Chinese entertainment: Top stars have no holidays

Chapter 118: Two and a half years of training, skilled in singing, dancing, rapping, and basketball.

The next day, at eight o'clock in the morning.

At the Guangzhou Zini Tang Film and Television Shooting Base, the crew of "The Thunder" has officially entered the on-location shooting stage.

All crew members and actors were in place, each performing their duties, and the filming process proceeded smoothly and in an orderly manner.

Unlike idol drama production teams that start filming with super sweet and memorable scenes and have the male and female leads quickly get into character through intimate scenes, this filming style is different.

As a crime drama about drug enforcement, "The Thunder" was filmed at a steady and restrained pace.

Director Fu Dongyu is always cautious and experienced, and he understands the importance of team cohesion.

In any film or television production, the first few days after filming begins are a period of mutual adjustment and adaptation among the actors, between the actors and the camera, and between the actors and the production team.

If you start filming a major scene full of climax and conflict right from the beginning, the actors are likely to be out of sorts and make mistakes in their coordination, which will delay the filming schedule.

It is precisely for this reason that Fu Dongyu did not arrange any scenes with strong emotional tension or heavy character arcs today.

All filming content consisted primarily of indoor dialogue scenes.

Her avant-garde and flamboyant outfits stand in stark contrast to the other trainees who mainly dress in a basic and casual style.

The moment he appeared, the once quiet waiting room erupted in gasps of amazement.

Many trainees with less experience and who had only recently entered the industry even stood up and greeted him respectfully.

Although Cai Xukun is young, he went to South Korea for training at a young age and even made his official debut.

His stage experience and professional skills far surpass those of most amateur trainees of the same period, making him a true industry veteran.

Faced with everyone's goodwill and attention.

Cai Xukun remained calm and composed, showing no humility or feigned modesty. He accepted everyone's greetings with an air of supreme authority, like a powerful demon king reigning over the world.

He then walked straight up the steps and, without hesitation, sat steadily in seat number 6 in the waiting room, indicating that he believed he was ranked 6th out of 101 people.

Even so, he was still being conservative.

Confidence, arrogance, and ambition were written openly on his face, without any attempt to hide them.

Jiang Bai leaned back on the sofa in front of the computer screen, watching this scene calmly, and couldn't help but feel a few emotions.

To be fair, the first season of "Idol Producer" was undoubtedly the highest quality and most prestigious idol talent show in China for the next few years, without exception.

Ultimately, it's nothing more than the benefits of being the first to try something new.

In 2018, before talent shows became rampant, when Qiyi Video was preparing this program, it cast a wide net across the country.

The preliminary selection attracted 1908 applicants, representing 87 large and small talent agencies across the country.

After several rounds of rigorous selection, the program team finally finalized 100 trainees to participate.

These 100 people belong to 31 different entertainment agencies, almost encompassing all the registered trainees in the entire Chinese idol industry.

Among them are not only amateur trainees who have received years of training and possess outstanding skills.

There are also many active idols who have already released singles and acted in web dramas, possessing mature debut standards.

After that, no subsequent talent shows of the same type launched by Tencent and Youku could reach this level.

The cake is only so big, and all the good seedlings have already been screened out in the first season.

Subsequent talent shows could only pick up the leftovers from "Idol Producer" or recruit some newcomers to fill the quota.

Cai Xukun was able to crush everyone else with an overwhelming number of votes among these 100 contestants, securing the initial center position and the final center position in the group.

They do have some skills.

In his previous life, Jiang Bai had seen too many talent show contestants who were short-lived, disappearing quickly after their popularity faded upon forming a group. They rose to fame quickly, but also faded away just as fast.

Cai Xukun is the only exception; even after the talent show boom ended and the talent show scene in China completely froze, his popularity remains at the top tier.

top notch.

Moreover, he continues to delve into the music field, refine his works, and steadily improve his singing skills and stage presence.

Unlike others who try to use their popularity to transition into acting and become actors.

This person truly has an idol's soul and genuinely loves being an idol.

He just can't control his urges. If it weren't for the incident of sleeping with fans, he would always have been a top star in the Chinese entertainment industry.

In a sense, he is the male version of Ju Jingyi.

However, each of them has their own strengths and weaknesses.

Cai Xukun has stronger stage creative abilities, is able to write lyrics and compose music independently, and has original creative abilities.

However, in terms of his private life, Cai Xukun is far inferior to Ju Jingyi, who has zero scandals and focuses entirely on her career.

Jiang Bai patiently watched the entire first episode.

After reading it, he gently shook his head.

Even though these 100 trainees are the best of the best in the current entertainment industry, their overall quality is still uneven.

There are still plenty of mediocre people who just coast along, rely on their looks to gain popularity, and have absolutely no professional skills.

Besides, Jiang Bai couldn't help but feel a little sad for Zhang Yixing, who was giving a summary of the program at the end of the screen.

Little Sheep was truly tricked by the strange video this time.

The reason why "Idol Producer" became a hit before it even aired and exploded on the first day was not because of the hundred unknown trainees, but because of the national producer Zhang Yixing.

All of the platform's initial promotional resources were tied to Zhang Yixing, leveraging his massive fan base to attract a large number of fans to watch the show.

As a result, after watching the show, these fans switched allegiances and became fans of Cai Xukun.

It's because Zhang Yixing's fans are K-pop fans, and they just love idols.

Cai Xukun's early rapid accumulation of a massive fanbase and initial popularity was almost entirely due to Zhang Yixing's fans switching allegiances...

Then came the influx of new fans and a large number of heartbroken fans who joined the fandom, which propelled Cai Xukun to the top spot on the show by a wide margin.

