Chapter 40
Qiao Yiqiao: “???”
Did this person speak to himself during the award ceremony?
At that time, he was thinking about how to spend the 1.2 million bonus.
Who would care about an ordinary award presenter?
"You told me at that time that you wanted to play in 'When the Walls Fall'?" Qiao Yi Qiao asked.
"Isn't it?" Qi Siqi replied, "You were nodding your head and making some humming and ah sounds."
"Okay," Qiao Yiqiao thought for a moment, "Why do you want to act?"
"The script is good enough!" Qi Siqi said without hesitation, "In a normal script, it's fine if one or two characters have a transformation, but in your script, almost every character has a small arc, and the subject matter is also very new, so I want to give it a try."
"Have you read the script?" Qiao Yi Qiao asked puzzledly.
Qi Siqi is only the award presenter, not a member of the organizing committee, let alone a judge. Where did he read the script?
"Yes, Mr. Zheng Mao showed me a few scenes and I thought they were good. Later, after reading the entire script, I had to find your phone number. I also invested in your film. Don't you remember that?" Qi Siqi said with a "tsk", "I invested two million. Chunhui Entertainment is my company."
"Oh..." Qiao Yi Qiao understood.
There is indeed such a company among the investors, so it is reasonable for Qi Siqi to see it.
but.
"I understand," Qiao Yiqiao answered truthfully, "but I don't like your tone."
How can you ask for a role like this?
"Oh, I'm sorry," Qi Siqi smiled, "I've been too popular recently, and I got a little carried away. Plus, I thought you were deliberately keeping me hanging, so my tone wasn't very nice. I hope the director will forgive me."
Qiao Yiqiao: “…”
He is a real person.
But to be honest, Qi Siqi does have the capital to be arrogant.
He is only 24 years old this year, but he has already acted in 20 to 30 dramas since he entered the industry at the age of 16, and has also released three or four albums. He can be said to be a master of both film and television.
Recently, two dramas were released one after another, one in which he played the leading male role, and the other the second male role. Both were huge hits, with the combined box office almost breaking 6 billion. His popularity is quite good, and everyone says that he should be the youngest male artist to have a cumulative box office of over 10 billion.
But this person has a weird temper. Usually, if a male actor becomes popular, he will definitely go to some variety shows, galas or something like that, but Qi Siqi doesn't go to any variety shows, and he curses people on Weibo every day - the people he curses are all people in the circle, using code names like Little A and Little B.
Although Qiao Yiqiao didn't know him very well, he had heard that this person was difficult to work with.
But no matter what kind of person Qi Siqi is, he is indeed capable of carrying the box office.
Otherwise, Director Zheng Mao would not have intentionally shown him the scripts for those scenes.
Seeing that Qiao Yiqiao hadn't said anything for a long time, Qi Siqi asked again, "Director Qiao, what are you thinking about? Should you arrange an audition for me?"
Qiao Yiqiao was helpless: "Okay, tomorrow, do you have time?"
"Don't wait until tomorrow," Qi Siqi replied immediately, "Let's do it today. You're at the Xinghua Hotel, right? I'll be there right away."
After saying that, he hung up the phone.
Qiao Yi Qiao looked at his phone and shook his head helplessly.
Where can we find such an actor?
…
Two hours later, Qi Siqi appeared in the suite that Qiao Yiqiao rented in Xinghua Hotel.
Qi Siqi was wearing thick sunglasses, a baseball cap, and all in black. When he saw Qiao Yi Qiao, he sat down across the table without a care.
Qiao Yiqiao raised his head and said, "Mr. Qi, can you take off your hat and sunglasses so that I can see your face?"
"Okay."
As Qi Siqi spoke, he took off his sunglasses and baseball cap.
Qiao Yiqiao was stunned for a second.
Because there was...a bright reflection on Qi Siqi's head.
"You shaved all your hair?" Qiao Yiqiao was a little surprised. "For my play?"
Qi Siqi smiled very wickedly: "Director Qiao, I think you are quite wild at heart, so you don't have to restrain yourself."
After hearing this, Qiao Yiqiao also smiled, then leaned back in his chair and raised his eyebrows: "You should know that in my play, the roles of prisoners have been decided, and only the role of prison guard is still vacant."
Qi Siqi touched his head and said, "I know. I'm here to test for the position of prison guard."
