Chapter 48: Fixed Casting and Start of Filming

On May 18, through multi-party communication, invitations, and auditions, the main cast of *Painted Skin* was finally determined.

Wang Sheng, played by Chen Kun; Xiao Wei, played by Zhou Xun; Pei Rong, played by Ceng Li; the Demon Hunter, played by Zhen Zidan; the Lizard Spirit, played by Huang Bai.

In the end, the role of the Demon Hunter went to Zhen Zidan; General Manager Han of China Film Group believed that some Hong Kong elements had to be added, as after all, if handled well, the tens of millions in box office potential in Hong Kong was a market that could not be ignored.

It just so happened that Zhen Zidan had been quite popular these past two years; in 2002 he appeared in Zhang Yimou's *Hero*, in 2004 he appeared in *Love on the Rocks* and *The Twins Effect II*, and this year he had several more films coming out, including Xu Laoguai's *Seven Swords* in July and *SPL: Sha Po Lang* in November.

Moreover, Zhen Zidan had a background in Kung Fu, so the action scenes could be made more spectacular.

Thinking of it this way, Wei Jin readily agreed; it was rare for General Manager Han to offer an opinion, so it had to be respected, otherwise, one might really think Zuoshandiao was a pushover.

Regarding salaries, Chen Kun received 2 million, Zhou Xun took a half-price deal and only accepted 1.5 million, Ceng Li received 1 million, Zhen Zidan received 3 million, and Huang Bai received 500,000; although he was a supporting character, Huang Bai was, after all, the Bitter Love Song King and still had a fan base.

The leads alone took 8 million in salary, and adding the supporting cast, the film's actor salary budget reached 10 million.

Wei Jin himself received 8 million in his capacity as screenwriter and director, but since *Painted Skin* had many special effects shots that required a massive injection of cash, if Wei Jin took his salary, the production funds would be a bit tight, so it was converted into an investment.

Currently, in the domestic market, because the salaries of most actors and directors were not yet too high, producers could generally afford them.

But international superstars like Cheng and Li Lianjie had salaries exceeding 10 million USD; such price tags were simply not something domestic producers could bear.

Therefore, these international superstars usually lowered their own salaries when participating in domestic films, but even so, they started at tens of millions of RMB; converting salary into investment shares to obtain a share of the box office became a compromise.

The conversion process here was very complicated, much more so than just paying a salary; sometimes the producers would lose out, and sometimes the actors would lose out.

On May 20, the Wei Jin Fengliu Film and Television Company officially announced the cast of *Painted Skin* to the public.

The week-long speculation finally came to an end, but it ushered in an even greater commotion. Previously, various media outlets had reported extensively on the potential cast, and many stars' fans thought their own idols were a sure thing; now that the dust had settled, it caused an uproar online.

Zhou Xun's fans were naturally triumphant and overjoyed, almost setting off firecrackers.

But the fans of other popular starlets were not so happy; some thought the casting was unfair, some voiced their boycott of the film, and others even raided the Tieba forums of Zhou Xun and Ceng Li.

That's right, Li Jie now had a Tieba forum too; the little fan she met last time went back and posted the photo and autograph on Tieba, which attracted onlookers, and everyone praised Ceng Li for looking beautiful even in casual clothes, so that Tieba became a gathering place for Ceng Li's fans.

As for the male actors, it didn't cause much of a stir, though Huang Bai's participation drew mockery from his fans—another role of silent devotion with a hint of a "lick-dog" attribute; his path as the Bitter Love Song King was gone forever.

Ignoring the outside noise, on May 23, Wei Jin brought the main creative team to Hengdian; a large number of the film's city scenes would be completed in Hengdian, and for the exterior shots, they would eventually relocate to Ningxia, which was also within the sphere of influence of the Western Film Group.

The crew had arrived a week early to set up the scenes, and when Wei Jin and the main cast arrived, a small city had already been set up quite convincingly.

