"First phase concluded. Score, 84 points, passed. Host has suffered too many lashes. Course is put on hold, please have rest."
"Huff…"
Lu Ze fiercely sat up on the bed. The mattress was again soaking from his sweat. He heavily rubbed his face and tremblingly reached out for the cigarette by the pillow and lit it.
He took a puff with all his might and exhaled out the smoke; his back seemed to be faintly aching still. This was the run he'd suffered the most lashes in. He couldn't even keep track of the specific number, but he believed that his body would have turned into a puddle of flesh and blood if those lashes were real.
He'd gone through all the scripts on the scene. As for the specific number, he could not remember it. He just sat before the desk, going through the scripts. Once he went through all the scripts on the desk, the system would clean the desk and place new ones for him.
For the first three thousand scripts, he suffered six-seven lashes almost every time before getting a pass. However, after three thousand scripts, he went through a qualitative change. He felt as if he'd become a screenwriter, and all the scripts in the room were written by him. He could immediately see through them.
Apart from the brilliant scripts that contained deep hidden meanings and made Lu Ze slap the table in amazement by reading a single line, other easy-to-understand or crappy scripts no longer obstructed his path.
Extinguishing the cigarette, Lu Ze checked the time: It was three in the night. In other words, he'd almost slept for thirteen hours. This was the course that cost him the most amount of time, although he'd only studied three courses.
He could no longer sleep, since he had the shoot at five thirty. Moreover, the system had asked him to rest, meaning he could not study. Furthermore, there was a big possibility of oversleeping, which would be terrible.
Getting off the bed and stretching his arms and legs, Lu Ze grabbed the mug and took a sip of last night's brewed tea. Although it was cold, herbal tea was perfect for quenching thirst. He then went to the kitchen and washed his face, rinsed his mouth, and made another packet of instant noodles. By three fifty, he returned back to the Kang. He then switched on the television and inserted a DVD, watching a television drama.
This was the same television drama that he'd read the first script of.
According to his memory, he searched the episode with those dialogues and began to attentively watch the exchange between the male and female lead. It was no different from what he remembered. The male lead was roaring, and his nostrils were directly facing the audience. Subsequently, he snarled at the female lead with blue veins popping on his face.
Watching the scene attentively, Lu Ze indeed felt that his outburst was a little abrupt, because the tone of the female lead had been too dull. It just felt somewhat lacking in logic. If someone roared at you, you would not reveal such a calm expression unless it were your father or mother, especially not so before a contemporary, even if their words were justified.
After watching one episode in silence, Lu Ze sorted his home somewhat and went to shoot. Arriving at the gate of film city at five o'clock, he began waiting for the manager to lead him in. Ten minutes later, the other extras with the crew also arrived. Everybody had met each other yesterday. Thus, Lu Ze easily blended in the group. After ten more minutes, the manager arrived with a yawn and led them in.
"Be careful with that box, don't bump into it! Hey you, that tall guy!"
"Rest assured! There will be no issue!"
Hearing the manager shout, Lu Ze carefully held the box in his embrace and replied before placing it in a safe place on the set. After running around for about half an hour, they finally carried everything to their place. As a result, all the extras, including Lu Ze, were drenched in sweat.
Hearing the manager's shout, a few extras carried over some boxes of mineral water for everybody. Then, everybody sat down and began chatting while waiting for the lead actor and the director to show up.
The shoot finally began at seventy thirty. Reportedly, the lead actor had been stuck in traffic. Nobody believed that, but nor did anybody try to investigate. It was already pretty good that he arrived in the early morning..
This was the way of the world. It was no longer the era where directors had the complete say.
The extras with the crew were different from the extras waiting outside. They had a much greater chance to show their faces. Lu Ze was in the very first scene but didn't have any dialogues. He was one of the main lead's guards.
He finally got to wear a neat yellow-colored uniform. With a cartridge belt on his waist, carrying a rifle, and wearing a metal helmet, he stood beside the main lead with a stiff face. All he had to do was follow the main lead's conversation with his eyes.
Lu Ze made no mistakes this time. In the course, he'd precisely learned the positioning of a support character. Thus, his positioning was neither overpowering the main lead's presence, nor did it disappear on the screen and make him invisible.
The other extra acting as a guard was a bit lacking in comparison. In one scene, he blocked the main character's face for a moment and consequently got chewed out by the director. The main lead's look towards him was not good either, leaving him with a crying face. Apart from shooting the scene, his expression never changed.
At noon, the meal was distributed. Receiving his meal, Lu Ze opened the box and was satisfied with what was inside: one non-veg dish and two veg-dishes, it could have cost more than ten yuan.
"You're Lu Ze, right?"
"Yes brother, it's me."
Just as Lu Ze was about to put the potato slice between his chopsticks in his mouth, a manager came over and patted his back as he sat down opposite to him and began eating his meal.
"It's about the next scene. You have two lines of dialogues, so remember them well. In a moment, you'll follow the male lead and hear the conversation with commander Zhao. When you hear commander Zhao say 'Commander Wu, no need to waste your thoughts. This Zhao has no choice,' you'll raise your rifle and point at him while saying, 'What are you saying!' Your voice should be sharp and yelling. Then, you'll keep silent while pointing your rifle until commander Wu makes you retract your rifle. You'll then reveal an unwilling expression and retract your rifle with a "Yes". That's all. You understand?"
Lu Ze swallowed the potato in his mouth down his throat with shining eyes. Patting his chest, he said, "No problem! Brother, you can be rest assured! I've remembered it."
"Alright, I'm leaving then. Remember it well, I will not remind you again."
The manager stood up and was patting his butt when the other guard extra asked somewhat unresignedly, "Brother...what about me?"
"You? Go play tic-tac-toe!"
An extra who had been singled-out and scolded by the director expected others to play nice to him? He seemed a bit too naive. Hearing the mocking line from the manager, this extra closed his mouth and no longer spoke. Lu Ze also didn't continue the topic, saving himself from being cursed at as a fake sympathizer.
Half an hour after lunch, this scene's shooting officially began. At the sound of action, the male lead, along with Lu Ze and the other guard, overbearingly entered the camera. For the next few moments, Lu Ze heard the battle of wits and words between commander Wu and commander Zhao until the latter coldly snorted and said, "Commander Wu, no need to waste your thoughts. This Zhao has no choice!"
'It's my turn!'
Lu Ze quivered and stepped out as he raised his rifle and pointed it at commander Zhao's head while shouting loudly, "What are you saying!"
In this scene, Lu Ze had been holding his breath. Once his face turned a bit red, he would breathe out and then breathe again, waiting for this line. When the director saw his slightly red face as he glared at commander Zhao while grinding his teeth, he nodded his head in immense satisfaction. The result was much better than he'd imagined.
"Does commander Wu...teach this kind of discipline to subordinates?"
"Beans! Lower your gun! You're not doing me proud like this! You're disgracing my men!"
The main lead pressed on Lu Ze's rifle, allowing him to finally let out a sigh of relief. He then hesitantly lowered his rifle while glaring at commander Zhou.
'It's over?' Lu Ze thought to himself. He didn't shudder in nervousness before the camera; instead, he was left craving for more, feeling that his lines were not enough.
The scene was over. The main character had also completed his scenes for today. It was much faster than the director had expected. After saying a few lines of encouragement to the male lead, the director told Lu Ze and the other guard brother to check out and leave.
Holding the three hundred yuan given by the logistics like a fan, Lu Ze swaggered out of the film city while fanning himself, acting like a bigshot.
'I won't take any more work today! Return home and go to study!'
"..."