of each other over a man and there might be a conflict, so he decided to stay away from them.

As he had just arrived, Yan Li didn't want to ask names casually. He was not sure which one was Sasha and which one was Wang Xiu. To be on the safe side, he walked towards the only free male makeup artist and explained his situation.

Hearing Wang Decai's name, the male makeup artist looked Yan Li up and down.

"Okay, sit down."

Yan Li found an empty seat and sat down. The makeup artist was quite professional. He did not rush to do Yan Li's makeup directly. Instead, he asked Yan Li if there were any good makeup styles in the past. He would refer to them and highlight Yan Li's personal strengths.

The two were talking when a female makeup artist passed by them.

Yan Li faced the mirror and clearly saw that it was the female makeup artist who deliberately bumped into someone. However, before his makeup artist could say anything, the female makeup artist turned the tables on him.

"Are you blind? Didn't you see me passing by?"

The male makeup artist was stunned, but he retorted directly: "You are not only blind, but also lame. You bumped into me while walking. You are looking for trouble."

"Who are you talking about, you bastard?"

"You're the one I'm talking about, bitch."

The two started cursing each other, and then began to push and shove each other. Yan Li hurriedly tried to separate them with the others, still feeling a little resentful in his heart.

Is the makeup team so chaotic? People are fighting every day!?
Soon, the head of the makeup team came over and called the two people who were in conflict away, and Yan Li also changed a makeup artist.

Unable to hold back, Yan Li asked, "Teacher, is there anyone named Wang Xiu in your group?" The makeup artist gave him a strange look and said, "The one who just did your makeup was Wang Xiu."

Yan Li: “…”

This crappy system still has flaws. It only displays the name without any photo or gender label.

How the hell did he know that Wang Xiu, who was jealous of Sasha, was actually a man.

The most important thing is that the guy has a beard, a small one at that, and looks more manly than him...

About an hour later, Yan Li, who had finished putting on makeup and changing her clothes, contacted Wang Decai and prepared to meet at the agreed place.

As soon as he came out of the dressing room, he met Wang Xiu who had just returned from solving a problem. The other party was still in the mood to chat with him.

"You look very energetic, handsome guy. Sorry for what happened just now. I'll help you put on makeup next time."

"It's okay, thanks sis... bro."

Yan Li was young after all and had seen little of the world, so he didn't dare to chat with this person for long. He just laughed it off and left in a hurry.

...

About ten minutes later, with the introduction of Wang Decai, Yan Li met Hu Mingkai, the director of "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties".

Director Hu is currently considered a well-respected director in the circle, and his representative work is the popular "Young Justice Bao" from two years ago.

There is nothing wrong with Yan Li's strategy of avoiding the limelight.

Wang Decai said that when Hu Mingkai first started working, he scolded the field management team. If Yan Li and the others had come at that time, they might have been caught in the act as well.

Maybe he had finished his anger or he felt better, Hu Mingkai's mood was not very good, but it was not bad either, otherwise Wang Decai would not have dared to come over with Yan Li.

"Director, this is the actor who plays Yuwen Chengdu in our play, his name is Yan Li."

Wang Decai stepped forward with a smile and introduced Hu Mingkai, who was wearing a pair of wide-rimmed glasses and looked unremarkable.

The boy looks good!
He has thick eyebrows, big eyes, clear contours, angular features, a tough face, masculine temperament, and looks quite manly.

What's even more rare is that he not only looks handsome, but is also tall, at least 1.8 meters, with a good body shape, a tiger back, a wasp waist, and mantis legs. He is strong yet light, with smooth and stylish lines, like a standard clothes rack.

Now he is dressed as a military general in ancient costume. Maybe the makeup artist thought Yan Li looked young and tender, so he added a short beard to him. The whole person exudes toughness, capability, bravery and courage. It is obvious that he is not a simple character.

Hu Mingkai even felt a little regretful. He met the person too late. It was a bit of a waste for the actor to play a villain like Yuwen Chengdu.

But there is no way. The other roles that are important enough have either already been cast or the actors have been confirmed, so it is too late to change them.

There are some vacancies for roles with fewer lines, so it would be better to play Yuwen Chengdu.

Hu Mingkai casually flipped through the resume that Yan Li brought and looked up with a little surprise.

"You're from Beijing Film Academy, and you've practiced martial arts?"

Yan Li explained: "I attended a martial arts school in my hometown for a few years, and later I was admitted to the vocational college program at the Beijing Film Academy."

"What kind of boxing skills do you have?"

Hu Mingkai became interested. He is a Hong Kong director who has made the "Once Upon a Time in China" series and has a better impression of people who practice martial arts.

As for whether he graduated from Beijing Film Academy or from a vocational college or an undergraduate program, he didn't quite understand and didn't care.

"I know the basic routines, mainly Sanda, wrestling is also no problem, and the weapons I am good at are guns and swords."

Yan Li was not exaggerating. Although it would be helpful to exaggerate a little on the resume during an interview, the role of Yuwen Chengdu does involve fighting scenes.

If he exaggerates too much, the director will assign him difficult fighting scenes. If he fails, it will be embarrassing, but he will lose the role.

Moreover, Wang Decai also explained that Hu Mingkai is an old-fashioned person who doesn't like people who are too frivolous and arrogant. It is best not to talk too much or be petty in front of him.

Therefore, since meeting the director, Yan Li has been acting relatively modest and reserved, and tried to speak in a low-key manner.

Besides, Yan Li is not really a martial artist.

The martial arts school he attended was a small one in his hometown. There were no famous teachers, and the level of instruction was not particularly high, not to mention that he had only studied there for a few years.

Therefore, Yan Li usually does not think of himself as a martial artist. If it were not for the fact that he had practiced martial arts to add points to his resume, he would not have mentioned it on his own initiative.

Fortunately, Hu Mingkai didn't care how good Yan Li's martial arts skills were: "Is it okay to shoot the fight scenes?"

"No."

Yan Li is still confident about this. When he was in Beijing Film Academy, his teacher heard that he had practiced martial arts and thought it was an advantageous skill, so he asked him to pick up martial arts again, so he has been practicing for the past two years.

Later, when he was working on a crew in Beijing, Yan Li witnessed many fight scenes and even played a cameo as a martial arts stuntman. He believed that he had no problem with normal fight scenes.

"Then stay and give it a try. Ask Lao Wang for details."

Hu Mingkai did not audition Yan Li or let him perform a few sets of boxing to show off. He just asked a few questions and then made the decision.

Don't think it's an exaggeration. The beginning of the century was the wild growth stage of the film and television industry, and there weren't so many rules and regulations.

If the director likes you and says you can do it, then you can do it!

Nowadays, there are many amateurs who can't act and are just filling in the gaps. No matter how much Yan Li is a professional actor, the reputation of Beijing Film Academy is still worth something these days.

Besides, Wang Decai has face here. If he can lead people to the director, the director will not easily reject him.

If the role is really hopeless, then the director has made a mistake and the actor can be replaced with another one.

Hengdian lacks everything except actors...

(End of this chapter)