Host: Chen Cheng.
Physique: 72+5
Writing: 70
Art Department: 40
Cinematography: 30+0.7
Acting skill: 65+0.6
Director: 35+0.2
Skills: Vigorous Energy, Double Stamina, Beginner Swordsmanship, Memory +1, expert horse rider, Machinery Mastery.
He looked over the attributes on his system panel.
His highest attribute was still his physique.
Writing and Art Department had not changed.
Cinematography, acting skill, and directing... Although Chen Cheng had not participated much in these three categories,
after spending a long time on the film set, his attribute points had still increased somewhat, though not by much.
This probably required practical experience.
The skills, however, were another matter.
Chen Cheng discovered that he had gained the skills 【expert horse rider】 and 【Machinery Mastery】.
【Expert horse rider】 was easy enough to understand. It was a skill Chen Cheng had gained after riding a horse.
Perhaps it could not really be called a skill. It was more like a certification title.
It was just that the name sounded somewhat sinister. In any case, whenever Chen Cheng saw this skill, he could not help thinking of things he should not be thinking about.
Chen Cheng was somewhat confused by the Machinery Mastery skill.
Could it be that after merely reading a book, he had mastered the use and maintenance of all kinds of machinery?
Yet the moment he thought about it,
a series of machinery-use guides and maintenance procedures flashed through Chen Cheng's mind.
To test it,
Chen Cheng even ran to the film set, dismantled a piece of machinery, then completely reassembled it. In the end, he found no problems whatsoever.
This delighted Chen Cheng.
With so many skills, Chen Cheng felt even more confident about his upcoming work as a script supervisor.
..
"Young people nowadays are far too unprofessional. They quit the moment they say they don't want to do it anymore."
"Exactly. That script supervisor only worked for a month before packing up and leaving. If the others hadn't stopped me, I would have given him a beating."
"Forget it. Being a script supervisor isn't some prestigious job, and it won't affect us that much. By the way, didn't Producer Liu recommend a script supervisor to us?"
"Yes. He should be coming today."
"Good."
At the film set.
They had not started work yet.
Director Li and the Assistant Director were chatting.
"I'm understanding young people less and less these days."
"Aren't I telling you? That fellow was one thing, but there's also Chen Cheng. He must have water in his brain to actually refuse Director Li's Olive Branch. Does he really like being a Stagehand that much?"
"You can't put it that way. He's a Beijing Film Academy Student."
"So what if he's a Beijing Film Academy Student? There are plenty of Beijing Film Academy Students who can't find work after graduating. Does this kid think that every Beijing Film Academy Student becomes a male lead or female lead the moment they graduate?"
"Perhaps."
Director Li said no more.
He organized the materials.
Although the departure of a mere script supervisor would not have much impact on the filming of their entire production, the handover would still cause some trouble.
At that moment, Chen Cheng arrived at the directorial team to report to the Director.
"Chen Cheng?"
When they saw Chen Cheng,
Director Li and the Assistant Director were both surprised.
"We were just talking about you. I didn't expect you to actually come. What, have you changed your mind?"
"???"
Chen Cheng was somewhat bewildered.
The Assistant Director said, "Don't be embarrassed. Director Li values you, or he wouldn't have asked you to come as a supporting actor attached to the production. Go report to the Executive Director first."
"Um... Director Li, Director Yang, I'm here to work as the script supervisor."
"What?"
The two of them froze.
After a while, Assistant Director Yang finally said, "You're the one Producer Liu recommended to work as the script supervisor?"
"Yes."
"Weren't you working as a Stagehand?"
"I was working as a Stagehand for a while."
"And now you want to be a script supervisor?"
The two of them looked Chen Cheng up and down.
The more they looked, the less they understood.
He had a perfectly good position as a supporting actor attached to the production, yet he actually wanted to be a script supervisor?
However, they had already given him his opportunity. Director Li snorted, "Fine. Since you like being a script supervisor so much, then be one. By the way, have you completed the handover?"
"Yes, Director. The handover is complete."
"Okay. We'll start work shortly."
He said no more.
Clearly, Director Li was displeased.
Chen Cheng said nothing. Instead, he found the clapperboard himself and began preparing for the shoot.
..
Half an hour later.
