Zhong Jiudao knew very well that these evil spirits were not easy to deal with. There were only three reasons why they were so obedient.
Firstly, they were restrained by the last Heavenly Master and trapped in the villa for decades. Anyone would want to escape and gain freedom. These evil spirits can appear in the daytime and can continue to generate electricity for three, five, or seven days. With such powerful strength, who would be willing to continue to be imprisoned? Who doesn't want to go shopping under an umbrella during the day
Secondly, they had a contract with the Heavenly Master before, so they naturally knew that the Heavenly Master would have to pay a price to command ghosts and monsters. The price paid was of great benefit to them, so of course they wanted to compete for the job.
Thirdly, these are old-fashioned people with little experience. They probably really like movies and want to satisfy their addiction to acting. They probably never thought about becoming a star. After all, most stars in their era were opera artists with low social status. They don't realize how popular being a star is in today's society.
Zhong Jiudao dares to use them, so of course he has the confidence to control them.
There are only two ways to control ghosts and monsters: one is to lure them with benefits, and the other is to beat them up.
If you have enough strength, the first point is not so important. For example, if you tell these evil spirits that those who are not selected to act in movies will become mobile power sources, who would dare to ask for benefits? Aren't they all scrambling to act in movies
Zhong Jiudao leaned back in his chair, leisurely watching the ghosts display their magical powers, and really enjoyed the joy of the audition.
In order to control them, Zhong Jiudao made a resume form for each evil ghost, forcing them to leave a trace of soul power on the form, which was considered a written restriction.
In addition to the individual profiles of the evil ghosts on the form, there are comments from Zhong Jiudao on the back. He scores the ghosts based on appearance, figure, etiquette, literacy, skills, acting skills (how long the ghost's true identity can be hidden), and role suitability. Ultimately, the best candidates will be admitted based on the scores.
With a full score of 100, Qi Wanlian in White Cheongsam scored 100 points for her appearance alone, 20 points each for her figure and etiquette and conversation, -20 points for literacy, -20 points for mastering skills, and her acting skills are unknown. The total score is 100, which is considered a high score.
The Western-dressed ghost Fu Yue scored 90 points for appearance, 10 for body shape, -40 for etiquette and conversation, 10 for literacy, -20 for acting skills, 50 for skills, and a total score of 100, the same as Qi Wanlian.
Aunt Yang is not very good-looking, but her acting skills were recognized by professional actor Luo Huai and she scored very high. In addition, she was selected in advance because of her high scores in mastering skills and her suitability for the role.
The rest of the evil ghosts are a mixed bag. They have mastered a variety of skills, but most of them are useless. Skills like the accountant and gardener are quite ordinary. Skills like running very fast with their brains, making people kill each other under illusion, hanging five people with one tongue, and parasitizing in the human body to make men give birth to ghost fetuses are really not worthy of being mentioned in a high-class forum (difficult to save money), and these skills will all be given negative points.
Zhong Jiudao spent the whole night selecting before he initially finalized 10 actors. In the case of no skills to judge, he could only select actors based on their appearance. His film had poor hardware conditions and a mediocre script. If he wanted to attract the audience, the only thing he could do was to have the actors' excellent appearance.
Fortunately, the evil ghosts have existed for many years. Even if they were originally ugly, they would paint their skin to make themselves beautiful. Everyone has a good appearance, so Zhong Jiudao only needs to select the best ones.
It was not until after ten o'clock in the morning that the actors were finally selected and they signed agreements one by one. Zhong Jiudao's contract was very detailed, such as not to disturb human colleagues, not to reveal their identities during filming, not to cry in the villa in the middle of the night as if he, the director, was taking advantage of the actors, and not to...
In short, Zhong Jiudao thought about all the prohibited treaties he could think of, and anyone who violated them would be immediately replaced. Anyway, there were still twenty-three ghosts waiting in line to film, so they had no shortage of actors.
