Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

Yang Che was initially worried that Hao Lei might be a bit childish now, but looking at her with short hair and no baby fat, he felt that it wasn't childishness, but rather a willful attitude.

At this moment, something else appeared in her eyes. Yang Che looked at her for several seconds; it was a kind of blankness.

"Can you drive?"

"Won't."

"Then go practice driving, there will be close-up shots."

"Okay. Director, no audition?"

Yang Che raised an eyebrow: "Didn't Fu Dong explain it to you clearly?"

"Director Fu only said he was coming to see you."

Yang Che nodded: "I feel you can portray this role very well, so I didn't look for anyone else. There's no need for an audition; we'll see how you perform. You understand what I mean?"

Hao Lei pursed his lips: "Thank you, I understand."

She felt that Yang Che was imitating Wong Kar-wai, even though he had a script.

Of course, that's not the case. Yang Che had a picture in his mind, but he wasn't sure if it was the best. After entering this industry, he didn't believe in the "original version" at all, especially since he knew what level Wu Shixian was actually at.

Most importantly, Hao Lei will definitely perform better than Gong Beibi. This is not a matter of superior acting skills, but rather a matter of how well one's appearance suits the role.

Hao Lei's appearance amplifies the impact of the story. The image of a bright, cheerful, and responsible girl being suddenly crushed by violence creates a powerful combination of beauty and tragedy, which amplifies the sense of loss.

"Go find Fu Dong. He'll arrange your accommodation and driving instructor. The fee is 10,000 yuan. Is that alright?"

"no problem."

Hao Lei was somewhat surprised and delighted; she really liked this decisive and efficient approach.

Although she was quite curious about what the nice song was when she entered, she lost interest after reading the script.

As for her salary, it's rather low. She earns 6000 yuan per episode of a TV series now, not to mention the immense mental torment this role caused. However, she is satisfied.

Unlike Hao Lei's relaxed and carefree attitude, Deng Chao, who didn't arrive in Tazhai until evening, was flustered and bewildered, but there was a hint of excitement in his eyes. Well, you could tell he was really excited.

After sitting on the train for more than 20 hours, I'm not even feeling hot, I'm practically stale.

Yang Che, who had just arrived at the courtyard, said with great emotion, "If I didn't use you, how much would you hate me?"

Deng Chao smiled shyly: "No, you'll need mine sooner or later."

Yang Che laughed; this guy was indeed likable.

"I think you're suited for comedy."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Che felt his eyes light up, his expression become more vivid, and his whole body relax.

"Right, that's what I think."

Two major disasters in the Chinese film and television industry: Deng Chao starring in comedies, and Xiao Ming playing domineering CEOs...

Yang Che then had him take a shower in the south room, and afterwards they ate and chatted at a roadside stall near the Beijing Film Studio. Of course, Liu Chang, Zeng Jian, and Gu Yibing were also there...

Deng Chao spent most of his time reading the script. He thought the short film was awesome, and his colleagues in the crew were right. He said that he would be an idiot to hesitate for even a second.

Zeng Jian asked, "Brother Che, isn't there going to be a soundtrack for this film?"

"No, no emotional release whatsoever. Music, camera work, dialogue... That's my current thought. We'll talk about it after filming."

"..."

Near the end, Deng Chao asked, "Brother Che, why did I have a blank expression when I found out at the end that the female driver had driven off a cliff?"

Yang Che paused for a moment, then simply said, "For someone who seeks revenge through death, moral criticism and legal punishment have lost all meaning. There's no summarizing, no commenting, no redemption, no expression; hence, it's numbness. You could also interpret it as the brain being overloaded, unable to react for a moment."

Deng Chao was at a loss. He wanted to ask, but didn't know what to ask, so he buried his head in his food and started eating skewers.

In the original film, the male lead smiled, but Yang Che felt that it was just pretentious and, even if it was meant to express something, it was a very low-level expression. That smile lowered the film's overall quality by a whole level.

The party's over.

Yang Che didn't go back to Tazhai today, but went back to Courtyard No. 8.

Before we knew it, it was June 30th.

On the gravel road behind Liuli Temple in Huairou, Zeng Jian was adjusting a Sony DCR-VX2000 camera that was glued on to a bus in front of it, in order to film the wheels of the bus speeding along the gravel road.

The Sony DCR-VX2000E is a tape camcorder, and Yang Che rented two from the Beijing Film Academy's Qingying Studio.

The driver at this moment was not Hao Lei, but a chubby little boy named Yuan Hang. He had a round head and a round face, and looked very honest. But when you looked at his arms, wow, they were thicker than a good person's thighs. However, he was not stupid at all. On the contrary, he was quite agile, and his movements seemed to have the strength of a dragon and an elephant.

Yang Che waved from outside the car: "Yuanhang, drive at 70 mph this time."

Yuanhang grinned: "Okay."

"Let's open it."

Following Yang Che's command, the bus sputtered forward, while Gu Yibing, carrying a Sony DCR-VX2000E, patted the back of the bus. The bus's license plate was West A·23333, clearly a prop.

Three or four shots were taken of the empty car running, including long, medium, and close-up shots.

There were more than forty people standing by the roadside, with Hao Lei and Yang Che standing out like people from another world.

It wasn't just their looks and demeanor, but also the fact that only the two of them were wearing white.

Of course, Hao Lei was wearing a white shirt, while Yang Che was still wearing the "hope of the whole village" shirt.

The production crew naturally didn't have that many behind-the-scenes people. Twenty-six of them were extras recruited from the Huairou Film and Television Base, all of whom were carefully selected by Fu Dong.

Deng Chao, without any makeup, still had the same hairstyle as in another film crew, looking like a messy hedgehog, and wore brightly colored clothes, just like young people these days.

Yang Che had expected the two to fall head over heels in love at first sight, but that didn't happen.

Deng Chao's gaze would occasionally drift over Hao Lei, but Hao Lei spent most of his time alone and didn't talk much to Yang Che.

The first shot was filmed at 9 a.m.

"Get ready to board."

As the production assistant Zhang Yang called out, the extras hurriedly boarded the bus, while Hao Lei, biting a wig and tying her hair up with her hands, did so with her own little design. It was summer, and these days, buses don't have air conditioning.

Yang Che kept adjusting the seating arrangements of the extras in the car, such as what kind of face should be carrying a snakeskin bag of luggage, where they should sit, and what kind of face should sit in the front, etc.

"Ma'am, when that young man gets on the bus later, you need to hold onto your bag. Understand?"

"I know, they thought he was a thief."

"Yes, yes, yes, big sister is amazing."

Yang Che chuckled and praised them, continuing to instruct the extras on their small movements. He wanted everyone to be a "person," not just part of the background.