No launch press conference, no reporters, and even the entertainment industry's usual ritual of worshipping the gods at the start of filming was carried out in an extremely perfunctory manner.
And just like that, the Whiplash production began filming.
Old Zhou still lived up to his unreliable nature.
Give him a chance to casually find a statue of some deity just to go through the motions,
and he could come up with Guan Yu wearing black shoes.
That was something only people in the underworld were supposed to worship.
Still, Bai Youlou didn't argue with him over it. This was just a formality. If Old Zhou hadn't insisted that worshipping the gods would improve the production's cohesion, he could have put SpongeBob there instead.
So even the production staff felt that this crew was far too makeshift.
If Bai Youlou hadn't had some "fame," the staff would have worried about whether they could even get paid for this job.
Fame was a double-edged sword.
While everyone generally looked down on Bai Youlou, they also felt that he had at least once been a popular idol, so he probably wasn't incapable of paying their wages.
Idols made a ton of money. That was practically common knowledge.
As for the directing ability of Bai Youlou, this "newly minted director," everyone maintained a certain tacit understanding.
Why bring that up? Finish filming, take the money, and leave.
Some people even wanted to wait and watch Bai Youlou make a fool of himself~
So now anyone could be a director.
That was what Old Zhou was worried about too. He was afraid Bai Youlou's ability wouldn't be enough to control the set.
He had worked on legitimate productions before, and had even risen to the position of assistant director. He knew all too well what production crews were like.
A production crew was a miniature society.
Generally speaking, domestic productions followed a director-centered system. The director had the final say in almost everything, with immense authority.
But if the director lacked sufficient seniority or backing and couldn't control the various troublemakers on set, all sorts of problems could arise.
At least paying lip service while doing the opposite was the least of it.
Fortunately, Old Zhou himself had experience, and he felt he could help Bai Youlou keep the production under control.
For such a small production, it would be a piece of cake.
So before official filming began, Old Zhou kept wandering around Bai Youlou with the shooting schedule, waiting for him to "ask for help."
Well, he didn't even need to ask. Given their relationship, all he had to do was open his mouth, and Old Zhou would immediately—
"Get out of the way. You're blocking my view."
"Huh? Sorry, sorry~"
Old Zhou retreated helplessly, thinking, You'd better say something nice to me later!
He wanted to see how Bai Youlou planned to control the entire production.
For Whiplash, Bai Youlou had designed a shooting schedule that worked backward from the ending.
The main reason was to accommodate Long Ziqiang, who had no acting experience.
The film was primarily about the process by which its protagonist went from a music-loving newcomer with dreams to a paranoid madman, step by step.
The male second lead, the devilish mentor who turned the protagonist into that kind of person, was already a paranoid madman from the very beginning.
By filming in reverse, Bai Youlou could give Long Ziqiang an excellent demonstration.
Just imitate how I do it, buddy.
The entire film was scheduled to take one month to shoot.
In fact, the film had taken only nineteen days to shoot in the original timeline.
The month was mainly meant to "train" Long Ziqiang, this complete amateur. Bai Youlou had deliberately left plenty of time for him to retake scenes.
If the guy truly turned out to be hopelessly thick-headed about acting, Bai Youlou had even prepared several rather inhumane methods of getting him into character.
As for how to suppress the entire production and make everyone obey, that wasn't really a question of technical ability. It didn't have that much to do with a director's skill.
Or rather, having skill was only one possible path.
"Throw it!"
"Director, I'm afraid I won't throw accurately. What if—?"
Long Ziqiang hesitated, holding a small chair but not daring to do as Bai Youlou had instructed.
Because Bai Youlou had told him to charge forward and throw the chair straight at him.
At that moment, filming hadn't even officially begun. Bai Youlou was merely helping Long Ziqiang find the right feeling by casually running through a scene.
This was the scene in which the protagonist was playing the drums when the devilish mentor suddenly threw a chair at him.
"I'm not afraid, so what the hell are you afraid of?! Aim for my head! I'll dodge!"
"I—"
"You spineless bastard! F*ck your—"
To be honest, although Bai Youlou was swearing here, every word was actually Long Ziqiang's dialogue.
