A few days later, in the mountain city, it was late autumn.

At the gate of Jiangbei International Airport, the "Crazy Stone" team is preparing for the crew's first scene.

A good start is very important for any crew.

So when we discussed it a few days ago, everyone was very hesitant.

Zhang Yuan took the initiative to take on this responsibility.

There's nothing he can do about it. He's the investor after all. Even if the film isn't good, Ning Hao won't scold him.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw him taking the lead.

At this time, Zhang Yuan was wearing a pure black leather jacket with a pure white shirt with a large collar underneath.

The lower body is a pair of slim trousers and a pair of Italian leather shoes of the same color.

In addition, there are carefully groomed short hair, a platinum ring on the ring finger of her right hand, black earrings on her left ear, and black sunglasses on the bridge of her nose.

All of them highlight the unique fashion attributes of this character.

After getting my ears pierced for "Initial D" last time, it made it a lot easier to put on earrings this time.

The character of the international thief Mike usually disguises himself as a fashion designer, and this outfit conveys this message to the outside world in a very concise and clear way.

Apart from the action scenes, the most difficult part of this character is actually his temperament.

That kind of professional and self-proclaimed arrogance, coupled with the fashionable attributes required for disguise.

Moreover, the film "Crazy Stone" is positioned as a black humor, and the characters all have comedic effects.

But it is not the kind of deliberately exaggerated comedy that Stephen Chow does, but rather a structural joke brought about by the advancement of the story and the logical conflicts of the characters.

Especially the character of Mike, to be funny with a deadpan attitude, he has to be very serious, with normal expressions and movements, but he still makes people laugh.

Zhang Yuan doesn't really want to play comedy roles, especially those exaggerated comedy roles.

Just think about Sha Yi’s acting career after starring in “Wulin Waijiao”. He has basically been labeled as a comedian.

Zhang Yuan is a little averse to this label because it would affect his ability to take on serious dramas.

Mike's cold-faced character is the limit of what he can accept.

call!
He pinched his index finger and thumb, took off the sunglasses from his nose, and then waved it, hailing a taxi with an exceptionally chic gesture.

"stop!"

Ning Hao smiled and clapped his hands: "Not bad, not bad, handsome!"

Ning Hao is different from many directors. He doesn’t shout “ACTION!” or “Cut!”

They all shouted "start" and "stop".

"Those are foreign words. Hong Kong people like to use those words. We Chinese people can just shout whatever makes us comfortable." This was the answer Ning Hao gave after being asked.

Zhang Yuan thought it was good and quite down-to-earth.

"You've handled this arrogant state very well. I was worried that you were not sure before." Ning Hao said, holding his shoulder.

Because he felt that Zhang Yuan did have a good appearance, but his usual easy-going personality was in stark contrast to this role.

But what he didn't know was that this character actually has many similarities with Nakazato Takego, played by Zhang Yuan in "Initial D".

He has a cool expression, dresses fashionably, calls himself a professional, and looks down on amateur racers (little thieves).

Their personalities are about 60% similar, so he can handle it easily.

"Xiao Bo, Brother Hua, Xiao Jun, the three of you should get ready to take over the role." Ning Hao turned around and called out to the group of three standing aside.

"Zhang Yuan has made a good start, you guys can't let him down."

"Got it!" the three answered in unison.

In addition to Liu Hua and Huang Bo, another member of the three-person theft gang is called Xiaojun in the film, and the actor himself is called Yue Xiaojun.

Ning Hao has always been lazy when it comes to naming, and never uses literary or artistic language.

This Xiaojun is also responsible for proofreading the script and adjusting some details. Just imagine how much manpower this crew saves.

"Guess who I am? I'll give you three chances!"

In front of the camera, Huang Bo covered Zhang Yuan's eyes from behind and spoke the lines in a thick Qingdao accent.

This was also what Ning Hao requested, that each character has his or her own accent and does not have to speak Mandarin.

This makes the story seem more real.

"I think you got the wrong person."

"No, there are still two left."

At the same time, Dao Ge and Xiao Jun threw the metal code briefcase that Zhang Yuan had placed on the ground next to him into the car and drove away.

After Zhang Yuan repeatedly warned Huang Bo and Huang Bo loosened his hand, Zhang Yuan opened his eyes and looked around, as if looking for the person who had just harassed him.

