I really don't want to make bad movies!

"Xiao Cai, come here!"

Xia Ming waved to the only remaining able-bodied cameraman in the crew.

"Hey, here it comes!"

Cai Yue jumped off the railcar and walked up to Xia Ming.

He vaguely sensed that something was wrong; the film crew seemed to have undergone a major reshuffle.

Now that Director Xia is back in control of the production team, he might be getting serious about making things happen.

"When Wang Yuan comes to the set later, stand back and use camera number two with a zoomed-in lens to take a picture of his face."

"Didn't Wang Yuan say we shouldn't go right up to someone's face?"

Cai Yue was a little scared.

Those celebrity studios are big and powerful; how could a small-time photographer like him possibly afford to offend them?

"That's why I told you to stand further back and zoom in. I'll use camera one to shoot medium shots, and you shoot close-ups. Just copy the footage to me later."

"But director, I'm not good at close-ups."

"Oh, that's right. That's why you need to practice, isn't it? I'll personally handle the medium shots, so you can just confidently shoot close-ups."

Cai Yue was a little excited, not expecting the director to give him such a chance to try and fail.

Although things have been a bit chaotic on set these past few days, he can still tell that Xia Ming's camera work is exceptionally good.

With Director Xia personally overseeing the mid-range shots, Wang Yuan should have nothing to say.

"Okay, leave the close-ups to me!" Cai Yue said confidently.

Not everyone has the opportunity to use the top-of-the-line ARRI cinema camera, and he vowed to zoom in so much that he could see every pore on Wang Yuan's face clearly.

Xia Ming gave him a thumbs up, then sat down and began to think about how to drag Wang Yuan into this mess.

Ju Jingyi was tricked out of the profit-sharing arrangement, but Wang Yuan's actor contract was a real salary contract.

Xia Ming was still a little unhappy that the ten million had been earned by him.

If you can't manipulate things economically, then you can only manipulate things in movies.

According to the script, Wang Yuan will use his singing to attract aliens, and the song has to be pretty outrageous.

Xia Ming didn't even need to painstakingly design an unpleasant song; he could simply plagiarize Wang Yuan's work from his previous life.

"The Universe is Super Invincible!"

This isn't a prank by Xia Ming; it's a genuine, bizarre song written and composed by Wang Yuan himself.

A voice ruined by nicotine, lyrics written by a three-year-old, and a borrowed melody—that's all it takes to send fans into a frenzy.

It's hard to imagine that a graduate of Berklee College of Music would sing the seven words "the universe is super invincible".

Even Vincent Fang pales in comparison to him!

Upon closer reflection, this song actually fits perfectly with the current crop of terrible movies.

The phrase "universe super invincible" expresses Wang Yuan's inclusiveness and diversity of the vast universe, making it perfectly reasonable for him to fall in love with an alien.

hiss--

How did I accidentally become logical?

Xia Ming finished writing the lyrics with a frown.

"Director, the equipment is all set up!"

After Cai Yue and his two assistants finished adjusting the camera, they walked up to Xia Ming with the script in their hands.

"I've already changed the camera lenses, but where are the alien spaceship scenes here?"

The script and schedule stated that today's filming task was "an alien monologue inside an alien spaceship".

The surroundings were completely empty; apart from two huge, dark stone slabs, there was no sign of an alien spaceship.

As soon as he finished speaking, they followed Xia Ming's gaze to the two huge stone slabs on the side.

One piece is black, and the other piece is also black.

"Director, is this a spaceship?"

Even if they have the most vivid imagination, these are still just two big rocks stuck in the ground!

"Doesn't it look like it?"

Cai Yue stared, his mouth agape, his gaze darting back and forth, still unable to find anything in common between the two stone slabs and the spaceship: "Director, there should at least be a cockpit, right?"

Xia Ming clapped his hands, snapping back to reality: "I almost forgot if you hadn't mentioned it!"

"The cockpit, hmm..." Xia Ming glanced around the film crew and saw the props team's bread truck parked at the door.

"Props crew, bring that bread truck over here!"

"receive!"

The props team worked quite efficiently and quickly drove the car to Xia Ming's side.

Xia Ming then instructed, "Remove the driver's seat and the center console."

"Huh?" The props team thought they'd misheard. "Why are you dismantling the car?"

"I'm asking you, is this the cockpit?"

"I guess so."

"Then why aren't you taking it down?"

Seeing the props team still looking bewildered, Xia Ming raised his voice, "Our production team is worth tens of millions, do you think we're short of money for this one Wuling van? Tear it down!"

"Oh, oh."

