Huayu: Serious director, who's eavesdropping on your thoughts?

When Zhao Huaiyuan returned to the rehearsal hall.

Two more faces have appeared here.

Just now, when he chased after her, he specifically told her that there would be a meeting later.

Director Zhang's execution ability is beyond doubt, especially during the ten-odd minutes that Zhao Huaiyuan was comforting Liu Yifei in the garden.

He has already made a phone call and summoned the other two core creators over.

The current situation is as follows.

We need to make a movie and release it during the Lunar New Year holiday season.

So, with the idea set, funding secured, team ready, and only two months remaining...

Everything cannot stop just because there is no female lead.

All work that can be done in parallel must begin immediately, using every method to buy time for the final cut.

Zhao Huaiyuan needed to call an emergency meeting with the core team immediately.

at this time.

As soon as Zhao Huaiyuan entered the room, all four of them looked over at him.

When Director Zhang and Ning Hao saw him return alone, they instinctively wanted to ask how the girl was doing and whether they had managed to persuade her to stay.

But before he could even open his mouth halfway, he saw Zhao Huaiyuan raise a hand and press it down.

Private matters are off-limits.

Director Zhang and Ning Hao were quick-witted; seeing this, they immediately swallowed the words that were about to come out.

The other two main creators, unaware of the inside story, were somewhat confused, but seeing the director's posture, they quickly sat up straight.

Although Zhao Huaiyuan is young, he won the ISFVF Grand Slam as soon as he made his debut. He also gained the appreciation of Han Sanping and received full support from China Film Group to make a splash in the Lunar New Year film season.

No one would look down on him, at least no one would dare to look down on him to his face.

At the conference table.

Five people sat together.

In addition to director Zhao Huaiyuan, production manager Zhang, and first assistant director Ning Hao, there are two other core creative personnel.

One of them is director of photography Cao Yu.

This is Zhao Huaiyuan's old partner; he was the cinematographer for their previous short film, "The Tuner."

The two worked together seamlessly, without even needing to speak. With just a glance from Zhao Huaiyuan, Cao Yu knew where the camera should be zoomed in, which is why Zhao Huaiyuan brought him over.

Another one was the art director appointed by China Film Group. His name was Sun Li, and he was a well-known pragmatist in the industry.

He is very skilled at set design and aging techniques. Han Sanping was specially transferred from another project team to support Zhao Huaiyuan.

In the film industry, whether a movie can be made, especially in a tough battle like this with a tight deadline, is highly dependent on its production schedule.

A director alone cannot do it all; there also needs to be a core trio to work together as a team—a common saying in the industry.

The director is the brain, the director of photography is the eyes, the art director is the face, and the production manager is the legs.

If any one of these four is missing, the play cannot be performed.

"Huaiyuan, I heard things aren't going well with the female lead? They were all killed?" Cao Yu used to call him Xiao Zhao, but now he's changed his address.

Zhao Huaiyuan is a completely different person now, and he even led him to win the ISFVF Best Cinematography Award.

He was more than grateful that the other party had asked him to come over; he had long since thrown away any pretense of being a senior.

"It didn't go smoothly, but that's not important. Now that everyone's here, let's get straight to the point."

Zhao Huaiyuan sat in the main seat, looking at the group: "There are less than 70 days left until the Lunar New Year film season. Our goal is clear: a budget of 500 million yuan to make a splash in the Lunar New Year film season."

Everyone was silent.

Everyone present knew what this meant.

A typical movie takes several months to prepare, two or three months to shoot, and several more months for post-production.

Now that everything has been sorted out in two months, are they still going to try and get into the Lunar New Year film season?

That's simply a fantasy.

Director Zhang couldn't help but say, "This pace is indeed too rushed. We still haven't found a female lead. How about we ask President Han for a two-week delay? Sharpening the axe won't delay the work!"

"There's no option to postpone it. I made a solemn promise to President Han that it must be released during the Lunar New Year season." Zhao Huaiyuan shook his head.

Art director Sun Li spoke up: "Director Zhao, we're all hard workers, we're not afraid of rushing the deadline, but the problem now is..."

The female lead hasn't been cast yet, and there's no specific scene number, lines, or setting. To be honest, I really don't know what to do.

He spoke very politely, but the problem was very real: without blueprints, craftsmen can't build a building.

Cao Yu nodded and added:

"Yes, Huaiyuan, as you know, the preset lighting and camera positions are very important."

Without specific showtimes, I'm worried there won't be enough time to set up the lighting.