As for the treatment, Zhong Jiudao promised that from the beginning of filming until the movie was released, he would burn paper money and favorite things for them every month, and would also regularly offer them some human food. Except for Aunt Yang, the other ghosts did not have the skills to cook, and they did not dare to eat what Aunt Yang cooked. They had been hungry for decades, and their eyes had turned green from hunger. Oh, some of them were not green because of hunger, but had been green since death.
Some evil ghosts who were getting more and more greedy, such as the Western-dressed ghost Fu Yue, tried to bargain with Zhong Jiudao, wanting some of Zhong Jiudao's magic power and the Taoist priest's pure yang blood. Zhong Jiudao used a flame talisman to teach them a lesson for an hour, and warned them that if they did it again, he would replace them with someone else to play the role of his daughter and make them work as textile workers.
Fu Yue's fighting ability is the highest in the whole villa, but her brain is also the worst. She was the first one to provoke Zhong Jiudao, and now she is the first one to ask for pure Yang blood. Zhong Jiudao is quite worried about her being an actor with this kind of personality.
So Zhong Jiudao wrote in the contract that "the director has the right to replace the actor at any time", and secretly encouraged other backup actors who were not selected to report the actor Gui's violation of the contract at any time. If the report was successful, the actor could be replaced. Even if it was unsuccessful, as long as the situation was true, he could be given a cameo role as a minor actor.
After preparing the contract with the ghosts, Zhong Jiudao found the contract used by normal human actors on the computer, wrote "Friendship appearance for 0 pay" in the pay section, and imitated the actors in signing his name.
After finishing the two contracts, Zhong Jiudao sighed slightly. As a Taoist priest, he not only failed to exorcise demons and defend the way of righteousness, but also used ghosts to make movies. As a director, his career as a director had just begun, but he embarked on the road of no return of using non-humans to make movies. It was really that he failed to fulfill his duties in both fields.
At this point, he can only try his best to make a good movie and hand in a satisfactory answer to everyone.
Zhong Jiudao walked out of the theater with a stack of contracts in his arms, looking worried. He bumped into Luo Huai who was wandering in front of the theater door, and several contracts that were meant for humans to see fell down.
"Sorry, sorry!" Luo Huai bent down and picked up a few contracts. "I, I just wanted to visit the villa. It's really big and beautiful here!"
Luo Huai handed the contract to Zhong Jiudao. Under Zhong Jiudao's serious gaze, he slowly lowered his head and whispered, "Also, I'm a little hungry. I knew there were vegetables in the kitchen, so I tried to cook them myself, but failed. So I was looking for Aunt Yang everywhere, and when I heard the noise here, I came to try my luck. I, I knocked on the door outside!"
In order to prevent the sounds in the theater from being heard by others, Zhong Jiudao set up soundproofing devices. Not only did the sounds inside not get out, but the knocking sounds from outside also did not get in.
He believed that Luo Huai was not lying, because Luo Huai had a strong smell of strangers. If he had stayed at the door of the theater for a long time, the 33 evil spirits inside would not be vegetarians and would have discovered his presence long ago. It was only when Luo Huai just arrived at the door of the theater that Zhong Jiudao happened to open the door and bumped into him, so the evil spirits would not discover that he was standing outside the door.
It was almost noon and he was indeed hungry. Zhong Jiudao even felt his stomach rumbling.
Qian Duoqun suffered a food poisoning incident yesterday. After Zhong Jiudao bought new ingredients, he didn't dare let anyone else touch them. He cooked lunch and dinner himself, and even set up a talisman array to protect the food to prevent it from being touched by evil spirits.
Luo Huai thought that the delicious meal he ate yesterday was made by Aunt Yang, but it was actually made by Director Zhong himself. If it was made by Aunt Yang, he would have been sent to the ICU long ago.
Today, Zhong Jiudao was so busy with the audition that he forgot about time, leaving Luo Huai starving. He was forced to cook for himself, but unfortunately his cooking skills were not good and he almost burned down the kitchen.
