Chapter 130: Replaced
Yin Chengjue was truly unaccustomed to this feeling of being surrounded by flashing lights. In his previous life, it was amidst a chaotic storm of frantic, competing flashes that he had walked into the police station. When he was later released due to insufficient evidence, the building had collapsed, the world had overturned, and everything had changed.
To say he had no psychological shadow would be false.
Every time he saw these kinds of flashing lights, he inevitably felt an impulse to rush forward and destroy them all.
Yin Chengjue's unhappy expression actually coincided perfectly with the aloof emotion the male character initially showed towards the male ghost in the story.
So, the enchanting male ghost lay on the sofa, cheeks propped in his hands, looking at him, lips slightly parted as if saying something, while the cold, aloof man sat nearby with his legs crossed, flipping through a book with a stern expression.
However, in this photo, the two were quite far apart. Toner immediately demanded they move closer, and closer still, preferably with the male ghost lying across the man's lap.
Listening to Toner's description, Yin Chengjue felt immensely grateful once again that he had chosen to be Rong Yu's partner this time.
If it were someone else coming to get so close to Rong Yu and strike such extremely ambiguous poses, Yin Chengjue was afraid he might do something irrational on the spot.
The first set of photos, with "ambiguity" as the main theme, was quickly completed. Toner defined the theme of the second set as "eerie."
After all, the male ghost was a powerful Ghost King. His appearances were never conventional. In the early stages, to frighten the man and force him to relinquish his body, the male ghost used almost every conceivable, most terrifying method of appearance.
For example, when the man was disturbed and woke up at night, what he saw was a face illuminated ghastly pale by a blue flame—and it was upside down facing him, the bulging eyes seeming ready to pop out of their sockets.
The camera angle showed the man with his back to the lens and the male ghost facing it, allowing the audience to see the male ghost's horror.
Besides this, Toner also had Rong Yu hold a mirror frame without the glass installed to shoot, so they could later edit in his appearance in the man's bathroom mirror.
In short, the weirder, the better; the more terrifying, the better. Although he hadn't seen the final product, being one of the subjects photographed and seeing Rong Yu's ghostly makeup up close, Yin Chengjue could roughly guess what the final edits would look like.
Honestly, the image of the eyes streaming with blood was really quite creepy.
The key point was that Rong Yu even deliberately grinned, instantly making the already eerie ghost makeup even more terrifying.
"Xiao Yu, are you interested in starring in horror films? I know a few directors who make ghost movies. They're all so idle they're almost ready to change careers. I can guarantee, if you give it a try, you could get a very good role," Toner said.
Hearing this, Yin Chengjue shot Toner a glare and shook his head at Rong Yu, "Don't listen to his nonsense. The horror genre's market has been declining lately precisely because the content lacks innovation—it's all the same old formulas, relying on cheap scares with little logical coherence. As a result, audiences have gradually lost interest. Taking a role in such a project now would just be a waste of your time."
Toner strongly disagreed: "President Yin, you can't tar everyone with the same brush. There have been several excellent horror films in recent years."
Yin Chengjue: "The key point is that most of those are just remakes, recycling the same old material."
Toner: "..."
Toner: "Forget it, forget it, forget it! I'm not a director, I won't argue with you about this. Anyway, once these photos of ours are published, they will be very popular! Especially the photos of you two partnering up. I can almost smell a hint of sweetness through the screen."
The third photoshoot's theme was "In Love With a Ghost." The concept was straightforward: the pair simply needed to display intimacy for the camera.
Since the male ghost and the man were destined to eventually share one body, they each wore a half-mask of matching design—one as crimson as fresh blood, the other as dark as deepest ink.
Toner directed excitedly: "Great! Now, President Yin, put your hand on Xiao Yu's shoulder, use your fingers to touch the half-mask on Xiao Yu's face. Xiao Yu, you touch the mask on President Yin's face too. Eye contact, make it deep and meaningful! Perfect! Now, both of you go change into the green outfits. It will make it much easier for post-production to add the merging special effect for you."
"Teacher, isn't there a bit too much special effects use in this issue? Will the audience find it unrealistic and not buy into it?" A young man following Toner couldn't help but ask.
Toner waved his hand: "It doesn't matter. The horror style inherently conflicts with the word 'realistic.' The main thing is that the models are handsome enough and what they wear looks good."
