Abstract Art Award Winner

Qingdao is a good place, at least for Zhou Le.

The second installment of "The Wandering Earth" was also filmed at the Oriental Movie Metropolis. Thanks to the success of the first film, the city provided considerable support for the second.

After all, "The Wandering Earth" is now considered a benchmark work of this film and television base.

"Actually, other film and television bases contacted me at that time, wanting me to film there. They offered various resources and discounts, which were all negotiable."

But then they called me, and I thought I should come here. After all, they gave me a lot of support when I filmed the first movie, and one shouldn't forget their roots.

When they arrived in the morning and chatted on set, they mentioned again why the second film was still filmed here.

"Yes, it's easier to film here, and it's also more convenient. Whether it's food delivery or renovation, we know people here, so it's easier to work together."

The most important thing is that this place is great. Last time I came here, we went out for seafood, and a shrimp that big only cost a few hundred yuan. Elsewhere, it would cost at least 2000 yuan.

Zhou Le felt that Qingdao was a place where anyone, whether rich or poor, could go and have fun.

If you have a generous budget, then you can do whatever you want and eat whatever you want.

Even if students come here, besides the necessary expenses at the attractions, if they want to eat some seafood, they can go to the seafood market to buy some and then have it cooked at the beer house.

During the day, Zhou Le read the script on set and watched Guo Fan filming.

When filming wrapped up in the evening, Guo Fan instructed the staff to pack up the equipment, arranged the work for the next day, and then took the lead actors to a restaurant.

“Last time we filmed, whoever had a cameo treated everyone, but now that I’m rich, it’s my treat today. Let’s go eat seafood,” Guo Fan said with great enthusiasm.

"Brother Fan, you seem a bit unfamiliar to me now. Is this something you should be saying? I still prefer the you who was always complaining about being poor." Zhou Le really felt that this was not like Guo Fan's style.

Guo Fan laughed: "Why don't you invest some more? Anyway, you can use up all the money you invest in a sci-fi film."

Zhou Le: "???"

"Farewell."

"Haha, don't go!" Guo Fan grabbed Zhou Le's arm.

Yu Shuxin, who was standing to the side, laughed and said, "Only Director Guo can go toe-to-toe with you. It feels like you two are completely in sync when it comes to saving money."

"Haha, that's for sure. We're half-brothers, even though we're quite different in age. We have a long history together."

Yu Shuxin: "???"

"You two knew each other before? But I remember you weren't from the same hometown, were you?"

"So what? When we were kids, I was playing at my house and he was playing at his house. Isn't that the greatest fate?"

Yu Shuxin was taken aback: "If that's the case, then you can establish connections with anyone. Who didn't play at home by themselves when they were little?"

Yu Shuxin has become much more composed now. Perhaps it's because her role in this play is too serious, or perhaps it's because during her time at the National Theatre of China, she spent all her time interacting with veteran artists, which made her less impetuous and frivolous.

"By the way, Le'er, Director Han Yan is also filming in Qingdao recently. I talked to him this afternoon, saying that we should find an opportunity for the two crews to have a meal together. How about we do it together today?"

Zhou Le immediately became alert.

He was all too familiar with those words.

When filming the first movie, Guo Fan always said things like that, but each time his purpose was to get himself to exchange resources with others.

For example, in the movie "Crazy Alien," he originally planned to make a cameo appearance, but ended up playing the lead role, albeit without showing his face.

For example, with "Ne Zha," the original plan was to do voice acting to earn some money to supplement the family income, but as he kept doing the voice acting, he ended up becoming one of the producers and even invested a large sum of money in the project.

"Brother Fan, are you going to betray me again?"

"What do you mean by 'selling'? Why do you use such an offensive term? It's just a normal meal together. I've already said that I have money now, so a meal is nothing."

Besides, if I invite them this once, they'll probably have to invite me at least two or three more times, right? Once for the director, and once each for the two lead actors.

Yu Shuxin thought for a moment and said, "I don't think we can calculate it like that. If we have to say it that way, it would take at least 8 times in total."

"Shouldn't we invite Jing Ge? We should invite Hua Ge too, and I should invite him once. And shouldn't Teacher Sha Yi and Teacher Tong Liya come too?"

