Huayu 2011: Starting with Hilarious Men

Laughter during filming is quite common, especially when shooting comedies.

There's a saying that goes something like this: if the actors aren't happy while performing, how can they expect the audience to be happy?

Therefore, Zheng Nan takes the matter of laughing during filming very lightly.

But after Yuan Bingyan laughed for nineteen times in a row, Zheng Nan finally couldn't hold back and exploded!

"Stop laughing, Yuan Bingyan! Is this what you call acting?! No wonder you were second to last last last grade last semester!"

Despite Zheng Nan's usual easygoing and approachable demeanor, her sudden outburst startled everyone present.

Even Wang Jian, a middle-aged man, subconsciously held his breath.

"I never thought Zheng Nan was this scary before," Lin Wenruo thought to herself.

Yuan Bingyan, the person who was reprimanded, was completely stunned.

This is actually related to Zheng Nan's change in status. Normally, Zheng Nan is just an ordinary student at school. Even if she explodes, there are still teachers and directors above her.

But on set, Zheng Nan was in charge of the project, serving as both director and lead actor, which made her appear quite intimidating when she got angry.

Finally, Wang Jian spoke first to ease the tension: "Don't rush, we're all classmates, let's discuss it together."

Lin Wenruo quickly chimed in, "Old Zheng, are you under too much pressure? Don't worry, even if you lose all 26,000, I'll provide you with three meals a day. I won't let you go hungry."

Zheng Nan looked at everyone with some surprise and explained, "It's not that I'm upset about the money, it's that my face hurts. Nineteen lines! I slapped myself over a hundred times, and my flawless jawline is swollen!"

Upon hearing the reason, the tense atmosphere immediately dissipated.

Everyone could understand Zheng Nan. Without a stunt double or any way to use camera angles, he slapped himself more than a hundred times. Anyone would be angry.

Yuan Bingyan was too embarrassed to be stubborn at this moment, so she honestly apologized: "I'm sorry, it's just that your acting was too funny, I couldn't help it. Let me rub it for you."

As she spoke, Yuan Bingyan reached out and touched Zheng Nan's cheek.

The girl's soft fingertips gently caressed his cheek, and the cool touch and fragrance of her fingers made Zheng Nan, an old man at heart, blush deeply.

"What are you doing? If you're going to touch someone, it should be a hot girl." Zheng Nan quickly took a step back and made up an excuse.

"Dilraba, look! He's still thinking about you!" Yuan Bingyan immediately reminded Dilraba, who was watching the scene from a distance.

A group of young people who had never seriously acted before finally managed to shoot a short film of less than two minutes, stumbling and struggling for almost two hours.

Strictly speaking, this source of all evil is not from the original "Men's Diary" magazine, but from a segment in Luo Yonghao's short film "Happiness 59cm: Little Horse," which was released on September 22, 2011.

Zheng Nan found this "source of all evil" content interesting and inexpensive to film, so he incorporated it into his own version of "Men's Diary".

"Filming is so difficult, it's completely different from taking acting classes," Yuan Bingyan remarked after filming wrapped.

"What's so difficult about it? You're the one who keeps laughing during the scene!" Zheng Nan complained irritably, then handed over the rest of the script: "There are a few more scenes of eating. Which of you two would you like to do them?"

"I'll do it, let Yan Yan rest for a while." Dilraba flipped through the script.

"How come there's a blind date scene in a meal?! Zheng Nan, are you going to suddenly propose to Dilraba?!" Yuan Bingyan pointed to a passage in the script, shouting as if she saw right through Zheng Nan's little scheme.

Just as she guessed, everything before was foreshadowing; Zheng Nan was a scheming man.

"Please finish reading the script, there's a plot twist later!" Zheng Nan really wanted to peel open Yuan Bingyan's little head to see what was inside.

After being yelled at, Yuan Bingyan patiently finished watching the rest of the episode.

The scenes involving eating are similar at the beginning, featuring a man and a woman having dinner, but the plot twists at the end are all different.

For example, when two people go on a blind date, the girl turns out to be a shill when it's time to pay the bill.

Or, when paying the bill, the guy might pretend to be drunk to avoid paying, but they end up drinking orange juice instead.

"Um, won't the audience get tired of the same scene and the same opening?" Dilraba asked.

"Why would you get tired of it? Repeating comebacks is a comedic technique in itself, and then there are twists and unexpected events. If you just read the text and think the beginning is pretty much the same..."

Zheng Nan explained simply that the "eating series for men and women" and the "massage series" are essentially no different; they both rely on techniques of reversal and expectation defiance.

After listening, Dilraba understood somewhat and raised her hand to ask a second question: "This scene is similar to the scene of buying milk tea, so it's easy for the audience to recognize, right?"

Zheng Nan found this difficult to explain.

Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice. He wanted to change the filming location, but renting a hotel as a filming location would cost money, and Zheng Nan didn't have that budget!

Now that the venue is free, Zheng Nan will definitely make the most of it. Even if the audience notices the flaws in the final product, it's not a big deal.

Even classic TV series like "My Own Swordsman" and "Bright Sword" have bloopers, but viewers just laugh them off. Instead, they go out of their way to find these bloopers frame by frame and enjoy it.

The criticism of many TV dramas for their bloopers is essentially a criticism of carelessness, cheap trickery, and misdirected spending of money.

As long as Zheng Nan puts his heart into filming "Men's Diary" and makes the audience laugh, the bloopers will only become embellishments.

Even without money, one can still create great works, which will become a topic of conversation when Zheng Nan comes along.

But the future is unpredictable, and apart from Zheng Nan, no one at the scene thought their film would become a hit.

"I have no money," Zheng Nan replied curtly.

Dilraba nodded, didn't ask any further questions, and lowered her head to silently memorize her lines for the filming.

…………

"Brother Wang, can the layout of the store be moved?" Zheng Nan didn't need to memorize lines; he was setting up the filming scene on the side.

I have to say, the interior design and decor of Brother Wang's milk tea shop are really good, it has the feel of a future internet-famous shop.

"Sure, you can move around as you like."

"Thanks, Brother Wang. We'll restore everything to its original state before we leave."

"Whether or not recovery is important, but is there a role I can play in this?"

"Brother Wang wants to act?"

"Hehe, I just thought it looked interesting and wanted to join in the fun. Xiao Zheng, don't be too hard on me. I won't force you. If there's a suitable role, I'll take it; if not, that's fine too. After all, I'm not a good actor."

Wang Jian spoke very politely and did not put on airs or force Zheng Nan to give him a role just because the venue was provided for free.

"Brother Wang, you're too kind. My funny short film doesn't need any acting skills. As long as I don't laugh or mispronounce my lines, I can act."

"Besides, we're mostly young people, and I'd have to find extras for some of the middle-aged roles. It's great that you're willing to play them."