Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 109 Let's give it a try?
If there weren't any classic works, Chen Shouzhe wouldn't have had such high expectations of them; he would have just followed their performance.

Once he has a comparison in mind, Chen Shouzhe will strive for even greater perfection, helping the actors reach the state he desires.

A qualified director's first task is to teach actors how to act, to convey the film's vision to the actors, and to let them interpret and imitate the characters. This is what actors should be doing.

Faced with Chen Shouzhe's request, Tong Dawei needed to slowly study the script and understand the character's psychological activities. Chen Shouzhe drew many storyboards and asked him how to express his character's emotions on screen.

Having dealt with Tong Dawei, Chen Shouzhe turned his attention to Yan Danchen. Yan Danchen took a deep breath and explained her understanding of the character and his description.

Chen Shouzhe made some revisions, telling Chen Shouzhe his vision of Nie Xiaoqian: she should be melancholic, not pitiful and charming, but rather possess a kind of resentment, love and hate.

Because she fell in love with someone who was a ghost, she felt hatred for unrequited love and resentment towards the injustice of fate.

Moreover, when the two didn't know each other at the beginning, Yao Mei, because she was a female ghost, had to seduce humans, absorb their essence, and give it back to the tree demon grandmother.

So it starts with charm, then love, then resentment, and finally goodness.

Nie Xiaoqian is the true protagonist of the film, and her transformation permeates the entire movie's emotional landscape.

The novel is very short, but the movie expands it from a few hundred words, which shows how talented the screenwriter is.

It also incorporates comedic elements, including romance, comedy, action, and thriller.

In the movie's credits, Chen Shouzhe also wrote that it's a love story, a love story like Painted Skin.

Painted Skin is a love story between a human and a demon, while A Chinese Ghost Story is a love story between a human and a ghost.

They didn't have enough time to prepare the script, less than half a month. Chen told them to go back and work on it. The next day, filming went much better, and the actors basically met his requirements. They made progress little by little.

The weather was hot, and most of the filming took place at night, resulting in a somewhat reversed day-night cycle. After all, it's a ghost movie, and the overall atmosphere was eerie and terrifying.

The actors and the team needed time to gel, and things dragged on for the first two weeks.

"Director Chen, aren't you treating us to dinner today?"

Yan Danchen, dressed in a purple robe, sat next to Chen Shouzhe, enjoying the breeze from the fan.

"Please wait a moment. We've just finished filming Painted Skin and are heading to Hengdian. Let's have a meal together," Chen Shou said, nodding as he looked at the monitor.

Yan Danchen turned her head to look at Chen Shouzhe. At this moment, Chen Shouzhe was staring at the screen, still looking unkempt. She was used to Chen Shouzhe like this, and she had seen what he looked like when he dressed up. She could only say that a man is most handsome when he is working seriously.

Chen Shouzhe waited for a while without receiving a response. He turned his head and saw Yan Danchen. The two looked at each other.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Chen Shou asked.

Yan Danchen was a few years older than Chen Shouzhe, and her face flushed slightly as she said, "No, it's nothing."

Chen Shou looked the senior up and down. Although she was over thirty, she was really beautiful. No wonder she could play the role of Chang'e, the Moon Goddess. However, there were many rumors about her.

"I thought it was because I was too handsome that I captivated you. Looks like I need to dress up a bit," Chen Shou said with a smile.

"Really?" Yan Danchen asked with a smile.

After spending some time getting to know Chen Shouzhe privately, she found him to be a nice person. The only thing to do was not to provoke him; he was the type who would not offend others unless they offended him, but would repay them tenfold if they did.

At first, she read a lot of rumors about Chen Shouzhe, all saying that he had a bad personality and was prone to swearing.

As expected, rumors are just rumors and should not be confused with each other.

"Yeah, I'll find a barbershop later and get my hair cut. It's too hot, and my hair is too long and oily," Chen Shou nodded.

"Mmm." Yan Danchen nodded. The equipment was already set up, and filming continued. There were basically no scenes of Nie Xiaoqian during the day. After filming, there was a party in the evening, so Chen Shou stopped filming and wrapped up early. He had already booked a hotel to treat everyone.

Chen Shouzhen went to a barbershop nearby and got his hair shaved and his beard trimmed.

When he walked out like a convict, many people were stunned. It was hard to believe that this was Chen Shouzhe. He was young, handsome, and had sharp eyes. He was completely unrelated to the director.

The reason I'm treating everyone today is that "The Martian" has finally ended its two-month run, with a total box office of 42.33 billion and an international box office of 3 million, bringing the total to over 9 million.

This has led many to exclaim that domestic science fiction films have risen to prominence, and finally, some blockbusters are making money overseas.

Those who previously questioned Chen Shouzhe should shut up now; at least they can't afford to cause trouble now.

Chen Shouzhe truly achieved exceptionally high box office returns, breaking numerous domestic records.

The production companies were overjoyed, eagerly awaiting the film's revenue sharing, while the theaters were left with tears in their eyes, regretting signing the betting agreement with Chen Shouzhe.

Unexpectedly, the box office was so high that Chen Shouzhe took away 9 points from them, which is 3.8 million yuan. This made the cinema alliance feel terrible.

The production company has decided to give Chen Shouzhe a big bonus, since it was because of him that he was able to get so much of the revenue share. After calculating, the companies jointly took out 50 million from their share to give to Chen Shouzhe, hoping that he can continue to participate in the next project.

