Chapter 65 Shooting starts

That’s right, the script Liu Zhou took out was “The Piano Tuner” which he submitted as homework at the beginning of the school year.

It was also because of this script that Liu Zhou won the favor of his class teacher Huang Weiruo, and then it was known by teacher Chang Li, and then everyone in the acting class knew about it.

Since writing the script, Liu Zhou has put it aside for nearly three years.

At the beginning, Liu Zhou told Lao Huang that he wanted to shoot this short film himself, and now is the time to fulfill his promise.

Liu Zhou's goal this semester is to shoot this short film as a practice.

In the previous life, "The Tuner" was a short film first, and then a feature film, but no matter whether it was a short film or a feature film, the plot was very interesting.

I won’t waste time on the plot here, and after all, the written description is not as good as the visual image.

The story is actually very simple. It is about what happened after a piano tuner who pretended to be blind witnessed a murder.

After all, this is a short film, and Liu Zhou didn't think of inviting some big names to star in it. He currently doesn't have the connections and appeal.

So he could only choose someone around him, and Liu Zhou’s first choice for the male lead was Qin Hao.

Qin Hao has good acting skills and is also a good friend of Liu Zhou, making him the most suitable candidate.

"Haozi, how about it? You probably don't have anything to do recently anyway, come over and help me play the leading role."

Qin Hao had heard of this script before. His homeroom teacher, Mr. Chang Li, had talked about it in class and commented that it was a good script.

In addition, it was Liu Zhou who invited Qin Hao, so although Qin Hao was picky about the choice of script, he still agreed immediately, and there was nothing to complain about this script.

Seeing Qin Hao agreed, Liu Zhou also smiled and said:

"Okay, then you can take this script first. I will officially prepare the crew during this period of time."

After dinner, Qin Hao took the script back to school, and Liu Zhou was also thinking about preparing for the crew.

First of all, the behind-the-scenes staff. The short film is not too complicated, so we can just invite the people who have worked with us on the drama before to do the costumes, makeup, props and lighting.

As for the photographer, Liu Zhou didn't want to find a student, but someone with experience.

A figure immediately emerged in Liu Zhou's mind, Yu Liwei, the only experienced photographer he knew, but he didn't know if he was free now.

Liu Zhou was not a person who procrastinated. Thinking of this, he immediately called Yu Liwei.

As soon as the call was connected, Yu Liwei's hearty laughter came from the receiver:

"Ah Zhou, how come you have time to call me today?"

"Brother Yu, I need your help with something."

"What did you say?"

"I want to make a short film recently. After all, this is my first time and I have no experience, so I would like you to help me with the camera."

Yu Liwei pondered for a while and said:
"Ah Zhou, when exactly will you start shooting your short film? I want to see if I can spare the time."

"Brother Yu, are you busy recently?" Liu Zhou couldn't help but ask.

"It's not very busy. I shot a movie a while ago and I'm currently in the post-production stage, but it's almost done."

"If you are busy, I will ask someone else to come and not delay your work."

Liu Zhou knew that Yu Liwei had been working as a photographer for others after graduation, and this should be his first time shooting a feature film.

"No need to invite anyone else. The short film shouldn't take too much time. Ah Zhou, you asked me, so I have to come."

"Okay, I'd like to thank Brother Yu. We can start filming in about a week."

"No problem, I'll make time to come over then."

"Has my senior brother been to your place?"

"He was there during the filming, but he's gone now. He said he was back home looking for inspiration. What do you want to talk to him about?"

"No, just asking."

After hanging up the phone, Liu Zhou felt relieved. If Yu Liwei didn't have time, he really didn't know who to find for a moment.

Now that all the candidates behind the scenes have been found, Liu Zhou also began to think about who to cast as an actor.

There are not many main characters in the short film. In addition to the male protagonist, there is an old lady who plays the murderer and a striptease dancer. As for the other characters, they are just extras.

Liu Zhou wanted to invite Li Mingqi to play the role of the murderous old lady, but she is now very popular because of her role in "My Fair Princess", and it is not known whether she has time at this moment.

Moreover, Liu Zhou doesn’t know her and has no channels to contact her, so it seems that he has to ask Lao Huang for help with this matter.

As for the female dancer, Liu Zhou wanted to find one in the school's performance class. Since they didn't have to take off all the clothes, it shouldn't be a problem.

The last thing is the shooting location, which also needs to be contacted in advance.

Liu Zhou found that there was still a lot to do and he couldn't handle it all by himself, so he had to continue looking for external help.

Now the role played by Liu Zhou's staying in a small county town in Shanxi Province with the crew of "Xiao Wu" is reflected.

Liu Zhou got along well with everyone in the crew, especially Jia Zhangke and Yu Liwei. It was through this filming that Liu Zhou and them began to regard each other as friends.

As Gu Zheng is Jia Zhangke's good friend, Liu Zhou is of course also familiar with him.

