This actor has something

Chapter 301 Shooting starts

The longer the production took, the better; at least the crew was better prepared.

Putting everything else aside, Seagate's ability to actually build an underground tunnel on a real-life basis is commendable.

After leading Lin Jie and Chen Shuangxi through the underground pipes, He Daqi looked around and then headed towards the set next door.

There weren't many people on set at this time. The staff who arrived early were mostly busy with other things, either rushing to set up the set or laying out the tracks, so no one paid any attention to the trio of Ho Ta-kei who were leisurely strolling around the set.

Since it was his first day on the job, He Daqi arrived particularly early. Due to the time difference, it was only a little before six o'clock here according to Korean time, and the sky was barely light. He estimated that it would be quite a while before the sun rose.

The film and television base was larger than He Daqi had expected. The crew of The Monster on the Han River, which Seagate had rented, took He Daqi half a day to tour around in a sightseeing vehicle.

Looking at the endless rows of buildings in the distance, He Daqi felt that this place seemed even bigger than the film and television base in Huairou.

Why are you here so early if you have nothing better to do?
While slyly fiddling with the props and decorations of the convenience store, He Daqi inwardly regretted his impulsive actions.

drop!drop!
He Daqi turned his head and saw a red Hyundai sedan stop not far away. As the car window slowly rolled down, Sun Yizhen, wearing sunglasses, smiled and waved to He Daqi.

"Why did Daqi arrive so early?"

"Aren't you the same, Nuna?"

"It's different here. The air is better. I came here early because I was planning to jog for a while to get into shape."

He Daqi couldn't very well say that he had lost his mind and that's why he wandered over before dawn.

He shrugged, feigning a knowing look, and said cheerfully, "Same here. I also think the air quality in the city isn't very good, so I came here early for a walk."

Sun Yizhen smiled and didn't expose He Daqi's perfunctory attitude. After taking off her sunglasses, she pointed to He Daqi's busy hands and said, "Those props are all fake. If you want some candy, I have some in my car."

He Daqi was taken aback at first, then looked at his hand and realized that what he had just carelessly squeezed was a bag of prop gummy candies.

"No need, I don't like sweets." He Daqi said and threw the prop gummy candy aside.

Sun Yizhen chuckled, put the car in reverse, parked it, got out, changed her shoes, took off her jacket to reveal the sportswear underneath, casually tied her hair in a ponytail, and started running towards the nearby grove of trees.

Her steps were light and her posture graceful.

He Daqi, like a submissive man, kept his eyes lingering on Sun Yizhen's back. Soon, Sun Yizhen turned a corner, her figure obscured by the trees. It seemed she was preparing to run laps around the grove.

It's a pity that He Daqi is a lazy bum and didn't chase after her to run together. Otherwise, it would have been a wonderful thing to run and chat with a pretty girl early in the morning.

Sun Yizhen jogged around and around, while He Daqi found a stone stool to sit on, idly resting his chin on his hand and counting in his mind.

To be honest, Sun Yizhen's pace is quite consistent; she can run a lap around that small grove of trees in about two hundred counts.

As dawn broke, cars drove into the film set.

The staff members gathered in twos and threes, chatting and laughing as they set up the props.

"Good morning, Daqi." A greeting brought He Daqi back to his senses.

"Good morning."

He Daqi responded and realized that the person who greeted him was the actor who played his younger brother in the movie.

Somewhat embarrassingly, He Daqi had already forgotten the other person's name.

The last time they met was on the first day of the Lunar New Year when he came to South Korea for a promotional tour. It had been quite a while, and since He Daqi hadn't been very attentive to him to begin with, he didn't even know how to address him now.

This guy looks like he's made for movies. For no other reason than that he has the face of a scumbag and the air of a refined villain.

"The Great Qi has arrived very early."

"Yes, the air here is nice. Come and breathe some fresh air."

The other party clearly wanted to exchange a few words with He Daqi, but He Daqi's response was somewhat perfunctory, making the atmosphere awkward.

Fortunately, it was almost eight o'clock, and the actors were arriving one after another, so the awkward atmosphere didn't last too long.

"Hey! Still standing there! What are you doing standing here, kid?"

Due to the angle, the actor who played He Daqi's father in the movie did not see He Daqi sitting on the stone stool.

I only saw the actor who played He Daqi's younger brother in the movie. He walked over from afar, laughing and shouting loudly. Only when he got closer did I see He Daqi.

