"Happy birthday!"
"Hey, thank you for remembering my birthday. I thought you wouldn't contact me again."
He spoke with a gun and a stick, and Li Tang held his cell phone with a puzzled look on his face.
"what do you mean?"
February 27th is the 25th birthday of my ex-girlfriend, which is her first birthday since the breakup. In addition, the relationship between the two is somewhat disconnected, so it is reasonable to give her a call to say hello.
Unexpectedly, I was choked. Last year, we had no contact for half a year after the breakup meal. This time, we were only separated for a few days.
"Ask me, I want to ask you, what do you mean?"
"I wish you a happy birthday with good intentions, but you are so arrogant. Where did I offend you?"
"Do you blame me? That's right. You are about to become a big star. Big stars have a circle of big stars, so you don't hesitate to talk to them..."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute, some big star...oh, have you heard about it?"
Li Tang couldn't help but burst into laughter, and the sour words he had been saying for a long time turned out to be because of this.
"You're still laughing. You didn't even notify me of such big news."
"What are you announcing? Are you showing off?"
"Sharing is sharing, do you understand? Am I still unable to see you well?" The ex-girlfriend raised her voice on the phone.
You just can’t see me being better than you!
Li Tang complained secretly in his heart, but couldn't help but laugh out loud.
He understands the other party very well. His ex-girlfriend has always been very strong. If he hears that he has become the leading actor in a gift film from Shanghai Film Studio, he will definitely go crazy. The jealousy makes people look beyond recognition.
"Smile, what a laugh!"
Li Tang originally wanted to tease her, but someone happened to call her on the set, and he hurriedly said: "Okay, I won't talk to you anymore, we are filming."
Then he added: "Oh, by the way, I have a suggestion for you. Don't imitate other people's Beijing movies. It sounds awkward and always smells like a big mess!"
After saying that, he closed the phone cover with a snap.
Demo, don't give her any chance to fight back.
"Shanghai Chronicle" was filmed in the film and television park in the suburbs. It is mainly composed of Nanjing Road, Shikumen Lane Group, Waibaidu Bridge, Mahler Villa, docks, churches, squares, etc. It fully restores the architectural style of old Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s, but it is not a 1:1 restoration, but reduced to an appropriate proportion. The overall look is a bit cramped and not grand enough.
It has been eleven days since the movie started shooting on the 16th. In the early stage, we mainly shot some street scenes and group scenes, such as student parades, looting of supplies, and scenes of the People's Liberation Army entering the city.
The shooting of this kind of scene often requires mobilizing various departments of the crew to work together so that the entire crew can be fully adjusted, which is commonly known as "sharpening the lens."
These days, there is no concept of professional group acting. Most of the extras are villagers from the surrounding areas. There are also some important scenes such as the People's Liberation Army entering the city, where real troops are used.
There are many scenes of Li Tang in these group performances. He has been among the group performances these days and has discovered a lot of interesting things. The extras who have one or two lines in the extras, or who have front-facing shots, are all familiar faces, and they have often appeared in classic movies produced by Shanghai Film Studio in the past few decades. None of them are protagonists, and they often appear as supporting characters or villains in movies.
They are all from the Shanghai Film Studio's actor troupe. They are considered professional green leaves. Some of them have even retired. For them, acting is work, regardless of the size of the role, and they work hard. Moreover, there is a subsidy every day when filming, so everyone enjoys it.
Today's filming was the first scene between Li Tang and Yuan Quan. The location is a bar; the plot is that Li Huirong, played by Yuan Quan, rescues Guo Shaobai, played by Li Tang, from prison. After surviving the disaster, Li Huirong comforts Guo Shaobai.
The set of the bar has been completed, the photography and lighting are busy focusing and adjusting the lighting, and the assistant director is busy telling the scene to the waiter standing at the counter.
There is an antique gramophone on the counter. It is a large speaker with a box. It does not need to be plugged in. It can work by shaking it. It has purely manual mechanical functions. It is said that it can really play vinyl records.
This gramophone, including the antique furniture, decorations and other props in the bar, are all the assets accumulated by Shanghai Film Studio since its establishment in the 1920s.
After all, it has a profound background. For example, the clothing department in the factory is almost as good as a small clothing factory. This time the clothes of the main characters are all tailor-made according to the characteristics of the era.
"Xiao Li, is it okay?"
Director Peng Xiaolian came to the scene.
"Director, no problem."
After these days of filming, Li Tang has seen how this kind-faced female director acts resolutely on the set. Thinking about it, without this kind of courage, it would be impossible to manage such a large crew.
