The sweetest in the entertainment industry

Chapter 481 Eat Melon
With the development of technology, film studios have become increasingly popular among creative teams due to their superior controllability. Apart from a few more conservative directors, such as Gao Yunyi, who prefer location shooting, and some films that simply cannot be shot in a studio, most film and television works are shot in film studios.

Its controllability is mainly reflected in the following aspects:
First, the lighting is controllable.

By using professional lighting equipment, such as soft lights, spotlights, and contour lights, the intensity, direction, color temperature, and softness/hardness of the light can be precisely adjusted to easily achieve effects such as "soft light on cloudy days," "hard light at noon," and "cool tone for night scenes." The lighting remains stable throughout the process, and there will be no break in the light and shadow of the scene due to weather changes or the passage of time, which will affect the consistency of light and shadow in the same scene or the same set of shots.

If you're stuck with someone who has connections, you'll need to do dozens of takes a day to get the desired effect. Studio shooting is a lifesaver.

Secondly, the environment is controllable.

If you want to shoot night scenes, you don't have to wait until dark; if you want it to rain or snow, you don't have to stare at the weather forecast and beg God to be in a good mood.

Filming summer scenes in winter? No problem, just turn on the heating, it's quite relaxing.

Filming winter scenes in the summer? No problem, just turn on the air conditioning, and you can wash your makeup without sweating while wearing a cotton-padded coat.

What if, while filming, a car suddenly drives by? Or a person walks by? Or even a sudden gust of wind blows the props over?
There's no need to worry once the studio doors are closed.

Third, the scenario is controllable.

The studio has a large space, and as long as the technology allows, and there are reliable art directors and set designers, no matter how imaginative the scene is, they can build it for you 1:1.

For example, historical scenes that have vanished into the river of time; for example, imagined science fiction scenes; and for example, certain mythological scenes...

Close-ups rely on construction, long shots rely on special effects; just hang a green screen, and the post-production team comes on stage, and you can have anything you want.

Fourth, the process is controllable.

Each department's staff has their own area of ​​activity, and their movement routes are relatively fixed, resulting in high work efficiency. Large equipment is all in the shed, so there's no need to move it around, and you won't find out that something is missing just before filming.

Fifth, costs are controllable.

Once the scene is set up, it can be reused repeatedly, and all costs are predictable.

Another advantage is that the set design has fewer continuity errors, resulting in significantly lower post-production repair costs.

For Gu Lanxi, filming in a studio is much better than filming outdoors.

“Although the space is limited and you often end up staying all day, sometimes not finishing until midnight, at least you don’t have to worry about mosquito bites, it’s easy to move between locations, and there’s a rest room to relax in,” Gu Lanxi chuckled. “My rest room has a terrace and a sofa where you can lie down, it’s wonderful! But I doubt you might have enough room to lie down, the double sofa is a bit small…”

By May, the mosquitoes were becoming increasingly numerous. We had already sprayed mosquito repellent in the garden three times, but we could still hear them buzzing at night. The area around the photography studio, with its sparse vegetation, was much better.

The dressing room and lounge were both on the second floor. Gu Lanxi led Lu Nanting through the door and upstairs, chatting as they walked.

"If you get bored, there's a gym on the rooftop, which is provided free of charge to the staff."

In such a small place, with one or two hundred people staying here for extended periods, the population density is quite high.

Along the way, Gu Lanxi greeted familiar staff members with a smile, and Lu Nanting would politely nod in return.

Anyone with eyes could see the cardboard box he was holding, and their curiosity was piqued. They wanted to ask what was inside, but when they met Lu Nanting's cold face, they were afraid of being rebuffed, so they all kept quiet.

The young couple led their staff upstairs, and Gu Lanxi moved the small round table that was in the corner to the window.

"Just close the screen window to keep out mosquitoes. The sunlight can shine on it. I'm going to do my makeup and then go down to film. You have to keep a close eye on it. I feel like it can be opened today."

"Hmm, let me see how to set up time-lapse photography."

"Set up the tripod, and I'll adjust it."

"Row."

Lu Nanting sat down on the sofa and saw a thin blanket folded up next to him. He picked it up, smelled it, and recognized it as Gu Lanxi's. He then put it in a bag.

"This is a bit too thick. I'll take it home and wash it tonight. It's getting hot, so it's best to switch to a thinner gauze blanket. I remember we have one at home. I need to ask Aunt Chen to take it out, wash it, and dry it quickly, otherwise we won't be able to use it tomorrow." Gu Lanxi was amazed that she was so reluctant to talk when she first met the staff, but now she was taking such good care of herself.

