Chapter 41
Qiao Yiqiao clenched his fists.
Taking money from others is like killing their parents.
I'm so poor, how could someone steal my money? !
But he soon calmed down.
Making a movie is like running a gang, there are always some unexpected events.
If you panic at every emergency, you will never achieve anything.
His top priority now is to find out who stole the money.
So, he called all the younger brothers from several groups who were assigned to costume and makeup.
"Have you noticed anything unusual in the group?" Qiao Yi Qiao asked.
The younger brothers scratched their heads and said, "No."
The more Qiao Yiqiao asked, the more he felt something was wrong.
He asked his younger brothers to add up the money they had passed through in recent times.
The art team is one of the groups that handles the most money in the entire film crew, probably second only to the production team.
These younger brothers now just follow orders, and they all listen to the orders of their respective team leaders, but they are usually careful when using money to buy things. Now, after checking the accounts, they found something wrong.
The account doesn't quite match the invoice submitted by the costume and makeup team leader.
In short, each group has a difference of tens of thousands.
And this is just the beginning of the expenses.
These guys didn't know how much money the team leaders reported, so they didn't notice anything wrong.
After asking these questions, Qiao Yi Qiao told them not to say anything and released them all.
It seems that I still need to ask those team leaders.
But calling them together for questioning is obviously not a good idea, as no one will tell the truth under such circumstances.
So after thinking for a long time, Qiao Yi Qiao decided to start with Brother Liu from the props group.
Brother Liu was recommended by Producer Hao. He shares similar ideas with Producer Hao, is half a gangster, and is a heavy drinker.
However, ever since the shoe incident, Brother Liu knew he had messed up, so he claimed to be sick and hid in the dormitory, not coming out for a long time.
After thinking it over, Qiao Yiqiao went upstairs carrying two bottles of Moutai and a plate of edamame.
These team leaders all had single rooms. When Qiao Yi Qiao arrived at the door and was about to knock, he heard a voice coming from inside.
"Nannan, dad is in the crew now. Yes, the crew is making movies. Hahahaha, we don't make cartoons."
"Just stay at home and be good. Wait until dad finishes this project and then we'll go out and play around before going to the hospital. Oh, okay, okay, we won't go to the hospital..."
"The needle is broken, dad will give you an injection..."
Qiao Yiqiao's heart moved.
When inviting these people here, Qiao Yi Qiao had already inquired about it, and found out that Brother Liu had some problems at home.
But when signing the contract, it said that I might have to travel frequently between Feihu Province and Hengcheng. Brother Liu didn't say the details.
It seems that every family has its own problems.
Qiao Yi Qiao waited until the noise inside died down before knocking on the door.
"Who is it?" Brother Liu asked.
"I'm Qiao Yi Qiao." Qiao Yi Qiao said.
"What's the matter, Director Qiao?" Brother Liu's voice came out after a long while. "I'm a little sick, Director Qiao, how about we do it another day?"
"I know you are sick," Qiao Yiqiao smiled, "I brought some medicinal wine from my hometown. They are all made of very good medicinal herbs. I brought them especially for you to strengthen your body."
There was a rustling sound from inside the door. After a while, Brother Liu finally opened the door.
Qiao Yi Qiao went in carrying the wine.
Brother Liu’s dormitory is not big, but it is very tidy. He doesn’t bring much stuff with him, and the minimalism of a middle-aged man is evident everywhere.
But on one wall of shelves, there were all kinds of figures and toys. Although Qiao Yiqiao had not watched many anime, he could still guess a few characters.
Brother Liu saw that what Qiao Yiqiao was carrying was not medicinal wine, but Maotai, and asked him: "Is this medicinal wine?"
"The medicine is gone, only the wine is left," Qiao Yiqiao laughed, "Brother Liu, do you mind if I drink some?"
Brother Liu knew that Qiao Yiqiao must have something to do when he came here, but he felt that he would come to him sooner or later. In addition, he was craving for wine, so he made up his mind and said directly: "Come on, drink!"
During the first three drinks, Qiao Yi Qiao didn't mention anything about the crew, but talked about anime and movies with Brother Liu.
Although Qiao Yi Qiao had not watched many anime, fortunately Brother Liu loved Satoshi Kon, so the two of them opened up and talked about everything from "The Boss" to "Perfect Blue", and then talked about "Tokyo Godfathers" and "Paprika".
The atmosphere was very heated.
After drinking five liang of wine, Brother Liu finally felt a little tipsy.
With drunken eyes, he patted Qiao Yiqiao on the shoulder and said, "You are a really good director... but you are a little greedy."
Alcohol is always a catalyst between two unfamiliar people.
Qiao Yiqiao was naturally not drunk, and thought that he had finally gotten to the point, so he asked, "Brother Liu, how was I greedy?"
"Oh, it's okay, it's okay. You didn't make much money with your first film, so it's normal for this one to be like this," Brother Liu ate a few more edamame. "It's good to be young. You can dare to think and act. It's easy to make some money without delaying the pursuit of your dreams."
