It was in this situation that Du Lin suddenly realized that the work he did to make this movie far exceeded what a director should do.
Because Du Lin's responsibilities are not just the director's job - directing the performances and designing the shots, he actually takes on all the work in the entire live-action animation film and television drama shooting.
He needs to personally find actors, be responsible for the script, shot design, photography, props production, and special effects design. If it were an ordinary director with this kind of workload, he would probably be driven bald.
But fortunately, this is a world with magic, and Du Lin himself is a powerful magician. Otherwise, it would be impossible for ordinary people to shoot a qualified live-action anime TV series in this era. Of course, this is only possible because of Du Lin's personal persistence.
The reason why he is so persistent, apart from the 50,000 debt that Edward's family now owes, is his determination to change the world.
The more Du Lin came into contact with ordinary people in this world, the more dissatisfied he became with this world. Whenever he saw these people sitting on the street basking in the sun every day and not knowing what to do once they lost their jobs, he felt a sense of exhaustion that he would also fall into this boring state.
Magic exists, and stories of adventurers are sung by bards all day long, but everyone seems to be accustomed to such a boring daily life and has no desire to make life better.
Although he understood that this was a limitation of the times, at least Du Lin, a man from outside of that time, was unwilling to fall into the same situation. Even if it was just a slight change, he was willing to try. At least compared to being assimilated by these boring people and indulging in boring power struggles and magic research every day, he would rather spend his time on something that seemed to be meaningless, such as making anime.
After all, these are all traces that he belongs to another world. If he abandons even these, how can he say that he has come to another world
... ... .
"The digging team, get ready. The guy named Zat, go get the tools."
“Has the lumber arrived yet?”
"Girl over there, come over here and get some water!"
With the completion of the construction site, the construction of the outpost began immediately. During this process, Du Lin, who was in the corner, kept recording the scenes here. At the same time, for the sake of expressiveness, he almost only took pictures of Zat and Aya being frustrated. Although this was a bit unfair to the two people who had tried their best to work, this was a precious opportunity to sacrifice themselves for art, and others could not get it even if they wanted to!
Yes, this is the way of shooting that Du Lin mentioned before so as not to confuse the locals. Shoot with a down-to-earth attitude, and what you shoot will be more real.
Although it was a bit hard for Zat and Aya, the actors in this world were not the young and handsome actors in another world after all. Du Lin had no intention of finding substitutes for them. They had to do these things themselves.
Moreover, there was no plan to take a long time to shoot this scene. Du Lin only needed to shoot some shots before the outpost was built, and then edit them casually with the fusion crystal.
"The main point of this scene is to show the difference between your daily life and that of an adventurer, creating a contrast that makes the audience laugh, so the more exaggerated the movements, the better, and the intensity of the performance should be as strong as possible!"
During the break, Du Lin started telling a story to two people who were eating boxed lunches. Zat and Aya, who had not expected that their finally available break time would be exploited by Du Lin, showed tired expressions.
On the other side, Wen Li, who had just returned from her trip, was holding a handwritten work schedule and explaining Durin's requirements to the extras working on the field, such as not working too fast, not having to worry too much about the relationship between Zataya and Durin, etc...
In a sense, Wen Li is now half an assistant director. Thinking about what kind of salary he should give her in the future, Du Lin was about to go up and praise her, when Wen Li in the distance hurried over and handed him a towel and a cup of water, saying, "Master Du Lin, you have worked hard. Remember to have a good rest."
Unexpectedly, the other party would take care of him first. Du Lin smiled bitterly and just took the towel and water cup. Then he said, "You are the one who has worked hard, accompanying me to do these stupid things."
"It's okay. In other words, I am also looking forward to the moment when your work is completed, Master Du Lin..."
As Wen Li spoke, a certain expectation shone in her eyes. Du Lin, who understood her thoughts, just smiled and touched her head. He nodded and smiled at Wen Li's slightly embarrassed look, "Don't worry, we will see it soon!"
Chapter 12: Searching for the Giant Slime
Chapter 12
At noon, in the dirty stable, when Du Lin finished shooting the last shot, the scene of entering the adventurer town for the first time was basically finished.
"Although the lighting isn't very good, both of you performed very well. Let's stop here for today."
Following Durin's announcement, Zat and Aya, who were already used to switching between acting and normal states, trotted out. They originally thought that Durin would really let them sleep in the stable. To be honest, in such a bad environment, the rest room in the knight's station would be much better.
What they were most looking forward to was what kind of dinner the lord would take them to next. After all, they still remembered the meal that Winry had prepared in Edward's castle, not to mention coming to Northrick, a big city they had never been to before.
