Chapter 21: Anyone Remembers Xue Feifei?
Editor: Henyee Translations
Shooting a show could be torturous sometimes.
The outsiders thought it was a glamorous job because they didn't know it well enough. Only those working in this line of business knew how much hard work was involved.
A one-minute long scene could cost a few hours to prepare in advance, which included the setting up of the scene, makeup, camera positions and adjustment, and remembering the lines, so on and so forth.
The most frustrating thing was that after hours of preparation, that one-minute shoot could end up a failure because of all sorts of mistakes the actors or actresses could make and they would have to retake it over and over again.
Luckily, Meng Lang didn't have to worry about that.
He was used to making soap operas and crappy shows and didn have too high a standard for performance skills.
Taking the current scene as an example, the actress playing the fairy queen was twitching unnecessarily, obviously because she was nervous. Any director who aimed for perfection would find that unacceptable and would ask for another go.
But Meng Lang didn't find it a problem. The tremor was barely detectable on camera and he found a retake completely unnecessary.
"Blue, did you let Moon escape again?"
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty."
"Forget it…"
"Cut!"
The camera stopped rolling and the actresses held their breaths, waiting for a verdict.
Meng Lang looked at the monitor with a frown. "You look too serious. Lighten up a little."
All four actresses sighed in relief.
Good, the director wasn't scolding them.
They could live with a retake. After all, NGs were common during shootings.
Once Meng Lang had pointed out the problem, the actresses followed the instruction and the next take went smoothly. Neither the fairy queen, nor Blue Fairy looked as serious when they spoke again.
"Won't it look too… cheeky?"
Wang Kui asked tentatively. "The fairy queen is still a queen. Shouldn't she be at least a little mad at her subordinate, who has failed at her task?"
Everyone was grinning and Wang Kui found this to be a bit off.
Meng Lang glanced at him sideways. "Are you the screenwriter?"
Wang Kui shook his head.
"Or the director?"
Wang Kui shook his head again.
Meng Lang pursed his lips. "Then, stop asking questions, as if you know how to make the show better than me, the screenwriter/director."
Wang Kui was speechless.
"But, I'm the producer!" thought Wang Kui.
Fine, the man was indeed the boss of the company, the director, and the screenwriter…
After chasing Wang Kui away, Meng Lang was much more efficient with the shooting once the watchful eyes were gone.
Even the actors and actresses found the speed impossible.
Every scene was given a pass after one go?
And there was one NG after nearly half an hour?
How efficient was this director?
He was like the fastest gunman!
An occasional one-take shoot could be attributed to the talent of the actors/actresses, but if all shoots were like that, then there was something wrong with the director.
"The next scene is for Xue Feifei. Look relaxed and don't speak your lines with deadpan faces, okay?"
"Sure, Director Meng!" replied Yang Yuqing.
…
Xue Feifei's scenes were the hardest part of the shooting of Balala the Fairies.
Because Xue Feifei didn't have a physical body!
More precisely, Xue Feifei was a bug with wings. It could fly and was a virtual role who called itself a "genie sage", but was in fact more like a "genie idiot".
It was the genie sage of the Fairy Encyclopedia and was there to help Ling Meiqi and Ling Meixue to learn their magic.
Probably because of the limited budget, Xue Feifei, the role that should have sparkled, fell to the background in the original version. Years later, even Yan Lili was still remembered by some audience, but that adorable genie Xue Feifei had long been forgotten.
Meng Lang had recreated this show, but he had made some changes based on the original version.
For instance, Xue Feifei, who hadn't been created properly in the original version because of the low budget, had more scenes in Meng Lang's version. Moreover, unlike the original version, this time, Xue Feifei could appear in the same scene as the main characters and interact with them.
In the original version, whenever it was Xue Feifei's turn, the image on the screen would be switched to some empty area so that Xue Feifei could show up alone.
Only a handful of scenes had Meiqi, Meixue, and Xue Feifei together, but it was done in the post production, where Xue Feifei was "inserted" into the picture and the result was rather unnatural.
Why did that happen?
The reason was very simple. They didn't have enough money for special effects and couldn't create a satisfactory Xue Feifei.
After all, Xue Feifei was a virtual role and its movement had to be created frame by frame with special effects, which was very expensive. In the original version, Aofei had probably screwed up on the character Xue Feifei because of the limited budget.
Once Meng Lang came up with the script of Balala the Fairies, he decided that he would make Xue Feifei right this time.
And that was to create more sources of income, too!
In Balala the Fairies, both Meiqi's fairy flute and Meixue's fairy harp could be sold as toys. In that case, why couldn't Xue Feifei, the virtual character, be made into a stuffed toy?
Stuffed toys were one of the most enduring categories in the toy market. They were timeless pieces and someone was always buying them.
From this point of view, it was worthwhile to spend a little more money on the special effects to make Xue Feifei right.
The special effects for Xue Feifei were a difficult task, for it involved an extra "modeling" step. Creating a virtual role out of the blue was a task that involved a lot of work.
Luckily, it was the year 2014 now…
If it had been 10 years ago, Meng Lang would have to give up on this character the same way Aofei had.
In 2014, the special effect technique was nothing like what it was ten years before.
Xue Feifei, the character that couldn't be done properly in the original version, could easily be done by just about any special effect studio with enough money.
Meng Lang still chose to outsource the special effects of Balala the Fairies even when Pengda Pictures had already set up a special effect studio of its own, but it couldn't take the job for lack of employees.
He hired Thunderbird studio again.
Meng Lang was impressed by the Rolls Royce Thunderbird sent to pick him up when they worked on Blazing Teens and since the special effects of Balala the Fairies weren't all that complicated, he thought anyone could do the work.
His phone began to ring when Meng Lang was busy shooting Balala the Fairies.
He tapped the screen to find Mr. Tao sending him an emoji on Wechat.
"Are you there?"
"No…"
Meng Lang deleted the word as soon as he typed it in the chat box, then replied, "Hello, Mr. Tao. How can I help you?"
"It's nothing, really! I'm told that you're making a feature show similar to Blazing Teens and I'm just wondering if it's possible…"
The old man had probably had a taste of the pie from the free broadcasting rights of Blazing Teens. Here he was, asking about this new show when it had only just started shooting.
"I've talked to CCTV-14 already. If everything goes as planned, they're going to have the first-round broadcasting rights."
Mr. Tao sent a meme that expressed utter bewilderment.
Then, a gif that expressed his grievance.
"I was the first. I was the first every time… We were the first to broadcast and rebroadcast that show!"
He couldn't understand how things turned out this way. They had worked together so smoothly on Blazing Teens!
"The National TV has stolen my project! I'm so mad!"
-- Gift
received