This director is so innocent.

Chapter 131 Fan Xiaopang: My hands are getting calluses

A large suite at the Sheraton Hotel.

The prop master is laying out the tracks, the lighting technician is adjusting the lights, the cinematographer is adjusting the angles, and the makeup artist is applying makeup to the actors.

Su Jin held the shooting schedule in her hand and gave instructions on the lighting to photographer Song Xiaofei.

Song Xiaofei, a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy, is quite impressive. He was the cinematographer for Wong Kar-wai's "The Grandmaster".

Also, there's *Cow*, *Lost in Thailand*, *Lost in Hong Kong*, and *The Sword and the Brocade*.

Later, he even became a director himself—the TV series "The Sun Accompanies Me," starring Tian Yu and Bai Mojin.

Let's talk about the use of light.

The overall color tone of the film, especially the interiors, is predominantly cool, a trend that begins to emerge after the car accident.

The female lead's home, the awards hall, her lover's bedroom, room 715, and the place where the male lead talks with the "lawyer" all used relatively dim lighting.

It creates a depressing atmosphere, which is oppressive to both the victim's family and the perpetrator. The predominantly cold color palette draws the audience into the situation, forcing them to confront the cold reality and human nature.

The film's main light source is warm-toned yellow light, which can be seen as the remaining warmth in a cold reality—the love and persistence of Li Ya's parents.

It can also be seen as the male protagonist pitifully upholding honor and glory under the shadow of his dark personality.

"Use cool light as much as possible."

"Like the lighting in 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'?"

19

"right."

OK.

After Song Xiaofei left, Su Jin got up and went to the dressing room to check on the actors' makeup and styling.

As soon as I entered the dressing room, I ran into Sun Honglei.

"Director," Sun Honglei greeted him with a smile.

His eyes were already small, and when he squinted, they looked even smaller, almost like slits.

Su Jin looked him up and down and thought he was quite good; he exuded the aura of a domineering CEO.

He wore a dark blue suit, a white shirt, and had short hair with a widow's peak and bangs combed back. You can refer to his look in "Silent Witness".

A widow's peak, also known as a widow's bun or triangular bun, refers to a small point formed by the hair in the center of the forehead extending downwards (forwards).

This hairstyle is especially suitable for traditional Chinese costumes.

Of course, Sun Honglei is not suitable; his portrayal of Sun Bin is rather sleazy.

"Great, this look suits you very well," Su Jin praised with a smile.

"It's all thanks to your discerning eye, Director." Sun Honglei's flattery came naturally, without the slightest hesitation.

Su Jin smiled and asked, "How's Gong Li's makeup?"

"It's almost finished, we're making adjustments now," Sun Honglei replied.

Su Jin nodded, chatted with him for a few more minutes, and then went to see Gong Li.

Gong Li plays two roles and has two different looks: one is as lawyer Chen Jiajun, and the other is as a housewife.

The lawyer's look will be more assertive, and the image used will be her natural appearance.

The housewife's look will be simpler, and her appearance will be different from the lawyer's. She will be made up in post-production to make her look different from the lawyer.

Otherwise, if the two look exactly the same, it will look too fake, and the audience will be distracted.

Or just wild guesses, speculating why the two look alike, whether they are twins or imposters.

The brilliance of "The Invisible Guest" lies in the fact that the lawyer and the housewife are completely unrelated; you would never guess that they are the same person.

When the final reveal came, the shock was overwhelming, and screams of "Holy crap!" filled the air.

"Sister Li."

When Su Jin saw Gong Li, her expression was completely different from when she faced Sun Honglei; she had a bright smile on her face.

There's no way around it, we'll have to invite Gong Li to play Coach Lang again in the future!

"The director is here. Let me see how my look is. Does it meet your requirements?" Gong Li said with a smile, looking at Su Jin through the mirror.

"Perfectly matched, flawless," Su Jin praised without hesitation.

Hearing Su Jin's flattering words, Gong Li became unhappy and said seriously, "Don't flatter me, I'm serious."

Gong Li took this film very seriously. After finishing her discussions with Su Jin at the end of August, she began to study the script and even spent two months experiencing life at a law firm.

