1990: Starting from Baojia Street

When the opening ceremony ended, it was already past half past ten and not long before lunch, but the crew was not idle and still shot a shot before lunch.

This shot is very simple. It shows the male protagonist walking from the other end of the corridor while eating biscuits. This is also the first scene of the movie.

The entire shot only lasts a few seconds, with only one camera and only one actor.

It only took a dozen minutes to shoot one shot, which also included Zhou Yan changing clothes. The first take passed, but to be on the safe side, I still kept one more.

After the second shot was completed, the main photographer Zhao Fei shouted "Cut", and the staff on the scene cheered.

For them, this is the real opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony is about a psychological effect. The first scene of this drama was performed in one take without any problems, so it was naturally a great start.

This also gave everyone a psychological hint that the subsequent filming of the movie would be as smooth as this scene.

After filming the first scene, Zhou Yan asked everyone to take a break and have dinner.

I eat at eleven o'clock and start work at one o'clock, leaving me with two hours of free time at noon.

However, on the first day of filming, everyone was very excited and arrived on the set before one o'clock, even Li Naiwen and Li Xiaoran, who had no scenes to act.

The afternoon scene is similar to the first scene in the morning. What we shot today is the appearance of the protagonist's family members, introducing the composition of the protagonist's family and the lives of its members.

There are a total of five members in the protagonist's family. In addition to the protagonist, there are parents, a younger sister, and an uncle who looks a little silly.

My mother is a little cold, and even seems a little dull. She is always busy and has her own things to do every day.

My father is more free. He quit his job as a university professor at the age of 50. At home, he either reads books or chats and plays with his family.

My uncle is a bit dull. He wears formal clothes every day and sits alone most of the time. He lives in his own world and is hard to figure out.

My younger sister is the most special one in the family. She acts crazy every day and always runs naked on the grass.

The pace of life in their family is very slow. They go to the beach to have afternoon tea by the bonfire in the afternoon and watch movies in the yard every Friday night.

These scenes are very simple, half of them are single-person scenes, and the actors don't even need to do any movements. For example, the uncle played by Li Jingfei, whenever he appears, just sits still.

The most difficult scene was the one where the family sits together to watch a movie, because it was a night scene and also a rain scene.

So Zhou Yan put all these scenes into half a day.

However, even though Zhou Yan expected it to go smoothly, he did not expect the process to be even smoother than he had imagined.

Originally, Zhou Yan planned to start filming the scene of the family watching a movie in the yard around nine o'clock, but before six o'clock, the previous scenes were all completed.

It was not yet half past six when everyone in the crew finished their meal.

At this time, it was not dark yet, so the crew members had to sit back and wait until dark before filming the movie scene.

Because the time in between is short, it is not possible to add other scenes temporarily.

After having some free time, everyone in the crew felt more relaxed, and completing the task ahead of schedule was of course a very happy thing.

Zhou Yan moved a small stool and sat on the grass to study the scenes for the next few days.

Today's filming went so smoothly, he wanted to see if the schedule for subsequent scenes could be shortened further.

Although more than 20 percent of the shooting period has been reserved to deal with possible emergencies, Zhou Yan still wants to finish it as soon as possible.

Joey Wong also got a small stool and sat down nearby, reading the script of "Time Traveler" in her hand.

She was not studying her own play, but reading the script as a novel, she loved the story so much.

She has read this script over and over again several times, and the script in her hand is wrapped in a book cover, so it looks like a book.

At this time, Chen Derong came over barefoot, stood in front of Zhou Yan, opened his arms, and said with an exaggerated expression, "Brother, how was my performance today?"

Zhou Yan looked up at Chen Derong and said, "We are taking a break now, why don't you put on your shoes?"

Chen Derong said with a smile, "I am feeling the role."

Seeing Chen Derong's crazy look, Zhou Yan admitted that he had underestimated her before.

Although Zhou Yan felt that Chen Derong had a bit of the temperament of the male protagonist's sister before, he did not expect that she could perform so well, especially the neuroticism of the male protagonist's sister, which she presented very well.

If another actor were to perform like her, she might not be able to achieve the same performance.

