This director loves making friends.

In Qin Keqing's view, most of the paintings exhibited at the Xiaoshulin Art Exhibition were abstract, exaggerated, and difficult to understand.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Min watched very intently. Her eyes, usually hidden behind sunglasses, were clear and bright, and she seemed very interested.

The art exhibition was small in scale and had no rules or restrictions; it was simply set up along the trees.

Zhang Min walked very slowly, sometimes pausing in front of a painting, a smile appearing on her face. She walked around three times before finally emerging, seemingly still wanting more.

She paused for a moment, then reached for her sunglasses, preparing to put them on.

"You look beautiful when you smile without sunglasses."

Qin Keqing casually said something abrupt: "Zhang Min is so beautiful and pleasing to the eye now, why does she have to act so arrogant and unapproachable?"

Zhang Min paused for a moment, then put on her sunglasses. After a brief silence, she said, "Let's go, let's go back."

Actually, they hadn't even reached the ruins of the Old Summer Palace's Great Fountain yet, but Qin Keqing was already familiar with Zhang Min's style; it was just a formality.

Once you're here, that's enough.

"This woman seems to be troubled and unhappy."

After today's events, and considering Zhang Min's behavior over this period, Qin Keqing's impression of her has changed somewhat.

Two days later, Stephen Chow arrived, although some Hong Kong actors hadn't made it yet, some outdoor sets hadn't been set up, and the actors hadn't even had a script reading...

Okay, actually the script isn't even finalized yet...

Under these circumstances, filming of "King of Beggars" officially began.

Qin Keqing even felt that if it weren't for waiting for Stephen Chow to come over for the opening ceremony, the movie might have already started filming.

The high-speed production of Hong Kong films during this period, with "one film per month" or even "fresh every seven days," was no empty boast.

After several days of filming, Qin Keqing gained some experience and learned the reasons for the short production cycle of Hong Kong films.

Some actors are criticized for taking on multiple projects simultaneously... This term isn't necessarily derogatory when applied to Hong Kong actors; taking on multiple projects at once is common. If an actor has no projects to take on simultaneously, it means they've lost attention and aren't popular anymore.

What should we do if the actors haven't arrived yet?

easy to do.

Find a body double with a similar build, and only shoot their back, side, or long shots. Don't show them facing the camera during scenes with them. Just finish shooting that scene first, and then reshoot close-ups when the actual actor arrives. That should solve the problem.

As for the film's composition and camera language... what are you thinking? Wouldn't it be better to spend that time making more films and selling them in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia?

What if actors can't remember their lines because of time constraints?

That's easy to handle.

The main idea is simple: film the scenes first, then add the dialogue.

If there are few lines, provide cue words. When there are long lines, try to blur the lines as much as possible. Don't show the actor's mouth; instead, show the eyes, the other actor, or a wide shot.

Actors only need to remember how many lines they have, the general meaning of the lines, and what emotions they need. When filming, they can say the lines however they want, as long as they have enough words and the emotions are right.

Post-production dubbing is much simpler and easier than repeatedly shouting "cut".

Of course, not all actors are like that.

Stephen Chow can memorize his lines, although sometimes he still can't memorize them all, but he... likes to change the script on the spot, and will call "cut" even before the director does. He will do this whenever he feels that a scene is not suitable.

He figured out how to best portray this scene and would perform it in his own way.

Since he revised the play himself, he didn't need to memorize the lines.

In order to meet the deadline, the production team will also "pre-production" the post-production, which means that the filming will be completed on the same day, thus saving a lot of time.

There are also very few instances of directors and editors arguing, because editors may not even know what the story is about; they just need to cut according to the director's instructions.

Even before filming began, the release date for "King of Beggars" was already set for December 17th, during the Lunar New Year holiday season.

This is the most important film season in Hong Kong throughout the year. In terms of industry consensus, the density of blockbuster releases, and the decisive influence on the annual box office champion, the Lunar New Year film season is irreplaceable.

In other words, this refers to Hong Kong films. If it were in another place, the film would still be more than two months away from its release date, and filming wouldn't have even started yet. Can you believe that?

But when applied to Hong Kong cinema in this era, no one would be surprised.

After witnessing the filming process and methods of Hong Kong movies, Qin Keqing surprisingly felt that having more than two months was quite ample.

Hong Kong directors love to "recruit" on set.

When the production crew needs minor supporting roles or extras, if they don't have time to find them, they will ask the on-site staff to fill in temporarily.

There's nothing we can do about it.

There are so many situations like writing scripts on set, adding scenes on the spot, and changing scenes on the spot that the production team simply cannot prepare everything in advance.

Before Qin Keqing could even offer to play a minor role, she was "pulled" in at the last minute and made a background character.

Somewhat unexpectedly, after filming the scene on the backdrop where I changed into my costume, I actually received a red envelope containing 200 yuan.

All the mainland staff members who played background roles received red envelopes. Qin Keqing even checked and found that everyone else received 100 yuan, half of what he received.

Qin Keqing guessed that this was because he was nominally a production manager, and people in Hong Kong pay a lot of attention to this.

Even if it's just 100 dollars, everyone else is very happy. That's almost a third of their usual salary. No wonder studio employees all want to join co-production crews; the money is easy to earn.

The filming went very smoothly. Except for Stephen Chow's scenes, which sometimes required multiple takes, everyone else's scenes were filmed easily as long as there were no obvious problems.

In comparison, moving between different outdoor locations was the most time-consuming part.

That day, Zhang Min had just finished filming a scene when her assistant pulled her aside, whispered a few words in her ear, and the smile on her face immediately disappeared.

"Custom-made films from Taiwan?"

She asked her assistant again with a blank expression.

The assistant nodded: "It's a movie called 'Bodhi Ghost'."

Qin Keqing was not far away. Zhang Min and her assistant were speaking in Cantonese. They assumed that Qin Keqing did not understand Cantonese, so they did not try to hide anything.

"Why take on custom-made films from Taiwan? These kinds of films are almost always poorly made to make quick money. Who in the company gave me these jobs? Does Mr. Xiang know about this?"

The assistant kept his head down and didn't dare to reply.

"Is it that woman, Chen Lan?"

The assistant quickly shook his head and whispered, "It's not Miss Chen, it's Mr. Xiang... I heard that the Taiwanese company offered a high fee of 300 million, which is why Mr. Xiang agreed."

Zhang Min was taken aback, then sneered.

"300 million? Ha, that's impressive. I'm only worth 300 million..."

The assistant lowered his head again, not daring to reply.

Zhang Min waved her hand to dismiss her assistant. She wanted to do something, but didn't know what to do.

She didn't say anything when she passed by Qin Keqing, and then stopped after she had already walked past him.

"Is there an art exhibition in the grove today? I'd like to go see it."

"today?"

Qin Keqing looked up at the sky. What a joke! It's probably past five in the afternoon, almost dark. What kind of art exhibition is this?

Besides, art exhibitions don't happen every day; those "artists" only hold one every ten days or so.

"Wait a moment, I'm going to change my clothes."

Zhang Min didn't give Qin Keqing a chance to refuse; she left after saying those words.

I don't like the tone of your voice!