Chapter 447: Filming site (Second update, asking for monthly tickets!)

Zhang Ruozhi had never acted before and had no filming experience at all.

However, Lu Yan He chose her without looking back.

After the school entered the summer vacation, it was convenient for the crew to manage. Before, when filming some exterior scenes and empty shots, there were many people watching and curiously looking. Now, the school security guards were also arranged to assist the crew in clearing some sections of the school gate, allowing the crew to film without being disturbed by the surroundings.

The first shot Lu Yan He and Zhang Ruozhi prepared to film was a picture of the two riding bicycles home from school on a small road.

This scene was a scene brought out by the female Huai Jingshu recalling her and the male Huai Jingshu's high school time in the tone of memory.

"I didn't expect that for three whole years we were in the same class. In those three dark years, I was treated unreasonably everywhere... maybe it sounds interesting to others, but those who are in it have bitter words that are hard to say. We gradually had to avoid each other; I couldn't even remember if we had talked."

The first problem appeared like this: Zhang Ruozhi actually couldn't ride a bicycle.

Lu Yan He hadn't even thought about this problem before.

Zhang Ruozhi's cheeks were slightly red, and she apologized immediately.

Lu Yan He waved his hand with a smile and said: "It's okay, learn it, we will film the bicycle riding shot later."

Zhang Ruozhi nodded with pursed lips.

Her classmate Liu Lingmeng stayed on the set with Zhang Ruozhi in the name of her "assistant."

Hearing this, Liu Lingmeng immediately said: "I'll teach Ruoruo to ride a bicycle, rest assured, I'll let her learn in three days."

Lu Yan He smiled, "No rush."

Thus, the first shot hadn't started filming yet, and it had to be postponed.

At this time, the photography group's Bao Wenliang suddenly complained in a low voice: "Can't you say earlier if you can't ride a bicycle? The machine is set up and then you say it, isn't this tossing people?"

Bao Wenliang's voice, they all heard.

Zhang Ruozhi's cheeks flushed, and she immediately bowed to Bao Wenliang's side and said: "Sorry."

Liu Lingmeng fought for justice and said: "Then you didn't ask Ruoruo if she could ride a bicycle in advance, and we didn't know Ruoruo needed to ride it herself."

Bao Wenliang laughed, "Bicycles don't have people riding them, will the two wheels turn by themselves?"

Liu Lingmeng: "..."

Lu Yan He didn't want to see them start fighting at this time.

"It was me who didn't tell Ruozhi in advance that she needed to ride the bicycle herself, causing inconvenience to everyone, I apologize to everyone."

Lu Yan He looked at Bao Wenliang indifferently and said to everyone in the crew: "This is not a big deal, wait until Ruozhi learns to ride a bicycle, we will film this shot again."

Lu Yan He's indifference and calmness, as well as his generous posture of apologizing, made the scene fall into silence for a while.

He turned to look at Zhao Yuheng.

"Yuheng, let's change the scene, film the scene in the classroom with me and Ruozhi, the one on duty."

Zhao Yuheng nodded.

"Brother Wenliang, why did you complain about those words at that time?" Wu Zhou asked.

Bao Wenliang said: "Why can't I complain? One hasn't been a director, one hasn't acted, don't know anything, brain heated and came to film, how much trouble did it add to us?"

Wu Zhou said: "However, Lu Yan He is the director, although he is indeed very young, you don't give him face like this, complaining about the female lead in front of him, is it really good?"

Bao Wenliang shrugged his shoulders and said: "It doesn't matter, Zhang Ruozhi counts as what female lead, this film only has one female lead, that is Chen Bige. What are you afraid of, we are borrowed by him from Liu Bige, this film only has us two photographers, can he blame us because of this little thing?"

Wu Zhou wanted to say whether Bao Wenliang's idea was a bit too arrogant. However, Bao Wenliang was his senior, he couldn't blame Bao Wenliang, so he could only silently hide these thoughts and not say them.

Bao Wenliang said: "I tell you, Wu Zhou, for those of us doing this technical work, big money can't be earned, but also don't be afraid of offending people, as long as you have real skills in hand, you have food to eat wherever you go."

Wu Zhou nodded and said "um."

At this time, Luo Yuzhong walked over from the front.

Bao Wenliang's face changed immediately, a warm smile appeared on his face, and he shouted "Luo Dao."

