What is it like to be an assistant to a celebrity?
Wang Biao had seen such topics on the Internet before.
There are all kinds of answers to this topic. Some are assistants who meet very good artists and are well taken care of by them, while others are assistants who meet some weird artists and are thrown into the street in the middle of the night.
The differences between people, even the differences between artists, are because the forest is big enough and there are a large number of specimens.
Wang Biao had high expectations for Lu Yanhe from the beginning. However, Lu Yanhe's feedback was even higher than his expectations, which Wang Biao himself did not expect.
Wang Biao never thought that he would be an assistant for life. When he first received this opportunity, he thought it was a good opportunity, a springboard. Being an assistant to Lu Yanhe for a few years, meeting people and seeing things would be a good learning and growth experience.
However, after he stayed with Lu Yanhe for a long time, this idea slowly disappeared.
It’s not that the idea of “a great learning and growth experience” has disappeared, but the idea of “a stepping stone” has disappeared.
Wang Biao gradually got used to being Lu Yanhe's assistant. Even if he was just an assistant, the world, people, and things he came into contact with were completely different from the world he was in before. Lu Yanhe's talent and hard work made Wang Biao feel that everything he did was worth it. This worthiness was a sense of value and a sense of identity.
He identified with his assistant's work.
-
The next day, Wang Biao followed Lu Yanhe and Liu Bige's team, a group of eight or nine people, and spent a whole day in Jiangzhi.
They are looking for places that can be used as filming scenes for the movie, and which places should be filmed and when to get the most beautiful pictures.
This involves many technical and aesthetic issues.
Wang Biao followed along and listened to these people talk about how to make a good movie, the technical difficulties, and the relationship between actors and camera shots. He had only slept for a few hours the previous night after arriving at the inn, so he thought he would feel sleepy today, but he actually listened very carefully.
He likes to listen to these things very much, even though he may never use them in his lifetime.
Wang Biao felt that he actually liked to be around some awesome people and listen to them talk about some very professional things. In this way, he also had an illusion that he was one of them. Wang Biao realized that this might be the reason why he liked to be Lu Yanhe's assistant.
Only by being around Lu Yanhe could he get to know so many useful people.
-
Liu Bige said, "You have to think clearly. If you shoot this movie here, you must find another location for filming. There are a lot of snow scenes in your script, and Jiang Zhi can't meet this condition at all."
Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "I know."
Liu Bige: "You still want to catch up with Valentine's Day next year. I think this is difficult and basically impossible to achieve. Do you only give yourself one month to edit?"
Lu Yanhe said: "Mainly, I think this movie is suitable for watching in winter."
Liu Bige: "Then move it to the year after next."
Lu Yanhe: "Then this drama will have to wait a year before it is released."
Liu Bige said: "Waiting for a year is not too long for a movie. In fact, I don't think it has to be released on Valentine's Day. Your movie is not a movie purely about love. The story of secret love has summer and winter. Wouldn't it be good to release it in the summer? Students are on vacation now."
“Do you think students are the main audience for this movie?”
"I think so," Liu Bige said. "Only students of that age can truly empathize with what your film is about. To be honest, after people reach the age of 30, their hearts become dull in terms of the daily necessities of life, and you can no longer expect them to be as excited as they were in their teens."
Lu Yanhe: "Are you talking about yourself?"
"roll."
The two men looked at each other and smiled.
In fact, they all understand what Liu Bige meant by this sentence. Why did Lu Yanhe still feel threatened when he saw a movie like "Flowers on the Stars" that obviously did not pursue much in film art? Because Lu Yanhe also knew that in such an era, everyone is busy and exhausted. Compared with a movie that hides the expression in the heart, everyone would rather follow a movie with big openings and closings and more straightforward emotional ups and downs, forget the reality in the cinema, and be emotionally influenced by the movie.
Lu Yanhe knew clearly that perhaps Love Letter would not be able to compete with Flowers on the Stars at the box office. If the quality of Flowers on the Stars really showed the quality in its trailer, Lu Yanhe could foresee that the box office of this movie would definitely be very good.
