I'm not mentally ill, I'm a master of a thousand faces!

Chapter 226, Our Male Lead is Really Slow!

The film crew arrived here a day early.

Director Yang Wei arrived very early, along with the female lead Zhu Yuan, the three Kong brothers, and Liu Yuan, the actor who played the village chief.

These are the main actors in the entire film "The Dog," along with the male lead, Li Tiangou, which together make up the movie "The Dog."

"Our male lead is so slow."

"By the time he arrives, we've already started filming. He hasn't even learned about the script, doesn't know about rural life, and doesn't understand the local dialect. If he arrives late, it'll be a huge delay and a laughing stock." At this point, Liu Yuan, who plays the village chief, joked, "This young actor is just so impetuous."

Liu Yuan is an actor with a permanent position at the National Theatre of China.

Or rather, apart from Li Yun, everyone else in the "The Dog" production crew this time is a permanent employee.

"Brother Liu, don't blame this Mr. Li. He may not know our local customs."

"Sigh, indeed. These unofficial actors are only thinking about how to make money and how to play ugly to please people. They don't understand real movies at all." Ma Shengchang, the actor who plays the villain Boss Kong, shook his head at the unofficial actors.

The level of professionalism was so high that he couldn't bear to finish reading it.

This is something that actors who focus on "art," and something that all actors in the production team would do, is to come to the local area in advance to gather material or get into character for a project.

Even learning the local dialect is on the agenda.

The actors in their regular staff wouldn't do something like arriving just two days before filming starts.

"Oh dear, I misunderstood. I didn't inform him in advance. He's not part of our system, so he really doesn't know our rules." Director Yang Wei slapped his forehead, acknowledging that he had indeed been negligent this time.

Even the female lead was a new actress from the National Theatre of China, but unexpectedly, the male lead was parachuted in from outside the established staff.

This is a bit awkward.

"Actually, it's not Director Yang's fault. Who told our superiors to assign such a person?" Liu Yuan chewed on a blade of grass, his words and actions befitting a country bumpkin. His life these past few days had largely brought him closer to the role of the 'village chief'.

But then again, the reasons aren't actually that complicated.

The movie "The Dog" was originally a second-tier production funded by the state.

The key issue lies in this second-tier production. In fact, the production team didn't have high hopes for the "Tengu" project to begin with. Because they didn't have high hopes for it, it became a "sacrifice" in the internal factional struggle.

It was Li Mo's faction and another faction fighting like gods, trying to undermine each other.

Only then did they bring the actor "Li Yun" to the cast of "The Dog".

Of course, the production team of "The Dog" originally intended it to be a practice project for Yang Wei, but Yang Wei himself was not satisfied with it.

He felt that his script still had potential.

Unfortunately, the authorities did not have much confidence in the work "Tengu".

Having confidence on your own is not very useful.

They have already become victims of the struggle.

Of course, it's also thanks to the professionalism and dedication of the theater actors in this production team, who still diligently prepared their roles and scripts according to the established procedures.

Try your best to immerse yourself in the character.

The current situation is that the higher-ups don't have much faith in this project. It's only a second-tier production with a mediocre budget, so even a skilled cook can't make a meal without ingredients.

With little confidence to begin with, and the male lead still not in place, the morale of the entire crew is somewhat low.

However, when the protagonist, Li Yun, arrived...

This further dampened morale.

"Hello everyone, I'm Li Yun. I look forward to your guidance in the days to come. By the way, did you all arrive early? How come you all seem to know this place so well?"

"We've been living here for quite a while now." Liu Yuan looked at Li Yun speechlessly. "There's not much time left for you to continue reading. You should be able to start filming in three days."

Actors who are employed by the organization and those who are not are always from two different worlds.

The entertainment industry also has its own circles.

The resources for official dramas are something that actors outside the official cast can only dream of.

The extra money and extravagant lifestyles enjoyed by those on the official payroll are something that the actors on the official payroll can only watch from afar.

However, actors within the established system can achieve a social status that actors outside the system can only dream of through acting.

Both sides may have things they admire about each other, and things they don't understand about each other, but they also have some stereotypes about each other.

Now, Li Yun's stereotypes have been fully formed in the eyes of the actors in this drama theater.

He is indeed quite handsome.

Zhu Yuan, who plays the female lead Tao Hua, immediately felt a strong sense of immersion in the role.

He's handsome, but also a bit frivolous.

And he's very lazy.

But to be fair, Li Yun is indeed innocent in terms of laziness.

