Chapter 92
The day filming began for the fourth episode of Life, the weather was beautiful.
Lin Zhiqiao skillfully got into the production team’s car and arrived at the film studio city he knew all too well.
It was still early, yet there were already quite a lot of people in the studio city.
When Lin Zhiqiao got out of the car, the others had almost all arrived at the same time too.
Ji Ran glanced around at the surroundings. “Film studio city… so this episode is Xiao Qiao’s home turf?”
Lin Zhiqiao silently nodded beside him.
Jiang Qianqian asked, “What’s our task? Joining a production and filming?”
Tang Zhou shook his head. “One episode only films for seven to ten days. That’s way too short. Joining an actual crew probably isn’t likely.”
With perfect unspoken coordination, everyone turned to look at Lin Zhiqiao, the “host” of this episode.
Only to see the chestnut-haired young man shake his head and say, “Don’t look at me. I don’t know either.”
Ji Ran looked shocked. “You’re the lead this episode and even you don’t know?”
“I don’t.” Lin Zhiqiao sighed. “This time Director Fang and the others made the plan. All I can do is open blind boxes.”
That mysterious?
Everyone exchanged glances until Director Fang stepped forward.
“I’m sure everyone is very curious about this episode’s filming,” Director Fang said unhurriedly. “This episode has Plan A and Plan B. If Plan A fails, then we move into Plan B.”
Ji Ran raised a hand. “What’s Plan A?”
Fang Xinnan did not answer directly, and instead asked, “You all know Director Zhao, right?”
Lin Zhiqiao reacted immediately. “You mean Director Zhao Meng?”
Fang Xinnan nodded, instantly earning a synchronized chorus of “wow” from everyone.
Ji Ran sounded full of anticipation. “Does that mean we’ll be working with Director Zhao this episode?”
“There is a chance.” Director Fang waved a finger. “Director Zhao has been preparing a promotional short recently and is currently casting. Your task today is to audition.”
“Since this episode is Zhiqiao’s home turf, whether or not everyone gets to work with Director Zhao in the end depends on whether the role Zhiqiao chooses can pass the audition. If Zhiqiao passes, then regardless of whether the others pass or not, everyone will enter the production.”
“Of course, Director Zhao will assign suitable roles based on your audition performance. If you don’t do very well, you might become extras. If you perform especially well… you might even have a chance to win a leading role!”
Another synchronized wave of astonished exclamations rose from the group, while Lin Zhiqiao alone wore a bitter expression.
Director Zhao Meng was a famous veteran director in the industry, known for many classic works and holding extremely high prestige in the field.
And just as famous as his reputation was his strictness and harsh standards.
That harshness was not only evident during filming, but even more so in casting.
According to one of Director Zhao’s past interviews, acting skill could be coached, but whether an actor truly suited the role they were auditioning for—he could tell with one glance.
Suitable was suitable. If they weren’t suitable, then no matter how good their acting was, he would never force a fit.
Countless actors wanted desperately to work with Director Zhao, yet in the end, only a very few ever caught his eye.
Lin Zhiqiao did not think he would be lucky enough to become one of them, so he asked, “What if I don’t pass the audition?”
“Then we execute Plan B,” Director Fang said calmly, not forgetting to tease him a little. “Zhiqiao, do you really have so little confidence?”
Lin Zhiqiao nodded honestly. “That’s Director Zhao we’re talking about.”
Ji Ran patted his shoulder. “You’ve got to believe in yourself, Xiao Qiao!”
Lin Zhiqiao wore a miserable expression: [I’m just a tiny unknown actor. Getting into Director Zhao’s production… this humble concubine truly cannot do it, QAQ!]
Pei Ning asked, “What’s Plan B?”
“If you pass Director Zhao’s audition, then you stay in his production and film the short. If you don’t pass… the film studio city is this huge, so there’s bound to be some crew you’d be interested in.” Director Fang said. “Going to audition and experience the life of an ordinary small actor—or even an extra—isn’t that pretty good too?”
Seeing Lin Zhiqiao still looking miserable, Tang Zhou comforted him, “It’s okay. If it doesn’t work, we’ll just go with Plan B.”
‘Xiao Qiao: Please just spare me already, really [crying.jpg]’
‘That’s Director Zhao’s production! Even if it’s just a small short film, it can’t be easy to get into, right?’
‘Good good good, this episode is also known as Gossip King: The Whole Village’s Hope.’
‘Director Zhao’s short film… what kind of genre is it? I’m just a tiny little bit excited [rubbing hands.jpg]’
Director Fang had already gotten the script ahead of time and handed it out to everyone.
Lin Zhiqiao skimmed through it, and his eyes immediately lit up.
This was a promotional short expected to run about ten to fifteen minutes, centered on the theme of protecting ancient cultural relics, using the perspective of the relics themselves to reflect changes in the era and the passage of time.
And among the roles appearing in the short, aside from a small number of human characters needed for the plot, the rest of the humanoid roles were actually anthropomorphized cultural relics.
Whether in theme or in plot, this was undoubtedly an excellent script. Lin Zhiqiao could almost imagine how huge a wave it would stir up across the internet once it aired.
Even a salted fish like Lin Zhiqiao could not help feeling tempted when faced with such a strong script.
But unfortunately, whether he could pass the audition and whether he would get a chance to appear in such a meaningful short film was not up to him.
The short might have a very brief runtime, but there were still quite a lot of roles.
Besides the lead, there were two other relatively important characters. Beyond that, there were more than ten supporting roles, along with many nameless background characters just there to fill space.
Actually, if he wanted to improve his odds of passing, Lin Zhiqiao could choose one of those background parts—in other words, a passerby with no lines and only a quick blink-and-you-miss-it shot—and audition for that.
But… since he had finally developed some real interest, not trying at all would leave him feeling a little unwilling.
[Worst case, if I don’t pass the audition, I’ll just go try for a passerby role afterward.] Lin Zhiqiao muttered inwardly.
No way Director Zhao would be so picky that even a random passerby had to be perfect, right?
Having made up his mind, Lin Zhiqiao flipped through the script several more times and finally chose a middle-ground role.
Not an especially important supporting role, but not a totally faceless background part either.
Lin Zhiqiao quite liked the role, and he quickly memorized the lines, already turning over the audition in his mind.
Familiarizing themselves with the script while hurrying on their way, the group soon arrived at the audition site.
There were even more people than Lin Zhiqiao had expected. The room inside could not hold them all, so the production team had set up several large tents outside.
Lin Zhiqiao and the others quietly lined up in the back.
There were a lot of people, but the audition process was actually moving pretty quickly, and before long it was his turn.
Several people were seated inside the room. At one glance, Lin Zhiqiao spotted Director Zhao in his baseball cap.
Because the short involved ancient cultural relics, its main background setting was historical, which meant every movement and expression of the characters had to fit the era.
Lin Zhiqiao did not have much experience acting in costume dramas, but he had taken acting classes and had a fairly solid foundation in the theory behind physical movement and facial expression.
The time given for the audition was short, so Lin Zhiqiao chose a segment he felt relatively confident about.
After finishing his performance, he stood in place and secretly watched Director Zhao’s face, trying to read something from his expression.
But unfortunately, just like the rumors said, Director Zhao Meng was a man who never smiled casually. Even now, there was not the slightest expression on his face, giving away nothing about what he was thinking.
What Lin Zhiqiao did not know was that from the very moment he stepped into the room, Director Zhao had been secretly paying close attention to him—
So this little actor called Lin Zhiqiao was the one that kid Song Fengshi had mentioned to him?
Zhao Meng let out a cold snort in his heart.
Trying to go through the back door? That would never work with him.
