164: Chapter 165 Life as an Extra (Part 4)

The next day arrived, and while it was still dark, Chen Sheng went to the gathering point at the square and found the older brother. The two of them smoked while waiting for the bus to pick them up.

Just before six, the bus arrived at the small square. Everyone boarded in an orderly fashion. After the accompanying Staff Member finished counting the heads and saw a few were still missing, they rounded up a few more people from the square to make up the numbers before driving to the set.

Arriving at the set, after the Staff Member finished speaking, Chen Sheng bolted toward the props department. In the words of the older brother, opportunities are seized by grasping every detail.

Take costumes, for example. A production only has so many, some good and some bad, and it is first come, first served.

If you are faster than others, you can pick a decent set. Because of that decent costume, you might catch the eye of a Staff Member, who then moves you to a core area. In this way, you might manage to get on camera, or even get a line or two of dialogue.

Perhaps because of one expression or those one or two lines, you are remembered by the audience and then become famous.

Even if you don't become famous, for those drifting in Hengdian, this is invaluable experience. Perhaps with this experience, when you go to the next production, your status as an extra can be upgraded to a minor featured role.

Of course, Chen Sheng didn't need these things; the main reason he ran was to pick a set of clothes that didn't smell, or at least smelled less.

Yesterday, because he didn't understand this, he just picked a random set, only to realize when he got back at night that he was practically marinated in the stench.

However, things didn't go as planned. As a rookie in Hengdian, he was ultimately no match for the old veterans, and in the end, he had to put on a Japanese soldier uniform with an indescribable smell.

After everyone had changed, they heard a Staff Member calling for assembly with a megaphone. Once everyone was standing in their groups from yesterday, it was time for rehearsals, and more rehearsals, until eleven in the morning when the assistant director finally called for a preliminary take.

Perhaps the results weren't satisfactory, because after the lunch break, the Staff Member used the megaphone to direct everyone to rehearse again.

While everyone was rehearsing, the legendary director and the main actors for this scene arrived at the set one after another.

The director took charge, arranged for the main actors to join the rehearsal, and after everyone ran through it twice more and felt it was good enough, the director immediately signaled for the various departments to check the equipment and prepare for the official shoot.

Taking advantage of the time the Staff Member was making preparations, the extras, who had been rehearsing for two hours straight, finally got a break.

Chen Sheng returned to the Japanese soldier position, plopped onto the ground, ripped the hat off his head, and threw it to the ground beside him in disgust.

To be honest, at this moment, he was a bit envious of the opposing soldiers' attire.

The soldiers of that special era, in a situation where they lacked food and clothing, relied on their passion to forge the backbone of the Chinese people; for this, anyone would have to give a thumbs up and call them great.

Likewise, regarding the harsh conditions of lacking food and clothing at that time, even iron-willed tough guys couldn't help but want to shed tears when seeing it.

However, that was in reality.

But here, Chen Sheng looked at the patched clothes on the opposing soldiers, which were clearly a layer thinner than his own, and the envy and jealousy in his eyes were almost tangible.

Especially the hats and shoes—these two things made Chen Sheng want to curse out loud a million times.

The Japanese soldier's hat has a piece of cloth at the hem that can cover the entire neck. You have to realize that this is September, the tail end of a scorching summer, so wearing such a tightly wrapped hat is simply torture.

The shoes are the same. The soldiers wear cloth shoes, while they wear heavy leather boots, the kind that are completely unbreathable. Every time they rest, everyone habitually kicks their shoes off, and the pungent smell is absolutely soul-shattering.

Chen Sheng naturally took out two cigarettes, gave one to the older brother, and while smoking, complained, "We keep running back and forth, I wonder when this will end?"

"It ends when the director nods." The older brother took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Little brother, this is nothing. Before, when I went to a period drama to film a battle between two armies, one scene took a whole week to finish."

"Besides..." The older brother glanced around, and seeing no one was paying attention, he leaned closer to Chen Sheng and lowered his voice, "How do you know this scene really wasn't filmed well?"

"Holy crap!" Chen Sheng's eyes lit up yet again, and he quickly lowered his voice to ask, "Brother, what's the trick behind this?"

