"After I got the script, I also communicated with Huo Zhiming. His assistant said that after Huo Zhiming confirmed the main candidates for the female lead and supporting actress, he watched all of your and Tao Cen's works and movies."
Xia Chaoqun took the opportunity to sit opposite Jiang Se and took a copy of the outline of "Criminal Suspect" and started flipping through it:
"Including your advertising endorsements and some early street photos, the final revision was made."
Although Huo Zhiming's act of temporarily changing the script was a bit willful, in a way, it also showed that Huo Zhiming was very serious and responsible about the movie.
This old man has had a very difficult time in recent years. Although he is known as a veteran domestic director, the only films he has made are his early ones. His later works have not performed well. People in the circle are unwilling to work with him, and he has no intention of changing his style of doing things.
A well-known director may not be as successful as some directors who are less experienced than him.
He used his personal connections to find Luo Yin of Century Galaxy to find someone to star in his movie. For Huo Zhiming, this was already very "lowering". Even though the actors in his movie were two of Century Galaxy's top actresses, it might seem glorious to outsiders, but Huo Zhiming might not feel honored in his heart.
"Tao Cen leaked the news in advance, so even if there is dissatisfaction with the script, the current situation cannot be changed."
Jiang Se also understood what Xia Chaoqun meant by this. Because the news was released in advance, her and Tao Cen's performance in "Criminal Suspect" became a restriction. Since Huo Zhiming's personality did not allow him to make big concessions, Jiang Se had no choice but to adjust her mentality.
They were all smart people. Xia Chaoqun stopped talking and left after leaving the script.
The filming of "Criminal Suspect" was scheduled to start on February 18th, and the location was set in Wangzhou. This time happened to be the Chinese New Year. Before Jiang Se left, he greeted his elders in advance, and spent the rest of the time reading the script and memorizing the lines. On February 10th, he flew to Xijiuzhou and had a short reunion with Pei Yi, who could not go home for work, before flying to Wangzhou on the 15th.
The main creative staff and other actors of the crew have already arrived, but Tao Cen will not arrive until the evening of the 16th due to work reasons.
After Jiang Se arrived in Wangzhou, he met with the reception staff of the crew.
This is a province in central China. With the development of China, it has become very prosperous. The crew's filming location is in the eastern part of the city, which is mostly office buildings and commercial streets. People coming in and out are all young men and women dressed fashionably. In order to avoid causing a sensation due to Jiang Se's stay, the crew had already made confidentiality arrangements in advance for the hotel they found.
However, due to the negligence of the staff, there was a problem with the check-in procedure and the room card was not received yet.
Security was on high alert in the hotel lobby. When Mo Anqi went to go through the procedures to get her room card, some fans had already recognized her.
As the most sought-after celebrity assistant in China today, Mo Anqi's popularity and exposure rate are not inferior to those of some second- and third-tier celebrities, and some of Jiang Se's fans are also familiar with her.
In addition, due to the news released by Tao Cen at the ELYSEES press conference earlier, "Criminal Suspect" was infinitely magnified under the attention of the audience and the media, and became popular before it was even filmed.
Some fans and media reporters had already found out about the crew's progress early on, and some even paid out of their own pockets to come to Wangzhou.
Although the weather in Wangzhou is not as cold as the imperial capital, it is not as warm as the winter in the south.
That kind of chill seemed to penetrate into the bones, making people shiver.
Fortunately, the heating was on in the hotel. Jiang Se took off his coat as soon as he came in and chatted with the crew members. Some people staying in the hotel in the distance saw Jiang Se after they noticed Mo Anqi. Some of them excitedly held up their phones to take pictures.
Away from the harsh camera, Jiang Se is no less impressive than his image on the screen.
She put on light makeup and did not look pale after the flight. Her skin was as white as glowing. She wore a loose white suit with a colorful pompom sweater, black skinny pants and lace-up Martin boots. Surrounded by a group of staff, she was still radiant.
When someone took a photo of her with a mobile phone, she acted as if she didn't see it. Instead, the staff from the "Criminal Suspect" crew who came to greet Jiang Se tried to cover for her, but they couldn't stop the fans' enthusiasm at all.
As the crowd grew, even the hotel staff couldn't help but secretly take out their mobile phones to take pictures.
