Xiao He: "Then what was the point of me working so hard to memorize my lines?! "
"Achoo—Achoo—"
In the Linghui Entertainment office, Director Zhan Min sneezed several times in a row.
Someone nearby immediately pulled out a tissue and handed it to Director Zhan Min.
Director Zhan Min sniffled while taking the tissue, then thanked the person in front of him: "Thank you, President Lin."
"You're welcome."
Lin Cheng had a gentle smile on his face as he began to organize the documents on the desk. After Director Zhan Min composed himself, he continued the previous topic. He stood up, extended his hand towards Director Zhan Min, and said solemnly: "Director Zhan, I look forward to working with you! Our latest project will also rely on your guidance."
"Of course, of course."
Director Zhan Min hurriedly stood up and shook Lin Cheng's hand, his tone filled with emotion: "In the past, I wouldn't have even dared to imagine this project. I also want to thank Linghui Entertainment for giving me this opportunity. I will definitely lead my team to work hard!"
Lin Cheng's smile deepened slightly.
If Linghui Entertainment previously didn't have enough projects to cooperate on, nor the capacity to support multiple teams working simultaneously, then thanks to Jingyou Entertainment, Linghui Entertainment had picked up many big opportunities besides "imperial industry".
So now, there were more projects than they could handle, and they had even brought in several partners and investors.
As for Director Zhan Min of "making the best of a bad situation", Xiao He had specifically reminded Lin Cheng earlier to pay more attention to him and see if they could try to poach him.
The result was as expected: as soon as Linghui Entertainment made contact, Director Zhan Min came over without a second thought. Even Hanbei Entertainment wasn't too angry; they just took the opportunity to ask Linghui Entertainment for a few more projects, preparing to have a taste of Jingyou Entertainment's soup as latecomers.
Anyway, Linghui Entertainment really couldn't handle it all at once, so trading a few projects for a director who could lead a team independently was quite a good deal, right?
Well, let's just say everyone was very satisfied in the end, and all parties took full advantage of this operation.
As for what Jingyou Entertainment thought about it?
Who cares?
...
For the next period, Xiao He returned to his busy life on the Film Crew.
After Old Qian stayed in Hengdian with Qian Wenhao for a few days, Qian Wenhao suddenly had a change of heart. With the recommendation of Screenwriter Qin and Old Qian, he went to a neighboring Film Crew in Hengdian to be a calligraphy teacher, actively finding things to do for himself and regaining his old feelings.
Xiao He believed that it wouldn't be long before Qian Wenhao found his former self.
As for the Film Crew, because of Yun Ziqi's withdrawal, a new actor was quickly found to replace his role.
After Xiao He spent a few more days on reshoots, everything officially got back on track.
Having experienced the mid-way suspension and the long shooting schedule of "imperial industry", everyone on the Film Crew cooperated with each other again, starting to advance the subsequent plot with high efficiency.
Xiao He's daily routine thus became: wake up, memorize lines, film, memorize lines, eat, and sleep, repeating the cycle.
...
One day, a "one-day tour" short drama Film Crew arrived next door to shoot scenes of camping and fighting on the battlefield.
Because there were few people on the other side and not much privacy, Xiao He and his team often saw what was happening inside when they passed by—
"You say: 'General Li, this must not be done!'"
The director stood behind the camera, holding the script in his hand and reading it aloud.
"General Li, this must not be done!"
Another young man repeated somewhat robotically.
"Good, the female lead stands out with her hands behind her back and says: 'You don't need to worry about this matter; I have my own plan in mind.'"
Then came the voice of another girl following suit: "You don't need to worry about this matter..."
Xiao He stopped, leaning on the fence in shock to watch the filming next door.
Xiao Chen also stopped and leaned over to watch with Xiao He.
Judging by {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the scene, this was just a brainless male-oriented power fantasy drama, probably about a modern Male Lead traveling back to ancient times, climbing up step by step with his wit, gaining three thousand beauties, and becoming a winner in life.
This was actually quite normal; everyone loved watching this kind of thing now, and the Film Crew made filming as simple as drinking water, churning out a production in just a few days, satisfying the demand for quantity.
But—
"Are they not even memorizing lines now?"
Xiao He pointed with a trembling finger. After just watching for a while, he already felt his spirit shattering.
The filming equipment of this group wasn't even particularly high-end; the only useful things were a few light reflectors and spotlights on the side. Then, they saw the director of that Film Crew standing off-camera, feeding the lines to the actors one by one, including the actions and expressions they should make. The actors didn't even need to memorize lines; they just needed to stand there, follow the director sentence by sentence, and make the corresponding movements.
No wonder their filming speed was like flowing water; a scene that their "imperial industry" Film Crew might spend several days polishing, they could finish in less than half an hour.
Heavens! How could this even be considered acting? It was like being spoon-fed!
Then what was the point of him working so hard to memorize his lines?
He had been almost driven crazy by that pile of lines lately!
"Has the outside world really developed into this?"
Xiao Chen also sighed, but then comforted Xiao He, "Brother Xiao, it's fine. At least they have someone behind them guiding the lip-syncing. In the past, we even had people just opening their mouths and counting sheep."
"Huh?" Xiao He was shocked. "Counting sheep? Why count sheep?"
"Actually, it's not just counting sheep; you can say other things too—" Xiao Chen curled his lips. "And Brother Xiao, don't look at how these short dramas have become like this now; in fact, this filming mode was originally brought over by people from the long-drama side."
Hehe, don't be shocked. Do you think this mode only exists now?
It has actually existed for a long time, and it was even more excessive. After all, some people can't remember lines, so they really don't memorize them at all.
It's just that the short drama market is now broad, and more people who weren't doing well in the industry have turned there to make a living, so all sorts of messy bad habits were brought over. And because there are so many people, confidentiality awareness has decreased, and to attract attention, people on the internet finally caught a glimpse of it.
Xiao He had heard of people reciting "1234" on set, but in all the years he had been in the industry, although he had been in many Film Crews of various sizes, the overall atmosphere was still good. Even if the actors he knew had this or that problem, at least they didn't do things so ugly, or act so arrogantly as to not memorize lines while filming.
Take Su Shengxi, the worst person Xiao He had ever encountered; even he wouldn't dare to do this. The lines that needed to be memorized could not be missed at all.
How should one put it? This indeed lowered the threshold for actors, but conversely, it also raised the threshold for excellent actors.
If you don't want to be replaced, you can only continue to polish your profession and make yourself more competitive.
Otherwise, you are destined not to be able to go far in the future...
Xiao He let out a long sigh. The feeling of depression from seeing others "taking shortcuts" had vanished, and he decided to go back and memorize a few more scenes of lines.
Xiao Chen, who was beside him, also comforted his Brother Xiao: "It's fine, Brother Xiao. The fast-paced shooting mode will eventually be replaced by even faster AI. What they are doing is undoubtedly consuming their own value; it's completely draining the pond to catch the fish."
"Got it, Teacher Xiao Chen." Xiao He smiled helplessly. "I was just opening my eyes."
The two talked as they walked back.
But during the afternoon shoot, Xiao He insisted on talking to Director Qiu about the neighboring Film Crew's one-on-one line feeding, sighing melancholically.
As expected, he was almost kicked in the butt by Director Qiu: "You brat, you don't learn the good stuff, but you're thinking about the bad shit? It seems you are very free, having the time to watch the neighboring Film Crew film. Come, come, let's add more scenes—"
Xiao He immediately covered his butt and fled: "Director Qiu, don't, don't, I was just saying it for fun! Just to lighten the mood!"
Damn old man! Can't take a joke at all!
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