But when he turned around, bent down, and was about to pick up his box, he found that it had disappeared.

Zhang Yuan kept bending over for a second or two before he straightened up and looked around. In addition to confusion, his eyes also contained a hint of anger.

As if to say.

The local colleagues are so rude!
Zhang Yuan stood still, looked towards the camera, and muttered his lines.

"I'll beat your lungs out!"

The original actor Lian Jin is from Hong Kong, so the lines were designed for him.

When Zhang Yuan came, Ning Hao didn't need to modify the lines, script or character settings.

Because there are many people who go to sea in the Guangdong, Guangxi and southern Fujian areas, they fit the character of an international thief.

He just needs to follow the original setting.

"Stop... Good, very good." Ning Hao said with a smile: "Especially the pause when taking the box just now, it was really great."

"Hehehe, it's really interesting. With this pause, the silliness comes out all at once." Huang Bo grinned and said, "You really don't want to consider acting in comedy. I think you have a lot of talent."

This kind of pause actually has a similar technique in crosstalk.

Take Guo and Yu for example. Brother Qian often pauses when replying, which not only controls the rhythm but also leaves time for the audience to react.

He has also played up his crosstalk attributes, so he can still grasp this feeling.

"A great first show, everyone applaud!"

Bang bang bang bang... All the crew members were very excited and felt that it was a good start.

Since we've got off to a good start, everything should go very smoothly afterwards...How is that possible?

It was also the first time that Zhang Yuan knew that an inexperienced crew would encounter so many troubles.

"How did you become a producer?"

“Why did you make this mistake?”

Ning Hao kept getting angry on the set.

First, the location was wrong.

The main scene of the gem exhibition in the film was in Longxing Temple, but the producer moved the chase scene around the exhibition hall to Luohan Temple, and even paid a deposit.

The two temples are far apart, and it takes dozens of minutes to drive there.

"I asked you to bake the wall, did you do it?"

"Fuck!"

A while later, the lighting technician forgot to turn on the light to dry the newly painted wall, and the wall surface was peeling. Ning Hao scolded the lighting technician again.

Zhang Yuan and the other actors could only watch helplessly as the director lost his temper.

Ning Hao usually has a good temper and is always cheerful.

But once he arrived on the set, he looked so scary.

There is no way. From morning to night, there are eight hundred things to do and consider every day. I am so busy that I have no time to eat or sleep.

He is too soft-tempered and cannot control the crew. It is all because of his work that he is forced to do this.

This further strengthened Zhang Yuan's principle of not being a director.

He won't bear this kind of trouble!

When others saw him swearing, they lowered their heads or hid aside in embarrassment, and no one dared to persuade him.

At this time, Zhang Yuan was the only one who could come out and smooth things over.

And because there are so many things to do on the crew, Zhang Yuan would keep an eye on it all day even if he had no scenes to shoot, so that he could help deal with any troublesome matters.

There is no other way. After all, I have invested money and I have to take care of it.

It was another day on the set, the filming was going well, and Ning Hao was praising the actors.
But the next moment he turned around and got angry again.

The director of the handicraft factory in the film is named Xie Qianli, and the actor who plays him is not a professional actor, but an extra.

But this old man was very serious and portrayed the image of a down-and-out factory manager extremely perfectly.

Later, Zhang Yuan found out that this guy was the deputy director of a local light bulb factory.

After the factory manager went bankrupt, he had no choice but to act as an extra to make money in order to make a living.

He is not acting at all, this role is actually his real life.

He must have felt uncomfortable when he was performing, but it is impossible for a middle-aged man to feel uncomfortable.

"Have you any brains left?"

But now, the problem lies with the factory director.

Ning Hao pointed at the makeup artist beside him and cursed.

The factory manager was holding a pair of glasses in his hand, looking very embarrassed.

His character's makeup was to wear glasses, but during the entire scene, which lasted two hours, no one noticed that he had his glasses in his pocket the whole time.

Or the factory director himself asked Ning Hao whether he should wear glasses?
Only then did Haozi discover it.

This results in the situation where the previous and subsequent shots are not connected, with the character wearing glasses for a while and then taking them off when he turns his head.

Ning Hao was so angry that he pulled over the short woman who was in charge of makeup and started scolding her.

