Liang Songyun watched the entire video with a serious expression.
The rest of the crew kept quiet, walking around the corners of the walls, not daring to disturb the director while he watched the video, in case it was a casting audition video.
Everyone knows that Liang Songyun has been in a particularly bad mood lately because of the casting issue. Who would dare to rush up and die at a time like this?
Best Actor Jiang Yuangan!
"Teacher Liang, have you made your choice yet? If all else fails, let's find a newcomer and teach them on the spot!"
Jiang Yuan was also losing patience.
Because of his role as a poverty alleviation cadre, he had many scenes with this female supporting actress in the later stages of the film. The director delayed filming for a supporting role, which seriously disrupted his vacation plans for the second half of the year!
"She's definitely a newcomer... Jiang Yuan, come and take a look, what do you think of this girl?"
Liang Songyun pulled the video back to the beginning and handed it to Jiang Yuan.
Chapter 192
"What? You want me to act in a movie?"
"No, no, no! I... I can't do it! I've never acted before!"
Upon hearing Jiang Xiaoman's account, Lang Ying's entire being was filled with resistance.
How could a rural woman who didn't even finish junior high school have the acting skills to act in movies?
And he has to act alongside a movie star like Jiang Yuan, who is known throughout the country.
She doesn't even know how to act!
"Sister Yingzi, don't be in such a hurry to refuse. The director said that he'll ask you if you'd like to give it a try first. If you do, they'll send a teacher to guide you step by step."
"By the way, they said that the reason they didn't choose a professional actor this time and wanted to cast you is because your age and temperament are similar to the character, and also because it doesn't require much acting skill, you can just play yourself."
"Moreover, they said that your role is quite important, and if you can play it, the salary will be around 300,000 yuan."
Lang Ying: "!!!"
"Three or three hundred thousand? You didn't hear me wrong, did you? Was it thirty thousand?"
"I thought I misheard too, so I specifically confirmed with the other party. They said it was indeed 300,000, and the filming would take about a month."
"1. Three hundred thousand a month?"
Lang Ying was stunned for a moment, then suddenly woke up, her cheeks slightly flushed, and asked Jiang Xiaoman—
"Xiaoman, could you ask for me if it's okay to bring my child along when filming?"
"Hey! Is that all you're worried about? No need to ask, I know that!" Jiang Xiaoman waved her hand. "That Director Liang brought a group of people to our village to experience life, and later he said that the actual filming would take place right here in our village! You shouldn't have to run around with the crew."
"Really? That's great! I... I'll give it a try."
A salary of 300,000 is just too tempting!
The villagers were saying behind her back that Lang Ying was raising two girls all by herself. Right now, the children were young and the expenses were low, so she didn't seem to be under much pressure. But once the two children grew up, there would be more expenses, and without a man to help her, she, a woman, would have a very difficult time.
Lang Ying was a stubborn and unyielding person. The more people said she couldn't raise her two daughters well, the more determined she became to raise them to be successful!
However, the thought of a rural woman having to bear the cost of two children's college entrance exams all by herself is incredibly heavy.
Lang Ying has no other thoughts now; every day, the first thing she thinks about when she opens her eyes is how to make money.
Now that a huge sum of 300,000 yuan is right in front of her, how could she not be tempted?
...
Upon hearing that Lang Ying had agreed to give it a try, Liang Songyun was overjoyed and immediately sent one of his assistants over with the new script and an acting teacher.
Liang Songyun's decision to boldly cast a real rural woman to play a divorced woman was made after careful consideration.
His solution was to have the screenwriter slightly adjust the script for the character Lang Ying was to play, downplaying the scenes that required direct camera shots and replacing them with side or back shots. Then, in some scenes that needed to express the character's emotional changes, close-up shots of her face could be edited in, along with establishing shots, so that a story could be told well.
After all, asking a complete novice who has never been exposed to acting to stand right in front of the camera from the start is bound to result in a hundred takes, or else Liang Songyun's name will be written backwards!