Chen Derong's performance today is completely different from her performance in Qiong Yao dramas.

Many people in the crew have seen TV dramas starring Chen Derong. Their previous impression of her was that of the pitiful heroine in Qiong Yao dramas. But when they saw her acting like a silly girl on the scene, they were all amazed.

Zhou Yan even doubted whether Chen Derong could go back to act in Qiong Yao dramas after starring in "Time Traveler". It is said that Qiong Yao has very strict requirements for the female lead.

Wang Zuxian laughed and said, "Xiao Rong, you should put on your shoes. There are so many people coming and going on the lawn, there will always be some small things. Don't scratch your feet."

"Do you think Zhou Jing cares about these?" Chen Derong laughed.

Zhou Jing is the name of the male protagonist’s sister. Yes, the male protagonist of the new movie still has the surname Zhou and his name is Zhou Ning.

The names of these two siblings both sound like the children of the Zhou family.

Girls of this generation in the Zhou family all have the word "Qing" in their names, Zhou Qian, Zhou Qing, Zhou Qing, Zhou Jing, without exception. When Zhou Jing is put together with these four names, it is obvious that they are a set.

Wang Zuxian rolled her eyes at Chen Derong and said, "You really think you are Zhou Ning."

"Of course, my dear sister-in-law."

Chen Derong laughed and ran away happily.

Wang Zuxian was somewhat speechless when Chen Derong called her sister-in-law. She pouted and said, "I think this girl is really into the role now."

Zhou Yan laughed, "Very good, her performance today was indeed good, somewhat beyond my expectations."

Joey Wong also nodded, "This role is actually quite suitable for her, she can let go."

In fact, Wang Zuxian was very happy to see Chen Derong like this. It is a rare thing for an actor to play a role he likes.

Although she never said it, she felt in her heart that Chen Derong always starring in Qiong Yao dramas would be very detrimental to her future development.

Once a comfort zone is formed, it is difficult to jump out of it. Zhou Yan smiled and said nothing more. After a while, he called several assistant directors to his side to discuss with them about adjusting the subsequent shooting plan.

Xiao Can and the others were not surprised at all when they heard that Zhou Yan wanted to adjust the shooting plan.

Today's shooting went so smoothly, which also exceeded their expectations.

Since the crew has such good coordination and the actors' performances are so good, we might as well move the plan forward and not interrupt the rhythm of filming.

Sometimes it is very important to keep going in one go. Once the rhythm is broken, it is difficult to get it back.

Xiao Can and Li Hong also knew Zhou Yan and knew that he would definitely make targeted adjustments.

Zhou Yan did not move the entire shooting plan forward, but instead split up and scattered the scenes for the seventh day and spread them out over the first five days.

In this way, the original plan for these five days does not need to be changed, and the scenes after the seventh day do not need to be adjusted for the time being. Just add a little more scenes on the basis of the previous ones, and the preparation work of each department does not need to be adjusted too much.

After Zhou Yan presented the plan, several assistant directors thought it was feasible.

"Based on today's shooting situation, there is no problem with this intensity at all. There is even room for compression." Shen Yan said with a smile.

Xiao Can also nodded, "Indeed, we can squeeze at least another half day of filming into these five days."

After hearing what Xiao Can said, Zhou Yan was really tempted, but in the end he decided to be safe, "Let's just leave it at that for now. More haste makes waste. If we cram too much in at once, we won't be able to guarantee the error tolerance rate."

"Ok."

After the matter was settled, the directors did not waste any time and went directly to communicate with the various departments.

Shen Yan was responsible for communicating with the costume team. While walking on the road, he was also very moved. Zhou Yan's crew was really mature and their efficiency was simply incomparable to that of ordinary crews.

Of course, Shen Yan had not been in many film crews, and the only ones he could compare with were some small crews. He didn't know whether the crews of Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige were as efficient.

In fact, many people in this crew have participated in the filming of movies directed by Chen Kaige or Zhang Yimou.

Especially Zhang Yimou's crew, Liu Qing, Jiang Mengfei and Hong Xin have all worked with Zhang Yimou before, and more than once.

I heard that Zhou Yan knew them because of the crew of "Raise the Red Lantern".