"So you still shave your head?"
"I watched some documentaries and stuff," Qi Siqi replied, "They say a good prison guard must know the criminals very well, so I tried it out. Besides, wasn't the prison guard Xiao Hu that you wrote about also a vicious villain in the early stages?"
Qiao Yiqiao nodded: "Indeed, you have given me a new imagination for this character."
"Don't tell me you're not attracted to a prison guard who knows the prisoners very well and is even more evil than the prisoners," Qi Siqi smiled, "I think that role should be like this."
Qiao Yi Qiao thought about it.
The prison guard Xiao Hu is a very cruel person who believes in punishment and discipline. In the script, he plays this role very seriously. But under his serious appearance, he has a heart that has been hurt a lot, so he will establish relationships with other prisoners later.
But what would it be like if this character was like Qi Siqi, a little evil?
It seems... better.
Because the original middle-aged prison guard had a very serious image, and there was a certain overlap with Xiao Hu's role.
If it becomes like Qi Siqi, it will create a contrast.
"Let me tell you, people who have really suffered won't be so serious all the time," Qi Siqi curled his lips, "Wouldn't keeping a straight face just be telling the audience, 'Ah, I really have a past, come and dig into me, I must have changed'?"
Qiao Yiqiao smiled: "You think a lot."
It's indeed true. The more evil and cynical this character is, the more exciting it becomes when his past experiences are revealed.
So, Qiao Yiqiao asked the question: "So, are you a person who has suffered? What is the greatest pain you have encountered?"
Qi Siqi pondered for a moment, then fiddled with his nonexistent bangs: "My biggest worry right now is... I'm too famous."
Qiao Yiqiao: “…”
"Be serious!"
"Be serious?" Qi Siqi smiled. "Then what do you want to hear? Do you want to hear about my parents divorcing when I was twelve, how no one wanted me, and how I was homeless and working illegally? Or how I debuted at 15, but had to drink with that group of people every day? Or how I had an operation later, and almost became mute and could no longer sing? Or... now, I am being banned from the industry and have no movies to shoot?"
After he finished speaking, the room became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Qiao Yi Qiao judged from the other person's expression for a while and was almost certain that what he said was true.
"I don't want to recall," Qi Siqi looked out the window, but then looked at Qiao Yiqiao again, "Let me put all these emotions into the play, believe me."
When Qiao Yiqiao looked at the other person's eyes, his heart suddenly trembled.
Some people are born actors.
Even if this kind of person has no expression and just looks at you faintly, it will be deeply remembered and interpreted with thousands of emotions.
But Qiao Yiqiao still had to ask: "You said you were going to be banned, what's going on?"
"Haven't you heard?" Qi Siqi shook his head. "It seems that you are not well-informed. You know which company I work for now, right? Huarong Entertainment."
"Huarong Entertainment?"
Qiao Yiqiao remembered that this was the company that produced "Clouds on the Horizon". At that time, they specially opened a preview for more than two weeks just to share the ticket market of "Chaos Campus".
"My contract with Huarong Entertainment expires next month. Wang Sirong wants me to renew it, but I don't want to. I'm looking for a new company, but other companies are cowardly. I heard that Wang Sirong has made a ruthless statement in the industry that if I don't renew the contract, he will ban me." Qi Siqi lay on the table, "So, Director Qiao, I am a child that no one wants."
The Wang Sirong that Qi Siqi mentioned is the president of Huarong Entertainment.
He had talked with Shen Si before about Huarong Entertainment. It was basically one of the top three entertainment companies in Yanjing and had great power.
"Why don't you want to renew your contract with Wang Sirong?" Qiao Yiqiao was a little curious, "Aren't the two dramas you starred in this year both projects that Huarong Entertainment found?"
"Those two films were pure luck. Those two directors will never work with Wang Sirong again. This guy is sick," Qi Siqi sighed. "He wants me to develop in Hollywood, which means I have to lick the asses of foreigners. The movies he offers me are all very boring roles that any Asian actor can play. If I don't want to, he won't let me take other roles."
Qiao Yiqiao understood: "Is that so."
No wonder he was so proactive in finding his own projects.
Perhaps he is the only one who dares to use the actor Qi Siqi.
