Chapter 155: Filming

Wu Yuchen looked at the lineup sitting around him; it was undoubtedly very luxurious. It was only because he had reached this status that he could pull it together.

The production cost of "Mr. Donkey" is far higher than the 1 million expected two years ago. At the time of filming, he just thought about finding some classmates from school and filming it like a stage play, but now it's not what he thought back then.

Hearing Gong Li's 1 million USD salary alone is already over 8 million, plus other people's salaries, and other miscellaneous expenses, it is estimated that this time it will be at least 15 million, and it is very likely to head towards 20 million. This doesn't count Wu Yuchen's personal salary; he won't charge according to the Hollywood price, but how could it be lower than Hearing Gong Li's 1 million USD?

Calculating this, it will be 30 million. The specific cost will only be known after production is finished, but Wu Yuchen is not short of money now. Even without mentioning how many US dollars he earned in Hollywood, just the film and television income of Qiji Film and Television in the past two years is enough for him to use.

Subsequently, he looked at Sun Honglei, Ding Jiali, and Hearing Gong Li without a trace. He dared to guarantee that he was not intentional; he chose the actors entirely based on the film characters.

In his past life, there were rumors that Sun Honglei was kept by an older sister and used her to climb to the top, only to abandon her and kick her away. The older sister in this scandal was Ding Jiali, who played the copper smith's wife. The two met in 1999 while performing the stage play "Madame Curie." Although Sun Honglei had already acted in Lao Mouzi's "The Road Home" at the time, his status was still not as high as the older sister's.

As for him and Hearing Gong Li, they met in 2002 while filming "Zhou Yu's Train." The two had an emotional entanglement in the film, and then Sun Honglei developed feelings for Hearing Gong Li because of the acting. At the time, there were news reports that he "climbed up to an older sister in the entertainment industry and abandoned Ding Jiali for Hearing Gong Li." However, Hearing Gong Li had a husband at the time and rejected Sun Honglei.

Therefore, having launched emotional offensives against actresses with higher status than himself twice in a row, the reputation of "Huaqiang climbing up to the big sister" spread.

Wu Yuchen shook his head inwardly. He didn't care whether Sun Honglei had the intention of climbing up to an older sister; as long as he acted well, it would be fine. This time, his characters Zhou Tienan and Zhang Yiman in "Mr. Donkey" have no emotional entanglement with the copper smith's wife, so he assumes he won't be able to stir up any trouble during filming.

"Wu Dao, I want to ask, is the character Zhang Yiman referenced from the Republican-era star Zhou Xuan?" Hearing Gong Li asked curiously.

Zhou Xuan was a big star in the Republican era, known as the "Film Queen," a figure who left her name in film history, and finally died of mental illness.

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "Yes, but it can only be said that it was partially referenced. Regarding Zhang Yiman's character background, it also has to talk about the 'sexual liberation' trend triggered by the 'Tianru Movement' in the Republican era..."

Since it was during the script reading, Wu Yuchen tried his best to explain every character thoroughly to facilitate the actors' better understanding and shaping of the characters.

"Wu Dao, I want to ask, for my Pei Kuishan, does he really like Zhang Yiman? Or is it just a man's desire for conquest?" He Bing also took the opportunity to raise questions.

"Teacher He Bing, Pei Kuishan does like Zhang Yiman, but this kind of liking of his is a condescending love. Pei Kuishan has the self-righteousness of an intellectual; he considers himself to be 'saving' Zhang Yiman's fallen soul, letting her follow him from a fallen young woman to a good life; he himself is tolerating Zhang Yiman. But at the same time, he is sexually impotent, and Zhang Yiman is willing to have a physical relationship with him, satisfying his self-esteem needs."

Wu Yuchen paused and then continued to explain:

"Therefore, at first, Zhang Yiman rejected Pei Kuishan several times, and he behaved relatively calmly because he considered himself a level higher than Zhang Yiman and felt he had Zhang Yiman in his pocket. He felt his tolerant and great love for her would sooner or later be able to reform her, letting the lost lamb return. But when Zhang Yiman had a relationship with a Copper Smith whose status was far lower than his and still showed great pleasure, it crushed his self-esteem and sense of superiority. There was hatred born from love, and also anger at his self-esteem being deeply hurt, therefore..."

He Bing listened to Wu Yuchen's explanation and couldn't help but suddenly realize. After clearing up the internal logic of the character, it would be of great help to his performance.

In the process of this script reading, Wu Yuchen also analyzed and discussed every plot with everyone and analyzed every character in detail.

A few days later, "Mr. Donkey" officially started filming.

"Do you all understand?"

Wu Yuchen asked the four people around him: Hearing Gong Li, Li Xuejian, He Bing, and Sun Honglei. Seeing that all four nodded, he returned behind the camera.