Qiao Yi Qiao drank the wine in front of him and waited for Brother Liu to continue.
Brother Liu smacked his lips. "When I took this job from you, I thought it was just a job and I just wanted to do it for a day. But I didn't expect you to be so serious. You marked all the necessary props in the storyboard, which saved me a lot of trouble. So even if it's... well, I still want to continue working for you."
Seeing that Brother Liu was unwilling to talk, Qiao Yiqiao changed the subject.
He pointed to the pictures behind the figurines on the wall and asked, "Are those drawn by Brother Liu?"
"Ah?" Brother Liu didn't expect Qiao Yiqiao to notice such a detail. He nodded blankly and said, "I originally studied fine arts, but later I couldn't get a good crew and couldn't make money, so I became a prop maker. Now I paint when I have nothing to do to comfort my daughter."
Qiao Yiqiao asked again: "Is your daughter okay?"
"Okay, okay," Brother Liu drank the wine in front of him, "Why is it bad? How can it be considered good? People said she wouldn't live past three, but she's already over four years old. Let her live one more day at a time."
"You used to have a lot more figurines than these, right?" Qiao Yiqiao observed that many figurines should have been in pairs, but now there was only one of them, so he asked, "Did you put it at home, or somewhere else?"
Brother Liu filled his glass again and drank it all in one gulp: "I sold them all for my daughter. I need to calm down."
Qiao Yiqiao could see that Brother Liu was under a lot of financial pressure.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have sold even such a precious figure of his own.
If he stole the 100,000 yuan for his daughter, Qiao Yiqiao thought, then forget it.
He is not a charitable person, but he is always soft-hearted.
"Brother Liu, just work hard for me," Qiao Yiqiao thought it through and said directly, "Please do your best in the project. After the filming is finished, I will give you and your daughter a big red envelope, okay?"
Brother Liu picked up the wine glass and was about to drink, but he was stunned after hearing what Qiao Yiqiao said: "What? What red envelope?"
Qiao Yi Qiao thought the other party didn't hear him, so he repeated it again.
"What are you doing?" Brother Liu suddenly became angry. "Why don't you just not take our money from the beginning? We can just spend it on props. I won't need your red envelope!"
Qiao Yi Qiao was also stunned after hearing this and asked hurriedly.
"When did I ask you for money?"
"Then the 100,000 yuan tribute," Brother Liu's face was full of questions, "isn't it what you want? Then it's Producer He?"
Qiao Yiqiao just thought it was ridiculous: "How could it be the two of us? Who asked you for the money?"
Brother Liu said as a matter of course: "Yi Siqian."
Qiao Yiqiao fell silent.
Seeing that Qiao Yiqiao really didn't seem to understand, Brother Liu began to explain to him.
Paying tribute has become an unspoken rule of the crew - he has participated in at least fifty or sixty crews, and there is no one who did not pay tribute.
The so-called tribute means that after the art director distributes money to his subordinates such as costume and makeup departments, these departments have to take out a part of the money to return to the art director.
Then the art director will divide the work with the producer and director.
In this way, you can turn the money from the film and television projects into money in your own pocket.
The amount of tribute ranged from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. Brother Liu once worked with a large group, and the tribute alone amounted to over one million.
Qiao Yiqiao just thought it was ridiculous.
He finally understood why some dramas were said to have huge investments, but the costumes and props looked like they were purchased wholesale from a small commodity market.
In general film crews, after the costume and makeup team pays tribute, they may keep a small commission for themselves.
But Brother Liu didn't do that. Although he was short of money, he disdained to do such a thing.
When he was an art director before, he was also made things difficult for the producers because he didn't want to "collect tribute".
This is the industry practice, and everyone does it very naturally. If you don’t do it, you will be accused of “not knowing the rules”.
After listening to this, Qiao Yiqiao also fell into deep thought.
He was just a peasant, so naturally he didn't know the twists and turns involved.
It certainly wasn't him who instructed Yi Siqian to do this.
Brother Liu was not stupid. When he saw Qiao Yi Qiao's reaction, he understood what was going on.
"So, each of your departments paid tribute to Yi Siqian?" Qiao Yiqiao asked, "Each group paid 100,000 yuan?"
Brother Liu nodded: "Yes, we have discussed it, so that no one will give too much or too little."
Qiao Yi Qiao called Xiao He again and asked him whether Yi Siqian had recently talked to him or hinted at paying tribute to him.
Qiao Yiqiao trusted Xiao He 100% and knew that he would not do such a thing behind his back.
The reason why he asked this was just to confirm one thing - did Yi Siqian intend to give the money to Xiao He and himself in advance, or did he just use their names to collect the money for his own use.
Xiao He thought about it for a long time and finally shook his head.
Recently, Yi Siqian has not even had any serious conversations with them, let alone hinting that they should pay tribute.
Now the case is simple and clear.
Yi Siqian collected at least 500,000 tributes in their names, and did not even think of giving a penny to Qiao Yiqiao and Xiao He.