Sometimes, when Jiang Mengfei and the others were chatting together, they would also talk about what happened during the previous filming. What Shen Yan knew was that Zhang Yimou's requirements were not low either, and Zhang Yimou was very energetic, even more energetic than Zhou Yan.

Shen Yan couldn't quite believe it, because Zhou Yan's energy was far beyond that of ordinary people.

In the past few days, Shen Yan has never seen Zhou Yan rest. It seems that he has been working all the time. However, Zhang Yimou's energy is even greater than Zhou Yan's, which is beyond Shen Yan's imagination.

In fact, Shen Yan believes that the reason why the crew of "Time Traveler" is so efficient is not only because the crew members are familiar with each other and have good cooperation, but the main reason is the director Zhou Yan.

Shen Yan knows very well that in order to complete a film well, there are many things a director can do, but also very few.

This may sound contradictory, but it is true.

A director is not a jack of all trades and it is difficult for him to take all aspects into consideration. An excellent work often requires the cooperation of excellent actors, excellent screenwriters, excellent producers, excellent photographers and others.

The director plays a more management role in the project.

Therefore, there is often a situation where the quality of different works by the same director varies greatly because the partners they are working with have changed.

Of course, in China, directors can control these things as much as possible.

Because the director can choose the screenwriter, actors, music director, and even the producer.

In this regard, Zhou Yan did a good job. He was able to ensure that there would be no problems in the operation of the crew in the early stages.

Moreover, Zhou Yan has a unique advantage because he is the screenwriter and the music director. Although each department has its own division of labor, Zhou Yan is not highly dependent on these departments.

In other words, even if a new group of people is replaced, the tacit understanding may not be as high as it is now, and the shooting efficiency will be reduced, but the quality of the film will basically not be much different.

Some directors can basically ensure that each of their works is above standard, and Zhou Yan belongs to this category.

Just as Shen Yan found the on-site person in charge of the costume group, he heard Jiang Mengfei shouting from the other end, "Sunset, sunset."

The shout attracted everyone's attention.

The sun was setting, which not only meant that their scenes would be filmed soon, but also that they would get to see the beautiful scenery.

This was also the first time that all the crew members gathered together to watch the sunset.

Maybe because today is a special day, Shen Yan feels that the sunset tonight is particularly beautiful.

The sun slowly sank, dyeing the entire sky golden. Everyone had seen this scene many times at the end of the competition area, but they felt the same as Shen Yan that today's sunset had a different kind of beauty.

The beauty of a beautiful scenery lies not only in the scenery itself, but also in the people who enjoy it together.

When everyone's eyes are focused on one place, some strange reactions often occur.

This is a bit like New Year's Eve, when everyone gathers together to count down, making the originally meaningless time become special.

The afterglow of the setting sun fell on the faces of everyone in the crew, illuminating not the regret of "the sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it is near dusk", but instead endless hope.

At this moment, they are here to bid farewell to the sunset, and on the other side of the horizon, another group of people will be welcoming the sunrise.

Everyone's current mood may be the same as that of people on the other side of the horizon.

Zhao Fei felt that this scene was very touching. He picked up his camera, walked behind the crowd, and silently pressed the shutter button towards their backs.

The sun finally sank into the sea, night slowly fell, and the set suddenly became lively because the shooting was about to begin.

Everyone got in place quickly, and when the light was right, Zhou Yan sat in front of the projector with the other actors and shouted "start".

This scene is another one-shot one.

Because everyone was soaked, it would be troublesome to protect another one, so Zhou Yan just called for the end of the work.

Everyone cheered again. Zhou Yan saw how happy everyone was, picked up the megaphone and said with a smile, "We finished work earlier than planned today, but don't go to bed too late when you go back, because tomorrow's workload will be very heavy. We will be shooting more scenes tomorrow than originally planned. Departments that haven't received the news can go to the assistant directors to find out more."

Although the shooting schedule became tighter, everyone did not feel annoyed at all. Instead, they were full of energy.

Seeing that the army was in good spirits, Zhou Yan smiled and took a few actors back first. They were soaked and needed to take a shower early. (End of this chapter)