"Daqi is here too..."

"Ah."

He Daqi smiled and responded, then got up and walked towards the film crew's dressing room, intending to have the makeup artist do a quick look at his makeup and see if there was anything wrong.

……

It has to be said that South Korea's makeup techniques are indeed quite advanced.

Both makeup styles aimed for a more mature look, but He Daqi felt that the makeup for The Monster on the Han River was more natural than the makeup for his previous work, Gift in Cell No. 7.

Looking at his blond hair in the mirror, he asked the makeup artist with some concern, "Will this hair color fade after I dye it back to black? I don't want to have to come out with blond hair every time I take a shower after filming the movie."

"Don't worry, Daqi. It usually won't fade when dyed back to black. It will only turn yellow slowly when dyed with other colors."

"That's good." He Daqi was relieved and then started talking about other things: "To be honest, Nuna, your skills are really good, much better than the makeup artist for my last movie. Have you ever thought about developing your career in China? Or give me your business card, maybe I'll invite you to come over for a business trip in the future."

He Daqi wasn't just looking for girls to flirt with; the more he looked at the makeup and styling, the more satisfied he became. It was so realistic that he felt he didn't even need to adjust the movie's color scheme in post-production.

The young woman was beaming with joy; nothing is more gratifying than receiving recognition for one's culinary skills.

He hurriedly pulled out a business card and was about to hand it to He Daqi, but halfway through, he thought for a moment and wrote down his home address, hometown address, and landline number as well.

"This is the studio's phone number, this is the apartment's phone number, and this is my parents' phone number back home. The rent here is too expensive, and I'm afraid I'll move out in the future and you won't be able to contact me, so I'm leaving all my contact information here to be on the safe side."

"Nuna is clearly a meticulous person; no wonder her skills are so good."

Amidst the radiant smile of the makeup artist, He Daqi slowly walked out of the film crew's dressing room.

The entire crew had arrived, and a group of actors were gathered around the director, listening to his instructions.

Seeing He Daqi come out, the director waved to someone not far away and shouted, "Park Haengil, stop smoking and come over here to listen to my arrangements."

The actor who played He Daqi's younger brother in the movie immediately threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out, then ran over with a smile.

So your name is Park Hoan-il!

This person... seems to have lost some money.

He Daqi twitched the corner of his mouth, but instead of cheerfully asking Park Haen-il if his car was a Cadillac, he gave him a meaningful look, making Park Haen-il think there was something wrong with his clothes, so he looked down and checked them carefully.

……

The director has big ambitions.

Unlike the two South Korean directors that He Daqi had worked with before.

This director probably dabbled in Western learning, but didn't quite grasp its essence, so he learned a bit from both the new and old schools—not much, but enough.

This guy initially tried to follow the old-school style and polish the camera work, striving for perfection in his opening performance and wanting to do a few close-up shots. The first scene showed the protagonist, played by He Daqi, taking a nap in his family's dilapidated convenience store. The protagonist's father, seeing customers arrive, looked at the protagonist with a disappointed expression while maintaining a smile to greet the customers.

Before He Daqi could even perform, the director yelled "Cut!" several times at the veteran actor playing the protagonist's father.

"Senior, your eyes aren't quite right, and you need to tone down your expression."

"Okay, director, I understand."

At first, He Daqi remained lying down and didn't check the specific situation.

When I heard the director keep yelling "Cut!", I thought it was because the veteran actor wasn't very good.

Although it wasn't very good to be able to slack off openly on the first day of work, He Daqi still happily lay there with his eyes closed and rested for an hour.

He wouldn't even get up when the director yelled "cut," and when others called out to him, he would just wave lazily, acting like he was so dedicated, portraying a person who was seriously sleeping on his stomach.

When they started filming his scenes, He Daqi realized something was wrong.

The director changed his requirements several times for a shot that should have been done in one take. He Daqi immediately realized that the director was refining the shot.

Good grief! Trying to sabotage my lens, huh?!

After the director yelled "cut" again and explained the requirements, He Daqi nodded happily, indicating that he understood.

Then he started to show off his skills, changing his demeanor and paying attention to the subtle details of his body language and micro-expressions.

Half asleep, half awake.

Confused and disoriented.

Bleary eyes.

Lethargic and listless.

