[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-starting-from-stealing-the-role-in-1995-huayu":3,"chapter-starting-from-stealing-the-role-in-1995-huayu-starting-from-stealing-the-role-in-1995-huayu-chapter-17":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Starting from Stealing the Role in 1995 Huayu",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2321006,4540,"Chapter 17: Shooting","starting-from-stealing-the-role-in-1995-huayu-chapter-17",17,"\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen walked into a study room, where many members of their film group were already present. Every evening for the past few days, they had gathered to report their progress to him as director.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Old Jia, did you find the extras?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Found them. Fifteen yuan per day, and the crew provides meals.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Qi Jing, did you get the sound equipment?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Already borrowed it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And the clothes—the female driver’s coat must be bright red, vivid, this one’s too dark!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve got a wool coat, vivid red—I’ll bring it to you right now, Director!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You know what? The students in this film group were exceptionally enthusiastic about preparing for the film—each task assigned, no matter how difficult, got resolved quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen went through each item one by one, checking off tasks on his prepared checklist as they were completed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today, nearly everything was checked off; with one more day left, all preparations should be finished, and shooting could begin on schedule the day after tomorrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On Friday morning, a No. 44 bus and a Jeep pulled up to the outskirts of Jingcheng and stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then a crowd spilled out of the bus—crew members and extras alike.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen and Jiang Qin stepped down from the Jeep; this Jeep was also borrowed—not for carrying people, but specifically to transport the camera and other filming equipment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After getting out, Wu Yuchen was joined by Old Jia, Wu Shixian, and Chen Er. Wu Shixian glanced around—the trees by the roadside had yellowed leaves, and the land on both sides of the road was barren, gray-yellow, overgrown with weeds, radiating an air of decay and desolation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was already the Frost’s Descent season; the outskirts were colder, and a light breeze stirred up yellow dust from the wasteland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fat Wu raised his thumb to Wu Yuchen: “Wu Yuchen, you picked the perfect location!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen looked up at the sky—a dull, overcast gray—and smiled: “Heaven is cooperating!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The film’s overall tone needed to be cold and absurd, so the setting had to carry this dull, desolate color palette, evoking a sense of oppression and gloom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the extras playing bus passengers were required to wear dark clothing—black, gray, or earthy yellow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qin had already put on the specially prepared bright red coat, which stood out sharply against the environment—red symbolized blood and violence, foreshadowing her unusual fate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen glanced toward the male lead, Duan Long, who carried a black bag, wore a black coat, and sported pure white pants that gave off a touch of flair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen circled him once, then walked over and shoved a cigarette into his mouth: “Loosen up a bit. Add some edge.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen didn’t want a male lead who was noble, righteous, or a quiet, stoic man waiting to explode—he wanted someone slightly rough, naturally familiar with strangers, the kind of youth who seemed to meddle in everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Duan Long gripped the cigarette in his hand and took a deep drag. He knew his quiet nature clashed with the character’s personality, so over the past two days he’d been trying to recall people he’d met before who resembled this role, mimicking their traits, forcing himself to become the character.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Sun Honglei, he was the one Wu Yuchen trusted most—this guy had once been part of the underworld, mingled with all kinds of people, had plenty of gangster friends, probably taken part in plenty of brawls; once he got fierce, playing this robber would be easy for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Wu Yuchen walked over to the camera, glanced through the lens, and frowned:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The color tone’s wrong. Make it colder, darker.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the cinematographer struggle to achieve the desired effect, Wu Yuchen took over himself—he’d started his career in photography in his past life; he hadn’t forgotten how to do it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The third-year film photography student beside him stared, wide-eyed, as Wu Yuchen expertly adjusted the camera and got it right in no time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was studying photography, but he rarely got real hands-on chances—he never expected this junior to be this skilled!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Director Wu, you know photography too?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Just a hobby. I’ve dabbled in it before.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen brushed off the question with a smile, but he planned to handle the cinematography himself—this cinematographer wasn’t good enough; he couldn’t waste film.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen had drawn storyboards too, but mainly for the rest of the crew—to ensure everyone understood the visual style he wanted for each scene and could coordinate accordingly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He himself rarely needed to look at them—the images were already in his mind. This was one thing he’d noticed since his rebirth: his memory had improved dramatically. Any vague memory from his past life, if he concentrated, came back clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no opening ceremony—just the crew operating smoothly under Wu Yuchen’s direction, then starting to shoot immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen began with exterior shots, capturing all necessary scenery while the weather held—this took only half an hour, mainly because he needed to film the outside environment from both inside and outside the moving bus, requiring the bus driver to repeatedly drive back and forth along this stretch of road.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Wu Yuchen signaled, the actors took their positions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The extras, carrying bags and parcels, boarded the bus and sat down—they didn’t speak a single line throughout, symbolizing their identity as “the silent ones.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the bus, Wu Yuchen stood behind the camera, framing the shot on the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Wu Yuchen shouted “Action!”, the actors began their performance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Wu Yuchen hadn’t actually started rolling—he needed to refine the actors’ states first; only when they were ready would he begin filming. The main reason, of course, was lack of funds—he had to conserve film.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure enough, as soon as Duan Long spoke his first line, Wu Yuchen spotted the problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Cut!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen walked over and tapped Duan Long:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I told you to add edge—to show you’re not afraid of trouble, not to turn into a full-blown thug. Don’t be so slack and careless—it’s overdone!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he turned to Jiang Qin:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And you, Qin Qin—have you ever seen a bus driver smile at every passenger the moment they board?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You’re the bus driver—if you smiled at every passenger, your face would freeze!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Think about how real bus drivers behave—don’t treat him differently. He’s just another passenger who got on halfway.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen spoke bluntly, but once on set, he wasn’t the mild-mannered type—directors needed authority to manage a large crew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qin and Duan Long both turned red, dared not refute, and quickly adjusted their demeanor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three minutes later, Wu Yuchen called “Action!” again—and immediately shouted “Cut!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the first two or three takes, he explained; after that, he just said “Cut!” and let them figure it out themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Yuchen knew well: if he demanded strictness at the start and honed their states, the rest of the shoot would go smoothly.\u003C\u002Fp>",1150,"2026-06-20T16:09:29.273Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","d194ff1082687dfe9af74d0a54ea5ba6fbbf6fa597ea7c98f7c487cb34222893","starting-from-stealing-the-role-in-1995-huayu-chapter-18","starting-from-stealing-the-role-in-1995-huayu-chapter-16",335,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstarting-from-stealing-the-role-in-1995-huayu-cover.jpg"]