The kitchen was almost on fire. Luo Huai didn't know how long the oil should burn, so after pouring the oil into the pot and catching fire, he kept waiting for the oil to boil. After a while, the oil in the pot started to burn, and he was so scared that he was in a panic.
Fortunately, Luo Huai had the most basic awareness of fire safety. He did not use water to put out the fire. Instead, he bravely covered the burning oil pan with a lid and successfully put out the fire.
After a thrilling experience, Luo Huai obediently turned off the power and liquefied gas, and looked for someone everywhere, still in shock and feeling guilty.
That's why she was so flustered after seeing Zhong Jiudao that she bumped into him messing up the contract and accidentally saw the words "friendly appearance for 0 pay" on the contract.
There are more than ten contracts with no pay, and one of them is Aunt Yang, who has superb acting skills! Apart from tribute films and films to repay favors, there are so many movies in the entertainment industry where actors star in movies with no pay. The only explanation is that Director Zhong is very talented!
Even if he himself is unknown in the entertainment industry, he must have a family background in this field.
Seeing such a director cooking for him and cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, Luo Huai felt a little panicked. He was restless and kept circling around Zhong Jiudao like a cat.
Seeing Luo Huai's frightened eyes and his hesitant expression, Zhong Jiudao suspected that this man had seen something he shouldn't have seen last night. He couldn't help but frown, thinking about how to keep him from talking.
In fact, it is not impossible to consider the suggestion of Qi Wanlian in Bai Qipao, to confuse Luo Huai's mind and forcibly erase his memory. However, doing so will shorten Luo Huai's life span, and the ghosts who have signed a contract with him will do evil under the order of the Heavenly Master, and their karma will be counted on the head of the Heavenly Master, which will backfire on the Heavenly Master in the long run.
Does he have to pay to keep his mouth shut? How can he, a new director who is pursuing his dream, get so much money? Zhong Jiudao was in great pain.
Seeing Zhong Jiudao frowning, Luo Huai was also extremely frightened, and hurriedly said, "Sorry, I'm in the way. I'll make way now."
He huddled in a corner of the kitchen, thinking, "How about I also take the initiative to apply for 0 pay? But after the filming of this movie is finished, I will have no place to live. Ten thousand yuan can still let me rent a small studio."
"It's time to eat." Zhong Jiudao had a calm expression. He put the food on the table and decided to discuss how to keep the secret while eating.
Since it was already noon, Zhong Jiudao went straight to making lunch. He simply prepared four dishes and one soup with a complete combination of meat and vegetables.
"Just eat it." Zhong Jiudao said.
"This dish is very rich! Not compromising at all." In order to prevent himself from saying "0 pay", Luo Huai tried hard to shovel rice into his mouth and stuff it into his mouth.
Seeing him eating his meal in big gulps, Zhong Jiudao couldn't help but frown: "You play a young, easily frightened college student in the film. Although you don't need to be too thin, you shouldn't be too fat either. And you are the face of the film, so try to control your weight."
"Oh, okay." Luo Huai changed from eating rice in big mouthfuls to eating in small bites and chewing slowly.
"I watched the scene of Aunt Yang cooking last night. Besides thinking her acting was superb, what else did you think?" Zhong Jiudao asked.
"Very dedicated." Luo Huai answered seriously, "It must have been very uncomfortable to have so much blood on her face. And she used a knife to cut the frozen meat, and each cut was enough to cut off a piece of meat. It must have taken a lot of strength. In order to perform a terrifying atmosphere, she showed immersive acting skills. She is a respectable senior. I want to learn from her and must not hold back this film."
It didn't look like he had discovered anything. Zhong Jiudao observed Luo Huai and said tentatively, "There are many actors who play ghosts in this movie. If you see someone who looks sinister and looks like he's ready to hurt someone on the set, he must be an actor. Do you understand?"
"Is the girl wearing the white cheongsam costume yesterday also an actress?" Luo Huai asked.
"Yes, it is also very dedicated to the acting career. If it says or does something, it must be for the role," said Zhong Jiudao.
