This actor has something

Chapter 401 Ning Hao's Project

On this sweltering summer day, the afternoon sun makes one feel drowsy. Sitting near the window with the air conditioning on, watching the dappled light and shadows reflected on the ground through the stained glass, Zhou Huimin lazily yawned.

The kitten lay on Vivian Chow's lap, yawned, rolled over onto its back with its belly up, and then made purring noises, shaking its big, fat belly in an attempt to get Vivian Chow's attention.

Vivian Chow was multitasking. While listening to Ho Tai-kai recording a song in the recording studio, she gently stroked the cat's belly with her slender left fingers, rested her right elbow on the windowsill, supported her chin with her palm, and smiled with her eyes narrowed and lips pursed, clearly in a good mood.

This is a Chinese song copied by He Daqi, called "The Ordinary Road". He Daqi copied the song from a movie in the film library. He was not very satisfied with the first three Chinese songs he copied, so he carefully selected this one.

It turns out that his musical taste is quite mainstream, because at that moment, Li Zongsheng, Wang Feng, and the sound engineer outside the recording studio all liked the song very much and kept praising He Daqi for his inspirational songwriting, unaware that He Daqi had copied it from the future.

"I have crossed mountains and seas..."

"Stop!" Li Zongsheng pressed the pause button. Noticing He Daqi looking at him with a puzzled expression in the recording studio, Li Zongsheng turned on his headset and instructed, "Qi Zai, don't get too emotional here. Sing it a little more casually and smoothly."

You should demonstrate! What does it mean to be a little lazy and a little smooth?
He Daqi smacked his lips, but ultimately didn't voice his question. He grinned and nodded, agreeing, "Okay, I got it. Let's do it again."

The music started playing again in his headphones. He Daqi prepared himself and listened to the tune. When the music reached the part where he had just stopped, he began, "I have crossed mountains and seas, and I have crossed crowds of people..."

He didn't know what Lee Tsung-sheng's specific requirements were, so he could only try to match the style of the original composer's performance.

Singing is not his main skill, so he can't be as quick to realize his mistakes as he is with acting, where someone can point them out immediately.

Fortunately, this time Lee Tsung-sheng didn't stop him, allowing Ho Ta-chi to finish singing the entire song.

"Let's take a break first," Zhou Huimin said abruptly.

After saying that, she ignored the reactions of Li Zongsheng and the other two, stood up, and waved to He Daqi in the recording studio through the glass.

The couple had a great understanding; Vivian Chow interrupted the recording because she noticed that Ho Tai-kai was getting a little agitated.

Sure enough, as soon as He Daqi saw Zhou Huimin waving, he didn't ask any questions, but simply took off his headphones and pushed open the door to leave the recording studio.

"What time is it?" He Daqi asked as he stepped out.

“It’s 3:15. We’ll record for another hour or so and then head back. We can record the rest of the song tomorrow.” Zhou Huimin took He Daqi’s phone out of her bag, pressed a button, checked the time, and then handed the phone to He Daqi as she spoke.

"Daqi, this song is almost finished recording. Why don't we record it for an extra hour today and finish it in one go?" Wang Feng suggested cheerfully as he approached.

This guy came with Li Zongsheng, saying he was there to help produce an album. As for his real reason for coming, He Daqi knew the answer.

Lee Tsung-sheng came all the way from Hong Kong. Actually, he didn't have to come. Although he was supposed to be the music producer for Ho Ta-chi's album, both of them understood that being the producer meant just being a figurehead. But now, Lee Tsung-sheng clearly wanted more than just a figurehead; he genuinely wanted to help Ho Ta-chi complete the album.

"...Should we record for another hour?" He Daqi hesitated.

Since Li Zongsheng arrived, he has become much stricter with his recording requirements. He Daqi is not a patient person, so he is actually a little reluctant to work overtime. However, since Li Zongsheng is so responsible, he can't say it out loud, so he is hesitant.

“Let’s record it. We’re going to the company tomorrow anyway. If we finish recording this song today, we won’t have to come tomorrow, and we can go to the company to take care of things earlier.” Zhou Huimin nudged He Daqi’s waist and winked with a smile.

He Daqi immediately understood what his wife meant. There wasn't much to do at the company tomorrow. He had originally planned to leave early after recording the song and stop by on the way back. But now that Zhou Huimin meant she wouldn't be coming to record the song tomorrow, He Daqi felt like he had suddenly been given a holiday, so he readily agreed.