Even if China Film Group and Xi'an Film Group didn't say anything, their special nature meant they couldn't give it to Chen Shou. They would handle the financial statements, since they were state-owned enterprises and their money had to be accounted for.

Before the box office revenue sharing was finalized, Chen Shou took 50 million yuan upfront. Since the Painted Skin crew was leaving the Northwest to film in Hengdian, he decided to treat everyone to a meal.

The two residents lived together and booked a restaurant.

"Are you going to drink until you drop tonight? You're all dressed up so smartly." Zhou Xun, who got married two months ago, looked at Chen Shou and said with a smile.

"So, are you going to stay with me tonight?" Chen Shou asked, glancing at her. "Sure," Zhou Xun replied casually.

"Come on, I'm not interested in you," Chen Shou said.

"Damn, I'll get you drunk later." Zhou Xun glanced at Reba, then looked at Chen Shouzhe and said.

A few days ago, when Chen Shouzhe went to visit the set, he stayed at their place. She could hear very clearly the commotion from next door.

"Whatever, you can't hold your liquor as well as I can," Chen Shou said.

“You said it.” Zhou Xun stood up, raised his glass and said, “Everyone knows why we can have dinner together today, right? Congratulations to our Director Chen for breaking the domestic box office record again. He is undoubtedly the number one commercial film director. Director Chen just said that we’re not leaving until we’re drunk. Everyone is welcome to come and toast Director Chen. He’ll welcome everyone.”

After saying that, Zhou Xun provoked Chen Shouzhe. Chen Shouzhe stood up, holding his glass, and said, "Don't listen to her nonsense. I didn't say that. Everyone, eat and drink well and try to make a good movie. When the movie is released, I will give everyone red envelopes. Today, everyone should just have fun. Let's skip the toasts and have a good drink at the wrap party."

"Tch, coward." Zhou Xun laughed and cursed, then picked up his glass and said, "Then let's toast Director Chen."

They all stood up to offer toasts, then sat down again to continue eating and drinking.

The main creators of the two film crews sat together. Chen Shou sat next to Wuershan and Zhou Xun. Dilraba was in the Painted Skin crew. Yan Danchen took every opportunity to look at Dilraba. She seemed to have noticed something. It was mainly Zhou Xun's teasing that made her realize something was unusual. As someone who had been through it all, she understood.

However, they are both young people, one is as beautiful as a flower, and the other is a young and talented man. If she were younger, she would also be attracted to Chen Shouzhe. After all, Chen Shouzhe is really talented, handsome and rich. Which woman could resist him?

After a hearty meal, Chen Shouzhe drank quite a bit. The two film crews weren't too far apart, so Chen Shouzhe was helped back.

Back at the hotel, Yan Danchen watched as Reba helped Chen Shou into the room.

There was no filming the next morning; the scenes were scheduled for the evening, so we had to wait until dusk to film during that time.

When Chen Shou woke up, it was already noon. The person next to him had already left, but the fragrance and the scent left over from last night remained.

I rinsed it off; short hair is so convenient, it's clean with just a quick wipe.

I went downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast and ran into Yan Danchen and the others. Knowing that there was no show going on this morning, they all slept until noon before getting up to eat breakfast.

"Director Chen is up."

Good morning, Director Chen.

"Director Chen, what would you like to eat?"

People kept greeting him, and Chen Shou nodded and greeted them in return.

"It's getting late, just have some noodles. We'll be filming quite late today, there are three scenes," Chen said to the production assistant as he sat down.

"It's all set up in advance, so we can move quickly between locations," the stage manager nodded.

“Alright, stop trying to fool me,” Chen Shou said.

"Guaranteed restoration."

Soon the noodles arrived, and Chen buried his head in his food. He had drunk quite a bit yesterday and hadn't eaten much. Plus, he had exercised a bit, so he was very hungry. He ate two large bowls of wide noodles before stopping.

Everyone else was already busy, including the actors, who were preparing their lines and getting their makeup done. Yan Chixia even had to put on a big beard.

Yan Danchen arrived a little later, so he sat opposite Chen Shou and looked at the script.

"what are you laughing at?"

Chen Shou noticed that Yan Danchen had a smile on her face as she looked at the script.

"The script is quite interesting, with some comedic elements added," Yan Danchen said.

"Yeah, if it's made entirely into a horror movie, it probably won't pass censorship," Chen Shou nodded.

"Yes, it's a very poignant love story." Yan Danchen put down the script and picked up the coffee in front of her.

"You didn't sleep very well?" Chen Shou stared at Yan Danchen and noticed that she had some dark circles under her eyes.

Yan Danchen glared at Chen Shouzhe and said, "Yes, I didn't sleep very well. It was a bit noisy yesterday."

"A bit noisy?" Chen Shou paused for a moment, then smiled as if he had just thought of something.

"You're not still single, are you?"

Yan Danchen glared at Chen Shouzhe, "What, you look down on single people?"

"No, not really. But if you see anyone you like, I can introduce you." Chen Shou smiled. Having been in the industry for a long time, he had seen plenty of couples on set and was no longer surprised.

"I've taken a liking to you." Yan Danchen picked up her cup, glared at Chen Shouzhe, and then lowered her head to drink her coffee.

"Okay, let's find an opportunity to give it a try," Chen Shou joked.

"puff!"

(End of this chapter)