Jiang Dao and Chu Yinlong didn’t see each other after the photo shoot, adjusting their mentality at home waiting for “Dawn City” to officially start filming on March 16.
Since the background of the story is in the apocalyptic wasteland, most filming will be carried out in a green screen studio. Of the “external scenes”, close-ups will be filmed as is, while long-range scenes will be simulated. Therefore, most outdoor scenes will be completed in the green screen studio, while keeping other details as realistic as possible.
At the same time, in order not to impact actors’ control over emotional scenes, Director Mu planned to film based on the storyline itself. Therefore, since scenes may span the entire shooting cycle, they burn funds daily to keep the venue as is.
“So, I hope that everyone will be in the best state while filming. It’s best not to leave the group during the process, so we’ll be able to change and play out scenes at any time. It will be hard work, fast-paced, and demanding, so be prepared for a protracted battle.”
On the day of the opening ceremony, the first scene they filmed, according to the story timeline, was Little Gray Wolf watching the leader of the city guard walking away.
Although this scene will eventually be edited into the form of memory clips, interspersed in the main plot, and is very short, there are four cameras filming. Two of them are close-ups, so Jiang Dao’s facial expression is critical, and the requirements are very high.
Director Mu patted Jiang Dao’s shoulder. “Don’t be nervous, I don’t believe in those myths about the first scene needing to be perfect. You can relax. Just do it a few more times until you can match Little Gray Wolf’s state.”
Jiang Dao nodded and followed Qi Peng into the shooting venue.
He said that he didn’t care about the first shot, but before the shooting started, Director Mu still put all the actors in place, and adjusted the set and lighting before starting to avoid any surprises.
After everything was ready, Director Mu motioned to the clapper board.
Little Gray Wolf, dressed in an unremarkable slave costume, knelt in the corner and scrubbed the floor.
The leader of the city guards chatted with people and slowly walked towards the other end of the corridor.
When the footsteps were farther away, Little Gray Wolf stood up slightly, turned his face halfway, and peeked at the leader’s back. His eyes were full of suppressed admiration and longing…
It was a very simple scene, and the shooting process took less than a minute.
The scene was quiet, until the leader of the guard, played by Qi Peng, disappeared at the end of the corridor.
No one made a sound.
In the director’s seat –
Mu Zhixing carefully looked at the close-up displayed on the monitor, checked the scene in all four cameras, and finally a smile slowly curled up the corner of his mouth. “Yes, it’s done.”
There was a sudden applause from the field.
“Yes, the first scene is over!”
“Great, it’s a good start!”
“It’s good, keep working hard everyone!”
The atmosphere of the crew was full of joy.
Jiang Dao looked at Chu Yinlong subconsciously, and saw that the other party was looking at him with a smile, and gave him a thumbs up.
His heart was fiery, Jiang Dao suddenly did not dare to maintain eye contact, and abruptly looked away.
The role of Little Gray Wolf is different from Jess – he has too much inner drama. After finally finding the right state, he can’t break away so quickly. The reason why he can grasp the state of Little Gray Wolf so quickly at this time is because he and Chu Yinlong hadn’t seen each other for half a month, so he could magnify the desire and hope in his heart and put it into acting.
If he goes and talks to Chu Yinlong now, Jiang Dao is afraid it’ll be hard for him to express this feeling of longing but not being able to express one’s feelings.
Endure it. After this scene is filmed, he will go to Chu Yinlong again.
Resisting the restlessness in his heart, the corners of Jiang Dao’s mouth curved, and he ignored Chu Yinlong very unsympathetically.
Not far away, Chu Yinlong was a little depressed.
Although he guessed that Jiang Dao was probably snubbing him for the sake of acting, but… this feeling is really too uncomfortable. He can’t wait to film the later part where they are partners in life and death, and their hearts are connected. If these emotionally alienated scenes continue to be filmed… it won’t be good for his heart.
After the first shot passed, they started with the next part.
Next, the actors and staff were separated into groups, and each went to other parts to shoot independent scenes. Chu Yinlong also temporarily went to cooperate with Group B to shoot some close-ups of hands, feet, and other scenes that had little impact on the plot.
As for the Group A where Jiang Dao is located, the first day was filled with the scenes of the city guards in Little Gray Wolf’s memories.
After the first shot, Jiang Dao gradually began to understand Chu Yinlong’s comment about Director Mu having high requirements.
