This director is vindictive.

Chapter 234 "Adding Scenes" Until 3 AM, Are You Serious?
To be honest, Chen Mo was actually starting to regret it.

What's there to regret? I regret being so hasty in launching the movie "Make a Name for Yourself" on a whim.

Before filming began, he was full of confidence and thought he was incredibly clever!
The movie was prepared and filmed during quarantine, generating a lot of buzz. Plus, the cast is amazing, right?
Hu Ge is, after all, an award-winning actor, the kind of actor whose every glance could be the subject of a three-minute trailer.

With Yang Mi and Liu Yifei, top-tier looks, plus the fact that Yang Mi and Liu Yifei are collaborating again after many years, this is generating an off-the-charts buzz!

He didn't even know if this was the first time he had lost his temper. Sometimes, being a director isn't about having a bad temper; it's about being forced into it.

Even if Chen Mo wasn't under pressure from investors, he could still accept it if an actor couldn't perform the scene he wanted. But when a scene dragged on for a long time and he just couldn't get it right, it was impossible for him not to get angry!

During this period, Chen Mo was extremely worried.

The main reason was that the preparation was insufficient; in fact, the entire crew was a makeshift operation.

From preparation to filming, it took less than half a month, no, not even that long, the preparation was completed in about ten days.

Don't be fooled by the idea that Hong Kong cinema was in its golden age, where a movie could be filmed in a week. In reality, you simply couldn't do that today!
The movie "Make a Name for Yourself" is a murder mystery movie. It sounds very easy, right?

It's just a single scene, similar to "12 Angry Men," with very few actors, mainly just number seven or eight.

Looking at it this way, it seems really simple!

Chen Mo initially thought the same thing, mainly because the actors he found might not be as famous as big stars like Yang Mi and Hu Ge, such as Chen Minghao.

For example, there's Fan Ming, the constable Xing, who became incredibly popular after starring in "My Own Swordsman".

He's a national first-class actor, after all.

Therefore, Chen Mo naturally assumed that with such a group of powerful people here, there shouldn't be any major problems.

In fact, neither Chen Minghao nor Fan Ming had any problems; they were arguably the kind of actors Chen Mo could handle without any issues.

Whose fault is it? Hu Ge? Actually, no, Lao Hu is indeed an actor who can immerse himself in acting.

The problem lies with Yang Mi and Liu Yifei.

Chen Mo is very focused and serious when filming!

However, he treated Yang Mi differently. After all, she had to act during the day and serve him, the big director, at night. She was practically working around the clock.

So, Chen Mo was quite patient at first, but sometimes when he accumulated too much, the outburst was even more intense.

For example, right now, after shouting "Cut!" more than 10 times, Chen Mo couldn't hold back any longer: "Your eyes are so unfocused, like a girl addicted to playing PUBG all night!"

Yang Mi was also a little aggrieved by Chen Mo's scolding, and she blurted out without thinking, "How can you blame me? Who made me 'add scenes' until 3 a.m. last night?"

"puff!"

The entire crew stared wide-eyed. Good heavens, this is something we can't possibly hear!
Hu Ge glanced at Chen Mo and then at Yang Mi, and for some reason, she felt an urge to laugh.

The key question is, is this "added drama" serious?
The crew was small, and they didn't shoot in groups, so it seems they wrapped up around 9 pm last night, right?
You're adding this drama until 3 a.m., wow, this gossip is sure to be sweet!

But Chen Mo was in a fit of rage at the moment, so everyone in the crew wanted to laugh but dared not, and they were all about to suffer internal injuries from holding it in.

Chen Mo was completely stunned by Yang Mi's words. No, sister, how can you say such a thing here?
Besides, was it me who wanted to add scenes last night? It was someone who acted like she wanted the director to give her some acting coaching. What could a big director like him do when his actors were so ambitious? Of course, he'd add scenes!

This woman is truly a case of "if you don't discipline her for three days, she'll climb onto the roof and tear off the tiles," and now she's turning around and blaming others!
Yang Mi regretted it as soon as she said it. After all, although everyone knew about it, saying it out loud on the spot was incredibly embarrassing!
What could Chen Mo do? He had to finish filming the movie, even if it was a mess he'd made, even if it meant crying!