After listening to this, Old Liu sighed twice: "How can this person do things this way? Director Qiao, what should we do next?"
Qiao Yiqiao hesitated for a moment and shook his head: "Let me handle it."
He is so poor, yet someone still steals money from him.
Qiao Yiqiao would definitely not be able to tolerate this.
But the most urgent task is to get the 500,000 yuan back.
As for how to deal with Yi Siqian... Qiao Yi Qiao hasn't figured it out for the time being.
That night, he found Yi Siqian.
The place where Yi Siqian was found was not even on the set or in the dormitory, but in a nightclub in Hengcheng.
Fortunately, the entire set was filled with people from the Xicui Gang, so it was easy to find out where Yi Siqian was going.
Qiao Yi Qiao thought for a while, then called Yang Yang, A'mo and Xiao He, and blocked Yi Siqian at the door of the nightclub.
Yi Siqian was already a little drunk, and asked with a smile: "Director Qiao, it's so late, what do you want to talk to me about?"
Qiao Yiqiao smiled and said with a sly look on his face: "I'm here to relax too. Let's find a place to have a drink?"
Yi Siqian pointed inside: "I have a private room here, let's go."
A group of people walked into the private room.
Qiao Yiqiao and Yi Siqian drank for a while and talked a little nonsense. Then Qiao Yiqiao fell on the sofa and said, "It's so boring for two grown men to just drink here."
Yi Siqian rolled his eyes and said, "Want to drink something fancy? But now we are all clean and righteous, there is no chance for that."
"It's okay," Qiao Yiqiao made a phone call, said a few words, and then said to Yi Siqian, "Just wait."
Sure enough, within ten minutes, a group of beautiful girls with fair skin and extraordinary temperament entered the private room and surrounded Yi Siqian.
Yi Siqian's eyes were bent with laughter: "Director Qiao, why don't you come?"
Qiao Yiqiao waved at him: "You play first."
Then, a group of beautiful girls started to drink Yi Siqian crazily.
Yi Siqian was no match for so many people and soon got drunk. He raised his glass and said, "Come on, girl, have a drink..."
Seeing this, Qiao Yi Qiao winked at Yang Yang, and soon, Yang Yang used his signature skill to take out Yi Siqian's phone, unlocked it with his face, and operated it.
Xiao He received the transfer notification and nodded: "OK. Fortunately, the bank card limit is very high, otherwise it would be troublesome."
Qiao Yiqiao nodded, then said, "You guys go out."
Those beautiful girls returned to their normal expressions in an instant, threw Yi Siqian aside, and walked out without looking back.
Yi Siqian looked at this scene and suddenly sobered up a lot.
"Director Qiao, what do you mean?"
Qiao Yi Qiao signaled to A'mo, who threw a contract next to Yi Siqian.
"It's signed, let's terminate the contract." Qiao Yi Qiao said coldly.
Yi Siqian was stunned: "What the hell? Qiao Yiqiao, what are you doing?"
"Our crew is not a feudal empire. We don't engage in tribute-paying practices," Qiao Yiqiao said directly. "Since you have this habit, we can't continue to cooperate. Let's terminate the contract."
It is said that alcohol makes cowards brave. After hearing this, Yi Siqian suddenly got angry and threw the bottle of wine to the ground: "Are you fucking sick? Everyone does this. Why did you fire me? I didn't charge much money."
Qiao Yiqiao sneered.
Five hundred thousand is not even a lot of money in the eyes of this art director.
But this is not the case for Qiao Yiqiao.
Five hundred thousand was enough for him to buy several extremely realistic cells, enough for him to rent the best cameras for half a month, and enough for him to give his brothers an extra chicken leg at every meal.
Seeing that Qiao Yiqiao's expression did not change, Yi Siqian softened again: "Director Qiao, let's discuss this properly. You just complain that I took the money and didn't give it to you? Can't I give you some? Damn it, did you transfer all my money away?"
Qiao Yiqiao nodded: "If you feel it is inappropriate, you can call the police. I have obtained the transfer records of Lao Liu and others. Then we can see who the police thinks is stealing the money."
"Okay, Qiao Yiqiao," Yi Siqian said with a sullen look on his face, "You are really ruthless in doing things."
"No need to waste time talking," Qiao Yiqiao said, "Anyway, we have already signed the contract, and both of us can terminate it at any time. Besides, I am not terminating the contract with you just because you accepted tribute from others."
"As a production designer, you are the most important person in the artistic creation of the entire film, but you didn't even put in much effort. Such a serious incident happened on the set today, and you came to drink at night. Your mind is not on the movie at all. I can't work with someone with your attitude."
Yi Siqian was confused. He wanted to be angry and even wanted to hit someone, but when he saw the killer beside Qiao Yiqiao, he fell silent again.
Finally, he muttered, "It's just a movie, isn't it? Is it necessary to be like this?"
"In any case, we are not on the same page," Qiao Yiqiao said, "We will not cooperate again in the future."
