A great director who grew up happily

Chapter 227: Double Red Envelopes Today

Under Chen Jinnian's coordination, the filming progress of the entire crew was pushed forward at a very fast pace. All everyone had to do every day was to open their eyes - work, and close their eyes - sleep.

As for complaints about overtime and no holidays, they did not appear as long as the salary was increased. Workers have no problem with money. As long as the money is in place, the set is my home.

What's more, the busiest person in the entire crew is director Chen Jinnian himself. Every night he has to roughly check and edit the materials shot that day before going to bed. He is thankful to be able to squeeze out five hours of sleep.

He relied on coffee to survive on the set every day, and even his weight dropped rapidly. In just two weeks, he lost seven or eight kilograms. If it weren't for his original weight, this kind of weight loss would have affected the final effect of the film.

Fortunately, we finally made it through. On the afternoon of March 3, a full week ahead of schedule, the entire crew successfully finished filming.

The moment the news of the wrap-up came out, there was no cheering. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and found a place to rest nearby. They had only one thought in their minds: "This damn movie is finally done."

Including Yu Qian, who has always been conscientious. After filming the last scene, he sat down on the ground, took out a cigarette from his pocket and started smoking.

"Jinnian, filming your drama makes me feel like I was studying at the Beijing Film Academy."

Chen Jinnian sipped half a cup of coffee, frowning as the sour taste exploded on his taste buds. He gathered himself together and then said, "Uncle Yu, why do you say that?"

"Why do you say that?" Yu Qian exhaled a long puff of cigarette and said angrily, "You're all fucking tired like grandsons."

Yu Qian never thought that his first starring movie would be completed in just 25 days. Before filming began, Chen Jinnian told him that the shooting progress would be faster and the conditions would be a bit difficult. He didn't take it seriously at the time, thinking that it would be difficult for a bunch of little kids to make a living.

He has discovered now that it was really hard. He didn't even have time to smoke. On the set, he would always be asked, "Teacher Yu, let's have another one", "Uncle Yu, do it again", "Uncle, your acting was good, keep one more".

If Chen Jinnian continues to shoot at this intensity for another month, he will be forced to quit smoking.

Guo Qilin came over from behind and thanked Chen Jinnian. During this period, he was the worst among the group of actors.

Wang Yidi performed well after adapting to the role, and Deng Xiaoqi also performed well after being scolded several times. Only he was the worst one. Chen Jinnian had to teach him step by step in almost all the scenes, and he broke down several times during the filming. If it were any other director, he would have been kicked out of the crew long ago.

Chen Jinnian sat on the chair and looked up at Guo Qilin. "No need to thank me. You are talented. If it were a normal two or three months of shooting, it would not be difficult for you to get this role. The reason why you are struggling to perform during this period is mainly because my shooting intensity is too high."

After explaining, he asked the other party to sit down and had a good chat with him about the problem.

"There is no problem with your lines. It may be due to the crosstalk training you received since childhood. Your pronunciation and articulation are very standard." Chen Jinnian affirmed Guo Qilin's ability in delivering lines.

There is no way to criticize this aspect. Lao Guo and Yu Qian must have taught him with all their heart and trained him seriously.

"Secondly, you have a wealth of life experience. Most people don't go through what you've experienced. Perhaps you feel resentful about some of it, which is human nature. But when it comes to acting, it's all invaluable."

Chen Jinnian was referring to Guo Qilin's childhood experience and the fact that he was forced to drop out of school, especially the latter, which has always bothered him. He had good grades and if he had a choice, he would definitely want to continue studying. Going to school would not interfere with his crosstalk performance. Luan Yunping graduated from Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts and did not interfere with his stage performances.

After listening to this, Guo Qilin felt upset and lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking.

Chen Jinnian patted his shoulder, stood up and said, "The only thing you lack now is a good teacher. Find someone to help you adjust. It will be much easier for you to act in the future."

After getting up, I suddenly thought of something, "Are you going to participate in the Happy Comedian?"

"Yes, I'll go and assist Brother Yue." Guo Qilin agreed.

"It seems like you're not the one who's going to be promoted in the next few years. You should focus on your studies and stop agreeing to those random variety shows. Learn what you need to learn first."

"But I should go find those teachers."

"Zhang Songwen and Huang Haibo, both of them have acting training classes in Beijing. They are much better than ordinary acting teachers. But if you want to find the latter, it's best to keep a low profile. You know about their affairs. The water in the Beijing circle is too dirty. Don't get involved." After Chen Jinnian reminded him, he hurried to get busy.

Chen Jinnian can choose not to deal with these circles, but Guo Qilin cannot. Because of his father's existence, he will naturally be entangled with them, so the specific choice depends on the other party's considerations.

From the perspective of acting alone, the latter is better. Winning the Best Actor awards at Feitian, Golden Eagle, and Magnolia in an era when awards are not inflated is very telling.

Guo Qilin was still considering it carefully, while Chen Jinnian returned to work after a short break.

There are three important things after the crew finishes filming, namely red envelopes, wrap-up banquet and invoices.

As they walked out of the set, Tong Wenjie and his men came over, along with Fang Yuan, who was driving his wife.

"Aunt Tong, the red envelopes are ready."

"It's all in the bag. As you requested, each red envelope contains 200 yuan," Tong Wenjie said, patting her bulging handbag. Inside were not only red envelopes but also some cash for the bill. Then she asked, "Are you going to give it all out? This is nearly 30,000 yuan."

"Well, just give it out. One for everyone working on the crew today, including the actors." Chen Jinnian didn't take these small amounts of money seriously. The time he saved on work was much more valuable than these.

Before he could say a few words, his cell phone rang. He took it out and saw that it was his father calling.

"Son, are you busy with work?"

"We just finished filming and are arranging the distribution of red envelopes."

When Chen Ming heard that his son was free, his tone changed from calm to excited. "That's great. Come over quickly. Your mother is in the hospital and is about to give birth."

"What? My mother is in the hospital! Why didn't you come to tell me?" Chen Jinnian was shocked. He had been so busy recently that he didn't think about this matter at all, nor did he call home.

Fang Yuan, who was standing nearby, heard Chen Jinnian so excited and remembered the incident. He quickly said, "Jinnian, change your clothes quickly. I'll take you back."

"Oh, okay, thank you Uncle Fang."

He turned around and ran back to the crew to change clothes. Seeing the director's panic, everyone thought something had happened, so they asked him and later learned the good news.

"Today, we're giving out double the red envelopes. Let's have a delicious wrap-up banquet. Let's all be happy."

Amidst cheers, Chen Jinnian left the crew.

When Wang Yidi came out of the dressing room, she saw everyone queuing up happily to receive red envelopes, but she could not see Chen Jinnian. She quickly walked into the crowd and found Wang Qing who was helping her queue up to receive the money.

"Mom, where's Jinnian?"

Wang Qing said cheerfully, "He's going to be a big brother and is on his way to Beijing."

"What? Why are you still queuing here? Let's go." Wang Yidi pulled his mother's sleeve and was about to leave.

Wang Qing's eyes were still fixed on Tong Wenjie, who was distributing money in front of her. She said in a low voice, somewhat reluctantly, "I haven't received the red envelope yet."

"Oh. You don't need that, why don't you leave quickly."