"It's your job to put on makeup. You were there when the makeup was done. Why didn't you put glasses on him when you were putting on makeup just now?"

Ning Hao glared and pointed at the other party viciously.

The makeup director named Zuo Shi quietly moved behind Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan: …

Are you using me as a shield?

Whenever Ning Hao loses his temper these days, he would come out to persuade him.

So the female makeup artist instinctively used him as a shield.

So, the situation appeared that Zhang Yuan was caught in the middle, with Ning Hao and the makeup artist circling around him and cursing at him.

"Stop... stop!" Zhang Yuan wiped his face. If he continued to curse, he would be sprayed all over his face.

"If you don't wear it, then you don't wear it."

"If you don't wear it, all the work you did just now will be in vain!" Ning Hao insisted.

"If you just shoot a shot of him taking his glasses out of his pocket and putting them on, you can take over the role."

Ning Hao lowered his head and thought about it.

It seems so.

It's better than having all the previous shots wasted.

"Think it over carefully next time and don't do it again!"

The makeup artist nodded vigorously behind Zhang Yuan.

[Received thanks from Zuo Shi, makeup skills +1! ]

Now the other crew members also started to follow suit.

Since that day, whenever Ning Hao cursed in the street, no matter who he cursed, that person would hide behind him.

Ning Hao scolded the cameraman a few times. This 1.9-meter-tall guy was much wider than Zhang Yuan, so he just hid behind him.

We ended up playing "Eagle Catches Chicken" on the set every day.

There are both disadvantages and advantages to doing this.

When things got bad, whoever got scolded would drag Zhang Yuan along with them.

As a result, he was scolded more than ten times a day, which he had never been scolded so many times before on Stephen Chow's set.

The good thing is that everyone in the crew admires him now.

In front of others and behind their backs, people older than him also call him "Brother Yuan".

He couldn't just let people shout at him in vain.

I asked my assistant to buy thirty boxes of mineral water for use on the set.

Look at these old men staying up late every day, smoking non-stop.

This was the most smoke-intensive crew he had seen since the set of "Conquest".

He also summed up a pattern: the poorer and more rushed the crew is, the more they smoke, because they rely on nicotine to relieve fatigue.

So he asked Zhao Xunxun to buy 100 cartons of local red-shell Chaotianmen cigarettes from the regular counter of the shopping mall.

This thing is not expensive, five dollars a pack, one hundred pieces are only five thousand, and after the discount it is more than four thousand.

Just throw it in the crew's car, whoever wants it can take it.

While relying on these cigarettes to gain a lot of attributes, she also gained the respect of the men in the crew.

At school, as long as you are willing to pass out cigarettes, you will have a bunch of "sons" around you. The same goes for the crew. Men are that simple.

"We're much happier with you here." While eating, Huang Bo smiled and poured him a cup of tea.

"I've probably spent tens of thousands just on cigarettes, water and meals these days."

"As long as the film can be shot well, it's not a big deal."

“Tsk tsk tsk, look, it’s different when you’re a boss.” Brother Bo exclaimed.

Then he remembered that his salary was only 10,000 yuan, but the money they subsidized the crew exceeded his salary, and he felt very sad.

Is it really such a disadvantage to be ugly?

Zhang Yuan noticed the loneliness in his eyes and took the opportunity to speak.

"If you want to take more jobs and make more money, I can help you."

"I have my own agency. If you are interested, we can talk."

After hearing this, Huang Bo said that he had no ideas at all, which is impossible.

After all, he has seen Zhang Yuan's abilities and financial resources these days.

Moreover, he also heard from his good friend Gao Hu that Zhang Yuan is now so ruthless that even the bearded man can't do anything to him.

In addition, the fact that he can invest in movies together with Brother Hua is enough to prove his connections in the film and television industry.

Huang Bo didn't say anything, but just thought carefully.

Zhang Yuan knew that this person was a very smart person and also very loyal.

You have to give him some time to think about it, and you have to offer him some benefits to "seduce" him.

You have to cast a long line to catch the big fish.

After dinner, everyone in the crew came to a crossroads.

The scene we are going to shoot today is an important part of the second half of the entire film.

The BMW that Zhang Yuan found parked on the side of the road.