Su Jin shook her head and smiled wryly. He wasn't just flattering her; he was telling the truth. It really was perfect.

Dressed in a black haute couture business suit, with exquisite makeup and her hair styled in an updo, she exuded an aura of absolute power, especially when she was expressionless. She was the epitome of a top-tier lawyer.

Unlike the original lawyer, Gong Li didn't wear a short skirt with black stockings; instead, she wore wide-legged pants.

The domestic style of dress is relatively understated; a top-tier middle-aged or elderly lawyer wearing a short skirt and black stockings is not very suitable.

"Sister Li, you look absolutely perfect. With this outfit and your气质 (qi zhi, a combination of temperament, bearing, and aura), you'd be the epitome of a legal beauty. Anyone who sees you would think you're a lawyer," Su Jin said earnestly.

Gong Li looked directly at Su Jin through the mirror, and sensing that he didn't seem to be lying, she smiled slightly.

"Sister Li, Director."

A crisp sound suddenly broke in.

Su Jin turned her head and saw Fan Xiaopang walking towards her gracefully: "Why are you here?"

Fan Xiaopang has no scenes to film today; today's filming is dedicated to Gong Li and Sun Honglei's scenes.

"I'm here to learn!" Fan Xiaopang smiled slightly, and when she walked to Gong Li's side, she exclaimed, "Sister Li, your look is so beautiful, you look so cool."

"Haha, really?" Gong Li was in a good mood after being praised, and a smile appeared on her face.

"Yes, Sister Li, your outfit is the epitome of a professional lawyer," Fan Xiaopang continued to praise.

The two chatted and laughed, completely ignoring Su Jin.

Feeling bored, Su Jin returned to the film set.

Twenty minutes later.

All preparations are complete, and filming can begin.

Wearing headphones, Su Jin sat behind the monitor and picked up the walkie-talkie, saying, "Report from each department."

"Lights are OK."

"The sound reception is fine."

"Photography is no problem."

"The actors are already on set."

"Action."

Sun Honglei wore a white shirt, while Gong Li was dressed in a black business suit. The two sat facing each other, creating a stark contrast.

Gong Li held a pocket watch in her hand, pressed the switch, and gently placed it on the table.

-

As the hands of the pocket watch turned, the ticking sound began to echo in the room, as if reminding us of the urgency of time.

"Okay, let's go through the case. Why were you and the deceased at that hotel?" Gong Li stared intently at Sun Honglei, but his tone was relatively relaxed.

"Someone told us to go there."

Sun Honglei looked out the window, his eyes seemingly unfocused: "Fang Lu and I have been dating for several months, but unfortunately, someone discovered our relationship and is using it to blackmail us."

As requested, we brought 50 yuan in cash.

"Mr. Jiang, you made a very good decision. Paying hush money is definitely a more worthwhile thing than getting a divorce."

Upon hearing this, Sun Honglei frowned and said, "I never thought about divorcing Wang Ying (the male lead's wife). I love her."

Gong Li remained noncommittal, saying, "This hotel is 300 kilometers from your residence, why would you arrange to meet there?"

"I have no idea."

"Don't you find it strange that we'd meet in such a remote place?"

Does the distance of the hotel make a difference?

"Have you and your lover been to that place before?"

"The most important thing now is that they are charging me with murder, Ms. Chen Jiajun."

Behind the monitor, Su Jin turned to look at Fan Xiaopang beside her and asked softly, "How is it?"

Fan Xiaopang seemed engrossed in what he was watching and didn't hear him for a moment, so he nudged her arm and asked again, "How are you feeling?"

"Very good. The two of them performed with a relaxed yet controlled style, showing tension where it should be, without any trace of acting," Fan Xiaopang said with a hint of envy.

Su Jin smiled slightly and continued looking at the monitor.

Both of them are indeed very good actors. Just as Fan Xiaopang said, there is no trace of acting, and they are very natural.

In this kind of question-and-answer dialogue, one can easily be led astray by the other party, and the image of a domineering CEO with high intelligence will collapse directly. Su Jin had been a little worried about this before.

He was very satisfied with Sun Honglei's performance. His presence was no less than Gong Li's, and he was not overshadowed by Gong Li. He was even able to fight back.