"Yes, but Huarong Entertainment's recent financial situation is just so-so," Qi Siqi suddenly remembered, "By the way, do you know Wu Gong? I see you are all quite familiar with Wang Yige. Huarong Entertainment invested in his new film and put a lot of effort into IP and overseas distribution. They wanted to invite me to act in it, but I thought the script was too bad, so I didn't go."
"Wu Gong?" Qiao Yiqiao became interested. "Tell me about his new book."
"Oh, it's terrible," Qi Siqi waved his hands. "It's just a movie about a male protagonist and a robot solving a case, and there's some philosophical thinking in it. Huarong Entertainment took a fancy to the robot and wanted to build a big IP around it, and asked me to be a supporting actor."
Qiao Yiqiao found it very strange: "The film hasn't even been shot yet, and you're already thinking about creating an IP?"
"That's right, this is the so-called film industrialization," Qi Siqi said with disdain, "Although the industry says that film industrialization is the general trend, I don't think the real film industrialization is like this. I wonder if Director Qiao is interested in doing some industrialization in the future?"
The industrialization of film...
This should be the dream of every commercial director.
However, Qiao Yi Qiao now thinks that this is still a word that sounds far away from his current level.
"Forget it, let's not talk too much," Qiao Yiqiao sighed, "Just try your hand at acting first."
After saying that, he handed the script to Qi Siqi.
Qi Siqi took it and his expression instantly became serious. He read it carefully for a while.
Then, Qiao Yi Qiao saw him pinch the palm of his other hand hard with two fingers.
Qiao Yiqiao knows that many actors have fixed little movements to remind themselves to get into the role.
But he didn't expect that Qi Siqi's little movements to look so painful.
Afterwards, Qi Siqi said to Qiao Yiqiao: "Okay, stop talking and have a good rest."
This is a line from the play. After listening to the growth experience of the prisoner he once hated the most, prison guard Xiao Hu thought about his own growth. Then he walked to the window, looked at the rising sun, and recalled.
After Qi Siqi finished his lines, he quickly walked to the window.
Outside the window was the bustling city of Yanjing, but Qi Siqi seemed not to notice it. He just stared into the distance with an expressionless face.
Then he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with great effort, his hands still shaking a little.
He took a deep breath, exhaled a smoke ring, looked for a while, and finally smiled slightly.
These designs were not in Qiao Yi Qiao's script.
His script consists of only one sentence.
"Xiao Hu walked to the window and thought about his past, feeling mixed emotions."
After the performance, Qi Siqi quickly put out the cigarette and looked at Qiao Yiqiao: "Is it okay?"
Qiao Yiqiao was still thinking, but he didn't expect Qi Siqi to get out of the role so quickly, so he asked him: "You know that prison guards are not allowed to smoke in prison, right?"
"I know," Qi Siqi put away the lighter, "but Hu Sirui is not a law-abiding police officer. At this critical moment, he needs one."
Qiao Yiqiao smiled.
That makes sense.
He asked again: "Why did you smile at the end?"
Qi Siqi thought for a moment, then said succinctly: "Because he knows that he is not alone anymore. There are people who are just like him at heart."
Qiao Yi Qiao had to admit that some people were extremely talented.
Qiao Yiqiao didn't know whether these talents came from Qi Siqi's past experiences or whether he was born that way.
Anyway, Qiao Yiqiao asked the last question: "How much are you paid?"
Qi Siqi was very straightforward: "I have invested in your movie, so I don't need any salary, just provide food and accommodation."
Qiao Yiqiao stretched out a hand: "Then I wish us a happy cooperation."
Qi Siqi grabbed Qiao Yiqiao's hand and hugged him tightly: "Bullshit. We will definitely be happy."
…
After deciding on Qi Siqi, the box office powerhouse, to play the lead role of the prison guard, the selection of the other two prison guard roles was less stressful.
The "old" one, Qin Duo, couldn't adjust his schedule, so he recommended his younger brother Qin Zhen. Although Qin Zhen was not as popular as Qin Duo, his appearance was suitable and his attitude was good. In addition, the pay was cheap, only 600,000 yuan.
Another middle-aged prison guard, Qiao Yi Qiao, also asked various friends to recommend dozens of people, and finally decided on an actor named Zhao Gang, who had played supporting roles in many police and gangster dramas before. He was the kind of person that everyone knew who he was when they saw him, but perhaps they could only call out his character's name but not his name. His pay was a little lower, only 400,000.
