“Xiao Wu.”
“Chen Cheng?”
Hengdian.
The Return of the Condor Heroes production crew.
By this time, quite a few behind-the-scenes personnel had already joined the production.
When Makeup Artist Xiao Wu saw Chen Cheng appear with the film crew, he could hardly believe it. “Holy crap, Chen Cheng, what are you doing here? Why didn’t you tell me you were joining the film crew?”
“I wanted to surprise you. So, how was it? Were you surprised?”
“Very surprised. I almost thought I was seeing a ghost.”
“What are you saying?”
“Hahaha, Chen Cheng, I’m so happy to see you. By the way, what position do you have with the film crew?”
“What other position would it be? Stagehand.”
“Get lost. The film crew is only in the setup phase. Why would it need a Stagehand?”
“Fine, I’ll tell you the truth. Script supervisor.”
“You’re pulling my leg again, right? They haven’t even started filming, so why would they need a script supervisor? I’ll give you one last chance. Keep joking around, and we’re through.”
“All right, all right. I’m not a Stagehand or a script supervisor. I’m an assistant.”
“What kind of assistant?”
“Just an assistant. Are there different ranks of assistants?”
“Of course.”
Xiao Wu said, “It’s not your first time working with a film crew. There’s a huge difference between assistants. You have Art Department assistants, martial arts assistants, camera assistants, and so on... Of course, the most impressive one is the assistant director.”
He paused halfway and looked at Chen Cheng. Xiao Wu seemed to think of something. “Holy crap, don’t tell me you’re the assistant director?”
“Uh, I guess I am.”
“What do you mean, ‘I guess’? Holy crap, Chen Cheng, you’ve made it big! Please look after me. Wait, wait—whose assistant director are you?”
“Director Yu’s.”
“Good heavens... Come, come, Director Chen, sit here and have some tea.”
Pulling Chen Cheng along, Xiao Wu displayed his utmost enthusiasm. He poured Chen Cheng tea, then immediately began kneading his shoulders and rubbing his legs.
Chen Cheng naturally knew Xiao Wu was joking and pushed him away. “I’m not interested in men.”
“No problem. I’ll make arrangements for you tonight.”
“Arrange what?”
“You know.”
“Ahem... Don’t look at me like that. I don’t know. I really don’t.”
Chen Cheng hurriedly waved his hands.
How could they discuss that sort of thing in public?
If they were going to talk about it,
they should do so in private.
“Come on, I’m treating you to a welcome dinner.”
“Let’s go.”
The production had only recently been established, so there was not much to do.
Chen Cheng and Xiao Wu had not seen each other for some time, so being reunited on another production set made them feel exceptionally close.
“Chen Cheng, I really admire you. How did you advance so quickly? You’ve even become an assistant director. Look at me—I’m still a Makeup Artist.”
“I’m only an assistant. It’s really not as exaggerated as you make it sound.”
“It’s different. Although you’re an assistant director, you work with Director Yu every day. Whether it’s the things you handle or the people you meet, it’s all much better than an ordinary position. Your connections will be broader, too. After a few more years, you might really become a Director.”
“Who knows what will happen in the future? Becoming a Director isn’t that easy. Many people graduate from specialized programs without producing any notable works, and hardly anyone asks them to direct. It’s better to do your own job properly. Once your abilities reach the required level, everything will happen naturally.”
“You’re right. Come on, bottoms up.”
“Bottoms up.”
The two clinked their glasses.
..
Over the following days, Chen Cheng began his behind-the-scenes work: drawing the Storyboard script.
In fact, Director Yu’s Storyboard script had already been completed.
However, Director Yu still assigned Chen Cheng this task.
As for that,
Chen Cheng accepted it gladly.
As an assistant director, apart from drawing the Storyboard script, Chen Cheng also handled many other matters while the film crew was still being fully assembled.
For example, arranging the set scenes.
A set scene meant the arrangement of the location where filming would take place.
Generally speaking, this was the Set Designer’s responsibility.
