Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

Alyssa Chia seemed thoughtful, then asked very seriously, "So, do you think I'm a pretty girl?"

"To say you're pretty is an understatement; you're a true beauty."

Jia Jingwen tilted her head, her face calm: "You say pretty girls are God's favorites, so why do I have to suffer so much?"

Yang Che paused for a moment: "For the role of Liu Rong, Wu Shixian couldn't do without you. You are still God's favorite... So, if your efforts are meaningful, then it's not suffering. The real suffering is when you've given it your all, but life is still going downhill."

Jia Jingwen's big eyes widened even more, as if she were seeing Yang Che all over again.

Just then, his phone rang. Yang Che didn't answer it right away, but instead said, "So, when you chose the Mercedes guy instead of Chen Wen in the movie, don't feel guilty. You can only feel the regret of loving someone you can't have."

Alyssa Chia's eyes crinkled into crescent moons as she nodded repeatedly, "Thank you! I'll do my best."

Then Yang Che answered an unfamiliar phone number.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Hello Yang Che, this is the organizing committee of the Beijing College Student Film Festival. We would like to invite you to participate in a discussion to be held at 10:4 am on April 29th at the Beiguo Theater of Beijing Normal University. The topic is: Commercial Operation Model of Film."

Yang Che paused for a moment: "Are you only announcing the meeting now?"

The other party hesitated for a moment: "I'm sorry, this topic was added at the last minute. New Film Union recommended you as one of the representatives of private film and television investors."

"I see. Thank you for the invitation. I will attend."

"Okay, I'm really looking forward to your arrival."

It's alright, they did conduct a survey and didn't consider Lao Fan as a representative. Well, that's a pointless statement.

Although Yang Che felt that this kind of discussion was meaningless, he still had to go.

Back in the day, smoking a genuine Northeastern tobacco leaf in my hometown was a very particular affair. You had to learn to be "gentle, kind, respectful, frugal, and yielding," especially the word "yielding." For example, if I were to say something like, "The spring breeze of reform is blowing all over the land," the other person, regardless of whether they knew the phrase or not, would have to reply with, "The Chinese people are truly remarkable," otherwise it would be considered disrespectful.

Mr. Yang, would you like to say a few words?

............

For the rest of the day, Alyssa Chia, who had no scenes to film, spent most of her time by Yang Che's side, like a follower.

However, the filming did not go smoothly. Apart from Gong Beibi, all the actors' performances looked awkward and they seemed out of place in the crew.

"This is a realistic urban drama, so don't think about acting. I emphasized this many times during the script reading: relax, relax... I'm not shooting long takes... You don't need to worry about not having enough film, there's a tycoon sitting there."

However, Wu Shixian looked somewhat tired after only one morning.

Yang Che understood perfectly; the script quality and storyboard of this version of "Waiting Alone" were significantly improved.

For example, the original film relies heavily on narration to introduce the personalities and interactions of many characters, which is actually a manifestation of insufficient creative ability.

The narration should be a conceptual introduction like in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," which states that "the world, after a long period of division, will unite; after a long period of unity, will divide again." Or it should be the inner monologue of a character, and it should never be an introduction.

Such changes will inevitably place higher demands on actors, requiring them to be more natural, restrained, detailed, and expressive with micro-expressions. Nowadays, actors' performances are often characterized by dramatization, extroversion, and dialogue-driven style.

Of course, this is determined by the shooting conditions. Due to insufficient budget, most films and television dramas have many long takes and low resolution, so actors need to have larger movements and clearer, more expressive dialogue.

However, like "My Sassy Girl," "Waiting Alone" is filmed in high definition with multiple cameras, so it's natural to expect more nuanced performances.

Someone asked, with such a low budget, how can you still meet the requirements for high-definition multi-camera setups?

"The Grand Mansion Gate" also features high-definition multi-camera setups, but the budget wasn't particularly high.

It wasn't about money laundering or corruption; it's just that Guo Baochang and Yang Che both knew exactly what kind of effect the final film needed.

Knowing what you want will lead to higher shooting efficiency, less film loss, shorter shooting time, and less food, supplies, and pay. Under such circumstances, how can the budget be high?

Only those who are unsure of what they want will be inefficient, take a long time, and waste film, right, old Jiang, Sunglasses King?

Xia Yu's expression was not good at this moment. He was a Venice Film Festival Best Actor and a Golden Horse Best Actor. Who could stand it if a tedious sweeping scene had to be NG'd 9 times?

On the tenth time, Xia Yu had given up on acting and started sweeping the screen in a half-hearted manner. Wu Shixian didn't yell "cut" for a while, but yelled "cut" ten seconds later.

"That's right. How could someone who's always late for the store be so diligent in sweeping the streets?"

Hearing Wu Shixian's blunt words in public, Xia Yu was stunned for a moment, and then felt extremely ashamed. He felt guilty for not studying the script carefully and not writing character biographies.

Since entering the industry, all the roles he has played have been highly praised, and they have all been directed by famous directors. Apart from Jiang Wen, no one has said that his performance has any problems.

Yes, he has no problem "performing," but Wu Shih-hsien, who was baptized by "My Sassy Girl," is not allowed to "perform," so he feels awkward and uncomfortable.

It has to be said that Xia Yu is indeed talented. Once he figured out what Wu Shixian wanted, he did it perfectly. Although he still occasionally made adjustments, it was basically a matter of two or three takes.

At the same time, Xia Donghai moved closer to Yang Che and listened intently as he spoke to Jia Jingwen...

"Haibo and Bingbing rehearsed for more than 20 days before filming to achieve that effect... Newspapers and experts analyzed the script, casting, acting, costumes, and props of 'My Sassy Girl'... but they didn't analyze the performance style. It's not that they didn't know that the audience would like it more, but they just felt that it was wrong because it was different from what they had learned and been taught."

As Yang Che said this, he also thought of the phone call from the organizing committee of the college student film festival. Forget it, why bother with that?

As long as everyone is happy, that's enough.

Before they knew it, it was 5 p.m., and they were still filming the antique shop scene, a scene between Xia Yu and Gong Beibi. After all, the faster they finished filming a scene, the less rent they had to pay.

Filming went smoothly, and Yang Che and Jia Jingwen's relationship also seemed to be progressing rapidly.

Of course, there was no actual physical contact. When Alyssa Chia looked at him, she was no longer naked, but very affectionate, and she couldn't help but smile.

Yang Che has always maintained the image of a caring older brother and a gentleman.

Just then, the film crew drove up in a Mercedes-Benz W163 and parked on the side of the road, followed by a Songhuajiang bread truck and a Santana.

Then the driver's door opened, and Fan Bingbing stepped out with long, flowing hair and impeccable makeup. She wore sunglasses, a loose pink striped shirt, white casual pants, and brightly colored sneakers—very trendy...