"Yes, I should also start maintaining my character's status from today." Luo Huai patted his chest.
"Not really. If you stay like this, you'll be very consistent with the character." Zhong Jiudao said.
Zhong Jiudao was sure that Luo Huai had not discovered the truth about his "colleagues". Luo Huai felt relieved after getting Zhong Jiudao's approval and felt that he should not need to reduce his pay anymore.
The atmosphere at the dinner table was much more relaxed. Luo Huai looked at the empty room and couldn't help asking, "Why didn't Aunt Yang and the other actors come to dinner? Aren't they on the set?"
It is impossible for ghosts to eat with humans. Even if Luo Huai is told now that they are not there, he will have to find a way to cover it up in the future.
Zhong Jiudao thought for a moment and said, "They have high requirements for food and prepare their own meals, so they don't eat with us."
"It's to keep in shape, I guess." Luo Huai nodded stupidly, "Then they should be the kind of actors who have assistants to take care of them, right?"
"Yes." Zhong Jiudao smiled and thought about picking out a few ghosts from the remaining 23 to be assistants, so that they could carry empty lunch boxes every day to pretend, otherwise there would be no way to explain the phenomenon of a group of actors not eating.
Fortunately, I had an in-depth chat with Luo Huai for a while, which enabled me to identify and fill in the gaps and avoid a lot of trouble.
"I'm really looking forward to this movie!" Luo Huai was filled with anticipation when he thought about filming with such a talented director and such dedicated and impressive actors. He couldn't help but ask, "When will the filming start?"
"The photographer has been arranged, and a lot of props have been found. It is said that the costumes will be replaced with a new batch in three days. Three important actors are still missing, and Qian Duoqun is looking for them." Zhong Jiudao said.
The most difficult part is still the three actors. After all, it is not easy to find an actor like Luo Huai who is stupid, has little money and good looks.
"Are you still short of actors?" Luo Huai was shocked. He thought that since Director Zhong could find so many talented actors for free, he shouldn't have any problems with actors.
Zhong Jiu said: "There is no shortage of backup actors, but we lack the right ones."
After all, it is not convenient to let ghosts play humans, and the pay for humans is very high.
"What kind of appearance does the actor have?" Luo Huai asked.
Zhong Jiu said: "I plan to arrange four actors, two men and two women, who are about your age. I don't require them to be famous, as long as they are young and good-looking. As for their acting skills, it doesn't matter if they are a little worse. We have plenty of time for filming, so we can hone our acting skills on the spot."
Famous actors are not worthy of being hired, but actors with poor acting skills are better, as they are cheap enough. As for refining acting skills, there is a group of immersive and acting ghost actors to guide them. Zhong Jiudao is very confident in adjusting/teaching the acting skills of human actors.
The requirements are not high, just good-looking, and I can also help guide the acting. Luo Huai swallowed a mouthful of soup, thinking about Zhong Jiudao's conditions.
Zhong Jiudao observed Luo Huai's expression and found that his expression was very lively. He would show whatever was on his mind, and people could tell what he was thinking at a glance. With such appearance and personal qualities, he is not very suitable for playing calm and introverted roles, but he will be very good at playing extroverted roles. He is a very malleable actor.
"Do you have any actors you want to recommend to me?" Zhong Jiudao saw what Luo Huai was thinking and asked.
Luo Huai said quickly: "Yes, I have a friend who is famous for his exaggerated acting skills. He used to be a little famous, but now he has been criticized so much that no one wants him to act in movies. Can I let him audition?"
"Was it very popular in the past?" Zhong Jiudao frowned. Would the pay be very high
"This is his photo," Luo Huai took out a group photo from his phone and handed it to Zhong Jiudao, "He has acted in many web dramas and was criticized for his disfigured acting skills. He once said that if anyone can improve his reputation for his poor acting skills, he will pay them to act in the drama."
"Okay, let him come for the audition. I'm always available." Zhong Jiudao said immediately.