Zhao Huaiyuan nodded, indicating that he understood everyone's concerns.

"This is the key point I want to make: the conventional process is no longer feasible for us, and time does not allow it. Therefore, we must operate on multiple fronts."

He stood up, picked up a marker, and wrote the four characters "parallel work" on the whiteboard.

"Next, we will implement this principle."

"What do you mean?" Everyone was puzzled.

"It means we absolutely cannot wait. If there's no female lead, we'll film the scenes without her first. All departments will operate simultaneously."

"Teacher Sun, although the script is still in my mind, the core scenes are fixed."

The main setting can be set in Yanjing World Park, and the goal is to capture the feel of the Eagle Museum and the streets of Chongqing.

Therefore, the art team's initial task was clear: I needed to cover up imperfections and create an aged look.

Zhao Huaiyuan drew a simple area diagram on the whiteboard:

"Teacher Sun, no matter how the script is written, this area is the core. You don't need to know what the actors are saying. You just need to know that this place must look like the streets of Chongqing."

Your task is clear: within a 100-meter radius of this Big Ben,

"Cover up all the Chinese road signs, trash cans, and modern lampposts within three days. Lay fallen leaves along the roadside and plant moss in the corners of the walls. I want the feeling of a foggy, damp city. Can you do that?"

Sun Li looked at the picture and thought for a while.

"If that's the case, then there's no problem, as long as the scene scope is fixed."

"No matter how the play is performed, as long as the background music is right, it's fine, right? Okay, I can do this job. I'll be on set tonight."

"Are there any problems with the venue permits?" Sun Li asked.

"Don't worry, President Han has already spoken to them. We have full authority to allocate the filming area."

"I've already received the access card and construction permit. I'll give them to you after the meeting," Director Zhang said.

"it is good."

Zhao Huaiyuan then looked at Director Zhang, "Uncle Zhang, from now on, we'll establish a production center. All financial, logistical, and information flows will be centralized here."

For external liaison, find me fifty foreign extras, don't worry about whether they have lines or not.

The main task is to act as a backdrop, responsible for increasing the popularity of museums and streets. They need to be real foreigners, not impersonating Uncle Xinjiang. They need to be tall, short, fat, and thin.

Director Zhang nodded: "That's easy. China Film Group has a special database of actors specializing in portraying characters, and Beijing Film Academy has plenty of international students. We can get you a list tomorrow."

At last.

Zhao Huaiyuan looked at Cao Yu: "Old Cao, the background of World Park is fake after all, so the risk of it being exposed is very high. That's why some scenes in my script are night scenes."

Your task is crucial. You need to secure good shooting positions, use cool lighting and smoke to conceal those rudimentary backgrounds, hiding them in shadows. Finally, you'll need to determine the specific style yourself.

Cao Yu gave an OK sign. "Got it. I'm good at using light and shadow to cover up flaws."

With several tasks assigned, the art team moved into the park ahead of schedule, Director Zhang contacted the extras, and Cao Yu debugged the equipment.

Zhao Huaiyuan said, "The scene is fixed, the style is set, and these things can be done without a script, and they must be done immediately. If we wait until the female lead finds us before we start, it will be too late."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

If it's a specific, functional pre-task, then it can indeed be done in parallel.

"Ning, you can all leave now. I'll finish the script in the next couple of days, and then we'll make the next steps in detail."

The meeting ended, and everyone dispersed to prepare for their respective tasks.

"Ninghao, your task is the most trivial. From now on, when we get on set, you'll be the executive director. Teacher Sun will handle the set design, and Lao Cao will handle the lighting. There will definitely be times when things get heated, and you'll be responsible for coordinating things."

Also, you'll be responsible for directing the foreign extras that Director Zhang found, and arranging their blocking.

Even if you're just a background character, you still need to act authentically and avoid any unconscious actions that make you look directly at the camera, understand?

"Understood, don't worry."

..

Zhao Huaiyuan went downstairs, found a nearby hole-in-the-wall restaurant, and casually ate a bowl of noodles with soybean paste.

He ate very quickly, almost wolfing it down, his mind filled with storyboards.

After having a simple meal, he went into a small shop.

"Boss, give me two boxes of Hongtashan cigarettes, a can of Nestlé instant coffee (the tin kind), two tubs of Master Kong instant coffee, and two packs of ham sausages too."

After the Indian summer heat subsided, the weather suddenly turned cold.

Zhao Huaiyuan buttoned up his clothes, picked up the shopping supplies, and hurried back to the China Film Group office building.