Yi Siqian suddenly became angry: "I don't believe you can find another artist? You know I'm leaving. According to the contract, you can't use the designs I made before, right? I'm telling you, I'll tell all my colleagues not to cooperate with you. Just wait for the film to fail!"
"Don't worry, we won't use your design. But then again, how many of your designs were made by yourself? Aren't all the prison cells and scenes inside the prison adapted from real prisons?" Qiao Yiqiao turned around and said, "You can tell all your friends about this. If they stop cooperating with me because of this, it proves that we are not the same kind of people."
"Also, the men who fed you wine mouth-to-mouth just now were all my men. They can now fake their voices. Thank you for helping me test their abilities. Goodbye."
After saying that, Qiao Yi Qiao left without looking back.
Yi Siqian was the only one left in the room, retching continuously.
On the way back, Qiao Yi Qiao was wondering whether what he did was right.
According to Lao Liu, the entire industry is like this, from top famous directors to new directors, no one refuses to accept tribute.
We all make commercial films to make money.
Wasn't it also to make money to support the people under him that Qiao Yi Qiao entered this industry?
But he always felt that some money could not be earned.
He didn't even bother to make money.
Perhaps firing Yi Siqian would indeed cause considerable trouble to their film. He was right. All the art designs he had done before would have to be replaced, which meant that the construction period would have to be extended and the cost might be more than half a million.
And, to be honest, Yi Siqian's art design and overall control of costumes, props and makeup are all excellent.
but……
After all, people with different ideals cannot work together.
Xiao He was in the car, looking out the window, a little worried: "Brother, what should we do next?"
"When I came out, I had already told Lao Liu to try to be the art director," Qiao Yiqiao sighed, "but we will definitely be very busy in the future, and all the announcements and schedules may have to be redone. Thank you for your hard work."
"It's not hard," Xiao He rubbed his already red and swollen eyes, "It's all for the project and... Big Brother, we call this 'Even if you are hungry, you can still have a good time.'"
Qiao Yi Qiao was stunned for a while, then laughed softly.
When will I stop being amused by puns?
But after laughing, he felt calm.
These are...his comrades.
…
The next day's shooting continued as usual.
When problems arose during the filming yesterday, Qiao Yi Qiao had already asked Xiao He to contact the Ministry of Justice.
Because the scenes we are filming are set in the 1990s, the prison uniforms and prison guard uniforms at that time are very different from those now. The Ministry of Justice said at the beginning that they had no stock, and the factories that previously supplied them no longer make old-style clothes.
But last night, Director Jin of the Ministry of Justice and his team helped contact other prisons overnight and finally found a dozen old prison uniforms and shoes in the warehouse of an old prison. Yang Yang drove to pick them up at around 2 a.m. and came back around 7 a.m., so there was no delay.
Because the scene was set in a prison cell, Lao Liu did not provide any design drawings. Instead, he changed the layout overnight so as not to delay the reshoot during the day.
Before filming began, Qiao Yiqiao spoke to several main creators: "Something happened on our crew, and you probably all heard about it. Anyway, we will be filming and changing the scenery at the same time. All previous notices will have to be redone. I hope everyone can cooperate. If you have any difficulties, please raise them and we will work together to find a solution."
The creators all nodded.
They all knew that the people who would work the hardest next would probably be Qiao Yi Qiao, Xiao He and Lao Liu.
Lao Liu had to redesign every subsequent scene and then supervise the on-site modifications. Fortunately, Yi Siqian had been passive and slack before, and many scenes had not yet officially started, so not much money was spent.
Xiao He has to rearrange the announcements according to the order in which Lao Liu changes the scenery.
The most troublesome person was Qiao Yiqiao. Not only did he have to hold a meeting with Lao Liu to determine the set, but he also had to redesign the storyboard based on the set, and then communicate with Mike Lee about the camera setup, lighting arrangement, etc.
Everyone is mentally prepared for this.
Fortunately, the first day of filming after the restart went very smoothly.
Xiaomi was hit hard on the thigh by Aguo, but everyone in the audience showed a relieved smile.
Because the effect of this shot was extremely good, the shoes did not break, and the two actors acted very hard.
Only then did Qiao Yi Qiao feel a little relieved.
Today finally got off to a good start.
The next scene was also a scene inside the prison cell. Everyone on the scene was waiting for the lighting team to re-set the lighting, and everyone was taking a break.
Qiao Yi Qiao also took a break from his busy schedule to take a nap. He had slept less than five hours for several days in a row. He is also a human being and he has his limits.
Next to him.
Sabri felt bad seeing Qiao Yiqiao looking so tired.
She felt like she had never been able to help Qiao Yi Qiao much. At most, she helped him design the storyboards for a while, but most of the time, they were Qiao Yi Qiao's own ideas, and she was just helping to come up with some creative ideas.
Although she has been working very hard to learn Chinese, Chinese is a very difficult language after all. She is now working as an executive director and often has some communication problems with the crew. Fortunately, Mike Lee's English is also very good and he often helps her.