After all the shooting was finished, Toner told them to go back and wait a few days. Unlike previous shoots, this issue followed a horror style, which demanded high-quality post-production with many special effects needed; otherwise, the pictures would be incomplete.
However, the post-production would only focus on special effects. For the models' own looks, they aimed for authenticity, trying not to retouch unless necessary. Otherwise, why bother hiring models to pose? They might as well just draw a person.
Just as Yin Chengjue and Rong Yu were successfully shooting for "Fashion World," things weren't going so smoothly for Sally.
Previously, the director of "The Chase" had specifically sought her out, wanting Rong Yu to play the villain role. Sally had already discussed it with Rong Yu, who had agreed and even started memorizing the character's lines. But now, the director of "The Chase" actually called again, saying they had found a better candidate for the villain role. If Rong Yu was still interested in a role in "The Chase," they could offer him the part of the second male lead.
Sally laughed when she heard this.
In "The Chase," the roles with the most screen time were the male lead and the villain. The second male lead was an insignificant rich second generation character, existing solely for the male lead to show off against.
Despite the title of "second male lead," his screen time was actually quite limited. Every time he appeared, it was only to swagger in, commit some idiotic blunder, get exposed by either the male lead or the villain, and then retreat in humiliation.
Labeling him a supporting character was generous, he was more like a cannon fodder.
"The Chase" itself wasn't adapted from a major IP and had low initial popularity. When it was projected for film, the crew had limited funds and couldn't focus much on promotion, only stealthily setting up an official blog.
Sally had originally been interested in the villain role because it seemed fun, and even if the final product didn't catch the audience's eye or become a hit, fans could still capture screenshots and enjoy them, showing support for Rong Yu's performance.
But now, the director suddenly changed his tune, telling her the villain role was taken and suggesting Rong Yu play the cannon fodder male supporting role—how could Sally readily accept that?
On the phone, Sally remained polite: "In that case, let's forget it. I wish your film great success in advance."
"Hey, hey, Sister Sally, won't you at least think about it? The second male lead still has a decent number of scenes. If you feel it's not substantial enough, we're willing to add more screen time for him," the voice on the line persisted.
Sally: "No need to consider. That's it. You initially invited our artist for the villain role, but look, now you've changed your mind?"
The other side: "I'm really very sorry about that. To be honest, as you know, we're quite short on funds here. The actor who wants the villain role is providing financial and prop support in exchange for the role. Our crew is so short on money, he's offering timely help, so of course we have to give him the role."
Sally: "Oh, according to you, as long as an actor brings enough funds, they can have their scenes added as they wish?"
The other side: "Sister Sally, that's not what I meant."
Sally: "But 'adding scenes' and 'bringing funds' are both things you mentioned yourself just now. I didn't say anything."
The other side: "Sister Sally, I hope you can understand us. Our crew is too poor, the funds just aren't enough..."
Sally interrupted impatiently: "With your method, just bring in more investors who are also actors, have them throw money at you, and then you add scenes for them, add, add, add, change, change, change, and you'll soon become wealthy."
The other side fell silent for a moment. Just as Sally was about to hang up, he said: "It's mainly that the crew is too poor. Actually, if you were also willing to provide some financial assistance, the villain role might not be impossible..."
Sally was almost amused by anger: "Director Li, let me be blunt. I was only interested in that villain role. If that role is taken, then forget it. I don't want to add any extra scenes for our artist either. The original main story was just fine, adding scenes would be superfluous."
Sally: "The villain role in 'The Chase' is indeed quite interesting, but not so good that we would specifically spend money to fight for it. Do you think this is an auction? Going to the highest bidder? What if, right before filming, an actor willing to pay even more comes along? Would the role be given away again?"
This time, the silence on the other end lasted even longer. Sally didn't want to say more and hung up directly.
After taking a moment to compose herself, Sally finally called Yin Chengjue. She did her best to keep the frustration from her voice as she relayed the entire situation.
Yin Chengjue, who had long ago thrown the "The Chase" script into the trash: "..."
"Oh," Yin Chengjue was very calm.
"Oh? Aren't you angry? Those people went back on their word! And the role was taken by money! No audition needed either. If Rong Yu had lost the role because his acting wasn't good enough, I wouldn't have a single complaint," Sally said indignantly.
Yin Chengjue: "Then we'll just invest in our own movie and release it at the same time as theirs."
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