Chapter 041 Chapter 41
Arriving at the entrance of the studio built by the program team, Zhou Xiao happened to see Zhang Hongyu communicating with the camera assistant next to him. He looked more serious in the studio than on the night of the first public performance.
Hearing the noise at the door, Zhang Hongyu turned around and saw two people at the door. After handing over the tools to the photography assistant, he walked towards the door while waving.
"Coming~" Zhang Hongyu nodded to Lin Qianxia, then turned and walked into the studio with Zhou Xiao. "Wait a minute, can you take a picture of your hand so my assistant Xiao Liu can see how it feels?"
"No problem!" Zhou Xiao gave an OK sign. Zhang Hongyu had mentioned this situation in the group chat last night. Zhou Xiao had asked in the group why he had been invited to participate in the official photo shoot. Zhang Hongyu, somewhat mysteriously, said he would talk to Zhou Xiao after the shoot.
Zhou Xiao had a vague feeling that this might be related to the comment on her blog post that day. Of course, she was also eager to try the upcoming challenge.
After going through the "hardening" of the system training space, Zhou Xiao also wanted to know how his current photography skills compared to others. Of course, that also included the special task issued by the system!
Zhou Xiao looked towards the studio, where the lights had already been set up. She followed Zhang Hongyu to the camera, took a look at it but didn't start using it right away. Based on her experience in the system training room, she first looked at it carefully, and then began to adjust the camera angle according to the space.
Zhou Xiao's camera felt a bit awkward at first, but soon she learned to operate it smoothly. She directed her assistant in front of the screen, moving her body and rapidly clicking the camera. She glanced up at the scene, then glanced at the pictures she had taken, then nodded to Zhang Hongyu beside her.
Zhang Hongyu, who was watching Zhou Xiao taking the photos, seemed a little surprised. "You adapted so quickly?" Zhang Hongyu touched his short flat head and looked at the results of Zhou Xiao's photos on the computer. The hand that was originally rubbing his head paused for a moment, and he nodded silently.
"We'll take photos in the order of their groups later." He seemed a little uninterested. "I see you like Ji Shao, right? That group is yours. You can watch me take photos first to get used to it."
Zhou Xiao nodded and found a good position behind the camera, so that he could see the trainees' reactions during the filming and the finished film shot by Zhang Hongyu.
Zhang Hongyu's mouth twitched slightly when he saw her position, but he didn't say much. As the trainees arrived at the set, divided into groups, Liu Jia, who was adjusting the lighting based on the trainees' skin tones, noticed something was off about his eldest brother. He seemed more serious this time than last time, and Liu Jia wondered if the cost of stardom had increased.
The trainees arrived in droves at the studio, all wearing the same costumes they had worn during the first public performance yesterday. Zhou Xiao keenly noticed that the trainees' mindsets and performances were in direct proportion to their performances the previous night. Her memory was fairly good; some of the trainees who had performed well the previous night were noticeably more spirited today, while others were somewhat lackluster.
The trainees are basically quite accustomed to the camera. Popular contestants like Yan Shu and Chu Cheng, whom Zhou Xiao met offline, would take the initiative to ask the photographer which angle looks best on them, and ask Zhang Hongyu to take more photos from better angles.
Of course, perhaps due to the pressure from the program crew, the trainees did not ask to see the results after taking the official photos. Instead, they said goodbye and left one by one.
"Zhou Xiao, are you next?" After filming five groups of trainees, Zhang Hongyu turned around and asked her while flexing his fingers while waiting for the next group of trainees to arrive.
"Okay," Zhou Xiao said from the back, and then she swapped places with Zhang Hongyu. What she didn't know was that Zhang Hongyu was crouching in front of the computer behind her.
Soon, another group of trainees came. Zhou Xiao didn't have any impression of this group of trainees. He thought their performance on the first stage would not be very outstanding.
Zhou Xiao stared at the faces of the trainees on the screen and found that some of them looked so miserable that wrinkles appeared on their foreheads. She had no choice but to remind the trainees in front of the backdrop to curl their lips and adjust the direction of their poses.
Thanks to systematic training in the training room, Zhou Xiao has now become very good at using angles and techniques to magnify the eye-catching points in ordinary faces, not to mention vivid faces!
Zhou Xiao was very comfortable with single-person formula photos, and even with group formula photos, he felt that he had found his own comfort level through practice.
One group quickly finished filming. As the trainees nodded obediently and headed for the door, Zhang Hongyu suddenly spoke up from behind them, "Who instructed you to do this?"
"Master, please give me some advice!" Zhou Xiao said solemnly. Although the simulated teachers in the system training room were expensive and the hours were short, their teaching experience was truly worth it!
The next wave of trainees quickly followed the staff into the studio, and they happened to be Ji Shao's group. Zhou Xiao watched Ji Shao in the crowd, ready to go. "This time, I'm going to take a nice, official photo of you!"
