In the entertainment industry, everyone has been reborn, but who will be their servant?

Chapter 1 Farming

In August 2007, the huge sun scorched the earth, and the air was filled with the smell of prop glue.

Outside the green screen factory of the "The Forbidden Kingdom" film crew, Wu Guoqiang walked along, wiping the sweat from his forehead and rubbing his rough hands on his work clothes.

His words of advice were like a leaky faucet: "Don't look around or talk nonsense after you come to the film set, and don't sit on any chairs that don't have your name on them."

"Don't walk around in front of the camera, don't ask actors for photos, and keep your phone on silent."

Qin Xuan followed behind his uncle, his canvas sneakers stepping over the scattered cables, but his gaze drifted into the factory building.

The green screen, like a giant green ribbon, hung on the steel frame, and several stagehands, sweating profusely, carried the prop tree inside.

Everything here felt both surreal and familiar to him.

This is because this is where he started his journey into the entertainment industry in his previous life. He worked his way up from the bottom as a stagehand for more than ten years, became an internet celebrity, and made short videos.

He finally became a web series director and made a fortune by taking advantage of the short drama trend!
After accumulating wealth, he went into filmmaking, only to be caught in a film industry downturn. He not only lost everything, but also felt suffocated by the pressure of betting against investors.

At over forty years old, with no hope of further struggle, a moment of indulgence in drinking brought him back to his 21-year-old self.

This is a life of low education, dropping out of high school and returning to being a beast of burden.

“Your parents passed away early, so you’ll have to learn from me from now on. Having a skill will give you a livelihood, but this line of work is quite tough, so you’ll have to be able to endure the hardship,” Wu Guoqiang continued to nag.

Qin Xuan nodded in agreement. His uncle was 45 years old this year, with dark and rough skin. He had been in this line of work for more than ten years and had barely managed to become a technician, which was to install machines.

Aside from the actual chief lighting technician, there's not much technical skill required in this field; if you want to get in, all you need is someone to mentor you.

In his previous life, Qin Xuan was introduced by his uncle.

As the two walked and talked, several stagehands not far away were looking down when a foreigner with a high nose stood with his hands on his hips and cursed, "Shit!"

His spittle would even splatter onto people's faces.

"Don't worry about it, don't listen to it, it's none of your business." Wu Guoqiang pulled him away.

Qin Xuan knew what was going on at a glance, after all, he had experienced it in his previous life.

This production crew has many Americans and Hong Kongers. Sometimes I can't understand what they're saying, so I have to guess and work by accident, which often leads to mistakes.

Making a mistake inevitably leads to ridicule and insults!
The treatment is vastly different. For the same job and the same tasks, there are two different sets of logistical standards for food, drink and supplies, and the discrimination is very serious.

To give a typical example, Americans and Hong Kong employees are served seafood meals specially delivered by high-end hotels, while ordinary employees in the mainland are served boxed lunches from roadside stalls.

Moreover, in such hot weather, they have their own comfortable air-conditioned rooms, while inland employees can only live in temporary sheds.

When we were filming in Dunhuang, it was so hot during the day and so cold at night that we could only endure it. I heard that conflicts broke out and we had a fight once.

“The background of our film is all green screen. We need to composite the landscape in post-production. These prop trees need to be illuminated by lights to create light and shadow effects, otherwise they will look like they are pasted on. Do you think we can use lights to simulate the light and shadow effects to make it as realistic as possible?”

"The space is too big. We need to illuminate the entire green screen and then simulate natural light; the circuitry simply can't handle it." "We're about to film; let's think of a way to do it?"

When Qin Xuan and Wu Guoqiang arrived, they heard the lighting director and the director of photography discussing the arrangement of lighting effects.

The lighting director was named Peter Wang. Qin Xuan wasn't familiar with him; he hadn't seen him since the filming of this movie in his previous life.

But the director of photography next to him was someone he recognized, named Peter Pau, a famous veteran photographer in Hong Kong who could often be seen at various award ceremonies.

With this actor, the production team of this drama is top-notch.

At this moment, Peter Wang, having heard Peter Pau's request, was surveying the entire green screen space.

Just as he was pondering how to set up the lighting, he caught a glimpse of two people beside him and couldn't help but say, "Why aren't you working? What are you doing here?"

"Director Wang, Instructor Bao, this is my nephew, Qin Xuan. He's not doing much at home and is looking for work on set. What do you think?" Wu Guoqiang's old face was all smiles, and wrinkles were showing.

He didn't finish speaking, but he had already conveyed his meaning.

“This is a film set, not a charity!” Peter Wang immediately put on a stern face.

This person is a Chinese American who can't stand this kind of nepotism. The film crew is a place for shooting, not someone's home.

Why are there always some people trying to squeeze more people into film crews?

"Yes, yes, he's very hardworking and strong. He can help move things. Our lighting team is short-staffed too, isn't it?" Wu Guoqiang said humbly.

"Then go work as a stagehand, move things around." Peter Wang waved his hand and said no more.

"Thank you, Director Wang, and Instructor Bao!" Wu Guoqiang bowed repeatedly, and tugged at his nephew's sleeve.

"Thank you!" Qin Xuan said, though he was unwilling, he still had to do it.

This is the rule of this society: the weak have to curry favor with the strong just to make a living; they have no choice. Otherwise, they shouldn't do it at all.

Bao Dexi remained silent; he did nothing!

Peter Wang ignored them, waved them away, and turned back to continue discussing the lighting arrangement with Peter Pau.

The green screen studio is as big as half a football field, with a crisscrossing steel frame on the top. It is indeed a challenge to ensure that the light covers the actors evenly and that the light and shadow on the actors blend with the background in post-production.

He was staring intently at the corner of the green screen when he suddenly heard a casual remark behind him:
"Actually, we could set up a light panel array to illuminate the entire green screen, and build a semi-transparent reflective screen between the actors and the green screen to illuminate the shooting area."

After Qin Xuan finished speaking, he left with his uncle.

These words startled Peter Wang, who turned around and shouted, "Stop!"

(End of this chapter)