1RomanceEB Chapter 78 Filming Completed
Chapter 78 Filming Completed
"Ten, nine, eight... three, two, one! Happy New Year!"
Outside the window, dazzling fireworks soared into the sky, illuminating the night sky of Jiangcheng as bright as day.
The deafening sound of firecrackers and the smell of sulfur seeping into the house through the window cracks—this was the atmosphere of the 2010 Lunar New Year.
Ren Pingsheng stood on the balcony, his phone began to vibrate wildly.
New Year's greetings were sent like they were free. There were messages from Bai Ke, Xiao Ai, and Zhang Yibo, as well as from Ni Ni and Lin Gengxin, with whom they had formed good relationships on set.
There was even a voice message from Baby, so sweet it could melt your heart.
Ren Pingsheng selected a few important replies.
I sent Gong Yu a message wishing iQiyi.com a successful launch and great success.
I sent Gu Yongqiang a message: "Youku is about to go public. I wish Mr. Gu a successful bell-ringing ceremony."
He also sent New Year's greetings to Zhao Benshan and Dapeng respectively.
I had just put my phone down when a call came in. The caller ID showed Yang Yuancao.
"Director Ren, Happy New Year!" Yang Yuancao's voice on the other end of the phone was filled with undisguised joy.
"Happy New Year, Mr. Yang. Judging from your tone, is there some good news?"
"Director Ren was right! Your suggestion to incorporate 'China's Got Talent' into the short film has been approved by Director Chen. We just need to go through the formalities after the New Year!"
"Then I wish us a pleasant cooperation in advance," Ren Pingsheng smiled.
In the original "Old Boys", the talent show that the protagonist participated in, called "Happy Boys", is obviously a tribute to Hunan TV's "Super Boy".
But how could Ren Pingsheng possibly let go of such a good business opportunity?
He contacted Yang Yuancao directly and changed the climax of the movie's ending to the protagonist participating in the audition for "China's Got Talent".
Yang Yuancao owes Ren Pingsheng an enormous favor, and the data from his previous works speaks for itself.
Shanghai TV was also worried about the lack of online promotion for "China's Got Talent" in advance, so the two sides hit it off immediately.
……
The holiday ended on the eighth day of the first lunar month.
The old Shougang Steel Plant in Yanjing welcomed the final days of filming for the crew of "Old Boys".
Tong Liya arrived at the film set on time, dragging her suitcase.
After taking off her Republic-era costume and changing into a blue and white school uniform from the 1990s, she stood in front of a slightly dilapidated red brick wall with her hair tied in a high ponytail.
She is aloof and clean-cut, and when she smiles, her dimples appear, making her look like she stepped out of an old photograph.
"Ping Sheng's eye for casting is absolutely amazing," Da Peng couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.
The first scene of the day was a fleeting encounter at the school gate.
Ren Pingsheng made a slight adjustment to the original version, changing walking to cycling.
After all, Qiuya should ride a bike, otherwise how will Xia Luo take off her bike wheels?
In the scene, Dapeng is seen holding a broken guitar and waiting at the school gate.
Tong Liya pushed a curved Phoenix bicycle into the frame from the left. A gentle breeze ruffled her bangs. She didn't look at Dapeng, but with the pride unique to good students and the aloofness towards bad students who were just coasting along, she got on her bike and rode away.
He didn't even glance at me from the corner of his eye.
"Cut! Passed!"
Ren Pingsheng looked at the monitor, very satisfied.
The filming progressed rapidly over the next two days.
Tong Liya is not pretentious or arrogant. When she finishes work late, she squats on the roadside with everyone and eats boxed lunches.
There was a scene where she had to ride a bike in sub-zero temperatures wearing only a thin shirt, and her lips turned purple from the cold, but she didn't utter a sound.
Da Peng whispered to Ren Pingsheng in private, "If Sister Zhi had been this cooperative back then, we would have finished filming long ago."
Ren Pingsheng did not respond.
In the blink of an eye, we arrived at the most important part of the entire film—the finale.
