Chapter 47: Unlucky Startup
On an auspicious day, the crew started filming.

Lai Shuiqing is from Hong Kong Island and attaches great importance to the opening ceremony.

There were loud drums and gongs, firecrackers, waving red flags, and huge crowds of people...

Actors who did not participate in the training camp also arrived.

Needless to say, the two leading actors from Taiwan also showed up, as did Yan Minqiu, who played Nun Miejue, and Xu Jingjiang, who played Xie Xun.

There is also the middle-aged "iron triangle" that has become popular in recent years, Wang Gang who plays Antu Temur, Zhang Tielin who plays Yang Xiao, and Zhang Guoli, who plays Hunyuan Pili Hand Ji Xiaolan in the film...

Everyone gathered together to take a group photo.

After a few days, Lin Jing, who had become very familiar with Zhang Yuan, showed a trace of uneasiness when she saw Zhang Tielin.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Yuan was very sensitive and noticed her abnormality.

Lin Jing leaned close to his ear and whispered, "I was in the same crew of 'The Legend of Lü Buwei' with Yang Xiao before, and he always took advantage of girls."

After listening to this, Zhang Yuan remembered a famous saying that the "Emperor Father" once said to his pregnant girlfriend.

"You girls can't touch anything. If you do, you'll get pregnant."

Thinking of this, he immediately switched positions with Lin Jing, moving him further away from the other.

Chen Zihan, Gao Yuanyuan and others who were standing by also heard the conversation between the two and Zhang Yuan's actions, and they developed a liking for him.

The social environment back then was not like that of later generations, and it was common for actresses in the entertainment industry to be harassed.

Not to mention the domestic situation, what about overseas? Weinstein, Epstein and others are just the tip of the iceberg.

There aren't many people who can be so gentlemanly.

"Come on, everyone, stand in your proper position and don't make a scene."

Zhang Yuan put on a business smile like everyone else. The flash lights flickered several times before everyone dispersed.

"Zhang Yuan, what's wrong with you?" Chen Zihan asked puzzledly when he saw that he was thinking about something after taking the photo.

"Have you noticed that our crew has split into two groups?" Zhang Yuan said with a worried look on his face.

Chen Zihan is carefree, Lin Jing and Gao Yuanyuan are relatively reserved, and only Xiao Taohong, the oldest and more experienced in the world, nodded slightly.

"Not only the actors, but also the staff from Hong Kong and mainland China were divided into two groups."

"Even in the group photo just now, they were separated on the left and right." Zhang Yuan shared his discovery.

He knew that Yang Tao and Lai Shuiqing did not get along. After all, the power of the crew was divided into two, so it was normal to have conflicts.

But what is more serious is actually the competition between circles!

The Chinese entertainment industry is divided into three major circles.

Beijing circle, Hong Kong circle, and Shanghai circle.

Among them, the Shanghai circle has a relatively mild attitude, and anything is fine as long as there is money to be made.

But the Hong Kong circle and the Beijing circle are different. One has longer qualifications and started earlier, while the other has wider connections and greater power. Neither of them will submit to the other.

One thinks the other is a country bumpkin, and the other thinks the other is a barbarian.

During the previous training session, Zhang Yuan wondered why no actors from the Hong Kong circle participated.

Later, he asked martial arts director Ma Yuchen privately, and the other party answered cryptically.

“Those guys all have private tutors.”

In fact, those people also trained, but the training environment was better and they did not train with Zhang Yuan and the others.

From this point, it can be seen that there is a serious split within the entire crew.

Sacrifice pig heads, burn yellow paper, burn incense and worship, and offer sacrifices to the gods of the four directions.

In order to ensure a smooth start and a good start for the film, the two directors specially prepared a few more cameras in case of emergency.

After everything was ready, the crew entered the shooting process.

And this first day was a big show.

[Six major sects besiege Guangmingding]

This is a very important scene in "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber", which can be said to be a turning point in the plot.

From then on, the protagonist Zhang Wuji officially became famous and had his own legend in the world.

Why did the crew shoot this scene on the first day?

Actually there is a story.

Almost half of the characters are present in this scene, which makes it easy for the actors to get to know each other and position themselves against each other.

On the other hand, we invited many media to the opening ceremony today, creating a grand scene for people to take photos and also for publicity.

At this moment, everyone has changed their clothes and put on makeup, waiting for the crew to start filming.

But after waiting for a long time, no one received any notification to enter the venue.

Zhang Yuan was bored, so he took out some melon seeds from his pocket and shared them with a few girls. The melon seed shells were already all over the floor.

Just when everyone was getting a little impatient waiting, several rough and noisy voices came from not far away.

"Are we going to shoot it or not? It's a flop!"

"You're so anxious! It's all because of you Hong Kong guys that this trouble happened!"

"What are you saying?"

"A monkey who can't even speak Mandarin."

"I'll suck your mother..."

The two groups of people, one speaking Beijing dialect and the other speaking Cantonese, were full of tension and looked like they were about to explode.

