Chapter 126 Auspicious Words [VIP]
Chapter Summary: My First Time Attending a Wrap-up Ceremony at Dawn
I had previously heard He Zhiyue mention that he held shares in the He Group left by his mother.
This is He Zhiyue's trump card.
By simply selling a portion of his shares, He Junzhi's carefully crafted predicament will be resolved.
Mu Zhi guessed that He Junzhi and his mother probably didn't know that He Zhiyue held shares, but she wondered what He Zhiyue's biological father's attitude was as he watched his two sons secretly fighting...
However, none of this concerns her, an outsider.
The agent is right, you should just stay on set and focus on filming.
One week later.
I met Producer Wang on set.
"Good morning, Teacher Mu!"
"Teacher Bian Wu, keep up the good work for today's shoot!"
Seeing that Producer Wang's tightly furrowed brows relaxed, he regained his cheerful and smiling demeanor in front of others.
It seems the problem has been solved.
Surprisingly, when Mu Zhi checked the stock price of the He Group, there was no indication that anyone was selling large amounts of shares, causing the stock price to fluctuate.
In other words, He Zhiyue probably didn't touch the shares he held.
How exactly it was resolved remains unknown.
He Zhiyue resolved the crisis facing the company and its film investments, demonstrating his capabilities to those who were hesitant. He Junzhi's sabotage plan failed, and it's anticipated he won't be able to launch a second attack in the near future.
At least it won't affect the filming of the movie "Escape from the Game" anymore...
"Escape from the Game" is in its final countdown to completion.
Mu Zhi has half a month of scenes left.
During the period when filming took place in Shashi, most of the scenes were shot on location.
The air here is dry, and the sun shines intensely, which reminds me a bit of the time I spent filming in Tibet last year.
The crew traveled to various locations, including the Gobi Desert, the Thousand Buddha Caves, and ancient cities, to film on location. The scenes filmed at each location may only last two or three minutes in the movie.
During a break on set.
Bian Wudu couldn't help but sigh to Mu Zhi, "I can understand why Producer Wang keeps talking about money. This movie really did cost a lot of money to make."
Producer Wang has worked on at least 8 or 10 films, making him a seasoned producer who has seen it all.
They were actually panicking, worried about whether the movie would break even.
In order to recreate many scenes from the novel as accurately as possible, the production team built several sets in multiple green screen studios on Qingdao Island and frequently changed filming locations, much like switching maps in a game, when shooting on location in Qionghai and Shashi.
This would make the scene less monotonous and provide a better visual experience for the audience. However, such a "fuss" would consume a lot of manpower, material resources, and financial resources, and would definitely cost a lot of money.
One of his favorite suspenseful adventure novels has been adapted into a web series, which recently premiered. The male and female protagonists, along with their group, go on an adventure together, and they chatted for most of the episode in one of the filming locations.
Perhaps to save on production costs, the resulting quality naturally disappointed viewers...
The filming took more than three months.
Mu Zhi felt the same way as Bian Wugang.
"The film industry desperately needs new directors like Xu Kuan."
The infinite flow genre of "Escape from the Game" is inherently risky. In order to make the film he envisioned, director Xu Kuan not only put in a lot of effort but also showed great courage and determination to meet high standards in terms of scenes and props.
Producer Wang kept complaining that Director Xu Kuan was spending too much money, but he still managed to attract investment and persuade investors to allow for such a "lavish" filming.
A few days later.
The crew arrived at the last filming location, Shashi, specifically the Yangsha Mountain, known as the "desert area".
Before us stretched an endless desert.
When the wind blows, if a person stands facing the wind with their mouth open, they can eat a mouthful of sand; that's how the Sandstorm Mountain got its name.
In late July, the daytime temperature was 32 degrees Celsius, and most of the crew members wore cool and breathable short sleeves and shorts.
The costumes worn by Mu Zhi's characters are all long shirts and trousers.
During the filming at Yangsha Mountain, I was wearing a light green work outfit, which was quite stuffy.
The filming was scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., when the sun was no longer so intense.
During rehearsals, even though staff members were holding umbrellas and small fans to cool Mu Zhi, she felt as if she were sitting by a fire under the scorching sun in the sweltering summer heat, her undershirt soaked with sweat.
Fortunately, the work jacket I was wearing was made of a thick material, so the stain didn't show up.
She wasn't sweating too much.