Not far away, there was a black Santana 2000 parked.

"After we finish sprinkling the water, you can start over here."

A stuntman wearing a helmet and leather jacket is carefully following Ning Hao's instructions.

The content of this scene is that Dao Ge rides a bicycle to snatch the backpack of the male protagonist Bao Shihong, but accidentally hits the owner of a Santana who is opening the car door, and finally crashes into a BMW car on the side of the road because the road is slippery due to rain.

The BMW just happened to fall on the manhole cover that blocked Huang Bo.

This series of interlocking storylines is the fundamental reason why "Crazy Stone" can stand out as a low-cost small production.

script!

Although the script model is clearly inspired by Guy Ritchie's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", Ning Hao also added a lot of his own ideas, including non-linear narrative camera techniques similar to Nolan's "Memento".

This movie feels like listening to a storytelling in many parts of the movie.

As he talks, he will read the book to you and explain the ins and outs of a plot.

Although this crew is poor, they still have to use stand-ins in some places.

For example, in this motorcycle wrestling scene, if you let Liu Hua, who plays Dao Ge, do it alone, what if he gets hurt?

Fortunately, when Brother Hua learned that Zhang Yuan was so dedicated to this film, he was very moved and invited a stunt director named Luo Lixian from Hong Kong to help.

This is a famous director known as the "King of Cars in Hong Kong".

When it comes to car-racing scenes, he is the best director in Hong Kong, and even in China.

He performed all the car racing scenes in Chariots of Fire and Thunderbolt.

If it weren't for Brother Hua's face, the small crew of "Crazy Stone" would not have been able to hire him at all.

This person is very busy. After working here for a few days, he has to rush to Shanghai to film.

It was the top Hollywood blockbuster "Mission Impossible 3"!
He was also asked to be the action director for the Chinese part of the film.

What’s more, the most amazing thing about Luo Lixian is that he has experienced the early and immature stage of the Hong Kong film industry and is not the kind of “big shot” who can only make big productions.

He knew very well that if he could achieve great things with little money, it would suit the economic situation of the crew.

So although this crew is small and shabby, it is small but exquisite and full of experts.

"Come on, get ready... go!" Ning Hao gave the order, and the motorcycle stuntman stepped on the accelerator and rushed forward.

"Stop, stop, what are you doing!!!"

But when he had only driven a few meters away, a rough voice came straight towards the director team.

The sound was so loud that it echoed several times at the intersection before dissipating.

"What are you doing? We are filming. If you have something to say, go talk over there." The producer immediately stood up to stop him.

The person who came was not a crew member, but the owner of the black Santana.

It is actually quite unethical of Ning Hao to save money.

He and the car owner agreed to "kill with the door open" and would remove the car glass and replace it with props.

After the photo shoot, I returned it to the owner intact.

But the car owner took a look and realized something was wrong.

In fact, what Ning Hao wanted to shoot was not breaking the glass, but knocking off the entire car door.

According to Luo Lixian's design, the props guy removed the hinges of the car door and then simply supported it with a wooden pole. When the time comes, the car door will fall off with a light touch.

Combined with the camera angle, it can create the effect of a motorcycle knocking off a car door.

Ning Hao thought that there was not much difference between broken glass and broken car door.

That's because the car is not his!

How could the car owner not be anxious?
A car is a man’s second wife.

Santana sounds cheap, but back in 05, owning a private car was considered a wealthy person.

"no!"

"Why are you like this?"

"No, it's agreed."

After a stalemate between the car owner and the crew, he directly snatched the car keys, got into the car and planned to drive away.

Ning Hao suddenly became anxious.

I have already shot several shots, and now that the car has been driven away, the previous shots will be wasted.

This is not as simple as forgetting to bring your glasses and just replacing the lenses.

A group of people stopped by the car.

But the car owner didn't care about all that and drove away as soon as he stepped on the accelerator.

And then... boom!

After a slight sound.

Everyone started shouting.

"Stop now."

"I hit someone!"

"You're crazy, someone give me gas!"

Ning Hao was also anxious, and looked at the ground in front of the car with everyone else.

I saw the body of an adult male lying on the wet ground with his arms and legs spread out, motionless and lifeless.

It’s Zhang Yuan!

Everyone in the crew: !!! (End of this chapter)