1991: The Era of Hong Kong Dramas

Huo Sheng didn't answer immediately, but went inside and took a walk around.

The lighting in the studio was somewhat dim, with several work lights hanging overhead, illuminating the small space in patches of light and shadow.

The air smelled of freshly sawn wood mixed with the pungent odor of undried paint. Several unused planks were piled in the corner, and sawdust and scraps of newspaper were scattered on the floor.

Wai Ka-fai leaned against the doorframe, looking quite pleased with himself. He smiled and said, "How's our set setup? Not bad, right?"

"That's really impressive," Huo Sheng turned around and laughed, "Even the old newspapers pasted on the wall are stock market news."

Almost every film crew builds sets for the characters before officially starting filming.

In a production crew that doesn't pay attention to detail, the art director can just do it himself; in a production crew that does it well, the director and screenwriter must work together to perfect the details.

We don't have the same resources as in later generations, where people would spend hundreds of millions to build 1:1 scale sets and plant flowers and plants on-site, all for the sake of a single play.

It's perfectly normal for me to use the same room again after you've finished.

Today it's Ting Hai's run-down apartment in "The Greed of Man," tomorrow it'll be Bao Zan's rental house in "The Greed of Man."

But Wai Ka-fai is meticulous when it comes to filming. He not only has the art director revise the film, but also has the director and screenwriter go through it together to get the details right.

Huo Sheng earned the respect of the producer and the entire crew, so he was naturally willing to contribute.

Yuan Yingming came down the stairs, dusted off his hands, and said with a smile, "It's just in time that Asheng is here. Help me see if there's anything else that needs to be changed."

"it is good."

Huo Sheng smiled and said, "You guys are working on this from the director's perspective, so I'll talk about it from the screenwriter's perspective."

"Speaking!"

"In my story, when Ting Hai was down on his luck, he was a boxing champion with old injuries."

Huo Sheng casually pointed to the empty table and suggested, "We should always keep a bottle of liniment at home."

"That makes sense!"

"besides,"

Huo Sheng picked up a pair of boxing gloves that were casually tossed on the ground in the corner, dusted them off, and laughed, "You all thought that with four sons and a small place, things should be messy. But you didn't consider Ding Xie's personality. He's very controlling, and the house needs to be arranged in an orderly manner."

"Boxing gloves should not be left lying on the ground; they must be neatly hung on the wall in a prominent place."

Wei Jiahui and Yuan Yingming exchanged a glance, both somewhat surprised.

Huo Sheng hung the gloves back on the wall, took a step back to look at the spot, then walked to the chair and pointed to the wall next to it.

"And here, people usually smoke here when they can't sleep at night, so there should be a yellow stain on the wall. It doesn't need to be too obvious, just wipe it a little with a cloth."

"sharp."

Yuan Yingming stroked his chin and laughed, "Sometimes I really doubt Asheng's age."

He had previously distrusted Huo Sheng and considered adding more main creators and screenwriters to share power, which led to some conflicts with Huo Sheng.

But when I actually used the scene script, all those unpleasant experiences from the past immediately vanished.

Huo Sheng's scene script was very comfortable for the director. The basic actions, visuals, and lines were all perfect and almost flawless. It was as if the scene had been repeatedly improved after a test shoot.

He is a very talented screenwriter.

He reached the same conclusion as Ning Wan.

Huo Sheng had studied systematically in his later years and had a lot of experience summarized from history. He put all of this to use and went on to talk about a few details that are easily overlooked but can be revealed on camera.

The art team stood beside him, nervously watching his expression, afraid that his next sentence would be a barrage of critical comments.

"That's already pretty good."

Huo Sheng smiled and said, "It's just that some settings haven't been reflected in the plot yet, so it's my fault for not writing in enough detail."

The art director visibly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "Thank you for your guidance, Director Huo."

Wai Ka-fai clapped his hands and said, "Art director, fix those places you mentioned earlier and get the set built before filming officially starts."

"Okay, Producer Wei."

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone."

Huo Sheng nodded to the art team members.

Seeing that he had finished, Yuan Yingming quickly took out a stack of photocopies and handed them over. "Asheng, I heard you've been in seclusion writing the script, so I didn't want to bother you. The storyboards for the first three episodes are finished. Take a look."

"It's okay, just come to me next time."

Actually, I really want to go out, so please feel free to bother me!

But I can't say that.

Huo Sheng took it with his head down and casually flipped through it.

As the name suggests, a storyboard is a visual representation of the scene script written by the screenwriter, turning it into a story sequence told through cinematic language.

Yuan Yingming is very skilled in this area. His lines are neat and his camera positions are clear at a glance. He even marks the changes in shot size clearly.

Huo Sheng read a few pages and felt that it was basically the same as the previous work, with no major problems. He closed the script and smiled, "Thank you for your hard work, Director Yuan. I have no objections."

In his directing work, he now mainly focuses on observing and learning, and refrains from offering opinions.

"We'll be working together for a year, so don't be so polite, just call me 'Brilliant'!"

Yuan Yingming waved his hand and laughed heartily.

"it is good."

Huo Sheng smiled.

Wai Ka-fai was very satisfied with the team's spirit of striving forward, and continued, "Remember to make time for the audition tomorrow, both of you. The actors have all been scheduled."

Who are they?

This is the assistant director's job, Lin Yufen continued, "There are more audition slots in the morning, including the three Fang sisters, the four Ding brothers, and Fang Zhanbo. In the afternoon, there are some roles that are not convenient for a group audition. Liu Songren and Miao Qiaowei have both agreed to try out for Fang Jinxin."

And then there's Ting Hai and Little Jew—"

She paused for a moment, glanced at Wai Ka-fai, and realized that he wasn't an actor she could assign to auditions.

Wai Ka-fai continued, "Adam Cheng and Vivian Chow have already agreed. PolyGram is very easy to talk to; as soon as they heard it was for the anniversary celebration, they immediately gave it to them."

"Has it been confirmed as a TVB anniversary drama?"

Huo Sheng was puzzled.

"It was uncertain at first."

Wai Ka-fai leaned leisurely against the wall, spreading his hands, "But since Adam Cheng and Vivian Chow have both agreed, there's a high probability it will be an anniversary drama, so it's not exactly a lie."

Huo Sheng's lips twitched. The road to becoming a producer is long and arduous, and he felt like he had learned another trick.

"However, Adam Cheng doesn't need to audition. Vivian Chow's schedule is also quite tight, so she'll come directly to the production team meeting tomorrow afternoon."

Wei Jiahui looked at Huo Sheng meaningfully and said, "When the time comes, you should talk to her more about the character. After all, you wrote Xiao Youzi, so you know best how to act her."

These words sounded very high-sounding, but Huo Sheng still keenly sensed a strange implication.

Before he could reply, Yuan Yingming burst out laughing.

"Jia Hui is right."

Yuan Yingming nodded seriously, "Asheng, you need to communicate more with the actors, it's for the sake of work."

You big jerk.

Are the people of Hong Kong also so enthusiastic about matchmaking?