Standing opposite Mu Zhi, Bian Wu wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked, "Teacher Mu, aren't you hot?"
Whether it was being cooped up in a green screen studio in April or May, or filming outdoor scenes in June or July with temperatures in the 30s, he wore short sleeves, which were more breathable and cooler, while Mu Zhi always wore long sleeves and trousers, which looked hot.
But Mu Zhi didn't seem to be sweating much.
Mu Zhi: "......" She's human too, of course she gets hot too.
Regarding ways to cool down, Minmin tried tying popsicles to Muzhi's body, but they melted quickly and soaked the costume.
The only option is to tough it out with your own body.
He realized the truth: "A calm mind brings coolness."
"You can think of a few really lame jokes in your head."
Bian Wu grinned upon hearing this, but then his expression wilted as he thought of something: "...Haha, my brain capacity is limited, I need to save it for memorizing lines."
If he thinks the joke has cooled down, he might forget his lines and get scolded by the director, which will make him anxious and sweat profusely.
In the few months since he joined the crew, he has sweated countless times, gone through countless packs of tissues, and lost several pounds.
However, he is now much more relaxed about the daily filming. He and "Jung Te" have gradually integrated and there are no more NGs. Occasionally, the director is satisfied with 12 takes.
Compared to when I first joined the crew, I've become more and more confident.
On July 31, the night before Mu Zhi's scenes were completed, a long night scene was rehearsed.
Filming started at 9 p.m. and ended at 5 a.m. the next morning.
In order to finish filming on time, the scenes from the 31st and the 1st were filmed back-to-back.
The ending scene of the movie was filmed in a green screen studio on Qingdao Island. In the battle with the game's big boss, Wu Xi died in order to save the male lead.
Tonight's scene involves them teaming up to complete multiple levels in a game, experiencing a lot together.
They were being chased by hordes of zombies and were about to reach the game's final destination. After killing the big boss, the game would be over.
However, as of now, the protagonist, Zhong Te, has not found his father's whereabouts in the game.
He still couldn't see through Wu Xi. She was mysterious and hid many secrets. This strange game world also had a strange sense of familiarity. Whenever he felt that he was getting closer to the truth, he only grasped emptiness, which made him even more confused.
Zhong Te decided to find Wu Xi and get to the bottom of things...
On the set of "Escape from the Game".
Tonight's filming location is on a hilltop in Yangsha Mountain.
It's unbearably hot here during the day, but the temperature drops to only 18 degrees Celsius at night.
Mu Zhi was wearing a bodysuit similar to a spacesuit tonight, which was just right—neither too hot nor too cold.
Although it was night, the crew turned on several large lights, illuminating the film set as if it were daytime.
Mu Zhi and Bian Wu sat on the top of the sand dune, while the director squatted behind them to direct the scene.
Mu Zhi couldn't help but think of a song.
The next second, Bian Wu began to hum: "We sat beside the high mound of earth, listening to Mother tell stories of the past..."
Xu Kuan, who was giving instructions, stopped: "..."
Bian Wu: ? Curious why the director stopped, he turned his head and saw the director's murderous look. Realizing that his singing had made the director feel involved, he quickly stopped humming.
"Hehe, Director Xu, please continue explaining the scene!"
After the rehearsal, filming began quickly.
The scenes to be filmed tonight:
Wu Xi sat atop a desert mountain, a lamp beside him.
Zhong Te walked over, sat down next to her, propped one leg up, put his hands on his knee, and recalled his first meeting with Wu Xi and all the life-and-death experiences they had gone through together over this period of time.
I am grateful to Wu Xi for saving me from danger several times.
Having laid the groundwork, he took a letter out of his pants pocket.
Turning to Wu Xi, he said, "Xi, there's something I've asked you twice, and you've avoided answering each time. We're the only two left out of a group of players who made it this far. We'll be finishing the game soon, or maybe I'll be logging off."
"I'm out of time. Can you tell me if you are the mysterious person who delivered this letter to me?"
Wu Xi withdrew her gaze from the distant darkness.
Turning to meet Zhong Te's gaze, she readily admitted, "It's me."
Zhong Te grabbed Wu Xi's arm, his voice trembling with emotion, and held up the letter in front of her: "But I haven't found my father since I entered the game. He's not even in this game, is he?"
The emotions that had been building up inside for so long erupted at this moment, bringing out many of the questions that had been lingering in my mind:
Did you fabricate this letter?
