Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

Inspired by Wang Jingsong,

The film "Gone Girl" was decided to be filmed at the Chedun Film and Television Base, which is under the Shanghai Film Group Corporation.

Although this film and television base mainly features Republican-era architectural styles, there are still some small Western-style buildings, which are quite suitable for the villa in the movie.

It's quite interesting, actually. According to the plan, Han Sanping was going to use his film to bring Shanghai Film Group into the project, but he didn't personally contact Shanghai Film Group. All the investment matters were handled by Han himself.

It's unclear how the two sides negotiated, but Shanghai Film Group only symbolically sent a deputy section chief surnamed Li to accompany the crew.

While chatting with Section Chief Li, Zhuang Huai'an also learned a lot of information. Professor Ren, who was considered one of the two giants alongside Han Sanping, has not yet joined the Shanghai Film Studio.

This dampened Zhuang Huai'an's desire to build a relationship. After all, if Professor Ren hadn't arrived, Shanghai Film Studio wouldn't have been so aggressive, and some collaborations would have been unnecessary for the time being.

At Chedun Film and Television Base,

Seeing that half of the crew members were unfamiliar faces, Zhuang Huai'an nodded to himself, which meant that Wang Zhiyong had done his last job well.

For this shoot, Wang Zhiyong was no longer the producer, but was "demoted" to assistant director and cinematographer. From the smile on his face, Zhuang Huai'an could tell that he was very satisfied.

"Gone Girl, Scene 1, Shot 1, Action!"

After a simple opening ceremony, the clapperboard clicked, and filming officially began.

In contrast to Feng Yuanzhen's perpetually bitter face, Mei Ting, who plays the female lead, is quite excited. In her words, she has finally found an opportunity to take revenge.

With this mindset, both of them were in great shape, and the filming process went very smoothly.

"Click, that's a pass."

Zhuang Huai'an took off his headphones and said loudly, "Take a half-hour break. Makeup team, do Mei Ting's makeup. Props team, prepare the blood plasma."

"Okay, director."

Everyone went about their assigned tasks. Zhuang Huai'an walked up to Feng Yuanzhen, handed him a cigarette, and said with a smile, "How's it going, brother? Not a good time being tortured, right?"

"Don't even mention it," Feng Yuanzhen said with a wry smile. "Mei Ting is right. The suffering she endured among strangers is now being repaid to her."

Feng Yuanzhen felt somewhat bitter. Although he didn't have to be beaten in this drama, the suffering he endured was no less than that of being beaten.

Because he studied the Grotowski acting system, also known as the Poverty Theatre, which emphasizes not being moved by external things and removing the physiological rejection of the actor's psychology.

It can also be considered a methodological approach, requiring a strong sense of immersion.

Feng Yuanzhen is an actor with a strong sense of conviction, and he can easily empathize with the male lead's psychological state, which makes this process very difficult for him.

Fortunately, Zhuang Huai'an had the foresight to cast Feng Yuanzhen in the role and also invited his wife, Liang Danni, to play the female lead's best friend.

The couple has a good relationship, and with his wife's company, Feng Yuanzhen is able to better detach himself from his roles.

Just as the two were chatting, Wang Zhiyong walked over with a strange look on his face.

Zhuang Huai'an raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong? What kind of look is that?"

"Uh, no, it's just that someone came to visit the set."

"Visiting the set? Who is it?"

"It's Liu Yifei."

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Huai'an understood why his sworn brother was looking at him like that. He got up, dusted himself off, and kicked him, cursing under his breath.

"I think you're just too idle. You should also be a producer."

Zhuang Huai'an swore to God that he had no improper thoughts about the young girls he was seeing, and he didn't want to become an electric shock boy.

Although I don't know why this girl has time to visit the set, since she's already here, I can't just send her away.

To prove it, Zhuang Huai'an pulled Wang Zhiyong out of the film set. The little girl saw him from afar, waved happily, and shouted:

"Hello, senior."

Zhuang Huai'an looked over and saw the little girl wearing a light green tracksuit. Her eyes were curved in a smile, and her face, without any makeup, still had a bit of baby fat, making her very pleasing to the eye.

Uh... how about it?

Zhuang Huai'an shook his head, clearing the jumbled thoughts from his mind.

"Girl, what brings you here?"

"Call me Sisi, can't I come?"

Liu Yifei put her hands on her hips, stomped her foot, and said in a cute but fierce tone, "You, Zhuang Huai'an, I specially asked my mother for two hours off to come see you, how can you talk to me like that?"

