Chapter 40 Chapter 40 Funding Explosion
"Are you filming?"
"Still filming?"
"I'm going to a meeting."
"I'm done with the meeting, are you still filming? Why aren't you replying to my messages?"
"Cheng Shuze, you're sick! Stop sending me messages all the time. I'm busy." The person on the other side was obviously very angry. His previous roles of sending messages and receiving messages were completely reversed.
Even through the screen, Mr. Cheng still looked aggrieved.
Mr. C: Oh, when you're done, I'll take you out for dinner.
[Ms. Jiang: We'll talk later. If you send me messages harassing me again, I'll block you.]
Mr. C: ...Okay.
If she weren't on set, Jiang Yiyun would have wanted to throw her phone. That day at Yujiangyuan, after Cheng Shuze had forcefully added her contact information, she'd been messaging her non-stop. It was truly a changing world. Previously, she'd always been the one to initiate contact, but now it was Cheng Shuze's turn to eagerly ask her questions.
Jiang Yiyu originally wanted to ignore Cheng Shuze on purpose, but now, she didn't even need to do it on purpose, she was simply too busy to pay attention to him.
Originally, she wanted to block him with a single click to have some peace and quiet, but based on what Cheng Shuze said, if she blocked him, he would come to the set. Even though there was a 99% chance that Mr. Cheng was too busy to come, Jiang Yiyu didn't want to take the risk of the remaining 1%, so she gave up the idea of blocking him.
Tonight is the second big night, and other scenes were originally scheduled, but it suddenly rained heavily, so Jiang Yiyu urgently changed the order and moved the rain scene that was at the back to the front.
The cost of artificial rainfall is a huge expense for their small crew every time they use it. Of course, they have to make full use of natural weather when filming, and every bit of savings counts.
"Pass it in one go, it must be passed in one go." This time, Tong Xuan was even more nervous than the director Jiang Yiyu. The main scene was about what happened after Ji Jun made Luo Shu into a daughter of the Ji family who had been living away from home and brought her back to the Ji family. The costumes were a whole lot better than before.
Today was Luo Shu's first appearance at the Ji family's family dinner, and she ran out of the Ji family late at night. Ji Jun went to find her. In order to match the upper-class dress and Luo Shu's image as a mermaid, Tong Xuan took a starlight water blue pure handmade custom dress that she had found from Jiang Yiyu. Jiang Yiyu confirmed that it was tailor-made by a designer from Rocambolesque, a top brand in the past two years. The light blue and dark blue interwoven fabric was covered with beads and sequins, and it looked like a flowing river of stars under the light.
The skirt itself is perfect. Tong Xuan rolled up the length according to He Shu's figure and slightly adjusted the details to make it fit better. The day before yesterday when filming the scene at the banquet, when He Shu appeared in the skirt, everyone in the group was dazzled.
The texture of haute couture skirts is just different. With just a skirt, the whole story of a fake rich daughter, which was originally off-kilter and exaggerated, instantly became reasonable. The right makeup is the soul of this drama.
Shooting at the banquet venue lasted an entire afternoon, and Tong Xuan was thrilled. To be able to create her own custom work on a couture dress in her lifetime was truly the pinnacle of her career. During breaks in the shoot, Tong Xuan pulled He Shu around to snap photos frantically, cherishing the dress immensely. Now, having to use it for a rain scene was like having her heart ripped out.
He Shu was also extremely nervous.
Rocambolesque was originally a high-end menswear brand, but only recently expanded into womenswear. They recruited several young designers from art academies and, in just a few years, became a top-tier designer in formal wear. Custom dresses are only available to VIP clients, and some ready-made garments are loaned out, in small quantities and only to popular celebrities. A common saying in the industry is that to determine a female celebrity's fashion resources and popularity, just look at whether she's worn a Rocambolesque dress.
