Chapter 12 Interaction
Chapter Summary: So affectionate even towards a pig
"Tomorrow morning, one of the program's sponsors, Aipai Mobile, will be shooting a video as a mid-roll commercial for the main program."
Mu Zhi: "...Can we give the opportunity to other trainees?"
The director's eyes widened, and he looked at the director with a "Are you serious?" expression.
Mu Zhi nodded inwardly, seriously.
Before she transmigrated, she was a top-tier celebrity with endorsement fees in the tens of millions. Now, the treatment she receives for shooting commercials is: no title, no established cooperation relationship, the production team just pays her a few thousand yuan in service fees as an intermediary. The brands and the production team probably think that whoever gets to shoot the commercials is getting a great deal, as it increases their exposure.
Mu Zhi, however, didn't care at all.
It's not that I'm concerned about the pay; after all, I'm just a trainee participating in the show who hasn't debuted yet. The main problem is that it takes too much time. If I encounter a difficult brand with many demands, it can take at least two hours to shoot.
So she really didn't want to accept the offer, and would rather turn it down...
"No! This is what the brand specifies."
"Oh, I was just kidding."
That evening, Mu Zhi practiced dancing until 2 a.m. before returning to her dormitory.
I slept for 3 hours and got up at 6 o'clock.
After washing up and having breakfast, we followed the staff to the filming location.
Previous shoots were all conducted in the "castle," with most locations being practice rooms or dormitories. This time, however, the shoot was arranged in a local photography studio specializing in advertising.
It's said that today's shoot was originally planned by Aipai Mobile for a female celebrity they were endorsing, but the spokesperson has recently been embroiled in a scandal, so they had to replace her at the last minute. Since they happened to have a collaboration with the "Chasing the Light" program, they simplified the shoot and found a trainee to fill in.
The brand manager watched the second performance a couple of days ago because Mu Zhi was chosen for "Beautiful Skin".
The person in charge of taking Mu Zhi out for filming was one of the program's directors, named Sister Mei. Before setting off, Mu Zhi asked to temporarily retrieve her phone, and that was agreed to.
Mei thought Mu Zhi was bored in the car and wanted to browse her phone.
As a result, the whole car ride was spent either listening to the song "Beauty" or watching Huo Yuanjia's dance. If it weren't for wanting to make a good impression on her, Mu Zhi would indeed be very hardworking.
Upon arriving at the filming location, Mu Zhi was taken by the staff to get her makeup done and change clothes. She remained calm and composed throughout, quickly adapting to the work atmosphere, as if she had entered her own territory. This surprised Sister Mei, who felt as if she were accompanying a big star to shoot an advertisement.
Before the shoot, the director and the brand representative explained the content and desired mood to Muzhi...
The theme of today's shoot can be simply described as a dress-up game. The brand prepared many outfits for her to change into in different scenes, showcasing different aspects of herself, and recording each facet of herself with her phone.
Highlighting the phone's ability to automatically adjust lighting and filters based on different scenarios, you can capture high-quality photos with just one camera phone.
After listening, Mu Zhi nodded: "OK, we can begin."
The brand manager and director both felt that trainee Mu Zhi was a bit too arrogant, and their initial impression was not very good. However, once filming officially started, Mu Zhi immediately got into character and accurately expressed what the director had told them to do.
She knows exactly how to showcase the products in her hands, from the gestures of holding her phone and her sense of camera presence to the delivery of advertising lines. Her professionalism throughout the shoot is comparable to that of a seasoned, top-tier celebrity!
After filming ended, the director looked at her incredulously, "Is she really a newcomer? She's so professional and handles everything with ease."
The brand's representative exclaimed excitedly, "Muzhi's face is so beautiful."
My intuition told me I chose the right person; I'm sure this ad will be a great success!
After the advertisement shoot was finished, Mu Zhi changed back into her usual training clothes.
As the crew and I were leaving downstairs, a tall, fat man standing outside the elevator stopped us as soon as we stepped out.
"Hey, who are you? You're blocking the elevator door." A member of the production crew reminded him, clearly annoyed.
But the "mountain" in front of them remained unmoved.