Since she had not done her job very well, she wanted to do more. Now the workers were helping the lighting team move the light boxes, so she went to help.
Carrying a Maverick (a small generator) in each hand, he walked no slower than the men around him.
Many workers gave him a thumbs up: "You are such a good girl! You are so strong but you don't complain! You are stronger than many of us men!"
Sabri was very happy to be praised and finally felt that he seemed to be helpful.
But she also hopes that one day, when others praise her, they will not say “you, a girl…” or something like that.
She hopes that others will praise her with a straightforward "You are awesome!"
After moving the boxes, she felt a little tired, so she found a place to sit down, took out her notebook, and started thinking about the story.
Although she had been helping Qiao Yi Qiao and was very grateful to him, she had never stopped thinking about her own story.
She now wants to make a low-budget monster movie.
It's a psychological horror type where the monster never appears from beginning to end, and the only thing you can watch is how the protagonist escapes in a confined space.
She liked to think about the difficulties encountered by the two heroines when they escaped, as well as her imagination of the monster -
—These are of course full of metaphors and are closely related to the environment in which she and her sister grew up.
She even thought of the title of the film, which is "The Monster in My House".
But unexpectedly, when she was deep in thought, she suddenly heard a voice from behind: "Hey, why are you sitting here?"
Sabri turned around and saw four or five workers standing behind him with pouting faces.
Sabri quickly stood up and asked, "Am I blocking your way?"
"Of course not," the leading worker looked distressed, "How...how can you sit here? This is so unlucky!"
Sabri looked down and saw that the place where he had just sat was a large box containing a camera.
She was very puzzled: "What's so unlucky about this?"
"Women can't sit on the equipment box!"
"That's right, why don't you know the rules?"
"After a woman sat on it, the things in this box became unlucky. If anything goes wrong during the filming again, I'll blame you!"
"I just praised you, how could you do such a thing, oh..."
A group of workers looked distressed.
This made Sabri a little embarrassed.
She looked around and pointed at the people next to her: "Aren't they sitting on this box too?"
"How can they be the same?" the worker said, "He is a man and you are a girl."
Sabri blushed and said, "What kind of logic is this? Men can sit but women can't. So weird!"
She was so anxious that she couldn't speak Chinese.
The field worker also found it difficult to explain, and only said: "We can't explain it clearly, anyway, this is how it is in this industry, women can't sit on the equipment boxes!"
"Yeah, this is a convention. You can't do this!"
"Oh, hurry up and buy some red paper, wrap the box and put it aside for two days, then let the girl kowtow to the box..."
A group of workers were talking at the same time, which made Sabri dizzy.
Of course, she didn't know that there was such a rule in the film and television industry. She just sat down because she saw everyone else was sitting down.
"What happened?"
Just when Sabri felt he had no way to defend himself, a cold male voice interrupted the situation.
Seeing that everyone was around the camera crew, Mike Lee wanted to come and mind their business for the first time in a long time.
The field worker told him what happened when Sabri sat on the equipment box.
Mike Lee laughed out loud after hearing this: "What kind of thing is this? How come it's a problem for women to sit on it but not for men? There's no scientific reason at all!"
The worker quickly went up to cover his mouth and said, "We dare not say that."
Mike Lee felt a little annoyed when he was suddenly covered with his hand. He said angrily, "I think you are just looking for trouble and making things difficult for a little girl."
The worker shook his head: "You are a foreigner, you don't understand..."
"How am I a foreigner? I have Chinese blood flowing in my body," Mike Lee said indignantly, "and I'm the leader of the camera crew. If I say it's okay, then it's okay. From now on, Sabri, don't sit anywhere else. Just sit on our camera crew's boxes, and pick the most expensive ones! I want to see if anything will go wrong!"
As he said that, Mike Lee pushed Sabri down.
Sabri sat down on the camera crew's box with a thud, his eyes blank.
Is she...being protected by someone?
Why is it that the first time in my life that I'm protected by someone, my butt is so painful?
"Oh my God, you guys are disrespecting tradition," the worker was so anxious that he was shaking, "Quick, go buy some red paper, or our group will be finished!"
"What's not finished?"
Everyone immediately fell silent.
Qiao Yiqiao walked closer and asked, "Who said it was over?"
He was sleeping, but when he heard the noise here, he had to come over to take a look.
The stagehand felt wronged and quickly said, "Director, look at her, she's sitting on the equipment box. This is very unlucky!"
Qiao Yi Qiao glanced at Sabri, who wanted to stand up quickly, but unexpectedly Qiao Yi Qiao gently pressed his shoulder and he sat down again.
Qiao Yiqiao wondered: "What's unlucky?"
The stagehand was anxious: "How can a woman sit on an equipment box? This is something that every crew knows!"
"You are very conscientious, which is good," Qiao Yiqiao said indifferently, "but there are no such rules in our group. From now on, not to mention Sabri, even any woman can do a handstand on the equipment box."
Field worker: “Ah…”
He didn't know what to say.
