sovbooks Chapter 4 Preparing the Film Crew
Chapter 4 Preparing the Film Crew
It was a little chilly in the evening.
In a classroom, Gu Qingshan looked at the resumes one after another, feeling a bit of a headache.
To reduce production costs, Gu Qingshan decided to select the four roles—Li Junwei, the robber, the policeman, and the tire—from acting students.
For these supporting roles, students only need a few thousand yuan to earn a very low salary.
Surprisingly, it attracted more than thirty male students from the performing arts department to submit their resumes.
It's easy to imagine how attractive the opportunity to act in a film would be for every performing arts student.
Just then, Jing Tian came in carrying milk tea.
"Director Gu, please have some milk tea." Jing Tian said with a grin, placing a cup of milk tea in front of Gu Qingshan.
Gu Qingshan said, "Thank you. Also, please don't call me Director Gu. I can't accept that. Just call me Gu Qingshan or Qingshan."
"Otherwise, I'd have to call you Producer Jing, which would be too formal."
Gu Qingshan took a sip of milk tea and looked at the resumes to select one.
The movie "Nightclub" only needs ten characters in total, including the male and female leads and supporting roles.
Gu Qingshan still prefers Xu Zheng for the role of He Sanshui, after all, Xu Zheng's acting skills are very superb. There are currently only two suitable actors for this role: Xu Zheng and Huang Bo.
They are both talented actors and comedians, and their images fit the bill perfectly; there are only two like them in the whole country right now.
Wang Baoqiang's temperament is somewhat lacking.
Gu Qingshan plans to hire a teacher from the school to play both the taxi driver and the record company owner roles.
Teachers at the Beijing Film Academy are often both teachers and actors, so it's normal for them to appear in films and television dramas. Moreover, they are good at acting and their pay is not expensive, making them very cost-effective.
Jing Tian said somewhat embarrassedly, "Qingshan, do you think it's possible to add some female characters?"
"Oh? What's wrong?" Gu Qingshan asked curiously, wondering what sudden idea the sugar daddy's mother had come up with.
Jing Tian said, "I have four classmates: Shuang Meizi, Lu Shan, Kan Qingzi, and Chai Biyun. They are all beauties. Let's see if we can add some female characters and give them a chance."
"You've read the script too, there are only so many roles." Gu Qingshan looked troubled.
Adding four more characters will completely change the storyline.
Not to mention the four female characters.
Seeing Gu Qingshan's dilemma, Jing Tian said, "Then forget it. We can consider them again when we have the chance."
"You're an investor, so since you've made the request, how about this: ask them if they'd be willing to play minor roles," Gu Qingshan said. "If they are, I'll see where we can add them."
A role and a bit part are two completely different things.
Extras are dispensable, completely unimportant, and have no impact on the plot.
Jing Tian's face lit up with joy. "Thank you, you're a good person."
After Jing Tian left, Gu Qingshan stroked his chin, wondering how he had been given a "friend card" so inexplicably.
Shaking his head slightly, Gu Qingshan slowly narrowed down the candidates for several roles.
Li Junwei – Zhu Yilong, Class of 06.
The robber—Wang Shuai, a student from the class of 04.
Police officer – Zhai Dilin, Class of 06.
Tires - Grade 05 Zhang Ge.
......
the next day.
Gu Qingshan didn't go to class. Instead, he found a classroom and used it as an audition, letting the four of them try out their scenes.
Gu Qingshan didn't find anything too outrageous that required a replacement, and the four were settled.
After signing the contract, Gu Qingshan went to find three teachers to play the roles of the landlady, the taxi driver, and the record company owner, respectively.
The role of Zhu Liao will still be played by Zhao Yingjun.
What impressed him most about Zhao Yingjun was his composure in the face of death.
Zhao Yingjun didn't pick and choose roles and readily accepted.
Then comes the core of the film, the actor who plays the male lead, He Sanshui, 'Xu Zheng'.
At this time, Xu Zheng was not yet the leading man in comedy films or one of the most bankable actors in mainland China, but he was still a star and his salary was not too low.
After some discussions, a salary of 30 yuan was finally agreed upon.
The total salary for the entire cast of "Nightclub," including the main actors, supporting actors, and extras, was only 40 yuan.
When Gu Qingshan's "Qingshan Film and Television" was registered, the entire framework of the production team was finalized, and the production team was assembled.
At the same time, they also began handling matters such as submitting the script for review and formally signing contracts with each actor.
That evening, Gu Qingshan went to find Jing Tian with the shooting schedule.
"Sweetie, this is the shooting schedule. If you have no objections, we'll rent equipment and arrange the location according to this schedule and get ready to start filming," Gu Qingshan said with a smile, pushing the schedule in front of Jing Tian.
After spending these few days together, Gu Qingshan discovered that Jing Tian was a very straightforward person, not very scheming, and very easygoing.
Jing Tian took it, glanced at it, and was quite surprised: "Filming period, 15 days? You can shoot a movie in 15 days?"
"This kind of movie isn't difficult. Back in Hong Kong, they could shoot a movie in just 7 days." Gu Qingshan didn't seem to care. According to the simulation space, if everything went smoothly, it could actually be filmed in 7 days.
Gu Qingshan had given himself ample time for filming, which is why he set a 15-day filming period.
These past few days, he has been constantly simulating shooting in the simulated space, and he is very confident in himself.
Jing Tian glanced at Gu Qingshan, "Then let's film according to this plan."
"You can write screenplays, so why didn't you apply for screenwriting or directing?" Jing Tian asked Gu Qingshan curiously.
After spending a few days together, Jing Tian discovered that Gu Qingshan was quite talented; the script for "Night Shop" was well-developed, and the filming plan appeared professional.
Gu Qingshan shrugged. "Actually, I didn't plan to apply to the Beijing Film Academy at first. It was just a stupid, impulsive decision. I initially wanted to apply to Beihang University or Beijing Institute of Technology."
"What was your college entrance exam score? How dare you have such high aspirations?" Jing Tian asked curiously.
The entrance exam scores for Beijing Film Academy are often not high; she scored 200 points, just barely passing the cutoff.
Or rather, the reason why the Beijing Film Academy's college entrance exam score was so low this year was because she scored 200 points!
Gu Qingshan said, "Not many, 635 points!"
"Holy crap, that tall?!" Jing Tian exclaimed in shock. "You're really wasting your talent by coming to Beijing Film Academy!"
Gu Qingshan's college entrance examination score was more than three times hers, plus 35 points.
Gu Qingshan smiled and said, "There's no such thing as being underutilized. Since we've entered this industry, we'll make a living from it. I just hope that our movie will be a success this time. Otherwise, it will be difficult to find investment in the future."
"As long as the movie doesn't lose too much money, I'll invest in your next movie!" Jing Tian blinked her beautiful big eyes.
Gu Qingshan looked at Jing Tian, "You're still investing even though you're losing money!"
"Go ahead and invest. Just consider it as me bringing my own investment to the production. Just don't complain about my acting skills," Jing Tian said matter-of-factly. "But if I lose too much, I can't invest anymore, or I won't have any pocket money left."
Three million, pocket money!?
The world of the rich is indeed unimaginable for ordinary people.
Gu Qingshan grinned. "Don't worry, I have confidence in the movie. Maybe we can even make a fortune."
Whether Jing Tian will make money or not is hard to say, but he will definitely make money; his director's salary and screenwriter's fees alone will be substantial.