Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

Lenghu Town

Zhuang Huai'an looked at the wilted potato seedlings in the greenhouse through the monitor and was quite satisfied.

That's the effect we want; too much growth is actually not good.

"Okay, everyone, thank you for your hard work. Zhiyong, please pass on the word that the crew will be given a 20-day break. Department heads should coordinate their shifts."

"Dude, your main task during this period is to eat. Eat whatever you can to build muscle. You need to gain at least 25 to 30 pounds."

"Okay." Jiang Wen nodded weakly; the past month had been agonizing for him.

It's the end of March now.

Filming for "The Martian" is already halfway done. If we summarize it according to the plot of the film, the second half of the film, featuring the frail figure and some group scenes, has already been filmed. What remains are basically reshoots and Jiang Wen's solo scenes.

According to the observatory staff, Lenghu Town is most desert-like from May to July. During this period, the wind and sand are less, the temperature is more suitable, and the Milky Way is clearer, making it the best time to shoot starry night scenes.

A 20-day holiday is just right for me to come back.

This film is positioned as a hardcore realist disaster survival film. Its core is not about saving the world, but about ordinary people relying on science, rationality and optimism to fight against extreme loneliness and the survival instinct in desperate situations.

The characters in the drama are not absolutely good or evil; they simply have different perspectives, which creates reasonable conflicts.

The crew members were packing up the props. Zhuang Huai'an pulled Jiang Wen, cinematographer Gu Changwei, art director Huo Tingxiao, and action director Cao Long behind the monitor and went through today's footage again.

These two truly deserve to be called the top photographer and top artist in China. Gu Changwei, in particular, always manages to capture the essence of the scene. The coverage of his lens angles is so great that, just looking at the screen, it feels like we've actually been to Mars.

If the ginger tattoo wasn't done with wires, it would look like that.

Zhuang Huai'an pressed the walkie-talkie, "Department heads, come and assemble. Let's go over the details one last time."

Before long, everyone had arrived.

Zhuang Huai'an first looked at Cao Long, "Brother Cao, you did a great job with the wire work. Mars' gravity is only 38% of Earth's. Whether it's the actors' movements or the falling objects, you have to get the balance right. During this period when Brother Jiang is gaining weight, you can work on it with him again."

"Okay, director." Cao Long nodded, pondering how to design the actors' walking. This was his first big production, and since the director was giving him face, he couldn't let him down.

"Have the costumes and props arrived yet?"

"Here you are, director."

"Okay," Zhuang Huai'an said with a smile, "Your task is the most important. During your rest period, you must check the entire set every day. You are involved in the entire prop making process, so you should know that there are no scraps in this cabin, only tools that are needed. Especially the green screen studio, make sure no sand gets in."

Also, the spacesuit must be kept in good condition. I want every scratch and dent to look realistic, even the repair tape and temporary solder marks must look old and nice. Understand?

"Understood, Director."

Faced with the Holy Son's instructions, the senior students from Beijing Film Academy nodded in unison. Before they came, their teachers had all told them that as long as the movie was well-made, they could do whatever they wanted in their respective circles.

"Teacher Huo, keep the ochre and orange-red tones in the following scenes, with higher contrast. The shadows should be deep with a cool blue tint. You can experiment a few more times to see which effect works best."

"Okay, I'll take a look." Although Huo Tingxiao was very confident, he still had to be humble and give the director some face.

Old Huo turned to look at the senior students in charge of costumes and props, and said in a serious tone, "I will still stay here to supervise during the break. You must take your jobs seriously. If you mess it up, you'll have to go back to school and repeat a few years."

"Teacher Huo's meaning is my meaning," Wang Hongwei, the mentor who had been silent in the corner, chimed in. As his good student's first big production, Old Wang naturally had to come and observe.

"Yes, Teacher Huo and Teacher Wang."

The senior students remained silent, trembling with fear. Huo Tingxiao was the head of the Fine Arts Department at Beijing Film Academy, and with Professor Wang from the Directing Department, their words represented the entire academy. Not to mention the students' natural fear of their teachers, which made the two of them feel inexplicably pressured.

