Bright Era of China Entertainment

Chapter 772 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

As the sun set, the hundred or eighty lunch boxes that the production crew had ordered were placed full on an unused long table.

The crew temporarily stopped working to have dinner, and the directors each took a box lunch and ate in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the office building.

Chu Xuan was still in director mode, sitting in front of the monitor watching the playback footage and discussing with cameraman Long Fei how to edit the footage they had just shot in post-production.

For the overall multi-angle and multi-view shots, it requires a lot of thought to decide which scene should be presented first and which scene should be followed in order to achieve the best possible effect. It is more appropriate to finalize the editing concept effectively while the ideas are still fresh after shooting.

Seeing Chu Xuan's serious attitude, Liu Yifei didn't disturb him and got up to get two lunch boxes for them.

"Well, eat while you do it."

Chu Xuan and Long Fei took the lunch boxes and ate while watching and chatting.

While eating, Liu Yifei looked around to see if there was anything unusual happening on the crew, and finally fixed her eyes on Guo Tao and Sun Yizhou.

We should thank Guo Tao and Sun Yizhou for their friendly appearances and their excellent performances in the first few scenes.

This kind of thing would be better if director Chu Xuan went in person, but Chu Xuan was absorbed in his own world, totally oblivious to what was happening outside. Liu Yifei shook her head in her heart and had to go by herself.

"Teacher Guo Tao, Teacher Sun Yizhou, thank you for coming here to help play these two roles."

"You're welcome, you're welcome. This role is quite interesting and it's a new experience to play it."

"Yes, it's my honor to be able to play a role in such a big crew."

In response to Liu Yifei's gratitude, Guo Tao waved his hand holding the chopsticks, while Sun Yizhou, an actor of the same age, seemed more polite.

"The role of Mr. Guo requires experience to play well, but most of the actors who auditioned were young. Some acting teachers didn't seem to favor this role. This role doesn't have many scenes, and Chu Xuan and I were embarrassed to ask senior actors to play it. Fortunately, Brother Bo recommended Mr. Guo Tao, which really solved a big problem for us."

"Huang Bo called me and said there was a role for me to help out with. I heard it was being filmed in Shenzhen. I was just thinking about where to go on a trip with my wife, and when I heard it was your crew, I was also very curious, so I came here right away."

In response to Liu Yifei's words of gratitude, Guo Tao said this with a smile.

"Brother Bo is in the hotel. He didn't come with the group today."

"He called me this morning and said he couldn't come because he had a scene at the hotel. We can get together in the evening."

"Then ask Mrs. Guo to come along that evening. I'll host and welcome Mr. Guo Tao and his wife to Shenzhen."

"Well, don't be so polite, we can do it ourselves, you and Director Chu are busy, don't waste your time."

"No, it won't delay."

Liu Yifei chatted enthusiastically with Guo Tao for a while, and then turned the topic to Sun Yizhou.

"It takes a lot of explosive power to make the sunshine, passion and sense of justice of the character of Teacher Sun burst out and come out overwhelmingly. Teacher Sun's performance is very appropriate. I heard Chen He say that Teacher Sun is very good among the actors of our generation. Today I have witnessed Teacher Sun's excellence. When this scene is broadcast, it will definitely be more exciting because of Teacher Sun's performance."

"No, no, you and Director Chu are the best of our generation. We, the actors of this generation, should learn from you. Besides, all of us in the Love Apartment crew are your fans. It's really an honor to be able to join your crew. When I go back to Shenghai and tell Lou Yixiao and the others about my joining the crew, they will definitely be extremely envious."

"Really? If Director Chu and I go to Shenghai someday, let's find a chance to get together."

"Okay, okay, I'll tell them. They will definitely be very happy."

Liu Yifei and Sun Yizhou chatted for a while, looked at Guo Tao, and asked them a question with interest: "Teacher Guo Tao, Teacher Sun, how do you feel about filming a few scenes in the crew of Chu Xuan, a new director?"

Guo Tao blurted out: "The shooting angle is novel."

"Yes." Sun Yizhou nodded in agreement.

Guo Tao continued, "I rushed here this morning and listened to the production crew explaining the play to me. When I heard that it was a play about malicious marketing and hype, my first reaction was to expose the reality and criticize the darkness, which required giving the audience a strong sense of resistance."

He held the lunch box in his left hand and chopsticks in his right hand. He spread his hands with a slightly surprised look, his eyes full of smiles: "Who would have known that the shooting angle would be like this? It is completely different from the routine shots that must be criticized in similar plots in urban dramas on the market. It gives different actors different perspectives and different lens languages ​​to look at the events to express the point of view in an all-round way. The shooting angle of your drama is really unique."

