Chinese entertainment: Top stars have no holidays

Before we knew it, September was already halfway over.

With Zheng Shuang present, the director seemed to have used all his strength to rush the filming of the male and female leads' scenes, and most of the shots were even done in one take. This was how the filming in Xiamen was barely completed before the location expired.

Yes, there was no delay and no additional cost.

Most importantly, Shuangzi (Shuangzi's nickname) is unlikely to agree to a postponement.

Therefore, Jiang Bai was very impressed with Director Han Yang for successfully completing the filming in Xiamen despite Shuangzi's frequent disappearances.

This director has an extraordinary ability to withstand pressure.

In short, the crew of "Rush to the Dead Summer" successfully wrapped up filming in Xiamen and moved on to Shanghai.

Back in Shanghai, Jiang Bai felt just like he was back home.

Having lived in this city for over a decade across two lifetimes, Jiang Bai felt right at home back in Shanghai and was in a very good mood.

He arrived at the film set early in the morning.

"Take everything you want, and I'll bear the rest."

"Keep our dogs, whether they're useful or not~"

Jiang Bai, who was sitting on a bench waiting for his turn to act, couldn't help but hum a song.

"Hey." Suddenly, a small hand patted him on the shoulder: "What song are you humming?"

Jiang Bai was startled, and when he turned his head, he saw a smiling face.

"Sister Huizi, you're here?" Jiang Bai smiled. "Just a casual hum, don't take it to heart."

"Who are you calling 'sister'?" Zheng Hehui pouted, somewhat displeased. "I remember you've already graduated from university, right?"

Zheng Hehuizi was still in college, and subconsciously assumed that Jiang Bai, who had already graduated, was older than her.

"I started school early," Jiang Bai shrugged. "I was born in '95, you're a year older than me, so calling me 'older sister' is perfectly fine!"

"Huh?" Zheng Hehuizi was taken aback, took a closer look at Jiang Bai's handsome face, and said with a slight blush, "You still can't call me 'sister'."

"We're only a year apart in age, so we can just call each other by our names."

Jiang Bai, whose emotional intelligence had kicked in, raised an eyebrow and immediately changed his tune, saying, "That's true. When we stand together, you can't tell at all that you're older than me. People probably think you're my younger sister."

That's not an exaggeration.

Zheng Hehuizi does have a very youthful face, looking just like a freshman in college.

When she changed into more mature urban woman outfits in the later parts of the show, she had a childlike feel to her mature appearance, looking very cute and not at all like a 22-year-old.

"Stop chatting, you two, let's get to work!"

Han Yang, who received a text message from Shuangzi asking for leave early in the morning, was furious. Helpless, he called Jiang Bai and Zheng Hehuizi, who were chatting, and frantically filmed their scene together.

You know what?

Despite the immense pressure of working on the set, Han Yang was driven to the brink of madness by Shuangzi's mental state and Chen Xuedong's human-machine acting skills.

But he was quite comfortable directing Jiang Bai and Zheng Hehuizi's scenes.

Both of them were relatively new actors, but their acting skills were the best in the entire cast...

Zheng Hehuizi perfectly captured Yan Mo's quirky and mischievous charm.

Jiang Bai also captured the essence of Lu Zhiang's character transformation, and his delivery of lines was the best in the entire crew.

Their crying scenes were absolutely superb.

Compared to Zheng Shuang, whose crying scenes only involve glaring and yelling, Zheng Shuang is 100 times better than Chen Xuedong.

But no matter how far ahead we are, the one who can carry the ratings for this show is still Zhengzi!

She is the female lead with the most screen time, the absolute lead actress, and the core of the audience's attention.

As expected, Shuangzi, who carried the hopes of the entire crew, had an accident.

After the film crew moved to Shanghai, it was perhaps more convenient for Zheng Shuang to handle some personal matters there.

She was absent without reason, asked for leave, and disappeared more often than when she was in Xiamen.

I could only see Shuangzi on set once every two or three days.

As a result, many scenes, such as those involving rain, long shots, and group scenes, had to be filmed using a body double that the production team found for her.

Only when Sister Shuangzi came to the set did they reshoot some close-up shots of her face.

The director went to great lengths, hoping to turn the tide through post-production editing.

When Shuangzi was not around, the crew focused on filming Jiang Baihe's scenes with Zheng Hehuizi.

Chen Xuedong could only act in front of a stunt double every day. When Shuangzi returned to the set, she didn't need him; she could just film close-ups of her face herself.

Even so, Shuangzi still gave everyone a big surprise.

On October 27th, a month before filming wrapped, the "Rush to the Dead Summer" crew encountered a very difficult problem.

What does it mean to say "I have fulfilled the contract"?

After sending this message to the producer, Shuangzi left the set on her own.

This time she disappeared completely, taking not only her agent and assistant with her, but also the private RV that her team brought with them.

Only Niu Jixin, the deputy general manager and producer of Syndicate Films, was left squatting in a corner of the set, smoking heavily.

He has already contacted Shuangzi's team.

Shuangzi said she needed to accompany her parents on an overseas trip and handle personal matters, and refused any subsequent reshoots, retakes, or additional dialogue recordings.

Furthermore, it's unclear who signed the contract. The original plan was for the entire production to wrap up filming on November 24th, but Shuangzi's contract only stipulated the number of days she was required to attend, without requiring her to finish filming.

So after counting the days on her fingers, Shuangzi immediately quit.

"What should we do?" Director Han Yang walked to Niu Jixin's side and silently lit a cigarette.

He's become numb.

"Is the footage she shot enough to support 48 episodes?" Niu Jixin asked, taking a deep drag on his cigarette butt.

"Enough my ass!" Han Yang muttered a few curses before saying helplessly, "There are still a lot of scenes that haven't been filmed yet, like the crucial workplace and romantic endings, we don't have any material for them."

"The filming schedule was already severely delayed, and now she's quitting, leaving a lot of footage that has already been shot unfinished."

"Even if I cut in all the previously scrapped scenes, it still wouldn't be enough for 48 episodes!"

"Rush to the Dead Summer" was co-produced with Hunan TV, which is responsible for broadcasting it.

The contract signed by both parties stipulates that the finished product must have 48 episodes, otherwise it will be considered a breach of contract and compensation will be required.

"Can you bring her back?" Although he really didn't want to see Sister Shuangzi, Han Yang still hoped to save her for the sake of the drama.

"No chance." Niu Jixin shook his head: "They've already bought their plane tickets and are flying abroad tomorrow."

"There's only one solution left."

"Let's change the script."

"Adding scenes for supporting characters, and using flashbacks, long shots, and body double shots to pad out the main characters' scenes in post-production."

Han Yang nodded thoughtfully.

To be honest, if you open your mind, this might not be a bad option.

Filming has been going on for almost three months, and Han Yang is already very familiar with the entire crew.

In his opinion, among all the actors in the crew, only Jiang Bai and Zheng Hehuizi acted well.

Moreover, the two had great chemistry during rehearsals and had a great chemistry when filming actually started, resulting in a very good final product.

Unlike Chen Xuedong and Shuangzi, who didn't have much chemistry or understanding during the early stages of filming, the two didn't have much chemistry at all.

In the later stages, they didn't even have the chance to film scenes together anymore; Chen Xuedong filmed the entire series with a stunt double.

Instead of focusing on these two, it would be better to give more screen time to Jiang Bai and Zheng Hehuizi, who have good chemistry, and add this secondary romantic storyline.

"Let's do it!"

"Let's add more scenes between Lu Zhiang and Yan Mo to enrich their romantic storyline."

"When it airs, this secondary couple will definitely be a huge hit!"