If the step is too big, do it again; if the angle of the arm swing is not beautiful, do it again; if the frequency of blinking is a little slow, do it again… And if all these details are in place, but the emotions are off, do it again…
But, except for Jiang Dao, who was working with Director Mu for the first time, the other cast members seemed to be used to this rhythm of polishing a scene over and over again. The props and lighting teams were always consciously starting to rearrange things, ready to redo it at any time.
By the time Group A finished filming, it was already past ten o’clock in the evening.
Jiang Dao simply tidied up and was about to return to the hotel when he was dragged over by Director Mu.
Mu Zhixing lowered his voice and instructed him: “We’re filming the scene where you and Xiao Chu first meet tomorrow. Make sure to adjust your emotions when you meet him tonight, so that you won’t be full of dissatisfied desire when you need to treat him as a stranger when filming…”
Jiang Dao never expected to receive such a suggestion, and was immediately stunned.
Director Mu added: “But you are not allowed to spend the night. If you two arrive on set with faces full of spring tomorrow, I will throw you two in the pool to cool down.”
Jiang Dao: …
When he came out of the studio, the sky was full of stars.
Filming for Group B ended earlier, and the lights were already turned off in the venue.
Jiang Dao followed his assistant into the car and returned to the hotel. As soon as he swiped his card to open the door, he was dragged into the room, and pressed against the door panel for a deep, eager and passionate kiss.
He asked his assistant to give Chu Yinlong a room card earlier, just to make it easier for Chu Yinlong to come over at any time.
Jiang Dao was not surprised by the “sudden attack”. After all, they hadn’t seen each other for two weeks, and he also wanted to get close to Chu Yinlong. Chu Yinlong should be in a similar mood.
After the kiss ended, Jiang Dao gasped for breath: “Your ambush… If I didn’t recognize you quickly, I’d have thrown you to the ground…”
Chu Yinlong hugged him tightly and said with a deep laugh, “You can’t beat me now.”
Jiang Dao snorted, but he couldn’t argue against the present day truth.
Not wanting to waste time on unimportant things, Jiang Dao directly stretched out his hand and started to untie Chu Yinlong’s belt, Chu Yinlong also cooperated very well, and started to unbutton Jiang Dao…
Two adult men getting along is simple and straightforward.
After finishing the business, the two took a shower together.
Unexpectedly, just as Chu Yinlong was drying Jiang Dao’s hair, Jiang Dao issued an expulsion order: “It’s getting late, you should go back.”
The mood in Chu Yinlong’s eyes suddenly dimmed.
After a moment of silence, he put down the hair dryer, lowered his head to hold Jiang Dao’s face, and whispered, “Xiao Dao, we are lovers, not sex friends. We haven’t seen each other for two weeks, but all you want is to go to bed?”
Jiang Dao raised his face, his eyes full of confusion. “Then… what else can we do?”
They are on the set now, and it’s already late. They can’t watch a movie, share a meal, or something… After all, they have to film tomorrow, so it’s not good to sleep too late.
Looking at Jiang Dao’s expression, Chu Yinlong’s heart sank.
He barely controlled his expression, raised his hand and gently rubbed Jiang Dao’s soft hair.
Seeing that Chu Yinlong was in a bad mood, Jiang Dao immediately added: “It was Director Mu who reminded me not to let you spend the night with you. Tomorrow we are going to act as strangers, so we must adjust our mood in advance. And it’s almost twelve o’clock now – It’s time for you to go back to rest.”
The corners of Chu Yinlong’s mouth twitched. “You’re right.”
After waiting for a while, seeing that Jiang Dao didn’t speak anymore, he nodded: “Then I’ll go back.”
Then he turned and was about to leave.
This time, Jiang Dao sensed Chu Yinlong’s loss and reached out and grabbed Chu Yinlong’s sleeve.
“I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?” he asked in a low voice. “Can you tell me what it is? It’s… it’s my first time in love, and I don’t know what to do.”
Although he had read romance novels, he knew that people in this world have different expectations for love than those outside the book, but in the end, it’s just a story. It doesn’t teach him what to do after falling in love with someone in this world. He could only blindly grope and copy the pursuit of physical pleasure based on those “couples” in the world outside the book.
But based on the results, this approach didn’t seem right.
Was tricky finding a good split midway through, so this one is a bit shorter and the next half is longer.
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