"Okay, let's finish recording The Ordinary Road today."

"Qi Zai, are you planning to release eleven songs on this album?" Li Zongsheng gestured to the song list in his hand.

"Um... I just want to release ten songs, which is what I wanted to discuss with you guys. You gave me one song before, and Brother Wang gave me two. Now I only want to put four Chinese songs on the album, but I also wrote two myself, so I want to remove one of Brother Wang's songs. I've been thinking about it for the past few days. Since you came over these past two days, which song do you think is better to remove?"

He Daqi made a direct conclusion without giving the option to keep the song, and instead started by discussing which song to eliminate.

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Feng's face stiffened, but he quickly recovered, turned to look at Li Zongsheng, and didn't say anything more.

“Actually, it’s fine to keep them all. Eleven songs are not much different from ten songs. You’ve already recorded all three of our songs, so why do you want to eliminate one?” Li Zongsheng didn’t quite understand He Daqi’s idea.

"I have OCD, so I feel uncomfortable if there are eleven songs, but ten songs is an even number, which makes me feel much better."

He Daqi's reasoning was unbeatable, leaving Wang Feng and Li Zongsheng staring at each other in disbelief that such words could come from the mouth of the most influential figure in the entertainment industry.

Lee Tsung-sheng was a bit numb. While in Hong Kong, he paid close attention to the progress of Ho Ta-chi's songs and often went to the studio where Ho Ta-chi composed the music. After reading the two Chinese songs written by Ho Ta-chi, he immediately knew that Ho Ta-chi's album would definitely be a big hit.

So the original nominal producer position made him a little dissatisfied. After He Daqi's composition was completed in Hong Kong, he came directly to Beijing, determined to do a good job for He Daqi's album so that he could ride the wave after the album became a hit.

After all, he has been discussing with several other musicians the formation of an elderly band. If he can take advantage of He Daqi's popularity and form a band with others next year, it will save him a lot of trouble, and he might even become a hit.

At this moment, He Daqi suddenly used an abstract reason to eliminate a song, which made Li Zongsheng a little flustered. If He Daqi could eliminate a song by Wang Feng today, would he eliminate his own song tomorrow using the same reason?

That's possible, because He Daqi can write songs himself...

"You... um... how about you try to overcome that obsessive-compulsive disorder?" Li Zongsheng asked dryly.

"Brother, you can't give any suggestions either? Okay, let's discuss it slowly after the song is fully recorded." He Daqi smiled noncommittally.

The conversation stalled, and since He Daqi needed to rest after leaving the recording studio, Li Zongsheng and Wang Feng didn't continue chatting with him. They went out of the recording studio to smoke in the corridor.

……

……

"How about it? Isn't my idea of ​​casting Huang Bo as the lead actor good?" Ning Hao and Zhang Yimou have different editing styles, or rather, because Old Zhang also has to take the Olympics into account, his editing style for Painted Skin is different from before.

Ning Hao used the normal editing method: first, he cut out the general plot, and then added post-production adjustments, special effects, and sound effects.

The Crazy Racing footage has been roughly cut out, so we specially arranged for He Daqi and other managers from Ya Yue to come and take a look today.

"No doubt about it, senior brother, your level is getting higher and higher. Brother Bo's acting is also very good, vivid and lifelike."

He Daqi gave a thumbs-up, but it was unclear whether he was giving it to Ning Hao or Huang Bo.

However, judging from their happy expressions, they probably both felt that He Daqi was giving them a thumbs up.

Seeing that He Daqi was in a good mood, Ning Hao tugged at his sleeve, signaling him to take a few steps to the side and have a chat.

Quite a few people came to watch the editing today. He Daqi was wondering why Ning Hao had brought so many people to watch. But when Ning Hao pulled him aside, He Daqi immediately understood that Ning Hao's call to invite him to watch the editing today was just an excuse; he had something else to talk to him about.

He didn't say anything, and followed Ning Hao, taking two steps to the side.

"Daqi, didn't I say last time that I was going to start a company? Now it's all set. Let's call it Bad Monkey Studio. I have a project that I'd like Ya Yue to participate in. Ya Yue will provide a small production crew and equipment, and I'll provide the script and funding. What do you think?"

Ning Hao didn't lower his voice intentionally, and several people watching the edits over there turned their heads to look at him.

"What project? How much investment?"

He Daqi did not agree directly, but asked for details.

"It's a small project, the kind of low-budget comedy film. This time we're just investing to test the waters. The film is called Nightclub, and the budget is estimated to be around three million."

