CH 4

The world of modern entertainment industry (4)

Horror type?

Lin Xiaotang was slightly startled and then her eyes fell on the script in Ren Ling’s hand.

While Ren Ling was full of anticipation, waiting for Lin Xiaotang to compliment him, he suddenly heard his always quiet sister ask, “Can I participate in the show? I want to play a ghost.”

Ren Ling: “…”

Ren Ling:???

Why does Lin Xiaotang want to act?

It doesn’t matter if she wants to act, why does she still want to act as a ghost?

Without thinking about it, Ren Ling opened his mouth and refused: “The third year of high school is very critical. Next year, you will have to take the college entrance examination. So your main task now is to study.”

Having been in the entertainment industry for two years and having experienced ups and downs, Ren Ling already has a very deep understanding of this seemingly bright and dazzling circle.

If possible, he wants Lin Xiaotang to leave the entertainment industry far away and be an ordinary and happy person who will never suffer what he has suffered.

“I can study in my dreams,” Lin Xiaotang said, “it doesn’t hinder anything.”

The exam papers produced by exam-oriented schools are not difficult for her, especially in subjects such as mathematics, physics and chemistry. As long as she can use formulas to calculate the results, she can get high scores.

Compared with exams, she hopes to gain more people’s fears through acting.

Seeing Lin Xiaotang’s firm attitude, Ren Ling hesitated.

In his impression, the younger sister has always been silent and sensible and has hardly made any demands on her own initiative.

Therefore, it is difficult for him to continue to refuse her request.

Moreover, she may just want to go to the set to play.

It’s normal for little girls to have fantasies about showbiz.

She herself said that she wanted to play a ghost, so it’s not impossible to give her a group role.

With him watching all the time, what could happen?

Facing Lin Xiaotang, Ren Ling compromised…..

He called the assistant director and briefly explained the situation and the other party readily agreed.

Anyway, it’s just a ghost character with no lines. This kind of group performance is usually recruited casually in Hengdian. If someone wants it, just give it.

In this way, Lin Xiaotang got her first role in her life as she wished.

Lin Xiaotang: “Thank you brother.”

She originally thought that she had to work hard but she didn’t expect this brother to be so good at talking.

Seeing her younger sister showing satisfaction, Ren Ling’s heart softened: “It’s okay.”

He worked hard outside, didn’t he just hope that his family could live as they wished?

Since she wants to act, then take her to act once.

……… …………. 

On the other hand, after the crew decided on the various actors, the filming of “Remnant of Life” started soon.

The script of this web drama is an adaptation of the best-selling book “Remnant of Life”. The general content is about a middle-aged man in his thirties. After experiencing all kinds of setbacks, he was going to buy a small house in the barren mountains to live in seclusion, but he didn’t expect that another “family” would live in the house he bought.

Because many ghosts appeared in the original work, the crew found a lot of group actors.

Before the filming began, these group performers waited in line outside the dressing room.

It’s just that director Zhang Qingnian was not in a good mood looking at the makeup of these group performances.

In recent years, the audit rules given by the Radio and Television Bureau have become more and more strict.

Horror dramas can be filmed and ghosts are allowed to appear in dramas but some gore and violent scenes cannot pass the trial.

Until now, almost all the ghosts that can appear in domestic dramas have to be normal people, they can’t lack arms or legs, and they can’t look too scary.

In the same way, the behavior of these ghosts should not be too much, not even shedding blood and tears.

Every time he thinks of this rule, Zhang Qingnian becomes extremely irritable.

A ghost can neither look scary nor act scary, so what is the meaning of its existence?!

It is a pity that his views alone cannot affect the policy of the whole country.

Under such hard requirements, the crew can only rack their brains and find ways to use other means to achieve their goals.

In order to create the image of the ghost, the makeup artist had to apply a thick layer of white foundation to the face of the actor who played the ghost and draw a very thick black eyeliner around the eye socket.

But this kind of makeup looks a little scary the first time but after watching it a few times later, it will only make the audience feel irritated.

As for making these ghost actors move?

Zhang Qingnian and the screenwriter have discussed countless times but they can’t think of any other action, which is “not scary itself but it can scare people”.

That’s fine but “Remnant of Life” is a book that focuses on horror.

If they don’t produce a horror atmosphere that can satisfy the audience, their ratings will plummet and their reputation will deteriorate. In the end, the whole drama will be reduced to a third-rate domestic horror film that is criticized by the public.

For this matter, director Zhang Qingnian has been worried for a long time.

However, investors can’t wait at all. Because “Remnant of Life” is a very popular novel and countless fans are eagerly waiting.

At the urging of everyone,director Zhang Qingnian had to hurry up to prepare for the shooting.