Luo Yuzhong glanced at him, nodded, and went to find Lu Yan He.

Luo Yuzhong said: "I have to go back to Yuming first, my company has some things that need me to look at, I have already combed through the filming plan of your crew from beginning to end, and went through the work plans of various departments, just to make the basic framework of the filming preparation work ready when you arrived. Being a director, don't be afraid to make requests to people, just be afraid that your ideas are held in your heart, relying on everyone to guess your ideas. Therefore, if there are things, you must communicate with various departments in time, you don't need to be afraid that the realization difficulty is very great, the director's work type is the brain, other various technical departments are your hands and feet, they are here to help you realize those ideas, understand? A new director, both taboo is whimsical, not seeking reality, of course, you are not this personality, but also taboo timid, dare not mention anything, dare not think about anything, you instead have this possibility."

Luo Yuzhong's reminder hit Lu Yan He's problem accurately.

Lu Yan He thanked him with a smile and said to Luo Yuzhong: "Thank you, teacher, if it weren't for you helping me, I don't know when this crew would be able to be combed through."

"You called me teacher, isn't it normal for me to help you do these things?" Luo Yuzhong said. "Later I have a play preparing to open, if you are interested, you can invest a little."

Luo Yuzhong was really treating Lu Yan He as one of his own.

The way of playing drama and film is really different.

Drama is basically a package system—the platform buys goods, pays money with one hand, delivers goods with one hand, as for how it is broadcast later, whether the income is high or low, that is all for the platform to bear itself.

Like a director of Luo Yuzhong's level, every project of his basically belongs to drought and flood protection, steady profit without loss.

He took the initiative to open his mouth, letting Lu Yan He be interested and invest a little, actually, it was bringing him to make money together. And making money is secondary, being able to enter his project's capital camp, getting to know more people, this is the most critical and important resource for Lu Yan He's follow-up.

Lu Yan He said with a smile: "Look at how many shares you can give me, say a number, I'm all fine."

This time filming *Love Letter*, Luo Yuzhong invested, although not much, only 800,000. But you have to know, film investment and drama investment are completely two concepts. The former is a high-risk project, the latter is different. And his posture of being willing to invest is actually his most powerful support for Lu Yan He.

Luo Yuzhong: "I can probably come back to see in a week, if you encounter any problems, small problems find Zhao Yuheng, his ability is very strong, and his experience is also rich, can handle it, if there is a big problem, rather delay a few days, lose some money, don't rush to solve it, lest it seems to fill the hole, actually poked a bigger hole, call me, ask others more. You are different from other new directors, your biggest capital is that you have many people who can help you, don't waste this advantage."

Lu Yan He nodded, said "um," and smiled at him.

"Thank you, teacher."

"Oh, right." After Luo Yuzhong finished giving these instructions, he remembered one thing, "Did a cameraman just give you a hard time earlier?"

Lu Yan He: "He didn't exactly give me a hard time, but he wasn't very polite in his speech."

Luo Yuzhong: "If he is only this one or two times, and converges later, then don't talk about him. If he gets worse, you have to deal with it, don't forget, he is borrowed by you from Liu Bige, no matter what, don't affect your relationship with Liu Bige, if there is really something, you contact Liu Bige, let him handle it, save his face, and can also establish your prestige. This crew is a small Jianghu, you don't listen to what the media says about art or aesthetics, you just treat this as a small sect that has just been established, no matter how high your martial arts are, everyone has their own thoughts underneath, not necessarily serving you, you want to establish prestige, let them no matter what they think in their hearts, but words and deeds must serve you."

Lu Yan He nodded and responded with a "good."

These are Luo Yuzhong's years of directing experience, every word contains gold.

"You have thought very clearly about this film, this is a good thing, let me rest assured, it can be filmed well," Luo Yuzhong patted Lu Yan He on the shoulder. "Knowing what you want to present this film as, next you just need to film it out."

Change scene, film the scene in the classroom.

This scene is after school, only the two Huai Jingshu are left in the classroom, they are on duty, staying behind to be on duty.

Lu Yan He's script only wrote a few lines about this scene.

However, because it was a temporary change to the filming plan, the

Lu Yan He called Zhang Ruozhi out into the hallway.

"Don't take the bicycle incident to heart," Lu Yan He said, "It's not a big deal."

Zhang Ruozhi nodded lightly and let out an "mm."

Lu Yan He laughed and asked, "Do you have someone you like?"