"Action!"

This scene was filmed not long after the movie started. Because the donkey shed caught fire due to the dry weather, everyone launched a fire-fighting campaign. This fire-fighting action was not filmed casually, but carefully designed by Wu Yuchen and the crew staff. In fact, it completely hinted at the direction and fate of everyone in the subsequent plot.

In the lens, Sun Honglei was the first to rush up and jump up, wanting to use a broom to put out the fire, which actually hinted at his impulsive personality but inability to solve problems.

Hearing Gong Li rushed into the donkey shed, wanting to pick out the flames, but instead ignited the hay pile on the ground, hinting that her Zhang Yiman would bring fire upon herself.

The panicked He Bing used a shovel to throw dirt to put out the fire, but instead splashed dirty dirt on Hearing Gong Li, hinting at the harm Pei Kuishan would do to Zhang Yiman.

Li Xuejian's Principal Sun rushed over holding two quilts, shouting "Listen to my command," and covered it with the quilts. It is very clear that he only knows how to cover up things when things happen, and his blind command caused the fire to get bigger and bigger.

With everyone working together, the fire spread smoothly, and the donkey shed turned from smoking to a sea of fire. This also refers to the fact that the few people later turned a small matter that was originally just a false report into something bigger and bigger until it could not be ended.

The filming speed of "Mr. Donkey" is not fast, and Wu Yuchen is not in a hurry, striving for everyone to enter their best state before slowly accelerating the progress.

A month and a half later, filming was more than halfway through. At this time, a major scene had to be filmed: everyone, under the pressure of the Copper Smith and the Special Inspector, took turns angrily scolding Zhang Yiman. The tone of the whole film also changed from this, from comedy to tragedy.

In the lens, the Copper Smith sat on the podium, wearing a mink coat, showing his important status.

This coat also has a special meaning. What is a mink coat? It is animal skin!

People who put on animal skin change their temperament, changing from human to beast. The evil inherent in human nature begins to be released. Whether it is He Bing's Pei Kuishan or Fu Dalong's Copper Smith, it is all like this.

At this time, the human-looking He Bing walked in front of Hearing Gong Li. His opportunity to vent his anger had arrived. He saw a curve on his face, his hair combed meticulously, and his Zhongshan suit was straight. He smiled and said the most vicious words with the mouth of a teacher:

"You are just a stinking bitch. Who doesn't know what you did in the city before? You are just a rat crossing the street, and you have the nerve to be picky? You are really shameless, do you deserve it? What qualifications do you have to pick others? Someone is willing to sleep with you, that's giving you face; you are not even as good as a bitch! A bitch does that for money, for survival. And you? You pay to be slept with! You are really cheap, you are cheaper than a bitch!"

He Bing became more and more energetic as he spoke, and his emotions began to rise. The smile on his face gradually disappeared and became ferocious:

"Do you know what you are in the eyes of men? You are just a public toilet. You deserve to be where you are today! This is your retribution! How did I get blind and fall for you! Fall for you! Bitch! Bitch..."

When He Bing said this, his face was already red and his neck was thick, turning into a roar, and he was pulled away by Li Xuejian.

And another camera lens was aimed at Hearing Gong Li. At this time, she was obviously poked in the heart by He Bing's words. Her lips trembled, her eyes filled with mist, and her chest heaved, but she bit her cheek and held back the urge to cry.

"Good!" Zhang Guoli gave a thumbs up, and Fu Dalong, wearing a mink coat, also applauded.

"Cut!" Wu Yuchen's voice came.

Subsequently, Wu Yuchen walked to Hearing Gong Li's side and asked: "Sister Li, are we filming today?"

"Film." Hearing Gong Li said just one word.

Wu Yuchen nodded and asked all departments to prepare. The reason he asked this was because what was to be filmed was the scene of shaving Hearing Gong Li's head, which was also the scene of Zhang Yiman's mental breakdown.

The Copper Smith Fu Dalong was not satisfied with just verbal attacks on this bitch who hurt his pure heart, so he used a big move to deal with a slut since ancient times: cutting hair.

Whether in China or abroad, hair has been very precious to beautiful women since ancient times. In "Malèna," the female lead Malèna was also stripped of her clothes and had her hair cut by a group of women; shaving a head in public is a serious psychological trauma for a woman.

The one shaving Hearing Gong Li's head was the principal, Li Xuejian. For his "big picture," he could sacrifice anything, again showing his hypocrisy.

In the lens, it wasn't until Hearing Gong Li's hair was gone—not completely bald, but turned into a pitted, very ugly scalp—that Fu Dalong's voice came: "Okay, I'm satisfied."