This time, Liu Zhou wanted to ask him for help and asked him to be his production manager and handle some other matters besides filming.

Gu Zheng is in the capital, and Jia Zhangke is now out looking for inspiration, so he has nothing to do for the time being. When Liu Zhou called him, he immediately agreed to come and help.

Then Liu Zhou gave him the task of finding a filming location.

The next day, Liu Zhou went back to school and first confirmed the costumes, props and lighting of the seniors, and then went straight to the 96th acting class. "Ladies, I am preparing a short film now and need a heroine. Who of you is willing to help play the role?"

The scene of enthusiastic participation that Liu Zhou imagined did not appear. Instead, no one said a word.

"Why aren't you talking?"

"Liu Zhou, if she is really the heroine, will you leave the role to us?"

"Sister Hailu, do you think I am such a person who values ​​love over friendship?"

"do not you?"

"Alas, it seems there is a huge misunderstanding. This is the image of me in your mind."

"Stop being so joking and tell me what kind of character it is."

"I'm going to make a short film called 'The Tuner'. There's a female dancer in it. She doesn't have many scenes, but she's very good. There are some nude scenes, but don't worry, she's just in a swimsuit at most."

"No wonder you didn't look for Li Zi for this role, so you came to us?"

Liu Zhou couldn't help but blush when he heard this, but he still said:

"Sisters, please stop making fun of me. If you don't help me, I will go find my junior schoolmate."

"Wait a minute, we didn't say we won't help. Let us take a look at the script first."

Although Liu Zhou's behavior is a bit chauvinistic, we can't really blame him. After all, it is natural for a man to take care of his girlfriend.

After reading the script, they also knew that this role required someone with a better figure, and in the end the role was taken by Zhang Tong.

After confirming the role of the female dancer, Liu Zhou came to Lao Huang's office again.

"Teacher, the student comes to you for help again."

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

"You still remember the assignment I handed in at the beginning of my freshman year. I'm going to film it now."

"That's a good thing. What do you want me to do for you?"

"I would like to ask Ms. Li Mingqi to play the role of the old lady, but I don't know how to invite her, so I would like to ask you to do it."

"It's a simple matter. I'll help you pass the script to her. As for whether she agrees or not, it's up to her. I can't help her with that."

"Thank you, teacher."

"Any more?"

"Does our school have any equipment for filming movies? I'd like to borrow it and I'll pay the rent."

"Yes, there is one, but it's a bit old. You'd better go to the Beijing Film Studio and rent one."

"Okay, then I'll go to the Beijing Film Studio and ask."

As the current film market is not very good, all major film studios offer rental services for filming equipment.

“When are you going to start filming?”

"In about a week."

After leaving Lao Huang's office, Liu Zhou immediately went to find Gu Zheng, and then spent two days looking for a shooting location.

In fact, there are not too many scenes. Liu Zhou used the school's experimental theater as the venue for the piano competition, and the restaurant where he talked with the owner was the one they often went to at the school gate, and he was also familiar with the owner.

Finally, there was the coffee shop and the murder scene. Gu Zheng helped with the coffee shop situation, and then at the murder scene, Gu Zheng contributed the house that he and Jia Zhangke rented together.

Now the shooting location is ready.

Now everything is ready, except for Teacher Li Mingqi.

Two days later, just when Liu Zhou was getting a little anxious, he finally received a reply from teacher Li Mingqi, who agreed to play the role of the old lady.

Hearing her agreement, Liu Zhou finally felt relieved, and then, under the guidance of Lao Huang, he visited Teacher Li Mingqi.

Li Mingqi is very popular now because of her role as the vicious character of Madam Rong, but she is a bit unpopular.

Many neighbors even came to say bad things about her, but Li Mingqi didn't care about it. She just felt a little annoyed after hearing so much.

However, compared to the image of Madam Rong, Teacher Li Mingqi looks very kind and has a gentle tone in real life.

After confirming the start time of filming, Liu Zhou also said goodbye and left.

The day before filming began, Liu Zhou and Gu Zheng went to the Beijing Film Studio to rent filming equipment, and Yu Liwei also arrived in Beijing in the afternoon.

Yu Liwei was obviously very happy to see Liu Zhou and Gu Zheng. He came over with a smile and gave them a hug.

"It would be great if Lao Jia was here too, so the four of us could work together again."

"There will be a chance. I can't disturb my brother since he's out looking for inspiration. Otherwise, I will definitely have to pull him over."

"Let's not talk about that loser. Ah Zhou, you're going to start filming tomorrow, right?"

"That's right. I'll take you to eat something later so you can have a good rest tonight."

The next day, all the members of the crew came to the school's experimental theater.

There was no script reading and no opening ceremony.

When everyone was ready, Liu Zhou sat next to the monitor and shouted "start" with some excitement.

(End of this chapter)