This kind of high-end dress that even first-line stars may not be able to borrow to walk on the red carpet, but she was able to try on this kind of dress just for filming a web drama. Although she was mentally prepared for a big expense when trying on the dress at Director Jiang's house, when she really put on the dress, she was walking with her heart in her throat the whole time when filming the day before yesterday, for fear of accidentally scratching it. This kind of skirt is very fragile. If you accidentally bump it, millions of dollars will be gone. Even if she is killed, she cannot afford to compensate.
The actors acting opposite her were also afraid of touching her.
Second female lead Wang Han plays the stereotypical cousin with a crush on the male lead. She initially thought it was just a regular web series, but when He Shu's dress appeared, she was completely stunned. Little did she know, the usually quiet and unassuming He Shu was actually a wealthy young woman with a family fortune, bringing in funds to join the production. She must have earned the blessing of a past life to play the second female lead. Then, she could easily fund dozens of promotional ads for her own drama, giving her a chance to shine in the public eye.
Wang Han's work enthusiasm suddenly increased, but this also led to her being unable to bring herself to attack He Shu during their scenes together.
In the script, the bright little cousin was picky and aggressive towards the daughter of the Ji family who came out of nowhere and was protected by Mr. Ji at the dinner party. She even deliberately stepped on the hem of her skirt to embarrass Luo Shu. When Luo Shu almost fell, she was rescued by Ji Jun who came rushing over.
It's a very clichéd scene, just to let the male and female protagonists have contact and sprinkle some industrial saccharin on everyone.
But with Zhou Yu'an's face, He Shu's performance, and the makeup, it still looks quite realistic.
Originally, the scene was about the cousin deliberately pouring red wine on Luo Shu. After reading the script, Tong Xuan refused to agree. Forget pouring the wine; the fabric would be ruined if it got wet. Filming required multiple camera positions, with multiple strips pulled forward and backward. The costumes were all the same style, so they had to prepare several identical pairs for easy switching. There was only one dress, and if it didn't work in one take, it would be a waste, and all the previous filming would have been in vain. Jiang Yiyun had to change to stepping on the hem of the dress.
You can't really step on the hem of the skirt, so you have to shoot it out of position. Wang Han was afraid that if she took a big step, she would accidentally step on the skirt, so she shrank for a long time and took several shots before it was acceptable.
"Everyone, pay attention. We need to get it right in one go. Try to get it right in one go. Luo Shu runs out from the gate and onto the road, and keeps running to the end, which is about 200 meters long. The camera moves forward again. Actors, please be careful and don't fall." This scene had been rehearsed many times. Jiang Yiyu repeated it for the last time. Lin Lang and his men set up auxiliary light sources on the roadside. Wu Jun put on a raincoat and held the camera. Xia Yi had been preparing the foreground in front of the road for a while. He Shu let out a nervous breath and got into character. The scene suddenly became quiet.
The sound of rain cut through the quiet air. It was already midnight and everyone was asleep, but no one present felt sleepy or tired. They all stared at the scene with full energy.
“Action!”
Tonight, the overt and covert attacks and sarcastic remarks from those seemingly well-dressed people made the innocent little mermaid particularly unhappy. The sound of rain in nature swept over the world, as if she was back to the days when she was nestling at the bottom of the sea, occasionally surfacing and hiding under the sea to listen to the roar of the storm. Luo Shu rushed down from the room without thinking and broke into the ups and downs of the rain.
He Shu ran all the way from the corridor under the door and rushed into the rain without stopping. Wu Jun, who was holding a camera, followed her almost at the same speed and rushed into the rain.
A sudden rain fell, instantly soaking the mermaid princess's soft and beautiful long hair and the dazzling starry dress that she had not yet had time to change.
The custom-made skirt mainly made of hand-beaded embroidery really cannot be touched by water. Once it touched the rain, the floating particles were obvious. He Shu's heart skipped a beat, but he couldn't care less now. If he stopped, this skirt would be ruined. He Shu braved the cold rain, regardless of the heavy feeling of the skirt on her body. She gritted her teeth, stepped on the accumulated water, and continued to run forward.
