Chapter 55: The mundane world, the legend of the market

"Zoom in."

Zhou Ling was directing while staring at the images in the camera.

Zhou Ling, who came from CCTV, participated in the filming of "A Bite of China" and is currently the executive director, has extraordinary aesthetics and technical skills.

In the lens she takes, you can always find different temperatures and colors——

What is a night market? Is it the noisy noise? The pungent smoke? The greasy environment? All of them.

Neither.

It is the common people's delicacy in the streets and alleys, the fireworks of the bustling city, and the legend of the free and happy city.

And in this night market, there is a fried rice stall that seems to have its own filter. It can easily break away from the surrounding environment and become the focus of the camera.

It is the heart's desire for countless diners and the source of their mixed emotions.

What Zhou Ling wants to shoot is not only how delicious the food is, but also to record the human emotions that are aroused by food.

She thought for a moment, took out her notebook, and wrote down: 'All the customers are sad that this fried rice stall is about to close, but the owner Nanzhi remains calm, using delicious fried rice to soothe their taste buds and awaken their joy. Sad because of fried rice, happy because of fried rice, everything goes on in this cycle.'

When the filming was almost finished, Zhou Ling asked people to put away the camera, his mind full of bursting inspiration.

…I wanted to rush back to the editing room right then and there! “When did Director Zhong return to China?” Zhou Ling asked.

"It seems to be next Tuesday. But Sister Ling, do we really have to act first and ask for permission later? According to the process, we should wait for Director Zhong to come back, and then we should hold a meeting to decide on the content of the filming, and then..."

“Then it was too late.”

Zhou Ling's words left everyone speechless.

Documentary filming is much more difficult than filming ordinary TV dramas or variety shows.

A documentary may take more than a year, flying all over the country to collect materials, or waiting for a ham to mature.

In fact, most of the content of this new documentary they are making has been filmed, but this episode with the theme of "Night Market Jianghu" has not been finalized yet, which is why Zhou Ling took his team to travel around the country.

So, now that Zhou Ling finally caught that little inspiration, how could he be willing to miss such a good opportunity for the sake of this favorable time and place? Zhou Ling said in a relaxed tone:

"Okay, when have you ever seen Director Zhong do things completely according to the rules? When we do creative work, we must boldly break the routine! Otherwise, we have to wait for the topic to be submitted, hold a meeting to discuss, and then slowly decide on the shooting plan... How long will it take!"

Of course, Zhou Ling did not forget to say at the end, "I will be responsible for anything that happens."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhou Ling glanced at her watch: "It's almost time, let's go back to the station first... Hmm? Where's Xiao Xie?"

The rest of the group exchanged awkward glances.

In the end, it was the thorny male colleague who revealed the truth: "They were craving for fried rice, so they asked Xiao Xie to go and queue up."

Zhou Ling was stunned on the spot!

Others were about to give some explanation.

Then Zhou Ling said anxiously: "How can we just send Xiao Xie? Have you forgotten that the fried rice stall has a purchase limit? One person can only buy two! There's not enough to share!"

Everyone: ...So this is what you're most worried about? But wait, it seems like this worry makes sense!

So someone immediately said: "Everyone was working just now. How about we continue to queue now?"

Zhou Ling shook his head and sighed:

"It's too late."

The abacus in her mind had already started clattering. She wondered if she could buy a few more servings of fried rice by borrowing Fu Chao's relationship?

Just at this moment, the Xiao Xie they were talking about came running back breathlessly:

"I'm not late, am I? Ah, Sister Ling, have you finished filming?"

Zhou Ling couldn't wait to ask, "How many did you buy?"

Xiao Xie: "Two, two servings."

“If I queue up now…”

"It's useless, Sister Ling. I'm the third from the last. I heard from the boss that they ran out of ingredients."

Everyone sighed in disappointment.

Even that thorny male colleague would sneak a glance at the fried rice in Xiao Xie's hand from time to time.

——In front of absolutely delicious food, even the most weird person has no resistance!

There was no other choice, Zhou Ling and the others had to share the two precious servings of fried rice.

A group of people who make food documentaries have tried almost all kinds of food from all over the country, whether it's expensive or cheap, famous or unknown! They think that no matter how delicious a fried rice is, it's just fried rice after all, and there are limits to how delicious it can be.

But the facts slapped them in the face.

As soon as they took the first bite of the fried rice, they couldn't help but be amazed by it.

Then the more you eat it, the more delicious it becomes, and the more you taste it, the more intoxicated you become.

In the end, I hadn't figured out what it tasted like, and the fried rice box was already empty.

After they had eaten every grain of fried rice, they still felt empty in their stomachs.

I don’t want to eat anything else but fried rice.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

"How about coming back tomorrow?"

"Well, I think the footage we shot today isn't enough, so we still need to shoot more."

"I agree! It's better to come early! We can shoot more!"

...and such a happy decision was made!

After Zhou Ling greeted Fu Chao, she spent some time with Qing Xi before preparing to leave.

Before leaving, she did not forget to meet Nanzhi and share with her:

"The footage just now was shot really well! Thank you for agreeing to do so!"

Nanzhi smiled:

"No, this is mutually beneficial."

Zhou Ling was stunned at first, then gradually understood, and her smile became brighter and brighter: "After the variety show is finished, I will treat you to a meal!"

Nanzhi did not refuse.

After Zhou Ling and others left, Nanzhi and Fu Chao also packed up the dining cart and left.

Not far from the night market, they turned off the live broadcast.

Because everyone was too tired to talk, it was not suitable to continue filming.

Especially Fu Chao, he moved slowly and looked even more listless than the two cubs.

Nanzhi: “What’s wrong with you?”

Fu Chao sighed: "What a pity, I missed such a good opportunity."

"Hmm? Didn't I already agree to film it?"

“Two or three days of shooting is not enough!”

In fact, Zhou Ling proposed two solutions just now:

The first one, which is what is being implemented now, is to only shoot empty shots. Nanzhi will not appear directly on screen, and 90% of the material may be cut. In the end, she may only appear in the documentary for a few minutes.

But the second one is completely based on Nanzhi’s fried rice stall. It will take about a month to shoot, and by the time the finished product is ready, at least a quarter of an episode will belong to Nanzhi!

Anyone who sees this will know that the second option is better!

Unfortunately, the fried rice stall in Nanzhi was about to close, so there was not even a month left for filming.

So I had to settle for the second best and chose the first one.

Fu Chao felt regretful just thinking about it.

Nanzhi didn't care: "I'm not really setting up a stall. Even if the documentary becomes popular in the future, it has nothing to do with me."

(End of this chapter)