I'm A Baller

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The night that was hard to describe was quickly over. On the 13th, Wang Yan got up, took Na Wu and Fu Yushi, and went straight to Hengdian.

There were many ways to shoot The Witch.

To deal with the shooting, they could just set up a location and rent a studio for a few days, and they could get it for just 15 million yuan.

The entire investment of the original version of The Witch was less than 27 million yuan.

High prices, post-production, and promotions would all be cheaper in China.

If they were to shoot seriously, they would be like Wang Yan. They would rent the best high-tech indoor studio, shoot the action part first, use it for special effects, and then take the location seriously.

It was expensive and troublesome to travel to many places.

But Young Master Wang was rich!

With a wave of his hand, he directly used the most effective method.

In fact, there was another shooting method. Just the shooting cost alone could make up to 200 million yuan. The whole town was stuffed.

Young Master Wang’s fellow villagers were ruined in that way back then. Now, no one joined in the fun.

Wang Yan was not only a screenwriter and director but also an actual investor. With Li Yixu’s wholehearted support, he was not afraid of his subordinates causing trouble at all.

In fact, as long as An Xiaofang didn’t have second thoughts, her subordinates had no right to cause trouble.

So, did Sister Fang have any second thoughts?

At first, she should actually have some. Anyone who came across such a fat piece of meat would want a piece.

However, after realizing that Young Master Wang was difficult to deal with and had a bright future, her attitude was straighter than anyone else.

“Director Wang, everything is ready. The next step is up to you!”

An Xiaofang took the initiative to pick up Wang Yan. When they met, she shook hands with him. Her entire body was filled with an unwavering belief in success.

She had already seen the latest version of the script and was convinced that this would be a good movie.

Although Wang Yan was a newcomer, not only had he never touched a director’s chair, he did not even have any professional training in the role.

However, the well-known operators in the industry would never just look at the background.

The so-called professional sensitivity was being able to dig out the bright spots in every detail and then invest in people, not just pure projects.

After a long period of observation, An Xiaofang firmly believed that Wang Yan was an excellent investment target worthy of her trust.

Zhongying Film and Yida’s representatives came to pick them up at the same time. They shook hands one by one and took the initiative to say a few words to Wang Yan.

“Director Wang, it’s been hard on You!”

“We look forward to our final product!”

When the service director, martial arts director, and the field attendants following behind saw the attitude of the big shots, they immediately knew who was boss.

Fine, we can’t afford to offend this young master. Just do your job obediently!

On the set, there were indeed cases where old foxes decided not to save face for the director because of their seniority. It was even considered common.

It was not a direct rebuttal, but rather, they were doing their job in a backhanded manner, dawdling, and making false reports.

Every year, there were directors who couldn’t control the situation, which led to the extension of the film period, excessive funding, or even no effect.

But obviously, these things wouldn’t happen to Wang Yan.

The eldest young master divided a part of the profits precisely for the convenience of now and in the future.

The effect was very good.

The less you gave, the more you got. Money in exchange for cooperation, it was comfortable to know how to play.

The large group of people rushed back to the hotel, borrowed the conference room, and began the meeting.

The main creative team was all present. The main actors were all in place. One-third of them were humble, and two-thirds were pragmatic.

An Xiaofang hosted the meeting. She announced the shooting plan and the timetable, and then each department introduced themselves and reported in turn.

The one who arranged the specific work was the first assistant director, Wang Muye. Wang Yan basically didn’t say much throughout the entire scene.

He only said a modest sentence in the end.

“I’m young, inexperienced, and not a professional. All of you here are my seniors. I hope that in the following filming, you will not be stingy with your advice and let us work together to make the film well.

“If we are lucky enough to hold a celebration party, red packets won’t be a problem. How thick it will be, though, will depend on your hard work.”

Wang Yan was modest and polite. Logically speaking, he would easily be looked down upon by those in the industry.

However, with the support of a group of big shots who invest in him, the young master’s attitude would only make people feel comfortable.

The heads of the various departments immediately began to lift the sedan chair.

“No, no, no!”

“With your salary, it’s only right for us to assist the director!”

“We won’t say anything nice. I guarantee that we’ll be done as long as we listen to the instructions!”

Wang Yan smiled in satisfaction. Then, without any warning, he gave the order for everyone to leave.

“Alright, the actors please stay behind for a while. We’ll be having a script seminar.”

An Xiaofang, who was not in charge of the specific filming work, was the first to leave. The rest followed.

Only Wang Yan, Wang Muye, the assistant director of the filming, the scriptwriter, and the actors were left.

Among the actors, the biggest star was the young male idol, Zi Tao.

He played the role of the leader of the supernatural squad, the male lead, and his name in the movie was Wu Yihan.