"Huh?!" Zhang Ruozhi suddenly widened her eyes like a little deer, looking at Lu Yan He in surprise, as if she didn't understand why he would suddenly ask this.

Lu Yan He said with a smile, "If you do, when you're acting, you can channel that kind of feeling and state of mind."

Zhang Ruozhi gently pursed her lips.

In the hallway, the breeze was mild.

The sunlight spilled down, draping the campus in a layer of gold.

Zhang Ruozhi's innocent expression fell into Lu Yan He's eyes, putting him at ease.

She didn't need to act; she was the Huai Jingshu from the script.

By the time they actually started filming, it was already three hours later.

For the two camera angles used in the afternoon, Wu Zhou and Bao Wenliang were each responsible for one.

One filmed Lu Yan He, the other filmed Zhang Ruozhi.

They were very lucky; at this very moment, the light was at its most saturated, making the shots look incredibly beautiful. In an environment like a classroom, the aura of youth was almost overflowing.

Lu Yan He sat in a seat by the window, head down, reading a book and organizing notes.

The person he was modeling his performance after was actually Li Pengfei, his high school classmate.

Although the script didn't explicitly state it, Lu Yan He felt that Huai Jingshu was not a student with outstanding grades. Many details in the dialogue of the original film also reflected this indirectly. Therefore, Lu Yan He could not have that sense of certainty on his face—that feeling of having everything under control and victory in his grasp.

Instead, beneath a seemingly expressionless and silent exterior, there had to be a deep-seated, adolescent awkwardness—just a little bit was enough.

This look was something Lu Yan He had tried many times over video calls with Chen Siqi before finally getting it right.

He had specifically gotten a student haircut, one that wasn't too polished or handsome. Huai Jingshu's appeal was a common, student-like appeal; it was that touch of adolescent melancholy that gave him more charm. If his image were fashionable or strikingly handsome, the atmosphere of the story wouldn't feel "everyday" or like a "regular student."

Furthermore, Lu Yan He refused makeup. The makeup artist had originally asked if he wanted at least a base layer, but Lu Yan He said, "None at all."

"We'll rely entirely on lighting. Whether it's me or Ruozhi, no makeup at all. We'll use natural light and lighting to adjust the condition of our faces," Lu Yan He said. "I even hope the camera can clearly capture the texture of our skin."

Regarding this point, Lu Yan He had also worked with several departments during the test shoots, grinding away multiple times before finding the visual style he envisioned.

Thus, as soon as the scene began, Lu Yan He entered his state.

Zhang Ruozhi stood to the right of the podium, erased the two "Huai Jingshu" names written in the duty roster column, then turned back to look at Lu Yan He and asked in a low voice, "Huai Jingshu, who is on duty tomorrow?"

Lu Yan He lifted his eyes slightly to look at her and said two names.

Zhang Ruozhi said "mm," took the chalk, and wrote the names down.

"What was covered in math class today?" Lu Yan He asked.

Zhang Ruozhi said, "Equations."

Lu Yan He asked, "What kind of equations?"

At this point, other students were supposed to suddenly appear at the classroom door to tease the two of them.

However, because this scene was adjusted and filmed on the fly, those student actors hadn't arrived yet.

Those student actors were the same boys who had suddenly run into the coffee shop that day when Lu Yan He, Zhang Ruozhi, and Liu Lingmeng were eating.

Lu Yan He felt their temperament was very similar to the boys in the script.

The restless energy they couldn't hide, and the desire to tease others.

Liu Bige helped Lu Yan He call "cut."

Lu Yan He pulled Zhang Ruozhi along to the monitor to watch the playback of what they had just filmed.

In the footage, Zhang Ruozhi's eyes seemed to peek out from behind a mask in winter, holding a layer of clear, watery light, while also possessing a young girl's unique caution and shyness.

Lu Yan He's heart settled firmly.

It was good.

He turned back to look at Liu Bige.

Liu Bige also nodded at him. The meaning was the same, signaling to Lu Yan He that Zhang Ruozhi was indeed quite good.

However, although Zhang Ruozhi was truly suited for this role, in Lu Yan He's view, she was indeed a newcomer who didn't know how to act; even in a very simple shot, she exposed many problems.

Lu Yan He pulled Zhang Ruozhi aside and said to her, "Ruozhi, you look very beautiful in the shot, you saw it too, right?"

