Becoming a Movie Star, System Only Finished Loading After Ten Years
Chapter 101 - 100 My Cat Can Do Somersaults (Request for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 101: Chapter 100 My Cat Can Do Somersaults (Request for Monthly Tickets)

Luckily, shooting quickly resumed, or Qi Hao really didn’t know if he might have some issues with software hardening.

The next scenes were much simpler.

Although there were some, um, physical movements, the camera no longer focused on faces but instead panned to the mountain stream.

This gave it a touch of aesthetic appeal.

After all, it’s a film, not a low-budget flick.

Then Qi Hao and Wan Qian lay in the donkey cart, pulled by a donkey to the "exhibition."

The difficulty wasn’t too high.

A donkey will naturally return to eat when it’s hungry.

The only challenging part was training the donkey to untie the rope with its mouth. Despite the handler’s many successful practices, it was still full of NGs.

Finally, it was completed through editing.

The shots of the cart along the road were no big deal; they mainly focused on the donkey and could be filmed from various angles.

The only thing to be mindful of was that Qi Hao and Wan Qian shouldn’t fall asleep while lying in the cart.

Eventually, the donkey cart stopped in the village, and Qi Hao and Wan Qian became the center of attention.

The two hid under a blanket.

Well, the cameraman was actually hiding under the blanket too, capturing their awkward expressions.

The cameraman pulled off all kinds of cheeky moves during filming.

For instance, in scenes of forced intimacy, the creepy guy usually lunged at the cameraman instead of the leading lady, sometimes even climbing on the cameraman.

Vulgar language was directed at the cameraman too.

Anyway, wanting to be a cameraman requires a strong heart.

Don’t think being a cameraman means photographing beautiful women and having some indescribable events with models.

Look at a certain Mr. Chen from Xiangjiang, and you’ll see.

"OK, we’re good."

Li Dawei was very satisfied with the effect.

He thought they wouldn’t finish shooting these scenes today and would have to continue tomorrow.

Because sunlight had to be considered, these scenes couldn’t be filmed continuously.

Upon hearing the director’s words, Qi Hao quickly put on his clothes; the temperature in the mountains was a bit lower than outside.

Though it’s only October, it’s already chilly.

Having gotten dressed, Qi Hao and Wan Qian felt somewhat awkward, especially after just being so close together.

In reality, it’s normal to have reactions while filming.

They’re all young people, full of energy, and both sides can sense the reactions that naturally happen.

"Alright, let’s wrap up for the afternoon. Let’s eat!"

Li Dawei glanced at the sun.

Day scenes definitely wouldn’t be filmed anymore, and they had surpassed the filming schedule, so no need to push too hard.

After eating, they could continue filming.

This movie has several night scenes.

The village set up a shed for the crew, with several large stoves for lunch and dinner.

If filming at night, they could even have some midnight snacks.

The ingredients were mostly grown in the village, with some bought from the town.

They were experienced at hosting events.

Big pot meals weren’t super delicious, but the healthy ingredients and generous seasoning made them much tastier than box meals.

The night scenes mainly featured Qi Hao getting beaten up.

In the vast sea of people, meeting is an omen.

After getting with a local girl and being seen by the whole village, a beating was only reasonable.

If they were truly ruthless, beating him to death would be nothing.

Quite a few actors in the film were genuinely from the village.

Although lacking acting experience, as long as things were explained clearly, letting them act naturally was fine.

Plus, they were truly budget-friendly.

"What are you staring at!" Caifeng’s brother grabbed Qi Hao and started hitting.

"Cut!"

Li Dawei called to stop; being affordable was one thing, but they were really bad at acting.

"Director, what’s wrong again?"

"This kind of hitting... you can’t actually hit, but it has to look real..."

Li Dawei explained the scene to several villagers.

"Just pretend... pretend I’ve really slept with your daughters. Imagine if someone were to sleep with your daughter..."

Qi Hao wasn’t insulting them; he felt the villagers weren’t immersing themselves in the scene.

If your daughter was slept with, but you acted like it was just a joke, when would this scene ever finish shooting!

Based on his estimate, this should have been done in half an hour.

It’s been an hour now, and they’re still laughing around.

"Young man, if you marry our daughter, that’s alright too..."

Is there such a good deal?

For someone like Qi Hao, who’s good-looking and wealthy, taking a liking to their ugly daughter would surely be hitting the jackpot.

"Definitely won’t take responsibility," Qi Hao deliberately provoked the villagers.

The villagers finally got angry.

"Drag him out for a beating, beat him to death!"

Three people took turns giving him a good thrashing.

Thankfully, they knew they couldn’t really beat him; the director had warned them beforehand that if an actor gets hurt, they’d be held responsible.

"You ruined my daughter’s reputation!" Caifeng’s dad angrily shouted at the camera.

"I think it’s the donkey’s fault. If not for the donkey, we wouldn’t have been so embarrassed." Qi Hao sat dazed on the ground, trying to shift the blame.

"You mess up and blame it on the donkey," Caifeng’s brother kicked over angrily, yelling, "Did the donkey strip you, or did the donkey make your bed?"

Several villagers got into character more and more.

Even when Qi Hao kneeled and pleaded for them to marry off their daughter to him, it didn’t work.

Survive today’s rumors, and you’ll welcome even more rumors. Back then, marrying the daughter far away was the best solution.

The main issue was Qi Hao’s character Ma Jie didn’t seem reliable.

No one would want to marry their daughter to someone who’d blame everything on a donkey.

Back then, there was no "returning home" saying.