Seeing him pick it up and smell it, she was a little embarrassed: "This has been used for at least a month, it has a smell, don't smell it."

Sometimes, when there's a short interval between two scenes, she'll take a break off-camera.

Lili prepared a recliner for her. It was quite cold in March, and the costumes weren't thick enough, so she would wrap herself in this blanket.

If the break is long, she will bring it upstairs.

Gu Lanxi's three essential items for studio shoots are a blanket, slippers, and a thermos when it's cold, and a water bottle, sunscreen, and a small fan when it's hot.

Gu Lanxi quickly adjusted the camera, then had Niu Lili put down the water bottle and fruit cutter she had brought before getting up to go downstairs.

Just before leaving, I couldn't help but turn back and remind him, "Don't secretly order takeout. Mom had someone catch an old hen. Aunt Wang will make chicken soup tonight. We'll go home together for dinner after I finish work."

Since the car accident, the elderly couple has been keeping a close eye on their diet every day. Lu Nanting occasionally gets a craving and wants to sneak in some takeout food, which is why Gu Lanxi specifically gave him this instruction.

Lu Nanting bent down to look at the camera, hummed in agreement, and waved for her to go ahead and get busy.

As soon as Gu Lanxi reached the door, she saw Zhizhi running up the stairs.

"What's wrong? Are you rushing me to finish my makeup?"

Gu Lanxi checked the time. There were still ten minutes until the agreed time. Was she not late?

Zhizhi was panting as she ran. Seeing her hurrying downstairs, she quickly reached out to stop her: "Don't go down yet. Sister Song will be up soon. Let's finish drawing upstairs before we go down."

The lounge was decorated in a cozy style, without any makeup mirrors or similar items; it was specifically for her to rest in.

There are eight dressing rooms in the open space downstairs, one of which is for Gu Lanxi's exclusive use. She usually goes there to get her makeup and hair done.

"what happened?"

Nanzhi pushed her back, closed the door behind her, and then told her with a gossipy look, "Brother Lei from the props team beat up Teacher Chen. He slapped him five or six times, all to the face, and cursed him for being shameless. He even knocked out three of his dentures. Sister Bing is furious right now and is cursing people downstairs. Lots of people from the crew are watching the show. You two better not go down there. If someone takes a picture, there will be a lot of people making up stories based on the picture."

Nam Gyi is professionally trained and very sensitive in this regard.

Upon hearing this, Gu Lanxi indeed stopped going downstairs and only asked her, "What exactly happened?"

There was only one actor in the crew who was called Teacher Chen. He was almost fifty years old, a veteran actor, refined and easy-going. He played a fairly important supporting role in the drama and had many scenes with Gu Lanxi. To be honest, he had a gentle temperament and was very professional. Gu Lanxi quite liked acting with him and could always leave work early.

Hearing Zhizhi say this, I couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's going on? The props team has nothing to do with us, right?"

By the time the actors came on stage, the prop master had already finished his work, so they shouldn't have had much interaction.

Nan Zhi's face flushed red. She glanced at Lu Nanting, and after a long while, she stammered out the whole story:
"Do you remember Qingyu from the costume and makeup team? He said that Teacher Chen messaged him late at night, um, um, harassing him... When he was saying that, he had to think of his face to feel it..."

When Gu Lanxi joined the crew, all the staff around her were girls. If Lu Nanting hadn't been there, she probably would have already slapped her thigh and explained everything in detail. But he was there, looking at her with a "WTF" expression. Nanzhi was almost in a dilemma, afraid that she wouldn't explain things clearly enough and that her boss would get a bad experience.

She's having such a tough time!
Several readers have recently expressed their delight, exclaiming, "Wow, there are illustrations in the main text!!"
Actually, this feature has been available for a long time. There are illustrations in 21 chapters of this book. The first time I used it was in chapter 662 of "The Great Sobering Up in the Entertainment Industry", where I inserted photos of saxaul trees, pork floss, and camels. That was on November 21, 2023.

If you want to see them, open the table of contents. For chapters with pictures, there's an image icon after the chapter title; just click on it to find them.

There are also Easter egg stamps, which are all things I found quite interesting.

These things, including the author's notes, are probably not available to those who enjoy listening to audiobooks.

I recommend checking the app after each chapter to avoid missing anything interesting.

It's really interesting.