Chapter 420: Let your performance speak for itself, do you have it?

The filming progress of "The Squid Game" can be described as a contradictory situation, both smooth and bumpy.

The reason it went smoothly is that each department and job in this production is made up of top performers in the industry, and everyone can contribute excellent work. In addition, the production involved a lot of studio shooting, so there was no need for location shooting, which reduced many unexpected factors and allowed the coordinator to control the schedule very easily.

The reason it wasn't going smoothly was that as filming progressed, everyone gradually began to wonder, "Will this show really be a hit?"

The reason for this confusion is that... when people saw the giant mannequin built on set, its sheer size inexplicably evoked a sense of gloom and fear.

A scene called "One, two, three, freeze!" took five whole days to film, with each day consisting of simply following a group of people and performing the scene. But for many actors, it wasn't really acting at all, as there wasn't much acting involved in the scene.

This filming experience, so different from anything they'd done before, left the actors feeling out of control and uneasy because of the unfamiliarity.

Only the director and coordinator repeatedly emphasized that there were no delays in the production schedule.

Lu Yanhe visited the film set twice.

Lu Yanhe was pleasantly surprised when he saw the set design, props, and costumes of the various characters.

It's not that it's made to be exquisite, but rather that it has a sense of realism.

Lu Yanhe particularly didn't want this battle royale drama to have a sense of horror—there could be one or two scary scenes, but the overall atmosphere shouldn't be frightening or gloomy.

Otherwise, a large number of viewers who are unwilling to watch horror films will definitely miss this show.

He was adamant that from the very beginning of the project, the audience should not have any impression that "this show is a bit scary".

Lu Yanhe also specifically spoke with each of the actors, asking them not to express similar feelings before the show aired.

-

The crew of "The Squid Game" truly built every scene to be a one-to-one replica of the real location.

This set design led the director to prefer shooting large-scale scenes rather than close-ups. However, these large-scale scenes, especially during the "Red Light, Green Light" game, were particularly breathtaking. The machine gun fire, with hordes of enemies falling, was especially powerful and unsettling, sending adrenaline soaring.

How much does Aurora Video value this series?

The extras are all professional actors with excellent acting skills. They have signed contracts with the production team and receive legitimate pay.

This ensures that everyone appearing in every shot is part of the context.

When Lu Yanhe arrived at the film set, everyone came over to greet him.

Those who knew him exchanged a few pleasantries, while those who didn't get to know each other.

This is a very large production crew, with quite a few actors.

Lu Yanhe asked Jiang Zixin curiously how much these sets cost in total.

Jiang Zixin said, "The rent for just the six photography studios alone adds up to more than a million yuan."

Lu Yanhe was shocked when he heard this, not expecting the rent to be so expensive.

On second thought, it makes sense. This drama took three months from pre-production to completion, and they rented six large studios to build sets. The rental cost wasn't outrageously expensive.

Lu Yanhe joked with a smile, "Are all six studios filming at the same time?"

"Of course not, we didn't even split into Group A and Group B for filming," Jiang Zixin said. "We put a lot of effort into this drama and used the most ample production budget to make it."

Lu Yanhe: "Since the six studios aren't filming at the same time, why not use the unused sets to film a survival variety show? After 'Squid Game' finishes airing, we can immediately follow up with this show and earn back the rent."

Jiang Zixin looked surprised.

"ah?"

Lu Yanhe said, "This drama is about a group of people who participate in a life-or-death competition to win the final prize. So why not organize a similar game tournament and recruit some people to participate in these games? Of course, unlike in the drama, they won't face any life-or-death threats. But, wouldn't it be better to increase the difficulty of the games a bit? The games in the drama aren't that difficult because one wrong move can lead to death, which is already tense enough..."

Jiang Zixin was utterly shocked as she listened to Lu Yanhe's sudden and lengthy speech.

She didn't need to ask to know how Zheng Huai-ren would react if she told him this idea.

There will only be one reaction: Do it!

Jiang Zixin tentatively asked, "So this program is a spin-off of this show, right? It might require your authorization."

The copyright for "Squid Game" belongs to Lu Yanhe's film and television production company, not to Aurora Video.

Any derivative products that are to be developed will require a license.

Lu Yanhe looked at Jiang Zixin with some surprise, "You really want to do it?"