Listening to Yu Shuxin do the math, Zhou Le counted on his fingers.

"Brother Fan, you're too cunning. Others can kill two birds with one stone and spread this word to the present day, but you've killed eight birds with one stone."

"Haha, of course. I don't know how to do anything else, but what I'm best at is making movies and making big profits from small investments... In that case, I'll call them then."

"Go ahead and call them. If you know anyone, come along and have a good time."

Sha Yi, Wu Jing, Tong Liya, and Andy Lau all said it was no problem; after all, it's just a meal, whether there are many people or few, it's all the same. How can it not be about eating?

So Guo Fan called Han Yan again and asked him to bring the cast and crew over for a meal.

After hanging up the phone and getting into the car, Guo Fan asked again, "By the way, our movie has only just started filming, and it's not even halfway done yet. We still need quite a few actors later on. Do you know anyone who's interested in making movies? Could you help me get in touch?"

Zhou Le: "..."

He just said he was being generous for once, but it seems Guo Fan is still the same old Guo Fan.

Take advantage of every opportunity to fleece others.

"Okay, I'll ask. Brother Fan, could you send me a list of the roles later? I'll ask around and see if anyone wants to make a cameo appearance."

"Okay, I'll send it to you now." Guo Fan said, immediately opening his phone and forwarding the list from the file transfer assistant to Zhou Le's phone.

Zhou Le: "..."

"Brother Fan, were you already prepared and just waiting to send it to me?"

"Haha, no, it's just that the statistics were just released, and you just happened to be here."

"Just got the statistics? Brother Fan, I'll give you a chance to tell me the truth again."

"Okay, it was prepared three days ago."

"Three days ago?"

"Oh dear, would a week ago be fine?"

"A week?"

"Alright, alright, I made a list last month, but you were too busy then, so I didn't contact you. Now that we're preparing to film these scenes, and since you're here, I thought I'd ask you to help me ask." Zhou Le knew that Guo Fan wouldn't fight an unprepared battle.

The interaction between the two made the others chuckle, especially Andy Lau.

"Director Guo's personal charisma is truly undeniable, and his works are also excellent. Otherwise, Mr. Zhou would never have participated in the filming and investment of the first film."

Andy Lau was incredibly modest, praising both Guo Fan and Zhou Le in one sentence, making Zhou Le's heart pound.

"Brother Hua, please don't call me Teacher Zhou. Just call me Little Zhou or Le'er. You are my senior."

I grew up watching your movies, especially "Infernal Affairs," which had a tremendous impact on my young mind.

Of course, my reasons for making "The Wandering Earth" are actually quite similar to those of Brother Hua.

At this moment, Wu Jing took over the conversation.

"That's right. At that time, I was with Le'er when Director Guo invited me to dinner, saying that he had a movie I wanted to film, so I brought Le'er along as well."

As a result, they all ended up playing the male lead without really knowing why. Sometimes I think, when will Director Guo make a movie about deception based on his own experience? It would definitely be a great movie.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Guo Fan laughed the loudest: "Brother Jing, you flatter me."

Not long after arriving at the hotel that evening, Han Yan and several of the main actors from the film crew also arrived.

"Sorry I'm a little late," Han Yan said politely as soon as he entered.

"No, no, you've come at the perfect time. We just arrived too." Guo Fan stood up and shook hands with the other person.

Zhou Le looked up and saw many familiar faces. Yi Yangqianxi was one of them, as they had chatted together before.

Liu Haojian also came this time.

Looking at him, Zhou Le felt that he was indeed quite good-looking, but when he greeted him, Zhou Le found that the other person was a bit shy and simple.

But this shyness seemed a bit like an act, which was a little strange, but it didn't matter. Liu Haojian had his own background, and everyone was just getting to know him.

As for what Zhou Le knows about Liu Haojian, all he knows is that she starred in Zhang Yimou's film in 18, making her the latest "Zhang Yimou Girl".

Besides that, there was the incident where the other party's family ran a dance training class, resulting in students becoming disabled.

Also present are "Best Actor" Xia Yu and familiar face Yue Yunpeng.

