Peninsula: The Best Actor Starts from an Idol Battleground

Chapter 96 I, Li Zhixing, only care about money

The IRIS crew officially departed for Hungary on the evening of the 23rd.

The ratings for the fourth episode, which aired the day before departure, have already been released.

The final viewership rating was 26.2%.

This achievement is enough to make most TV drama production teams so excited they can't sleep.

However, the atmosphere on the set of "IRIS" was somewhat subtle.

After all, the previous episode had a viewership rating of 27.9%.

In comparison, the ratings for the fourth episode ultimately dropped a bit.

No one will really be disappointed by such results.

But everyone knows that the worst thing for a TV series that has already been anticipated by the audience is not a low start, but that the subsequent content cannot keep up with the momentum that has been built up.

Especially big-budget productions like "IRIS" that are filmed and broadcast simultaneously.

In fact, the initial shooting period for the Hungarian portion was not ten days, but fifteen days.

However, the initial filming had already been delayed for some time. In order to ensure that the later filming would not fall behind the broadcast schedule, the production team, after repeated deliberations, finally compressed the filming time to ten days.

This also means that the upcoming filming schedule will be extremely tight.

This part is one of the most action-packed and challenging segments in the entire series.

Large-scale gunfights, car and motorcycle chases, train explosions, building demolitions, and the manhunt surrounding Budapest following the assassination are all concentrated in this period.

In addition, there's the scene where Li Zhixing previously suggested a helicopter ambush of a nuclear physicist.

This scene originally involved aerial coordination, ground chases, actor safety, and multi-camera coordination. After the shooting schedule was compressed, it became one of the most difficult scenes to film during the trip.

Fortunately, the Hungarian side provided considerable support for this filming.

Whether it was coordinating filming locations in downtown Budapest, coordinating road conditions for city chase scenes, or even having local armed police participate in some crowd scenes and help maintain order on set, all of these factors reduced the number of additional obstacles for the production team.

No matter how favorable the external conditions were, they couldn't change the tension within the production crew.

The excitement from the high ratings hadn't even worn off when even heavier pressure began to mount.

September 10, evening.

.

The crew just finished filming the motorcycle chase scene in downtown Budapest today.

According to the plot, the assassin BIG, played by Lee Ji-hwan, needs to chase Chen Si-yu, played by Jung Joon-ho, and nuclear physicist Hong Seung-ryong on a motorcycle.

Chen Siyu, on the other hand, had to ride a motorcycle with Hong Shenglong at high speed through the streets and highways of Budapest, dodging vehicles chasing and blocking from behind while also having to fire back at them while driving.

The production team originally arranged for Jung Joon-ho to be a stunt double for the filming.

Because this scene is quite dangerous and involves some motorcycle stunts.

Li Zhixing is a professional stuntman, so of course he can complete this part of the scene.

Unexpectedly, Jung Joon-ho also refused to use a stunt double. After discussing with the director and producer for a long time, he persuaded them to allow him to film the scenes himself.

This was somewhat unexpected by Li Zhixing.

Jung Joon-ho is already 40 years old, and unlike Lee Byung-hun, he doesn't engage in long-term, systematic professional fitness training to maintain his physical fitness and muscle condition.

He only started intensive dieting and muscle training before he was confirmed to play the role and joined the crew.

This scene was indeed quite challenging for him.

But he still insisted on taking the field himself.

Of course, it would be even better if the actors could perform their own stunts without using stunt doubles.

Especially for action scenes that require the actor to show their face, the actors performing the scenes themselves will make the camera transitions more natural. During editing, there is no need to frequently avoid showing the face, nor to rely on back views and long shots to fool the audience.

Viewers can clearly see that the character is indeed on a motorcycle traveling at high speed, which greatly enhances the tension and immersion.

It seems that the record-breaking viewership ratings at the start of the season have also ignited the passion of these veteran artists.

Starring in a hit drama and playing a role that is well-received by the audience can give an actor many more opportunities in the following year.

Whether it's commercial endorsements or subsequent acting roles, things will go much more smoothly.

Therefore, at this point, no one is willing to simply finish filming the movie and call it a day.

As long as it makes the character more convincing and helps the audience remember them, even veteran artists who have been in the industry for many years are willing to grit their teeth and take on the role themselves.

The scene was filmed smoothly in the end.

Although adjustments were made several times due to the coordination of vehicle speed, positioning, and gunfire, once he got into the zone, Jung Joon-ho performed better than anyone expected.

When the director yelled "OK," many staff members on set couldn't help but applaud.

Jung Joon-ho was so exhausted he was almost collapsing.

He was helped aside by his assistant, took the water handed to him, tilted his head back and gulped down a few mouthfuls. After a while, the smile on his face didn't go away.