He has worked on hundreds of film crews, and every director has shown great respect for these rules.
I didn't expect Qiao Yiqiao to be so unique.
Qiao Yiqiao turned around and called out, "Call Gastly to me."
Soon, a chubby young man wearing thick glasses ran over.
Qiao Yi Qiao felt that it was time to express his stance, so he stood on an apple box nearby and shouted to everyone.
"Please stop for a moment, I want to tell you something important."
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Qiao Yi Qiao.
Qiao Yiqiao shouted, "I know there are a lot of unspoken rules in our industry, such as the team leader has to pay tribute to various instructors, girls can't sit on the equipment box, the vehicle maintenance team is used to issuing more invoices when refueling, etc. I just want to say that in the future, these things should not be done in our crew. If I find out, I will definitely punish you severely."
Dozens of staff members at the scene were silent.
This was the first time they had seen a director say these words publicly.
Qiao Yiqiao continued: "After that, we will set up mutual monitoring groups, with three to four people in each group. You must know each other's situation inside out and tell me if you have any difficulties. Then, if you encounter any small actions by some team members, you must report to me or Mr. He Rongyao. Otherwise, if we find any problems, the wages of the entire team will be deducted."
This was originally a method used by prisons to control prisoners.
But Qiao Yiqiao thinks it’s also good to use this set on the set.
"Okay, that's it," Qiao Yiqiao said to everyone, "Please continue working. Thank you."
After saying that, he came down.
Mike Lee gave Qiao Yiqiao a thumbs up: "Director Qiao, great! This is the first time I've seen such a courageous director."
Qiao Yiqiao scratched his head embarrassedly: "I am also making progress in my studies."
Then, he looked at Gastly and said, "I'll give you a task."
Gastly's real name is Zhao Wuliang. He used to be a micro-businessman. The things he sold were priced at a very high premium, but they sold very well. The main reason for his success was that the effects he wrote about these things made people want to buy them. Qiao Yiqiao almost fell for his trick and spent a huge amount of money to buy a mattress that could treat cervical vertebrae.
He always thought that this guy should be a novelist or write a public account.
Gastly nodded: "Brother, you go ahead."
"I want you to chat with everyone, just like you did when you were doing WeChat business," Qiao Yiqiao said. "Treat everyone as your customer and mainly ask them two questions: first, whether they have any difficulties in life; second, whether they know some of the unspoken rules of this industry."
"Then, I want you to organize them into groups based on the principle of mutual assistance and mutual benefit, which is what I just said about mutual monitoring groups - just like you grouped your customers when you were doing WeChat business before," Qiao Yiqiao continued, "Then, you write down all the hidden rules that have been stopped, and we will bind them into a book and give everyone a copy, so that everyone will not act according to those rules."
Qiao Yi Qiao felt that he had been struggling against unspoken rules these past two days.
The so-called unspoken rules are nothing more than some commonly accepted but unreasonable things.
The makers of these unspoken rules must be the beneficiaries: the beneficiaries of the tribute are the directors, producers and art directors; the beneficiaries of not allowing women to sit on equipment are obviously the men who smashed things, and they put the blame on the fact that it is unlucky for women to sit on boxes.
It's all bullshit.
On his set, there is no need for such unspoken rules.
According to the contract, everyone will not pay less than what he is supposed to receive, and correspondingly, he must not perform less than what he is supposed to perform.
If you have any difficulties, you can tell him and he will find a way to help you. Apart from this, no one should have any other benefits.
In this way, the only one who will benefit is the movie itself.
Gastly nodded. "I'll remember that. I'll do it right away. It should be done within a week."
Qiao Yiqiao waved his hand and said, "Go ahead. You can get some hard work pay from Ditto later."
"Okay!"
After Gastly ran away, the workers who had just gathered here also left.
Mike Lee sighed and said, "Well done, Director Qiao. You are the first person to promote the formalization of China's film and television industry! You know, I didn't have such rules in Hollywood before. That's where the best place for film industrialization is! I think the industrialization of China's film industry must start from this step!"
Qiao Yiqiao didn't think about whether filmmaking was industrialized or not, he just felt it was comfortable this way.
Sabri also blushed: "Because of me, QYQ has been in trouble..."
"It's not a problem. It's not because of you." Qiao Yiqiao regained his gentle expression. "These things should have been done a long time ago."
Sabrie looked at Mike Lee and said slowly: "Thank you too, Michael."
Mike Lee smiled carelessly: "It's okay, you can treat me to a meal later."
"Okay." Sabri said seriously, "When the time comes, you can tell me the story of Hollywood..."
"No problem, there will be a lot of interesting things~"
Qiao Yi Qiao looked at the two of them, said nothing more, and returned behind the monitor.
…
The first day of shooting was successfully completed.
Because the next scene had not been set up yet, Qiao Yiqiao and his team had to focus on shooting the prison scenes in the 1990s. They shot for a week and finally finished all the prison scenes.
The next scene should be a scene in the bathroom.
