Chapter 33 Opening Ceremony
October 9th, the fifth day of the first lunar month, is a good day for traveling, opening a business, starting a business, and opening a ceremony.
"Whose fortune-telling date is this?"
At the entrance of the crew's studio, Meng Bai looked at the gloomy weather and complained with a frown. Wu
Bai, who was standing by, was in high spirits and said cheerfully, "I went to Lingguang Temple in Xishan and asked the abbot to personally calculate it for me."
"The monk calculated such weather?" Meng Bai glanced at this "feudal remnant": "Isn't it going to rain?"
"Isn't it good to rain?" Wu Bai looked at Meng Bai strangely and explained, "As the saying goes, 'water brings prosperity'. The crew was hoping for some rain during the opening ceremony, and you still dislike it?"
"Really? It seems that the master is still a bit good!" Meng Bai immediately changed his expression and said with a smile.
There is no way. When I was a screenwriter before, I basically didn't participate in the opening ceremony, and I really didn't pay attention to these problems.
Speaking of the crew's opening ceremony, it can be traced back to the theater era.
At that time, when performing operas, people came and went on stage and off stage, and there were all kinds of tools, so it was impossible to guarantee that blood would be seen or people would be injured.
Therefore, before the opera troupe started the performance, they would generally offer sacrifices to three animals and worship Guan Erye, hoping to deter evil spirits and ensure that the whole performance would be smooth and safe.
Many industry rules and customs were derived from this, such as the suitcases should be wrapped with red cloth, the blades of swords and guns should be hidden, and women could not sit on the boxes backstage, etc.
Later, the opera troupes declined, and the film and television entertainment industry entered the film era.
At that time, the film was not only expensive, but also flammable and easy to damage. "Film scratching" would occur at any time, and the key was that the reason could not be found.
Faced with this situation, some people made up various explanations. For example, if the crew occupied this land for filming, it would alarm some "spiritual objects" on this land. If a ceremony was not held in advance to inform the sacrifice, these "spiritual objects" would get angry and then destroy the film.
At that time, the crew of the filming had all kinds of people, and many people believed in this logic. Most of the crew leaders hold the attitude of "better to believe it than not". Whenever a new drama is launched, a launch ceremony must be held.
This custom evolved and gradually became an "industry norm". If others do it but you don't, then if something goes wrong, the investors will find trouble with you.
Therefore, in order not to bear this inexplicable blame, many producers and directors will mostly worship before starting the filming, so that even if there is a problem, at least you can't find such an unorthodox reason.
As for now, the launch ceremony is more like a heritage of industry customs, and its meaning is close to a "mobilization meeting". On the one hand, it allows the crew to meet each other, and on the other hand, it also allows everyone to retain a sense of awe for their profession.
However, as far as Meng Bai knows, there are still many practitioners who believe in the effect of this ceremony of "praying for blessings and warding off disasters", especially directors in Hong Kong and Formosa.
He once heard a Taiwanese director in a crew speaking very "motorcycle" Mandarin and yelling at the on-site producer, "Why don't you worship!"
The reason was that the on-site camera could not capture the performance.
Later, Meng Bai asked the photographer what was going on. Was it really that he couldn't record it?
As a result, the photographer confessed that the assistant forgot to take the card that day and was worried about being scolded, so he pretended to shoot a whole take, and then told the director that "the picture disappeared" when he wanted to watch the playback.
Very good, in line with the mental state of workers!
Although it was a "misunderstanding", it did show that many people in the film and television industry still care about the "effect" of this ceremony.
Especially when shooting films with themes such as horror and supernatural, this aspect should be paid more attention to.
And it just so happens that "Soul Ferry" is a standard supernatural theme.
So no matter whether Meng Bai believes in this thing or not, he has to "follow public opinion".
The venue for the "Spirit Pendulum" opening ceremony was chosen on the pedestrian road in front of the "convenience store".