"What's going on?" Zhang Yuan squeezed through the crowd and walked to the front. At this moment, Yang Tao and Lai Shuiqing appeared and stopped their men, obviously wanting to calm the conflict.

"Everyone, take a break first. It's a small accident that will be solved in a while." A stage manager shouted with a loud speaker, and all the actors went to find a place to rest with confusion.

Zhang Yuan did not follow the crowd, but came to Yang Tao.

"Director Yang, what happened?"

Yang Tao's face was as gloomy as water. When he saw that it was Zhang Yuan coming, he forced out a miserable smile.

"Hey, don't mention it."

Yang Tao treated him as his own and poured out everything he knew.

Although the scene filmed today is "Six major sects besiege Guangmingding", the content is a literary drama of confrontation between two parties rather than a fighting scene.

The martial arts scenes need special effects, but the effect is not good when watched live.

Literary plays have a large cast, with dozens of actors and hundreds of extras standing everywhere. It is majestic and grand, and it is also nice for the media to take pictures.

And literary drama is Yang Tao's job.

But when it was time to start filming, his assistant director came running over in a hurry, sweating profusely, as anxious as if he had bought an unfinished building.

"Director Yang, something bad has happened. There's a problem with the group performance!"

This big play requires more than 300 extras, but the crew couldn’t find any!

Yang Tao reacted immediately. For something like this to happen on such an important day as the start of filming, it could not be an accident. Someone must be behind it.

His first reaction was Lai Shuiqing, who had a grudge against him, so he went up to question him angrily.

But if you say that Lai Shuiqing did this, that’s not really the case.

He is a serious director and would never do anything that would harm others or himself. He would not benefit if any problems occurred in the crew.

But it’s not like you can say this matter has nothing to do with him, but it actually does.

Because Lai Shuiqing offended someone.

To be precise, a woman.

Qiongyao!

What's going on?
In fact, we can see clues from the actors of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber".

Su Youpeng and Zhang Tielin are the two protagonists of the popular Qiong Yao drama "My Fair Princess" in recent years!

The release date of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" also clashes with that of "My Fair Princess 3".

After careful consideration, Su Youpeng chose The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.

First, he wanted to change his image and broaden his acting range.

Another thing is that Qiong Yao gave too little!
2000 yuan per episode, this was the price Su Youpeng received for filming "My Fair Princess".

Here, one episode costs 7, which is 35 times less.

Qiong Yao and Zhang Da Huzi are known as the two most stingy celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Both of them rely on their fame and ability to promote others, so their pay is extremely low.

For the same reason, Zhang Tielin also turned down "Return of the Condor Heroes 3" and joined the crew of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber".

Lin Xinru and Zhao Wei are so cunning. When they saw the two of them running away, they took other dramas and did not go to "Return of the Condor Heroes 3".

This is not the end. Originally, Lai Shuiqing strongly recommended "Princess Qing'er" Wang Yan to play the role of Zhou Zhiruo, but she did not agree.

In addition, Fan Bingbing also fell out with the old lady over resources and income, and finally went to court. The entire "Return of the Pearl 3" crew underwent a major reshuffle, leaving only Erkang and Qing'er from the original cast.

As we all know, the ratings are not as good as before.

In the old lady's eyes, this was tantamount to digging up her own ancestral graves!
The crew of "Return of the Condor Heroes" was completely emptied, which made the old lady very angry.

So the old lady and the capital behind her gave them a "big gift" on the day the crew started filming.

But I greeted the extras and group leaders in the capital one by one and told them that they would not be going to "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" today and they would pay my salary.

I just want to give you a chance to eat a fly on the day of the launch so you can vent your anger.

This method is considered mild in the entertainment industry. Compared with the Hong Kong Island’s direct use of knives and guns and beating people who didn’t obey, it is nothing.

"I see." After listening to this, Zhang Yuan showed the same conflicted expression as Yang Tao.

No wonder the two factions were blaming each other just now.

The play was Yang Tao's, but the disaster was caused by Lai Shuiqing.

But in the end, it is the crew who has to pay the bill.

"Director Yang, there's a commotion outside again!"

While they were talking, the assistant director ran in and the two parties started arguing again outside.

"If this continues, I'll be frustrated every time I start the machine, and I'll be discouraged."

"Besides, any discord among the crew will be photographed by the media, which is a big taboo." Yang Tao scratched his head desperately with both hands, feeling extremely annoyed.

"Is there no other way?" Zhang Yuan crossed his arms, thinking.

"I've asked everyone, but no one from the Imperial City is coming. If they are transferred from other places, it will take at least until tomorrow."

"It's summer vacation again, and most of the students from the film and television school are not here."

There were cigarette butts all over the floor under Yang Tao's feet, and he was extremely worried.

"How about..." At this time, Zhang Yuan tentatively said: "Let me think of a solution?"

　Thanks to my book friend Mai Zhiling for the reward, I wish you a great life.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)