Chen Cheng did not have a specific position for this. He simply went to take a look and conveyed Director Yu’s opinions.
There was also the arrangement of props.
As a Wuxia drama, The Return of the Condor Heroes had a whole series of props.
The more famous ones included the Gentleman’s Sword, the Lady’s Sword... as well as the Heavy Dark Iron Sword in Yang Guo’s hands, among others.
The other props were fine.
But for some reason,
when the props department made the Heavy Dark Iron Sword, they directly turned it into a gigantic broad sword.
Calling it a broad sword would have been fine, but this was completely a door panel.
He really had no idea how the Heavy Dark Iron Sword was supposed to be used once the fighting began later.
However, Chen Cheng was only responsible for relaying messages. How it should be made, and how to make it look good, were not his responsibility.
Although he did mention once that the sword might be too wide.
However, he was only an assistant director. Although he was the Director’s assistant, ultimately, he was still just an assistant.
Therefore, his words carried little weight for the time being, and he did not interfere unnecessarily.
Of course,
Chen Cheng did not think much of it.
The film crew had an extremely detailed division of labor, as well as a strict hierarchy.
Forget a minor assistant like him—even Director Yu did not have the final say in everything.
Take the Male and Female Leads, for example. Even now, they had not yet been finalized.
This had also become a topic of conversation among the film crew during their leisure time.
“The female lead of The Return of the Condor Heroes is really terrifyingly difficult to decide.”
“Exactly. Zhou Xun, Zhang Baizhi, Jiang Qinqin, or Liu Yifei? Everyone, take a guess—which one will be the female lead?”
“I’m guessing Zhou Xun. Her star ranking is currently the highest, and she previously played Huang Rong. Besides, I hear Producer Zhang really likes Zhou Xun.”
“What about the male lead?”
“Nie Yuan, Huang Xiaoming, or Nicholas Tse?”
“I’m guessing Nie Yuan. His portrayal of the Saint Lord Qiye in 《A Chinese Ghost Story》 was incredibly handsome. I hear Nie Yuan’s talent agency is also the financier of The Return of the Condor Heroes.”
“Then it should be Nie Yuan.”
“Not necessarily. I think Nicholas Tse is even more handsome than Nie Yuan.”
When it came to gossip,
it was not only ordinary spectators who enjoyed it.
Likewise,
the members of the film crew enjoyed listening to it.
As for this,
even members of The Return of the Condor Heroes production crew were not immune to such gossip.
Chen Cheng merely shrugged at this.
The casting of the Male and Female Leads in The Return of the Condor Heroes was destined to become a highly eye-catching topic.
No one dared say for certain who would ultimately get the roles.
Thus, Chen Cheng spent most of his time drawing the Storyboard script. He also received a script supervisor’s notebook to record the specific tasks that would need to be handled during future filming.
As for why he needed a script supervisor’s notebook,
although Chen Cheng was no longer working as a script supervisor,
as an assistant director, Chen Cheng still often had to stay on the film set.
Many of the problems he handled overlapped to some extent with those handled by the script supervisor.
More importantly,
recording these matters properly would prevent Chen Cheng from becoming flustered once filming began.
Besides,
whenever he had time,
Chen Cheng would also go to the Makeup Team and learn Art Department work and makeup from Xiao Wu.
This also caused Chen Cheng’s Art Attribute, writing attribute, director attribute... to begin increasing continuously.
Chen Cheng’s attributes were currently as follows:
Physique: 77
Writing: 73+2
Art: 60+2
Cinematography: 53
Acting skill: 66
Directing: 40+1
Half a month later.
At last.
The Male and Female Leads of The Return of the Condor Heroes were confirmed.
For the male lead, Nie Yuan was eliminated, and Nicholas Tse was not chosen either. Instead, it was the currently popular young actor Huang Xiaoming.
The female lead was likewise not Zhou Xun, Zhang Baizhi, or Jiang Qinqin, but Liu Yifei.