It was an empty space here yesterday, but today a booth has been set up. The background spray-painted cloth of the booth was printed with "Good luck to the opening of the Leshi.com self-made online drama "Soul Ferry"," and the names of various creators and leading actors on both sides.
In front of the booth was a copper incense burner more than one meter tall. Meng Bai specially hired someone to transport this thing from the film and television city. After burning incense and worshipping, it will be taken back.
It took less than two hours to go back and forth, and it cost 500 yuan.
"Are you excited?" Yu Yi saw Meng Bai staring at the incense burner in a daze, and came over to ask.
Meng Bai came back to his senses and said calmly: "Fortunately, starting filming is just a necessary process for the producer. If anyone is really excited, I'm afraid it has to be our director."
What he said was really right. Ever since he arrived at the scene this morning, Wu Bai has always had a cheerful expression, which is completely different from his usual serious look.
But it's no wonder he was excited. The micro-films and short films he had shot over the years were either part of a series or co-produced with other directors.
This was the first time he had directed a complete film and television project independently - although it was just a web series, it was also a turning point in his career.
At a dinner party before, Meng Bai said that this drama was not just his own hope. He was not saying anything false, but it was true.
"Producer Meng, Teacher Yu, have a cup of hot coffee."
Zhang Ruoyun, who had just arrived at the set, brought a lot of coffee and asked two stage managers to help him. He gave each staff member on the scene a cup.
As for himself, he took two cups of coffee and sent them to Meng Bai and Yu Yi.
"Otherwise, it has to be our male lead!" Meng Bai took the coffee and thanked Zhang Ruoyun.
"You're welcome."
Don't say it, although it was October, there was a hint of coolness outside in the early morning. After a sip of hot coffee, the whole person's spirit was lifted up a lot.
"What time is the ceremony scheduled to start?"
"Seven fifty-eight, more than half an hour left. Our fifth director specially asked a master to calculate the auspicious time."
"Is it true?"
"The money has been spent, just take it seriously."
The time has not yet come, and the three of them are gathered together and chatting.
"Hey, by the way, Lao Zhang, are you from Beijing Film Academy?" Meng Bai looked at Zhang Ruoyun beside him and asked.
"Yes." Zhang Ruoyun nodded: "Class of 2007."
"Who is in your class? Is there anyone famous? See if you can invite them to guest star?"
"There are famous ones, like Chu Yuxuan."
"Uh..." Meng Bai looked embarrassed: "This one is a bit too big!"
"And Jing Tian."
"Aren't you going even higher?" Meng Bai was speechless. This person is the one who plays opposite Cheng Long and Chow Yun-fat. How big of a face does he have to be to pull this person to guest star in his small web drama.
"Aren't there any more down-to-earth people?"
"I'm from the vocational class, and I'm not very familiar with the undergraduates." Zhang Ruoyun thought for a moment: "I remember there was a girl named Kan Qingzi, who seemed to be from Rong Xinda."
"Oh, then this is our teacher Li's colleague. Hey, speaking of teacher Li..." Meng Bai glanced around: "Has she not arrived yet?"
Just as he was talking, he saw Li Qin running over from a distance.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm late." As soon as they met, Li Qin apologized to everyone.
Meng Bai looked at the time and frowned: "Why are you so late?"
The assistant next to him explained: "I'm sorry, producer Meng, there was a temporary filming activity yesterday, so I can only take this morning's flight, which is a bit delayed."
"Don't do it again!" Meng Bai said quite seriously: "Are you going to let the whole crew wait for you alone?"
Li Qin was a little confused. After all, Meng Bai rarely got so serious before. But she knew that it was indeed her problem today, so she just said softly: "Sorry, I will pay attention."
Meng Bai also understood that Li Qin didn't mean it, so he didn't say anything more. He resumed his normal tone and greeted everyone, "Let's go, the ceremony is about to begin."
Thank you for the monthly tickets of "Bloodthirsty Nero" and "Supervision and Restriction"!
(End of this chapter)
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