This director loves making friends.

"I'll say it again, put away that exaggerated acting style of yours!"

Holding a megaphone, Qin Keqing shouted to the people present: "Don't glare fiercely and bare your teeth when you're playing a bad guy, and don't act like you've never seen a woman before with that lecherous and sleazy look. I don't need these stereotypical performances."

"And you, Mr. Yang, your character is a henchman who wants to take the male lead's place. All you need to do is be ruthless. Tone down your exaggerated expressions. Don't make yourself look like a villain. This is a movie, not a play. You don't need to use exaggerated expressions to make the audience distinguish between good and evil."

Then, Qin Keqing handed the megaphone to the person next to him, clapped his hands, and said, "Come on, everyone, listen up, let's do it again."

We're currently filming the scene where the male lead is being brutally beaten by the gang leader's men, and later he'll be buried alive. This is an extremely important scene.

Yang Sheng plays another henchman who wants to replace the male lead, and he has many scenes with Lin Guobin.

The action scenes in "A Bittersweet Life" are very important. Lin Guobin came from Jackie Chan's stunt team and was also Jackie Chan's bodyguard. He is good at fighting. Qin Keqing told him about the requirements for the action scenes.

Ask him to recommend a stunt coordinator who is skilled in practical combat and can design realistic, impactful moves.

Lin Guobin then brought in Lu Huiguang and Yang Sheng, who were also from the Jackie Chan Stunt Team.

Yang Sheng is from Beijing. He started learning opera and practicing basic skills at the age of ten. In the early 1980s, he was noticed by Xu Ke and went to Hong Kong to develop his career.

He joined Jackie Chan's stunt team in 1984 and became a martial arts instructor. In 1990, the stunt team disbanded, and like Lam Kwok-ping, he began to develop his career independently.

Yang Sheng once served as Brigitte Lin's stunt double in the movie "Police Story" and completed high-diving stunts. Later, he transitioned to a martial arts assistant instructor and participated in the filming of movies such as "A Chinese Ghost Story" and "Swordsman".

Compared to Yang Sheng, Lu Huiguang is more famous.

Like Lam Kwok-ping, Lo Wai-kwong was not only a member of Jackie Chan's stunt team but also Jackie Chan's bodyguard. The difference was that when the Jackie Chan stunt team disbanded, Lam Kwok-ping wanted to switch to acting and left, while Lo Wai-kwong stayed.

Lu Huiguang was proficient in Muay Thai and won the Hong Kong Muay Thai Championship for seven consecutive years from 1984 to 1990, achieving a seven-time consecutive championship.

It is estimated that Lin Guobin called him over because he was skilled in Muay Thai and could use his hands, feet, elbows, and knees as weapons. In particular, his elbows and knees were extremely lethal at close range. He did not follow fixed routines, and his power and style were fierce, which met Qin Keqing's requirements for the movements.

When Qin Keqing heard the name Lu Huiguang, he didn't immediately recognize him. But when he saw him, he suddenly realized that Lu Huiguang was the "Hung Hing War God" prince from the "Young and Dangerous" series.

Since whispering to Lin Guobin, Lin Guobin has indeed stopped making extra expressions and exaggerated body language while filming, and has become very "cool".

The other actors, however, are still a headache. Their formulaic performances make it easy to tell who is good and who is bad.

And then there's Mr. Yang. He only entered Hong Kong in his early twenties and worked in the stunt industry. He didn't play many roles, so how did he learn the formulaic acting style of Hong Kong actors?

Qin Keqing's outburst and shouting actually had an effect. In the subsequent filming, at least the actors were much more restrained in their expressions after being specifically reminded.

"Click."

After filming the conversation between Yang Sheng and Lin Guobin, the next scene to be filmed was the one where they were buried alive.

"Are you sure you don't want a stunt double?"

Qin Keqing came to Lin Guobin's side. The large pit next to them had already been dug, and several people were standing next to the pit.

"I started out as a stuntman. In our stunt industry, that's the simplest and easiest thing to do. If someone like me still needs a stuntman, I'll be laughed at."

Lin Guobin put his hands on his hips and said with a sour face.

Ever since Qin Keqing whispered in his ear, he's had a sour face these past few days, and he acts the same way no matter who he sees. Just now, he was the most talkative person he's had in the past few days.

"Don't worry, Director, it's a piece of cake for Ah Bin, there's no danger."

Lu Huiguang patted Lin Guobin hard on the shoulder and said to Qin Keqing with a smile.

"This level of difficulty is the easiest for stuntmen, so don't worry, Director," Yang Sheng added.

"Okay, make sure to take proper protective measures."

Qin Keqing walked towards the director's position, picked up the walkie-talkie, and said, "Attention all units, get ready and strive for a one-take success."

Once all the reports were ready, Qin Keqing didn't sit down. Instead, he stood up, looked towards the filming location, and shouted, "Action!"

This time, Qin Keqing didn't say "start" but used "action" because this was a very important point. He didn't want some Hong Kong people to have to react to the word "start," which would cause some parts to be reshot in time.

Say "action" to Hong Kong filmmakers and they'll understand immediately.

Yang Sheng kicked Lin Guobin into the pit, casually tossed his unfinished cigarette in, and spat in as if he had just gotten his revenge.

Then, soil, mixed with rainwater, covered Lin Guobin in the pit.

This shot was only focused on Lin Guobin. In reality, no fire trucks were used to create artificial rain; instead, several staff members used water hoses to spray water to create the rain effect.

"Click!"

As Qin Keqing called for a halt, Yang Sheng smiled and reached out, preparing to pull Lin Guobin up.

Lin Guobin slapped his hand away and yelled, "Damn it, Shengzai, you bastard, were you doing that on purpose? You spit all over my face!"

"Bullshit, I wasn't even looking directly at your face, what proof do you have?"

"I have no evidence whatsoever. Even if I did have evidence, it would have been washed away by water and mud."

"That means there's no evidence, you bastard..."

The two men laughed and teased each other. Lin Guobin didn't come up; they were going to film him crawling out of the mud pit later, so it was better for him to stay here and avoid having to go down again later.

The entire production cycle for "Sweet Life" is expected to be long, from preparation to final completion, Qin Keqing estimates it will take four months.

Four months would be an extremely short production cycle elsewhere, but in Hong Kong, it is considered an extremely "long" cycle.

However, actors and staff do not need to sign a four-month contract; four months is the entire period that includes preparation, filming, and post-production.

For actors like Zhu Yin and Lin Wei, who have limited roles, signing a two-week contract is sufficient.

As for Lin Kuo-pin, since he's part of the same production team, we don't need to worry about his schedule. This is his first time playing the male lead, so I believe he won't be concerned about his availability.

Qin Keqing estimated that Lin Guobin wanted to succeed even more than he did, and wanted his movie to be a huge hit.

In the midst of the intense filming, Qin Keqing suddenly received a phone call from Xie Fei.

"Ke Qing, can you spare some time in early February?"

Xie Fei knew that Qin Keqing was directing his first film, which is why he asked that question.

"A few days?"

"If you have more free time, about a week. If you really can't spare that much time, then February 22nd would be the best day to go to Berlin."

Qin Keqing's heart skipped a beat. February 22nd, could it be the Berlin Film Festival awards ceremony?

"Is this Professor Xie trying to give me exposure at the Berlin Film Festival and introduce me to some connections?"