In Beiping in November, the autumn wind is bleak and the weather is cool, and the grass and trees are shaken and the dew is frosty. The cool breeze of the early morning blows off the withered yellow leaves, and the body is cold.

However, Zhang Ran's heart was burning with a fire, so that his blood was boiling. "Time Prisoner" is going to start today!

The location of the shoot is not far from Nortel, in a hotel on Huayuan Road. Because the filming time of "Time Prisoner" was very short, Zhang Ran promised to give the hotel signboard a close-up, so the hotel happily waived the venue fee for the crew.

The crew's vehicles stopped outside the hotel, and the staff of each group moved their equipment to the scene.

The crew are all professionals and know the workflow of the crew. The camera crew, lighting crew, and recording crew unpacked their equipment, and then each found a place to sit down and wait for the actors to arrive.

When the actors don't show up, the various departments have to wait.

Because there is a standard process for film shooting, only by following the process can the efficiency of film shooting be ensured. The shooting of a movie can be divided into five steps: positioning, lighting, rehearsal, fine-tuning, and shooting. The first step is positioning, the so-called positioning is that the actor simply plays the content of the scene roughly, so as to determine the position of the actor during the performance, as well as the actions of the characters.

Only by determining the actor's position, the photographer can determine the camera position, scene and movement method according to the actor's performance area, and then determine the starting and falling frames, the focal length and high and low position of the lens, etc.; at the same time, the gaffer can determine the light position in the performance area at all, so as to arrange the lighting; and the art can also set the scenery according to the position of the performance area.

Zhang Ran took two plastic stools and sat with producer Zheng Dongdong to discuss the camera. Producer is a Hong Kong-specific film position, which is generally held by experienced filmmakers behind the scenes, who are responsible for assisting the director in finding scripts, finding investment, and directing shooting.

However, the purpose of the domestic crew looking for a producer is a little different from that of Xiangjiang, and the vast majority of domestic producers have an idiotic understanding of the movie, they don't understand it at all, and they are afraid of being cheated by the director, so they have to find another person who understands the film to be the producer.

Hu Jun came to the set and saw the two directors chatting, so he hurriedly came over to say hello, and then chatted.

At 7:20, Zhang Jingchu came. Seeing that everyone's eyes fell on her, she realized that everyone was waiting for her, her face turned red, and she hurriedly came over to apologize: "Director Zhang, Director Zheng, I'm sorry, I'm late!"

Zhang Ran saw Zhang Jingchu's panicked expression, like a child who made a mistake and waited for the teacher's criticism, smiled and comforted: "I said that I would start work at half past seven, but now it's only seven twenty, and you are not late." ”

Zheng Dongdong also smiled and said: "We are here and here, and we have nothing to do, so we came over early." ”

Zhang Jingchu is just a nobody now, she doesn't dare to be arrogant, her attitude is very humble, and she bows her head and says, "Director, I'll come early tomorrow!"

Zhang Ran stood up, shook his head and said, "Okay, let's go first!" and then shouted loudly: "All groups are ready, we are going to work!"

Hearing Zhang Ran's shout, the lighting, photography, art, and boom bearers all came over, waiting to determine the performance area of the actors.

Zhang Ran asked Hu Jun and Zhang Jingchu to come to the door of the hotel, let them walk through the play twice, and determined the area for the performance. The camera assistant put adhesive tape on the ground according to the actor's position and made a mark, which is a reminder to the actor, so that the actor does not walk outside the camera while acting.

Immediately afterwards, Hu Jun and Zhang Jingchu were taken outside the performance area, and Zhang Ran gave them a detailed analysis of the characters' motivations, psychological states and performance requirements in this scene, which is what is usually called a play.

At the same time, the camera crew led the camera crew to set up the camera, lay out the tracks, and rehearse the movement according to the requirements of the photographer Chen Qinghua, while Chen Qinghua himself cooperated with the gaffer to start the lighting.

Film lighting is a very complex process, which requires the brightness of the metering meter and the color temperature of the metering. As a result, lighting is the slowest of all departments and takes the most time, taking about 45 minutes to set up a panorama and 15 minutes to set up a close-up shot.

While the gaffers were busy, the other departments were not idle, with recording assistants starting to install wireless microphones for actors with lines, artists working with camera operators to clean up the venue and add props as seen by the camera, and assistant directors setting up extras as human backgrounds to add realism and atmosphere.

The scene that the crew is going to shoot is an outdoor scene, the time is in the afternoon, Zhang Ran requires that the sun must shine on the actors' faces, giving people a sunny feeling, which can form a contrast with the gloom of the story.

However, it was already morning and the sun had not yet come out, so the gaffers had to simulate the afternoon sun and set up the lighting.

When the lighting was almost complete, the assistant director asked the actors to return to the performance area, and Zhang Ran began to guide the actors to rehearse in the performance area.