Liu Bige said: "In fact, your film is quite thankless. For audiences who like literary and artistic films, this film is too commercial, too good-looking, and too straightforward. For audiences who like to watch commercial films, this film is too obscure and too artistic. If you don't go to a certain extreme, you may not please both sides."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
Liu Bige was absolutely right.
He said, “But it’s a very touching story, isn’t it?”
"Yeah." Liu Bige nodded. "It's a good story. If this project asks me to be the director, I don't think I will refuse."
Lu Yanhe: "Well, that's fine."
Liu Bige smiled and said, "Yan He, this is your first movie that you wrote, directed and starred in. Aren't you worried that if the box office performance doesn't meet everyone's expectations, others will lose confidence in you?"
"If you lose confidence in me so easily, then take the opportunity to do so," Lu Yanhe said. "I can't just play it safe in order to keep the market confident in me. In fact, there are no real safe cards in this industry, right? Even the best directors can fail, and even the biggest actors can have bad performances."
Liu Bige: "You haven't flipped over yet."
"So everyone has a false confidence in me now." Lu Yanhe was also helpless.
Liu Bige: "All new stars have to go through this process. Besides, your past record is so brilliant, with no failures, so it's no wonder that others have high expectations for your next movie. So, if the box office of Love Letter is too average, your aura of undefeated legend will no longer exist."
Lu Yanhe said: "Do you think the box office of Love Letter will be average?"
"It depends on how you shoot it, and also on the positioning of the film." Liu Bige said bluntly, "If you make this film into a particularly sensational and bloody film, maybe with the appeal of you and Chen Bige, you can still attract hundreds of millions of box office. If you make it into an art film, you have to find a good positioning and find its audience."
If the script of "Love Letter" wants to be made into a melodramatic youth film, it can be made.
Lu Yanhe: "It's absolutely impossible to make it melodramatic. If it were to be melodramatic, Sister Bi Ge would be the first one not to act in it, and I wouldn't act in it either."
"Then you have to do a good job of promoting it. Don't do that kind of deceptive publicity just for the first-day box office, making people think that this is the kind of movie you want. You trick those audiences into going to the cinema, but they will only come out cursing, and then the reputation of your movie will become very bad, which will deter most audiences from watching it." Liu Bige said, "This movie should still be positioned as a niche art film for promotion, rather than a commercial film for the masses."
Lu Yanhe had actually thought of what Liu Bige said, but he had not said it so conclusively, and he had to position it as an art film to promote it. In fact, Lu Yanhe wrote this movie because it would be liked by many people and it was a classic of the generation. Lu Yanhe subconsciously felt that it would be liked by most people. After Liu Bige said this, Lu Yanhe suddenly realized that although "Love Letter" is a classic, it is also a classic passed down by word of mouth in the hearts of movie fans.
Is it a movie that is well-liked and known by the general public?
The moment this question popped up in Lu Yanhe's mind, Lu Yanhe found that he did not have an accurate answer.
-
Liu Bige also met with Zhang Ruozhi.
Zhang Ruozhi came with Liu Lingmeng.
After school, two girls in school uniform met Lu Yanhe and his friends at a cafe near the school.
The two girls were very surprised to learn that the man in front of them was the director of "Late Spring", because they were both fans of "Late Spring".
Movies like "Late Spring" and "Love Letter" definitely have more female audiences. There is no doubt about that. Zhang Ruozhi and Liu Lingmeng are both loyal fans of "Late Spring". So, meeting Liu Bige, especially the director is also a very young and handsome man, made them both a little excited.
In the minds of the audience, actors and directors are indeed different in the context of a movie. In addition to the fans of the actors themselves, for a movie, if most audiences like a movie and are fans of the movie, they will definitely admire the director of the movie more than the actors. Their liking for the actors is a matter of love for the director and the director of the movie.
The same is true for Zhang Ruozhi and Liu Lingmeng.
In front of Liu Bige, Liu Lingmeng simply threw Lu Yanhe aside. Before, he was chattering like a sparrow, but with Liu Bige, Lu Yanhe became yesterday's flower, and all the questions were asked to Liu Bige. Lu Yanhe didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
However, Lu Yanhe quite liked Liu Lingmeng's personality. A generous, enthusiastic, and optimistic person would not be disliked wherever he went, at most he would be annoying. Liu Lingmeng was far from that level.