Wei Jin felt that a script reading before filming was necessary; on one hand, it allowed the actors to get to know each other better and build chemistry, and on the other hand, it helped them better understand the script and implement the performance style the director wanted.

After briefly explaining the background of his script creation and the personality traits of each character, the main cast had a deeper understanding of the roles they were playing.

After the script reading, Wei Jin arranged for the leads to put on makeup and test-shoot a few shots, which could also serve as behind-the-scenes footage.

Wei Jin planned to make spoiler-free behind-the-scenes clips every few days from the start of filming until wrap, and post them online to keep the film's heat alive.

There was no help for it; a man's word is his bond, and since he said he would break records, he had to pull out all the stops. That night, everyone had a simple dinner together to build rapport, as they would be spending two months together day and night.

The next day, Wei Jin held a simple and low-key opening ceremony, and the film *Painted Skin* officially began filming.

This version of *Painted Skin* by Wei Jin did not set a specific dynasty, but instead fictionalized a small border city; Wang Sheng, played by Chen Kun, was a garrison general who, one day while out of the city to wipe out bandits, accidentally saved a beautiful woman, who was none other than Xiao Wei, played by Zhou Xun, a fox spirit wearing a human skin.

Xiao Wei saw that Wang Sheng was heroic and became interested, claiming that her whole family had been killed and she had been abducted by bandits to this place, leaving her homeless.

Out of sympathy and pity, and with a bit of unspeakable emotion, Wang Sheng brought Xiao Wei home.

Wang Sheng's wife, Pei Rong, heard of Xiao Wei's background and treated her very well, but she was vaguely worried that her husband might have other thoughts; due to her virtuous nature and the guilt of being unable to bear children, she couldn't stop him and could only struggle with it in her heart.

Wang Sheng was equally conflicted; he had some feelings for Xiao Wei, but he loved his wife very much and couldn't make up his mind.

Xiao Wei was simpler; she had taken a fancy to Wang Sheng and wanted to replace Pei Rong, but she hadn't found the right opportunity and could only lurk slowly.

The three of them were locked in this tug-of-war, and at the same time, because Xiao Wei loved to eat human hearts, she sent her lackey, the Lizard Spirit, to dig them out, causing the whole city to be in a state of panic, and rumors of a demon in the city spread.

Hearing that there was a demon here, the Demon Hunter rushed over, and the tragedy of this human-demon love triangle officially began.

"Cut! Kun, your gaze needs to be more conflicted; don't just rely on facial expressions. Let's do it again."

It had been a week since the official start of filming; during this week, Wei Jin shot some relatively simple scenes, mostly solo ones.

After a few days of getting used to each other, everyone's understanding of their characters became more profound, and the chemistry between the actors gradually formed.

Today, Wei Jin began shooting the emotional scenes; fortunately, the actors were quite professional, and most of the scenes could be finished in a few takes.

What was being filmed at this moment was Wang Sheng facing Xiao Wei's temptation, with his body being honest while his heart was conflicted.

"Cut! The emotion is wrong. Tell me, are you and Young Master Zhou too familiar with each other? Her temptation is having no effect!"

After a few days of getting along, Zhou Xun's carefree, straightforward, and direct personality won Wei Jin's favor, so he gave her the nickname Young Master Zhou from his past life.

Zhou Xun was very satisfied when she heard it, so on set, everyone started calling her that.

"Kun, do you really have no thoughts about me?"

Zhou Xun also joked from the side.

"Ahem, Director, let me brew on it a bit more. Give me five minutes."

The days of filming passed by like this; Wei Jin filmed during the day and went to Li Jie's room to "ride the horse" at night. Although the days were dull and tasteless, watching Li Jie wearing her costume and dressed in ancient attire, Wei Jin felt that making movies was truly happy.

A newbie author writing a book for the first time, kneeling and begging for collections, follows, reading, and recommendations. Thank you all. A newbie author writing a book for the first time, kneeling and begging for collections, follows, reading, and recommendations. Thank you all.

(End of chapter)