Peng Xiaolian nodded. After reading the script and filming several previous group scenes, she was basically at ease with Li Tang.
"Where's Yuan Quan, are you okay?"
"Okay, director, here I come."
Yuan Quan, who had just finished applying makeup and changed clothes, hurried in.
Peng Xiaolian took a look at Yuan Quan's clothes and makeup, and after making sure there were no problems, she nodded and said, "Okay, you guys get ready first, and we'll start shooting later."
Yuan Quan walked tremblingly in front of Li Tang, glanced at Director Peng who was discussing the lens with the photographer, and whispered: "Brother Li, let's review the lyrics again."
"I've done it right several times this morning, and I think there's nothing wrong with it."
Li Tang tilted his head to look at her and said, "Why are you so nervous? You're not in good condition. You're going to die when the filming starts. You have to relax. Take it easy."
Yuan Quan said with a sad face: "I know, but I just can't control it."
Li Tang knows that this is a common problem for newcomers. When facing the camera for the first time, he can't control his nervousness. This is how he came over back then.
He comforted: "It's no problem. You were in very good condition when you were dubbing words with me this morning. I don't think there's anything wrong with you at all."
Yuan Quan said nothing, just lowered his head and glanced at the director and the camera from time to time.
"Hey, drink some of this." Li Tang pointed to the wine glass on the table.
"What, wine?"
"Coke, all the cars are gone."
The props were served, and the coke was passed off as foreign wine.
"Can you drink it? This is a prop."
"Of course you can drink."
Li Tang picked up the cup and drank it in one gulp, licked his lips and said with a smile: "It's very sweet. Sweetness can make people feel happy and relax. Try it."
Yuan Quan wasn't sure whether Li Tang was talking nonsense, and her nervousness made her a little overwhelmed. She picked up the cup and took a sip by mistake. The sparkling Coke tasted sweet, but it did feel better after drinking it. She couldn't help but take another sip, and then she drank it all.
"Brother Wang, pour a little more." Li Tang turned around and shouted to the waiter standing at the counter.
That's right, the waiter who served as the background board was a temporary guest appearance by the crew's prop assistant.
Brother Wang took out a large bottle of Coke from under the counter, walked over and poured half a cup, and muttered: "Drink less, this is a prop."
"Fill it up, fill it up, don't be so stingy."
Li Tang tapped his fingers on the table and said, "Find a clean wine bottle, fill half of it and bring it back."
"What are you doing? This is the only Coke that has been released."
"Tsk, don't worry about it. You'll need it later when we take pictures."
"Uh... ok."
Li Tang picked up a full cup of Coke and gestured to Yuan Quan, saying, "How are you? Do you feel better?"
"I have to drink more."
Yuan Quan didn't shy away now. He picked up the cup and took another big sip. He drank a little impatiently and quickly patted his chest.
Li Tang's eyes followed her movements and stayed on the part where she was photographing.
She has a good figure and looks quite promising.
In order to cover up his rude look, this guy pretended to be concerned and asked: "Aren't you cold?"
Yuan Quan was wearing a costume - a small black suit with a light-colored shirt and a silk scarf around his neck.
It was cold in spring, so Li Tang was wearing a suit shirt underneath and a down jacket on the outside.
Yuan Quan didn't notice. He looked down at his clothes and smiled: "Fortunately, I'm wearing a sweater underneath."
"Yeah, you can't tell at all."
Li Tang boldly looked at her again and suddenly said: "Hey, someone as beautiful as you must be the school beauty of your drama, right?"
"No way, not even the class beauty." Yuan Quan's expression paused and he shook his head.
"I do not believe."
"Really, I didn't lie to you. Our class is much prettier than me."
The guy's eyes lit up and he said hurriedly: "You can introduce me to me later when you have a chance."
Yuan Quan felt a little uncomfortable when he heard this, "No problem, but you may be disappointed. They all have boyfriends."
"Then do you have a boyfriend?" This guy asked in a narrow voice.
"Huh? Uh... no."
Yuan Quan didn't react for a moment when he asked him such a cold question, and a figure subconsciously appeared in his mind.
"If it's there, it's there. If it's not, it's not. What does it mean to not have it?"
Faced with Li Tang's pressing questions, Yuan Quan looked shy and shook his head hurriedly: "No... no."
Although the figure in my mind was chasing after him very closely, I didn't seem to have any feelings for that person. I was more concerned about the aura of the best actor in the other person.
"Bah bang bang!"
At this time, the director's clapping interrupted their conversation.
"Ready to start shooting!"
Yuan Quan quickly sat up straight and took a deep breath. At this moment, she suddenly realized that she was not nervous at all.
