I really don't want to make bad movies!

Xia Ming led the group into the filming base, arriving at a desert surrounded by loess.

Here, a wide road filled with gravel winds its way through the area, with a pickup truck with its engine removed parked in the middle.

"That's it. We'll start filming from the second scene, where the zombies attack the main characters."

"Should we start filming from the second act?" Yang Kai stopped on the yellow sand, looked around, and asked, "Or is it just the few of us? Who will play the zombies?"

"You two also played the zombies."

Yang Kai was taken aback: "What about the costumes? We're not even renting a set?"

"There's no need."

Xia Ming waved his hand, saying that the cost of renting two sets of clothes was more expensive than the actors' salaries.

"When you play Jason, you wear your clothes right-side up, but when you play a zombie, you wear them inside out, right?"

"..."

Yang Kai was truly desperate.

We are all students of film school. Even if we don't make a masterpiece that will be remembered for ages, we should at least live up to the name of this major, right?

What on earth is this guy talking about?!

"Hey! What are you standing there for?!"

Wang Zhengchuan was already standing next to the pickup truck, shouting Yang Kai's name loudly.

Yang Kai gritted his teeth, glanced at Jiang Xixi not far away, and still stepped forward.

Xia Ming took out Wang Zhengchuan's Canon camera and, while adjusting the camera, had everyone take out paper scripts from their bags.

"We filmed this movie in the form of a first-person mockumentary. The second act is when the main characters are attacked by zombies while driving and they abandon their car and escape."

"Wait a minute." Yang Kai sensed something was wrong and immediately interrupted, "I'm a member of the main cast, and I'm supposed to play a zombie? How are we supposed to film this?"

"So we filmed it from a first-person perspective, from the point of view of the protagonist, Jason, who is Yang Kai."

Xia Ming didn't explain much, but instead asked the actors to get into the car and sit down, with Yang Kai in the driver's seat.

He then took out his camera and began looking around for a suitable angle to shoot from.

Now that he had Hitchcock's camera techniques in mind, he was bound to put them into practice.

There's no need to worry that using a master's camera work will increase the score.

Ordinary viewers simply want to see a complete and exciting story when they watch a movie; most people don't delve into the visual language.

With its near-zero low-budget production and abstract script, it's impossible for "The Wasp" to get a high rating.

Xia Ming first filmed a set of establishing shots to set the environment and background.

He then opened the driver's side door, climbed into the car, and used a small frame to simultaneously include all three main characters in the shot, creating a cramped and suffocating atmosphere.

"Stop putting on airs! I wonder how you're going to film the fight scenes!"

Yang Kai couldn't help but scoff at himself. When the camera was pointed at him, he just recited a few lines perfunctorily.

In contrast, Jiang Xixi and Li Junlin seemed much more serious.

Both of them tried their best to control their expressions, attempting to create a sense of crisis.

Then Yang Kai, holding a camera, read a line to himself: "I'm Jason, Anna and I are in the wilderness outside town, and they're coming!"

"CUT!"

Xia Ming called out.

The filming went very smoothly; a dialogue scene of about ten minutes was filmed in less than half an hour.

Because Xia Ming has no requirements for the actors, he lets them act however they want.

"Alright, director, how do we film this action scene?"

Yang Kai couldn't help but raise his voice, his tone full of sarcasm.

The next scene shows Yang Kai holding a camera, chasing zombies from a first-person perspective.

But he also has to play a zombie. How can we film that?

Xia Ming handed the camera to him and directed Yang Kai to take a few fragmented selfies.

They were all holding cameras and accidentally captured images of their own faces while running.

There were also several shots of the camera falling while Yang Kai was running, which also captured his face.

"Alright, now you just focus on playing the zombie."

Yang Kai was taken aback: "Then who will play Jason?"

Even the other two actors figured it out this time. Li Junlin explained, "We use the first-person perspective. As long as there are a few shots that suggest that the person being filmed is Jason, we can hand over the rest of the shots to other people."

"As long as the post-production editing pieces are put together and dubbed, the person filming will always be 'Jansen'."

Many first-person mockumentaries are filmed this way; you can't really have the actors carrying the camera and filming the whole thing.

Xia Ming glanced at Yang Kai sitting in the car and asked疑惑地问道, "They're both students from the film academy, didn't you know?"

Yang Kai immediately blushed and felt guilty, loudly retorting, "Of course I know!"

"Then let's keep filming."

After resting, the group reunited.

"Next is dynamic shooting. I'll draw a rough outline of the movement for you. You'll move according to the positions I draw."

Xia Ming took out the paper script, turned to the blank page at the back, and began to draw the storyboard.

Several actors stood behind Xia Ming, watching as one lifelike scene after another came to life on the paper.

Picking up from the previous perspective, the protagonist, Jason, discovers the zombie and jumps out of the car backwards.

Yang Kai and Li Junlin, who played zombies, attacked Jameson. After a fierce fight, Li Junlin stepped out of the camera's view and went outside to change his clothes.