Upon hearing this, the props team brought over hammers, other tools, and after some fiddling, removed the seats, steering wheel, and dashboard, moving them to the location designated by Xia Ming.

"Art team, come here!"

"They're here!"

The art team ran up to Xia Ming.

"Go buy some paint and draw stars on the slate."

"Draw stars?"

"Did you ever draw blackboard bulletins when you were in school? Just use this stone as a blackboard and draw stars and moons on it as much as you want."

Seeing that they still didn't understand, Xia Ming explained again, "This is an alien spaceship. There has to be space outside, understand?"

"Huh? Oh..."

The art team staff also sprang into action, buying several buckets of paint from the photography base and setting up scaffolding to start painting on the stone slabs.

Cai Yue was dumbfounded.

"Director Xia, are we that short of money?"

Xia Ming patted him on the shoulder, shook his head and said, "Money should be spent wisely. We're making a sci-fi special effects movie, so we just need to focus on the special effects in post-production."

Cai Yue then realized that even the simple landscape in front of him would need to be modified with special effects in post-production!

All they have to do is find the right camera and angle!

"Director, should we try to use more close-ups, reduce redundant elements in the shots, and lessen the burden on special effects rendering?"

Xia Ming gave him a thumbs up: "You're really on the uptake!"

Cai Yue was a little embarrassed by the praise and made up his mind to keep the camera pressed firmly against the actors' faces later.

"The actors have arrived!"

The crew spent two or three hours tidying up before Ju Jingyi finally emerged from the dressing room.

Without the formulaic Korean semi-permanent makeup, Xia Ming didn't recognize him at first glance.

Green body paint covered her face, and two green tentacles were pasted on her forehead, swaying up and down with each step she took.

Xia Ming raised his hand to cover his mouth, trying his best to keep his facial expression in check.

"Where's KIKI?" Xia Ming didn't see that annoying manager.

The stagehand whispered to Xia Ming, "She fainted from anger in the dressing room."

"That's perfect, let's ignore her and start filming."

Xia Ming walked up to Ju Jingyi, who was glaring at him angrily.

Having been in the entertainment industry for so many years and accustomed to being the center of attention, this is the first time Ju Jingyi has felt humiliated!

"Actors, pay attention to your facial expressions. We're ready to shoot the first take."

The script supervisor, holding a whiteboard and notebook, asked疑惑地问道, "Director, aren't we going to have any blocking or rehearsals?"

"No need, Teacher Ju is a veteran actor, we'll get it in one take."

"I haven't memorized my lines yet!" Ju Jingyi clenched his fists and said angrily in a low voice.

Xia Ming was stunned. How could someone be so self-righteous without memorizing their lines?

However, Xia Ming did not want to waste time on the preparation stage.

He flipped directly to the script, tore off the script, and stuck it on the steering wheel in the "cockpit".

"You can read it as you see fit."

Ju Jingyi's two whiskers swayed, and his high nose bridge was wrinkled from inhaling too much.

She looked at the old chair in front of her, and the dial on the cardboard box still showed protruding wires and exposed screws.

Beside me was a metal gear shift lever wrapped in plastic, and behind me was a starry sky reminiscent of a Van Gogh painting.

"Director Xia, what does the 'Wuling' under the starry sky mean?"

"Don't discriminate against Namekian culture. This is their cockpit. Respect cultural differences."

Ju Jingyi took a deep breath, then slowly lifted his leg and sat down in the Wuling seat.

"Where's the lighting crew from Ju Jingyi's studio? Come and set up the lights!" Xia Ming shouted through a megaphone.

"Should we use the lighting?" The studio staff looked at each other, puzzled.

Xia Ming asked again, puzzled, "What's the problem? Haven't you always been in charge of Ju Jingyi's lighting?"

The group frowned, but couldn't find any reason to refute it.

They set up the lights, covered them with softboxes, and shone the blinding white light onto Ju Jingyi's face.

The next second, everyone was so frightened that they took several steps back.

No matter which film crew he's on, they always use the same overly white lighting that's typical of idol dramas on Ju Jingyi. They won't use any other lighting if you ask them to.

This type of light group has only one characteristic: it's blurry!

The original intention was to eat away the flaws on the actors' faces.

However, when applied to a completely green face, it appears bizarre, even terrifying!

Green naturally makes skin appear whiter, and under the lighting, the actor's nose almost disappeared, while his lips stood out because of the lipstick.

Isn't this the Mask?!

"Perfect!"

Xia Ming shouted, then immediately signaled the script supervisor to hit the clapperboard.

"Atlantic Rim 2, Thunder Descends. Act 1, Scene 1, Action!"