Just then, the elevator door opposite opened with a "ding".
A group of people escorted a woman with long, burgundy curly hair, wearing a silver strapless dress and a suit jacket. The woman wore large sunglasses that covered half her face and glanced in their direction.
Mu Zhi felt the other person's gaze linger on her for a second, then indifferently sweep over her the next second.
The group swaggered past them, and only then did the bodyguards who had stopped them lower their arms and follow them.
What a grand spectacle, yet there wasn't a single explanation throughout the entire process.
Watching the group of people leave, Sister Mei let out a cold snort, "Liu Rui has such a big attitude in private."
Mu Zhi thought to herself: It seems that Sister Mei knows that woman wearing sunglasses. It's not hard to guess. She's here to shoot an advertisement, just like them. She should also be an artist.
Out of curiosity, I searched her name on my phone: Liu Rui, Best Actress, a second-tier actress in the industry.
Mei's assistant chimed in, "I heard that Actress Liu landed the endorsement for Yao Nai'er perfume and is shooting an advertisement here today."
Mei Jie didn't say anything. Mu Zhi and the others arrived at the door and saw Liu Rui get into a Rolls-Royce Phantom from afar. The car slowly drove away.
"I remember Liu Rui's contract with her former team is about to expire?"
She used to struggle to get endorsement deals, but now she's landed endorsements for high-end perfumes. She's probably found a good new agency.
Upon hearing Sister Mei mention Liu Rui again, the assistant chimed in, "Recently, everyone on the forums has been digging into it. It's said that Actress Liu is in talks with a new company, and it seems to be a subsidiary of the He Group called something like Lanxing Media."
Sister Mei didn't take it seriously: "In the eyes of these entrepreneurs, the entertainment industry is a real hot commodity. Everyone wants to enter the entertainment industry and get a share of the pie."
Lanxing Media? The name sounded familiar, but Mu Zhi couldn't quite place it...
However, this was none of her business, and she didn't take it to heart at the moment.
They got into the car with Sister Mei and other staff members and immediately returned to the "castle".
Shooting an advertisement can take up an entire morning just by going back and forth.
Back in the practice room, Mu Zhi made the most of her time to practice.
Everyone else went to lunch, but she was still practicing.
When Liu Cai returned after finishing her meal, she reminded him, "Food is essential for life; you'll get hungry if you skip a meal."
"Okay, I'll go right away."
They left, but returned in less than 10 minutes.
"So fast?"
"I didn't dare to eat too much, so I just ate a few bites."
Eating too much can cause indigestion.
Liu Caichao gave Mu Zhi a thumbs up: "Keep it up!"
I didn't advise Mu Zhi not to "work too hard," because she herself was working hard too.
Completing two stage performances within a few days requires a lot of practice, regardless of everyone's skill level or background.
However, compared to Mu Zhi, Liu Cai has a certain dance background. Her finger dance is not as difficult as Mu Zhi's Huo Yuanjia dance, so she goes back to the dormitory before midnight every night.
That day, in order to make up for the practice time lost in the morning, Mu Zhi practiced until about 2 a.m.
To maintain a sense of mystery, the production team did not install live streaming equipment in the training rooms where the three popular trainees prepared their solo performances.
Otherwise, if viewers in the live stream saw Mu Zhi practicing until 2 a.m. every day, they would probably say she's gone crazy.
Mu Zhi has been acting for several years and has encountered production crews who, in their frantic rush to finish filming, would shoot from morning until two or three in the morning the next day. For half a month, she had to film for more than 10 hours a day, only getting 34 hours of sleep.
This body is only 21 years old, young, full of energy, and can withstand staying up all night for a few days.
Ning Yao finally returned on the morning of the rehearsal.
During her two-day absence, Ning Yao made two video calls a day to the director, keeping in touch with Mu Zhi and the others to report on her rehearsal progress...
Once all six were together, Ning Yao didn't waste any time. They lined up and rehearsed together. As a guest invited by the production team and a popular artist, Ning Yao would have plenty of screen time on stage, and there would be interactive segments designed for each girl.