The crew members were somewhat excited and helpless in the face of this situation:
"Ms. Jiang, you arrived two days earlier than Director Huo expected. Director Huo is on the set right now. After receiving the news, he rushed to the hotel and said he would take you to the set this afternoon to familiarize yourself with it."
The crew of "Criminal Suspect" confirmed Tao Cen as the lead actor earlier. After Jiang Se joined, Huo Zhiming stayed in Wangzhou to supervise the progress of the project and did not even return to the capital during the holidays.
Jiang Se nodded, Mo Anqi came over with the room card, agreed to meet with the staff at three o'clock, and went straight back to the room.
This restaurant is not big and has no ranking in Wangzhou. Its only advantage is that it has only been open for two years, so the facilities are relatively new and the quilt covers and carpets are clean.
The filming location in Wangzhou might take about 20 days. Jiang Se would stay here for a while. While the assistants were packing their luggage, Chen Shan sighed:
"The crew obviously has money, so why are they staying in a hotel like this?"
The place is not big. After a bed was placed in the room, a few assistants stood there and the suitcases were opened, there was no room for maneuver.
The crew of "Criminal Suspect" was initially ignored, but later Tao Cen and Jiang Se signed contracts one after another, and investors came to the film. The crew was not short of funds at all, but Huo Zhiming booked a hotel like this, which is not the best.
Jiang Se's luggage had not arrived yet, and Xia Chaoqun would have someone pack up some of her things and send them to her later. She took the script and read it aside. Mo Anqi took the time to order lunch for her. She had read the script countless times in the past month and had already memorized the story by heart, but she had to meet Huo Zhiming in the afternoon. To be cautious, she still ate the script again and took out the notes she made after reading the script in the middle.
After having dinner and reading the script for a while, at about one o'clock, Jiang Se took off her makeup and went to bed for a nap. Before she had slept for long, she was woken up by Mo Anqi.
She set the alarm for 2:30, but it didn't go off. She took out her cell phone to check the time and saw that it was only a few minutes before 2:00.
Mo Anqi had already collected her clothes. Chen Shan was holding her coat for going out. Jiang Se sat up, and Mo Anqi said:
"Director Huo has come from the set and wants to meet you first."
The original appointment was for three o'clock, but Huo Zhiming asked someone to call and said that he wanted to take Jiang Se to familiarize himself with the set in advance for the next filming.
Jiang Se plays the role of 'Su Yi', the main female supporting role in the film and an indispensable character in the film. This scene of Wangzhou is also very important and cannot be missed. Huo Zhiming values it very much. Even though this is not the time agreed by the crew for them to meet, he is still eager to take Jiang Se to see it for himself.
As soon as she mentioned going to the set, Jiang Se immediately threw off the quilt, washed, changed her clothes, and put on some simple light makeup. She was about to ask Mo Anqi what time Huo Zhiming would arrive, but the next moment she heard a knock on the door. The assistant went to open the door, and Huo Zhiming was standing outside.
This was the first time Jiang Se met Huo Zhiming after he was confirmed to join the crew of "Criminal Suspect".
If it weren't for the huge age difference between him and his assistant, which made them easily recognizable at a glance, people who didn't know him well enough might have mistaken him for an assistant.
He was wearing a washed-out brown canvas cotton coat, had gray hair, was of medium build, wore glasses, and wore baggy trousers. He looked extremely plain and inconspicuous.
In contrast, the two young assistants next to him, wearing suits and ties, looked more elegant.
Compared to Jiang Se, who just arrived in Wangzhou today, Huo Zhiming looked even more exhausted. In this February, he had been rushing here and the sweat on his head had not yet dried.
"Jiang Se?"
Huo Zhiming saw Jiang Se at a glance. He originally thought that since he came here early, he would have to wait for Jiang Se for a while.
After all, the time he had originally agreed with Jiang Se was three o'clock, and he came early, so Jiang Se might not have finished packing yet.
Seeing Jiang Se wearing going-out clothes, Huo Zhiming visibly breathed a sigh of relief. The assistant beside him also breathed a sigh of relief and smiled when he saw that Jiang Se didn't seem angry.
"Hello, Director Huo."