Guo Fan asked and learned that Gao Yalin had other engagements tonight, so he didn't come.

"Come, come, sit down. Let's order first. Today is the day Teacher Le joins the crew this week. In addition, Director Han said before that he wanted both crews to have a team building activity, so we're taking this opportunity to do it together."

"Those who can drink alcohol, please have some today; those who can't, please have some soft drinks or yogurt," Guo Fan warmly invited everyone.

With more people, the mealtime will be longer.

However, when it came time to eat, the actresses mostly just took a small bite of each dish and chatted.

Yi Yangqianxi initially didn't plan to drink, but seeing that veterans like Wu Jing and Andy Lau were having a great time, clinking glasses in circles, he joined in.

The evening's conversation mainly revolved around Guo Fan and Zhou Le, occasionally shifting to other people, but eventually returning to the two of them.

Although many of them were meeting for the first time, they were all easy to get along with, and being older, they knew a lot more.

As they chatted, the older folks gathered together.

Zhou Le chatted with Yi Yangqianxi, Liu Haojian, and Yu Shuxin.

"Actually, I think it's good to hone my skills in stage plays. Although I could act before, I always felt that my expressiveness was not enough. Last year, at Brother Le's suggestion, I performed in stage plays at the National Theatre of China for a period of time, and I felt that I had made great progress."

“Indeed, I also plan to join the National Theatre of China after graduation. After all, graduating from Beijing Film Academy and going to the National Theatre of China is a good fit,” Yi Yangqianxi said.

“I think Xi Zi is great in this respect. He takes acting seriously. Some high-class roles may seem more sophisticated, but if you really want to hone your skills and improve as an actor, you should take on more challenging roles.”

"That's what I think. Actually, I'm not too willing to take on those bland roles, but these kinds of roles... how should I put it, they're more like roles with deep suffering or tragic backgrounds, which I think are great."

Liu Haojian nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes, this is the kind of thing that truly tests a person's character."

Just then, Zhou Le was about to continue sharing his experience when his phone rang. He glanced at it, thinking he would call back later if it was a friend, but after one more glance, he immediately stood up.

Because it had been a year since I last received a call from them.

"Excuse me, I need to go outside to take this call. You guys keep talking." He took his phone and went outside.

"Hey."

Soon, a voice came from the other end of the phone: "I watched the 'Nezha' you dubbed last year, and it was pretty good."

"Thank you, but has this movie been shown in your area?"

"I watched it on the computer, but I can't go out."

"Hey, how have you been lately?"

"It's the same as always, but the psychological pressure is getting bigger and bigger. And a lot of people have come here, many of them are in pretty bad shape. I wonder if I'm sick. Before, when I saw them, I thought it was cruel, but now I'm a bit numb."

The caller was the same person who dialed the wrong number last year and was planning to commit fraud.

During this period, Zhou Le would occasionally think of the other person, but he didn't dare to call back, afraid of causing trouble for the other person.

"Are you really not coming back? If you need anything, I can try to help you."

"Thank you, but I really can't go back. Although my freedom is limited here, at least I don't have to suffer too much. Otherwise, given what I've done here, I probably wouldn't be able to get out for at least 10 or 8 years."

Sometimes Zhou Le didn't know how to comfort such people, after all, they had indeed done a lot of illegal things, but he had also been deceived.

If you don't do it, you'll get beaten; if you resist, your organs will be sold. Who can withstand that?
After chatting for a while, the other person even mentioned that they wanted to be a director and make movies.

"Congratulations, Brother Le, on becoming a director... But I have an idea. Do you think my experiences could be made into a movie? Although I can't stop more people from coming here, if it were made into a movie, it might really serve as a warning to some people."

"Turn your story into a movie?" Zhou Le thought about it and realized it did have a promising premise.

"But won't that cause you trouble? If they see it, they'll probably know it was you who provided the clue. Even if it's a fabricated story, they might still suspect it."

"It's alright, they don't care about that. These people are armed here; they're doing this in a lawless zone. If you're interested in filming, I can provide you with a lot of material, not necessarily from my area. I know a lot about what's happening in other parks too." (End of Chapter)