As for this, Du Lin showed a prepared smile, and then asked Wen Li, who was waiting outside, to hand them the food packed in a box and said, "This is the standard box lunch for actors. New actors who join in the future will also eat this. Don't worry, this is made by Wen Li herself in a kitchen borrowed from a residential house here. The food made by those chefs is not much better than this."
Although Wen Li considered this approach in order to save money at first, after it was actually implemented, Du Lin really felt that it was a good idea. After all, he couldn't take these actors out to restaurants every day. After the film was finished, he could take all the actors out for a meal or have a party or something. That would be more appropriate.
Therefore, Du Lin ordered Wen Li to make something similar to a box lunch and distribute it to everyone after the filming was finished. Of course, this was basically a special supply for the leading actors. After all, if every extra could get a box lunch, it would probably really tire Wen Li to death.
Not expecting there to be such a thing, Zat and Aya each received a lunch box from Winry. After opening them, they found that the food was neatly packed together, and because it was sealed, it was still somewhat warm.
“This is delicious.”
"Yeah, it's just an ordinary meal, but it tastes better after being packaged like this."
The two people's sighs made Du Lin, who was also eating a box lunch, smile. He also sat on the ground while eating his box lunch and said, "You have read the script, so you should know that there will be new actors joining us next."
"Well, uh, but Lord Durin... Director, where are you going to find the actors? I remember that they were a magician who could only use explosion magic once a day and a masochist female knight who was terrible at swordsmanship but very tough... To be honest, I always think this setting is weird..."
In response to Zat's sigh while he was eating, Du Lin just smiled and said, "I already have a candidate for the former. We can start filming when she arrives. As for the latter, I plan to issue a commission to the Adventurer's Guild. The requirements are not too high. As long as the female adventurer looks good and is obedient and willing to work hard, it will be fine. After all, there was no such thing as filming in this world before us, so it's okay if her acting skills are slightly worse."
"Anyway, you have the final say, director. What else are we going to shoot before we find the actors?"
Zat's remarks attracted the attention of Aya, who was licking a box nearby. Although the two had read the script, just like the previous deletion of the Adventurer's Guild plot, it was ultimately Dulin who decided what to film.
In response, Du Lin simply said, "Later? To be honest, the props and actors are not ready yet. I plan to shoot after everyone is here."
"That's fine, but director, how are we going to deal with this giant frog in the script? I don't think there's anything like this in the Warcraft world."
Hearing the key question raised by Zat, Du Lin nodded. He understood that although this world had all kinds of wonderful creatures that he had never heard of before he crossed over, it was a pity that even this world did not have the giant frog in "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World".
So, after thinking for a while, Du Lin slowly said: "Although there are no giant frogs, there are slimes. I have seen some super-large slimes in the monster encyclopedia of the Mage Tower before, but I don't know where to buy them."
"Slime? There are basically no wild monsters in our southern border, so I have never seen a slime in my life."
Zat's words made Du Lin frown. Knowing that this problem needed to be solved, he thought for a moment and said, "I remember that there seem to be special monster merchants in most towns. Low-level monsters like slimes that are easy to raise seem to be very popular."
"Ah, I've seen that too. There are also silver-gray wolf cubs for sale there! They're really cute!"
Wen Li's words verified Durin's suggestion. Apparently, there were indeed so-called pet shops in this other world. However, due to the special nature of this world, the pet shops did not sell ordinary pets, but some magical beasts that were harmless to humans.
"Anyway, let's try our best. Let's go to the pet... Monster shop and have a look. Maybe we can find a rare giant slime. Even if we don't find one, we can ask."
So, following Du Lin's decision, a group of people immediately headed towards the town excitedly. Thinking back, they had not been idle since the beginning when they came here for filming, and now they finally had time to take a look at this town called Northrick.
... ... .
As one of the largest towns in the South, Northrick has well-developed transportation, a wide variety of shops, and dazzlingly prosperous streets. The exclamations of Wen Li and others almost never stopped.
As for this, Du Lin, who had seen the imperial capital and the prosperity of another world, did not have too many feelings. He just slowly asked passers-by and came to a monster shop on the corner of the street.
According to passers-by, the owner of this monster shop often travels around and has a wealth of experience. As long as it is a monster that exists in reality, he can more or less tell you some clues.
Therefore, with some expectations, Du Lin opened the door of the Monster Shop and entered the room. What caught everyone's eyes was a scene like a zoo. All kinds of monsters were moving around in the room without any constraints. There was not even a fence, which made people wonder where they had entered.
When he saw a customer coming in, the shop owner immediately came up to greet him and said, "Welcome to the Monster Shop, what can I do for you?"
The shop owner was a man in his twenties or thirties. Although he looked a little old due to his gray hair, he still looked quite young.