He Daqi lost interest as soon as he heard this and waved his hand, saying, "You can just tell Sister Hua and Sister Liu about this. Why do you need to ask me?"

"I told them, but they have objections to the specific profit sharing and also want to participate in the investment, so we've been dragging our feet and haven't reached an agreement yet." Ning Hao shrugged helplessly.

"Okay, I'll let them know."

Upon hearing this, Ning Hao immediately grinned and showed He Daqi what it meant to be shameless and take advantage of someone's kindness.

"This movie will probably be finished in less than a month. Daqi, do you have time to come over and make a cameo appearance as the lead actor?"

He Daqi almost thought he had misheard. What did he mean by "guest star"?
He looked at Ning Hao with a half-smile and teased, "Senior brother, the total investment is only three million, not even enough for me to make a cameo appearance for a few days. How dare you ask me to do this? Why don't you continue to let Brother Bo be the lead actor?"

"Sigh, this time the lead actor has to be decent-looking. Low-budget comedies rely on good looks to create hype. Next time, if the production cost is higher, we can let Huang Bo come again."

"Then let's go find Sister Hua. She has a lot of handsome men and beautiful women working for her," He Daqi casually suggested.

"I've already looked for him; she recommended Jia Nailiang."

He Daqi looked at Ning Hao's cheerful face and was speechless. He said in an annoyed tone, "So you're just killing two birds with one stone, casually asking if I'll be the lead actor? You know I can't possibly go, yet you still ask. Tell me, what else is it? You're not just asking randomly; I know there's something else waiting for me."

"Hey! Daqi, why are you so smart? There is something else. Weren't we talking about handsome men and beautiful women? So I wanted to ask if you could pick someone from the Yonghui Qiming Girls' Group to play the female lead. Don't worry, there are no intimate scenes, and no acting skills are required. It's a piece of cake for them."

"With an investment of three million, can you afford the salaries? None of them are asking for low prices." He Daqi looked at Ning Hao with a suspicious expression.

“How novel! I can learn from Ya Yue! Just give them a share!” Ning Hao retorted, as if to say, “Don’t look down on me.”

"Are you sure there aren't any intimate scenes? Nightclub... not the kind of nightclub I'm thinking of, right? You're directing? Who else is in the lead role?"

When it comes to the Yonghui Qiming Girls' Group, He Daqi has to ask in detail, otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to let the members of the girl group perform so easily, otherwise who knows if there are any pitfalls involved.

"Absolutely not. Nightclub means convenience store at night. There's a dot in between 'night' and 'store.' I'm thinking of going to be the director this time and give Lu Yang a chance. He can be the director, and Xu Guangtou will be the lead actor. He found the script. He will also be the assistant director and learn how to film."

He Daqi raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the group of people watching the editing not far away. Sure enough, Xu Guangtou and Lu Yang were both listening intently.

He smiled and waved to Lu Yang, who was clearly waiting for this moment and immediately came over with a grin.

"Did your senior brother tell you about this?" He Daqi asked.

"I mentioned it briefly, but I wasn't in a hurry to agree," Lu Yang nodded.

Actually, Lu Yang didn't agree because he had a little expectation. Back then, Ning Hao's debut was helped by He Daqi, so Lu Yang always felt that He Daqi would also help him when he was in the spotlight.

While it's good that Ning Hao offered some help, it's not as effective as He Daqi's assistance.

Lu Yang isn't in a real hurry right now because he knows that Ya Yue has a lot of projects waiting to be filmed, such as Painted Skin 2, I, Hua, and Bai, and some other projects that Ya Yue is optimistic about, all of which require their own people to be directors.

Therefore, he was conflicted about responding to Ning Hao's invitation.

"I see. Why don't you go and practice first? I'll see how the finished product turns out. You've already written the script for 'After My Flowers Bloom, All Flowers Kill 2.' If this nightclub movie goes well, then you can direct 'After My Flowers Bloom, All Flowers Kill 2.'"

This can be considered He Daqi's official response to when Lu Yang could become the chief director. At this moment, Lu Yang was so excited that his face turned red, and he nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, not knowing how to reply.

"Don't get so excited yet. Before filming 'After I Bloom, All Flowers Kill 2,' I'll have you film a variety show first. Zhang Yimou will give you another round of guidance while filming the variety show. Don't be complacent and neglect the variety show filming. If I feel that the variety show filming is not done well, then we can talk about other things separately."

"no problem!"

(End of this chapter)