Wu Jun followed He Shu to the designated location, slowly slowed down his pace and began to drag a long shot, and Xia Yi in front immediately filled in the foreground shot.
He Shu didn't stop until he reached the end of the road and finished the whole race.
Jiang Yiyu's heart was hanging from the beginning. There were too many uncontrollable factors on a rainy day, especially the long-distance running scenes. The role required He Shu to be barefoot. It rained for almost midnight and the roads were full of water, making it easy to slip and get injured. It was not until the footage on the monitor ended and it was stable and there was no accident that Jiang Yiyu's heart was slightly relieved after she watched it again.
Everyone waiting inside breathed a sigh of relief.
Maybe because everyone was too tense before, no one spoke for a while after this scene ended. There was silence until the heroine who had run away came back holding an umbrella.
"Director Jiang!" He Shu's hands were shaking. She didn't feel it when filming just now, but now that it was over, she felt scared.
What if she hadn't acted well just now? What if she had fallen when she rushed out from the porch into the rain? What if...
There was no if, she finished the whole course smoothly, and when she ran back with an umbrella, He Shu couldn't wait to know the result.
"Great! Very good! That one just now is good!" Jiang Yiyu encouraged loudly.
In an instant, all the dozens of worries that He Shu had thought about on his way back disappeared into thin air and turned into powder.
The heavy pressure was lifted, and the cold and sticky rain that I had not felt when I rushed into the rain just now suddenly penetrated into the bones along the wet dress that was close to my body.
He Shu covered her face with her hands, unable to hold it in any longer. Tong Xuan and the others who were waiting had already surrounded her and covered her with thick, absorbent towels.
"Brown sugar ginger water, hot! Drink it quickly!"
He Shu sat down with a towel under him and drank the hot water. He wiped his bare calves dry and stepped into the thick fur foot-warming device.
Tong Xuan carefully tried to save the skirt with a towel.
"It's truly worthy of being called haute couture. Look, the top of this skirt is broken in just a moment."
It was pure handmade and every stitch was very particular. The rainwater contained dust and impurities, which all floated out in just a short while, covering the original flowing color of the skirt like a clear spring.
"I can actually witness with my own eyes a haute couture dress being ruined due to water intrusion in my lifetime. This life is worth it." Tong Xuan was amazed and felt very regretful while touching the fabric.
"Besides, it was scrapped after I wore it, so it's worth it." He Shu's voice was no longer shaking, but his expression was also very detached.
"Director Jiang! Give me the account! Today's budget went out of control and a haute couture dress was scrapped. It's all your loss, millions of dollars." Tong Xuan saw Jiang Yiyu coming over out of the corner of her eye, and without even raising her head, she reported the losses of the previous scene.
Jiang Yiyun squatted down, and Tong Xuan pointed out the dust on the surface of the skirt. Jiang Yiyun was also amazed: "This shop's workmanship is pretty good. They don't cut corners. It's worth the price. The money I spent on the skirt was not wasted."
"How's it going? Can you still hold on?" Jiang Yiyun looked up at He Shu. "Let's make two more while the rain continues and continue filming the rest of the scenes."
There were several rain scenes. Besides the long shot just now that successfully captured the moment when the clothes got wet while running into the rain, we actually needed to add a close-up shot, and then there was the scene where Ji Jun came to find Luo Shu, all of which were rain scenes. We had to take advantage of the heavy rain today and shoot quickly.
"Director Jiang, I can do it, no problem." He Shu's expression became serious. It has come to this point, everything must be arranged properly, and he cannot let down the clothes given by Director Jiang.
"Great job." Jiang Yiyun felt that working with He Shu was such a pleasure. "Zhou Yu'an, drive that rented luxury car out and do something big. If we need to scrap it, we'll scrap it all today. Done!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