They say you can’t have both fish and bear’s paw, but you can be poor and single. Someone like Ma Jie is earning less than the villagers.

After a few villagers left, they filmed Qi Hao’s crying scene.

His crying was a bit... funny.

This movie, although set in a challenging era.

Is positioned as black humor, absurd comedy.

It’s quite different from past films about the educated youth, the movie doesn’t particularly emphasize the protagonist’s identity as educated youth, nor does it exaggerate the romantic or suffering experiences of their life, but rather authentically or vividly recreates the absurdity of that era.

"That’s about it for today. I’ll go back and do some editing."

Li Dawei felt the material was sufficient.

Watching it together, these few villagers didn’t really perform well, but piecing it together might just work.

The first day’s filming wrapped up.

There was no place to stay in the village, at least not for so many people.

Like the lead Qi Hao, they definitely had to return to the county town.

By the time Qi Hao finished filming night scenes and returned, Wan Qian was already asleep.

Visiting at this hour, plus having acted in scenes like that during the day, really borders on sexual harassment.

Time flies like an arrow, and years shrink like a turtle.

Qi Hao often had to film night scenes, while Wan Qian rarely did.

Over half a month went by, and that was basically how it went.

However, fortune smiled upon Qi Hao, and he finally found a chance to perform a task.

This scene involved Qi Hao driving a donkey cart over a bridge, with Hei Qi playing tricks that caused Qi Hao to tumble into the river.

And it didn’t end there.

Hei Qi also overturned a bucket of dung water from the donkey cart, drenching Qi Hao from head to toe.

The scene couldn’t be filmed in one go.

After all, it was a face-off between Qi Hao and Hei Qi.

No one knew why these two donkeys were called Hei Liu and Hei Qi, but they were ranked similarly to Room 17.

Qi Hao acted well, but Hei Qi didn’t.

Animals and kids don’t follow directions, they can’t act according to the director’s wishes.

That’s why Hollywood would rather spend money on CGI animal animations than use real animals in filming.

When Hitchcock filmed "Room 17," he planned to shoot a scene with hundreds of cats running down stairs, but after several days without success, he had to give up.

Hei Liu and Hei Qi were picked as the "acting faction" from dozens of donkeys.

But they often didn’t behave properly.

Beating or scolding them was useless; they wouldn’t understand anyway, so it was all down to luck.

You never know when it might finally work.

Hei Qi’s uncooperativeness made things difficult for Qi Hao, who not only fell into the water multiple times but also got drenched with "dung water" repeatedly.

Of course, this dung water wasn’t real.

It has nothing to do with professionalism.

There’s no need to really drench oneself in dung water when something resembling it can be used.

An idol like Qi Hao getting doused with something like dung water is actually already showing professionalism.

"OK, that’s a wrap, quickly, quickly drink ginger tea!"

It was almost the end of October.

The temperature in the mountains dropped significantly and there was a hefty wind, making it easy for actors to catch a severe cold.

If one’s body is weak, pneumonia is also possible.

If Qi Hao, the lead, gets sick, the whole crew’s progress would be stalled.

Qi Hao frowned while drinking ginger tea, then said goodbye to the director and went straight to the hotel to shower and rest.

After all, he was covered in broth from head to toe.

After showering, Qi Hao knocked on Wan Qian’s door.

"Wan Qian, can I watch TV in your room if it’s working, and if it wouldn’t be any bother? My friend is in ’Harbin Under the Night,’ and today’s episodes are airing."

The reason was a bit awkward, but it wasn’t a big deal.

Actually, any reason would do; the key is whether she’d want to let him in or not.

It’s like a guy pursuing a girl.

If the girl is interested, even if you tell her your cat can somersault, she’d be excitedly at your door, possibly even bringing protective gear.

If she’s not interested, it doesn’t matter that you say you can somersault.

"Yeah, it works, I was watching a show in the afternoon."

Wan Qian opened the door, inviting Qi Hao inside.

"Have you been staying at the hotel all the time?" Qi Hao sat down after entering, without looking around aimlessly.

To avoid seeing things he shouldn’t.

"Yes, I go over for scenes when needed, otherwise I’m here watching movies or plays; I don’t have a lot in my schedule, sometimes I even play games."

Wan Qian felt very comfortable with Qi Hao, naturally shutting the door.

If it were another man, she might not dare to close the door.

Or she’d want to call her assistant to feel secure.

Mainly because Qi Hao’s behavior while filming seemed like a gentleman; he never took advantage during scene preparations.

Wan Qian had heard about it.

The original script had more explicit intimate scenes, but Qi Hao asked to tone them down.

Otherwise, before rolling the donkey cart, there might’ve been kissing, and scenes in the cart would have close-up shots.

"Ah, plays, you’re quite something, knowing how to act in plays."

Qi Hao offered some praises.

"Actually it’s not hard to act in plays, if you’re interested, I can introduce you; you act better than me, it wouldn’t be hard for you to act in plays."

Before working with Qi Hao, Wan Qian had her pride.

She thought she was from a formal training background and always busy with rehearsals, that she would definitely outshine Qi Hao in acting.

But when it came to their actual scenes together, she felt pressured.

"Well, I’ll look into it later."

After chatting for a while, Qi Hao turned on the television.

Sure enough, it was playing "Harbin Under the Night," with Lu Yi and Li Xiaoran in the lead roles, making it indeed his friend’s show.

Wan Qian took a glance at the TV-watching Qi Hao, amused to find he really was there to watch TV.

He wasn’t even bothered to look at her once.