Huayu Entertainment: Starting with Exorcising Evil from a Film Queen

Chapter 103 Rebels Against the Heavenly Gang on the Film Set, Maxing Out His Cultivation (3K)

Jiang Jiajun's voice came from the other end of the phone, tinged with obvious excitement.

"Great, great, you're finally back! The crew is all waiting for you. You still have a lot of scenes to film, so you need to hurry up and finish shooting."

Zhang Ze responded and hung up the phone.

The car stopped at an intersection, and while waiting for the red light, Zhang Ze saw news playing on an electronic screen by the roadside.

The screen showed him receiving an award in Cannes, and the host's voice came through the speakers.

"Chinese-language cinema achieves another brilliant success, with young director Zhang Ze winning the Camera d'Or and Best Director awards at the Cannes Film Festival for his debut film, 'Like Father, Like Son' —"

Zhang Ze withdrew his gaze, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes.

Logically speaking, this kind of entertainment news shouldn't be reported, since the higher-ups just gave the order. But this time, Zhang Ze won an international award, which can be considered as bringing glory to the country, so there is related reporting.

The car continued on its way, heading towards a film and television base in the suburbs.

An hour later, the car stopped in front of the "Myth" film crew's office.

A black minivan came to a steady stop outside Gate 2 of the Huairou Film and Television Base.

As the car door slid open, a wave of heat, mixed with the smell of yellow earth and horse manure, rushed out, instantly dispelling the remaining cool air inside the car.

Zhang Ze stepped onto this dry land. There was no red carpet, no flashing lights, only the distant roar of generator trucks.

The assistant handed the suitcase to the arriving stagehand, then stood by the car and looked through the itinerary.

"Boss, there's an interview with Sina Entertainment tomorrow morning, and Mr. Yu from Bona Film Group has arranged a lunch meeting at noon, and in the afternoon—"

Zhang Ze waved his hand, interrupting her report.

"We'll talk about that later. Let's catch up on the scenes we missed this week first."

Without waiting for his assistant's response, Zhang Ze walked straight into the photography studio.

At this time, the crew of "The Myth" was filming a palace scene. Dozens of extras, dressed in heavy Qin Dynasty armor, were exposed to the scorching sun, sweat running down their faces and washing away the paint.

When Zhang Ze walked in, the previously noisy film set fell silent for a moment.

The extras, stagehands, and lighting technicians all stopped what they were doing and focused their attention on the young man who had just returned from France.

Previously, they viewed Zhang Ze as a young actor with decent acting skills.

Now, when they look at Zhang Ze, they see him as the Cannes Best Director, a legendary figure who stepped onto the international stage with his debut film.

Director Jiang Jiajun, who was originally sitting behind the monitor, immediately stood up when he saw Zhang Ze.

He threw the walkie-talkie on the table and strode over to meet him.

"Oh my, our great director Zhang has returned in triumph!"

Jiang Jiajun had a smile on his face and gripped Zhang Ze's hands tightly.

"Director Jiang, you flatter me. In the crew, I am just an actor."

Zhang Ze withdrew his hand and said with a smile.

Jiang Jiajun breathed a sigh of relief at Zhang Ze's unpretentious attitude. He was most afraid that Zhang Ze would become arrogant after winning the award, which would make it impossible to film the movie.

"Alright, let's not beat around the bush."

"Now that you're back, let's catch up on the scenes we missed. Today we're filming some key scenes after Zhao Gao is tortured. Are you in good shape?"

"no problem."

Zhang Ze walked towards the dressing room.

The door to the dressing room was pushed open, and Hu Ge, who was removing his makeup inside, saw Zhang Ze in the mirror.

Hu Ge was wearing a tattered ancient costume and his face was covered in soot, clearly indicating that he had just finished filming an action scene.

"Hey, isn't this the triumphant Director Zhang?"

Hu Ge turned around, looked Zhang Ze up and down, and said in a teasing tone.

"I saw it on the news, wow, you won two major awards! I heard the overseas distribution rights alone sold for millions of dollars!"

"Zhang Ze, why are you still making movies? You might as well just retire."

Zhang Ze pulled out a chair next to him and sat down, letting the makeup artist apply glue to his face in preparation for attaching the wig.

"That was the sell-out price, it's not all mine."

Zhang Ze wasn't lying; he only took 90%, and the remaining 10% belonged to Chen Zhixi.

"Don't give me that. Don't think I don't know the ins and outs of this."

Hu Ge leaned closer, lowered his voice, and spoke mysteriously.

"I've had a pretty smooth life, but compared to you, it's like a snail crawling."

"Zhang Ze, you've been an actor, a master, and now you've even won a major award as a director. Tell me, haven't you secretly changed your fate?"

The makeup artist was applying makeup to his eyebrows, and he replied casually with his eyes closed.

"If I really had that ability, why would I be an actor? What era are we living in? We should believe in science."

Hu Ge pursed his lips.

That's bullshit!

Ever since Zhang Ze helped him resolve his inner conflict, he felt that Zhang Ze was no ordinary person.

Because some facts cannot be explained.

However, since Zhang Ze himself didn't say anything, he didn't want to make a fool of himself.

Hu Ge sat back in his chair, picked up the script, and fanned himself with it.

"But the atmosphere on set has changed since you came back."

"Director Jiang was just yelling at people, but when he heard you arrived, he immediately turned into a smile."