Finally, Li Junlin returns to the screen as Jack, rescues Jason, and the group is rescued by the police during their escape.

The second act has ended.

As film school students, they all recognized the brilliance of the storyboard.

"You want to shoot in one continuous take?" Li Junlin couldn't believe it.

Jiang Xixi's mouth dropped open, her gaze shifting back and forth between the script and Xia Ming.

A script is one thing, but whether the photographer can actually capture it is another matter entirely.

Yang Kai grinned, completely disbelieving that Xia Ming could have filmed it.

Xia Ming nodded: "Let's give it a try."

Hitchcock had already used the one-shot shooting technique when he directed "Rope".

Although it's just a pseudo-one-shot film.

Due to the limitations of film roll length at the time, the entire film still had to be completed through editing.

But the master still demonstrated superb camerawork, completing the filming in a small room and using the camera to advance the suspenseful atmosphere.

Xia Ming was able to sense the trajectory of the camera movement in his mind and record it through the storyboard.

After taking pictures of the storyboard and practicing for more than ten minutes, the group prepared to start filming.

Yang Kai turned his T-shirt inside out and stood at the front of the car waiting for Xia Ming to give him orders.

"I still have a bag of blood plasma in my bag. I'll use it to smear on my face; it'll make me look more like a zombie."

Xia Ming called to Wang Zhengchuan, who was lighting the room, and asked him to take out blood plasma from his bag and apply it to Yang Kai and Chen Junlin.

Xia Ming then got into the car and, following the perspective of Yang Kai holding the camera, aimed the lens at Jiang Xixi and slowly adjusted the angle.

The image continues until the left side of the screen is positioned precisely at the edge of the windshield, while the right side shows the dimly lit back seat.

Jiang Xixi is positioned slightly to the left of the center of the image. The light streaming in from the window illuminates her profile, outlining her perfect features.

"Director, what expression should I use here?"

This time, Xia Ming spent significantly more time adjusting the camera, and Jiang Xixi even seemed a little nervous.

She tried to control her facial features to create a character who panicked when faced with difficulties.

"Smile," Xia Ming suddenly said.

"Huh? Laughing?"

Jiang Xixi was puzzled, but obediently began to curl the corners of her mouth.

"Click—"

Xia Ming did not turn on the camera mode, but instead took a picture.

"Um?"

Before Jiang Xixi could react, Xia Ming shouted, "Action!"

"Bang!"

Yang Kai and Li Junlin mustered all their strength and slammed their fists into the hood of the pickup truck, making a loud noise.

Jiang Xixi had just relaxed when she was startled by a sudden loud noise.

Realizing what was happening, he quickly got into character, yelled, "The zombies are coming!", and then pushed open the car door and fled.

Xia Ming, holding a camera, began filming from Jason's perspective. After a chase, Yang Kai caught up with him, and the two engaged in a brief struggle on the ground.

Li Junlin, dressed as a zombie, briefly appeared on camera before retreating off-screen, wiping the blood off his face, turning his clothes back, and rushing back into the frame to save Xia Ming.

"Run! Run!" Li Junlin shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Go find the giant wasp! It can save us!" Jiang Xixi shouted her lines with all her might.

Yang Kai bared his teeth and brandished his claws in front of the pickup truck, but was gradually left behind by the protagonist.

Then, the policeman played by Wang Zhengchuan came to rescue them. He and Li Junlin ran back and forth for a few steps, and finally the main characters successfully escaped danger.

……

At this very moment, on the other side of the Loess Plateau.

A traditional Chinese garden has been built, with artificial hills, flowing water, arched bridges, and corridors.

Zhang Jun, a junior in college, was taking photos of a female student when his phone suddenly vibrated.

When he opened the caller ID, he saw it was from his cousin, Yang Kai.

Zhang Jun answered the phone, exchanged a brief conversation, said "I understand," packed up his equipment, and prepared to leave.

"What's wrong?" the lighting technician with him couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you going to retouch the photos?"

Zhang Jun replied, "It's my cousin. He said he's filming a short film in the neighboring Huangtudi area and wants me to go there as the director of photography."

Lighting technician Liu Zike found it strange: "They're freshmen making a short film, what's it to you?"

Zhang Jun shrugged: "He said the director and cinematographer in the crew were too pretentious, wanting to show off a ten-minute action scene in one take."

"Let me go and settle the score."

"Hey, this is interesting."

Liu Zike became interested.

Although Zhang Jun is still a junior in college, he has a good talent for photography. In his sophomore year, he received resources from his teacher and took on many short film projects.

By his junior year, his skills had improved even further. He helped the beverage manufacturer Beibingyang shoot several short films, which were well-received and earned him over 100,000 yuan.

During holidays, people line up in long queues to have Zhang Jun shoot short films and portraits.

The two greeted the model, saying they would go back to take photos, and then packed their bags and headed straight for the filming location on the loess slope.