We asked you to make an anti-corruption film, but you made one in the name of the people!

"Passed."

Lin Mo spoke the name very softly, but everyone present heard it.

There was a moment of silence on set, then applause broke out.

Zhang Yi led the applause, clapping a few times before stopping. He looked at Zhang Songwen and said, "Songwen, your opening was solid."

Li Yitong nodded vigorously beside him.

Zhang Songwen walked out from behind the fish stall, his hands still wet. He wiped them on his apron and went to the monitor to watch the playback.

After watching, he didn't say anything, just stood there staring at the screen, as if trying to confirm if the person was him.

Wu Gang stood up from the corner, walked over, and patted him on the shoulder: "You acted well."

Zhang Zhijian also came over, and without saying anything extra, he just nodded.

Li Yitong leaned close to Zhang Yi and whispered, "Brother Yi, Zhang Songwen's performance in that scene was just amazing! He didn't have a single line, but it made my nose tingle."

Zhang Yi didn't turn his head; his gaze remained fixed on Zhang Songwen: "He brought Gao Qiqiang to life."

Li Yitong asked how he lived, and Zhang Yi thought for a moment and said, "Look at his hands, they're white from being soaked, and his fingernails are all black. That's not makeup, he picked at them himself. He wasn't just acting as Gao Qiqiang, he *is* Gao Qiqiang."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Songwen shook his head: "It's not that I'm good, it's that Director Lin taught me well."

He turned to look at Lin Mo behind the monitor. Lin Mo was talking to Lao Zhao with his head down, drawing something in a notebook with a pen in his hand. Lao Zhao listened and nodded. The two were very close and spoke in low voices, as if they were discussing something important.

Zhang Songwen looked at it for two seconds, then looked away.

Li Yitong then asked Zhang Songwen, "Teacher Zhang, how did Director Lin explain this scene to you?"

Zhang Songwen thought for a moment and said, "He only said one sentence."

"What did you say?"

"He said—Gao Qiqiang has been selling fish on Jiuchang Street for more than ten years. His hands should smell of fish, and his smile should be habitual. That's all he said."

Li Yitong was stunned. "Just that one sentence?"

Zhang Songwen nodded, "Just this one sentence, but after hearing it, I knew how to act, because this sentence wasn't teaching me how to act, it was telling me who Gao Qiqiang is."

Wu Gang, overhearing this conversation, chimed in: "That's how Director Lin is. He doesn't teach you how to act; he just tells you about the character, and once you understand, you can act."

Zhang Zhijian chimed in from the side: "It's not that you can act, it's that you become that person."

Wu Gang did not refute.

He and Zhang Zhijian have been working with Lin Mo since "In the Name of the People." Both of them are veteran actors who have worked with at least eighty or a hundred directors, but they've never seen anyone like Lin Mo before.

Other directors talk about emotions, rhythm, and blocking when directing.

When Lin Mo was directing the play, he talked about where the character came from and where he went, what he was thinking, and why he did what he did.

He tells you about a person's entire life, and after you listen, you don't need to act; you just need to do what that person was supposed to do.

Zhang Yi, who had been standing silently to the side, finally spoke up: "Does Director Lin have a vision in his mind?"

Wu Gang turned to look at him and smiled: "You noticed too?"

Zhang Yi nodded. He had noticed it from the very first scene—Lin Mo wasn't looking at the monitor; he was confirming whether the image on the monitor matched the image in his mind.

If it's the same, it passes; if not, start over.

He wasn't creating; he was recreating.

Wu Gang took a sip of water and said slowly, "At first, I also found it strange. Later, after I got to know him better, I asked him, 'How do you know that this is the right way to film it?' He said that he had already gone through the whole play in his mind when he was writing the script."

Zhang Yi was taken aback: "The whole movie?"

Wu Gang nodded: "Yes, from beginning to end, he went through every scene, every shot, every expression, and the rhythm of every line in his mind."

Zhang Yi fell silent.

Ni Dahong walked over at some point and stood at the back of the crowd, having been listening for a while.

He didn't talk much, and even in such situations, he habitually stood in the corner, his presence barely noticeable, but no one dared to ignore him. He finally spoke, uttering a very short sentence: "Genius."

......

Lin Mo was still discussing tomorrow's filming plans with Lao Zhao, completely unaware that a group of people were talking about him over there.

Old Zhao flipped through his notebook and said, "The props for tomorrow's police station scene are all ready. Handcuffs, interrogation chair, notepad, thermos cup, everything. I even found that thermos cup at a flea market; it perfectly matches the feel of a police station from that era."

Lin Mo nodded and said, "In the scene where An Xin hands Gao Qiqiang dumplings, don't use props for the dumplings; buy real ones, and make sure they're piping hot."

Old Zhao wrote it down in his notebook, muttering to himself, "Real dumplings, piping hot."

Less than a week into filming "Raging Storm," the entire crew had completely figured out Lin Mo's rhythm.

Every morning at seven o'clock, Lin Mo would appear on set on time.

He arrived earlier than everyone else and sat alone behind the monitor, reviewing the day's shooting schedule.

Once the actors had finished their makeup and arrived one after another, he would gather everyone who had scenes to film that day and begin explaining the plays.

But he wasn't talking about a play.

He didn't tell you what emotions you were supposed to portray in this scene, nor did he tell you to put more emotion into this take. What he did say was—why did Gao Qiqiang come to this market today?

He needs to sell more fish because he hasn't raised enough money for his younger brother's tuition.

He explained the character's situation, psychology, and motivations in great detail, and after that, the actor knew how to act.

In the first week of filming, the crew completed what was originally planned to take more than half a month.

Old Zhao updates the progress chart every night, and the numbers look better each day.

He spoke a blunt truth at the meeting: "In other film crews, the director waits for the actors to find their rhythm. In our crew, the actors chase after the director's pace. Director Lin is too fast; he's so fast that I can't even keep up with the set construction."

Lin Mo looked up at him and said, "Then find a few more art teams, don't keep Jing waiting for me."

Old Zhao smiled wryly: "I've already found three."

The actors also noticed this pattern—Lin Mo rarely asked for retakes, not because he had low standards, but because he had already explained the requirements thoroughly when he was directing the scene.

Once the actors hear the performance, they know exactly how they should act and can go straight to that goal without needing to make mistakes.

Therefore, most scenes are completed in one take, occasionally in two takes, and rarely in three or more takes.

Wu Gang told Li Yitong about this: "That's how Director Lin was when he was filming 'In the Name of the People.' He didn't try to find the right feeling on set. When he was writing the script, he had already thought of every single scene in the whole show. On set, he just brought out what was in his mind. If it was right, it was done. If it wasn't right, he would do it again."

Li Yitong asked at the time, "What if he doesn't have it in his head?"

Wu Gang glanced at her and smiled: "It's always on his mind."

Zhang Zhijian, standing nearby, added an even harsher comment: "Other directors create films, but Director Lin copies them. He copies the finished product in his mind. That's why other directors have to spend a long time editing after filming because they have too much footage to choose from, but Director Lin's film is basically the final cut because every single take is exactly what he wants."

After listening, Li Yitong remained silent for a long while before saying, "Then isn't he just a human printer?"

Wu Gang was amused by her analogy and laughed for a while before stopping: "Your analogy is good, a human-shaped printer, very apt."

Lin Mo didn't hear the question about the printer; he was squatting in front of the monitor watching the playback.