"No, no, what I mean is," Zhuang Huai'an scratched his head, embarrassed, "didn't you say in the text message a few days ago that you were filming in Yongkang?"

"We've finished filming the scenes over there. After that, we're going to Dali. Producer Zhang gave us three days off to rest. We were originally going back to Beijing, but Mom couldn't get a direct flight, so we had to transfer in Shanghai."

Oh, by the way, Mom needs to go to the airport to complete some paperwork, so I came by myself this time.

The little girl was like a chattering lark.

"Hey, I even bought a lot of things here."

Liu Yifei pointed to the flatbed truck behind her, looking smug. "How about that? Pretty good, right?"

"Wow, did you bring the whole supermarket here?"

Zhuang Huai'an looked at the things in the car; they were all boxes of drinks and fruits, and there was even a freezer, probably filled with ice cream or something similar.

The little girl blinked her bright, sparkling eyes. "Actually, I don't know what to buy. These are all recommended by the supermarket owner. He said that's how people who come to visit the film set buy things."

"Alright, it's already bought, so there's no going back."

Zhuang Huai'an smiled and said, "Zhiyong, have the driver drive in and distribute the things to everyone. Make sure to emphasize that these were prepared by Liu Yifei."

"Okay." Wang Zhiyong received the task and left.

The little girl stood with her hands behind her back and her head tilted back, looking like she wanted to be praised.

"Well, Corporal Liu Yifei, I am very satisfied with your performance this time. I have decided to promote you to sergeant. I hope you will remain humble and continue to work hard."

"Yes, sir!"

Liu Yifei, her face tense, stood at attention and gave a rather awkward salute.

"Good, you're in great spirits!" Zhuang Huai'an nodded with a smile and asked, "Aunt Liu actually felt comfortable letting you come out alone?"

Chatting, the two walked into the film set.

The little girl stuck out her tongue and said a little shyly, "Hehe, actually I'm not alone. My mom's assistant, Sister Yu, came along too. It's just that the supermarket owner's small truck can only seat one person at a time, so he has to make an extra trip. That's why I came first."

Zhuang Huai'an tapped her little head, "Luckily, this is a film and television base, there are people everywhere. If it were the middle of nowhere, you wouldn't even know you were being sold."

"Ouch, that hurts." The little girl rubbed her head and said angrily, "How could I be so stupid? I kept in touch with Sister Yu before I got on the bus, and it's not far. The boss even said he delivered goods to you several times."

"In short, you should always be more careful when you're out and about. It's your own fault for looking so easy to fool."

As the two were talking, they had already walked up to the monitor.

"Come on, greet them." Zhuang Huai'an pointed to Feng Yuanzhen and the others who were resting on the side and introduced them: "Teacher Feng Yuanzhen, Teacher Liang Danni, Teacher Feng's wife, and Teacher Mei Ting."

The little girl stepped forward with a well-behaved expression and greeted them: "Hello, Teacher Feng, Teacher Liang, Teacher Mei. I am Liu Yifei, a freshman in the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy, Class of 02."

"Oh, good, good, this girl is so polite." Liang Danni smiled and took the little girl's hand.

Feng Yuanzhen and Mei Ting smiled back at her.

The young girl sat chatting with a few people. When Liang Danni heard that she was only 15 years old, she said in surprise, "Girl, your figure and appearance are simply blessed by the gods. You have a natural face for movies."

Mei Ting, who was standing nearby, echoed her sentiment.

Liu Yifei blushed as the two praised her. She wanted to say something modest, but her mouth seemed to be sewn shut, and she could only keep waving her hands.

Zhuang Huai'an noticed her discomfort and promptly pulled her out of the film set, taking the little girl for a walk around. However, she became even more uncomfortable.

Because every staff member she encountered was very kind and grateful for her drinks and fruit.

Seeing that it was almost time, Zhuang Huai'an escorted her outside the film set, where Assistant Yu's taxi was waiting.

"Phew, we're finally out. You didn't even try to stop them for me," the girl complained.

"He who eats another's food is bound to do his bidding. It's only natural for someone to offer a few words of thanks after receiving a favor from you."

"Hmph, you think you're right! I'm leaving!" The little girl wrinkled her nose at him, turned around, and got into a taxi.

Zhuang Huai'an shook his head and chuckled, then instructed, "Remember to send me a text message after you get it."

"Hehehe," the little girl stuck out her tongue, "I won't send it. Anyway, every time I send you a message, you take forever to reply."

"I won't do that again. I'll try to reply instantly."

"real?"

"real!"

"Okay," the little girl said with a smile, "I'll trust you this once."