But rearranging the water pipes requires a lot of effort. Lao Liu had no experience and was very slow. Qiao Yiqiao didn't rush him and let him take his time.
But although the filming has been suspended, Qiao Yi Qiao will not let the actors have any time to spare.
A script reading session was held that evening.
What I'm going to read today is the rivalry between a dozen prisoners and three prison guards.
Qin Zhen plays the role of Lao Bai, a kind-hearted prison guard who likes to reform criminals through cultural and sports activities such as choirs, brass bands, and track and field teams.
The prison guard Zhao, played by Zhao Gang, is very serious. He believes that the policy of labor reform should be adhered to and that the prisoners should not be treated too well.
The prison guard Xiao Hu, played by Qi Siqi, is evil and mean. In the early stages, he did not treat the prisoners as human beings at all.
When the film turns to the 2000s, after the prison reform, the conflict between the three people becomes more obvious, because it was only at that time that Walter White had the budget and ability to set up these cultural and sports organizations.
Therefore, in the first eighteen scenes of the film, which is the first act, Walter White does not have many lines, and his focus is to play a supporting role to others.
The group read for more than an hour, and Qiao Yiqiao made revisions from time to time before they finished reading the ten plays.
Just as he was about to read on, Qin Zhen raised his hand: "Director Qiao, I have something else to do. Can we leave it like this for today?"
Qiao Yiqiao looked up and nodded: "Teacher Qin, if you have something to do, please leave first. We will read for a while longer."
After saying that, Qin Zhen left.
They read until the early morning before disbanding.
At this time, Qiao Yi Qiao didn't think much about it.
But I didn’t expect that the same thing would happen on the second, third, and fourth days.
Qin Zhen basically only reads for more than an hour every day and then leaves.
Even if Qiao Yi Qiao was not very sensitive, he would have noticed that there was something wrong.
But when he asked indirectly on the set, he found that Qin Zhen didn't say anything.
Qiao Yiqiao had no choice but to find Qi Siqi.
Qi Siqi was doing push-ups in the room. When he saw Qiao Yiqiao coming, he asked directly, "You want me to ask Qin Zhen what's going on, right?"
"Yeah," Qiao Yiqiao nodded, "I don't know if there's something wrong or if he has any opinions about me."
Qi Siqi agreed: "Okay, I'll ask for you tomorrow."
the next day.
After reading the script for an hour, Qin Zhen said he wanted to leave.
Seeing this, Qiao Yiqiao simply said, "Everyone is tired, let's take a short break today and have a good rest."
The group of people dispersed, and Qi Siqi left Qin Zhen alone.
Qiao Yi Qiao also went out and lay on the door, acting like a "villain".
Qi Siqi asked: "What's going on with Teacher Qin recently? Why do you leave early every day?"
"It's nothing," Qin Zhen, also an actor, thought for a long time before asking, "Do you think Director Qiao is not very good?"
"He's not good enough?" Qi Siqi laughed, "I haven't met a better director than him yet!"
Qin Zhen forced a smile: "Well, I have never seen a crew that was so chaotic right from the start. The notices were changed all the time, and I have never seen a reading session for such a long time. Last time I went to a crew, the director also read the script like this every day, but in fact, because he was unsure, the final product was a mess..."
Qiao Yiqiao finally understood.
At the beginning, too many things happened on the crew, which made Qin Zhen feel that there was something wrong with his ability as a director, so he was unwilling to cooperate.
That makes sense. After all, they are actors, and before the film comes out, they actually have some concerns about the director's abilities.
Qin Zhen is also very experienced. Plus, his previous work was indeed a mess, so it is normal for him to have these thoughts recently.
The announcement is indeed constantly changing.
The other actors are all from the Xicui Gang, so naturally they wouldn't have any emotions, but Qin Zhen couldn't help feeling dissatisfied.
Qi Siqi chatted with Qin Zhen for a while before they dispersed.
After Qin Zhen left, Qi Siqi asked Qiao Yiqiao, "What are you going to do? The actors are not satisfied with you."
Qiao Yiqiao thought for a while and suddenly smiled: "I feel relieved when I hear him say there is nothing else. I can only do my part well. As for what he thinks, that is his business."
"Okay," Qi Siqi lit a cigarette and handed it to Qiao Yiqiao, "You have a pretty good attitude."
Qiao Yiqiao took a deep breath and blew out a smoke ring: "Same here."
…
Fortunately, Brother Liu worked day and night and finally finished the scenery of the water room.
Qiao Yi Qiao was able to notify Qi Siqi and Xiaomi that night to get ready and shoot their scenes in the bathroom the next day.
The two arrived on the set early in the morning and were ready.
This scene is simple and difficult at the same time.
The prison guard Xiao Hu, played by Qi Siqi, discovered that Xiaomi was sleeping late all day, so he called him to the bathroom and planned to teach him a lesson.
The means of teaching this lesson are not as simple as "look at the East is Red" or "bend your horse back".
