Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Wang Ling actually felt that he was well-suited to work in show business. After all, it wasnât uncommon for teen idols in show business to sometimes be criticized for their poor acting since they werenât trained actors.
Happy reaction: poker face + wide eyes.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Angry reaction: poker face + wide eyes.
Frightened reaction: poker face + wide eyes.
Sad reaction: poker face + wide eyesâ¦
This all-purpose formula was some idolsâ perfect answer to show business, so Wang Ling thought he could do it tooâ¦
But for now, Wang Ling wouldnât know what it was like to be the lead actor. He was already very content acting as an extra, thanks to Dopey Guoâs help.
Before shooting the second scene, the executive director approached Wang Ling. âStudent Wang, letâs talk about the second scene. Itâs a fight scene; where will you be lying?â
Wang Ling: â???â
âItâs like this: the pay is different for different areas.â
The executive director spread out a map of the site and said to Wang Ling patiently, âThis green zone is basically safe. According to calculations, the actorsâ movements and spells cast during the fight wonât affect the green zone. If you lie in the green zone, itâs 80 to 100 yuan a day.
âThe yellow zone is moderately dangerous and the daily reward is 100 to 500 yuan. A large amount of energy shock waves might pass through the air here during the fight scene. Calculating it precisely, it usually isnât dangerous. But the point is that once you lie down, you canât move as you like. No matter how loud the noise or explosions around you, you canât be scared into moving even an inch, since that will create complications. We often have actors who choose to lie down in the yellow zone for money. In the end, they overestimated their mental endurance. Some got up halfway through, and their legs and feet got blown off. As long as you donât move in this zone, youâll be fine.â
ââ¦â
âThe reward for the red zone is 800 to 1,000 a day. How much an actor gets depends on their performance. The red zone is where the attacks are the most concentrated. The actors who lie inside this zone must be extremely strong of mind and professional. Since this zone will be covered in spells, you might be slightly burned while lying down, but the injury is manageable. We have an especially effective freeze cream. If you apply it to the burn immediately after the shoot, it wonât leave any scars. However, youâll need to endure the pain.â
The executive director continued, âIn addition, we give actors who play dead in the red zone green golden light shields. The moment the spells come raining down, the green golden light shield will be automatically activated, and isnât life-threatening. If you flail about, however, you may be reduced to ash in an instantâ¦â
Wang Ling was puzzled. âGreen?â
âTo make things easier in post-editing. Once it reaches this fight scene, the green golden light shields can be edited out in one go,â Dopey Guo explained.
Wang Ling: ââ¦â
The executive director nodded. âIn short, the thing you need to pay the most attention to in the three zones is: Do not move!! As long as you donât move, your life wonât be in danger! Student Wang, which one will you choose?â
Wang Lingâs face was expressionless. âRed.â
He already had a Sage Body â Great Dao spells couldnât hurt him, let alone a few petty explosions.
The executive director was so moved that he even yelled excitedly, âChief Director! Someone is finally willing to enter the red zone!!â
Wang Ling: ââ¦â
After hearing this decision, Dopey Guo felt a burst of nervousness. âWang Ling, this is too much⦠Why donât you choose again? The red zone is really dangerous!â
âItâs fine.â Wang Lingâs face was as unruffled as an ancient well.
Dopey Guo had heard that Wang Ling was short of money, apparently because he wanted to buy a gift for his little sister.
Even Dopey Guo hadnât expected Wang Ling to actually go this far for his little sisterâ¦
â¦
Roughly twenty minutes later, Wang Ling lay down in his designated spot in the red zone with twenty or so green golden light shields stuck to his back. In other words, he would have to endure almost twenty attacks. A regular actorâs expression wouldnât be able to help trembling when a shock wave hit them in the face, to say nothing of a high school student.
Hence, a lot of people were skeptical of Wang Lingâs ability to do it.
âHeâs so young â newborn calves arenât afraid of tigers 1.â
âA fine young man insisting on looking for death, heyâ¦â
Some seasoned extras on set talked about it behind the scenes. They felt that Wang Ling was courting death. They were all veterans who had already been acting for more than ten years, but still found it very hard not to change expressions when confronted with shock waves one after another. Furthermore, Wang Ling was playing someone who had died with his eyes wide open⦠In other words, Wang Lingâs eyes had to remain open the whole time⦠Could he really do it?
âExtras, take your places!â
âActor, take your place!â
At the executive directorâs instructions, all the extras lay down in their predetermined spots.
The actor then stepped onto the stage.
This was a baby-faced actor called Tong Ling. Actually, he was already very old, but thanks to special skincare techniques and special cultivation principles, he retained the body of a child, and looked like he was only eleven or twelve years old.
In this part of the plot, twelve-year-old Odd Zhuo was snubbed and despised by others after absorbing the Devil Bead. In the end, he couldnât control his anger and his demonic qi erupted. There would be a lot of explosions in the middle of the scene, and Wang Ling played a villager who got caught up in the explosions and died. In fact, it wasnât Odd Zhuo who killed the villager, but those on the demon path who framed Odd Zhuo and wanted the people to scorn him.
âBrother Tong, weâll be counting on you in this scene.â The executive director followed behind Tong Ling.
Tong Ling put down his cigar. With an assistantâs help, he changed into his costume and turned his gaze to the zones on set. Because of the big explosions and the fact that no extras had been willing to play dead in the red zone all this time, this scene had been delayed for a long time. Of course, the production crew had thought about using a dummy, but the overall effect was too fake and might be picked up with one glance after post-production.
At that moment, there was actually a high school student lying in the red zone, suddenly piquing Tong Lingâs interest. âDid that child volunteer or did you force him?â
âOf course he volunteeredâ¦â The executive director wiped his sweat.
Tong Ling chuckled. âDoesnât he know that thereâll be twenty large explosions in that zone? Will he really be able to stay still? Has he bought any insurance yet? If he gets hurt, itâs none of my business.â
âWeâve already signed an agreement with him, and we promised him that as long as he doesnât move, his life wonât be in dangerâ¦â
Tong Ling: âHa ha, letâs hope thatâs the case.â
Newborn calves werenât afraid of tigers â want to make quick cash on a film set? It wasnât that easy to be an actor. Even an extra had to have some skillsâ¦
Thinking this, Tong Ling smiled slightly and suddenly felt like teasing Wang Lingâ¦
Footnotes:
Ch 1065 Footnote 1
A Chinese idiom to describe young people as fearless.