Zhang Ruozhi's personality is more gentle.
She listened more and spoke less, but the smile on her face still reminded Lu Yanhe of Miki Sakai.
At this time, several boys walked past the floor-to-ceiling window of the cafe holding basketballs.
One of the boys suddenly knocked on the window outside.
Lu Yanhe and the others turned to look.
A boy with thick eyebrows and big eyes stood outside, grinning at them.
Seeing them looking at him, he waved.
"Zhang Ruozhi, Liu Lingmeng, what are you doing here?!" His voice sounded very sunny.
Because of his movement, several other boys also noticed it and gathered around him curiously.
Lu Yanhe inexplicably felt that the scene happening before his eyes was a bit funny.
Several high school students were leaning on the French windows, looking at them with curiosity.
It's like they are monkeys in a zoo.
Liu Lingmeng waved at them and said, "We are busy, don't disturb us."
As soon as he finished speaking, the boys turned around one by one and ran in from the entrance of the cafe.
Liu Lingmeng said angrily: "These annoying guys never listen to me!"
Those boys ran up to Lu Yanhe and the others, one by one, they all opened their eyes wide and looked at Lu Yanhe with incredible eyes.
"It's really you!"
Lu Yanhe looked at them, smiled, waved his hand, and said, "Yes, it's me."
The leader looked energetic and asked, "Can we sit down?"
"You guys are so annoying." Liu Lingmeng said to them unhappily, "I told you we have something serious to talk about."
"You two are so mean. You came to see Lu Yanhe secretly without telling us." The leading boy complained.
Liu Lingmeng: “…”
Liu Lingmeng: "Why should we tell you? Why are you so annoying!"
When Lu Yanhe saw them like this, he thought of his time at No. 13 Middle School a few years ago.
At that time, everyone in the class often argued with each other like this.
Suddenly I felt a little nostalgic.
Lu Yanhe smiled and said, "Please sit down. I'll buy you some coffee, or... will you be unable to sleep at night if you drink at this time? Just order whatever you want to drink or eat. I'll buy you."
"Really?!" Several boys' eyes lit up immediately and they pulled chairs over and sat down without any hesitation.
-
Opposite the cafe, veteran gangster Zhou Shuchun and his assistant sat in a van, carefully observing the situation opposite the cafe.
"Brother Chun, do you think the heroine of Lu Yanhe's new film will be in this?"
"Of course she is. Is there any need to ask? Otherwise, why has she been staying in Jiangzhi these days?" Zhou Shuchun was holding a telescope in his hand to observe the subtle expressions on the faces of the people opposite him. "Now everyone wants to know who the heroine in Lu Yanhe's new movie is. If we can get her first shot, this piece of information will give us a break for half a year."
The assistant's eyes suddenly widened.
"so smart?"
"Yes." Zhou Shuchun nodded, "So, you must find it accurately and don't make any mistakes."
The assistant asked, "Brother Chun, why do you think the heroine of Lu Yanhe's new film has attracted so much attention?"
Zhou Shuchun: "Don't you think that Lu Yanhe is not a top-notch director, and his new film is not important enough to make a newcomer famous?"
The assistant nodded.
"Many people are like you, only seeing the surface but ignoring a very important fact."
"What facts?" the assistant asked, still confused.
Zhou Shuchun said: "From the other five people in "Friends", to the three protagonists in "Three Mountains", to the young people in "Late Spring", you can see how many popular actors have emerged from the plays he has taken on."
The assistant looked surprised.
"Is this his credit?"
"Whether it's his credit or not is another matter, but, apart from the all-star cast of The Seventeenth Floor, every drama he starred in has brought out many new talents. It can be said that nearly half of the new and well-known talents that emerged in the entertainment industry last year came from projects starring Lu Yanhe. Now do you know why everyone is so concerned about the heroine of Lu Yanhe's new movie? Because it is very likely that this heroine will be a top actress in the future."