Zi Tao’s current popularity was not as good as his teammates, but the fans of all the other actors added together were not enough for his fans to practice a set of Taizu’s long fists.

Before entering the group, it was said that his studio had put forward some unreliable conditions due to the issue of the position.

However, without Director Wang’s help, Sister Fang had easily settled it.

During the filming, she was the focus of attention.

The second most popular person was Zhang Jin.

He wasn’t very popular, but he was experienced enough and had a Hong Kong background.

At this time, the Hong Kong film and television circles were no longer the same as they were 10 years ago, but there was still some afterglow.

At the very least, the martial arts team for “The witch” was Hong Kong’s Yuan Jiaban.

Further down the list was Wang Haiou.

After the release of “The Family In Disguise” and “Mace”, her likable characters had given her a fierce sense of presence. Currently, she was extremely popular, but she did not have enough slots.

As for the female lead, Fu Yushi…

Her salary was not even six figures when she was tied to Na Wu.

The two small fish were not worth mentioning.

The remaining supporting roles, such as the Loli Lang Imai, the two young men who played the three tigers and four leopards, and the old actors who played the female protagonist’s parents, were not worthy of their names getting mentioned.

Overall, the actors’ levels were clear, and the environment was simple. It was a good situation.

Moreover, after some observation, Wang Yan found that all the actors chosen by the witch had good personalities.

Zi Tao had the arrogance of a young man, but he was straightforward and did not have a heart.

Zhang Jin had the demeanor of a big brother. He was modest and low-key, and he was good at taking care of other people’s feelings. He was not like the actors on the other side of the bend, who had eyes on the top of their heads.

Wang Haiou was from the bottom. Not only was he cautious, but he also had a hard-working nature. He was especially serious about his work.

There was no need to mention the miscellaneous fishes. They were all good fishes.

Lang Jin had a sweet mouth and was full of intelligence. His older brothers and sisters called him, which made the veteran actors like him very much.

Very good. It was a harmonious team.

Even though Young Master Wang was just a rookie, he was confident that he could control the overall situation.

The first movie of a rookie was always the most difficult. Obedience from his team did not mean trust.

Well, he had to show some skill as soon as possible.

With that thought in mind, Director Wang did not hold back when he was studying the script.

“Zi Tao, I watched the variety show that you acted in. I need you to act yourself in the most natural state in your daily life. For example, this line can carry a little of your accent and mouth fetish.”

Zi Tao was stunned and hesitated. “But… my accent sometimes sounds more on the funny side, right?”

The original Witch’s main character used suspense and action. The tone was used more deeply, and some of the scenes were extremely bloody.

This was very difficult for China to accept.

Moreover, even if they got accepted by the Chinese public, the upper limit of this style was still on the low side.

Marvel’s scenes were even grander. When had they ever especially sold blood plasma?

The first task of Wang Yan’s modified version was to control that degree well.

There was no blood at all, and it was distorted.

If it was too bloody and dark, it would instead create a sense of oppression.

Therefore, in terms of filming, he had to turn up the light in the night scenes and control the unnecessary bloody scenes in the action scenes.

The former actually had a part of the cost. The tone was dark and deep, and it was easy to fool. After all, the original version only had so much to invest in.

The latter seemed to weaken the selling point, but in fact, it had expanded the audience.

Moreover, the loss of style could actually be made up for by the character design.

Villain number one was essentially a naughty child. The character design in the original version was a little weak. He only cared about dressing up and acting cool, so it was a little lacking in meaning.

And Zi Tao’s accent and modified lines were a good complement to this character.

“The likability of your character design lies in the contrast and cuteness.”

Director Wang began to persuade him earnestly.

“A purely evil villain is no longer popular, and it will collide with Brother Zhang Jin’s character.”

“I need you to show a bit of ‘two-to-one’ in your natural state.”

“Just like Brother Yibo’s classic character, black skin.”

“In performance, you are serious, but in reality, the effect is that you are a naughty kid who doesn’t want to admit defeat.”

“Evil, cool, and cool were skin, loneliness, and resentment were flesh. Deep in his bones was an implicit struggle against a tragic fate. It was a kind of confusion that could not find a way forward and had no direction.”

“This character was a bad person, but he was a cute bad person with a contrast.”

“This was the transformation opportunity that I promised you from the very beginning.”

“If you played Wu Yihan well, not only would you not lose your fans, but you would also have to completely whitewash yourself and attract a large wave of new fans.”

“Therefore, your role is very important. I need you to put on the most serious attitude, and then relax, relax, relax!”

“Do you understand?”

Zi Tao was tricked into a daze. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it made sense.

He stood up and slammed the table. “Okay! Director, I understand. Uncle will do this!”