With a sharp clap, Chen Cheng struck the clapperboard.
Yes.
The most obvious sign of a script supervisor's work, and one of their duties, was operating the clapperboard.
The day's Scene 90, Shot 1... officially began filming.
However,
the clapperboard did more than record the scene and shot numbers. It also recorded the reel number, the Director's name, the Cinematographer's name, and the date.
The reason for writing all this information on the clapperboard was to keep the workload from becoming excessive during post-production editing.
Just imagine.
Without the clapperboard's records, how would you find the footage you wanted among the massive amount of material filmed?
Of course,
after recording this information on the clapperboard, the script supervisor also had to record even more information in the script supervisor's notebook.
For example, important lines, and whether a shot was a long shot, medium shot, close-up, or even an extreme close-up.
Therefore,
although the work of a script supervisor was not difficult, it was rather tedious.
Sometimes, if they failed to remember something, the Director or Cinematographer would immediately give them a scolding.
That was also why the previous script supervisor had resigned.
However, for Chen Cheng, who possessed 【Memory +1】, this was not difficult.
Although Chen Cheng had joined midway and had only just taken over that day,
once he got started, there were practically no problems.
This shocked both Director Li and Assistant Director Li, who had been somewhat displeased with Chen Cheng, at his work ability.
"Chen Cheng, not bad. You've completely gotten the hang of being a script supervisor on your first day."
Assistant Director Yang rarely praised Chen Cheng, but he did so this time.
It had to be said that Chen Cheng's performance today was indeed impressive.
Normally, this level of ability required at least an experienced script supervisor.
Chen Cheng replied modestly, "I spent the whole time on the film crew when I was a Stagehand, so I had some understanding of the script supervisor's work. That's why I was able to get the hang of it so quickly."
"I see."
Assistant Director Yang understood.
However, Chen Cheng then said, "Director Li, there seems to be a problem with this shot."
"What is it?"
"The male lead's hairstyle in the previous scene doesn't seem to be the same as this one."
A film was not shot from beginning to end in a single uninterrupted stretch.
Often, it took a month or two, or even half a year, to finish filming a production.
Sometimes, even scenes that took place on the same day in the story had to be filmed over several days.
As a result,
because of the passage of time, continuity errors often appeared in some shots.
In fact,
if one carefully searched any Film and Television Drama, one would find all sorts of continuity errors, large or small, to one degree or another.
For example, the issue Chen Cheng had mentioned:
the male lead's hairstyle in the first day's shots.
That episode had not been filmed in a single day.
Therefore, the Makeup Artist did not quite remember the hairstyle the male lead had worn when filming that scene.
As a result, the continuity error ended up in the finished production.
"You probably weren't there for the previous scene."
Director Li looked at Chen Cheng, not understanding how he had noticed this issue.
"Director Li, the previous script supervisor recorded it in the notes. I looked through them a few days ago. The male lead's hair in this shot should be somewhat messy, but it has been combed very neatly now."
"Let me take a look."
Director Li found it somewhat hard to believe.
Although the script supervisor's notebook contained records, there was simply too much information in it.
Even if Chen Cheng had been the script supervisor all along, he would have had trouble keeping up with the sheer volume of content, let alone having just taken over.
With some doubt, Director Li pulled up the earlier footage.
It was true.
In the footage filmed a few days earlier, the male lead's hair had indeed become messy after he fell from beneath a tree.
"The hairstyle really is wrong."
Director Li nodded and glanced at Chen Cheng, thinking to himself,
How is this guy so monstrous?
However, Chen Cheng was not finished. "That's not all. Several other actors have problems as well. This actress was wearing jewelry before, but she hasn't put it on properly for today's scene. Another actor is holding two swords instead of one. And another actor was slashed across the face, leaving a scar, but the scar is gone now..."
Regarding the shots they were about to film that day, Chen Cheng continuously pointed out various continuity problems.
As they listened to Chen Cheng point out the problems appearing in the shots one after another, Director Li and Assistant Director Yang exchanged glances. Weakly, Director Li asked, "Is there anything else?"
"Well..."
"Say it if you notice it. It's your duty."
"Director Li, it seems the logo of a Durex condom was captured in the shot just now."
"Ah..."