Casting and Filming Begins

For three days straight, plenty of people came to audition, including quite a few who were already famous, such as Li Xiaoran and Qin Lan. The former had appeared in hit dramas like "Like Fog, Like Rain, Like Wind" and "Goodbye Vancouver" and had made quite a name for herself.

The latter had also begun to make a name for herself in "My Fair Princess III." Yet both were still exceedingly cautious when they came to audition, showing just how precious film opportunities were in this era.

Wei Jin, however, felt indifferent about both of them. Beautiful as Li Xiaoran was, her features had a slightly careworn look that didn't suit the film.

Qin Lan, meanwhile, was a little too round-faced and wasn't quite suited to the big screen.

The auditions made Wei Jin's head spin. Everyone who came was confident in herself, and they really were all quite pretty, but there were simply too many of them. He was suffering from beauty fatigue. Wei Jin decided he would have to think carefully before holding open auditions in the future.

In the end, he settled on Qiao Zhenyu as the male lead, Lei Jiayin as the second male lead, and Lam Tze-chung as the third. The remaining supporting roles were left to Chen Zhiming.

The reason he chose Qiao Zhenyu was simple: he was handsome. Wei Jin didn't know what the director of the original film in his previous life had been thinking. In a youth film, the male and female leads absolutely had to be good-looking.

He chose Lei Jiayin because the actor always seemed to carry an air of bad luck about him, which suited the second male lead perfectly.

As for Lam Tze-chung, Wei Jin really liked Hao Shaowen's performance in the original, but Hao Shaowen had gone off to study, so Wei Jin could only send out an invitation himself and find this budget substitute.

In any case, the male actors were settled. The second female lead went to Hu Jing, as expected. She was Sister Li's close friend, after all, and it wasn't a big deal. The female lead, though, was a headache. Several names kept circling in Wei Jin's head, and he couldn't make up his mind. He was a mess.

Watching Wei Jin smoke nonstop on the balcony, Zeng Li asked with concern:

"What's wrong? Is the casting not going well?"

Zeng Li was packing at the time, as she would soon be leaving to join the "World's Finest" production.

"I don't know who to pick for the female lead. They all seem to have some advantages, but they all have disadvantages too."

In terms of acting, Yan Danchen was definitely better. In terms of fame, Gao Yuanyuan naturally had the edge, and there had been rumors about her and Wei Jin. They could drum up some publicity when the film came out and raise its profile. As for who fit the role best, that really was Liu Yifei. So each of them truly had her strengths and weaknesses.

Wei Jin then told Zeng Li about the three candidates.

After hearing him out, Zeng Li fell into thought too, though she considered the matter from a somewhat different angle.

Mm, Gao Yuanyuan won't do. There have already been rumors about them. If they're in the same crew, something will happen sooner or later. No, no.

Yan Danchen is certainly pretty enough, but she's too pretty. Little Jin doesn't seem to have much resistance to mature women. No, no.

Liu Yifei, hmm... She does look like a middle school campus belle. This girl is only seventeen, right? It seems she even brings her mother along when she films. Safe. Yes, yes.

As if she had gone through a difficult bout of deliberation, Zeng Li gave her impartial answer.

"How about Liu Yifei? I think her image fits best. As for her acting, you're a Silver Bear-winning director. Coaching an actor's performance should be a cinch for you."

Hearing that, Wei Jin made up his mind and stopped agonizing over it.

Soon after seeing Zeng Li off, Wei Jin went to his study and took out his phone. He called Liu Xiaoli first and told her the audition result. Even over the phone, Wei Jin could hear Liu Yifei's cry of surprise, while Liu Xiaoli thanked him repeatedly.

He then called Gao Yuanyuan and Yan Danchen. The former was naturally a little resentful, and hearing it made Wei Jin terribly uncomfortable. She only said that no one had stayed in the rented apartment for a long time and that she would go stay there for a few nights in a while.

The latter didn't say much, perhaps having guessed the outcome. She only said they could work together if an opportunity arose. Wei Jin took the chance to suggest that she make a guest appearance as the teacher, and Yan Danchen readily agreed.

With that, the cast was finally settled. Next, it was time to officially start filming.

A week later, on September 19, Wei Jin held a simple commencement ceremony with the entire crew and took the opportunity to answer questions from a few media outlets.

"Director Wei, why did you write a story like this?"

