Although Bao Dexi knew this man had something to him, and some talent as well, theory was theory, talk was talk; once put into practice, no one knew what the results would be.
“If my plan couldn’t solve the problems you mentioned, I wouldn’t have brought it up. Why would I offend two bosses like you for no reason? I just want to do my part for the crew and show a little of my personal talent.” Qin Xuan spread his hands, speaking sincerely.
The subtext was: give him a chance.
After all, at his “age,” he could no longer endure those days of doing hard labor. If that was how it was going to be, he might as well die all over again.
A beast-of-burden life was nothing but hardship—dull, tedious, and utterly devoid of joy!
Wang Bide smiled, naturally hearing the meaning in his words. He said, “To be honest, with insights like yours, you’d be able to earn a living on any crew. There’s no need to come to ours.”
This crew already had a lighting technician. If Qin Xuan went to another new crew, he would definitely be better off than here. After all, this crew’s behind-the-scenes team had been finalized at the start of filming. No matter how capable he was, he could not replace anyone’s position.
“What you say makes sense, but I have no connections, and no one to take me under their wing,” Qin Xuan said very realistically. At present, the only person he could rely on was his uncle.
Wu Guoqiang looked ashamed; he had not left the younger generation a good path in life.
“Fine horses are common, but a Bo Le is not,” Bao Dexi said, patting Wang Bide on the arm.
Wang Bide smiled and nodded, indicating that he understood.
Just like with this crew—he had been invited to shoot by Hollywood’s Relativity Media, not by the director, nor by Huayi as an investor.
To put it this way, even if Huayi wanted to replace him and put one of their own people in, they would still have to get Relativity Media’s approval. Otherwise, there was simply no way to remove him.
So in this world, it was not as if people would definitely use you just because you had talent and ability. There were far too many talented people who never met their opportunity. If someone did not want to use you, they still would not.
Unless your talent was irreplaceable, so scarce that others had no choice but to value it.
Otherwise, it was simply: if you won’t do it, plenty of others will!
In truth, even if Qin Xuan had not proposed this plan, they could still solve the issue. At most, it would take a little more time and burn a little more money; it would not affect anything fundamental.
A crew like this was not short on money at all.
“Then I’ll play the Bo Le this once. We’ll follow your thinking. Assist me in setting up the lighting properly,” Wang Bide said. He was still someone who cherished talent.
After all, the young man was not threatening his livelihood, and he had sworn he could solve the problem. He would take it as giving him a leg up.
“Deal! But if we complete it, shouldn’t there be a technical fee?” Qin Xuan looked at the two bosses. Without money, wouldn’t he be working for nothing?
“Young man, if you’re like this, it’ll be very hard for you to get by in this industry in the future. As a person, you should be a bit smoother and more modest. Thinking it is one thing, but don’t say it out loud,” Bao Dexi said, only treating him as a child who did not understand the ways of the world.
Most young people, when given an opportunity, could not wait to rush forward. Who would bring up money?
“I’m promoting my talent right now. It’s like someone selling you a product. You use my talent, and I think there’s nothing wrong with paying for it,” Qin Xuan said, his arguments coming one after another.
“That makes sense.” Bao Dexi nodded, then exchanged a smile with Wang Bide.
They felt this young man was quite interesting. He seemed very sincere. Dealing with hypocritical people too much was exhausting; when dealing with someone so direct, it actually felt relaxing.
Clear pricing, saying whatever needed to be said.
“I’m sorry, Director. The kid doesn’t know any better,” Wu Guoqiang hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
Being able to help with some work and win favor was already something they could hardly ask for. How could this child start asking for money too?
“It’s fine. A technical fee is only proper. As long as there’s no problem with the lighting setup, I’ll personally apply for it on your behalf.”
Wang Bide was very straightforward. He felt there was nothing wrong with what the young man had said—work deserved pay. He beckoned and said, “Come over, then.”
Just now, it had only been talk. Now, it was time for practical execution.
The group walked toward the depths of the factory building. The two leaders were in front, while Qin Xuan and Wu Guoqiang fell behind.
Wu Guoqiang felt somewhat uneasy and lowered his voice. “Xiao Xuan, you have to be steady! This is no joking matter.”
“Don’t worry. There won’t be any problem,” Qin Xuan said, appearing very confident.
Although his uncle was simple and honest, his heart was good. In his previous life, he had always helped him too; it was just that his abilities were limited.
When they arrived at the lighting control console, Wang Bide spread out a rendering of the desired effect. “Take a look.”
Qin Xuan braced both hands on either side of the console, lowered his head, and stared at the rendering. Then he picked up the pencil beside him and drew two lines on the rendering with the tip.
After that, he drew several circles and squares in other positions. These marked where to place the spotlights, where to put the softboxes, what angle the isolation panels should block at, and how much the black flags should cut off.
Wang Bide and Bao Dexi leaned in to look.
“The two lines are the positions for the butterfly diffusion cloth. The others respectively represent... Just arrange them according to this diagram, then adjust the specific details afterward.” Qin Xuan had only drawn a rough outline; the adjustments still needed to be made on-site.
Wang Bide indicated that he understood and began calling people over. “Move all the lights over. Set them up according to the positions on the drawing!”
Wu Guoqiang glanced worriedly at his nephew. It was not good for him to remain here either, so he went off to work. After all, without him, some of the lights would be troublesome to install.
For a time, the vast green-screen space became busy.
People from the camera and lighting departments ran back and forth carrying equipment. Stagehands hauled heavy light stands. Electricians crouched on the ground organizing cables. Multicolored wires wound this way and that, making it look rather like a lively construction site.
Wu Guoqiang and the other technicians were also busy, gripping wrenches and tightening screws to fix the lights in place.
“The lights can’t be arranged behind the camera. A row of soft light has to be cast from both sides of the green screen. Select multiple points on the green screen, and keep all brightness values within 0.3 stops.” Qin Xuan and Wang Bide had already arrived inside the green-screen factory space.
They began precisely adjusting the placement of the lamps, as well as parameters such as brightness.
Wang Bide nodded with an “Mm,” following Qin Xuan’s thinking and directing the crew.
Whatever Qin Xuan said, he relayed as instructions.
“The second layer of canvas needs to be brighter than the green screen, about one stop higher. The light here is the easiest to spill onto the green screen and cause color overflow.”
Qin Xuan raised his head and studied the enormous green screen. After considering for a moment, he said, “If we want to fine-tune it accurately, someone needs to stand in the performance area and observe while the lights are adjusted.”
Color spill was a kind of green reflection. If the green-screen light was too strong, or if the angle was wrong, it could appear. Once it did, it would be very difficult to fix during keying.
So someone needed to stand there for fine adjustments, observing whether there was any green reflection along the outline edges of the actor.
Wang Bide looked around and saw Liu Yifei standing on tiptoe at the edge watching the commotion. He immediately drafted her as extra help.
“Yifei, come here for a moment.”