Zhang Ze didn't reply. He looked at himself in the mirror, his gaze deep.

The entertainment industry is a place of fame and fortune, and everyone wears a mask and greets each other with a smile. Isn't that a normal situation?

The makeup artist's technique was superb; in the mirror, the spirited young director gradually disappeared, replaced by a...

Zhao Gao had a feminine complexion and a complicated gaze.

"start!"

The shooting intensity that day was extremely high.

To accommodate Zhang Ze's schedule, the production coordinator crammed all the scenes that had fallen behind in the past few days into one session.

They filmed from 2 PM until 3 AM.

In front of the camera, Zhang Ze vividly portrayed Zhao Gao's journey from a humble person to a twisted and ruthless individual.

There is a scene where Zhao Gaogang, after being castrated, crawls in a downpour.

The artificial rain created by the sprinkler truck poured down, and the icy groundwater stung my skin.

Zhang Ze, wearing only a thin undergarment, lay prone in the muddy ground, his ten fingers digging tightly into the sludge.

He didn't use any stunt doubles and rolled in the mud seven times.

After each "cut" was called, he refused the towel offered by his assistant, simply wiping the mud off his face and asking the director where adjustments were needed.

Jiang Jiajun, standing behind the monitor, was speechless with astonishment.

"This doesn't look like a director who has won a major award at all; he's working harder than those extras who have just started out."

The assistant director next to him exclaimed, "No wonder they can succeed; that kind of ruthlessness is something most people don't have."

When they finished work at 3 a.m., Zhang Ze was practically pulled out of the mud pit.

Hu Ge, wearing a military overcoat, stood beside Zhang Ze and handed him a bottle of ginger soup.

"I give up. Zhang Ze, from now on, if anyone says you got it by luck, I'll be the first to argue with them."

Zhang Ze took the ginger soup and gulped it down in one go. The spicy liquid burned down his esophagus and into his stomach, dispelling the chill in his body.

"It's only right to do things for money."

For the next three days, Zhang Ze was like a tireless machine.

He lived a very simple life, going back and forth between the film set and the hotel.

Aside from filming, he mostly sleeps and rarely even looks at his phone.

It's only because Zhang Ze is strong and healthy, and also has cultivation; otherwise, anyone else would either be exhausted or fall seriously ill.

At first, Director Jiang admired Zhang Ze, but later he became afraid of him.

Zhang Ze has an absolutely reckless attitude when filming.

He was genuinely afraid that Zhang Ze would be ruined by his own production crew, and if that attracted outside attention, he wouldn't be able to explain himself.

So later, Director Jiang repeatedly told Zhang Ze to rest well, but Zhang Ze insisted on finishing filming and even persuaded Director Jiang not to worry.

But Director Jiang couldn't yell at him, since the person in front of him was not only an actor, but also a rising director who had won international awards.

The result was that the director kept wanting to take a vacation, while the actors kept wanting to film.

It's completely upside down!

This high-intensity work ethic and dedication, while not making headlines in the news, spread throughout the production crew.

For a moment, those who had been making sarcastic remarks fell silent.

On the fourth night, Zhang Ze finally made up for all the scenes he missed because of his trip to Cannes.

The production team announced that they will take a half-day break tomorrow to adjust the filming schedule.

Director Jiang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Ze was working overtime; he was even more nervous than if he were the one performing!

Thankfully, the rush to finish filming is finally over, and the crew can now return to normal.

Zhang Ze returned to the hotel and washed away the dust and fatigue.

He sat shirtless on the edge of the bed and picked up his phone.

The buzz surrounding "Like Father, Like Son" on Weibo has begun to wane. After all, art films have a limited audience, and the public's attention was quickly drawn away by news of a celebrity attending a charity event.

Even so, the level of discussion that lasted for several days still brought Zhang Ze considerable benefits.

He opened the system panel that only he could see.

[Host: Zhang Ze]

[Reputation Value: 1086]

Finally, it broke 1,000.

Although he didn't have the millions or tens of millions of views that later celebrities had, this number was still quite substantial for a director and actor working behind the scenes.

Unlike the era of data traffic a few years from now, where smartphones will be the key to entering the era of massive connectivity, we are not now.

In these days, with limited channels for communication, Zhang Ze was already quite satisfied with his reputation.

Looking at the numbers on the panel, Zhang Ze made some calculations in his mind.

He still has one-third of his scenes left in the "Myth" series. As long as he finishes filming step by step, the series will be completed.

However, there is still no follow-up funding available.

Making your own movies is quite difficult, since there are policies from the government now, and it's not easy to get projects approved.

My current skills are sufficient to handle the current filming, and both my "micro-expression control" and "camera language" have reached a professional level.

Although his directing skills are still rudimentary, he has the original film in his mind and is simply copying it without needing any advanced shooting techniques.

Since we have all the skills, we should naturally focus on maximizing our cultivation level first.

If one already possesses such powerful physical attributes after refining Qi into Spirit, what kind of surprises will come if one advances further?

Zhang Ze got up from the bed, walked to the door, hung up the "Do Not Disturb" sign, and locked the door.

He drew the heavy blackout curtains, plunging the room into darkness.

Zhang Ze sat cross-legged on the carpet and adjusted his breathing.

"upgrade!"

[Cultivation Level: Qi Refining to Spirit Transformation (301/1000)] → [Cultivation Level: Spirit Refining to Void (1/10000)]

>