Whether filming in a systematic training room or photographing a group of trainees, Zhou Xiao feels that makeup, clothing, venue, and light and shadow are all very important.
The trainees’ makeup and costumes are now stage makeup, which is more suitable for capturing dynamic appearances. However, Zhou Xiao can get used to this, and she will try her best to compensate for this problem during filming.
After the shoot was over, Ji Shao, who had been leaving with the others, suddenly turned back to look at the figure behind the camera. He saw the masked photographer giving him a thumbs-up. Ji Shao pursed his lips, seeming to speculate. He raised his lips slightly, revealing a dimple, and turned back to follow the other members out of the studio.
There were 16 groups of trainees in total, and according to the previous agreement, Zhou Xiao was responsible for filming 6 of them. Zhang Hongyu paid Zhou Xiao the salary in advance, as he was responsible for the labor, layout, and equipment himself, so the amount he gave Zhou Xiao was an auspicious number of 888 yuan.
Zhou Xiao looked at the money with amusement, especially at the man in front of him who had a bitter face but pretended to be nothing. He thanked him and took the money.
"Can you tell me why you came to me now?" Zhou Xiao sat down directly along the wall on the clean curtain on the ground. She looked up at Zhang Hongyu who looked constipated and asked.
Zhang Hongyu opened his phone and sent a link to Zhou Xiao. The photography forum was invitation-only, so Zhang Hongyu casually gave her an invitation code. "Oh, someone mentioned your technical progress in our forum before, and I was curious and wanted to challenge you."
He pulled out an unopened bottle of mineral water from the nearby bottled water box and handed it to Zhou Xiao, who was sitting on the ground. There were no chairs on the set, so they usually just found a clean spot to sit when they took a break, mostly out of laziness.
"I see." Zhou Xiao nodded. After listening to Zhang Hongyu's narration of the whole story, she realized that her initial guess was correct. She just didn't expect that the big man who commented on her had such a great influence.
After taking a quick look at the post Zhang Hongyu sent her, Zhou Xiao naturally discovered that the "elk chasing the wind" was the person in front of her. In the post, Zhou Xiao also got the comments of other people in the forum about his skills and stinginess. To be honest, it was quite interesting.
"By the way, could you introduce me to the big boss who enlightened you?" Zhang Hongyu asked Zhou Xiao in a somewhat flattering manner after drinking the water.
Could Zhou Xiao claim that she relied on the system's masterful techniques to film before? Of course not! She replied in a deep voice: "30% is destiny, 70% depends on hard work! It only takes a moment to get the hang of it!"
…
It was already evening when Zhou Xiao returned to the hotel. After washing up, he leaned back on the sofa and browsed through the props in the system store. Under the seemingly dazzling array of props interface, there was a small, almost invisible [+] symbol. Zhou Xiao hadn't noticed this small symbol last night, so he clicked it out of curiosity, and the system page immediately popped up -
[For every 100,000 increase in Ji Shao's fame, the store's item slots can be permanently increased by 5, and new items will be randomly refreshed.
Note: There is a 50% chance that the newly added items will be lifestyle items.
The original prop interface of the system had 6 rows and 5 vertical columns, with a total of 30 items. Zhou Xiao thought that was all, but he didn't expect that more items could be added below.
After Zhou Xiao learned that Ji Shao's initial stage was lost along with the stolen memory card, he gave up on the [Positioning Stage] prop, which was worth 10,000 recognition points.
Originally, she was considering the importance of exchanging props under the systematic sales pitch. After all, for a trainee, their first stage performance would affect the audience's perception of their early development. But in this case, props were clearly not applicable.
It's not that the props aren't worth the price, but for Zhou Xiao at this moment, the recognition value has more important and more economical uses. Making good use of other props can also allow Zhou Xiao to shoot a good stage to help Ji Shao. In the early stage, he must choose the most cost-effective option.
Zhou Xiao stretched lazily and used her chance to increase her merchandise rank. This was because Ji Shao's fame value had exceeded 100,000, so she could use this opportunity.
Zhou Xiao discovered that the newly released 5-grid item not only contained props that helped her take photos, but also two props that could positively impact her life:
[Sleep Aromatherapy Diffuser]: A system-provided item, paired with [Sleep Aromatherapy - Essential Oil], it allows for a dreamless night, relieving stress and fatigue. Only 10 points are required. Lifestyle items can be redeemed at a 1:1 ratio using Recognition Points; Fame Points cannot be used.
[Sleep Aromatherapy - Essential Oil]: This system-provided item, paired with the [Sleep Aromatherapy Diffuser], allows for a dreamless night, relieving stress and fatigue. One bottle of essential oil lasts 30 days and only requires 5 points of recognition. Lifestyle items can be exchanged for recognition points at a 1:1 ratio; Fame points cannot be used.
After checking the current time, Zhou Xiao redeemed one of each, intending to see how it fared tonight. If it was effective, he could redeem a few more for his family. Of course, Zhou Xiao believed that the system's products were of the highest quality!
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