Chapter 257

Chapter 257: Action!

Time was money .

The main film crew of ‘Young Di Renjie’ had more than 100 people and if they added the small roles, actors and extras etc… they recruited in Hengdian, there would be at least a thousand staff every day .

These people needed to eat and be paid so every minute and second was money .

Even if Shanhai Streaming gave sufficient budget and planned to spend 1 million per episode, however Zhou Pu as a veteran director knew that he shouldn’t be that stupid and use as much money as he was given .

It was a skill to be able to direct a movie well .

If one could direct a movie well and save money while doing so, then that director would be the producers’ favorite .

If Shanhai had more good projects in the future, they would definitely think of him and wouldn’t the other companies also hear of his ability to control himself? Wouldn’t be ever easier in the future when they wanted to work with him?

If he was extravagant and wasted the money, didn’t use the budget well and even used it all or even maybe had to ask for extra funds, even if the movie that came was good, those producers would still think twice before hiring him .

Then it wouldn’t be a disaster if he used all the money but the movie came out bad and they couldn’t recoup the investment?

It wasn’t impossible .

Several giants in Hollywood went bankrupt just because of some big movies .

For example, United Artists’ ‘Heaven’s Gate’ and MGM’s ‘Windtalkers’ .

So Zhou Pu had paid attention to this aspect since he started his career .

Even for his last project ‘Water Margin’ that had a total production cost of more than 100 million Yuan, a considerable part of the budget was used on the construction of the water village in Mount Liang .

Now the water village could continue to provide its service for those Film and TV companies that needed to film in it and it was quite a good fixed asset now .

So the pure production cost of ‘Water Margin’ wasn’t that high .

‘Young Di Renjie’ didn’t need to build a city out of thin air so the cost couldn’t be compared to ‘Water Margin’ .

Zhou Pu also had a group of very good veterans of the industry with him .

Some were helping him shooting the scenes, some were responsible with the cameras, some were responsible for the scene set ups, some were responsible for directing those extras and temporary actors and even the logistic support crews were the elite of the industry .

The team worked together for more than 10 years so they were familiar with their jobs so it wasn’t difficult for them to start the high intensity works as soon as they started filming .

Speaking of which, Zhou Pu was able to shoot ‘The Golden Hairpin Case’ so quickly because of how great the male and female lead was .

Chen Huan memorized all the lines in ‘The Golden Hairpin Case’ and Bu Yiyi also already memorized her own lines and was familiar with how she should act .

After the two joined the crew, they had a meeting on the first day and started their scheduled tests on the second day . Their first scene was their encounter in the story, the scene was filled with cheerfulness and easygoing .

They had their first trial in a small meeting room in the hotel .

The result was they started immediately playing with each other and acted like they were in a field in spring as they comported themselves like men and women from the past . Regardless of their actions, words or expression, it was like they completely ignored the surrounding modern space and also the directors, screenwriter and other staff watching .

They only had each other in their eyes .

The whole atmosphere made people feel like they were back in the Tang dynasty due to their acting .

After the two of them finished their scenes in five minutes, Zhou Pu subconsciously yelled, “Cut!”

“This is great! This scene is done!” He looked at his side and said, “Old Luo, hurry up and get ready for the next scene!”

The set assistant just stared at him and said, “Brother Pu, we’re just in testing now . We haven’t changed to the costume or prepared the scene yet, what are you talking about?”

“Oh!”

Zhou Pu finally came back to his senses and gave a bitter laugh, “No wonder I felt something was strange even though the acting was great! It turns out we haven’t changed into the costume yet!”

“This shows that they performed greatly . ” Lan Xin said with a smile, “Director Zhou, you really have good eyes! Really good ones!”

She was even more satisfied with Chen Huan and Bu Yiyi .

Originally, she thought that the two of them wouldn’t be able to work well with each other so quickly but now that she saw it, she thought that both of them were proper acting material .

People, who didn’t know, would probably think they worked together many times before!

“HAha…”

Zhou Pu laughed happily when he heard Lan Xin’s praises .

That’s right!

I chose them!

Including the fact that Sister Xiaofeng is good at acting, I already knew about it!

So after such a test, Zhou Pu decided to speed the date of the shooting and the next day he went to the location and filmed some things to get into the right state of mind and rhythm .

In the evening, Bu Yiyi carried a dozen beers and knocked on Chen Huan’s door .

Of course, she came with her assistant Wang Xi and it was only around 7 or 8pm so many people saw her .

After entering the room, Wang Xi went to sit in the bedroom and play with her phone .

Chen Huan and Bu Yiyi sat around a small table in the living room with some peanuts and beef jerky as they drank their beers .

“Teacher Lu, how was this lady today?” Bu Yiyi said in an easygoing manner, “Isn’t it much better than the last time you auditioned me?”

“Those lovable but resilient roles suit you better so it naturally feels different . ” Chen Huan nonchalantly said .

“Of course! After I watched ‘Love Letter’, I realized that such a cold girl didn’t suit me . ” Bu Yiyi said before exclaiming, “But the role is so good, I liked it lot . ”

“Unfortunately, There’s no way for you to change your personality . ” Chen Huan said with a smile, “It’s better if you just go find the roles that suited you!”

“Really?” Bu Yiyi slapped her leg, “Be honest, you really think I’m not suitable to play as the grown up Li Yiyuan?”

“Hmm…” Chen Huan thought about it, “You’re not . You’re more outgoing than Li Yiyuan should be . Li Yiyuan is someone tenacious that never gives up and also seeks the good side of humanity . A girl like that should be on the quieter side . ”

Bu Yiyi’s looks and personality were very suitable for the roles of those lively and good characters .

Those particularly outgoing and had explosive anger roles .

Maybe Bu Yiyi would be able to try the roles like the Empress Zhen Huan in a few years so her acting range was quite wide actually .

So it wasn’t necessary for her to play roles that didn’t suit her .

“Tsk! So boring, Teacher Chu!” Bu Yiyi murmured .

Chen Huan didn’t even bat his eyelashes as he just drank his beer leisurely, “You used the wrong name, I’m not Teacher Chu . ”

“Hehe!”

Bu Yiyi didn’t explain as she said, “Alright, I know you have a very good relationship with Teacher Chu… so can you ask him to write a book with a heroine based on me? “

“How can I request something like that? Even if we’re good friends, isn’t this embarrassing?” Chen Huan answered .

“Chen Huan, acting like this makes you seem like you want to cover up something!” Bu Yiyi patted his shoulder, “Are you worried that I’ll call you Teacher Chu again?”

“It’s only a few drinks and you’re already in this state?” Chen Huan gave a hollow laugh, “You came here today to talk about the plot or you came here to investigate me?”

“Tsk, boring!”

Bu Yiyi rolled her eyes at him and said, “I thought we were friends . ”

“We are indeed friends . ” Chen Huan immediately confirmed it .

“And compared to Han Dong’er?” Bu Yiyi asked in dissatisfaction .

“Dong’er never called me Teacher Chu . ” Chen Huan struck back at her .

The Small Flower Dan could only purse her mouth at that and just stopped speaking .

Although she didn’t change her mind about it, she knew that Chen Huan was firm about not talking about Chu Liuxiang .

In the end, it was because they were just friends!