Chapter 08: Visiting the "demi-gods and semi-devils" Crew
Over the next month or so, Yang Jian significantly reduced the number of commercial performances he accepted, only choosing those that were relatively close to Beijing and offered high prices.
He diligently attended classes while also being busy with his album.
During this period, thanks to the fermentation of things and Warner Records being the distributor Zhang Yadong found, the album was also released in Southeast Asia.
The song "fairy tale" was not only loved by people in Southeast Asia but also quickly became popular in some smaller cities in China. Yang Jian also took the opportunity to gain a lot of Prestige. He increased his acting skill to 85 points and his director ability to 75 points, reaching a comprehensive ability of B+.
He planned to direct the music videos for this album himself. With 75 points in directing ability, it should be sufficient for shooting music videos.
By mid-November, Yang Jian became even busier.
He spent nearly 30 days completing the filming of all 9 music videos except for "rice fragrance" and "seven mile fragrance".
The original music videos for some of the divine songs were animated, but Yang Jian also filmed live-action versions. Otherwise, the style of this album would have been even stranger.
Although filming music videos is not as complex as movies or TV dramas, it was Director Yang's first time personally taking the helm, which still took a toll on his mind.
He personally handled everything, including site selection, equipment rental, staff recruitment, on-site coordination, and logistical arrangements.
As for the female leads in the music videos, this time, in addition to Zhou Yang and Wang Jia, he also invited another female classmate from his class, a Tibetan girl named Sun Meijing. If all the music videos featured Zhou Yang, the fans might think too much of it.
Actually, he could have completely paid someone to help him with these tasks, but he wanted to experience it. After experiencing it, he decided it would be better to let others handle it in the future.
This is where the importance of a team becomes apparent. One person working to death is slow and inefficient, but with a team, you can delegate tasks and they will handle them perfectly.
After finishing the filming work in Beijing, Yang Jian rushed his team non-stop to Qiongzhou Coconut City. It wasn't that he was in a hurry, but rather that he wanted to release the album before March. Otherwise, it would be the peak of SARS at that time, which would definitely affect the album's sales.
Zhou Yang and Wang Jia also went with him. There was no other way. Zhou Yang was the female lead in "seven mile fragrance", and the small team was all guys. It was inconvenient with just Zhou Yang being the only girl, so he brought Wang Jia along as well.
They spent nearly another week in Coconut City, and the filming of "rice fragrance" and "seven mile fragrance" was completely finished.
The actual filming time only took 3 days; the rest of the time was spent on location scouting.
After comparing several places, Yang Jian finally chose a place called Yunlong Town's Thirty-Six Streams, located below Coconut City.
When the old village chief heard that someone wanted to film in their village, he was initially unwilling because he was afraid that having too many people would trample the rice.
Farmers, their crops are their life. They depend on their crops throughout the year, and Yang Jian understood this well because his Grandparents were farmers, and he often stayed in the countryside when he was young.
Yang Jian promised the dark-skinned but kind-faced village chief that they would not trample the rice, and if they did, they would compensate at the market price.
Unexpectedly, the village chief refused to accept the money and said, "Just try not to trample the rice. It's almost ready for harvest. It would be a shame if it got trampled." Saying this, he led Yang Jian to the site for inspection.
Finally, with no other option, Yang Jian insisted on giving the village chief ten thousand yuan to help arrange food and accommodation for their dozen or so people for the next few days.
He then had someone buy some cigarettes, snacks, and soda. When people came to watch, he offered a cigarette to the men and snacks and soda to the elderly, women, and children. It wasn't anything valuable, but spending a little money could make people feel good about you, so why not?
Therefore, the filming went smoothly for the three days. No one caused trouble, perhaps also due to the village chief's arrangements. Moreover, the adults and children in the village even helped out as extras.
Along with Yang Jian shouting, "Filming is over, pack up..."
Everyone present let out enthusiastic cheers.
In this temporarily formed small team, most were students from Beijing Film Academy. For over a month, they had followed Yang Jian, first running around Beijing and now coming to Qiongzhou. Although not as strenuous as for Yang Jian, they had also worked hard and contributed greatly.
Yang Jian was also very happy. 11 music videos, when edited, would only be about 50 minutes long, but it was still a significant amount of work. That sense of accomplishment is probably something only a beginner can experience.
If it were an old hand, they would probably have finished filming in about ten days.
The crowd was clapping and cheering.
They also had a sense of accomplishment.
Or perhaps it was the joy of being able to rest after completing a task?
The cheering crowd attracted curious glances from nearby villagers, who stopped to watch.
In high spirits, Yang Jian waved his hand and said, "I'll treat everyone to food and drinks. Seafood is unlimited, order whatever you want..."
Then he took out three stacks of money and continued, "These thirty thousand yuan are an extra bonus for you as travel expenses. If you don't want to stay and play, you can take the money."
The crowd instantly fell silent, and then, even more enthusiastic cheers echoed through the fields. Dogs in the distant village were startled and began barking wildly.
Yang Jian never mistreated the people who worked for him, providing the best treatment in the industry for this small team. Now, being able to get more money was a pleasant surprise, and everyone was exceptionally happy.
At noon the next day, he specifically instructed everyone to be careful. Many of them were classmates from Beijing Film Academy, and if anything went wrong, he would definitely be responsible.
After repeatedly cautioning everyone, he, Zhou Yang, and Wang Jia flew to Dian Province. They were going to visit Liu Yifei on set.
Actually, he wanted to go alone, but then he thought about it. As a grown man traveling all the way to visit a 15-year-old girl on set, he would be seen as a pervert.
So he asked Zhou Yang and Wang Jia if they wanted to go together, and they were naturally very willing.
Dian Province, Kunming.
After getting off the plane, the three of them were picked up by a car arranged by Aunt Liu and taken to the "demi-gods and semi-devils" crew at Dali heavenly dragon Film and Television City. If no one had brought them, they definitely wouldn't have been able to get in.
As soon as he got out of the car, Yang Jian saw Liu Yifei.
Hmm... how to put it, she was wearing makeup and a light pink down jacket over her costume. If it were someone else, it might look a bit strange, but who is Liu Yifei? A heavenly dragon! Although she was a heavenly dragon with a bit of baby fat on her face!
Even dressed like this, she looked very beautiful.
Beautiful people can indeed ignore matching clothes; whatever they wear looks good.
When Liu Yifei saw the three of them, she smiled so wide her teeth showed. She bounced and skipped over. Aunt Liu, who was following behind her, couldn't stop her in time.
"Xiao Jianzi, Yangyang, Jiajia... You're here!"
Yang Jian sighed inwardly, this is really a child.
"Child, you walk without any grace." At this moment, Aunt Liu walked over and gently scolded her daughter a couple of times, but her eyes were full of doting.
"You must be Qian Qian's classmates. Thank you for coming to see her. Yesterday, when she knew you were coming, she was so happy," Aunt Liu greeted everyone.
Liu Yifei held Aunt Liu's arm and happily introduced them one by one: "Mom, these are my classmates, Yang Jian, Zhou Yang, and Wang Jia."
Aunt Liu shook hands with the three of them. Zhou Yang and Wang Jia were quite normal, but when it came to Yang Jian, although she was smiling, there was a hint of scrutiny and some distance in her politeness.
Although she concealed it well, Yang Jian still noticed it. Having spent so long in Crossroads in his previous life, he still had that much discernment.