For the past month, everyone in the Warrior’s Department received directions as they were filming. Their progress was evident and they also respected Ye Lingchen as their chief.
Ye Lingchen was still directing them in the overall situation.
“Start.
“Stop. Good, we’re done!
“Not bad, Li Jing. Perfect expression!
“Wu Yue, your acting skills have improved by a mile. You should just become an actor!
“Alright, next scene!”
The actors were gradually getting in the groove. They were all warriors, and most of them portrayed themselves in their true self since the series’ theme centered around warriors. In terms of their acting, they were able to spontaneously add in the gist to their scenes once Ye Lingchen pointed out what he wanted.
Moreover, the entire crew had an extremely good working relationship. It only took a very short time for everyone to get acquainted with each other. During break times or change of scenes, they never had cell phones in their hand and everyone maintained a high degree of self-discipline. Coupled with Ye Lingchen’s authoritarian manner, such wholehearted dedication was usually lacking in superstar casts.
“Chief Ye, Sir. We have a proposal,” Wu Yue said suddenly.
Curious, Ye Lingchen asked, “What proposal?”
“You have a pack of wolves, right? How about you add another scene where we encounter wolves in the mountains and fight with them?” Wu Yue said.
“Yeah, Chief Ye, we’re no match for Li Jing and Ali. Let us fight some wolves,” Rhino said.
Ye Lingchen smiled, “Are you sure you can beat those wolves?”
The group was obviously afraid of being beaten by Li Jing and was ready to redeem their confidence by fighting those wolves.
“Hehe, there’s so many of us. Dealing with a dozen wolves is probably gonna be a breeze,” Wu Yue smiled and said. “Don’t worry, we won’t go hard on them. This way, we can also have more interesting scenes for the viewers.”
“This proposal is really good. Really good.” Ye Lingchen mapped out the script in his mind, then nodded and agreed.
That was a clear manifestation of his excellence as a script writer. Generally speaking, it was unduly troublesome to modify the script for a television series. Several writers had to engage in discussions with each other, and there might even be the possibility that the whole thing had to be amended. However, Ye Lingchen did not need to go through any of that, since he was very familiar with the script and could tweak it in an instant.
One day.
Two days.
Three days.
Time flew by just like that.
Another half a month had passed in the filming of Drawing Sword. Many have already started discussing the new series on Weibo and were eagerly looking forward to it.
There was a lull in the present when it came to television series. Excellent ones were few and far in between, while adorable ones were inconsistent in quality and the more popular themes were all badly shot. At most, they filmed continuous remakes of Old Man Jin Yong’s The Legend of the Condor Heroes or Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber. Aesthetically speaking, the audience had been long fed up with such storylines.
Two months ago, Ye Lingchen’s iPartment ended after breaking through the highest domestic television series ratings in recent years. Many had nothing to watch and were looking forward to something monumental.
There was the martial arts drama Relentless Swordsman, which starred Huang Xing, one of the little fresh meat.
Meanwhile, Zhang Tao—a superstar with a huge following on social media—starred in the idol drama Best Time.
Both television series had recently invested a huge amount in publicity and showed a tendency to compete against each other. Audiences were licking their lips at the prospect of those shows.
[Wow, Young Master Huang’s new drama is coming soon.]
[Have they announced the date of release yet? Soooo looking forward to it!]
[I like Zhang Tao a lot. He’s so handsome.]
[After iPartment, the only hope of smashing those TV ratings lies in the hands of these two series.]
[I feel like the throne for Young Master Huang is just around the corner this time!]
[F*ck off! The throne will belong to my Taotao!]
[By the way, what happened to Actor Y’s new drama?]
[No idea. Never heard anything about it.]
[Didn’t they show a poster of some fateful battle? They’ve gone quiet now.]
[Probably didn’t do much in terms of publicity. Anyway, it’s better not to have high expectations for this kind of military drama. There are too many restrictions and too many illogical plots. It’s meaningless when you think about it.]
[Yes, and apart from Li Jing and Ali, I don’t think there’s any other celebrities who have been invited to star. Don’t expect too much from it.]
[Hey, I’ve already watched iPartment three times. I was expecting Actor Y to bring something new.]
[At a glance, the enthusiasm is dismal and no one expects much of it. I don’t even know the name of this new series. It’s a pity that Actor Y will end up bringing himself down this time.]
…
At another end.
The Warrior’s Department.
The television series finally crossed Qin Baichuan’s mind.
It was the Warrior’s Department who requested Ye Lingchen to film it. The actors were all martial artists and it was hoped that the series could promote Kungfu and pave the way for the popularization of martial artists. It was also considered a national strategy, and for that reason, he had spoken to the National Television Bureau to facilitate the release of Drawing Sword.
During that period of time, the National Television Bureau asked plenty of questions about Drawing Sword.
Bureau Chief Liu of the National Television Bureau asked, “Hey Old Qin, how’s Drawing Sword’s filming going?”
Qin Baichuan was briefly stunned before he replied embarrassedly, “I don’t know that much either.”
Bureau Chief Liu was not peeved by that because he could not afford to get angry when facing the Warrior’s Department.
He could casually utter some offhand remark to a run-of-the-mill director and the latter would immediately put on a smiley face to give their utmost cooperation. However, Drawing Sword was in a class of its own. Since it was a production by the Warrior’s Department, it had a special significance. He would not dare pressure and pester them to hurry up.
Bureau Chief Liu asked, “It’s been quite some time, Old Qin. Why not ask them so I can make better arrangements?”
Qin Baichuan immediately answered, “Sure. I’ll find out.”
Bureau Chief Liu then asked a second question, “They’ve started, haven’t they?”
Qin Baichuan grunted and said, “Yes, they have.”
“That’s good. This special military series will be shown on CCTV, so I’ll give it the prime-time slots.”
After ending the call, Qin Baichuan dialed Ye Lingchen at once without any hesitation.
The call was picked up quickly.
Qin Baichuan smiled and said, “How’s the training for the boys, Little Friend Ye?”
“You can rest assured, Chief Qin. I’m giving them a hard time and they’ve never gone a day without going to bed injured.”
Qin Baichuan let out a hearty laugh. “This group of people will soon be on the battlefield. It’s good that they endure more hardship. Has the filming started for the television series?”
“Has the filming started?” Ye Lingchen was taken aback by the question.
“It’s been more than a month, isn’t it? Hasn’t filming started?”
“Started? We’re all done!”
Qin Baichuan was stunned. “What?”
“We just wrapped everything up yesterday. All the scenes have been shot, and all that’s left is some editing. Once it’s all done, we can submit it for the review. Once we pass the review, we can contact the television channel and have it released,” Ye Lingchen remarked casually.
“Wait. It’s already done?” Qin Baichuan was dumbfounded and found it rather hard to believe.
It was a television series with more than 30 episodes, so did it mean that they shot one episode a day? The efficiency is just terrifying.
More importantly, a bunch of rookies who have never acted before were sent over, and at the same time, they had to also shoulder the task of undergoing martial arts training. How was it possible that the series was completed so quickly?