It was as if their roles had been reversed, with Bai Youlou seeming to be the devilish mentor instead.
Gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut, Long Ziqiang sent the chair flying from his hands.
With a bang, the chair crashed onto the floor.
Bai Youlou stood exactly where he was, frowning as he looked at him. "What the hell was that aim?! You missed by a mile!"
Long Ziqiang didn't dare say a word. He had closed his eyes when he threw it. How could he possibly have aimed accurately?
It was like throwing knives while blindfolded. If one's skills weren't up to par, not only would the person serving as the target be nervous—the knife thrower would be nervous too.
Yet how could Bai Youlou let Long Ziqiang off so easily?
The guy had done a decent job adjusting himself to the role over the past few days. At the very least, his speech, expressions, and such basically met the character's requirements.
But his gaze and aura were absolutely worthless.
In that situation, Bai Youlou felt he had to use stronger medicine.
"I'll do it! Stand there!"
"Director, throw accurately, for God's sake!"
Long Ziqiang hadn't even finished speaking when a chair shot toward him at tremendous speed.
He ducked almost instinctively.
At the same time, with a loud bang, the chair slammed heavily into the wall.
Unlike Long Ziqiang's wildly inaccurate throw, Bai Youlou's aim had been frighteningly precise.
Everyone nearby had seen it clearly. He had thrown the chair straight at Long Ziqiang's head.
If it had hit him, he would have suffered a concussion at the very least.
"That's the feeling. Got it? Throw it suddenly. Don't need so much buildup. You're a bastard who flies into a rage at any moment."
Long Ziqiang stared blankly at Bai Youlou, and it was impossible to tell whether he had taken in anything he said.
His vacant expression made him look somewhat weak, pitiful, and helpless, despite his gangster-like appearance.
At that moment, Bai Youlou stood up and looked toward the production staff, who were still preparing for the shoot.
As his gaze swept across them, not a single person dared meet his eyes.
One way to quickly take control of a production was to make them afraid.
Actually, respect and genuine submission were the best ways to control a production, but Bai Youlou didn't have time for that.
He might as well take the shortcut.
--
Half an hour after filming officially began, the atmosphere on set was actually pretty good.
After being startled by the high-intensity rehearsal between Bai Youlou and Long Ziqiang, the experienced veterans thought, This young director is pretty ruthless with his actors~
But being ruthless with the actors alone was useless when making a film.
So when Bai Youlou gave instructions about the lighting and camera positions, a few people still stepped forward to oppose him.
Their attitudes weren't particularly bad, but their tones carried a certain sense of superiority.
What they meant was roughly: Director, you're too young and inexperienced. You don't understand. This is the right way to do it.
Certainly, some productions had big-name cinematographers or lighting directors who held considerable authority on set, but such people were usually paired with big-name directors as well.
Even when disagreements arose, they wouldn't use this sort of "instructional" tone.
Bai Youlou's production, however, couldn't possibly have any industry heavyweights. He couldn't afford to hire them, and even if he did, they wouldn't come.
At most, he had some experienced hands.
Old Zhou had been fairly reliable in this regard and hadn't recruited a bunch of useless nobodies for him.
But the downside of experienced hands was that they truly didn't think much of Bai Youlou, this so-called director.
Not even after he had just "tormented" Long Ziqiang.
After all, these staff members weren't actors. Could Bai Youlou really throw a chair at them? If he dared, they dared to lie down.
However, half an hour later,
the filming location was almost completely silent. Only the relentless pounding of the drums echoed wildly, mingled with sweat soaking through everything.
The several cameras that had been set up needed no operation at all. They only had to faithfully record the footage before them.
Many people on set would probably never forget this scene for the rest of their lives.
The boy drummed until sweat poured like rain, mottled beads of blood from his split palms spraying everywhere along with the swinging drumsticks.
Then he plunged his injured hand into the ice water to cool it, his decisiveness and ruthlessness making everyone shudder instinctively, even unconsciously lowering the sound of their breathing.
For fear of disturbing the "performance" before them.
Before you continue