The fact that this went so smoothly is largely thanks to the support of China Film Group.

Knowing that Zhao Huaiyuan was going into seclusion to write a script, China Film Group specially approved a spare office for him.

Although it's only a dozen square meters and the tables and chairs are a bit old, it's quiet and comfortable because it's heated.

This is the advantage of having a strong backer.

Once inside, Zhao Huaiyuan tossed the supplies onto the table, boiled a kettle of water, and made himself a cup of coffee.

He began his seclusion.

Tonight, he will use his memories to create a script based on the short play script from his previous life, while keeping the core idea unchanged.

Scenes from the viral short drama "Escape from the British Museum" from his previous life flashed through his mind like a slideshow.

The plot of this short film is actually very simple. The reason it became so popular is because of its lofty theme, sincere emotions, and ability to easily evoke people's feelings of patriotism and national pride.

What he needs to do now is expand upon its core essence into a 90-minute film script.

Of course, this is to address the issue of not yet having selected a female lead, but also to avoid delaying the work schedule.

Zhao Huaiyuan decided to use the AB volume splitting method.

Simply put, it means dividing the script into two parts.

Volume A: Contains all scenes featuring Zhang Yong'an, played by Huang Bo, as well as all environmental shots and close-ups of props related to the British Museum and foreign locations.

The logic here is that if the female lead's face doesn't need to be shown, or only a blurry silhouette is needed, a body double can be used.

Zhao Huaiyuan estimated that the amount of content in this section was enough to support the crew's high-intensity operation for about twenty days.

In other words, he has twenty days to decide on the female lead.

He drew a simple storyboard sketch on paper.

Shot 1: Wide shot, museum exterior at night, color tone...

Scene 2: Push the camera in, through the glass window of the exhibition hall, and focus on an empty display case.

Shot 3: Close-up...

These storyboards are precise down to the camera position and shot size. They are for the cinematographer and art director to see, to give them a general idea of ​​the direction, such as where the lights should be shining and where the scenery should be set up.

Volume B: This section contains the scenes depicting the interactions between the male and female leads after they meet, as well as all scenes featuring the female lead.

He left this part blank for now, and will focus on filming it after the female lead is decided and the script is read out.

This part is a bit complicated.

In the document, he drew some atmosphere diagrams and camera position diagrams for key scenes, and added some simple emotional annotations with text.

Since the B version wasn't needed in the early stages, Zhao Huaiyuan only touched upon it casually while working on the A version, without going into great detail.

We can discuss the details after the female lead is finalized.

Two days and two nights.

Aside from fulfilling his basic physiological needs, Zhao Huaiyuan almost never left the house.

He seemed to have entered a state of madness. While writing the script, he repeatedly filmed the movie in his mind, from the inside out and from the outside in.

Until the morning of the third day.

Zhao Huaiyuan, sporting dark circles under his eyes, held the organized documents and pushed open the office door.

He found Director Zhang and Ning Hao, and gave one of the copies to Ning Hao.

"This is the script for Volume A and the complete scene breakdown outline. Notify all departments to execute immediately."

You should personally deliver this script to Huang Bo now and tell him...

He needs to come to the company for a makeup test tomorrow morning, and a script reading in the afternoon. He must memorize his lines tonight.

I don't want to see him stutter at the reading session.

"Okay, I'll go right now." Ning Hao took the script and jogged away.

Zhao Huaiyuan then handed another copy to Director Zhang:

"Production department, immediately create the first draft of the shooting plan, prioritizing all scenes that can be filmed at the World Park and domestic studios."

"The art department and location scouting department, send the storyboard to Mr. Sun on site immediately."

Tell him that now that we have the blueprints, we should concentrate our firepower on attacking that corner of Big Ben.

I'll give him two more days to work out the details. The night after tomorrow, I'm going to shoot the first night scene there.

Also, please make sure Teacher Sun has Huang Bo's costume and the female lead's stunt double's period costume ready by tomorrow morning, as they will be needed for tomorrow's makeup fitting.

"We also need to contact the external liaison team to find domestic locations that can replace overseas interior scenes, based on the requirements of Film A."

I'd like an old-style villa or a boutique hotel, with a vintage British feel. I need photos within three days, but that's not urgent; we can shoot the exterior first.

After working non-stop for two days and two nights, and then arranging all of this in one go, Zhao Huaiyuan felt completely drained.

"Alright, get everyone up and running. I'm going to catch up on some sleep. Please wake me up when Huang Bo arrives tomorrow."