I'm really tired.

But the excitement was genuine.

After filming this key scene today, Li Zhixing and Zheng Junhao's tasks can be considered to have come to an end ahead of schedule.

The rest are just a few long shots that don't require the main actors to show their faces, reshoots of vehicle scenes, and some empty shots that need to be added on set.

Jung Tae-won was also with this group today. Seeing that he didn't need to keep an eye on the set for the time being, he returned to the hotel where the crew was staying with the two of them.

As for the group consisting of Lee Byung-hun, Kim Seung-woo, and Kim So-yeon, they were still filming on another outdoor location at the time.

The scene they're filming over there is the one where Kim Hyun-joon, played by Lee Byung-hun, assassinates a high-ranking North Korean official, and then Kim Seung-woo and Kim So-yeon chase after him.

This was also one of the most difficult scenes to film in Hungary, involving multiple locations such as city streets, subway stations, and train factories, as well as numerous gunfights, chases, and nighttime scene staging.

They haven't finished filming yet today, so naturally they haven't returned to the hotel.

The film crew temporarily set up a dining area in the hotel.

Those who finished work early came back to eat first, while the other group was still out filming.

After Li Zhixing sat down, he barely spoke, and began to focus on the food in front of him.

A plate of stewed beef with mashed potatoes was quickly emptied, and there wasn't much bread or hot soup left either.

Jung Joon-ho was so tired that he didn't even want to talk anymore. But watching Lee Ji-hsing wolf down a plate of food and then get up to bring back another, he couldn't help but sigh, "Young people really do have good appetites."

After saying that, he looked at Li Zhixing again, who was full of energy and showed no signs of fatigue, and was even more surprised.

"Aren't you tired, kid?"

"You've been filming all day, how come you still have so much energy?"

While eating, Li Zhixing said, "Of course I'm tired."

"Can't you see I'm replenishing my energy by eating?"

Jung Joon-ho looked down at the food in front of him.

He wasn't actually not hungry.

After filming all day, I was completely exhausted and my stomach was terribly empty.

But when a person gets too tired, they can become a different person altogether.

Even though I know my body needs to replenish energy, my stomach feels like it's blocked with something, and I can't muster any appetite at all.

He reluctantly picked up the fork, then put it back, and finally could only lean back in his chair and force a bitter smile.

"I'm starving."

"But I can't eat any of it."

Sitting next to him, Jung Tae-won looked just as tired as Jung Joon-ho.

Although he is the producer and doesn't have to perform those dangerous stunts himself, he still has to oversee almost everything, including road closures, vehicle scheduling, actor safety, and local coordination.

Unlike Jung Joon-ho, he clearly still had an appetite.

While Li Zhixing was engrossed in his meal, he was also chewing on beef beside him.

While eating, Jung Tae-won casually remarked, "Speaking of which, 'You're Beautiful,' which aired in the same time slot as us, may not have the same viewership ratings, but its revenue from other sources is quite impressive."

The other two people at the table were taken aback.

For a moment, I didn't understand why Jung Tae-won suddenly brought up "You're Beautiful" again.

Although the latest viewership rating for "You're Beautiful" barely reached 10%, no one in the "IRIS" crew really considers it a competitor anymore.

Aside from the daily ratings announcements, it's rarely mentioned anymore.

After Zheng Taiyuan finished speaking, he glanced at Li Zhixing.

But he found that Li Zhixing was still eating with his head down, showing no intention of supporting him at all.

Still not in the mood for food, Jung Joon-ho asked out of curiosity, "Representative Jung, what does that mean?"

"That show didn't sell as well as ours in terms of both revenue and licensing, so how can it generate any income?"

Seeing that someone had finally taken over the conversation, Jung Tae-won breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "It's the OST album."

"The OST album for 'You're Beautiful', which went on sale last week, has already sold more than 2 copies."

7

"So many?"

Jung Joon-ho exclaimed in surprise.

Li Zhixing, however, remained focused on eating the meal in front of him.

Jung Joon-ho continued, "OST albums generally don't sell much, right? Even 'Queen Seondeok' hasn't sold 1 copies yet."

"Otherwise, it would have been publicized extensively long ago."

"Who buys physical albums anymore? Everyone listens to them online, right?"

Zheng Taiyuan nodded.

"That's true."

"These days, it's difficult for singers to sell 1 copies of their regular albums, let alone TV drama OSTs."

"The OSTs for 'You're Beautiful' have been generating some buzz online, but nobody expected them to sell out so quickly."

"More than 2 copies, that's more than 2 million yuan in sales."

"And they've only sold OST Part 1 so far."

"We also plan to sell OST Part 2 once the TV series continues airing."

"The total might exceed 5."

Zheng Taiyuan smacked his lips enviously.

