Huayu: It's normal for me, as a director, to mentor young actresses, right?

Chapter 73 Eating skewers in idol dramas is really inappropriate!

After talking with Lin Yufen, Lin Yu became much gentler on set. Judging these people by the acting standards of "Twelve Citizens" is indeed a bit too harsh.

Lowering the requirements a bit is more than enough for filming idol dramas.

August arrived quickly.

The London Olympics were in full swing. Sun Yang and Ye Shiwen were swimming and winning glory for the country, while the women's volleyball team was also fighting hard. Liu Xiang's last Olympic journey ended sadly due to a ruptured Achilles tendon.

At that time, no one realized that this might be the last Olympics with a relatively normal style.

Starting with Rio, the style of the Olympics became increasingly strange, eventually even becoming somewhat perverse.

There weren't many scenes filmed on the Nanjing University campus. After that, the filming moved back to the studio in Yenching to start shooting the indoor scenes.

Huayi's 30 million yuan has already arrived in the account. This money is enough for Lin Yu to add some more shots of famous domestic scenic spots, and he can also give the crew a generous high-temperature allowance. Every penny will be used for the crew in a down-to-earth manner, and no one can find fault with it.

"I always felt that barbecue would be a better match for beer."

Wang Yanyang stood next to Lin Yu, watching the busy props team quickly setting up the scene for the next scene.

"You mean," Lin Yu said, draping her arm over his shoulder, "that our handsome male and beautiful female leads are in an idol drama, enjoying barbecue skewers and beer while looking at a snowy landscape, right?"

"Just listen to this style of filming, does it look like an idol drama or a Northeast gangster movie?" Lin Yu also felt that the hot pot and beer in the middle of the set did not match up well. Would it be more appropriate to replace them with cola?

"It just doesn't feel like a good match." Wang Yanyang shook his head with his arms crossed. His Northeastern heritage made him stubbornly believe that barbecue skewers and beer were a better match.

"Shandong pancakes go even better with scallions, want a bite?" Lin Yu took a bite of the pancake in his hand. "Mind your style, you jerk. Don't let your rough Northeastern aesthetics ruin the quality of this idol drama!"

Lin Yu wasn't hungry at first, but seeing the hot pot in the set made him want to find something to eat. Luckily, a guy from Shandong in the photography crew, worried that he wouldn't have time to eat while he was busy, brought some pancakes, and Lin Yu took some to satisfy his craving.

Wang Yanyang didn't say anything, just stared at the hot pot decoration. The red oil was bubbling and steaming, looking very tempting.

"You little rascal, you're not craving something, are you?" Lin Yu finally realized Wang Yanyang's real purpose in coming to see him.

Wang Yanyang scratched his head, a little embarrassed, "The guys in the group haven't had a get-together in a long time, how about we do it? Everyone's been working really hard."

Lin Yu pointed to a young man in red standing next to the film set, "What a coincidence! The hot pot was sponsored by Haidilao the whole time. Why don't you go talk to him and ask him to treat our crew to two meals?"

The reason for choosing hot pot is that Haidilao pays more, has fewer requirements, only requires showing its logo, and cooperates with the crew's arrangements throughout the process.

Snow Beer was a different story. All they did was deliver two truckloads of beer after I paid them, and then nothing more. They had absolutely no sense of service.

The production budget for "My Love from the Star" was incredibly generous, with twenty or thirty sponsors crammed into the crew. Some gave as much as four or five million, others as little as one or two million, and they didn't have any requirements—just mentioning it was fine; if they couldn't mention it, omitting a logo was acceptable; and if they couldn't even omit it, adding a thank you note at the end was also acceptable.

The high price and low requirements are both rare in the industry.

I just don't know if these people are genuinely here to sponsor, or if they've received some kind of guidance.

"Alright, everyone in position."

As the props team and stagehands gradually withdrew, Lin Yu raised his voice and shouted.

Filming has been going more and more smoothly lately, and Lin Yu has finally figured out Liu Shishi's "user manual" these days.

Although they didn't actually arrange for someone to take Liu Shishi to choose a male model that day, they did hire a mentor for her.

He wasn't an academic acting teacher, but a veteran Peking Opera instructor who specialized in training the eyes.

I have to say, the old method still works best. After more than half a month, although there hasn't been a qualitative leap, at least there's a sense of liveliness, unlike before when she was so dull. Her eyes have finally regained some sparkle, and it looks like she can shed the title of "Blind Sister" after practicing for a while longer.

As for scenes that require emotional fluctuations, Lin Yu has also found a solution.

For example, in this scene, we need to act like we're about to cry from the delicious food. Lin Yu had Nazha secretly put a piece of still-warm tripe into Liu Shishi's mouth when she wasn't looking.

Yes, she was really about to cry; it wasn't acting, and the effect was outstanding.

When Lin Yu needed to be angry, he would walk around in front of her face a couple of times. Without even saying a word, her angry eyes would appear, as if she wanted to devour Lin Yu alive.

If she needs to be shy, just have Nazha whisper something in her ear; it works quite well.

As for needing to be affectionate... Lin Yu originally got a standee of Wu Qilong, hoping she could look at it and get a feel for it. But it seems to have the opposite effect; she didn't get any affection, just her gaze towards Lin Yu became even angrier.

This put Lin Yu in a bit of a dilemma. He couldn't possibly spend another penny to invite Wu Qilong himself; the thought made him feel uneasy.

Apart from Lin Yu, no other director in China would dare to torture actors like this.

Fortunately, she and Hu Ge still had some chemistry. When they were filming scenes together, they were both very relaxed, and their eye contact was much more natural, resulting in a pretty good filming effect.

The method approach is really useful!

During a break in filming, Wang Yanyang, carrying a megaphone, led a young man in a red shirt from Haidilao to the center of the scene.

"Attention all departments!" Wang Yanyang's voice boomed through the loudspeaker throughout the studio. "Today's lunch is generously sponsored by Haidilao. Let's give them a round of applause!"

My colleagues were very supportive, cheering and applauding enthusiastically.

Lin Yu smiled and shook his head. Wang Yanyang was a good producer and was loved by everyone. He would find ways to freeload off the sponsors every day, and even those who couldn't eat or drink would give out small gifts.

He has created a new genre in the film production industry: the welfare-oriented producer.

Before Lin Yu could finish reminiscing about Wang Yanyang, Wang Zihong came over again, "Brother Yu, Wu Qilong is here. He said he's here to visit Liu Shishi on set."

Lin Yu turned to look at Wang Zihong. Liu Shishi had said that someone surnamed Wu was coming when they were in Jinling, but now that they were in Yanjing, he was only just arriving. He really didn't take it seriously at all.

"Go get that cardboard cutout quickly, give it a warm welcome," Lin Yu instructed Wang Zihong. "Have the photography team take a few more pictures and send them to the PR team later."

"The online debate about clothing has cooled down considerably, so this can be used to stir up some buzz again. I've already thought of a title: 'Top Actress Suspected of Being in a Relationship, Wu Qilong Visits the Set of "My Love from the Star,"' and the words 'My Love from the Star' are a must..."

Lin Yu looked at Wang Zihong, whose smile was becoming increasingly forced, and his voice gradually lowered.

"Lin Yu, I'll fight you to the death!"