Hearing what Guo Tao said, Sun Yizhou and the special actors nearby nodded.

Due to the small number of scenes, there is no character script for their roles. There is no need to go through the effort of writing out individual character scripts for something that can be explained clearly in a few words. During the day, they came to the crew to listen to the production team's explanation of the play. They all had the same idea that according to the usual shot processing method of urban dramas on the market, these scenes would mostly focus on a satirical dark element of reality.

But after Chu Xuan's direction and the camera's shot just now, the shooting angle was indeed novel as Guo Tao commented.

The focus is not on satire or criticism, but on objectively expressing the views of different people from different perspectives from various angles. They have never seen such a shooting idea, and it is also not available in the current market.

"It's very realistic and down-to-earth. Judging from the first few scenes alone, if other similar plots are like this, this drama will be unique in the category of idol dramas." Guo Tao commented.

Liu Yifei was very happy to receive such evaluation from such a veteran actor, and was also happy for the teacher's recognition of Chu Xuan.

After chatting for a while and seeing that they had finished their meal, Liu Yifei took out the red envelopes she had prepared earlier from her pocket and presented them to them.

"No, no, no, you're too polite."

"This is not politeness, it's my duty. The two teachers are here to help our work, and we can't let you fly and stay in a hotel for nothing. This is a small token of our gratitude to Chu Xuan and I. We sincerely thank the two teachers for their efforts."

There is no remuneration for friendly appearances, and there is no need to sign any performance contracts. It is purely free support.

But when people come to help, their travel and hotel expenses should be reimbursed. This is not a social etiquette, but the simplest and most basic way to thank people for their help.

The red envelope was neither big nor small, just a few thousand, so Guo Tao and Sun Yizhou accepted it after some polite exchanges.

Seeing that the crew members were busy again, Guo Tao and Sun Yizhou sensibly said goodbye and left. Liu Yifei sent them to the elevator and both sides said goodbye.

"Goodbye, teachers. We will work together again next time."

"it is good."

The elevator door slowly closed, and Guo Tao and Sun Yizhou only saw a graceful figure passing by.

When the elevator door was completely closed, Guo Tao glanced at Sun Yizhou and said, "She's only in her early 20s, right?"

Sun Yizhou thought for a moment and said, "It should be around 21 or 22."

Guo Tao nodded and said with emotion: "Do you think she is only 21 or 22? Her temperament, words and deeds give me the feeling that she really has the style of a big producer. This Liu Yifei will be amazing in the future, not just an actress."

Sun Yizhou and Guo Tao were not familiar with each other, and they only met because of the play in the afternoon. But when the topic came to this, he also agreed and sighed: "Some people in the circle said that Liu Yifei relied on Chu Xuan to get to the top. My friend Chen He, who was in the same group with me, told me that this is not the case, but hearsay is not as good as seeing. I just had a few words with Liu Yifei..."

He thought for a moment and said, "Although I don't know Sister Hua, I feel like I was dealing with Sister Hua just now."

Sister Hua? Wang Jinhua? The queen of the entertainment industry? ... Guo Tao smiled and said, "It's a bit like that."

"Really, seeing is believing." Sun Yizhou shook his head. "Those in the circle who say that Liu Yifei relied on Chu Xuan to gain power are a bit biased. Just now, you talked to Teacher Guo in a few words, and you were able to chat and laugh with him. This is not something that ordinary people can do. In my opinion, the combination of Chu Xuan and Liu Yifei seems to be a match made in heaven."

Guo Tao nodded slightly. They came to make a friendly appearance and never talked to director Chu Xuan from beginning to end. Logically speaking, since they came to help for free, the crew should at least treat them with more courtesy.

It's not that I'm seeking this courtesy, but it's the natural and normal way of dealing with each other.

But the filming was completed, and Chu Xuan didn't come to greet them. Instead, it was Liu Yifei who came.

Liu Yifei is the producer, so it is reasonable for her to come and say hello.

And Chu Xuan was still handling affairs, which was also within their understanding.

The couple gave them the feeling that one was in charge of the home, while the other was in charge of the outside world.

Often those who work at home are women, while those who work outside of home are men.

But the scene just now was exactly the opposite. The one who gave them courtesy was not Chu Xuan, but Liu Yifei.

And after several exchanges, they had to admit that Liu Yifei's temperament, aura, elegance and easy-going feeling really amazed them and made them feel very comfortable, as if they were dealing with a gentle big shot. They looked at Liu Yifei, who was like a fairy on the screen and gave people a quiet and elegant feeling, with new eyes.

