I am a historical film director in the entertainment industry.

The three women were breathless and blushing from his teasing. In the end, Zeng Li was the first to become too embarrassed to stand it. She gently pushed Cheng Sheng and, blushing, chased him out: "Go to the film set quickly, don't delay the night shoot!"

Instead of being angry at being kicked out, Cheng Sheng raised his hand and gently smelled it under his nose. His fingertips seemed to still carry the faint fragrance of the three women, sweet and alluring.

"Not bad, this smells really good." He chuckled softly, then turned and hurried toward the film set.

At this moment, the crew on set were already ready, and everyone was waiting for Cheng Sheng to arrive, just waiting for his order to officially start filming the night scene.

As soon as Cheng Sheng arrived on set, he immediately got into work mode and shouted to everyone, "Everyone to your positions, action!"

The scene being filmed tonight is Zheng He leading his men to investigate the pirate group's lair at night.

Liu Dehua, who plays Zheng He, is dressed in black night clothes. He stands tall and leads several men to silently infiltrate the pirate group under the cover of night, his expression vigilant and calm.

The actor who plays the pirate leader Chen Zuyi is Zheng Zeshi.

This is the second collaboration between Cheng Zeshi and Cheng Sheng. As a veteran actor from Hong Kong, his acting skills are superb. Even without the "immersive experience" bonus, he rarely makes mistakes during filming, demonstrating his exceptional professionalism.

When people mention Zheng Zeshi, the first thing that comes to mind is his role as "Fat Cat," a character who always smiles and is incredibly friendly, just like a friendly, chubby uncle next door, making people feel very close to him.

Few people know that when he plays a villain, he is even more chilling—his originally gentle eyes instantly become sinister and fierce, and the slight twitching of his lips exudes a ruthless aura. The contrast is so great that it is as if a switch for a "bad guy mode" has been pressed.

Zheng Zeshi's acting secret lies in his ability to "control and unleash his full potential".

He doesn't need exaggerated makeup and styling; with just his eyes and micro-expressions, he can vividly portray the villain's ruthlessness and oppressiveness, sending chills down the audience's spine.

In "To Be Number One," he played a drug lord, and his ambiguous smile perfectly captured the character's inherent ruthlessness and arrogance. In "Chasing the Dragon," even a small gesture like adjusting his cuffs exuded the aura and oppressive presence of a triad boss.

What's even more amazing is that as soon as the director yells "cut," he can instantly shed his villainous ruthlessness and immediately revert to being that cheerful, chubby uncle. He'll even take the initiative to joke with the staff who were just scared by him and ease the atmosphere.

This exceptional level of professionalism earned the deep respect of the younger actors in the same production team.

A script supervisor once remarked to Cheng Sheng, "Zheng Sir's acting is like turning on and off a tap; he can deliver any amount of emotion you need without wasting a single drop. He's incredibly professional."

This also made Cheng Sheng realize that true acting talents never need to deliberately "play" bad guys.

Just like Zheng Zeshi, he can instantly immerse himself in the role with a single "start the camera" and immediately return to his true self with a single "cut." This is probably what it means to "get into character in a second."

Cheng Sheng stood beside the monitor, his eyes fixed on the camera—in the scene, Chen Zuyi, played by Zheng Zeshi, held a ghost-head knife in his hand, staring at his subordinates with a sinister look in his eyes, the ruthlessness of which almost overflowed through the lens.

The subordinate staring at him was terrified, his body trembling uncontrollably, and there was even a faint smell of urine coming from between his legs, perfectly embodying the word "fear".

“Dare to betray me? Kill me.” Zheng Zeshi said, his voice icy cold and devoid of any warmth.

Two of his men immediately stepped forward, dragging the traitor, who was already too terrified to move, and quickly retreated. Zheng Zeshi slowly surveyed the remaining men present, and said each word with ruthless precision: "Merchant ships heading to Malacca tomorrow that don't pay, sink them all!"

"Our leader is wise!" the men echoed in unison, their voices filled with awe and fear.

"Cut! That's a wrap! Perfect!" the bloated demon shouted excitedly, his voice full of praise: "Props artist, makeup artist, hurry up, we're shooting the Zheng He murder scene next, get moving!"

Everyone immediately got to work. The prop master quickly adjusted the set props, and the makeup artist touched up the actors' makeup and tidied their costumes. The whole set was in good order.

Cheng Sheng sat behind the monitor, slowing down the footage he had just captured frame by frame, carefully checking every detail to confirm if there were any parts that needed to be reshot, especially any continuity errors.

When filming period dramas, the biggest taboo is for modern objects to accidentally appear in the shot, leaving a regrettable impression.

Such bloopers are not uncommon in the film and television industry, and have even become a source of amusement for netizens.

For example, in another version of "Eternal Love," Yang Mi's character is soaking in a pool where the water is covered in beer-like foam, prompting netizens to joke: "Did industrial beer exist in ancient times? Do immortals also love Snow Beer?"

Some netizens joked, "Did we modern people travel back in time?"

This actually reflects the hectic pace of film and television production; sometimes, in order to meet deadlines, some details are inevitably overlooked.

In Zhao Xiaodao's period dramas, a "cooling artifact"—an electric fan—suddenly appeared in the shot, instantly ruining the scene and making people laugh. It can be called the "most modern" blooper, even surpassing time-travel dramas.

Imagine if people in ancient times saw an electric fan, they would probably be terrified by this "iron box that blows wind"!

Liu Yifei's blooper in "Chinese Paladin" is even more classic. A passerby dressed in modern clothes suddenly appears in the background, instantly breaking the atmosphere of the period drama.

These bloopers, though minor flaws, unexpectedly brought a lot of joy to the audience.

But Cheng Sheng doesn't want this kind of "joy" to appear in his movies.

He watched the playback carefully and made sure there were no continuity errors or loopholes before he breathed a sigh of relief—he didn't want the movie to be scrutinized by audiences after its release, which would damage its reputation.

Night scenes are difficult to shoot, a widely accepted consensus in the film and television production industry.

At night, natural light is severely insufficient, so artificial lighting must be used to simulate the effects of natural light such as moonlight and indoor candlelight. It is extremely difficult to ensure that the image is clear and distinguishable while avoiding light distortion or overexposure.

This requires the use of high-sensitivity, low-noise cinema-grade cameras, such as the Sony CineAlta series, paired with large-aperture lenses, in order to clearly capture the actors' micro-expressions and scene details in extremely low-light environments.

Some films even utilize natural moonlight combined with snow reflections to achieve panoramic night scene shooting, striving to recreate the most realistic nighttime atmosphere. (End of Chapter)