Such a miserable sight, even He Bing's Pei Kuishan couldn't bear to look at it. After all, this was the woman he once pursued hard, had an intimate relationship with, and loved.

"Cut!"

After Wu Yuchen shouted this, he immediately waved his hand and said:

"Change scene!"

Hearing Gong Li had just shaved her head, and now was the best time to film her mental breakdown after returning to the room and looking in the mirror. Facts proved that Empress Gong would not disappoint people; this scene was done in one take!

The next day, Wu Yuchen concentrated on filming another major scene. It was the scene where Zhou Tienan was frightened by a gun and turned from tough to cowardly. The shock and impact this scene gave the audience's soul can be said to be one of the strongest in the whole film.

After a gunshot missed, Sun Honglei sat up from the ground, his chest heaving, panting heavily. He touched his head, then opened his eyes wide and looked at his hands:

"Damn, it didn't hit! I'm still alive!"

Then Sun Honglei's face gradually flushed due to emotion, his smile gradually became wanton, and he roared as if venting:

"It didn't hit! Hahaha!"

Zhang Guoli took the gun from his deputy, pointed it at Sun Honglei's head, and said lightly: "This shot won't miss again."

The wanton smile of Sun Honglei's survival directly disappeared. His expression turned into horror, shaking his head, and he quickly backed away, rubbing the ground with his thighs and buttocks until his back hit the wall and he had nowhere to retreat. Then, as if he had woken up, he immediately changed to kneeling on his knees in front of Zhang Guoli and performed a kowtow ceremony:

"No, no, no, Special Inspector, don't shoot! I was wrong, I'll kowtow to you! I was wrong, I'll listen to everything you say! Don't shoot! Wrong, wrong, wrong!"

Sun Honglei's head kept hitting the bricks on the ground, making a thumping sound. He hugged Zhang Guoli's feet, and tears mixed with the saliva in his mouth flowed onto Zhang Guoli's leather shoes, making Zhang Guoli frown and move his feet away in disgust.

"Cut!"

This scene was also filmed many times, which tested Sun Honglei's explosive power. His forehead was swollen red, but the subsequent scenes just happened to have him wrapped in a bandage.

Wu Yuchen was quite satisfied with Sun Honglei's scene. What he wanted was this contrast, causing enough soul shock to the audience.

Zhou Tienan had thousands of troops on his lips, but was scared to death in practice. He hit hard just now, but now he is kneeling at his feet begging for mercy, not even as good as a dog. It is truly a great sorrow. But in front of a gun, who can blame him?

In the evening, it was still Sun Honglei's scene. He was explaining to his sweetheart Zhou Xun:

"It's useless to fight them like that! I can only mix in first. I will endure humiliation, and when I have the ability and power in the future, I will catch their handle, and then I will cure them and take revenge. This is the only way now!"

Sun Honglei is now persuading Zhou Xun to endure humiliation and cooperate with everyone's actions. The logic of what he said is also quite classic, which is the "if you can't beat them, join them" route. Does it remind you of a famous historical figure?

That's right, it's an allusion to Wang Zhaoming, pen name Jingwei!

"Draw the sword and make it a quick one, not failing the head of a youth."

The early Wang Jingwei was a representative figure of the benevolent people at that time, known as the Tan Sitong of the time, much tougher than Zhou Tienan. But just like Zhou Tienan, if he couldn't beat them, he joined them and became a traitor.

Just as Wu Yuchen was burying himself in filming with the "Mr. Donkey" crew in Jinxi, the entire Chinese-language film industry was turned upside down by "Titanic."

"How much?" Han Sanping asked in disbelief.

"Broken, broken 300 million..."

Listening to the voice on the other side of the phone, Han Sanping opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

He remembered a few months ago, before "Titanic" was released, Wu Yuchen had specifically talked to him about this. At the time, he was still very confident: how good could this film be? With a few tens of millions more in box office, he believed that in a year or two, domestic films would be able to catch up.

But when the film was released and Han Sanping went to see it himself, he realized just how big the gap Wu Yuchen was talking about really was. And now, the gap between "Titanic" and domestic films is directly reflected in the box office; in just two months, it has already broken 300 million in box office!

This is 300 million, which has tripled the Chinese film box office record!

And looking at this situation, it won't stop...

Han Sanping, who has a sense of mission for Chinese films, is anxious. The gap is seen, but it is really a bit big. Now even he is almost losing confidence, let alone others.

No, he has to do something quickly, otherwise the confidence of the entire Chinese film industry will be smashed by this big ship called "Titanic." It's not scary to have a gap, but if even the confidence and fighting spirit are gone, then there is truly no hope!

Han Sanping thought for a while, picked up the phone, and dialed... ===== CHAPTER 156 =====