"Everyone, take a half-hour break!" Chen Mo called a halt to filming.

Yang Mi wasn't aggrieved at this moment; she was the one who was being teased and joked about by Liu Yifei.

"Tsk tsk, no wonder you look so listless today. I thought you went to bed quite early last night. Goodness, 3 a.m.? That's really impressive!" Liu Yifei teased.

Yang Mi rolled her eyes and said, "Get out of here, you call yourself a celestial being? If your fans knew that the celestial sister in their eyes could actually say such lewd things, tsk tsk!"

"Besides, you're a single woman in your late twenties, so go ahead and be envious and jealous!"

Now it was Liu Yifei's turn to be furious.

The two started chasing and fighting.

On the other side, Fan Ming and Chen Minghao walked over together. Fan Ming coughed twice and said, "Director Chen, actually, we can't really blame everyone for not performing well. After all, whether it's memorizing lines or figuring out the character, it all takes time to prepare. Our film has too short a preparation time, and the time left for everyone is also too short."

And since it's a film primarily based on dialogue, I actually stayed up until midnight last night memorizing my lines. We can't keep going like this, or everyone's tension will easily break!

“Yes! I also have a headache with the dialogue. In the past, I would get the script in advance and then spend time thoroughly understanding the lines and the character. But for this film, we didn’t have much time to prepare, so it’s perfectly normal for this situation to occur,” Chen Minghao said.

“Moreover, in our film, there are almost always several people on screen together, and each shoot lasts for several hours. There’s simply no time to rest or memorize lines. We can only work overtime at night. Director Chen, let’s take it easy!” Fan Ming also chimed in.

Chen Mo was stunned; he hadn't really thought that much about it before.

But after being reminded by the two veteran actors, he suddenly realized that he had indeed been too hasty and hadn't considered things enough.

What movie is "Make a Name for Yourself"?
It's a murder mystery movie! The setting is simple, so what does it rely on to drive the plot? Naturally, it relies on dialogue.

This results in the film having a very, very large amount of dialogue.

Chen Mo simply pulled people over, threw the script at them, and started filming. It would be a miracle if filming went smoothly.

Chen Mo slapped his forehead, because the problem really was his own fault.

Admit your mistakes and stand at attention when you're punished.

Chen Mo immediately gathered the crew together.

"I want to apologize to everyone. If it weren't for Teacher Chen and Teacher Fan's reminder, I really wouldn't have known that the problem was with myself."

The preparation time for this film was too short, leaving everyone with very little time to prepare. In addition, the filming period was quite long, so thank you all for your hard work these past few days.

"Haha, director, you're just doing it for the good of the film!"

Nobody's perfect!

"The time was indeed a bit short."

Everyone said one after another.

"We've been filming for a while now, and everyone's been on edge the whole time, so I'm announcing that we're taking a break today. Let's all get together tonight and relax!" Chen Mo announced.

"Clap clap clap!" Everyone applauded.

Indeed, everyone has been on edge lately.

However, because it was Chen Mo's movie and had such a high level of attention, everyone was afraid to speak out about their grievances.

Fortunately, Chen Mo pulled back from the brink; otherwise, it's hard to say what might have happened.

Chen Mo walked over to Yang Mi, but Yang Mi arrogantly ignored him.

"Ahem, honey! Well, I was wrong just now. I shouldn't have yelled at you! I apologize!" Chen Mo apologized straightforwardly.

Yang Mi actually felt a little sorry for Chen Mo at this moment.

"You're already the highest-grossing Chinese film actor, why are you making yourself so tired?" Yang Mi couldn't help but say, looking at Chen Mo's exhausted appearance.

She knew that Chen Mo was actually the most exhausted member of the entire crew.

Yes, everyone else has to memorize lines and figure out their characters, but Chen Mo also has to review the scenes he filmed that day after filming ends.

"You're right, I was just obsessed." Chen Mo couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly.

The main reason is that the high level of attention given to "Making a Name for Oneself" during this period has made him somewhat restless.

They say they don't care about box office revenue, but that just means they don't care about the money!