"The total investment for that drama was only over 20 billion yuan, and it recouped a large portion of its costs directly through its OST."

Jung Joon-ho became interested as he listened, forgetting all about his exhaustion.

"We can sell them too."

"Even if the OSTs from 'You're Beautiful' are popular, can they compare to ours?"

"Didn't Zhi Xing's song 'Don't Forget' take the number one spot on the weekly charts for two weeks? Isn't that better than their other 0ST songs?"

"Is it too popular?"

Upon hearing Zheng Junhao mention him, Li Zhixing finally looked up, gave him a smug smile, and still didn't say anything.

He then continued eating, engrossed in his meal.

Zheng Taiyuan's eyes twitched as he watched.

"Hey."

"A starving ghost?"

Seeing that the kid still wasn't falling for it, Zheng Taiyuan had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

"More than that."

"These past few days, with the airing of our drama, 'Don't Forget' has once again climbed to the top of the real-time charts, hasn't it?"

"Maybe we can take the number one spot on the weekly charts for another week."

"Topping the weekly charts for three consecutive weeks is an achievement that OSTs have never accomplished before, even though it wasn't consecutive."

Jung Joon-ho finally noticed that Jung Tae-won's gaze kept drifting towards Lee Ji-hyung.

He wondered what Representative Zheng was up to.

You're not holding back a good thing, are you?

However, she went along with his suggestion and said, "Then we can also produce an OST album."

"Even if we don't sell 5 copies, selling 2 or 3 copies would be quite good."

"What is Representative Zheng still hesitating about?"

Zheng Taiyuan shook his head and sighed.

"It's a pity that although our drama's OST has produced a huge hit song like 'Don't Forget,' it's only one song that's truly competitive."

"The others didn't even make a ripple."

"In this situation, the audience might not be convinced by just one song, 'Don't Forget'."

At this point, Zheng Taiyuan's gaze fell on Li Zhixing again.

Jung Joon-ho suppressed a laugh and continued to talk to him.

"So, what does Representative Zheng mean?"

Just then, Li Zhixing suddenly stood up and bowed respectfully: "Representative Zheng, Senior Junhao."

"I've finished eating, I'm going upstairs to rest now."

He was about to leave when he said that.

"Hey, you little rascal!"

But Zheng Taiyuan glared at him and grabbed him.

"What are you pretending for?"

"You don't understand what I mean, do you?"

Li Zhixing sat down helplessly.

"Representative Zheng, we already have such a heavy filming schedule, can we please stop making things difficult for us?"

"Let's finish filming our scenes here quickly and go home as soon as possible, okay?"

"The reason why the OST album of 'You're Beautiful' sold well is because the audience is young people."

"The lead actors are either idols or actors like Jang Geun Suk and Park Shin Hye, who are very popular among young viewers."

"What are we comparing ourselves to?"

"Apart from young fans, who still buys albums these days?"

Zheng Taiyuan glared at him.

"Why not?"

"Don't we still have Kim Tae-yeon?"

"Isn't she much more popular than Lee Hong-ki or Jung Yong-hwa?"

"And don't you have quite a few young fans too?"

"Kid, write another OST."

"Consider it a favor I owe you."

Li Zhixing thought to himself, "Do you think it's so easy to take my favors?"

When I take it, I'm on tenterhooks, wondering if you're trying to scam me.

"Representative Zheng, writing songs requires inspiration."

"What good stuff can something be written so casually?"

"Never mind, I'm tired, I'm going to rest."

"6

As he spoke, he made a move to leave again.

"One song, 2000 million!"

"Um?"

Li Zhixing stopped what he was doing.

2000 million.

This price is almost at the threshold for top composers' asking prices.

Although Li Zhixing wrote a hugely popular song, it doesn't mean that his creative fees could reach that level.

After "Don't Forget" became a hit, some people approached Li Zhixing to write songs, but the highest price they offered was only 800.

Million.

To put it bluntly, one song is not enough for him to gain recognition in the industry.

In particular, he is an actor by profession and a newcomer who has never really made a name for himself in the music industry.

Zheng Taiyuan's offer of 2000 million is quite bold.

This is already a very reasonable price.

Li Zhixing fell silent.

Seeing that Li Zhixing was indeed interested, Zheng Taiyuan continued, "Regardless of the quality, it's 2000 million."

"Can you give me the song within 3 days?"

Li Zhixing frowned and thought for a moment.

He then asked with a smile, "Representative Zheng, do you only need one song?"

"How about 10 songs?"

"20 million per song."

Zheng Taiyuan was completely stunned.

"Didn't you say that songwriting requires inspiration?"

Li Zhixing said smugly, "Money is my inspiration."

a long time.

"Hey, are you looking for death?"

>