In response, just as Du Lin wanted to say something, a pair of furry ears suddenly appeared behind the shop owner. Before everyone could show their surprise, a girl with animal ears and a tail ran out from behind the shop owner.
Chapter 13 Advertising Power Generation
Chapter 13
The orc girl in the distance looked in his direction in a panic, and Durin, who saw an orc for the first time in his life, showed a surprised expression, and then instinctively asked: "Uh... Can this child be sold too?"
"Hehe, please don't make such jokes..."
The shop owner was a little nervous, but after seeing that Du Lin was obviously speaking unintentionally, he couldn't help but explain: "You can hardly see orcs in the southern border, so there is nothing you can do if you don't know. This child is an orc, not a monster, and cannot be bought or sold."
"Orcs?"
Although he had heard of similar things in the capital before and had watched a lot of beastgirl anime in his previous life, Durin still showed a curious look when he saw a real orc for the first time. On the other side, although Wen Li and others did not express it as obviously as he did, they were also more or less curious.
Seeing their expressions, the shop owner couldn't help but laugh and said, "You haven't been to the West so you don't know that there is an Orc Kingdom outside the West of the Empire. There live all kinds of Orcs, and I even heard that there are subspecies of Elves such as Half-Elves. However, due to the Empire's dumping trade with the Orc Kingdom and the war faction's attempt to colonize, the relationship between the Empire and the Orc Kingdom has gradually become tense in recent years, and it has become increasingly difficult to see Orcs in the Empire."
"As for this child, I picked her up in a local orc village when I went to the West. She seemed to have been abandoned by her original parents at the time, and I happened to pass by there while searching for rare magical beasts, so I took her in by accident. Although I separated her from her family, she didn't seem to care about it."
The shop owner showed a doting look while saying this. Although the orc girl he took in looked to be fifteen or sixteen years old, in his eyes, she seemed just an ordinary child.
"I see."
Du Lin nodded and glanced at the orc girl. Some anime scenes appeared in his mind. In order to consider the possible filming in the future, he also tried to say to the orc girl: "Can I know your name?"
“… … .”
There was no response. The girl's big watery eyes retreated and looked at Du Lin. The shop owner beside her said hurriedly: "She doesn't have a name yet. It seems that she doesn't want to recall the past. No matter how I ask her, she won't tell me her past name, so I don't dare to give her a name casually."
"I see. Then may I know your name, shopkeeper? My name is Durin Edward."
"Of course, Mr. Du Lin, my name is Lawrence, and I'm the manager of this monster shop."
After hearing what the other party said, Du Lin realized that the topic of orcs had come to an end. Although he still had some questions to ask, he realized that the business was urgent and asked immediately: "Well, Manager Lawrence, the purpose of my visit this time is to find a creature called giant slime. I heard that you traveled around, so I guess you should know some clues."
"Giant...slime?"
Lawrence showed a surprised expression and after thinking for a while, he couldn't help but say, "Yes, there are, but this kind of monster is not only corrosive, but also can't be kept as a pet like ordinary slimes. When I came here to hunt, I simply thought it would be a waste if I didn't collect such a strange monster. Later, I regretted it when I found out that no one was willing to buy it."
"Really? Don't worry, I'll take all the giant slimes you have. Price is not an issue."
Durin smiled as he did not expect the problem to be solved so easily, while Lawrence nodded and murmured, "Okay, but to be honest, fewer and fewer people are willing to spend money to buy monsters recently. Previously, a noble in the city wanted to come to my store to buy a young silver-gray wolf, but due to some force majeure accidents, his youngest son was bitten. After the rumor spread, fewer people in the city dared to buy monsters. If no one is willing to buy monsters in a few months, I have planned to take the child to travel to another town to seek other development."
"So that's how it is..."
Following Lawrence into the real monster room inside, Du Lin was surprised that the monsters in this monster shop far exceeded his imagination, whether it was the cute slime, silver-gray wolf, or the slightly scary goblin and giant spider, almost all kinds of monsters gathered here.
As if aware of Durin's surprise, Lawrence just smiled and said, "Are you surprised why there are so many monsters here? In fact, I used to like traveling very much. I captured all kinds of monsters while traveling around. Although it is very troublesome to take care of them, I don't think it is a annoying thing. However, if this store eventually goes bankrupt, I am afraid I will have to say goodbye to these monsters. After all, the financial resources required to take care of them are really a considerable burden..."
Hearing Lawrence's words, Du Lin felt his eyes glowing and said quickly, "Great! If there are so many extras, Manager Lawrence, I have a proposal now. Are you interested in listening?"
"proposal?"
In response to the man's confusion, Du Lin smiled and said, "Yes, or a deal, a deal that can save this monster shop. In simple terms, it is advertising. Yes, advertising. Mr. Lawrence, have you heard of advertising? Something that can make a living by generating electricity."