Thinking about it carefully, I really didn't need to do that at all!
You've made yourself so tired.

So Chen Mo decisively adjusted his mindset.

Everyone quickly noticed that the atmosphere on set suddenly became more relaxed.

And Chen Mo? He simply became a couch potato. Before each shoot, he would give everyone time to prepare, and even if they didn't finish shooting one take in a whole day, he was still happy.

As the soul of the production team, Chen Mo's emotions can easily affect the emotions of the entire crew.

As soon as Chen Mo relaxed, everyone else became less tense.

On the contrary, the effect gradually improved. This was mainly because the actors in the crew, even Yang Mi and Liu Yifei, although Chen Mo jokingly called them "pretty faces," actually had acting skills.

It's just that his condition fluctuates a lot.

Now it's much better. Everyone is chatting and laughing, cracking jokes from time to time. Chen Mo also organizes team-building activities from time to time to help everyone relax.

Haste makes waste, and sharpening your axe won't delay your work.

After relaxing, everyone had ample preparation time, which made the filming go much more smoothly and even faster than before.

The reason is actually quite simple: sometimes a single scene could take a whole day to film.

The more impatient the actor is, the worse their performance becomes, creating a vicious cycle.

Now, although there is more time to prepare and less time to film, there are also fewer takes!

On the contrary, it achieved twice the result with half the effort.

As time went by, good news kept coming in.

One is that the filming of "Making a Name for Oneself" is nearing its end and is about to wrap up. The filming process is actually progressing very quickly after Chen Mo relaxed his mind and filmed slowly.

After all, "Fame and Fortune" doesn't really have any major technical difficulties; it mainly relies on the actors' performances.

When the actors perform well, the film's pace naturally speeds up.

Another piece of good news is that nationwide lockdowns are gradually being lifted!

Cinemas in many regions have also begun to reopen.

However, due to the early stage of the resumption of work, not all cinemas were able to open for business, and film producers were worried that audiences would not go to the cinemas and affect the box office, so they adopted a wait-and-see attitude towards the release of new films.

Some regions have taken the lead in lifting lockdowns, and many people are now able to leave their homes and gradually return to normal work!

Soon, more than 80% of cinemas across the country resumed operations and screenings. However, due to various reasons, apart from the unfinished film "Fame and Fortune," other film distributors are currently taking a wait-and-see approach.

Therefore, what's currently showing in theaters are mostly "old movies"! And the box office revenue is also disappointing.

Major cinema chains were naturally anxious. In order to boost confidence, after learning that "Fame and Fortune" was about to wrap up filming, they immediately announced that "Fame and Fortune" would be the first new film to be shown after cinemas reopened this year.

Many people even say that Chen Mo's "Making a Name for Oneself" will be the savior of the film market this year.

In my previous life, after cinemas reopened, the first major film to be officially released was "The Eight Hundred"! It can be said that the high box office of "The Eight Hundred" was indeed closely related to the environment at the time.

On the one hand, it's due to retaliatory spending by audiences; on the other hand, it's because there are really no competitors in the same time slot, leaving audiences with few choices.

However, although "The Eight Hundred" is still expected to be released this year, it will no longer be the first major film to be released after the pandemic.

Filming for "Fame and Fortune" finally wrapped up in June.

This is definitely good news for the film industry.

Moreover, everyone is watching to see if "Fame and Fortune" can dispel the audience's doubts and get them back into theaters.

As the first to "take the plunge," "Making a Name for Oneself" naturally received the most publicity resources.

Soon, the publicity campaign began to take effect.

The various selling points and gimmicks of "Making a Name for Oneself" have been widely reported by the media.

"Li Xiaoyao and Zhao Ling'er reunite after fifteen years!"

"Jing Tian and Xue Jian, collaborating again after ten years!"

"The Legend of Sword and Fairy reunites, bringing back so many memories!"

The first wave of promotion naturally focused on the "Chinese Paladin" nostalgia associated with Hu Ge, Yang Mi, and Liu Yifei.

Moreover, this gimmick is not to be underestimated.

The Legend of Sword and Fairy was considered the pinnacle of fantasy dramas in the hearts of countless people.