Zhang Ruozhi nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed.

She was very shy.

"But acting isn't just about the image looking good. My first time acting was in Luo Dao Yuzhong's 'Golden Age.' At the time, Luo Dao told me that acting isn't about acting for yourself, but about reacting," Lu Yan He said, incorporating the scene they had just performed. "In that scene, you are the main perspective because it's the adult you recalling things that happened in high school, right?"

Zhang Ruozhi nodded.

"So, look at the script; all the scenes between you and me are actually seen from your perspective," Lu Yan He said. "Even though you're facing away from me, erasing the blackboard and writing the names of tomorrow's duty students, when the camera points at me, it will definitely include your silhouette or some part of you, because every shot I appear in is your memory."

Zhang Ruozhi looked thoughtful.

"So, when you talk to me just now, and I talk to you, it's not two people talking from a normal, flat perspective, but rather everything happening through your perspective," Lu Yan He said. "When you deliver your lines, before and after, you must be aware that you are talking to me. You handled the beginning very well—before talking to me, you looked at me first, then asked me who was on duty tomorrow. But after that, your lines and performance had nothing to do with me; you were just waiting for me to say my lines, and you followed along. There was no exchange between us."

Lu Yan He took Zhang Ruozhi to watch the playback of that shot again.

"Look, if you could pause slightly when you hear me ask you the question, show some surprise—after all, I rarely take the initiative to talk to you, and in your eyes, I'm actually a somewhat cold person who speaks very little—if you give a sense of surprise when I suddenly ask you a question, wouldn't that be more logical?" Lu Yan He said with a smile.

"Actually—" Zhang Ruozhi hesitated.

Lu Yan He asked, "Actually what?"

"I don't know if Huai Jingshu has fallen for the boy with the same name as her at this point, so I don't quite understand her feelings," Zhang Ruozhi said. "I'm always a bit shy to look at you. You asked me earlier if I had someone I liked, and told me to channel that feeling of facing someone I like—when I face someone I like, I don't really dare to look at him."

Lu Yan He immediately had an epiphany and understood Zhang Ruozhi's thought process.

"Then do you want to look at him?"

"Hmm?" Zhang Ruozhi asked.

"I mean, under normal circumstances, knowing that he isn't looking at you and no one else is looking at you, would you want to sneak a glance at him?" Lu Yan He asked.

Zhang Ruozhi nodded hesitantly, "Sometimes I would sneak a glance."

"Then if the boy you like, or are at least somewhat curious about, suddenly talks to you and asks you a question, wouldn't you also take this opportunity to look at him legitimately?"

Zhang Ruozhi put herself in that position and nodded.

"Would you keep looking?"

"No." Zhang Ruozhi shook her head immediately.

"Mm, exactly," Lu Yan He said. "Actually, that's the state you're in right now."

Zhang Ruozhi came back to her senses, looking thoughtful.

After Lu Yan He finished talking to Zhang Ruozhi, he gave her five minutes to ponder it further.

Liu Bige stood in the hallway with his arms crossed, standing with Lu Yan He.

"How did you suddenly think of filming a story like this?" Liu Bige asked Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He said, "There's no special reason; at the time, I just purely wanted to film a story that could start shooting quickly, and this is what I thought of."

Liu Bige: "I really haven't read such a... pure love story in a long time."

Lu Yan He smiled.

Liu Bige: "Really, it might also be because the times are different now; you simply can't see love stories like this anymore, they could only happen a dozen years ago. Your setting of this space-time is really clever; by using a span of time, you've established a natural sense of nostalgia, and it makes someone my age easily recall their own school days."

Liu Bige looked at him with some suspicion: "However, is this story based on yourself? Did you ever secretly have a crush on someone?"

Lu Yan He: "... The person I like is already with me now; I don't need to film a movie to reminisce about someone I had a crush on."

Liu Bige: "Anyway, after the movie is released, there will definitely be no shortage of people who think that way. You'd better think carefully about how you're going to answer this question from the media."

Lu Yan He said, "What's there to answer? Does that mean if you filmed 'Late Spring,' it's because you personally experienced that kind of youth?"

Liu Bige: "That's different, everyone knows that had an original story."

"That wasn't something Miao Yue experienced either."

"Of course we know that creative work is fictional, but for many viewers, that's not the case," Liu Bige said. "People always easily and naturally assume that the stories written by a creator are stories the creator experienced themselves."