So it took a total of one million to finalize the main cast, and the remaining roles only added up to about 200,000 or 300,000 yuan. Qiao Yi Qiao felt that the money was well spent.
After the three actors were decided, they brought Jiang Weiguo's eleven-member group, plus more than forty extras from the Xicui Gang, to Aba Prison to experience life.
A'Mo, Li Wei, Su Lang, Pi Pi, Jenny and Bulbasaur were also assigned some prisoner roles with lines.
However, due to the large number of people, Qiao Yi Qiao was embarrassed to trouble the Ministry of Justice and Officer Hu and others, so he rented a house in the nearest town and let the extras live there in turns.
This part is temporarily handled by Sabri. Although she cannot go to prison, it is good to listen to the actors' talks.
Xiao He also found the director of photography.
This man is called Michael Lee, he is of Chinese descent and used to be a documentarian. He is 36 years old this year, but he is well maintained and looks like a college student in his twenties.
This guy is very sociable and has many girlfriends. However, he said that he is sincere to every girlfriend, but his sincerity fades away quickly. He spent a lot of money on his last girlfriend and is now penniless, otherwise he would not have taken on the role of Qiao Yiqiao.
Xiao He felt that he was suitable for another important reason. This man had been in jail in the Lighthouse Country, but his crime was not a serious one. Instead, he secretly photographed some confidential military equipment of the Lighthouse Country and sent the footage back to China.
In a sense, although this person is of Chinese descent, he also has a red heart and is loyal to the red flag, which is quite funny.
Mike Leigh asked for $400,000 a month, which was not expensive in the field of cinematographers. He also had experience in making documentaries and was very knowledgeable about the realism of the shots.
Moreover, he had the contract spirit of the Lighthouse People. He believed that if I was the director of photography, I would only be responsible for the pictures, and he would not care about the storyboards.
Qiao Yi Qiao had chatted with him twice and felt that they got along very well. He also had a hunch that he would also get along well with Qi Siqi, as they both had a pretty ruffian vibe.
Then Qiao Yi Qiao arranged two cameramen for him, Li Da and Li Xiao, both of whom were members of the Xicui Gang and had learned cameramanship for half a year.
It just so happened that the entire camera crew had the surname Li, which was probably fate.
After Mike Lee and the two Li brothers joined the group, they collaborated to shoot some videos. Mike Lee of course found Qiao Yiqiao and asked how he discovered these two people. They are so talented. The pictures they shot are all very beautiful.
Qiao Yi Qiao smiled politely but didn't dare tell Mike Lee that the two had previously cooperated in a gambling game in a casino in Portugal Province. One of them carried a camera to film the other counting cards behind his back. If Qiao Yi Qiao hadn't discovered and taken away, the two would have been beaten and crippled by the casino staff.
Qiao Yi Qiao later talked to the two Lis again and asked them to learn as much as possible from Mike Li. If that didn't work, they could use a hidden camera in the warehouse to record whatever Mike did, and then study it over and over again later. Anyway, the two of them were good at this.
This is also his selfish motive. After all, 400,000 yuan a month is still quite expensive.
He always hoped that one day when he was filming a movie, all the positions, big and small, would be filled with people from the Xicui Gang.
As for the equipment, Mike Lee also brought a list, which mainly consisted of two Arri cameras and a Steadicam. Although it was a bit expensive, Qiao Yiqiao was determined that he didn't want to be criticized for the unclear images, so he gritted his teeth and agreed.
In addition, there are several focus pullers and photography assistants, all of whom are from the Xicui Gang.
The photography team was thus established.
But the art group is a bit difficult.
There are too few good art directors in China and they are expensive, but even if the price is very high, they will still be fought over by major film crews.
There is no way. Usually during the shooting of a film, the person with the most say is the director, and the second is the art director.
From scene design and concept design to actors' costumes and styling, every prop in every scene is the responsibility of the art director.
(The director of photography usually serves the director, unless he is a particularly famous director of photography who can control the director)
Qiao Yi Qiao also struggled for a month to find an art director. He was so anxious that he had a big blister on his mouth. Then Producer Hao introduced him to a man named Yi Siqian.
Yi Siqian graduated from the Fine Arts Department of the Film Academy. After graduation, he shot commercials for a few years and later became a full-time art director.
