Huayu: Starting with mentoring female stars

After regaining her composure, Mao Xiaotong quickly expressed her gratitude: "Director Chen, thank you for your guidance just now. It is my honor to be your student."

"Don't be so polite. This is just my hobby. You just happened to come in, and I just happened to teach you."

"I guess I'm experiencing all walks of life as a director."

Chen Zhou said.

Upon hearing these words, Mao Xiaotong instantly understood why Chen Zhou was able to write "The Nameless".

Because Chen Zhou genuinely cares about the ordinary people around him in private.

Chen Zhou is truly amazing!

"By the way, teacher, why did you bring Brother Hong Lei along?" Chen Zhou asked.

"I'm not filming right now, so I thought I'd bring Hong Lei and come see you," Jiang Wei said.

Chen Zhou nodded.

Faced with such a scene, Mao Xiaotong was really flustered, so she quickly said, "Well, I won't bother you any longer, I'll be leaving now."

After speaking, Mao Xiaotong prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute," Chen Zhou called out to Mao Xiaotong.

"What's wrong, Director Chen?" Mao Xiaotong turned around and asked.

"You forgot to pay," Chen Zhou said.

Upon hearing this, Mao Xiaotong slapped her forehead. "Oh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was too nervous."

As she spoke, Mao Xiaotong quickly took out 30 yuan from her bag and handed it to Chen Zhou.

Seeing this, Jiang Wei and Sun Honglei were both amused and exasperated.

A director who made over 100 million yuan is actually earning only 30 yuan here.

This scene is so ridiculous that it's almost terrifying.

After paying, Mao Xiaotong continued walking out.

"Wait," Chen Zhou called out to her again.

Mao Xiaotong turned back blankly, staring at Chen Zhou with her eyes wide open, completely unaware of what Chen Zhou wanted to do.

Chen Zhou didn't speak to Mao Xiaotong, but instead looked at Jiang Wei and said:

"Teacher, do you have any female roles available for me to play?"

"This actress named Mao Xiaotong has quite a talent for acting."

"Can we give her a chance?"

Upon hearing this, Mao Xiaotong's pupils dilated in shock.

She simply couldn't imagine that, after she had gotten such a huge advantage, Chen Zhou would still be willing to take the initiative to find her a job.

Because of her family circumstances, she had to be self-sufficient from a very young age.

But over the years, she had never met anyone who treated her as well as Chen Zhou.

She and Chen Zhou were clearly just strangers who met by chance.

After listening to what Chen Zhou said, Jiang Wei immediately looked at Mao Xiaotong.

"Just come report to my film crew. You'll find out where it is with a little asking around."

"Then you go to the casting director and tell him that I arranged for you to go there, and ask him to find you a supporting actress."

Upon hearing this, Mao Xiaotong was so excited that she almost cried.

She's been playing minor roles all the time, but she's definitely hitting walls everywhere and has been rejected countless times.

But now, he suddenly has the opportunity to participate in a big production.

For her, this was undoubtedly a windfall.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Mao Xiaotong repeatedly thanked Chen Zhou and Jiang Wei, saying, "Thank you, Director Chen, thank you, Director Jiang. I will work hard and strive to get the role."

After saying that, Mao Xiaotong wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and left silently.

After Mao Xiaotong left, Jiang Wei couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? You've taken a fancy to that girl?"

Chen Zhou shook his head: "As I just said, she has acting talent. Anyone else is just acting, but I'm recommending a good actress to you."

At this point, Jiang Wei did not ask any further questions.

Anyway, he took on Mao Xiaotong simply to save face for his student and to smooth things over with social niceties.

For example, he is now using his position as a teacher to get Chen Zhou to come to Hengdian to help him solve his problems.

Then, in the room, Chen Zhou, Jiang Wei, and Sun Honglei chatted, mainly about the filming plan for tomorrow.

The next afternoon.

Chen Zhou arrived at the film set of "Undercover" and met many actors.

Liu Changwei, who plays Shopkeeper Qiu, is the same guy who played "Si Dankang".

And people like Zu Feng.

Mao Xiaotong was also there; Jiang Wei was really generous, directly arranging for her to join the crew.

In front of the entire crew, Jiang Wei solemnly introduced:

"Let me introduce you all. This young man next to me is my student, Chen Zhou. He directed the recently popular movie 'The Nameless.' Please give him a warm welcome."

As Jiang Wei finished speaking, a round of applause broke out in the audience.

"The Nameless" is very popular now, even though the crew members are too busy with work to go to the cinema to see it in person.

But no matter what, we're all in the same circle, and people around us will inevitably bring it up to some extent.

Not to mention, Chen Zhou is now widely regarded by the media as the most talented director of the younger generation.

With this title attached to him, everyone naturally has high expectations for Chen Zhou.

After yesterday's communication, Chen Zhou also learned that the filming of "Lurking" was stuck in a very crucial scene: Shopkeeper Qiu commits suicide!

Despite multiple takes, Jiang Wei remained unsatisfied.

Chen Zhou, who had watched "Lurking" in his previous life, had a very deep impression of this plot.

As an underground worker for our Party, Qiu Zhanggui was arrested and taken to the interrogation room. In order not to expose her other comrades, she chose to bite her tongue and commit suicide.

The male protagonist, Yu Zecheng, also known as Sun Honglei, could only helplessly witness the whole process from the sidelines.

Manager Qiu's actions earned him the respect of even his enemies...

"Teacher, could you show me some of the footage you shot before?" Chen Zhou got straight to the point.

"Okay." Jiang Wei didn't waste any time and immediately pulled up the footage that Chen Zhou had shot multiple times.

Chen Zhou finished reading it quickly and commented, "It definitely lacks something."

Jiang Wei sighed, "What I wanted was the tragic grandeur under the weight of faith, and Yu Zecheng's helpless breakdown as he watched, but the scene just lacked that final touch."

Looking around, Chen Zhou surveyed the layout of the film set.

The cramped interrogation room was surrounded by cold cement walls, with the only light source coming from the overhead chandelier.

At first glance, it seems to fit the storyline, but it's not actually enough.

"The problem lies in the lighting and camera movement," Chen Zhou said confidently. "The lighting is too uniform now, lacking depth, and the camera movement is too conventional, failing to capture the emotional outburst."

"You have an idea?" Jiang Wei asked.

"Mm." Chen Zhou nodded.

Jiang Wei's eyes lit up, as if he had grasped a lifeline: "Okay! From now on, the entire crew will listen to you."

Upon hearing this, Sun Honglei and her staff understood the implications.

Their director, Jiang, is a very demanding director. For him to speak to Chen Zhou in this way, he must have a lot of confidence in him.

Everyone just needs to cooperate.

Chen Zhou immediately sprang into action, shouting to the lighting crew:

"Turn off all the overhead lights and switch to side-backlighting to illuminate the interrogation room from a slant!"

"One lamp shone behind Shopkeeper Qiu, outlining his silhouette, while another dim light swept across half of Yu Zecheng's face."

"Furthermore, using light and shadow to divide the characters is like the internal conflict within Yu Zecheng—half light represents faith, and half shadow represents struggle; light and shadow must be used to hold them firmly!"

The lighting team didn't dare to delay and quickly adjusted the equipment.

Moments later, the originally evenly bright film set was divided into highly dynamic areas by light and shadow.

In the backlight, Manager Qiu's figure exuded a resolute determination to face death.

Sun Honglei stood in the dimly lit area, half of her face was in shadow, while the other half of her face was outlined by soft light, revealing her taut jawline.