The two gave it their all, delivering a spectacular performance.

-

You're so engrossed in watching Fan Xiaopang!

Shortly after, the two finished their last line of dialogue.

"Cut! Excellent, one take!" Su Jin stood up and clapped.

Snap snap snap ————

The director applauded, and the staff on set naturally followed suit.

Fan Xiaopang also stood up and applauded.

The two of them repeatedly bowed slightly to thank the staff.

The applause lasted for more than twenty seconds before stopping. Everyone still had to work; they couldn't really applaud for several minutes.

"Hong Lei, your acting has improved so much since 'Zhou Yu's Train'! I almost couldn't keep up with your performance," Gong Li joked with a smile.

"Sister Li, that's an exaggeration. I'm still far from being as good as you."

"You, you're not honest at all. You're still the same as before, too modest. Telling the truth won't cost you a piece of your flesh."

"Hehe————" Sun Honglei pretended to be stupid.

"Sister Li, Brother Honglei." Fan Xiaopang walked up to them with two bottles of mineral water in his hand and handed them the water.

"Wow—the famous star Fan actually handed me the water himself. I'll keep this water as a family heirloom," Sun Honglei joked as he took the water.

"My autograph is more valuable; it's better to keep it as a family heirloom," Fan Xiaopang retorted with a laugh.

Gong Li looked at the two of them and smiled slightly.

Ten minutes later, filming began.

They continued filming in the same room, continuing the scene from the previous scene.

The scenes in "The Invisible Guest" are not complicated, and most of them are set in hotels.

Both Gong Li and Sun Honglei are renowned for their acting skills, so filming their scenes was particularly easy.

From morning to afternoon, and then to night, it was all done in one go.

Su Jin was experiencing both pain and pleasure; he, the director, was practically reduced to a tool for yelling "cut."

He didn't need to explain the roles at all; the two of them figured it out together, and that was it.

There were two scenes that others were still not satisfied with and demanded to be reshot.

Ugh!

Since neither of them needs guidance, let's give Fan Xiaopang some pointers; her acting skills are just average.

"relax."

That night, Fan Xiaopang, constantly being bossed around by Su Jin, finally snapped, "Su Jin, you've gone too far! Can't you even do your job properly?"

Su Jin stopped causing trouble and focused on guiding Fan Xiaopang's acting skills.

After a long while, he looked at Fan Xiaopang, who was lying sprawled out, panting with his eyes closed, and felt helpless.

You've had your fun, but what about me?

"Bingbing, wake up!"

"I'm exhausted."

"Ughh ...

"What 'huh'? I helped you improve your acting skills, now aren't you helping me improve mine?"

"I'm tired, I'll help you improve another day."

"I have other things to do another day, so I'll promote you today."

"Aaaaaaahh ...

Time passed slowly, and a week had passed in the blink of an eye.

Ning Hao returned from Xiamen that day. After handing over the filming footage to Du Yuan's studio, he didn't go to Jianmu Media but went home.

His wife, Xing Aina, is pregnant; she's already over six months along.

Ning Hao spent the afternoon cuddling with his wife, and then went to Jianmu Media in the evening.

After finishing filming the last scene in the afternoon, Su Jin handed over the filming work to Yang Qing and returned to the company.

The moment he saw Ning Hao, he was stunned because he was so dark-skinned, a whole shade darker.

"Are you planning to get a tan like Louis Koo?"

"Get lost." Ning Hao complained, "The sun in Xiamen is too strong. It's winter already, but the sun is still as scorching as in summer."

"Hahaha----"

"What are you laughing at? Laugh, laugh, laugh! You'll be just as dark-skinned if you go there."

"Even if I get tanned, I'll still be a different kind of 'Black Guy'," Su Jin said, her smile fading. "Let's go home!"

"Um."

"How is your health, sister-in-law?"

During the months Ning Hao was away, he visited him once.

Of course, he didn't go alone; he took Sister Xia with him.

Xia Jie and Xing Aina have known each other for a long time. When they were in college, he often went with Ning Hao to shoot music videos, and Xia Jie would go with him to play.