He is 45 years old this year. He has made more than a dozen films, is good at realistic themes, and has been nominated for the Golden Crane Award. In Qiao Yiqiao's opinion, his experience is perfect.
Yi Siqian had originally taken on a role in a film by another big director, but the other party's project was postponed for three months, so he suddenly became free, and the role was snatched away by Qiao Yiqiao.
It took two or three rounds of drinking to finally get it done, thanks to Qiao Yiqiao's high alcohol tolerance, Xiao He and Yang Yang who are also very good at dealing with people, otherwise they might not have been able to finish it.
What’s outrageous is that Yi Siqian’s asking price is only 300,000 yuan a month - Qiao Yiqiao didn’t know why he used the word "only", it was obviously a large number.
But among experienced art directors, it is already very cheap.
In short, after the art director was found, the heads of the three departments of costumes, makeup and props also took their places very quickly. The set design was still handed over to the team that Producer Hao had found when he was setting up "Chaotic Campus". Qiao Yiqiao also arranged for people from the Xi Cui Gang to work under them.
The art team has a total of about 40 to 50 people, most of whom are construction workers. They are considered the largest group in the entire "When the Walls Fall Down".
As for other groups, such as the lighting group and the recording group, they found experienced teams in Hengcheng Film and Television City. The production group was led by Xiao He and the people from Xicui Gang.
The entire crew of "When the Walls Fall" was thus established, with a total of about a hundred people, which is considered a very small crew in this industry.
When Qiao Yiqiao saw the dozens of WeChat groups and the neatly coded departments and groups in the DingTalk APP, he felt indescribably happy.
This is really his first time as a serious director with a serious crew.
Everything is really about to begin.
During the more than one month of forming the team, Qiao Yi Qiao was not idle either, and had already completed the storyboard script for the entire "When the Walls Fall Down".
It was so detailed that even Chen Si was full of praise after watching it, and he almost thought of the scheduling of every shot.
This is not the credit of Qiao Yi Qiao alone. Sabri has also been running back and forth during this period, attending meetings with Qiao Yi Qiao, and Mike Lee has also helped a lot.
After Qiao Yi Qiao finished drawing the storyboard for each scene, he would give it to Mike Lee. Mike Lee would almost draw the camera position map on the same day and then give it to the art team and the lighting team.
Everything is in order.
But just when Qiao Yi Qiao was planning to start filming in two weeks, he suddenly heard the bad news.
Something happened in Siguniang Prison - all the water pipes burst, so it had to be overhauled and the prisoners had nowhere to live. For safety and transportation reasons, the Ministry of Justice had to transfer the prisoners from Siguniang Prison to Aba Prison.
Qiao Yiqiao and his team had already discussed with the Ministry of Justice and Aba Prison and decided that the entire film would be shot in a vacated prison ward in Aba Prison.
Now Aba Prison is full of prisoners, so it is naturally impossible to shoot.
The Ministry of Justice meant to wait three months until the inspection of Siguniang Prison was completed and the prisoners were transferred back, and then Qiao Yiqiao and others would be allowed to go to Aba Prison to shoot.
But the crew’s expenses are incurred every day they are set up, and they simply cannot wait for three months.
This made Qiao Yi Qiao very anxious.
Although Director Jin of the Ministry of Justice can help, he is usually very busy and cannot do everything personally. Qiao Yiqiao also contacted many prisons across the country, but none of them were suitable for various reasons.
Just when Qiao Yi Qiao was planning to raise funds again and wait for another three months, Xiao He brought good news.
Just one kilometer outside the Yi Zheng campus, there is an abandoned prison building that will be demolished soon.
The Ministry of Justice then remembered that this was the original Hengshi Juvenile Detention Center, but due to the merger of other juvenile detention centers, this place was abandoned, so they planned to demolish it this month and use the land for other purposes.
Unexpectedly, after going around in circles, everything ended up back in Heng City.
When Qiao Yi Qiao heard the news, he was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night. The next day, he took Xiao He and Yi Siqian to the former site of Hengshi Juvenile Detention Center.
There were originally nine prison blocks here, which could accommodate two thousand people. Each prison block had its own sports field and hall, and was basically independent of each other.
The most interesting thing is that this was originally a building built in the 1980s, but it was later renovated and has new prison areas.
So, like Aba Prison, this place has both new and old things, which can express the changes of the times.