No one notified us beforehand, so who knew the film crew would arrive here so quickly?

This gave Li Yun a refreshing feeling.

These actors within the system are just as entangled.

How many actors can immerse themselves in the role for days beforehand?

However, they also have their own aspirations.

The professional titles for art professionals are divided into four levels.

The first and second levels are senior professional titles. Second-level professional titles enjoy the treatment of associate senior professional titles, and first-level actors can enjoy special allowances from the State Council.

Li Mo is a director with a national first-class professional title.

Like actors outside the system, they also have their own career advancement paths, and most of them are serious dramas, mainstream films, and period art films.

"Hello, I am Zhu Yuan, a national third-level actress, and also the leading actress in this film."

Zhu Yuan smiled and said, "You don't really need to pay attention to what those seniors say. They have their own opinions. You have also achieved some success outside the system. Maybe you're a bit old-fashioned and don't quite understand the composition of achievements outside the system. I know you're actually quite good."

Second-tier film stars.

It's actually a form of recognition of acting skills.

Li Yun was also grateful for her understanding, but Zhu Yuan also said that the script and the character were not actually that compatible with her appearance.

I don't really understand why the higher-ups would let Li Yun play the role of Li Tiangou.

But since it was assigned by higher-ups to play the role, Zhu Yuan could only do her best to guide Li Yun to imitate the character well.

Although she also felt that three days was not enough time to produce a decent copy.

But that's how it is.

At least tidy up your appearance.

Don't be so handsome.

At this very moment, Li Yun was also lost in thought.

Three days.

Make sure you understand the character Li Tiangou's words, actions, and language.

I'm copying this character.

The production team was also very serious.

Although it was a second-tier production.

But the location is real. This place is a poor, remote village with no resources. There are not many young people left here. It is mostly elderly or middle-aged people who will become extras in this dog fight.

This is also a characteristic of state-produced art films.

Local people were used as extras.

This way of performing will produce the most authentic effect.

Because it's close.

"We need to get close to the lives of the people and become one with them in order to portray them well." At this moment, Zhu Yuan, who was standing next to her, was talking about her own experience.

Or rather, these are the insights of actors within the system.

At this moment, Li Yun felt his head buzzing.

But it is the voice that resonates with this land.

The sound of chainsaws cutting down trees.

Quickly get this timber down and take it to the city.

The sound of villagers shouting and cursing.

I can't live without cutting down trees!

Li Tiangou's voice was deafening.

Stop cutting it down! Stop cutting it down! This is state property!

However, the sound of the villagers sawing wood never stopped.

However, the persecution by the Confucius family never ceased.

Why would the villagers rather stand next to local thugs than to the forest rangers appointed by our country?

Even if it's logging, why give up a large portion of the profits to the tyrannical Kong family?

At this moment, Li Yun suddenly spoke.

"Why? Li Tiangou, can you tell me?"

At this moment, the paranoid person next to Li Yun spoke.

"no."

"I don't understand either."

Seeing that Li Yun wasn't listening and was instead doing something strange on his own, Zhu Yuan felt helpless. She gave him a few instructions and then went to the other side to prepare for her role.

The entire script revolves around Li Tiangou.

If Li Yun isn't serious, then this script won't work.

Forget it, let fate decide. Anyway, if something goes wrong, it's not my fault.

We're not expecting to get a promotion based on this movie.

After all, this is a second-tier work that has been abandoned.

I don't expect to win any awards or achieve anything else.

"What do you think of this young man?"

"I don't think it'll work," Liu Yuan, who plays the village chief, shook his head and said, "He looks too upright, and his demeanor has a strange, frivolous feel to it. Our Li Tiangou is a retired soldier, you know. I'm not saying he has any imposing presence, but he shouldn't be so frivolous."

It's clear that Liu Yuan is quite dissatisfied with this Li Tiangou, not only because of his attitude, but also because of the problems caused by his image.

They don't really look like a good match.

The fit isn't good enough.

They also don't have a natural resemblance in temperament.

Director Yang Wei shook his head, not offering any further comment.

We can only treat it as a practice project in preparation.

"It's a pity that our work became a victim of factional infighting. Otherwise, I could have made it a great film," Yang Wei sighed softly.

Now Yang Wei only hopes that Li Yun can be at least somewhat qualified.

It's enough to portray the basic image of the character.

There wasn't much expectation that this person with connections would be able to deliver a good performance.

I don't expect the performance to be good.

(End of this chapter)