Na Wu’s big eyes were sparkling as she looked at the young master with great admiration.

Fu Yushi, on the other hand, covered her mouth and snickered.

She didn’t even need to open the script to read Wu Yihan’s lines. She could remember those acting scenes by relying on her memory

She had practiced her imaginary scenes with Wu Yihan quite a bit. She was very sure that the character was a young man who was in charge of acting cool. It wasn’t that complicated!

Then, she admired Wang Yan with all her might.

Where did you learn to understand the reading?

Was the teacher Lu Xun?

Lu Xun immediately raised his hand. “Reporting, it wasn’t me, it was Zhao Benshan who taught you!”

..

After dealing with the biggest celebrity, Zi Tao, the rest of the actors were stunned by director Wang’s professionalism. The following seminar went extremely smoothly.

After reading through the lines and confirming the general tone of the performance, the rest had to be freely performed on the set according to the actual situation.

Acting was very subjective.

There was both the director’s subjective, but also the actor’s subjective.

Whether it worked or not, the scene would see the real story.

..

After the simple seminar, everyone went out to eat together.

Tomorrow was the official start of shooting, today’s title was called the oath ceremony.

The young master had never been stingy in terms of money, and the specifications were quite high.

Dave did not come with them for the time being, but Li Yixu was also very experienced in this area, and everyone was very satisfied with the meal.

The main creator sat at a table, and no one talked about movies anymore. Instead, they talked about the current situation of the industry.

Filming a movie was actually the simplest relationship between colleagues. It was unknown when they would see each other again after a movie, and generally, there was not much willingness to communicate.

However, with Young Master Wang around, the atmosphere was actually maintained very well.

Those who had the ability would be respected at any time. It was not just a single person who was willing to have a deep conversation with the young master.

As they chatted, everyone talked about traffic.

Zi Tao was actually a rather bright and unpretentious person. He said bluntly, “Right now, I’m not willing to part with traffic, but I also really want to get rid of the label of traffic. It’s very uncomfortable!”

An Xiaofang glanced at Fu Yushi and smiled at Wang Yan. “Actually, if you want Shi Shi to take the traffic route, it’s a good move. In this era, how can there be room for a non-professional girl to slowly develop her reputation?”

Half of these words were meant for Zi Tao to hear.

It meant to hint: we will definitely take advantage of your traffic. You better know better. Don’t hold back your opinions and not mention them now. When the time comes, you can stir up trouble.

Zi Tao was not a particularly smart person, but as a top-notch person, he had seen too many similar things.

He immediately responded, “If there’s anything I can do to help, Director Wang, feel free to say it!”

However, he had sold his face to Wang Yan.

As both a writer and director, this was pure ability.

He was not even 19 years old, this was potential.

They had both money and people, this was insurance.

Wangting Entertainment, who had risen to fame, was his way out.

The industry looked at Wang Yan. The consensus was that she could attack, retreat, and defend. She was basically invincible and had a high chance of becoming a big shot.

Don’t think that celebrities were stupid just because they did not have any culture. Even if a celebrity had a brain like Watt, didn’t they still have a studio and a manager?

Zi Tao had given him a lot of face. Wang Yan was well aware, but it was not convenient for her to directly respond.

It was too early to talk about that now. An Xiaofang was just taking precautions.

Li Yixu took over the conversation in a timely manner, he retorted, “Actually, I think we should avoid over-marketing. The competition for the new generation of Xiao Hua is too intense. The princesses of the capital circle, the bent princess, the Tang people, Zha Zha Zha, Jia Xing, and Di Li, all of them are ganging up on each other. There’s no need to fight with them when their foundations are still shallow…”

Another half of it was said for outsiders to hear.

Wang Yan secretly praised them in his heart. He made a summary casually to cover up the foreshadowing in front of him.

“What you all said makes sense, but I think that traffic and word of mouth might not necessarily clash.”

“It’s true that artists need to rely on their works to speak for them. However, given the current era, it’s difficult for passers-by to correctly distinguish between strength and topic.”

“This is both a test and an opportunity.”

“If the window period to become king isn’t long, then we need to focus on our work and build up a solid foundation.”

Everyone chimed in and finally put an end to the pretentious debate.

Na Wu was dumbfounded when she heard that. She quietly asked Fu Yushi, “What exactly does Wang Yan mean?”

Fu Yushi explained concisely, “Creating lots of hype early before the movie is even released and then creating tons of hype again after the movie was released!”

Na Wu finally understood.

“What you mean is that we should take advantage of this opportunity to dig deep into Zi Tao? Why is it so complicated!”

Fu Yushi glanced at her and moved her lips, but in the end, she was speechless.

How can one be so stupid, yet get straight to the core of the problem with just one question? Big Bear, you’re really a weirdo!