ABT Chapter 0016: Outshining the Nine Streets of Stunts

A movie is composed of continuous frames. As a famous director, Ma Rao's requirements for the film are exquisite down to every frame. Originally, the special effects part only needed to reuse the previous ones, but for Ma Rao, that was not acceptable.

The assistant contacted several actors' agents. It was easy to handle the supporting roles, as they had fewer scenes and lower status, so they were more understanding. Although Zhou Qingyu was a supermodel, she was still considered a newcomer in the film and television industry. Moreover, with Ma Rao's reputation, as soon as the little girl received the call, she immediately expressed her support and understanding.

However, Ha Lu was different. As a top-tier figure in the Chinese film and television industry, his time was literally counted in seconds. Every day, the announcements he received were scheduled for half a year in advance. Suddenly being asked by the director to reshoot, he was not pleased.

Since the film had just finished shooting, most of the scenes and props had not been processed yet. Li Fan was waiting at the scene early, watching Ma Rao checking the time and waiting for the others to arrive.

What surprised Ma Rao was that the first actor to arrive at the scene was Zhou Qingyu. The young girl drove a red SUV. Since she couldn't wear high heels while driving, after getting out of the car, she held onto the door, tiptoed, and put on her shoes, showcasing her long legs.

The rough SUV made her, who was originally tall and slim, look petite and delicate. Li Fan was somewhat dazzled by her beautiful legs wrapped in black stockings.

There were countless beautiful women on the internet, but seeing them in person was completely different from seeing them in pictures, especially when they were such exceptional beauties.

Even though she was in a hurry, every movement of Zhou Qingyu was elegant, making her look like a painting when she stood there.

After putting on her shoes, she ran over with small steps and bowed to greet Ma Rao. Seeing Li Fan beside Ma Rao, she nodded and smiled politely, showing great courtesy.

Li Fan nodded to her. This girl who often appeared in various fashion shows left a very good first impression on him.

Ma Rao was also very pleased. He had been worried that Zhou Qingyu was not from an acting background, so she might have some difficulty adapting to the film or might not care about it. But now it seemed that she did very well, without any hint of disdain, and even more dedicated than many professional actors he had worked with before.

After a while, several supporting actors and photographers arrived one after another. Only Ha Lu, urged repeatedly by the assistant, still hadn't arrived.

The whole crew, after setting up everything needed for the shoot, waited impatiently for Ha Lu to arrive.

"Director, shall we shoot the supporting roles first?" The assistant, seeing Ma Rao's unhappy expression, tentatively suggested.

"No need. I have everything I need now. One month's time is enough for me. I want to see how big Ha Tianwang's attitude really is!"

Ma Rao became stubborn and confronted Ha Lu.

Until dusk, a Mercedes-Benz nanny car finally arrived late.

Ha Lu got out of the car, immediately noticed that something was wrong, and quickly put on a smile, greeting everyone he saw.

Ma Rao stood by the camera with a black face, not moving even when he arrived.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Director Ma. There was a last-minute meeting, which delayed me. I'm really sorry!" Seeing the situation, Ha Lu piled up a smile on his face and repeatedly apologized with clasped hands.

Ma Rao remained indifferent, not even looking at him. He turned around and shouted to the crowd, "What are you all standing around for? Haven't you seen Ha Tianwang's arrival? Let's get to work!"

Hearing the director's order, everyone hurriedly got busy, setting up what had already been prepared, while stealing glances at Ha Lu.

Ha Lu's face turned blue and white alternately, standing in place with clenched fists.

Ha Lu knew Ma Rao's temperament well. He was a hot-tempered person who could curse at his mother on set if he was unhappy. His bad temper was well-known in the industry, but Ha Lu didn't expect Ma Rao to be angry with him.

Who am I? I'm the new generation of film and television king!

But having a dispute with the director in public would damage his reputation.

After thinking about it, Ha Tianwang decided to endure it silently. But if you were to talk about Ha Tianwang's mood, he was on the verge of exploding.

This scene was very simple. The male lead stole the big boss's diamond, cleared out a bunch of minions, and escaped in a car.

The action scene was Ha Lu's specialty, and fueled by the anger from Ma Rao, his punches were very forceful.

But the group of stuntmen suffered. Normally, such scenes would just be a formality, but today Ha Lu was really hitting them.

Finally, when the director shouted "cut," everyone couldn't hold on anymore and collapsed in pain.

Li Fan watched from the side, secretly admiring Ha Lu's acting skills. His movements were so precise and powerful.

However, seeing the painful expressions of the stuntmen, he couldn't help but feel that something was off. Wasn't this a bit too much?

Ma Rao also felt it. As an experienced director, he could naturally see through the actors' intimidation.

But watching the playback on the camera, he thought the effect was better than before, so he frowned but didn't say anything.

Ma Rao's principle was to make the movie good, and he could tolerate anything else.

He called out to everyone to proceed to the next scene.

This time it was Li Fan's turn to appear, and Ma Rao had a very good impression of him.

Ma Rao was a workaholic, busy smoking one cigarette after another and not even eating. So naturally, Li Fan also waited with an empty stomach all day.

He had been here since morning, accompanying everyone and waiting all day without a single complaint, even helping with the set arrangements.

Ma Rao saw all this and nodded secretly.

After everyone set up the position of the cars, they officially started shooting.

In this scene, Ha Lu had just over a minute of screen time, grabbing a gun, knocking out a stuntman, stealing a car, and then making a getaway.

Next, it was Li Fan's turn to perform the car chase and drift.

Li Fan first had to demonstrate the car skills with the protagonist's car, then switch to the antagonist's car and play the role of the pursuer.

With Li Fan's current driving skills, this was a piece of cake. Both segments were completed smoothly, earning applause from the crew.

After watching the playback, Ma Rao clenched his fist fiercely.

He had found the right person! Three million was simply worth it!

Normally, stuntmen would perform actions at low speeds and then speed up the footage during editing to enhance the excitement of the scene.

But with Li Fan, Ma Rao specifically discussed speeding up directly at high speeds.

Originally, Ma Rao was a little worried that the high speed might affect the quality of the shots. But looking at it now, damn it, even Hollywood effects would feel fake.

Exciting! It outperformed those crappy stuntmen by miles!

Ma Rao raised his head from the observation screen and gave Li Fan a thumbs up from afar, "Perfect! Next!"

On the other side, Ha Lu's mood was not good. He pulled aside a crew member and asked, "Who is this kid?"

The crew member replied, bowing, "Brother Lu, I heard the director personally recruited him because he was brought in for reshoots. Brother Lu, did you see the Weibo? According to the director's assistant, he's the bread van guy."

Ha Lu slammed his cup down, looking at Li Fan with a cold gleam in his eyes. Damn it! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been embarrassed!

Ha Lu was very angry.


NEXT