Chapter 783 - 773: First Experience on Set (2)

Chapter 783: Chapter 773: First Experience on Set (2)

That’s right, the director of this crew is someone Wang Fan knows, and he’s even one of the guests he invited tonight.

So when Wang Fan said he has connections, it wasn’t just empty talk; he really does have connections.

Now, some directors in Hengdian know that Wang Fan, the director of "Wandering Earth," came over with an investor.

Moreover, he also intends to introduce some directors to this person.

The Hengdian Film and Television Base is not small, but the directors’ circle is quite limited. With Wang Fan’s strong rise this year thanks to "Wandering Earth," he’s already a well-known director, and in the industry, his reputation is significant. Who wouldn’t know if there’s any movement?

Besides, there are no secrets in this world. After Wang Fan’s invitation to some colleagues, naturally, some people know that Su Qing, the investor who casually invested 80 million in "Wandering Earth," is also here.

Faced with such a person and an invitation from Wang Fan, who wouldn’t want to come and meet? After all, just going over for a meal doesn’t hurt, and you never know if it might be useful in the future.

So almost all the directors who received the invitation had no objection.

"Who was shouting ’fuck’ earlier? Haven’t I told you guys not to yell ’fuck’? And you, why are you laughing like idiots with your big grins? Who charges into battle with such dumb smiles? You’re going to drive me insane!

This is a war scenario, do you think it’s a joke?"

As he spoke, the man with the hat almost slapped himself: "Damn it, go, go, go, it’s time to eat, take a break, and no shouting ’fuck’ in the next scene, did you hear me?"

As soon as the man finished speaking, the crowd of hundreds instantly dispersed, rushing towards the cafeteria, more aggressively than when they were ’going to battle’ earlier.

Seeing this, Su Qing couldn’t help but widen his eyes. Only now did he realize this group really seemed to be college students. Not only did their eyes reveal a foolish clarity, but they also had an inexplicable obsession with eating.

"Let’s go, take a look over there, there’s an old friend!"

As he spoke, Wang Fan pulled Su Qing towards the man with the hat.

"Peng Fei! Busy?"

"Yo, Director Wang, long time no see, what brings you, the big director, here!"

"I’m just taking it easy lately, relaxing a bit. By the way, where’s Director Yang?"

"Don’t mention it, he’s been stressed lately, hooked up to an IV, and asked me to come supervise and maintain discipline. He’s over there on the hill watching the machine," Peng Fei pointed to the mountain in the distance.

Peng Fei is not a director but a script supervisor who sometimes acts as an on-site director, so he’s part of the directing team.

That’s how big productions are, not like those small, arrogant crews. They can generally be divided into departments like production, directing, camera, lighting, art, props, makeup, costume, sound, action, and special effects.

Each department has more than one position, and the number of people in each is not small; there are also many on-site positions, a lot in total.

"Stressed? What’s going on, is Old Yang okay?" Wang Fan couldn’t help but ask, since he had invited Director Yang tonight.

"He’s fine, such things are common in the crew. But it was the university students that stressed him out!" Peng Fei shook his head helplessly.

"University students? How so?" Wang Fan asked.

Hearing this, Peng Fei recounted the recent events. In short, their crew, due to the theme, needed a lot of extras, attracting a large number of university students about to graduate.

At first, the directors were delighted because university students are cheap and efficient, full of energy, and this type of charge is indeed hard work. Their crew provided meals, snacks, drinks, and even helped with internship stamps. These students were very satisfied.

Originally everything was developing positively; these university students were even very polite, lined up for meals, and didn’t litter.

But as the numbers grew, they found that these university students weren’t so easy to handle; their energy seemed excessive.

When the gunfire sounded, regardless of gender, everyone grinned and shouted "whoa" as they charged, laughing hysterically. Then the university students taught them a lesson: cheap is not always good.

They weren’t here to be extras, but were treating it as a large team-building event, and an immersive one at that.

Not only did they provide food and props, but they also paid these students; now the students were increasing in number and uncontrollable.

Long story short, when there’s too many people, even the director can’t handle it. Director Yang was directly stressed into illness.

Moreover, these university students loved playing the villains. Ultimately, the crew set the rule that only those under 180 cm could play villains to stop the fight over villain costumes.

After hearing this, both Su Qing and Wang Fan were nearly numb; Su Qing’s shoulders twitched as if he wanted to laugh, but it seemed a bit rude, so he had to hold it in.

"But wasn’t it hard to find extras for Japanese soldiers in those anti-Japanese war dramas? What about these students..." Wang Fan didn’t quite understand. However, Su Qing had a grasp of the situation.

"Exactly, our crew was odd too, these students playing villains are having so much fun, much livelier than playing the heroes. The director’s about to worry himself to death, and we can’t even scold these students since they’re so cheap they don’t care about money. They’re just here for the fun, and would do it for free. What can we do? Throw hand grenades? A deputy director was hospitalized after being hit – can you believe that?" Peng Fei helplessly complained.

Wang Fan: (￣ー￣)

He’s used student extras before but has never seen such rebellious ones!

Just then, Peng Fei’s phone rang.

"Sorry, Director Wang, I’ve got something to deal with, so I’ll be off!"

"No problem, take care of your business!"

Once Peng Fei left, Su Qing squatted on the ground, starting to laugh. It was so interesting. He was somewhat tempted to visit this film set and have a look.

"Hey, bro, you young people really know how to have fun!"

"Not really. Why don’t you ask them if they still need extras? I want to try it too, offering 160 to play a captain!"

Wang Fan: ...

"Come on, I was planning to introduce you to Director Yang. Now it seems like we should wait until tonight; I don’t want you to stress him out!"

Following that, Wang Fan took Su Qing around various crews in Hengdian, where there were more period dramas.

With Director Wang’s connections, entering and exiting different crews was easy, and occasionally they could spot some celebrities.

By the end of the day, Su Qing distinctly felt the difference in atmosphere between here and the Capital Film and Television City, and indeed it was much better.

Meanwhile, Tang Nan also joined a variety show as a guest, embarking on his journey of seeking sponsorship.

At Jiangcheng Company, Old Wang looked at the information with a frown.

"Brother Wang, although we’re not sure if the identity is real, the matter is real, what should we do?"

"I’ll contact President Su and let him decide."

"Alright then!"

...