Upon hearing that she didn't have to read her lines in front of the camera, Lang Ying secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
However, even a complete novice, without being filmed directly in front of the camera, still needs to learn some expressions, movements, positioning, lines, and speaking speed from a teacher.
Jiang Xiaoman specially gave her a two-month leave, and after a vote by the core members of the cooperative, it was decided that her salary would not be deducted for these two months, and she would be paid to film!
This is how Jiang Xiaoman convinced everyone—
Although Lang Ying went to act in the film to earn the 300,000 yuan salary, it can still be considered that Lang Ying represented her village in a big-budget movie!
If this movie becomes a hit, their village will be riding on a super popular wave!
To be honest, Jiang Xiaoman felt that the old village chief's political awareness in this matter was still a bit low.
If it were someone with a quicker mind, they would probably have already rushed up to the crew to try and build a good relationship with them.
After all, people in the entertainment industry are always good at creating buzz; it's the kind of industry that will create buzz even if there isn't any.
Some people, unable to find any trending topics, simply create a random one and buy their way onto the trending searches.
If the village could cultivate a good relationship with the film crew while they are filming here, and ask them to include their village's name in the promotional materials, even if it's just a short line, they would be making a huge profit.
This kind of big-budget Lunar New Year film is different from these short video bloggers. Even though he now has tens of millions of fans, he can only be said to have a little influence in a small fan circle. It can't compare to the kind of tribute film created by several well-known directors, with a luxurious cast and nationwide promotion!
Unfortunately, the old village chief didn't see this; he was only excited that their village was going to be featured in a movie.
In addition, the production team promised to give the village 20,000 yuan for venue rental.
Jiang Xiaoman didn't dare to interfere with the old village chief's affairs, so he could only approach Lang Ying from his side—he enthusiastically helped solve the accommodation and food problems for the assistant director and acting teacher in the village.
With the huge carrot of "300,000 yuan in film remuneration" dangling in front of her, Lang Ying practically treated her acting teacher's words as gospel, and was incredibly attentive in class!
The acting teacher also found the older student's attitude very helpful.
After all, when he was on set before, many self-proclaimed big stars had bad tempers. Even though their acting was so bad that the audience wanted to gouge their eyes out, they always thought they were acting well, and that their acting teachers taught them too simple material...
Please! Shouldn't teachers assess students' aptitudes before teaching them?
Before evaluating a teacher's lesson content, should you first consider why the teacher started by teaching the most basic things?
In comparison, Lang Ying was simply the teachers' favorite student!
She was diligent, eager to learn, and good at thinking and asking questions. She was also very respectful to her teachers. In addition, Jiang Xiaoman arranged the meals very well. The acting teacher was so happy to stay in Langshan Village that he couldn't help but give Lang Ying extra tutoring...
With one willing to learn and the other willing to teach, ten days later, when the crew moved to Langshan Village, Jiang Yuan and Lang Ying's first scene only needed two takes to get right!
"Old Zhao, how did you teach her? Yingzi's acting is amazing!" Liang Songyun couldn't help but give the acting teacher a thumbs up.
The fact that he was able to get a complete novice to adapt to the camera so quickly in just ten days is truly remarkable; he is indeed the mentor he personally selected!
"It's not that I taught her well, it's that Yingzi is quick to learn and hardworking! Teacher Liang, you don't know, these past few days she's been carrying the script everywhere, practically reciting her lines even while eating, afraid that she won't memorize them and will cause trouble for the crew." The acting teacher really liked Lang Ying as a student, and even spoke highly of her in front of the director.
Sure enough, Liang Songyun nodded in satisfaction when he heard that Lang Ying was memorizing her lines even while eating. He had originally planned to film in Langshan Village for a month, but now it seemed that Lang Ying was a very cooperative character, and if he rushed things, he should be able to finish in half a month.
Lang Ying was actually chosen by a famous director to make a movie with award-winning actor Jiang Yuan!
The news spread like wildfire, reaching every corner of Langshan!