"Thinking back to those days, watching Ling'er fall asleep forever in Brother Xiaoyao's arms, I wept uncontrollably. It's a pity that since that collaboration, Brother Xiaoyao and Ling'er, just like the ending of the drama, never worked together again!"

"Yes, it's been fifteen years without me even realizing it. I remember I was in junior high school back then, and now I'm a father of two."

"It's truly a nostalgic moment! Thank you, Chen Mo, for finally allowing Brother Xiaoyao and Ling'er to reunite on the big screen in another way."

"It's full of nostalgia. As a die-hard Ling'er fan back then, I still remember the endless debates with the Yue Ru fans online. But since then, no other drama has ever made me feel so unforgettable."

"I really want to see Brother Xiaoyao and Ling'er reunite. I wonder what their relationship will be in this movie?"

"A Dream of Returning to the Legend of Sword and Fairy: Ten Years Ago"

Fairy Spirit Like the Moon, a Ten-Year Dream
A swordsman, deeply in love, saves a beautiful woman.
Why is the story of the extraordinary gentleman still unfinished?
The chivalrous girl was drawn into his arms.

It's all about nostalgia!

"It's not just Li Xiaoyao and Zhao Ling'er, but also Xuejian and Jingtian! The Legend of Sword and Fairy series, I always feel like it's addictive!"

"That's right, the Legend of Sword and Fairy series really feels like a curse. Zhao Ling'er and Li Xiaoyao, Hu Ge and Liu Yifei, haven't worked together for over a decade. Xuejian and Jingtian, similarly, haven't collaborated again for ten years. This is very rare in the entertainment industry, considering that Hu Ge, Liu Yifei, and Yang Mi are all currently very popular!"

"Actually, it's precisely because they're all so famous that it's so difficult to reunite them in the same drama!"

Suddenly, a wave of nostalgia swept across the internet.

This also demonstrates the status of the "Chinese Paladin" series in the eyes of viewers and game fans.

Of course, this also shows the popularity of Hu Ge, Yang Mi, and Liu Yifei.

Soon, a second wave of promotional hype arrived.

"Can Liu Yifei change everyone's long-held stereotypes about her?"

"Can Hu Ge achieve a breakthrough on the big screen?"

Can Yang Mi shed the label of "pretty face with high popularity"?

These topics quickly sparked a new round of heated discussions.

These guys are really popular!
Moreover, the flaws are particularly obvious.

Let's take Liu Yifei as an example first. Actually, her acting skills are quite good.

However, over the past decade, Liu Yifei's acting career has been stuck with roles like "Little Dragon Girl" and "Fairy Sister," making her seem ethereal and otherworldly in every role she plays.

Most people's first impression of her is her role as Little Dragon Girl, but what kind of role is Little Dragon Girl?
The character herself is supposed to be an ethereal "fairy" who doesn't eat the food of mortals.

The design of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra is to make her always have the same expression when facing people.

Take a look at the concept of being detached from worldly desires. It can be said that for Liu Yifei, this role was both her blessing and her curse.

But in reality, her performance in "Fame and Fortune" was actually quite good.

Chen Mo even felt that it was better than the performance of the big secret who wanted to become a people's artist.

Do you really think you can stay famous forever just because of your looks?
However, she has indeed played similar roles all the time, which has resulted in her not having much room to showcase her talents in many situations.

So she really gives people the impression of being the female celebrity with the thickest blood in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Secondly, there's Hu Ge. He's quite an interesting character. As mentioned earlier, every TV series he acts in becomes a hit, but almost every movie he acts in flops.

If you ask Hu Ge about her representative works, many people can name many TV series, but what about her movies?

Excuse me, has Lao Hu ever acted in a movie?
Then there's Yang Mi, who's even more outrageous.

After transforming into a workaholic, Big Secret has drifted further and further away from being a skilled actress.

Being called a "traffic-generating but empty-headed" person is not an exaggeration; it's entirely her own doing!

But this time, these popular male and female stars, whose careers have all been somewhat eccentric, have met Chen Mo, who is the best at promoting people and has never made a mistake. What kind of sparks will they create?

It naturally became a hot topic of discussion!

(End of this chapter)