What was your purpose in tricking me into entering the game?
Who exactly are you?
Why are you constantly being hunted down in this game?
Wu Xi glanced at the letter in Zhong Te's hand: "I forged the letter based on your father's handwriting, but the content of the letter is indeed from your father's mouth, it's real."
Who I am is not important.
"Are you sure those people are here to kill me? Zhong Te, can't you remember anything?"
Zhong Te looked shocked: "Wh-what do you mean?"
"Have you ever considered the possibility that you're claiming your father is missing, but actually, you're the one who's disappeared, and your father has been searching for you? Have you ever had any doubts about yourself...?"
The last five words: the world of living.
Wu Xi did not speak aloud; she spoke through lip reading.
But Zhong Te heard it clearly and felt that Wu Xi's words were like an icy hand stroking his back and grabbing his throat, making him shudder and unable to make a sound.
A thread appeared in my chaotic mind, ready to connect everything.
"You'll know everything when you reach the end of this game world."
Wu Xi gestured with his hand, and the lamp went out. "They're coming after us, let's go!"
She stood up nimbly, and seeing that Zhong Te was still processing her words, she bent down, grabbed Zhong Te's collar, and pulled him to his feet. Zhong Te glanced at the dense horde of zombies chasing after them not far away, and was so frightened that he quickly followed Wu Xi...
The two were pursued by the zombie horde, running from night until dawn, when the east began to lighten.
The zombie army that feared light finally disappeared.
Wu Xi pointed to the place where the sun was slowly rising, where a city gate appeared.
"The big boss is right there, we've arrived."
The final shot shows the two walking towards the city gate...
When the director yelled "Cut!", Mu Zhi and Bian Wu stopped in their tracks.
As soon as Mu Zhi turned around, the crew members on set all applauded.
Director Xu Kuan stepped forward with a bouquet of flowers he had prepared: "Congratulations, Teacher Mu, on wrapping up filming!"
"Thank you, director, thank you everyone." He accepted the flowers from the director.
Bian Wu turned around with a dejected expression, watching the actors finish filming one by one, feeling rather sad.
With a smile, she stepped forward to congratulate him: "Teacher Mu, happy wrap-up!"
"It's an honor to work with you. You've helped me a lot these past four months, thank you so much!"
After speaking, he bowed to Mu Zhi.
Seeing the reluctance to part on Bian Wu's face, and the sadness in his eyes: "..."
"We're from the same company, and we'll see each other again during the dubbing and promotional periods for the upcoming movies."
Let Byun Go continue to focus on his acting.
She asked the production team to film her scenes first so she could rush to the promotional tour for "Countdown".
Bian Wu still has a week of filming to do before the entire crew officially wraps up filming.
Speaking of which, this is the first time Mu Zhi has attended a wrap-up ceremony in the early hours of the morning after many years of acting. The crew had also prepared flowers and cake in advance.
After taking a group photo with the crew, Director Xu Kuan came to say goodbye to Mu Zhi and handed her a copy of the first volume of "Escape from the Game" with some embarrassment: "Xiao Zhi, if it's convenient, could you ask Director Wan for an autograph? Please sign this book, on this page."
So Xu Kuan is actually a big fan of director Wan Zhou?
Mu Zhi thought that Director Wan Zhou was easy to talk to, so she agreed: "Okay, no problem."
He took the book from Director Xu Kuan.
Next to the blank space for the director's autograph, there was already the signature of the novel's author, who was also the screenwriter of the film.
She immediately understood why Director Xu Kuan wanted the renowned director to sign the book—it was probably to gain some kind of spiritual encouragement.
The film is almost finished filming, but the post-production work will be a huge undertaking, and the challenges are yet to come.
Director Xu Kuan shook hands with Mu Zhi: "Teacher Mu, I wish you and Director Wan Zhou's film great box office success!"
"I'm sure your career will reach even greater heights when we meet again!"
"Thank you, Director Xu. I appreciate your kind words."
After leaving the film set.
Mu Zhi and her group returned to the hotel to rest, slept until the afternoon, and then set off for the airport.
I flew to Jincheng a day early, waiting for the creative team of "Countdown" to come and meet me tomorrow.
[Author's Note]
Congratulations, Zhibao! Filming is finally wrapped up!! Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 00:28:00 on August 21, 2022 and 00:15:58!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Jiu 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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