Even though the performances were almost identical, and He Daqi made changes according to the director's requirements each time, the director became increasingly unsure as filming progressed.

In the end, even the director started to lose confidence. He kept going back and forth between the several clips that had been filmed, unable to say for sure which shot was better.

It felt strangely odd, like you only ordered a pancake, but the vendor served you a pancake roll with skewers instead. This was definitely better than just eating a pancake, but the variety of skewers kept changing, making it hard to choose.

Everything was so delicious that I forgot about the pancakes I made at the beginning.

Clearly, this director isn't up to the task.

Those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly. Sun Yizhen, watching from the sidelines, was speechless. Recalling what He Daqi had cheerfully said to her last night, she felt like cursing.

Luckily, the director found out what was wrong with him, otherwise he would have been secretly plotting to suppress his scenes and embarrass him.

"Stop for a second!"

After the director finished speaking, he closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. Then, ignoring the surprised looks on everyone's faces, he said, "We won't shoot the first scene for now. It's almost noon, so everyone should have lunch and rest. We'll work hard on the set design and prepare for the second scene. We'll shoot the second scene directly this afternoon and put the first scene aside."

Ironically, now on set, besides He Daqi, only Sun Yizhen and that veteran actor seem to understand what's going on.

Even the director himself was a little confused, but his intuition told him that skipping this question for now was the best option.

He Daqi stretched and leisurely walked out of the convenience store to find something to eat. He knew exactly what the boxed lunches were like here, having eaten on Korean film sets before.

"Da Qi."

Sun Yizhen caught up with him and walked side by side with him.

"What's wrong, Nuna?"

"Director Bong Joon-ho is quite talented. You can check out his film Memories of Murder, which won him Best Director. It was very well made. Also, senior actor Byun Seo-bong has worked with him several times. I bet he told him about it during lunch."

So the director's name is Bong Joon-ho...

He Daqi looked at Sun Yizhen with a blank expression, pretending to be dumbfounded, and asked, "What? What's going on? Noona, what are you talking about?"

Sun Yizhen pursed her lips, glanced at him sideways, and finally couldn't hold back her laughter, bursting out with a chuckle.

"You're so mean!"

"How am I bad? Also, who is this senior Bian Xifeng you mentioned? Which role did he play in the movie?"

"your dad."

"Then why are you swearing?"

"Damn it!" Sun Yizhen pretended to be angry and lightly punched He Daqi: "I used to know you had the desire but not the courage, but now I see you're full of bad ideas."

Depend on! ! !
What does it mean to have the desire to steal but not the courage to do so?

How can you blame me entirely? Didn't you refuse to give me a chance later?
He Daqi Yu Yu is gone.

After He Daqi got into the car, Lin Jie in the driver's seat turned around without saying a word, waiting for He Daqi to tell him where to go.

Unlike the Dragon and Tiger Brothers, Lin Jie and Chen Shuangxi were like two blockheads. They rarely spoke to He Daqi unless He Daqi initiated the conversation, at which point they would respond with a few words.

"Let's have something spicy today! Try the spicy stir-fried octopus from South Korea. When we entered the film studio, I saw a place that makes this. Turn left when you go out later."

"Ok."

Lin Jie turned around, started the car, and drove off.

It's good that he doesn't like to talk. If Qin Long were still the driver, he would definitely advise He Daqi not to eat random things, and Qin Hu would also chime in with his own words.

However, although the Dragon and Tiger Brothers came to South Korea this time, they did not accompany He Daqi to the film set.

Vivian Chow and Liu Ying are going to the department store today, and the Dragon and Tiger Brothers are going with them to help carry things.

……

He Daqi's tolerance for spicy food is average, just like that of an average person.

I saw someone order spicy stir-fried octopus at a Korean restaurant before, and it looked so red and spicy that I was a little hesitant to try it. This time, I spent a long time preparing myself mentally before finally taking a bite.

He put it in his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and then laughed.

It's actually sweet and spicy, and although it looks bright red, it's not very spicy.

I must say, it's quite delicious, and it goes perfectly with rice.

After enjoying a delicious meal, he happily returned to the film set, only to be met with a strange look from the director as soon as he got out of the car.

"Director Bong, have you finished eating?"

"Yes, I ate it."

Bong Joon-ho smiled, but cursed inwardly.

Damn, I've learned a lesson!
(End of this chapter)