novellhall Chapter 64 Seeking External Assistance
Chapter 64 Seeking External Assistance
The next morning, the three of them stood in front of a building.
The June sun is still scorching even in the morning.
Zhang Ruonan tilted her head back, shielding her eyes from the glaring sunlight with her hand, and gazed at the warehouse-like building in front of her.
The exterior walls are grayish-white, the roller shutters are dark gray, and the fire escape stairs on the side are rusty.
There was no sign at the entrance, only a few workers carrying planks inside.
Wang Zian walked up to the two of them, turned around, and clapped his hands.
A crisp snap echoed at the empty factory gate, simultaneously drawing the attention of Zhang Ruonan and Zhou Ye.
"This is the location where we'll be filming today!"
Zhang Ruonan crossed her arms, tilted her head, and sized him up for several seconds before asking, "Where's your filming equipment?"
She has taken many photos as a model and knows that a lot of equipment is needed.
Fill lights, reflectors, softboxes, backdrops—you name it, there are several.
Wang Zian took out his camera from his shoulder bag. It was a black Nikon D810 with a 24-70mm lens, which he held up in front of the two of them with one hand.
When Zhou Ye saw him take out the camera, his eyes lit up, and he also looked down and took out his own bag, a basic Canon SLR camera.
"You messaged me asking me to bring my camera too, that's why!"
"Yes!" Wang Zian nodded with a smile and took the camera from Zhou Ye.
"I originally wanted to take the picture with my phone, but the phone's resolution is still a bit low."
Zhang Ruonan looked at the two cameras in his hands, then at the drab warehouse behind him, and then at him.
"Two cameras are enough?" She felt like she had heard some kind of joking, divine statement.
"That's enough, let's shoot some simple ones first! And I even found some outside help."
The three of them walked into the warehouse, and Zhang Ruonan and Zhou Ye stopped in their tracks at the same time.
From the outside, it looks like an ordinary factory building, but the interior space is divided into countless cubicles, each of which is an independent little scene.
One room was decorated like an old-fashioned classroom, with chalk writing still on the blackboard; another room was a girls' dormitory, with floral sheets covering the bunk beds; another room was a retro American kitchen, with colorful refrigerator magnets on the refrigerator; further in, there was a police station interrogation room, a Japanese-style living room with tatami mats, and a fake coffee shop with a whole wall of floor-to-ceiling windows.
Workers are adjusting the last row of overhead lights in the atrium. The lights shine down from different angles, casting shadows of varying depths in different scenes.
This is an indoor real-life studio that ByteDance built with a lot of money to promote its short video platform. It contains more than 100 professional real-life scenes.
Wang Zian led the two on a tour of the place, and Zhou Ye and Zhang Ruonan were amazed by the diverse and wonderful scenes inside.
Zhou Ye stood in a pink princess room for a long time, touching the fake lipstick on the small dressing table with his fingers.
Zhang Ruonan paused in front of a balcony scene filled with fake green plants. Sunlight shone down from the overhead lights, making the fake leaves look as green as real ones.
"Wow! How did you find this place?" Zhou Ye poked his head out from the princess's room and called out to Wang Zi'an's back.
"Online!" Wang Zian stood under the rising light fixture in the atrium, turned around, and smiled slightly. "You've been watching short videos for nothing? They're renting out the set."
"What are you planning to film?" Zhang Ruonan walked over from the balcony scene.
"I'll film you guys!"
Wang Zian raised his camera, casually snapped a picture of the two of them, and then showed it to them on the screen.
"The most powerful thing about short videos is that they can bypass all the intermediate links and directly put themselves in front of the audience."
"We can become famous online first, then smoothly receive commercial orders, then TV series and movies, and then naturally win Best Actress and Best Actor awards~~"
"Stop, stop, stop!" Zhou Ye raised his hand and made a sudden braking gesture in the air.
"You're dreaming!" Zhang Ruonan quickly followed up with another remark.
"Exactly!" Zhou Ye chimed in, "You think becoming famous is easy?!"
"Look at the short videos these days," she said, taking out her phone; "They're either showing people traveling or doing mind-blowing dances."
Zhou Ye scrolled through a short video.
"What's wrong, Dad..." The music started, and the next beat was the ghost dance.
Zhou Ye shook his phone, the screen almost hitting Wang Zi'an's nose.
"Are you just going to follow the trend and make these kinds of videos?" Zhang Ruonan leaned over from the side, glanced at the screen, and then looked up at him. "I don't think they're likely to go viral."
"Even if the three of us are all very good-looking, there are many good-looking people on short videos, so we don't have much of a competitive edge."
Compared to Zhou Ye, Zhang Ruonan clearly had a deeper understanding, probably because her family was in business; she knew what was truly scarce and what was merely superficially appealing.
Wang Zian stood in their line of sight, hung the camera back around his neck, and said nothing, simply waiting quietly for them to express their concerns.
"We're starting by shooting photos that reflect individual personal styles!"
He looked at Zhou Ye, his gaze lingering on her almond-shaped eyes, which still held a hint of doubt. "Trust me, Zhou Ye. You're very beautiful; I can capture all your beauty in a single photograph!"
Then he turned to Zhang Ruonan, "Sister Nan, you too~! Your beauty is different from Zhou Ye's, but the camera can capture it."
"I guarantee that after you two finish taking the photos, a lot of people will set them as their wallpapers."
Zhang Ruonan and Zhou Ye, standing a meter apart, fell silent for a moment at the same time.
The two exchanged a glance, unconsciously struck by Wang Zian's confidence.
"So what should we do first?" Zhou Ye asked excitedly, eager to take photos.
"The first step is to give you both a beautiful makeover!" Wang Zian pointed at the two of their bare faces.
He glanced down at the time on his phone. "The person I arranged to meet should be arriving soon."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the sound of a car engine shutting off came from the factory gate.
Two dark-colored minivans were parked in the open space in front of the gate. The doors slid open at the same time, and seven or eight people filed out of the vehicles.
A middle-aged man leading the group walked over quickly.
"They are the behind-the-scenes team I hired," Wang Zian explained, putting down his phone.
Zhang Ruonan watched the group of people walk in, with professional makeup cases, professional lighting stands, professional black flags and softboxes.
They worked together seamlessly, and when moving equipment, they didn't need to say a word; one person would hand it to the other, and the other would take it.
She glanced at Prince An.
This person once again confirmed her judgment: he wouldn't do something without preparation.
"Hello, Mr. Wang!" The person walking at the front was a middle-aged man in his forties with a buzz cut and a bronze complexion from years of exposure to the lights on film sets.
He extended his hand, his smile full of professional politeness. "We received your order, so we rushed over; we're not late, are we?"
Wang Zian shook his head; "No~! You..."
"Just call me Lao Li. I'm from the 05 Photography Department of Beijing Film Academy. I've been in this industry for many years!" Lao Li's smile lines deepened a little.
He explained his background, hoping the employer would have some faith in him so he could get more work.
Making a living these days is pretty tough.
Upon hearing the words "Beijing Film Academy," Zhou Ye immediately peeked over from the side.
"We are also from Beijing Film Academy, but we are freshmen this year."
The polite smile on Lao Li's face instantly gained a layer of genuine warmth.
"That's such a coincidence! We'll be alumni from now on."
He turned to the side, gestured with his chin toward the group of people setting up the lighting rigs behind him, and began to introduce them one by one, "Our team has two lighting technicians, two photographers, two makeup artists, and one sound engineer—all of whom have been my long-time partners for several years."