He asked Xiaomi to put his hand into the pool, added water little by little, and when the water covered his palm, he put the electric baton directly into the water.
Xiaomi was electrocuted and in so much pain that he fell to the ground.
This type of punishment was very common in prisons in the 1990s.
After all, there was no transformation at that time.
Both of them are very important in this scene.
Qi Siqi also had to act out that evil energy, and Xiaomi also had to act out the reaction after being electrocuted.
Qiao Yi Qiao talked to the two of them about the scene and started filming immediately.
Qi Siqi dragged Xiaomi to the bathroom, threw her into the sink, and looked at him sideways.
"Put your hand in there."
Xiaomi knew that he would not be able to escape and would suffer some physical pain, so he reached his hand into the pool tremblingly.
Qi Siqi used an electric baton to push the tap away and asked with a smile, "Do you have a girlfriend?"
After asking, he deliberately turned down the water flow.
Xiaomi was shocked by the cold water and was terrified. She shook her head and said in a trembling voice, "No...no."
"Do you have a boyfriend?" Qi Siqi asked again.
Xiaomi was still terrified and just said, "No."
"Then what do you do in bed all day?" Qi Siqi leaned closer to Xiaomi, "Is it fun in bed?"
Xiaomi's fear had reached its peak, and tears immediately flowed out: "I'm sorry, Supervisor Hu, I was wrong, I will never sleep in again, ah——!"
Before Xiaomi finished speaking, Qi Siqi had already put the electric baton into the pool.
Xiaomi twitched and fell to the ground instantly.
No one at the scene dared to even breathe.
This was the first time they saw Qi Siqi act.
The sense of oppression is really strong!
And under this pressure, Xiaomi actually took over the previous play.
This should be the result of the countless script readings before.
but.
The way Xiaomi twitched after falling to the ground...
There was a "tsk" sound coming from the scene.
It's a bit awkward and breaks the previous atmosphere.
Qiao Yiqiao had no choice but to shout "Cut".
Then,
He called Xiaomi over and said, "When you twitch, you can't just twitch to one side, you have to twitch randomly."
Xiaomi nodded: "Got it."
Article 2.
The rivalry in the beginning was still exciting, but after Xiaomi fell to the ground and twitched, there were still some problems.
"Card."
Qiao Yiqiao called a halt again.
Xiaomi was a little embarrassed: "I'm sorry, Director Qiao, I didn't draw well, let's try again."
Qiao Yiqiao held him down: "No, it's not your problem, let me think about it."
He suddenly realized that he didn't know how to guide Xiaomi's performance.
Because Qiao Yi Qiao didn't know how the person being punished like this should react.
After thinking it over, he waved to the props team: "Don't we have a real electric baton? Give it to me."
The props team quickly handed the electric baton to Qiao Yi Qiao. They had borrowed it from the Ministry of Justice earlier in order to make the props more realistic.
Qiao Yiqiao put his hand into the pool, then handed the electric baton to Qi Siqi: "Try shocking it."
Qi Siqi was amused: "You are going to test the law yourself, is that ok?"
Xiaomi was also panicking: "Brother, this is not good, just give me an electric shock."
"This is my problem. Just watch my performance." Qiao Yiqiao's eyes were firm, and his tone was full of unquestionable spirit. "First, I didn't check whether using electric batons to shock water can be considered a serious punishment. What if the prisoner was only shocked slightly? Second, I have to try it myself to know what the specific reaction of falling to the ground is, so that I am qualified to guide you."
"Even if something does happen, I have Sabri on the scene to help me keep an eye on it. If something happens to you, the whole stadium will have to wait for you to recover, which wastes a lot of time."
Qiao Yiqiao's tone left Xiaomi no room for rebuttal.
He could only say weakly: "Okay..."
Qiao Yiqiao called Mike Li over and asked him to record his reaction, then said to Qi Siqi, "Go ahead."
"Okay," Qi Siqi whistled at Xiaomi, "You have to watch carefully, don't let the director die in vain."
Qiao Yiqiao punched Qi Siqi and said, "Say something nice."
"I'll help you relax," Qi Siqi smiled, "Just watch over you."
As he said that, Qi Siqi stretched the electric baton into the water.
Qiao Yiqiao held his breath.
He was also afraid in his heart, but this is the responsibility a director and a big brother should have.
In an instant, an electric current swept through my body.
Qiao Yi Qiao subconsciously wanted to pull his hand out, but his hand seemed to be sucked in and could not move.
Qi Siqi immediately turned off the electric baton.
Qiao Yi Qiao was finally freed and fell to the ground instantly.
Qi Siqi was also rarely panicked.
He quickly squatted down, held Qiao Yiqiao in his arms, and checked his breathing and heartbeat: "Damn, you are really crazy! Call a doctor!"
The scene was in chaos.
In the chaos, Qin Zhen watched from the side, not daring to breathe.
He didn't have any scenes today, but in order to get into character, he was still willing to come to the set every day to see what was being filmed.
But he didn't expect that he would see this scene today. !
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