They became acquainted after a short while.

"It's great, I have a good appetite." Ning Hao couldn't help but smile happily as he thought about becoming a father soon.

Su Jin couldn't stand his smug attitude and said directly, "Go watch 'Sheep Without a Shepherd'!"

"OK."

"Boss."

In the small screening room, Huang Jiaqiang, Chen Zhixi, and Zhao Shan saw Su Jin and Ning Hao walk in and immediately stood up to greet them respectfully.

Then the two of them greeted Ning Hao again.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the screening began.

The film "Sheep Without a Shepherd" has not yet been submitted for review; the version shown is the internal version.

Therefore, there was no dragon logo at the beginning. After the four film companies that invested in the project, Iogo, finished playing the video, the main feature began.

I won't go into the details, as most people already know them, given that it grossed 13.33 billion yuan at the box office.

In case anyone hasn't seen this, let me give a brief explanation!

The story revolves around the male protagonist's wife and daughter accidentally killing the villainous bureau chief's spoiled son. To help them escape punishment, the male protagonist uses his knowledge to devise a clever scheme to deceive everyone.

In the end, the police chief couldn't find his son's body and couldn't convict him, so the protagonist turned himself in, and that was the end of it.

"How is it?" Su Jin asked Ning Hao.

Huang Jiaqiang, Chen Zhixi, and Zhao Shan had already watched it and all felt that the content was very exciting, the plot was logical, and the visuals were beautiful.

In short, awesome.

Ning Hao didn't answer, but instead asked, "What do you think?"

"I think it's great. The acting, visuals, and plot are all excellent," Su Jin said truthfully.

"Isn't that awesome?" Ning Hao laughed.

Su Jin was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening and cursed, "Get out."

"If you think it's okay, the movie will be released on the 28th, which happens to be a Saturday."

"Didn't you say it was scheduled for mid-January next year?"

"We did some internal research and decided that the 28th is the best time to go, as we can also try our luck during the New Year's Day holiday."

"Novelists are novelists; they can change their schedules whenever they want," Ning Hao muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?"

"It's nothing, let's go with the 28th then!" Ning Hao said, then suddenly remembered something: "Isn't Feng Xiaogang's 'Assembly' releasing on the 20th? Our release dates are so close, it'll probably affect the box office!"

"It will have an impact, but not much. Don't worry, we've done our internal research. With the quality of 'Sheep Without a Shepherd,' we can't guarantee it will break 100 million, but breaking 70 million should be no problem."

"Then I have no problem."

Su Jin nodded and looked at Huang Jiaqiang, saying, "Old Huang, release the release date information for 'Sheep Without a Shepherd.' Get the promotional materials we contacted earlier ready within a week, and then distribute all the materials."

"You should coordinate with China Film Group regarding the distribution."

OK.

'

Upon hearing this, Ning Hao asked, "How much is the publicity budget?"

"1000 million. If the box office is good, we can add more," Su Jin replied.

Ning Hao nodded, feeling it was alright.

Although the promotional expenses were not as high as those for "The Coffin in the Mountain," 1000 million is still quite a lot, considering the cost was only 3000 million.

"None of you have eaten yet! Let's have a meal together! It's on me."

"Thank you, boss." 3.

"Where should we eat? A private kitchen? I'll call my wife."

"It's past ten o'clock, why are you bothering your sister-in-law! Let's go get some barbecue."

"That's fine too."

The next day, in the morning.

Online, many media outlets have reported on the release date announcement of "Sheep Without a Shepherd".

[What is Ning Hao's intention behind the sudden release date of his new film "Sheep Without a Shepherd" being set for December 28th?]

Ning Hao's new film "Sheep Without a Shepherd" is entering the Lunar New Year film season, aiming to compete with Chen Kexin and Feng Xiaogang.

[The sudden release date of "Sheep Without a Shepherd" has dealt a blow to low-budget films, facing fierce competition from both sides.]

"Everyone is eagerly anticipating Ning Hao's new movie, and I will definitely support it when it comes out."

"Will you provide emotional support or financial support?"

"Of course, it's about physical support."

"Shameless, you burly man with your feet sticking out of your skin."