Many people who live far away make a special trip over mountains and valleys to come and see the excitement, not to mention those who live nearby, who come almost every day.
This is where the crew's experience becomes apparent—they had temporary barriers erected at the filming location in advance, keeping the villagers who were watching the spectacle at a distance.
Of course, there are also the ubiquitous paparazzi and proxy photographers.
"The Road to Brilliance" brings together almost all the current powerhouse and popular actors in China. The Langshan segment alone features award-winning actors Jiang Yuan and Tian Liren, as well as several popular young actors and actresses, making it a truly impressive production! The production team didn't even need to spend money on publicity; the paparazzi and other paparazzi who followed the crew around filled up all the spare rooms in the homes of the villagers in Langshan!
I heard that two paparazzi arrived a little late and, unable to find anywhere to stay, actually paid to rent the village committee's tool shed where they usually store miscellaneous items. They're really quite dedicated...
The villagers watched the spectacle with great interest from behind the fence, while Lang Ying's former in-laws were nearly driven to their wits' end these past few days!
They were already very annoyed by the fact that their former daughter-in-law was doing better and better after leaving their family. They never expected that this little vixen would hook up with some kind of benefactor and actually go off to act!
I heard this director actually offered Lang Ying 300,000 yuan as a film fee! Pah! Could this shameless woman have slept with this director?
Otherwise, how could a rural woman who didn't even finish junior high school, and who was divorced and unwanted, be worth 300,000?
Aunt Lang suddenly felt that Lang Ying was not worth 300,000 yuan at all, and that she must have slept with the director to get so much money.
For a moment, he couldn't help but secretly think to himself, "If Erming hadn't divorced Langying back then, wouldn't his family have become rich if they had this 300,000 yuan in income?"
Unfortunately, Lang Ying ignores them completely now. Whether she earns 300,000 or 3 million, it has nothing to do with their family anymore...
That's not all. These past few days, people have come to their village to see what's going on. They heard that one of the characters in the movie was from their village, and after asking around, they naturally learned about the things that happened before and after Lang Ying and Jiang Erming's divorce.
Now, everyone who comes to Langshan Village to watch the excitement can't help but point and whisper about Jiang Hongyi and Lang Liugu. Some say they are unlucky, some say they are being punished for being too cruel to their daughter-in-law, and the most infuriating thing is that some people even say that their son Erming is unlucky and will bring misfortune to his wife!
The reason is very simple; just look at Lang Ying and you'll understand.
What kind of life has this girl been living ever since she married Jiang Erming? Not only does the man not support the family, but he also has a mistress on the side.
But ever since her divorce from Jiang Erming, Lang Ying has built a new house, found a stable job, and is now even making movies with big stars!
What does this tell us?
Doesn't this just prove that Jiang Erming's whole family is unlucky? That's why they brought bad luck to their daughter-in-law, Lang Ying?
Most people in the mountains are a bit superstitious, especially with this living example right in front of them.
For a time, matchmakers from all around the area avoided Jiang Erming's house, fearing they might be tainted by the family's bad luck.
Now things are really messed up. Jiang Erming was already unpopular in the local matchmaking market because he lost a kidney and was a divorcee. Now he has an added reputation for being a jinx to his wife, which is much worse than being a divorcee!
After all, which family doesn't want their daughter to have a good life in her husband's family after she gets married?
If good times don't come and bad luck starts instead, who would want to marry their daughter into such a family? Wouldn't that be bad luck?
Aunt Lang was so angry she almost vomited blood, but she still had to put on a smiling face and explain to everyone that her son was not a jinx to his wife, and that it was all that little hussy Lang Ying who was spreading rumors and slandering their family.
Unexpectedly, the villagers looked at her with even more strange expressions after hearing this:
"Who said Lang Ying said that?"
"Yes, those words were clearly said by that shaman from the next village!"
Aunt Lang Liu: "..."
That damned fortune teller! Wasn't it just that she forgot to bring a few pounds of pork when she went to have her fortune told last time?
Is it really necessary to retaliate against their family like this?