The assistant was a little confused and asked, "Isn't this too exaggerated?"
"Exaggeration? No, not at all." Zhou Shuchun said, "I'll just leave it at that. You wait and see."
-
Lu Yanhe and the others did not notice that they were being photographed by the paparazzi.
There are fewer and fewer paparazzi following Lu Yanhe now, mainly because there is nothing explosive to be photographed in Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe's life is unremarkable. Most of the time, he is either on the crew or at school, and there is nothing to film.
No matter how many dynamic photos are taken, they can only make Lu Yanhe's fans happy, but there is not much economic return for the media. Lu Yanhe himself is not very resistant to the media or paparazzi.
Whenever he met the media or paparazzi, he would just let them take pictures. Lu Yanhe also always felt that he had nothing to be ashamed of.
Even if he was photographed, for example, kissing Chen Siqi on the roadside, it caused a lot of discussion, that is, everyone talked about it.
So, over time, Lu Yanhe lost his sensitivity in this regard.
It was Zou Dong who noticed something was wrong first.
"It seems like we were caught up by a car," said Zou Dong.
Lu Yanhe recognized who the person in the car was at the first moment.
"Zhou Shuchun." Lu Yanhe said.
Zou Dong asked: "Who is Zhou Shuchun?"
When Lu Yanhe was dealing with Zhou Shuchun, Zou Dong had not arrived yet.
"A very annoying and clingy reporter. He's called a reporter, but I think he's more like a paparazzi," Lu Yanhe said. "After the college entrance exam, he pestered me and my classmates, wanting to find out whether I would choose Zhenhua or Yuming. The few times we met later, we were never happy."
Zou Dong: "Oh, paparazzi, that's okay."
"Do you still think you are the murderer who is here to hunt me down?" Lu Yanhe heard a little regret in Zou Dong's tone and didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "We are not filming a movie."
Zou Dong actually didn't regret anything else, but as a bodyguard, he always felt that he didn't show much of his professional value by staying with Lu Yanhe. If he really came to cause trouble, Zou Dong thought it was also an opportunity to show off his skills.
Lu Yanhe said: "But why did he follow Jiang Zhi here? What does he want to take pictures of me?"
He asked Wang Biao: "Do I have any news about me now?"
He thought that he had become a hot topic again because of something, which attracted Zhou Shuchun.
Wang Biao shook his head and said, "No, Brother Lu, you are not on the hot search list now. The most popular thing about you right now is this new movie "Love Letter". Are you trying to find out more about "Love Letter"? "
Lu Yanhe suddenly understood.
This is really possible.
Zhou Shuchun came here specifically, couldn't he just to film some material related to "Love Letter"?
For example, the heroine.
Lu Yanhe suddenly came back to his senses.
Now, the most concerned thing about "Love Letter" is who will be the heroine?
With so many people coming for the interview, all the agents are asking for relevant information.
Not only in the industry, but also on the Internet, people are always asking who the heroine of "Love Letter" is.
Lu Yanhe's expression suddenly changed.
Because he realized that this was something that could have serious consequences.
He called Chen Ziyan immediately.
"What do you mean? Zhou Shuchun came to Jiangzhi to take pictures of you?"
"Yeah." Lu Yanhe explained, "Brother Dong found that there was a car following us. I took a picture of the car with my phone and zoomed in. I found Zhou Shuchun sitting inside."
"What's wrong with this guy? He disappeared for a while and then came back again?" Chen Ziyan pondered for a moment, "Are you worried that he would take pictures of Zhang Ruozhi and expose her to the Internet in advance?"
"Yes." Lu Yanhe said, "Sister Zi Yan, I hope that before the movie is released, Zhang Ruozhi will try her best to keep people in the state of not knowing who she is. This way, when she appears in the movie, she will give everyone a surprise at first sight."
Chen Ziyan: "But now you don't know what Zhou Shuchun has filmed?"
"Well, but I don't dare to take the risk. This afternoon, Liu Bige and I met with Zhang Ruozhi. Maybe he has seen it, or maybe he has guessed it."