After taking a few glances at the ghost actors in the dressing room, Zhang Qingnian sighed in disappointment.

Considering that the male and female protagonists were almost ready, he shook his head and turned to leave.

– However, at this moment, Zhang Qingnian glanced and suddenly noticed a girl.

This girl, who seemed to be a member of the staff, was wearing a high school uniform and sat quietly outside the dressing room.

She looks very beautiful but what makes Zhang Qingnian notice her is her gloomy temperament.

Yes, gloomy.

Zhang Qingnian thought of countless similar words, such as “cold” and “lonely” but in the end, he still thought that “gloomy” was the best word to describe her.

He never thought that there could be a person who, in the case of completely undressed, just sitting there, can give the surrounding people a sense of horror.

Such a person is simply a genius actor who plays ghosts!!!

Zhang Qingnian observed for a while and found that the girl’s state was not his own illusion.

Even in the hustle and bustle of the dressing room, the rest of the group alienated the girl intentionally or unintentionally, as if there was an invisible shield around her.

Then without any hesitation, he walked over immediately and asked the girl, “I’m Zhang Qingnian, the director of the crew here, what’s your name?”

“Director Zhang, her name is Lin Xiaotang and she’s my sister.”

Before the girl could speak, a man stood up beside her.

Perhaps because he was worried about an accident, the man’s expression was obviously a little nervous: “She is very good. She has been sitting here without moving since she came here. Is there anything wrong with her, Director Zhang?”

Zhang Qingnian glanced at the man and recognized that he was the third male in the crew, Ren Ling.

“I think your sister is a bit talented and I want to try to get her to act a little bit,” Zhang Qingnian said without giving up, “If you are worried about her, you can come together.”

If he remembered correctly, the third male happened to be entangled by a girl ghost in the plot.

It would be nice to have the siblings play those two roles.

A qualified ghost actor can add a lot of horror to his drama.

As soon as Ren Ling heard Zhang Qingnian’s words, he realized that Lin Xiaotang was favored by the director.

If she performs well, she might get a role of an small character with a few lines.

Although he couldn’t figure out how Director Zhang chose Lin Xiaotang, he didn’t hesitate and hurriedly dragged his sister and followed Zhang Qingnian.

On the way in the past, Zhang Qingnian also asked his assistant to call the screenwriter over.

After everyone had arrived, he pointed at her and let Ren Ling and asked Lin Xiaotang to play freely, playing a scene in which the third man was entangled and threatened by a female ghost and was cornered.

In the original text of “Remnant of Life”, the plot about the third male has always been based on the female ghost’s sight.

According to the description in the book, the third male always felt that he was being stared at by something but no matter how he looked, he couldn’t find the source of that creepy sight.

In the end, the third male was so frightened that he hid in the quilt and shivered.

But even so, that vague gaze could still pass through the quilt and land on him.

This plot was originally a highlight in “Remnant of Life”.

The fear of being watched all the time and almost going mad once made countless readers terrified.

It’s a pity that with the way of filming TV series, it is impossible to shoot that kind of gangrenous sight.

Zhang Qingnian and the screenwriter originally planned to cut off this plot but now they feel that Lin Xiaotang might be able to give them a surprise.

And the result did not disappoint them.

Having been a boss in horror escape games for so many years, what Lin Xiaotang is best at is to arouse players’ nerves and arouse their fear.

She can easily come up with a dozen ways to scare people, most of which don’t require scary looks or brutal action.

After learning about the director’s arrangement, she quickly figured out how to act based on her memory.

So, when the third male played by Ren Ling was lying on the bed in anxiety and tucked himself into the quilt, Lin Xiaotang stared at him faintly.

When Ren Ling buried his head in the moment, Lin Xiaotang slowly raised her head and met his eyes.

Facing the stiff Ren Ling, she dragged him into the quilt little by little.

He thought it was the safest to hide under the quilt but he didn’t know that the existence he was most afraid of was waiting for him right here.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Qingnian was extremely excited.

He knows that if this scene is filmed, it will definitely scare a large number of viewers who are watching horror movies hiding under the quilt!!

He turned around, looked at the screenwriter who was also excited and then waved, letting Ren Ling take Lin Xiaotang away first.

Seeing the director almost jumping up and looking at the silent sister next to him, Ren Ling felt a little dazed for a while.

Zhang Qingnian is a new director who has recently gained fame. The dramas in his hands have already become popular with several actors.

This is also the reason why Ren Ling is so excited after getting the role of “Remnant of Life”.

Although he is only a third male, as long as he plays well enough, he can have a chance to turn over.

But even so, he had never seen Zhang Qingnian so excited.

His experience and intuition in the circle told him that, if nothing else, his sister…..may become popular.