The preservation condition here is better than he imagined. Yi Siqian thinks that after some tidying up, everyone can move in.
Qiao Yi Qiao immediately made the decision to shoot it here!
After that, Yi Siqian's design team and set design team worked overtime and spent three weeks adjusting the two prison areas to be suitable for filming.
And it's really better than being in Aba Prison.
In Aba Prison, because the overall structure cannot be moved, many camera equipment are actually constrained. But here, you can even directly hit the walls of the protagonists' cells, even with a cannon (jib).
Qiao Yi Qiao redesigned some of the storyboards and everything was fine again.
The only drawback is that this place doesn't look like Aba, because the surrounding area is bare plains, which doesn't seem like a place where mudslides might occur.
Yi Siqian meant to use CG (computer special effects) as the background of the woods, but Qiao Yiqiao shot a few shots in advance and found that the CG effect was unsatisfactory, the light and shadow simulation was not very realistic, and it was also a huge expense.
The post-production budget for this drama is only 6 million, and he has to focus on special effects for various natural disasters such as earthquakes, mudslides, and heavy rains.
After much thought, Qiao Yiqiao decided that he needed to get some real trees.
Yi Siqian did some research and wanted to plant a circle of big trees around, at least several thousand trees. In fact, the price would be almost the same as CG.
Qiao Yiqiao gritted his teeth and said, "Let's get real trees, exactly the same as the ones in Aba. After we finish filming, we'll move these trees to the Yizheng campus."
Yi Siqian: "Okay."
Two weeks later, Yi Siqian brought in thousands of trees and planted all the places that could be seen from inside the prison.
Qiao Yiqiao went to look at the trees. Each one looked a little lifeless, and he felt a little dissatisfied.
"Why are all the trees like this?" Qiao Yiqiao wondered, "Does the supplier have no good trees left?"
Yi Siqian scratched his head and said, "Maybe it's because this species is relatively rare and we need it urgently. I'll pick out the best trees and plant them."
Qiao Yiqiao agreed.
But he always felt uncomfortable.
The price of this batch of trees is not low, and they should not be of this quality.
He asked Xiao He to inquire about it, but the supplier didn't say anything and just said that they had tried their best to find it, so Qiao Yi Qiao had to give up.
Because he has more urgent things to do now.
Planting trees and re-landscape left him with a multi-million dollar hole in his funds, and he had to find a way to fill it, otherwise he wouldn't be able to do it later.
But how to fill it?
The easiest way is to find a new investor.
But I have already met all the potential investors in Yanjing.
If we continue to look for it at this time, it will be a waste of time whether we can make a deal or not.
This is when time is most tense.
He called Xiao He and Chu Feng and went over the budget carefully again.
After all, the filming has been changed to Heng City now, so a lot of travel expenses and transfer costs can be saved.
Apart from this, the best solution now is to have all crew members live in other cells in the prison, and Yueyue will prepare all the meals.
But even so, there is still at least one million yuan left.
One million doesn’t seem like a lot at ordinary times.
But it's quite difficult to conjure up one million at a critical moment.
Xiao He said he would think of a solution, but looking at Xiao He's expression, it seemed extremely difficult.
Qiao Yi Qiao had no choice but to go back to his room and revise the script and the storyboard, trying to numb himself with work.
It was past four in the morning and Qiao Yiqiao still didn't feel sleepy, so he simply went downstairs to smoke a cigarette and go for a run.
But I didn't expect that when I got to the first floor, I suddenly found that the lights in the dining room were still on.
It was Diler who was reading.
Qiao Yiqiao walked closer and touched his hair: "What are you looking at? Why haven't you slept for so long?"
"Boss, I want to take the test," Di Le said, "I signed up for the test tomorrow and am preparing for it."
Qiao Yiqiao was puzzled: "What kind of exam is this?"
"Here," Di Le handed over an admission ticket, "I want to help the boss."
When Qiao Yiqiao took a look, he saw that the list only said "Safety Operation Certificate for Blasting Engineering and Technical Personnel".
"..." Qiao Yiqiao asked, "Why do you want to take this exam?"
Di Le replied: "If you pass this test, you can be a blasting engineer and pyrotechnician in the crew. I think I might be able to help the boss in the future. Anyway, I have nothing to do..."
Qiao Yiqiao smiled: "Your heart is enough, why else do I need..."
bite!