“It sounds quite interesting, and everyone should like it,” Jiang Zixin said. “Moreover, with this drama being so popular, this program should also receive a lot of attention. The set design for this drama was so expensive, so developing some merchandise can help recoup some of the costs.”

Jiang Zixin responded by referencing the joke Lu Yanhe had just made.

Lu Yanhe: "Well, if you really think it's feasible, then go ahead and authorize it."

-

Jiang Zixin immediately went to call Zheng Huai Ren.

Lu Yanhe then came to Jiang Jun and Jiang Yuqian's side.

"Teacher Jiang, Sister Yuqian, did the filming go smoothly?"

Jiang Jun and Jiang Yuqian have both lost a lot of weight.

The two men put a lot of effort into their physiques to make them look more like ordinary people who have been struggling at the bottom of society for many years.

This is Jiang Jun's first time playing a leading male role.

There is no doubt how much he cherishes this opportunity.

Just like Jiang Yuqian.

Even putting all that aside, their professionalism alone would prevent them from being perfunctory.

Jiang Yuqian hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

Seeing this, Lu Yanhe was surprised that Jiang Yuqian actually had something to say.

"Sister Yuqian, what's wrong? Is something the matter?"

Jiang Yuqian: "We're all a little unaccustomed to it."

"Not quite used to it?" Lu Yanhe asked in surprise, "Not quite used to what?"

Jiang Yuqian then told Lu Yanhe about the points that they all felt were problematic.

"Is a game taking too long to film?"

“Yes, we filmed many scenes. The script only had one page of content, but we filmed many scenes.” Jiang Yuqian said, “We also know that these games are actually the main part of this play, but after filming so many scenes, sometimes I even felt that although I was acting, there was no camera filming me at all.”

Hearing Jiang Yuqian say this, Lu Yanhe smiled with relief.

"It startled me; I thought something had really gone wrong with the filming."

"What's wrong?" Jiang Yuqian asked. "Do you think this is okay?"

“The director actually discussed this scene with me beforehand,” Lu Yanhe explained. “The reason he wanted to shoot it for so long is because this scene is the first game in the whole show. If the first game can’t establish the tone of death and crisis, the story will be hard to make sense. So, he wanted to shoot more wide shots. As for the Northern Lights, he felt that the show wouldn’t work without close-up shots of the actors, so he decided to shoot all the footage he wanted and then edit it later to see how to achieve the best effect. That’s why this scene took so long to shoot. Don’t worry, the later scenes won’t have this problem.”

Jiang Yuqian looked at him in surprise and said, "How do you know more than we do? The director didn't explain it to us."

Lu Yanhe laughed, "He came to seek my support. He wants the game to use more panoramic shots and needs my support to persuade Aurora Borealis."

"Okay." Jiang Yuqian felt somewhat relieved. "If that's the case, then I understand."

Lu Yanhe: "This director was selected by Aurora Studio after a long selection process. Although he did not have any particularly famous works before, we all felt that his directing style was a good match for 'Squid Game'."

Originally, "The Squid Game" wanted to approach Lian Bei, the director of "The 17th Floor," and they communicated back and forth several times. In the end, Lian Bei decided to give up because he was preparing for the second season of "The 17th Floor."

So, Aurora Video found its current director, Yao Yuanzhi, from among its own cultivated protégés.

Yao Yuanzhi did not study film and television arts in college, but rather computer science. He entered this industry by chance. Later, he filmed two low-budget suspense and thriller web series for Aurora Video. Both were "three-no" dramas: no famous director, no famous actors, no famous screenwriter, and not many people watched them.

Originally, Aurora Video, because it valued this project so much, wanted to find a more experienced director. However, because "Squid Game" was rushed to be filmed ahead of schedule, the opportunity fell to Yao Yuanzhi.

Yao Yuanzhi knew how rare it was for him to get this opportunity. In fact, he had already begun preparing for the series. To convince Aurora Studios that he could handle directing, he drew storyboards based on the script excerpts he received when he was first shortlisted. After that, Yao Yuanzhi continuously expanded his ideas, clearly envisioning how he would direct the series. This was arguably a crucial reason why he ultimately secured the opportunity—he had a very clear plan for how the entire series would be filmed, as evidenced by his storyboards.

