Chapter 515: It’s Hard to Be an Extra (Part 2)

Morning, ten o'clock.

As the sun rises higher and higher, the temperature in Hengdian in summer is also rising rapidly. At only ten o'clock, the outdoor temperature has already reached 37°.

Most of the extras were wearing thick ancient costumes, and the Qin Palace did not have air conditioning. There were a bunch of people standing in the palace, like a natural furnace, almost making people faint from the heat.

And I don’t know what happened today, the leading actors did not perform well.

The lead actor's progress was not going smoothly, but it was the extras who were in trouble.

When the starring actors shout "Ka" from the director, assistants will immediately rush up to help touch up makeup, wipe sweat, and bring ice water to cool down.

The extras didn't have this advantage. Apart from squatting on the ground, they could only wait eagerly for the lunch break after the filming was over before they could buy some water to cool down.

"Stop, do it again!"

"Come again."

In this way, the first scene was just a court meeting. The usable material was less than five minutes, but it actually took an hour to complete.

"Okay, the extras can take a break!"

"The main actor walks again and takes some close-ups of his face!"

Finally, the director's voice, like the sound of nature, reached the ears of the extras.

It was almost eleven o'clock now. After standing in thick costumes for an hour, the linings of most of the extras' clothes were completely soaked, and water could be squeezed out even if they were taken off.

"Okay, let's get started! Tweet!"

In the main shot of the crew, the two leading actors had to go through it again, take a close-up shot, and they did not have to read their lines. They just walked out of the ranks of ministers calmly and put on a few expressions of courage to remonstrate.

Marco and Bai Yu, who were playing the role of doormen at the entrance of the palace, saw that filming was still going on inside the palace. Since they were about twenty meters away, they didn't know if they would be photographed, so they didn't dare to move.

It wasn't until the camera and the protagonists moved further and further away that Marco quietly asked the crew standing around the corner, "Brother, are you filming?"

The two of them were used as backdrops. Because they were far away, they couldn't hear the start or end of the live shouting. They could only rely on visual guesses. Seeing that the crew was still running, they thought they were still filming. They had no idea whether they were filming now. Close-up, the camera can’t bring out the extras.

The staff member was even more confused, so he ignored them both and just asked them to stand still.

Because as the background, they can't move around. If they move a little and get into the camera, it's over. This scene will be scrapped and must be shot again.

When Marco was chatting with Li Jiu, the extra who played the bodyguard, the assistant director caught him for moving and scolded him.

So, when they were filming later, the two of them couldn't see clearly what the leading actors were doing, and couldn't hear the director's shouts to stop and start, so they didn't dare to rest at all and could only stand like this all the time.

The first half hour was fine. They felt pretty good. There were eaves over their heads to provide shade, and natural wind blew in to dissipate heat while standing at the door. The two of them felt much more comfortable than the actors in the steamer in the main hall.

But after standing there for another half hour, the two of them started to feel bad.

"Brother, are your legs numb?"

"It's numb, just like there are ants crawling on my legs."

"Me too"

Not all of the fifty contestants in the "Actors Please Take Your Place" program are making background panels.

As an actor, luck is very important.

Why does this circle believe so much in metaphysics?

It's because many actors are really popular or not, it really depends on luck.

Just like this time, 50 contestants were sent to be extras, but among them, Li Xian, Liu Xueyi, Zhong Chuxi and Zhao Liying were spotted by the director because of their image or temperament, and they were asked to act as special extras.

The so-called special extras are actually the ones with a few lines.

An open space next to the Qin Palace where the crew was filming was the rest area for the crew of "Warring States Policy".

The next scene is for Li Xian, Liu Xueyi, Zhong Chuxi and Zhao Liying. They will be the maids and eunuchs of the two harem ladies respectively. When the eunuchs carry the chariot through the palace streets, the two ladies We meet on a narrow road.

Then when the two ladies were mocking each other, Zhong Chuxi and Zhao Liying were able to get two lines.

Of course, it's just lines like "My slave knows" and "Your Majesty is right."

However, because the filming of the first scene in the palace went very poorly, with frequent NGs, we had to wait from nine o'clock to eleven o'clock before it was the four of them's turn to take part in the scene.

Liu Yifei, who was responsible for taking care of these contestants to adapt to their role as extras, wandered into the extras rest area.

Of course, the resting place for the extras won't be very good. It's actually just an open space.

Seeing four little girls and young men sitting on the open space in the rest area, sweating non-stop, Liu Yifei, who took on the role of "teacher", said with a little distress: "I've been waiting for a long time, you guys will be filming soon, up front The scene in the palace has been filmed, the last close-up shot.”

Zhong Chuxi, who had never filmed before, looked at Liu Yifei pitifully, sighed and said: "Hey, the waiting time on the set is really torture. We arrived at the set at eight o'clock, and it's already eleven o'clock. , it’s not my turn to shoot yet.”

"Special agents, get ready, we're about to start shooting!"

As soon as Zhong Chuxi said her pitiful words, a staff member ran over and informed them that they could go on stage.

"Okay, the wait is finally here." Zhao Liying took a deep breath, cheered herself up, and took Zhong Chuxi to the show.

Li Xian and Liu Xueyi also stood up silently, did a few stretching exercises, and immediately trotted to the palace street on the side of the Qin Palace.

The scene of the four of them was not difficult. The special extras carried the two actors who played the wives of the harem and walked around the palace street. Then the two sides met. The eunuch played by Li Xian bumped into the wife and knelt down to salute. Then the wives of both sides mocked each other a few words, and the confidants helped. It was that simple.

However, because this was a one-shot part of the episode, the director was very meticulous and had very detailed requirements for camera positions and angles.

Liu Yifei, as the "guardian" of the contestant, stood next to the monitor and watched. Li Xian knelt more than 30 times, from all camera positions and angles, and it was done.

Liu Yifei felt for his knees when she saw it.

In addition, the leading eunuch kept NG when he scolded him, and the next hour was basically spent shooting this kneeling scene.

After a lot of effort, the shot was passed. The ordinary extras who were carrying the sedan chair were too hot. It was almost 12 o'clock, and the temperature was 39 degrees. It was too tiring to carry the sedan chair back and forth in thick clothes. They got heat stroke.

There was no other way. The assistant director had to find four other extras temporarily and give them extra money as a salary for the foreground. Only then did they finish the scene.

At 11 o'clock in the afternoon, plus the preparation time of the crew, the first scene took five hours from 8 o'clock in the morning to complete.

Every actor's clothes were soaked with sweat.

Filming in Hengdian in the summer is too tiring! (End of this chapter)