I have to say, with just this small exchange of details, Liu Yifei really helped Chu Xuan.

"Eh? Where are Teacher Guo Tao and Sun Yizhou?" After Chu Xuan and Long Fei discussed editing concepts, he looked up and saw that the set was being re-set, and Guo Tao and Sun Yizhou were nowhere to be seen, which made Chu Xuan confused.

"Just left." Liu Yifei got off the chair beside him and saw that Chu Xuan had only taken a bite or two of his lunch box after such a long time. She frowned and said, "Eat quickly. It's not good for your stomach if it gets cold."

"Gone?" Chu Xuan held the rice in his left hand, with chopsticks stuck in the rice. He slapped his forehead with his right hand and said with a wry smile, "Oh my god, they came to help me, but I didn't even say hello. This is so embarrassing. Next time I see them, remember to remind me to apologize to them."

"What's there to apologize for? I went to talk to them and expressed my gratitude. I also gave them red envelopes. Since you, the director, are not doing your job, I, the producer, will do it for you. Just focus on filming your movie." Liu Yifei stroked her hair.

Chu Xuan was startled, a smile appeared on his face, and he leaned over and kissed Liu Yifei on the lips: "It's great to have you."

"Ptah." Liu Yifei was caught off guard by Chu Xuan's sneak attack. Seeing that the teachers nearby were all smiling like aunties, she glared at Chu Xuan a little embarrassedly.

But seeing that Chu Xuan didn't care and looked relaxed while eating, she didn't bother him anymore. As a couple, they were a good match, so she, as his wife, would take care of the things Chu Xuan couldn't take care of. In her opinion, this was also a way to manage the relationship between husband and wife.

When Chu Xuan finished his meal, it was already night.

The huge office building was also successfully re-set by the crew, who built four partitions on the east side to present four different apartment-like bedroom scenes.

The scene to be filmed in the evening is the fans’ reaction after the news about the heroine An Xin being maliciously marketed came out.

Four actors, Zhang Ruoyun, Li Xin, Song Qian and Zhu Yillong, were preparing on the set. Each group of people were fine-tuning their work at their respective posts. After Chu Xuan threw his lunch box into the trash can, he followed assistant director Lu Chuan and performance director Huang Lei to the set to direct and talk about the play.

"The afternoon drama was a malicious marketing campaign by Starlight Media. The specific public opinion on the Internet was produced in post-production. It is not available at the moment. You need to imagine it based on the script."

"As die-hard fans of Liu Yifei, you suddenly saw a lot of news targeting Liu Yifei on Weiyu."

"Then you sit in front of your computer, in four different places across the country, and comment from your own perspective. The specific comments are not in the script, it is just briefly mentioned, and you need to improvise."

"Just imagine, when your idol is overpraised or attacked, how would you, as a fan, comment and fight back?"

Chu Xuan spoke to the four actors, who were thinking about their acting ideas while listening.

The difficulty of this scene lies in the fact that fans have to make comments, which have to be arranged on the spot.

The script is difficult to design in this area, and the actors' improvisation may be better.

"I have arranged four temporary Weiyu accounts for you, corresponding to the Xinlang private server. The news and topic pages about Anxin being praised and hacked have been prepared. After you log in to your account, you can chat and delete anything in the corresponding topic. It is not public, so you can play around."

Zhang Ruoyun, Li Xin, Song Qian and Zhu Yillong were shocked. They knew what this scene was about before. After all, everyone had a character script. The script also clearly stated that they had to respond to bad comments and news as fans on the computer, but there was no specific instruction in the script on how to do it on the computer. Now after hearing what the director said, they exclaimed in their hearts: "It's awesome."

They are all young people of the Internet age, so of course they understand what Chu Xuan means. They let Xinlang, such a large company, set up a private server just for the crew, and set up a micro-entertainment website in the real world one-to-one, and presented the malicious marketing plot in the play with a real website. And these actors can still perform on this real website. This is quite amazing.

"You guys go get familiar with it now, find a topic and comment on it to get a feel for it. I'd like to trouble Mr. Huang to give them some pointers on their performances."

Chu Xuan made some arrangements for the actors and then for the cameramen.

"The final image of this scene is a four-square layout on TV. Each square is a picture of an actor as a fan. I want to have four actors appear in one picture at the same time. The effect to be achieved is that something happened to the idol, and fans from four parts of the country have different reactions at the same time."

"It reflects the star-chasing group of today, which seems normal but irrational star-chasing behavior."