At this time, the rehearsal is mainly to adjust the details of the performance, explain what kind of emotions, eyes, expressions, and tone the actor will use in a scene or shot to perform next, most directors will put forward clear performance requirements or tell the actors about the true state of the role, and some actors such as Jiang Wen will not give the actors too many rules and regulations to let them play freely, and a very small number of directors who are particularly good at guiding the actors' performances such as Ang Lee will directly make demonstration suggestions.

Rehearsals were very important to the crew of "Time Prisoner" because the crew's funds were limited, and the film was very expensive, 1800 yuan per roll, and it could only be shot for 4 minutes, so it had to be economical. Zhang Ran didn't dare to shoot 5 or 60 times in one shot like Wong Kar-wai, and then choose one of them that he felt was the best. Only rich and willful people dare to play like this, but Zhang Ran can't afford to play.

Hu Jun and Zhang Jingchu rehearsed seriously, very focused: "Have you seen that street lamp?"

"See, what's wrong?"

"Has it been there?"

"Of course, it's always been there!

"Stop!" Zhang Ran stopped the performance of the two and said with a smile, "Brother Jun, your lines are amazing, you are worthy of being an actor who has acted in dramas for ten years, the rhythm, weight, and pauses are all flawless, how about having time to give a lesson to the students in our class?"

Hu Jun hurriedly waved his hand: "Don't, it's no problem for you to let me act, let me give a lecture or forget it." Where can I speak, I guess I can't open my mouth when I get on the podium. ”

"It's too modest!" Zhang Ran smiled, looked at Zhang Jingchu and said, "Jingchu, you didn't pronounce the wrong line." Cao Lin asked you if you saw where the street light has been all along, and you said, of course, it has always been there! The accent should be on 'always', not 'it', this is a logical accent, and the emphasis is on time, not the street lamp. You should say that, of course, it's always been there!

"Of course, it's always been there!" Zhang Jingchu read it again, accenting it on "always".

"That's right, that's it!" Zhang Ran nodded.

When Hu Jun heard Zhang Ran finish reading this line, he couldn't help but praise: "Director, your line skills are very thick, not at the level of one or two years, it's no problem in our group!"

Zhang Jingchu was taken aback, Hu Jun is a human artist, the highest stage of Chinese drama, Chen Daoming , Pu Cunxin and other big names are all human actors, can Director Zhang Ran's line level enter the human art?

"Brother Jun, don't I know my level? Zhang Ran smiled, then looked at Zhang Jingchu and suggested, "Jingchu, it's okay to talk to your senior brother Hu Jun more lines, let him check for you, he is a real master, don't call for nothing!"

Zhang Jingchu also knew that her lines were average, and nodded seriously: "I will ask Senior Brother Hu Jun for advice." ”

After several rehearsals, Zhang Ran was satisfied with the actor's performance, waved his hand, and shouted: "Makeup team, touch up the actor's makeup!"

The makeup artist hurriedly came over to touch up the makeup and arrange the costumes for Zhang Jingchu and Hu Jun, while the photography and lighting department fine-tuned according to the results of the rehearsal, and the focus technician also began to measure the distance of the actors and prepare to follow the focus. Follow focus is very important in sports shots, because the subject is in motion, and if the camera is not focused in time, the image will be blurry.

Soon, the groups were ready. The scene began to be cleared, and people who had nothing to do with the filming withdrew from the filming area one after another.

Huang Kunming came over and told Zhang Ran that the groups were in place and ready to shoot.

Zhang Ran took a deep breath, and then said to the assistant director: "Since everyone is ready, let's start!"

"Alright, each group prepares!" the assistant director nodded and shouted loudly.

The cameras are turned on, the recording equipment is turned on, the actors stand in front of the camera, and the boom operator puts the long microphone in his hand and prepares for the radio.

The reporter walked over with the clapperboard and placed it in front of the camera.

"Hit the board!" Zhang Ran shouted.

"The fifteenth scene, the first shot, the first one!" the scene reporter hit the board and exited the camera.

The action of striking the clapperboard is called a slapstick. Specific information such as camera position and scene sequence number is recorded on the slate board to facilitate finding and correspondence during post-editing, so as to avoid confusion in the sequence of scenes. Before the start of each scene, the slate uses the slate to complete the action of playing the slapstick, and the camera will shoot the slate shot and the percussion sound at the same time, so that the sound engineer can position it for easy editing.

"Let's go!" Zhang Ran commanded.

This is the first time in his life that Zhang Ran has directed a feature film independently, and from now on, he can really say that he is a film director! Zhang Ran's expression is very serious, his eyes are staring at the monitor, and his heart is fluctuating, but he knows that this is just the beginning, it is only the first step of a long march, and there is still a long way to go!

But this first step has been taken!

(Thanks to "Fengyun Fuchen, Matic, Shan Xuexue" for rewarding, asking for collection, asking for recommendation!)