In the group "Beautiful Woman," Mu Zhi was voted the center position. She and Ning Yao looked so good together, a perfect match. This song is also in the ancient style and requires ancient costumes. Liu Cai, due to her personal image, had to cross-dress, wearing men's clothing like Ning Yao.
With her beauty and popularity, Mu Zhi naturally took center stage again and interacted more with Ning Yao.
For example, at the very beginning, Mu Zhi sits in front of a bronze mirror, Ning Yao draws her eyebrows, the two gaze deeply into each other's eyes, their eyes are entwined, and they dance intimately together.
Ning Yao has acted in several dramas and is also a regular guest on variety shows. He is very outgoing and interacts well with the other three trainees.
When he met Mu Zhi's gaze, he saw an unyielding affection in her eyes, which he found hard to resist, and he felt as if he were about to fall for her.
"Excuse me."
Ning Yao made eye contact with Mu Zhi, and had to do three takes.
He touched his slightly burning ears and coughed lightly to remind himself to focus.
He's a professional actor!!!
Mu Zhi: "?" She noticed Ning Yao's shyness and realized that she might have been a little too "assertive".
He slightly suppressed the "emotions" in his eyes.
You can't blame her; once she gets into character, she can look at even a pig with deep affection.
During breaks in practice, the production team also arranged interview segments.
Ask the members of the Muzhi Group what their impression of Ning Yao was (through this collaboration).
Mu Zhi was the last to be interviewed. The director, who was asking the questions, stirred things up: "For the same question, the people before me said that their impression of Ning Yao was that she was very hardworking, serious, and responsible. What about you? Do you have any different impressions?"
"You and Ning Yao had a lot of interaction on stage this time."
Knowing the interview format well, Mu Zhi knew that when the interview about her impression of Ning Yao was released, the director would most likely not include what she said at this moment. She was already a little worried that Ning Yao's female fans might be unhappy about her interaction with him.
Cherishing her good reputation and avoiding pitfalls, Mu Zhi smiled and said, "What impressed me most was that Senior Ning Yao always encouraged us to 'work together and get first place.' He is very competitive and trains very hard. I hope that with his good wishes, our stage can bring surprises to everyone."
She was speaking her most honest thoughts.
After rehearsing for a morning, everyone's teamwork became more and more seamless, and the performance was passable but presentable. However, they wanted to present the national producers with a truly amazing stage performance.
They want to win against the other groups.
There's still some distance to go.
So everyone was in low spirits.
Ning Yao was the first to stand up and express his determination, "We won't sleep tonight, we'll sing this song well and arrange the stage perfectly."
This stage may be a temporary source of novelty and challenge for the celebrity seniors, and if they don't perform well, they might just get a few words of criticism; but for the contestants, it is a very important competition.
Ning Yao was really dedicated and hardworking during the rehearsal process!
Mu Zhi could sense that Ning Yao genuinely wanted to boost their chances by joining them personally.
In the afternoon, Mu Zhi and others began trying on their costumes and makeup, and rehearsed in the evening.
Because the songs were in the ancient Chinese style, the production team prepared ancient costumes to match the style.
Ning Yao prepared her own ancient-style costume. It is said that she borrowed the costume from a previous film crew and had it delivered by express. It was the costume of the character in the ancient costume TV series that made her famous.
Ning Yao cooperated with the production team to create plenty of buzz for this show.
After the rehearsal for "The Beauty" ended, everyone else went home first, but Mu Zhi and Liu Cai stayed behind to rehearse their individual programs.
Their performance was the grand finale. After their performance, the mentors would give brief comments, and then they would begin their individual solo performances. Because it was a live broadcast, there wasn't much time for them to change their makeup.
The on-site director estimated the time: "Only 5 minutes."
Liu Cai's solo performance is a finger dance, and continuing to perform in ancient costume would be very incongruous; a costume change is definitely necessary. To save time, she plans to wear a black T-shirt and jeans underneath, then layer the ancient costume over them. She plans to go backstage, remove the microphone, take off the costume, change her shoes, and have the makeup artist quickly touch up her makeup...
Five minutes should be about right, right?
As Liu Cai was hesitating, she heard Mu Zhi say, "I'll go first."
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