This is indeed a dilemma that many creators have to face.

This afternoon, everyone witnessed Lu Yan He's nitpicking over a single shot.

Actually, starting from the third take, Zhang Ruozhi had already given a very good performance.

She had completely grasped what Lu Yan He told her.

However, Lu Yan He wasn't very satisfied with his own state.

He always felt his acting was too "poker-faced."

But this character really didn't have much expression most of the time.

If he had to act well in a role that had no lines most of the time, Lu Yan He himself found it difficult.

Especially when trying to imitate the version played by Kashiwabara Takashi in his memory—the more he imitated, the worse it got.

Even Liu Bige could see his discomfort.

If the first part was Lu Yan He helping Zhang Ruozhi find her state, the latter part became Zhang Ruozhi helping Lu Yan He find his.

But Lu Yan He wasn't in a hurry.

Having filmed so many projects, Lu Yan He had gradually gotten used to his own creative rhythm. The early scenes are always the hardest to film because the state isn't quite right, and it requires slow adjustments, slowly getting closer.

Lu Yan He believed he could find it.

Every time Lu Yan He and Zhang Ruozhi finished a take, he would pull her along to the monitor to watch it together.

"Not right, still not right." This was a phrase that always popped up when Lu Yan He watched his own performance.

But apart from him, no one else knew what was wrong.

Liu Bige might have known, but he didn't speak. On set, he basically remained silent. This was his respect for Lu Yan He as a director. On someone else's set, one shouldn't speak casually or point fingers. This wasn't his crew; it was Lu Yan He's crew. A crew only needs one voice.

Actually, Liu Bige also knew what Lu Yan He was saying was wrong.

Lu Yan He was looking for the state of a high school student who, behind a silent and reticent image, had already developed some curiosity or affection for a girl.

If one couldn't feel this subtle emotion from him, he would really just be "poker-faced."

At 5:00 PM, after eight takes, Lu Yan He finally got a shot he was satisfied with and called "cut."

Wrap.

One shot, filmed for an entire afternoon.

For a movie, this isn't considered too long.

But filming eight takes is considered a lot. Because this shot wasn't a difficult one, nor was it a very important shot in the movie. In the initial design, there was no plan to spend an entire afternoon on this scene. Zhao Yuheng was already thinking about whether to change the subsequent shooting schedule.

At Lu Yan He's pace, two weeks might really not be enough to finish the summer portion.

Of course, even if they went over schedule, it didn't matter. The summer vacation was long, and they had rented the house for a month.

Lu Yan He and his team left first.

The others packed up the things they were responsible for.

Everyone gathered together and started chatting.

"I feel like this little girl Zhang Ruozhi is quite clever at acting, she's really photogenic, pretty."

"Yeah, she's really pretty, I think this little girl will be a hit in the future."

"You guys don't think about it, Lu Yan He chose her from so many newcomers, how could she not be pretty?"

Wu Zhou packed up the camera and put it in the box, then turned to look at Bao Wenliang, who was smoking in the last row of chairs in the classroom.

His camera hadn't been packed up either.

"Brother Wenliang—"

"Are you done packing?" Bao Wenliang pointed to his camera, "Help me pack it up, I'm really tired. Damn, filming one shot eight times, is there any difference between them? I'm done."

Wu Zhou gave a sheepish smile and went up to help him pack the equipment.

Bao Wenliang: "Actually, we could have wrapped up early, he just had to drag it out until now."

"It's not too late to wrap up now, the sky isn't even dark yet," Wu Zhou said, "It's much better than other crews."

Bao Wenliang: "Other crews work overtime because there's too much to film, they have no choice. Filming this one scene for a whole day, and it's such a simple shot, have you ever seen any crew film like this?"

Wu Zhou: "I don't know, I'm just a cameraman."

"Old Bao, stop bitching. We're wrapping up early today, we're planning to go for a drink tonight, are you coming?"

"Let's go."

"Alright."

Bao Wenliang said to Wu Zhou: "Little Wu, then help me take these back."

Wu Zhou nodded hesitantly and said "oh."

Bao Wenliang left with a few others.

Those left in the classroom to finish up were all young people from various departments. They were either assistants, apprentices, or juniors like Wu Zhou.

Wu Zhou looked at them, and they shared a knowing smile.

Wu Zhou said: "If there's nothing else when we get back later, should we all get together too?"

The others nodded and said okay.