"He doesn't need to confirm whether she is the heroine of your movie. He only needs to release a suspected smoke bomb, which is enough to send Zhang Ruozhi to the hot search."
"Ah."
Chen Ziyan immediately understood what Lu Yanhe was worried about.
"First, we need to find a reason for you to stay in Jiangzhi." Chen Ziyan quickly sorted out her thoughts and began to instruct Lu Yanhe, "I suggest that you take a photo with Liu Bige and his photography team later. It would be best to take a photo during dinner. It should be casual and not too deliberate. Just say that you and them are here to scout locations for the new movie."
Lu Yanhe: "Well, that's no problem, we'll shoot it when we get to the hotel."
"It's better to officially announce that Liu Bige will be the director of photography for your new film." Chen Ziyan said, "Otherwise, if you, who usually don't share such private photos, suddenly post a group photo like this, it will be unknown who did it. Zhou Shuchun is very shrewd and may not be able to see the trick."
Lu Yanhe: "Okay."
Chen Ziyan said: "The second thing is to communicate with Bi Ge. It's not a big problem, but you will have to endure the criticism for a while."
"Infamy?" Lu Yanhe was puzzled, wondering what solution Chen Ziyan had come up with.
-
That night, Zhou Shuchun's assistant was checking the photos taken by his camera when he suddenly heard Zhou Shuchun curse "Fuck!"
The assistant was startled and looked at Zhou Shuchun in confusion.
"What's wrong, Chun?"
Zhou Shuchun rolled his eyes in anger and said, "It's a wasted trip. Let's leave tomorrow."
"Leave?" The assistant looked puzzled and asked, "Why are you leaving? Aren't you going to take pictures of the two girls who met Lu Yanhe today?"
Zhou Shuchun said, "What the hell, if you open your phone and check Weibo now, you'll know what's going on. Damn it, since Chen Bige was chosen as the leading actress, why are they still pretending to hold an audition? Wasn't there news that they were going to cast a new actress? And it turned out to be Chen Bige again!"
Ten minutes ago, Lu Yanhe posted a photo of him having dinner with Liu Bige and others.
It was just a very ordinary selfie, announcing that Liu Bige would serve as the director of photography for "Love Letter".
Five minutes ago, "Love Letter" suddenly registered an official account and released a message that the male and female protagonists of the film will be played by Lu Yanhe and Chen Bige.
As soon as the news came out, the Internet exploded.
Not only is the internet in an uproar, but the industry is also in an uproar.
Many people have heard that the film was looking for newcomers. What happened? Why did they suddenly stop looking for newcomers? Did they choose Chen Bi Ge again?
Discussions arose.
When the actresses who had received interview invitations before saw the news, they were furious and felt that they had been tricked.
Jiang Yuqian was also stunned when she saw the news.
At the beginning, Lu Yanhe told her in person that he wanted to use a newcomer as the heroine of this movie, so how come it suddenly became Chen Bige?
Jiang Yuqian hesitated for a moment and called Lu Yanhe.
She worries that something must have gone wrong behind the scenes in the film's production to have caused the change.
Jiang Yuqian had no idea how many times she had seen this kind of situation.
When the call was connected, Jiang Yuqian immediately asked Lu Yanhe: "Yanhe, is there a funding problem for Love Letter, or what? You told me before that you wanted a new actress for the female lead, why did you suddenly announce Sister Bi Ge? Did the investors require that a celebrity must be used?"
Lu Yanhe didn't expect that the first person who called him to show concern would be Jiang Yuqian.
He quickly explained the whole story to Jiang Yuqian.
Jiang Yuqian then realized that the role for which the audition was held did exist, and that a candidate had already been found. Chen Bige played the adult heroine. To be precise, this movie had two heroines.
She was stunned.
"In order to keep it secret and prevent the girl from being exposed, I can only use this trick to make Zhou Shuchun think that the person he photographed is not the heroine." Lu Yanhe said, "I hope he can give up."
-
"Now that I think about it, they met those two girls in the cafe that afternoon. It might not be for any other reason. Didn't a few boys come later?" the assistant said to Zhou Shuchun, "They might just be sitting and chatting with a few students. It's obvious that those boys know those two girls. Maybe they took a fancy to them and wanted to invite them to appear in the movie?"