“Sister Yuqian, Teacher Jiang, although I’m not very familiar with this director, he has maintained close communication with me. As a screenwriter, I think his understanding and ideas about this drama are first-rate,” Lu Yanhe said. “You can try not to think of him as an ordinary director without any representative works, but to trust him and understand his every decision.”

Jiang Yuqian was somewhat surprised and asked, "You're working with a new director, how can you trust them so unconditionally?"

Lu Yanhe nodded, "I have complete trust in any director's crew. However, that's because I had already approved of the director before accepting the role. You're in a different situation. After all, this director was chosen after you signed the contract with 'Squid Game.' So please trust me. I really think he's very suitable to direct this show. If you can trust him, I think the show will turn out even better."

Jiang Yuqian pursed her lips and fell into deep thought.

-

It's common for an established actor to be distrustful of a new director.

This has nothing to do with good or bad, right or wrong, because most of the time, new directors lack experience or even talent, and are just purely... talented in words, while an actor's experience can help him ensure that his performance is not bad even in a bad film.

However, Lu Yanhe held the belief that, no matter what, a film should ideally have only one voice. Even if it ultimately flopped, it was better than a hodgepodge. Furthermore, Lu Yanhe reserved all his criticism and scrutiny for before joining the production; once on set, he trusted the director.

That's why he was able to direct "Late Spring" and "Friends." When he was filming these two movies, the directors weren't famous, and none of them were as big names as him. If he didn't want to listen to the directors and wanted to do things his own way, the directors couldn't do anything about it.

Lu Yanhe's visit and the message he conveyed made Jiang Yuqian, Liu Zefan, and the other actors start to seriously consider the matter. After all, Lu Yanhe had said it outright.

-

"Lu Yanhe said that the program 'China in Culture' has the potential to become a hit, so don't be so stingy."

During a departmental meeting, Zheng Huai-ren expressed his dissatisfaction with the rating of the program "China in Culture".

This program only received a B grade, not even an A grade.

"This show doesn't have a single celebrity, so it's hard to get an A grade from it," others said.

Zheng Huai-ren: Really? What will you say if this show actually becomes a hit?

The others failed to fire.

"You can't say it like that, then any show could become a dark horse."

"Well, but Lu Yanhe's projects have always been dark horses, he's never failed. Now that a new horse is about to emerge from his stable, are you going to place a bigger bet, or just be stingy and buy the bare minimum?"

Zheng Huai-ren sensed that his words had shaken the resolve of these people.

"There's one more thing. Jiang Zixin contacted me again just now, and Lu Yanhe brought up another idea."

Why does he have so many ideas?

“I’m curious too, how come all of our ideas combined aren’t as impressive as one person’s?” Zheng Huai-ren immediately retorted.

The other person shut up.

"We'll create a spin-off of 'The Squid Game,' a challenge-based show set in the world of 'The Squid Game.' We'll gather a group of people to complete challenges, and the winner will receive a cash prize," Zheng Huai-ren said. "The sets and props are all readily available. We can start recording the show as soon as the show finishes filming. Depending on the schedule, it could even be completed in two or three days. It'll be another show with almost no cost investment, but it can make a fortune thanks to the popularity of the show itself."

He put the pen he was holding on the table.

"Sometimes I really want to know, whenever you come to me complaining that I gave Lu Yanhe's project too much production funding, why don't you reflect on yourselves and ask why you can't come up with the same ideas?" Zheng Huai-ren sneered. "Back then, when we said we wanted to build a live-action set for 'The Squid Game,' you all said no, that live-action sets were too expensive, that such an investment was a complete waste and unnecessary. Why is it that today, as soon as Lu Yanhe hears that live-action sets are expensive, he can immediately come up with an idea and use that idea to recoup the money spent effortlessly? Every time he comes up with these ideas, he's like doing charity, making money for us. He could have easily done it all himself without including us. What right do you have to keep complaining?"

Zheng Huai-ren suddenly launched into a barrage of barbed questions and sarcasm, firmly embedding the English word "idea" into everyone's minds.

Lu Yanhe was unaware that his casual suggestion had been used as a weapon by Zheng Huai Ren, who then unleashed a barrage of criticism on the department, riddling many people with their discontent and resentment.

This is a video of the Northern Lights, not a video from Beijing or Taiwan. Here, performance speaks for itself.

(End of this chapter)