This director is so innocent.

A small county town in Hebei Province.

The bus rented by the crew of "The Coffin in the Mountain" stopped in front of the only three-star hotel in this small county town.

Su Jin got out of the car first, followed by Zhang Guoli, Yu Nan, and the others.

Since Beijing is located in Hebei Province, we chose to charter a bus to go there together for convenience.

It's not very far anyway, it only takes three or four hours to get there.

Zhang Guoli looked around at the hotel's exterior and thought it was pretty good, not as bad as he had imagined.

Of course, it's not that he can't stand staying in bad accommodations, but if he can enjoy himself, who would deliberately choose to stay in a bad place?

Yu Nan and Liu Ye were quite satisfied, and each carried their luggage into the hotel.

As for helping Yu Nan carry things?

She has assistants and doesn't need their help.

"Director Su, welcome, welcome!"

A middle-aged man in a suit, with his hair parted in an 8/2 style, walked briskly toward Su Jin with a big smile on his face.

He is the owner of this hotel. I heard that he started out in the construction industry, and after making money, he opened this hotel.

"Mr. Jiang, you're too kind." Su Jin smiled and shook hands with him.

This Mr. Jiang is very generous. He wants to waive the accommodation fees for the crew members on the condition that they take a photo with Su Jin, give him a calligraphy piece, and have his hotel's name written in the end credits of the movie.

However, he didn't agree; there was absolutely no need for it.

Only a few lead actors live here; all the staff live in a small mountain village. How much money could that cost?

However, I still agreed to their request for a photo.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Boss Jiang, the man went to try and get on Zhang Guoli's good side.

"director."

A young man wearing a baseball cap and with a full beard spoke to Su Jin.

His name is Yang Qing, a decent supporting actor. He wrote and directed the movie "Nightclub" and was also one of the screenwriters for "Lost in Thailand". He is currently working as a screenwriter in Malaysia.

Su Jin specifically asked Zhong Lifang to let her be the assistant director.

Su Jin nodded slightly and asked, "How are the preparations going? Have there been any problems this week?"

The film crew had already arrived to set up the venue, and Yang Qing was leading the way.

"Everything is ready, the film crew is fine, and the villagers are very kind and honest," Yang Qing replied with a smile.

"Thanks for your hard work."

"It wasn't hard work. It's mainly because you, the director, are a great leader. Everyone in the crew respects you."

If you can't speak, then speak less; no one will think you're mute.

"Yang Qing, there's a reason why you're not getting the recognition you deserve." Su Jin sighed, patted Yang Qing on the shoulder, and turned to leave.

Yang Qing stared blankly at Su Jin's retreating figure, not understanding why Su Jin had said that.

……

The next morning, sunlight bathed the quiet little mountain village.

At this time, the area outside the cordon of the "The Coffin in the Mountain" crew was already packed with men, women, and children, with crowds of people jostling shoulder to shoulder, making the scene even more lively than a rural market.

Due to limited ground space, some people simply climbed trees, walls, and even rooftops just to get a better view of the spectacle.

There are so many people because it is currently the dead of winter, and the busy farming season has long passed.

Hearing that celebrities were filming here, not only people from this village, but also from the township and several neighboring villages came to watch the spectacle.

There were also many small vendors selling things at the scene, such as barbecue, candied hawthorn, and toys...

When Su Jin led Zhang Guoli and the others in, someone couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy crap, she's a big star!"

"No, I have to hurry back and call my mom to come and see. She really likes Ji Xiaolan."

"Gousheng, your mother's here, over there. Don't go back and call her."

"Fuck you! My name is Jianguo. If you call me Gousheng again, I'll beat you to a pulp."

"But your name is Gou Sheng!"

"Say it again?"

The kind man shrank back, looking aggrieved, and stopped talking, because Gou Sheng was holding up his head, which was as big as a clay pot, and looking at him angrily.

Looking at the crowd around him, the township head remarked, "It's been a long time since our Shili Camp has been this lively!"

"Yes!" the village chief echoed, his face also full of emotion.

With a broad smile, Zhang Guoli waved enthusiastically to the surrounding villagers.

Su Jin and the others looked at each other, a bitter smile on their faces.

Because the villagers mostly called him "Ji Xiaolan", occasionally someone would call him Guo Tao, and someone else would call him "Big Head".

As for Su Jin, Xia Jie, Yu Nan, and Liu Ye, they were no different from ordinary passersby; nobody recognized them.

By the way, let me talk about the casting of the characters in "The Coffin in the Mountain".

Zhang Guoli plays village chief Xiao Weiguo, Su Jin plays village chief's son Xiao Zongyao, Yu Nan plays village beauty Liqin, and Fan Wei plays village cadre Lao Zhao.

Guo Tao plays Wang Baoshan, a cheating man; Liu Shishi plays Huang Huan; and Liu Ye plays Da Zhuang, a sycophantic and honest convenience store owner.

Feng Yuanzheng makes a cameo appearance as Chen Zili, a domestic abuser; Xi Meijuan makes a cameo appearance as Xiao Zongyao's mother; Huang Bobo plays Baihu; Rong Momo makes a cameo appearance as Wang Baoshan's mother-in-law; and Liu Hua (Dao Ge) makes a cameo appearance as Baihu's brother, Bai Guoqing.

Apart from Xi Meijuan, none of the guest performers came; they will arrive later.

……

After a short break, the crew held a simple opening ceremony at 10 o'clock.

Holding three incense sticks, Su Jin led the main actors and the heads of various crew members to first bow in all four directions, and then bow to Tang Xianzu.

Finally, the camera, which was covered by a red cloth, was unveiled, announcing that filming had started smoothly.

The staff took many photos with cameras for promotional purposes.

After the opening ceremony, Su Jin and the others left and moved to the village chief's house.

It's not the village chief's house in the real world, but the village chief's house in the movie.

We're going to film here.

Generally speaking, the first scene in a film crew's production is a very simple scene, in order to put their minds at ease.

According to a custom passed down from directors in Hong Kong and Taiwan, if the first scene is NG (repeated twice), subsequent scenes will be NG'd frequently.

Although Su Jin was skeptical of this custom, she went along with it in order not to stand out from the crowd.

The scene chosen was a duet between Zhang Guoli and Liu Hua.

The story is about Baihu who owes money and is chased to his home by his creditors. Unable to find Baihu, they threaten Bai Guoqing that if he doesn't pay back the money, they will burn down his house.

Then Bai Guoqing's wife gave him an idea: ask the village chief for the body, pretend that Baihu is gone, and that way the debt will be settled with the death of the person, and the creditors will naturally not bother them.

Wearing headphones, Su Jin sat behind the monitor, picked up the walkie-talkie, and said, "Report the situation from all departments."

"Lights are OK."

"The camera is ready."

"There's nothing wrong with the props."

……

Unlike the novel and TV series, the crew of "The Coffin in the Mountain" did not have any idiots or troublemakers jumping out to show off and slap the lead actor in the face when they saw that the director was a novice.

Of course, they definitely didn't accept Su Jin's authority.

After all, it's a 2400 million dollar production for a novice's first time directing a film; anyone with a bit of ambition would be dissatisfied.