On stage, Dapeng and Baike sang and danced, while Qiuya shed tears in front of the television.
Of course, the filming was actually done separately, but Tong Liya did cry because she heard the song.
For this scene, Da Peng found a professional vocal teacher during the Chinese New Year to practice the song "Old Boy," and Bai Ke also practiced dancing diligently at home.
"Attention all departments, live audio recording, begin!"
The clapperboard fell, and the lights came on on the simple stage.
Da Peng sat in the center of the stage. He didn't rush to sing. He looked down at the worn-out guitar in his arms and his chest heaved twice.
As you slide your fingertips, the intro begins.
"That's the person I miss day and night, the person I love deeply. How should I express my feelings? Will she accept me?"
There weren't many tricks involved; he was just a middle-aged man, drained dry by life, pouring out the words he'd kept bottled up for twenty years, one by one.
"Perhaps I'll never say those words to her. I'm destined to wander the world; how can I have any attachments..."
Bai Ke was behind him, gritting his teeth as he danced a series of moves that were full of flaws.
Two men who are no longer young are wearing ill-fitting costumes and dancing a dance they didn't finish twenty years ago on a dilapidated stage.
This song is truly addictive.
When Da Peng sang, "Youth is like a rushing river, once gone, it never returns before we can say goodbye,"
Sitting in the bedroom scene opposite, Tong Liya burst into tears.
The script says, "Qiuya watches TV and silently sheds tears."
But she didn't follow the script.
She covered her mouth, her shoulders trembling, crying like a little girl who had lost something she loved.
She recalled the days when she left Yili alone to work hard in Yanjing, the heartache of being neglected and criticized in the film crew, and the innocence that was gradually lost in this materialistic industry.
Every word of this song felt like a knife to her wound.
"Cut! Perfect!"
When Ren Pingsheng shouted this, the set was silent for a full ten seconds before thunderous applause erupted.
"Old Boys" has wrapped filming!
In the evening, the wrap party was held at a nearby hot pot restaurant.
A dozen or so people were crammed around a large table, the bottom of the pot was bubbling, and plates of mutton slices were served one after another.
Tong Liya's eyes were still a little swollen. She held a glass of beer and walked up to Ren Pingsheng.
"Director Ren, I salute you! That song... it's so beautiful, did you write it?"
Ren Pingsheng touched his teacup to hers without batting an eye, "The melody is by Japanese singer Takuya Ohashi. I bought the copyright, and I wrote the lyrics myself."
"It's beautifully written," she said, looking at him. "Especially that line, 'Dreams are always out of reach, should we give up?' How can someone so young write such poignant lyrics?"
Ren Pingsheng stared at the mutton bubbling in the pot, picked up a piece and dipped it in the broth.
"There's no sense of vicissitude here. Writing lyrics is like doing business; you have to know what the people who pay you want to hear."
Tong Liya was taken aback for a moment. "Huh?"
"People our age are currently struggling to breathe under the weight of mortgages and car loans. They don't need anyone to teach them how to succeed; they just need an excuse to reminisce about the younger version of themselves before life brought them down."
Ren Pingsheng stuffed the mutton into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and smiled as he looked at Tong Liya's eyes, which were slightly wide with shock.
"This song is the excuse I use to sell to them. Once they cry while listening to it, my movie will be sold."
Tong Liya's hand holding the wine glass tightened slightly.
In this circle where everyone talks about art and dreams, this was the first time she had ever heard someone describe creation in such a utilitarian way.
But it doesn't feel honest.
Her heart skipped a beat for no reason, and she quickly lowered her head and took a sip of wine to cover it up.
Just then, Ren Pingsheng's cell phone, which was on the table, rang.
An unfamiliar number from Yanjing.
Ren Pingsheng answered the phone: "Hello, who is this?"
A man's voice came from the other end of the phone, speaking rather quickly.
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Ren, the owner of the weibo.com domain? I am Wang Gaofei, Vice President of Xinlang.com."