"The connotation is about the relationship between star-chasers and their families. You pay so much attention to a star who has nothing to do with you. When have you ever paid so much attention to and cared about your family and your parents and relatives?"

"Everyone, think about how to shoot these four shots."

Chu Xuan directed the play on the set according to his own ideas, while the camera operators listened and sorted out their ideas on the language of the camera.

On the director team's side, while listening to Chu Xuan's directing, Liu Yifei was also chatting with the teachers.

"Today's star-chasers are quite crazy, and all kinds of unexpected situations happen every year," said Fang Wenshan.

"It's better now. In previous years, terrible incidents were really endless, especially in Hong Kong," said Tang Jili.

"Doesn't our Director Chu have a ready-made case?" Qi Mu said with a smile: "During the 'Korean Wave' incident, a little girl knelt down to beg for Korean Wave, and the whole country was shocked."

Liu Yifei opened the plastic bag and distributed pearl milk tea to the teachers. She also handed a cup to Gulina next to her and said, "It is precisely because of this incident that Chu Xuan and I realized that we should be as low-key as possible in this circle. So in the past two years, we have tried not to participate in external activities and business. The fewer topics we have, the more free we are, the less attention we attract, and the lower the chance of causing possible bad incidents."

Zhou Jielun nodded: "Yes, but being in this circle, you can't avoid being entangled in some garbage topics. Oftentimes, you can only be innocent yourself and can't ask others to do this or that. This really tests your mentality."

"Yes, it's unavoidable." Liu Yifei sipped her bubble tea and said, "No matter how low-key we are, we always have to promote our works. Promotion creates topics, and when there are topics, bad things will always pop up."

Fang Wenshan nodded slightly: "If it is a spontaneous comment from netizens, it's fine. It's normal to have some praise and some criticism. But when it comes to topics of malicious marketing by capital, it's really hard to defend against and very annoying."

"Yeah." Liu Yifei nodded repeatedly: "Just like today's scenes, they were created based on my real experience. The title of 'Fairy Sister' was maliciously marketed by capital back then, intending to flatter me to death. Later, my agent at the time, Huang Bing, who is now the chairman of Brilliant Times Artist Management, followed this line of thought and issued a lot of beautified press releases, which turned this title into a compliment, and then it was forgotten."

"This scene is your real experience!" Fang Wenshan and Zhou Jielun were both surprised.

In the script, Starlight Media maliciously marketed the female lead An Xin, because the micro-film she was participating in the competition was a costume drama, and the reason for the costume drama was because An Xin's appearance was to be accompanied by the song "Lanting Preface".

Because An Xin's micro-film was about ancient costumes, Starlight Media praised An Xin as "Sister Fairy" and then used fake marketing to defeat An Xin, using a marketing strategy of "the higher you praise, the harder you fall".

In the drama, Starlight Media became successful, but An Xin fell from grace, leading to the main plot where she wanted to turn the tide with the encouragement of the male protagonist Jock.

Liu Yifei's name "Fairy Sister" is known to everyone. Those who know the business just think it is a publicity stunt and was included in the drama to fit the role.

Unexpectedly, the situation in the drama turned out to be a true story. An Xin was maliciously marketed as "Sister Fairy", and Liu Yifei's name "Sister Fairy" in real life was also maliciously marketed.

"Really." Liu Yifei nodded.

This was the first time Tang Jili and Ning Hao heard Liu Yifei talk about this. Tang Jili praised her, "You are the only one who can hold on. Huang Bing also had the courage to come up with this marketing idea. If another actress played Wang Yuyan and was maliciously marketed like this, her image and reputation would not match, and the market would not buy into it. Then her future would be very difficult."

"Wang Yuyan herself is the 'Fairy Sister'." Gulina said. She was very surprised that if Wang Yuyan was the Fairy Sister, then how could there be any malicious or not malicious marketing?

Liu Yifei looked at her and said, "But we can't just use this point as the focus of publicity. If we market heavily towards a certain point, good things will become bad. Some people did this on purpose at that time, just like today's play, where they first praised it and then put it down."

"Oh, so that's it." Gulina seemed to understand but not quite.

"What does Chu Xuan say about this?" Zhou Jieren was curious.

Hearing this question, Liu Yifei couldn't help laughing and said, "Chu Xuan said this malicious marketing is low-level. If they marketed me as the Queen Mother of the Nine Heavens, it might be successful."

"Hahaha..." Everyone laughed. The Fairy Sister was not enough, they also wanted the Lady of the Nine Heavens. After all, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

(End of this chapter)