"Heh! There are plenty of tricks in this." The older brother grinned mysteriously, then whispered, "I heard this from a friend of mine. He just happens to have a very distant relative who works with props on a set. Once, when the two were drinking together, my friend asked a similar question, and the relative might have had a bit too much to drink and let a little bit slip."

"Let's put it this way. For example, this war scene—the actual daily cost for labor, venue, and logistics might be one hundred thousand. The people below fiddle with it and report two hundred thousand, then the director fiddles with it and records three hundred thousand on the books. If they delay it for a few days, everyone from the director down to the Staff Member can make a killing. Do you think they would agree to finish filming in a day or two?"

"Holy crap! You can play it like that?" Chen Sheng was already dumbfounded.

The older brother patted Chen Sheng on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Little brother, there are many tricks in this industry. You still have a lot to learn."

By four in the afternoon, the Staff Member reported that preparations were complete, and the director immediately called for everyone to get ready to shoot. Once all the actors were in their designated positions, following the clapperboard operator's "Action," the sounds of gunfire, shouting, and crying instantly filled the entire area.

Chen Sheng numbly followed behind the older brother, walking a few steps, raising his gun, mechanically shouting "Bang" with his mouth, then lowering the gun and continuing to walk forward, until reaching the second segment where Chen Sheng began to surround the women, then the third segment, exchanging fire with the soldiers who came to support, and finally getting shot and playing dead.

After one take, the director watched the playback and pointed out many problems. After the props department simply reset the filming location, and with the clapperboard operator's "Action," the second take officially began.

"Villagers, the Japanese devils are coming..."

"Run quickly to the mountains."

"Yo shi, yo shi..."

Then came the third take.

After three takes, it was almost dark. The director left, cursing and swearing, and the main actors followed right behind him.

A calm-faced Staff Member came over to the extras with a megaphone, "That's it for today. We continue tomorrow. If you want to come, sign up when you get paid later. It's still 220 yuan a day. The bus will be waiting at the small square tomorrow morning; don't be late."

Hearing that the shooting had ended, Chen Sheng quickly tore off his hat, blended into the crowd to go to the props department, changed out of that foul-smelling outfit, and then blended into the crowd again to find the Staff Member to get paid, receiving his 220 yuan for the day. However, this time he did not sign up to participate in tomorrow's filming.

No matter how fun or novel something is, if you keep repeating it, you will soon get tired of it.

He was now very tired of this job as an extra.

After getting his money, Chen Sheng boarded the bus provided by the production crew to the city. By the time he returned to the small square, it was already eight in the evening. Chen Sheng said goodbye to the older brother, told him he wouldn't be going to the set tomorrow, and walked toward the hotel alone.

That's just how it is for extras; people come, people go, coming and going, forgotten in the vast world.

On his fourth day in Hengdian, Chen Sheng slept until noon, finally feeling like he had made up for the sleep he missed while working as an extra over the past two days.

In the afternoon, Chen Sheng hailed a taxi and asked the driver to take him to a legitimate bathhouse. He scrubbed himself thoroughly, had a technician help him exfoliate his back, and then got cupping therapy. After the whole process, he felt completely refreshed.

In the evening, Chen Sheng received a call from Yi Wei. On the phone, Yi Wei reported that the second female lead had been selected, the production would officially start filming tomorrow, and invited Chen Sheng to visit the set to inspect the work.

Chen Sheng gladly agreed.

And so, the next day arrived, and Chen Sheng got up early... well, compared to having to be at the small square at five or six in the morning as an extra, today wasn't actually that early. He left at eight, finished breakfast by eight-thirty, then hailed a taxi and had the driver take him to the nearest car rental agency.

Arriving at the rental agency, Chen Sheng rented a Prado, then drove to find a milk tea shop and ordered fifty cups of various milk teas. After the milk tea was packed up, he followed the navigation to Yi Wei's set.

In one of the rooms within a complex of buildings resembling those of the 1960s and 70s, this was the location of the "The Wicked Mother-in-Law is Online, Unfilial Children All Kneel" production crew.