"Hmm." Huo Tingxiao nodded in satisfaction. The art direction and costume and props were the closest relationships in the crew, complementing each other. He didn't want his students to drag the crew down while he was carefully maintaining the relationship.

Seeing the two elders give the sect disciples a warning, Zhuang Huai'an smiled inwardly. The presence of these two was his guarantee that he could trust his senior brothers and sisters to participate in this movie.

"The wise and brave mouse will have to work a little harder; stay put and wait for orders."

"Alright." As trusted generals, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong would naturally take on this task.

"Senior Brother Gu, your task is the most important."

Gu Changwei chuckled, revealing a set of buck teeth, "Director, you're right. Old Gu can handle a hundred or two hundred pounds."

"I certainly trust your skills, but it's hard to explain in just a few words. I'll give you the storyboard for your reference."

"Okay, I'll think about it."

Of all the crew members, the one Zhuang Huai'an trusted the most was Gu Changwei. This kind of top-notch person couldn't be restricted too much. Several of his brilliant ideas had resulted in productions that were even better than the original.

Genius cannot be confined.

After discussing for a while, the group prepared to disperse. Just as they stepped out of the tent, a beautiful figure came into view. After seeing who it was, everyone looked at Gu Changwei, who was grinning with big teeth, with strange expressions.

"Hello, Director Zhuang, Teacher Gu, Teacher Huo, Teacher Wang, Instructor Cao, everyone."

The visitor was Zhang Jing. Since Gu Changwei joined the crew, she had been with him almost every day, making everyone worry that Jiang Wenli would come knocking on their door.

Everyone nodded in greeting, and Gu Changwei, smiling like a landlord's silly son, went to greet them. He was currently riding high, boasting that he had achieved success in both his career and love life.

We need to rewind to the sixth day of the Lunar New Year.

The Berlin International Film Festival has concluded.

Ultimately, the two directors had no intention of spending any more money on Feng Xiaogang. Perhaps they thought it was already good enough that "A World Without Thieves" made it into the main competition, since the overseas rights didn't belong to Huayi Brothers anyway.

At the time, Zhuang Huai'an was too lazy to pay attention to them. He believed that spending money was for making money, and people who couldn't even understand this basic principle were petty and would never amount to anything.

On the contrary, Gu Changwei's "Peacock" must have gotten help from Zhang Yimou to handle public relations, and won the Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear Award, making Feng Xiaogang's eyes almost pop out of their sockets with envy.

They're all buck-toothed ugly freaks, why should you win an award!

Ultimately, the overseas rights to "A World Without Thieves" were sold through MGM Studios for $500 million, another case of money being made from one hand to the other!

Zhuang Huai'an had no right to interfere in Gu Changwei's mess, nor did he want to. As long as it didn't affect the operation of the film crew, and as long as Gu had the ability, he could even pull Wenli and Zhang Jing into a no-holds-barred party.

Many people say that Gu Changwei is a womanizer, but in fact, Wenli is also... In short, it's hard to judge!

Whether it's Wenli, Feng Xiaogang's wife Xu Fan, or Kai Zi's wife Chen Hong, their paths before marrying director husbands were almost identical!

It's not that the older generation was honest; it's that when they were having their fun, the internet was just starting out, and many memories were lost.

Perhaps it was precisely because of her rise to power that the so-called "blacklist" of the directors' wives' group was issued against Zhang Jing.

Tsk, thinking about it carefully, my own wife is still the best.

It would be best to raise something like that.

As everyone bypassed the sweet and affectionate couple, Gu Changwei and his companion, and stepped out of the film set, another figure came into view. Upon closer inspection...

Holy crap! Jiang Wenli!

Seeing Wenli's murderous aura, everyone instinctively stepped aside to make way. Old Gu, you'd better pray for yourself!

Gu Changwei: Damn it! None of these guys in the underworld have any sense of loyalty!

Crowd: I want to see rivers of blood!