lcionline Chapter 45 Actors, Please Take Your Seats
Chapter 45 Actors, Please Take Your Seats
As the National Day holiday draws to a close, the festive atmosphere in the capital is gradually fading.
The red flags are still on display in the streets and alleys, but the number of pedestrians has clearly decreased sharply.
On the second floor of the Faculty Building, there is a small meeting room that has been temporarily requisitioned.
Lin Cong sat at one end of the long table, with an A4 sheet of paper spread out in front of him.
Equipment rental list, prop purchase details, personnel labor budget, catering, transportation and miscellaneous expenses... a dense array of numbers filled the paper.
The door was pushed open.
Ji Tao walked in with two bottles of mineral water, placed one next to Lin Cong, unscrewed the other, and took a swig.
"A rough estimate is enough; it's impossible to calculate the exact cost of the production."
He sat down opposite the grove, his tone casual, as if he had been there before.
Lin Cong didn't reply, his gaze still fixed on the paper, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
Ji Tao sensed something was wrong, put down the water bottle, and leaned forward: "What's wrong?"
Lin Cong turned the paper around and pushed it in front of him, tapping the "scenery design" line twice with his fingertip.
"He only filled in 10,000 for the set design cost."
Ji Tao looked down and raised his eyebrows slightly.
Ten thousand.
A 400-square-meter factory, transformed from an empty space into a filming location, would cost at least 30,000 to 50,000 yuan, even with the simplest set design.
If you're looking for quality, even 100,000 or 200,000 won't be enough.
"Did he forget to fill in a zero?" Ji Tao asked tentatively.
Lin Cong glanced at him but didn't say anything.
Ji Tao also fell silent for a while, then said, "Take me to the film set."
Lin Cong glanced at him in surprise and tentatively asked, "Are you serious?"
Ji Tao nodded.
Lin Cong reminded him, "Even if it was the Shanghai circle that funded it, so many days have passed. Even if Ye Daying's side is slow to react, they should have noticed by now."
Ji Tao said nonchalantly, "Whether you lose or not, it doesn't matter whether I go or not; whether you win or not, it still doesn't matter."
Lin Cong stopped there after hearing this.
It's impossible to advance in this industry without offending anyone.
From the moment Tan Lin took over "Internet Addict's Diary", Ji Tao didn't have many options left.
……
The two walked out of the teaching building one after the other.
The gray Santana continued northward along the dirt road in the western part of the city.
Half an hour later, the gray-white factory buildings appeared and disappeared at the end of the road.
Lin Cong parked the car on the side of the road, turned off the engine, and opened the car door.
Ji Tao got out of the passenger seat, his gaze falling on the factory building:
"It doesn't seem like anything has changed."
Lin Cong didn't answer, and started walking forward.
The tin gate was ajar, with a sliver of light shining through the crack.
She reached out and pushed the door open, and the light spread wider through the crack in the door.
Ji Tao followed behind, peeked out, and froze instantly.
The factory was brightly lit.
The 400-square-meter space was divided into three functional areas:
On the left is the living room setting, with a high-end sofa and wool carpet in the center, and art illustrations hanging on the wall;
On the right is an open kitchen with a gleaming island, neat cabinets, and even the spatulas on the stove are arranged meticulously.
In the middle to back position was a long table with a script, a walkie-talkie, and several bottles of mineral water on it.
Ji Tao opened and closed his mouth, staring blankly at Lin Cong:
"Are you sure he only spent ten thousand, and not a million?"
Lin Cong remained silent.
Ji Tao walked around again, tapping here and touching there.
The kitchen cabinets are made of solid wood, and the faucet is surprisingly made of brass; it's quite heavy, and you can tell how much it weighs just by holding it.
The artwork on the wall is delicately painted with calm colors; any one of them could easily be priced in a gallery.
He opened a cabinet door.
The interior was crammed full of various porcelain plates and bowls.
Ji Tao took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to call the police, and questioned:
"Where did these things come from?"
Lin Cong finally spoke:
He said he borrowed it from a friend.
Ji Tao opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know what to say.
"Director Lin!"
At that moment, a stagehand spotted the two people behind the kitchen set.
He jogged up to the grove and asked curiously, "Why are you here? Didn't you say you weren't coming today?"
"Let's take a look while we're on the way."
Lin Cong's gaze passed over the stagehand's shoulder and landed on the space that was divided into neat and orderly sections:
"How's the progress?"
The stagehand flipped through the pages in the clipboard and reported to the director in rapid speech:
"The living room set was all in place yesterday afternoon, and the lighting crew is setting up the lights. However, the scale of the film set exceeded expectations, so we need to temporarily bring in another batch of lights. But it won't affect the start of filming, and it will definitely be finished before the day after tomorrow."
Lin Cong hummed in agreement, then asked, "Where are the actors?"
The production assistant pointed in a certain direction deep inside the factory: "Director Lin is conducting interviews."
Director Lin… Lin Cong gave the stagehand a deep look and said meaningfully, “You two get along quite well.”
The stagehand paused, thinking he had said something wrong, and was momentarily at a loss for words.
Lin Cong didn't continue the topic, waving his hand to signal him to get back to his work.
The stagehands, as if granted a pardon, scurried away and disappeared behind the set.
Ji Tao joked, "What's wrong? Feeling like your position on set is in jeopardy?"
Lin Cong ignored him and strode deeper into the factory.
The further you go in, the more people there are.
The lighting crew was setting up lights, several workers were squatting on the ground laying cable trays, and two young girls were sitting on folding chairs, holding scripts and muttering to themselves.
At the very back, a small area was temporarily partitioned off using several soundproof panels.
Lin An sat behind a folding table, wearing a dark blue hoodie with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, holding a resume in his hand and looking down at it.
A young girl, in her early twenties, sat opposite him. She had regular features and bright eyes. Her hands were folded on her knees, and her back was ramrod straight.
"Are you sure you want to audition for our production team?" Lin An looked at the girl in front of him with a strange expression.
The girl blinked and asked curiously, "Can't I audition?"
"Of course, but..."
Lin An was silent for a few seconds, then said sincerely:
"Our production budget is insufficient, and we may not be able to find an actor who matches your level of fame to act opposite you."
The girl smiled and waved her hand, saying, "I don't have any status at all. I've just been lucky enough to shoot a few sets of photos with guys."
Not just a few groups, but several groups, plus several movies and TV series... Lin An muttered to himself, then nodded and said:
"Whatever makes you happy."
The girl was taken aback: "Huh?"
Lin An's expression changed slightly, and he quickly tried to cover it up:
"What I mean is..."
He paused for a moment, his mind racing, trying to reconcile his words:
"What I mean is, if you're happy, the rest of the crew is happy, everyone's happy."
The girl blinked, then chuckled, her smile captivating and charming.
"You're a pretty interesting person."
Lin An smiled and said, "You're quite interesting too."
A generation's goddess, Gao Yuanyuan, auditioned for a low-budget film crew, and the absurdity of it shattered all conventional wisdom.
Either he has a personality problem, or he has an intelligence problem; either way, it's quite interesting.