Jiang Se greeted him, and Huo Zhiming said:
"It's just right that you're ready. The car is downstairs. Let's go to the set and take a look."
His directness made the two assistants beside him smile bitterly.
As soon as he met Huo Zhiming, Jiang Se had already figured out the general personality of this old man. When he was working, he was a little unkempt and had no concept of time. He was quite willful, but also extremely dedicated.
It is difficult to cooperate with such a weirdo. You have to follow his steps. People with a slightly impatient temper may end up quarreling with someone like him and end up parting on bad terms if they are not careful.
The two assistants were obviously very clear about Huo Zhiming's character, but they could do nothing about him. Fortunately, Jiang Se was not unhappy. Instead, he nodded, took the gloves and followed Huo Zhiming.
The car was parked in the parking lot downstairs of the hotel. It was a seven-seater nanny car. As soon as Huo Zhiming got in the car, he stared at Jiang Se and looked at her:
"Have you read the new script?"
“I’ve already seen it.”
Jiang Se responded, and Huo Zhiming said:
“Maybe we need to change it again.”
At this point, do we need to change it again? Jiang Se smiled bitterly and asked involuntarily:
"What do you think needs to be changed?"
The assistant sitting in front kept turning back, fearing that Jiang Se would be unhappy, but Huo Zhiming didn't seem to feel the uncomfortable atmosphere and pushed his glasses:
"There are several scenes that need to be changed. What do you think of the character 'Su Yi'?"
Ever since she got the role of the supporting actress, Jiang Se has been thinking about the most important supporting role in "Criminal Suspect".
The predecessor of the character 'Su Yi' was adapted from 'Zhong Qi'. At the beginning of "Criminal Suspect", the police station received a mysterious letter.
One day, the Wangjin Police Station received a letter that was not signed or addressed to a specific person. The phone number on the letter was also the landline number of the Wangjin Police Station. The reception desk felt very strange about the letter.
But there were quite a lot of people in the police station, and it was common for some letters to have the police station phone number forgotten to write the recipient's name. If anyone found that their letter was not received, they would always come to claim it after checking. Therefore, no one took the letter to heart and threw it aside.
No one paid attention to this matter until one day, when another letter like this was received, the people in the message room felt something was strange.
The letters sent again still did not have the recipient's name or the sender's name written on them. The landline number was still that of Wangjin Police Station, and the address was still here.
For the next few days, such mysterious letters were received one after another. After receiving five or six such letters, the person in the message room took the letters and prepared to ask the people in the police station who the letters were from or whether they were a prank.
Everyone in the police station speculated that this must be a prank. First of all, if it was an anonymous letter of complaint, there was a reporting box outside the Wangjin Police Station. If the reporter was really dissatisfied with someone in the police station, he could just put the letter through the reporting box. Every once in a while, someone would go to pick up the letters. There was no need to go through so much trouble and cause such a scene.
The people in the message room took the letters and went to several departments, but no one claimed them. The people in the message room became more certain that it was just a prank. When they asked the serious crime team, the deputy captain Shen Xunran noticed something was wrong and kept the "prank" letters that the people in the message room were originally going to throw away.
Shen Xunran has been in the serious crime squad for many years. She has solved many strange cases and has a keen sense of nose. Under her cold mask of ruthless attack on criminals, she has a gentle heart and is deeply loved by the members of the team.
After deciding to keep the letters, Shen Xunran opened them personally.
The first letter I received was two weeks ago, and it said: There are still two months until Wu Chunhe's death!
The second letter read: There are fifty-three days left until Wu Chunhe's death!
…
The last letter read: There are forty-seven days left until Wu Chunhe's death!
It's like a countdown to death, so creepy.
The serious crime squad reported the matter to their superiors, who quickly took it seriously.
Wu Chunhe is a well-known figure in Wangjin. He was one of the first people in Wangjin who became rich by running factories. Now he has established a company and is very wealthy.
Once Wu Chunhe was involved, this matter could no longer be treated as a prank.
The police station set up a special task force and sent people to protect Wu Chunhe, while investigating the enemies who had grievances with him. This investigation uncovered a lot of Wu Chunhe's past, and also opened the prelude of "Criminal Suspect". (To be continued)