"You mean the kind of paper that's stuck to the wall?"
Obviously, with the invention of papermaking and printing technology, things like small advertisements posted on walls have come into being in this world, but the advertisements that Du Lin talked about are naturally not just something of this level.
Seeing that Lawrence was increasingly unable to understand what he said, Du Lin no longer kept him in suspense and explained the meaning of the video ads after he had organized his words. He also pointed out that as long as Lawrence was willing to rent his monsters to Du Lin, Du Lin would appropriately embed some monster ads in the films he was shooting. Of course, he would naturally not embed them in the main film, but was more planning to embed some monster ads in the cutscenes in the middle, or at the end.
This would not only allow monsters to gain popularity and save the endangered monster shop, but would also allow Du Lin to have a large number of monster-related 'extras', thus killing two birds with one stone.
After hearing his explanation, Lawrence, who didn't know what "filming" and "advertising" meant, could roughly hear Du Lin's enthusiasm and said generously: "If it's for rent, of course it's fine. After all, if it can't survive these few months, this store will probably go bankrupt. Compared to that, Mr. Du Lin, although what you said is a little incomprehensible to me, at least it is indeed a possible way to save this monster shop, right? Of course I agree."
"Haha, don't worry. If the film is really shot, you must remember not to be scared by the crowd! It will be no problem to ask us for help then."
"I hope so."
Although Lawrence did not say it explicitly, he obviously did not completely believe Du Lin's words. After all, just relying on an advertisement could attract countless people to his monster shop to buy monsters and the like. Isn't this too good to be true
Chapter 14 New Actors
Chapter 14
"Director, are we really going to use this to act out the show? To be honest, I always feel like something is wrong..."
Facing the giant slime that was bigger than himself being transported down from the grassland, Zat felt a little dizzy and couldn't help but ask such a question, while on the other side...
"What are you talking about?! Don't you think such a big slime is cute?"
"Yes, yes. If it wouldn't cause trouble to Lord Edward, I would have wanted to take it home to raise it."
“It’s quite cute.”
Whether it was Aya, Winry or Durin, they all expressed completely different opinions from Zat, and the reason was very simple. The first two were because of the completely different aesthetic views of women and men, and Durin was because in the eyes of modern people, this jelly-like object that sparkles in the sun is indeed very cute.
Seeing them like this, Lawrence, who was helping to transport the monsters or props for the filming, couldn't help but smile and said, "Now that you guys mentioned that, I suddenly feel a little more confident. Maybe through the film you made, Director Du Lin, everyone will like these cute kids."
Obviously, Lawrence already knew from Du Lin what he was doing. Although he still couldn't imagine what the "film" would look like, he was quite keen to give the monsters he raised a chance to perform.
So, after tidying up the venue, the filming of the next scene began again. This time, the plot was the first adventure that Zat and Aqua embarked on without the help of other companions. The mission was to defeat the giant slime that occupied the grassland!
And because slime is much more corrosive than giant frogs, Du Lin specifically reminded Aya and told her that he had deleted the scene where she was swallowed by the giant frog. After all, it was impossible to do post-production, and considering the personal safety of the actors, this was the most reasonable approach.
Therefore, after arranging for the two leading actors to put on their filming clothes, Du Lin asked Zat to put his knight's sword on his waist, and after the actors took their positions, the filming began again.
... ...
"Help! Aqua!! Help me! Wow!!"
"Pfft~~ Couscous!! This is not good, it's so funny!! Zat is really, his face is red and he is crying, he is talking so desperately!!"
In response, Zat, who was being chased by the giant slime, could not help but show a gnashing expression: "I'll bury that guy when I'm done!!"
Not knowing what the other party was thinking, Aqua, who was enjoying the scenery from a high place, couldn't help but smile and said, "Zat, if you want me to save you, just call me Miss first!"
“Please, Ms. Aqua!!”
Zat, who immediately abandoned his dignity, shouted for release. At the same time, Aqua also laughed and said loudly: "Hahaha, there's really nothing I can do to you. I'll help you! You're a dead shut-in. But as a price, starting tomorrow you must worship me, join the Akusis Church when you return to town, and pray to me three times a day!"
Aqua was completely immersed in her own world, not noticing the giant slime rushing towards her. She kept talking, "Also, when I tell you I want to eat a dish, you can't resist at all and serve it to me obediently. And you can't scold me if I wake you up by pinching your nose when you snore. And, ah..."
“… … .”
As the dark blue slime completely engulfed the chattering goddess, Zat, who had been planning to see how the goddess would perform, immediately ran over and said, "Why are you the one being eaten?!"