The words were still on his lips as Qiao Yi Qiao suddenly thought of something.
Then he ran upstairs quickly, woke up the dazed Xiao He and Sabri, and ran downstairs with them.
Then he called Yi Siqian and Mike Lee over.
A group of people gathered neatly around a table, all still asleep, and asked Qiao Yiqiao, "What's wrong, Director Qiao?"
Qiao Yiqiao calmed himself down and said softly:
“I want to film the earthquake for real.”
Everyone: “???”
A group of people woke up instantly.
"What?" Yi Siqian was confused. "Real footage of an earthquake? How do you film it?"
Their original plan was to shoot the earthquake scene in a real-life studio, and then use CG to create the scene of the building collapse.
Now Qiao Yiqiao wants to take real photos?
Real footage of an earthquake! ?
"Yes, it's a real earthquake video," Qiao Yiqiao's eyes lit up. "We didn't have the conditions before, but now, don't we have whole buildings that can be blown up?"
“Hmm…”
The group fell silent, thinking about the possibility of this statement.
"But who will blow it up?" Xiao He asked.
"Him!" Qiao Yiqiao pushed Di Le aside. "Of course, we can't rely on him alone. Let's go find the blasting company and the film and television fireworks company and discuss the specific method of explosion. We will shoot everything in real time while ensuring the safety of all the actors."
Xiao He nodded immediately: "I will contact those companies now and ask for quotes."
Qiao Yiqiao also said: "I will contact the Ministry of Justice and report it to them, saying that we blew it up ourselves."
Half an hour later, I don’t know how many people in the company Xiao He woke up, but he finally got a quote.
"It's exactly one million cheaper than if we had to do special effects and rent a studio..." Xiao He did some calculations, "That's it!"
"Also, the remaining scenes of setting up tents next to the ruins and the heavy rain can all be shot live," Qiao Yiqiao added, "and the effect will be much better than doing special effects."
"That's right," Xiao He calculated again, "It should save a lot of money, and the trees we planted will be more useful, blocking dust and noise, so it should be able to meet the standards."
In this way, the demand for special effects in the entire play has been reduced to a minimum.
Which director can refuse to shoot live action? No one.
But……
"But this will require a lot from the director," Mike Lee said with a worried look on his face. "The explosion can only happen once, and that's it. Director, you have to think carefully about every shot. We don't have the opportunity to reshoot."
After Qiao Yiqiao finished talking about his creative ideas, his happiness faded.
Mike Lee's words suddenly made him feel pressured.
But he felt a little excited for no reason.
That's the challenge.
Qiao Yiqiao is not someone who can stay in his comfort zone.
If we do it one scene at a time like we did in the previous film "Needle Walker", it will indeed go smoothly.
But there must always be some seemingly impossible challenges to stimulate his nerves.
Over the next week, all staff members joined the team one after another and lived in the Yizheng campus and Hengcheng Juvenile Detention Center respectively.
During this period, Qiao Yi Qiao held many meetings, and every day he gathered people from the blasting company and Di Le to study the blasting plan in detail.
Every night, he would review the scene over and over in his mind. He even asked a model maker from the Xi Cui Gang to help him replicate the model of the entire juvenile detention center. Sometimes, Qiao Yi Qiao would just sit in front of the model without saying a word for an entire afternoon.
Xiao He has confirmed the start time, which is one week later.
Qiao Yiqiao also called back all the actors and had them all move directly into the juvenile detention center to add a sense of life to the prison scenes.
Every day, Qiao Yi Qiao would read the script with all of them, and when he had free time, he would stare at the model.
The days passed quickly in this kind of life.
The day of startup has arrived.
The old tradition of the opening ceremony is to offer sacrifices to the heavens.
Xiao He had already arranged the offerings of fruits, wine, pig heads, whole chickens, etc., and placed them on the altar, with burning yellow paper and incense beside them...
A large group of about 150 or 60 people stood at the back, pushing and shoving each other.
A photographer invited from a very experienced publicity company in Yanjing was also in place, ready to record it all.
Seeing this, Xiao He shouted, "The opening ceremony will begin now. Director Qiao, can you say a few words?"
Because of his past identity and work, Qiao Yi Qiao didn't quite believe this, so he gently pushed Sabri.
Sabri stepped forward and said in Chinese with a thick accent: "I hope all the gods in heaven will bless us to make the filming of "When the Walls Fall" go smoothly, and everyone's efforts will not be in vain."
