I really don't want to make bad movies!

Xia Ming was explaining the tricks of focal length selection to Shi Xiangyuan when he heard Jiang Wen's loud voice.

"Xia Xia! Come here!"

The crew members have heard those four words quite often these past few days.

Xia Ming put down his work, said "Coming," and quickly walked up to Jiang Wen.

"What's wrong, Director?"

Jiang Wen instructed the staff to pull Ge You out of the water and wrap her in a towel.

The three of them sat in front of the train engine, and Jiang Wen spoke first: "Have you been working on that online script these past few days?"

Xia Ming nodded, his meaning unclear: "It's almost finished writing."

"I remember, wasn't the web series you wrote about a con artist?"

"Yes, they specifically prey on wealthy but unscrupulous people."

"That's right!"

Jiang Wen laughed heartily and clapped his hands sharply: "We're going to fool Huang Silang!"

Ge You, wrapped in a towel, looked Xia Ming up and down with her small eyes and asked in surprise, "You can write notebooks too?"

Filming was stopped at this point, and as the three discussed the situation, the other staff members also turned their attention to them.

It's already quite unbelievable that Xia Ming, at such a young age, became the chief cinematographer on the set.

Now even award-winning actors have to consult this young man when discussing lines and scripts.

Xia Ming smiled and waved his hand: "It's not really writing, it's just using up some inspiration in my head."

Jiang Wen put his arm around his shoulder and laughed, "That's perfect. Let your inspiration flow and think about how to revise this line."

He tossed the script to Xia Ming.

Xia Ming opened it and took a look.

Jiang Wen's script was very simple, consisting of only the most basic lines and actions.

Come to think of it, Jiang Wen makes changes to the script very frequently, and most of the details are explained on set.

"How do you think the advisor, a conman who travels the world, could possibly intimidate such a formidable bandit?"

When Jiang Wen asked the question, Xia Ming already had several answers in mind.

"In my opinion, since the bandits are here to rob us, the advisor will definitely not talk nonsense in order to save his life. He will first shout that he has money."

"If we just shout that we have money, wouldn't Zhang Mazi rob us on the spot?" Jiang Wen asked.

Xia Ming, flipping through the script, replied, "There is money, but it's in Goose City. Zhang Mazi only listened to the advisor finish speaking in order to get the money."

Jiang Wen and Ge You exchanged a glance, both finding it somewhat interesting.

This change seems to better suit the character's personality.

"So you've got some knowledge of dialogue too?"

Xia Ming smiled and handed the script back: "The camera is a language, and so are the lines; they are interconnected."

Hearing this, Jiang was delighted and asked, "In that case, why don't you add fuel to the fire and think of a way to make this conflict even more intense?"

"We could design a shot earlier that shortens the time the clerk spends speaking, which would naturally lead to the clerk repeatedly shouting the line 'I'm rich,' thus enriching the emotional impact."

"Hmm, that makes some sense."

Jiang Wen was instantly inspired. He pulled Ge You and Xia Ming to the director's tent, spread out the script, and began writing.

Ge You, craning her neck, saw the scattered stack of manuscripts on the table and couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, Director Jiang's storyboard skills are getting better and better!"

Jiang Wen flicked his hand away: "Pshaw, what does this have to do with me? Xia Xia drew all of these."

Ge You was startled by what he heard and couldn't help but carefully examine the young man beside him.

An 18-year-old who is also the lead cinematographer and storyboard designer, and is now involved in script revisions?

Truly... the younger generation is formidable!

Soon, the script revision team added another person: Wei Xiao, the assistant director and screenwriter.

After a heated discussion among the four people under the shed, they finally came up with the final version.

Before the clerk spoke, a scene of the clerk crying was added.

Zhang Mazi's line, "Crying? Crying counts as time," combined with Ge You's performance, greatly amplified the comedic element of this scene.

Afterwards, Jiang Wen adopted Xia Ming's suggestion. When the musket was pointed at the advisor's head, the advisor hurriedly shouted "I have money!" several times.

Then they lied and claimed that the county magistrate was dead, and then mentioned the matter of buying an official position.

The dialogue that followed also took Xia Ming's suggestion.

The dialogue about buying an official position was repeatedly simplified, eventually leaving only a few key words for a positive and negative interpretation, focusing the emphasis on the actors' performances.

At noon, the crew finished lunch and resumed work, filming the revised script.

This time the pace is faster, and most of the lines have been cut.

Zhao Fei watched the footage on the monitor, and as soon as the last word appeared, he immediately shouted "cut".

The temperature is too high at noon, so staff will be given two hours of rest.

Some members went back to the car to enjoy the air conditioning, while core members such as Jiang Wen and Zhao Fei stayed in the director's studio to review the monitor footage.

"Aren't there too few lines?" Zhao Fei held the remote control in his hand, staring at the footage that had just been filmed, somewhat worried.

"That's what you call exquisite, you know?"

Jiang Wen rested his chin on his hand, savoring the lines he had just recited, his heart filled with curiosity.

How come Xia Ming wrote lines that are so to my liking?

"Alright, I don't really understand dialogue," Zhao Fei said, pouring tea for the group and holding up his cup. "But I do understand camera work. Your dialogue is so short and dense, and you're not in the usual shooting positions. Do you think it will look good on camera?"

These words made Jiang Wen pause abruptly as he held the water.

Zhao Fei is still an authority when it comes to camera shots.

But he was indeed very satisfied with this line.

Are we going to sacrifice the rhythm of the dialogue for the sake of visual appeal?

Ge You, sitting to the side, couldn't help but laugh when she heard their conversation: "Why don't we ask someone who understands both lines and camera angles?"

"Where can we find someone like this for Brother You?"

Jiang Wen and Zhao Fei exchanged a glance.

Someone who understands both dialogue and camera work.

Do such talents exist?

After a brief moment of blinking at each other, they came to a conclusion.

Really!

"Xia, come here!"

Under the watchful eyes of the entire crew, Xia Ming jogged all the way to the director's tent.

"What's wrong, Director?"

Jiang Wen immediately pointed to the monitor and asked, "Take a look, is there any way to improve the visuals as much as possible while preserving the rhythm of the dialogue?"

Xia Ming watched it again using the remote control.

He quickly came to a conclusion: "How about we shoot with close-up shots, the dialogue follows the actors' close-up shots, and then cut everything out in post-production?"

Jiang Wen mentally visualized the final cut: "Anything? Are you sure?"

Xia Ming glanced at Jiang Wen, then smiled at Ge You and said, "Theoretically speaking, if we use a small shot to frame the actors within a fixed frame and only use close-up shots to showcase their acting skills, the picture won't break down."

"Hahaha!"

Jiang Wen and Ge You laughed at the same time.

"Are you testing our acting skills?"

Xia Ming replied with a smile, "Both of you are award-winning actors, so it's not my place to test you."

Ge You, intrigued, jumped up from her seat: "That's exactly why I came to Director Jiang's film crew in the first place."

Jiang Wen also stood up, preparing to gather the crew members.

Zhao Fei sighed speechlessly, patted Xia Ming on the shoulder, shook his head and asked Jiang Wen with a smile, "A retake?"

I wonder how many rolls of film will be burned this time.

Jiang Wen also looked at Xia Ming, raised his hand and patted Xia Ming's other shoulder, laughing and shouting, "Try it again!"