"It's actually very simple. If you've read my book, you'll know that everyone's youth has regrets and imperfections. What I wrote wasn't just my own youth; it's the youth shared by our entire generation."

"Director Wei, why did you choose Liu Yifei as the female lead?"

"Look at her. Doesn't she remind you of the youth you remember?"

After briefly dealing with the reporters, Wei Jin gathered all the principal cast and crew together and began going over the script.

It was the first time any of the principals had worked with Wei Jin, and they were a little reserved. Only Hu Jing seemed completely carefree. Her outgoing, unrestrained personality really did fit her role, and after a round of jokes and clowning around from her, the group quickly warmed to one another.

This time, filming took place at a middle school in Huairou, because the school was a good fit for the period in which the book was set.

When the principal heard that a Silver Bear-winning director was coming to the school to make a film, he waived the location fee outright and even gathered students to make guest appearances. The students were thrilled to learn they could appear in the film.

Wei Jin was delighted too. It meant saving a large sum of money, especially since there were quite a few scenes set at the school.

The film's budget wasn't large, so they saved wherever they could.

Actors in this era were still inexpensive, and the way their pay was calculated was reasonable too. For a production, they were paid per episode according to the size of their roles. It wasn't like the later traffic-star era, when they charged by the day, and the crew had to pay an extra day's fee for every additional day of filming.

At present, first-tier actors in China earned around 100,000 per episode, second-tier actors 30,000 to 50,000, and third-tier actors around 10,000.

Film fees were generally lower than television fees, since film opportunities were scarcer. So when reports said an actor had taken a pay cut to appear in such-and-such a production, it meant the market was very optimistic about it.

Wei Jin paid Liu Yifei 200,000 for this film, with her schedule provisionally set at forty days. The main reason was that no further arrangements could be made with Zhang Dahuzi's side.

The other actors were even cheaper. Qiao Zhenyu received only 100,000, Hu Jing was also paid 100,000, Lei Jiayin got 50,000, and Lam Tze-chung got 100,000. The remaining supporting actors cost less than 100,000 combined.

Wei Jin's fee as screenwriter and director was 3 million, the kind of prestige a Silver Bear-winning director needed to maintain. Most of the remaining funds went toward props, locations, and labor costs.

Filming didn't go very smoothly during the first few days, mainly because the crew needed time to get used to working together.

The assistant director, Sun Hao, had already signed with the studio on a base salary plus a share of project earnings. Several of the cinematographers had also been recommended by the school.

After interviewing them, Wei Jin kept everyone he thought was good. Their compensation was much the same, and they essentially formed the studio's first core team.

With this film, Wei Jin intended to build up a production team. Otherwise, it was troublesome not having familiar hands every time.

After a few days of getting to know one another, the actors had essentially built a rapport, though they still needed time to ease into their roles.

After a day's filming, Wei Jin was about to head back to the hotel to rest. The entire crew was staying at the same hotel, not too far from the set.

From a distance, he saw Liu Yifei and Liu Xiaoli walking briskly toward him, so he stopped to wait for them:

"What's up, Yifei? Did you need something?"

"Brother Wei Jin, I wanted to ask, how have I been doing these past few days?"

Over the past few days, Liu Yifei and Wei Jin had grown familiar with each other, so she had started calling him Brother. Liu Xiaoli was happy to see it too.

With such a delicate young girl calling him Brother, Wei Jin was happy to accept it. She was the Fairy Sister, after all.

"Not bad. The scenes these past few days have been fairly simple. There are scenes later where your emotions erupt, so you'll probably need to put some thought into those."

Because he had the finished film in his head for comparison, Wei Jin filmed very quickly and rarely talked the actors through their scenes. After telling them the effect he wanted, he only needed to shoot a few takes, so filming was progressing well.

Pleased to have Wei Jin's approval, Liu Yifei kept him talking for a long time about her understanding of the role.

Heaven be witness, Liu Yifei had scarcely had any male friends growing up. The young girl had finally found a male friend close to her own age, and one Liu Xiaoli didn't object to. When she was filming "Chinese Paladin" before, Liu Xiaoli hadn't even let Hu Ge come near her.

So Liu Yifei had been overjoyed on set these past few days. Whenever she had time, she sat beside Wei Jin, propped her chin in her hands, and copied him as he watched the monitor.

But happy times were always fleeting. More than half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and the time had come to put their acting to the test.