Zhou Shuchun looked very unhappy.
This time, he and his assistant traveled so far and changed trains, just to get some exclusive news about "Love Letter".
I thought he had witnessed the secret heroine of this film, but now that the film has been officially announced, I found out that he was wrong.
"..."Anyway, he didn't seem to have any smooth sailing here with Lu Yanhe.
The assistant said, "Brother Chun, I just saw news online that Xu Yiren seems to be in contact with Longyan Films. Why don't we go and take a photo of her?"
Zhou Shuchun complained: "Is there anything about her that is worth filming? Has she discussed cooperation with Longyan Film Company on the next film? How many people do you think are interested in this kind of thing? Besides her fans, who else would be interested in this kind of thing?"
The assistant said, "But, Chun Ge, Longyan Pictures is going to launch a new film directed by Liu Bige in the second half of the year. It is said that Li Zhibai will star in it. Maybe Xu Yiren went to discuss this film."
Zhou Shuchun's attitude changed slightly.
"Is this your guess, or what?"
The assistant said, "This is the only movie that Longyan Pictures is going to start shooting in the next six months. I think Xu Yiren is interested in it. The movie "My Home I Haven't Returned To for a Long Time" was a big hit at the box office, and she is very proud of herself now. I heard that Ruyi Films wanted her to make a movie with an actual investment of more than 80 million yuan, but she refused. If she is willing to contact Longyan Pictures at this time, it must be a better project than this one. After looking around, it can only be Liu Bige's project."
"You are a teachable young man. Your analysis proves that you have finally got the hang of it." Zhou Shuchun nodded and said, "Let's dig deeper into this next."
The assistant smiled brightly.
"it is good."
-
Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan waited for a few more days, and only when they saw that no news about the heroine of "Love Letter" was exposed on the Internet did they breathe a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, it was not exposed.
The secret was kept.
If it wasn't kept secret, would the heroine still use Zhang Ruozhi?
This question needs to be questioned.
Lu Yanhe didn't know the answer either.
Chen Ziyan said: "The only aftereffect now is that you have been criticized quite harshly. They all said that since you chose Chen Bige as the female lead in the end, you held such a grand interview beforehand, which was simply fooling everyone and wasting everyone's time."
Lu Yanhe: "I can only let everyone misunderstand this for now. I will have a chance to clarify it after the movie is released."
Chen Ziyan: "Well, but among the people who auditioned, didn't you think there were any good ones? Was there no face that you thought was suitable for a movie?"
"Of course there are, but none of them are as suitable as Zhang Ruozhi for Huaijingshu in high school."
"If you think they are good, you can also select them and have them appear in one or two scenes." Chen Ziyan said, "These people come to you for auditions just to find opportunities. If you can help them, do so. Don't make things difficult for them."
Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "Okay."
There are many school-related scenes in Love Letter, which indeed require a lot of students. According to the interview requirements at the time, many auditioners were actually fully capable of playing high school students.
Lu Yanhe, together with everyone else, reviewed all the previous interview and audition videotapes again, selected seven actresses, contacted them one by one, and asked them if they would like to join the movie "Love Letter" and play a small role in it.
In the end, all seven actresses said they wanted to come.
Just as Chen Ziyan said, according to the initial interview requirements, the actresses who came to "Love Letter" for an interview were either newcomers or those who had debuted for only a few years and were not yet known to everyone. These were the times when they needed opportunities the most.
Lu Yanhe selected seven people this time. Their performance in a few scenes in "Love Letter" may become an opportunity for them to participate in the next play.
Whether it was Zhou Shuchun's matter or the matters of these seven actresses, they made Lu Yanhe realize how much he still had shortcomings in dealing with people and things.
Lu Yanhe kept it in mind silently to remind himself that he should learn from it when encountering similar things in the future.
-
No more today. I was so tired. I couldn’t open my eyes when I wrote 4,000 words, but I persisted and wrote until 8,000 words.
Everyone should go to bed early and don’t stay up late.
See you tomorrow. (End of chapter)