To put it bluntly, Zhang Yixing worked hard to plant the tree, but in the end, Cai Xukun picked the fruit.

Not only did he fail to gain new fans through the show, but a large number of his old fans also left.

"It's fortunate that I was born out of nowhere in this life."

Jiang Bai's lips curled into a smug smile.

Fortunately, he had already taken in a large number of heartbroken reed sisters in this lifetime.

There aren't many reeds left for Cai Xukun.

In this way, even if Cai Xukun can still debut at the top with his outstanding strength in this life, it will be much more difficult for him to replicate the legend of his previous life where he crushed his opponents and became the top star in the Chinese entertainment industry right after his debut.

Jiang Bai didn't dislike Cai Xukun; in fact, she even had a bit of a crush on him.

At least his attitude towards music is commendable.

But Jiang Bai himself is now also focusing on the singer's career and is preparing his first original album.

The pie is only so big, and he doesn't want to have another top-ranked competitor.

Jiang Bai closed the strange video website, shut down his laptop, got up, went into the bathroom, quickly washed up, and took a hot shower.

He then lay down directly on the soft bed, and soon fell into a sweet and peaceful sleep like a baby.

For the next week, the filming schedule for "The Thunder" was stable but monotonous.

Jiang Bai's life revolves around two points: the hotel and the film set, filming indoor scenes in the police station day after day.

After a week of working together, he and the crew, along with the veteran actors, became increasingly coordinated, and the filming efficiency improved noticeably.

1 month 30 day.

All pre-production scenes in Guangzhou have been filmed and completed. The production team has officially announced that everyone should pack their bags and equipment and move to the city of Zhongshan.

From this moment on, "The Thunder" truly entered the high-intensity filming stage.

The production team will recreate Tazhai Village from the script in two real-life villages, Chadong Village and Chaxi Village, to film the most core, mind-bending, and challenging clan drug trafficking plot in the entire series.

Lin Yaodong, the ruthless, cunning, and deeply calculating mastermind behind Tazhai Village, also known as Uncle Dong, played by Wang Jinsong, has officially entered the scene.

In the storyline related to Tazhai Village, the vast majority of the highlights and points of conflict focus on Uncle Dong and a group of veteran drug dealers and high-ranking police officers.

The male lead Li Fei's screen time has been significantly reduced, and he has temporarily become a supporting character, used to connect the main storyline of the entire series.

In other words, for the next period of time, the focus of the entire series will be on Wang Jinsong.

Jiang Bai's filming pressure has been greatly reduced, and she has a lot of free time.

For Jiang Bai, this was undoubtedly the perfect time to slack off and handle personal matters.

He can take advantage of this break to film two music videos, "I Really Want to Love This World" and "If I Could," and complete the preparations for his solo album.

They can also find time to cooperate with the drama's promotion, shooting short promotional videos for "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to generate buzz for the upcoming drama series.

Li Yitong, who had no acting offers at the moment and was lounging around in Beijing, made a special trip from Beijing to Zhongshan to assist Jiang Bai with his work.

At 2 PM, at the local high-speed rail station in Zhongshan.

The warm afternoon sun and gentle breeze of winter dispelled the last trace of winter chill in Lingnan.

Jiang Bai changed into a simple and casual black hoodie, put on a black mask and a baseball cap, and drove the car provided by the film crew alone, parking it at the exit of the underground parking lot of the high-speed rail station.

Not long after, a petite and agile figure, dragging a small suitcase, slowly walked out of the exit.

The girl had long, flowing hair, wore a beige plush coat, and had delicate, elegant makeup. Her eyes were sweet and her whole being exuded a gentle and soft temperament.

It was Li Yitong who had traveled a long way to Zhongshan.

She and her team arrived separately; she arrived a day earlier, while the team members would arrive the next day.

Li Yitong quickly scanned her surroundings with her beautiful eyes and soon locked onto the minivan parked on the side of the road. After verifying the license plate number, she walked over quickly.

The car door was gently opened, and Li Yitong sat down in the passenger seat. A faint, sweet fragrance instantly filled the car.

After a long and tiring journey, Li Yitong's face showed a hint of undisguised fatigue.

She turned to the side, her narrow eyes fixed on the man beside her. Her red lips pursed slightly, her tone carrying a hint of coquettish reproach and complaint: "You heartless scoundrel, you actually came to pick me up yourself?"

Jiang Bai chuckled upon hearing this, reached out and ruffled Xue Jie's soft, long hair, his tone lazy and casual: "It's what I should do, after all, Xue Jie, you're here to help me shoot a music video, so I have to treat you like a VIP."

"That's exactly right!"

Li Yitong leaned back in her seat, her narrow eyes slightly narrowed, like a lazy, clingy kitten. "Who told you to be so busy lately?"

"You're busy filming again, and you also have to prepare for your album."

"She's so busy she doesn't even have time to message me first."

Although her words were full of complaints, the smile and adoration in her eyes were impossible to hide.

As Jiang Bai's girlfriend, she knew better than anyone just how outstanding this man was.

Being able to grow alongside such a rising and promising man is, in itself, an extremely happy thing for her.

Jiang Bai withdrew his hand, started the car, and smoothly drove away from the high-speed rail station parking lot, a playful smile on his lips: "So, you came here specifically to interrogate me?"

"No, that's not it."

Li Yitong shook her head, her gaze fixed directly on Jiang Bai's profile, her tone soft and sweet: "On one hand, I came here to cooperate with you in filming the music video and help promote our 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'."

"on the other hand----"

"I just wanted to come and keep an eye on you, so that you, you womanizer, wouldn't be fooling around with other women outside."