Xiao He shouted: "Everyone bow three times - in short - good luck to the start!"
The group of people bowed respectfully three times.
Even though Qiao Yi Qiao didn't believe this, he still prayed silently in his heart that everything would go well.
After all, it is his first serious work.
…
The first day of filming, the first scene.
According to the convention in the film and television industry, the first scene is usually arranged with some simple scenes, in order to get off to a good start so that all subsequent filming can go smoothly.
What Qiao Yiqiao was going to shoot was a conflict scene between the prisoner Daguo played by Jiang Weiguo and the prisoner Xiaomi played by Xiaomi.
It was the 1990s, an era when people blindly pursued labor output. Because Xiaomi did not complete his day's work tasks, his team leader Daguo decided to teach Xiaomi a lesson and make an example of him.
The method of punishment was the most common one in this prison - hitting the thighs with the rubber soles of prison shoes, for a total of twenty times.
This scene mainly involves the confrontation between two people, and the other prisoners just have to watch and react. It's quite simple.
After the actors took their positions in the cell and the lighting and camera crews indicated that everything was OK, Qiao Yi Qiao also calmed down.
The first scene.
Please go well and try to pass.
In order to get it right in one take, he even decided to shoot a scene without too many dialogues as his first shot, which started with Daguo pulling down Xiaomi's pants and spanking his thighs.
The script supervisor yelled, "Scene 7, first take, first time, ACTION!"
The whole audience was silent.
Daguo pushed Xiaomi down, made him lie on the ground, and then pulled his pants off.
"I told you not to work properly!"
As he said this, Daguo took off his shoes.
"Brother, I won't be lazy anymore, brother," Xiaomi got into the role very quickly, crying, "Don't hit me, there's no good place behind my legs, I can't even sit down now..."
But the big country said nothing.
“Pah—”
It fell down with a crisp sound.
However.
Everyone: “?”
Everyone saw the rubber sole of the shoe instantly split into two pieces and flew into the air.
However, Daguo reacted quickly and immediately picked up the other shoe.
"Fuck, I beat you so hard that these shoes broke."
However, with a crisp "snap", the shoe also broke into two pieces.
"Card--"
Qiao Yi Qiao had no choice but to call a halt.
It's a good design if one shoe breaks, but it becomes a comedy if both shoes break.
He turned around and asked, "What's going on?"
A girl from the costume team quickly ran up and said, "Sorry, sorry, let's change a pair of shoes and try again."
"All right."
Soon, everyone was in place, and the script supervisor called out again: "Scene 7, first take, second take, ACTION!"
Everything went well ahead.
Until the scene of spanking the thigh was played out again.
The whole audience watched with bated breath.
But the shoe broke again.
Jiang Weiguo couldn't hold back his excitement: "Fuck, what's going on? Am I too strong?"
Qiao Yi Qiao stood up from the director's chair with a frown, then took the shoe and took a look at it, he was extremely angry.
This glue is very thin and brittle. It is obviously not a good glue. It is completely different from the one in prison.
"Clothing, come here," Qiao Yiqiao shouted, "What's going on with these shoes?"
The head of the clothing department was hired from outside. He hurried over and said with difficulty: "This is the best we can do..."
"That's totally not possible." Qiao Yiqiao frowned, "What's going on?"
Then, he looked at the clothes Jiang Weiguo and the others were wearing and said, "Why are these clothes so thin? Is this the best you can do?"
The person in charge said embarrassedly: "We will change it, we will change it..."
Qiao Yi Qiao glanced at Xiao He, who immediately understood. He called the head of the clothing group over and started reconciling the accounts.
Qiao Yiqiao had no choice but to shoot the literary scene at the beginning first.
Fortunately, after several days of reading the script together, Jiang Weiguo and Xiaomi had already reached a pretty good level in the literary drama, and it passed in one take.
After that, I filmed a few more literary scenes, and everything went smoothly.
The first day of production passed quickly.
That night, Qiao Yi Qiao called Xiao He over.
"The account is correct, but the money is wrong," Xiao He said. "At least 100,000 yuan of the costume team's money has gone missing. The same is true for the props team and the makeup and hair team."
Qiao Yiqiao fell into deep thought.
How could anyone dare to steal money from them?
It's really a death wish. !
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