Chapter 444: Outdoor Location
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Sitting on a long stone, of which half was buried in the ground, and with a yellow Setaria dangling from his mouth, Guan Biao was humming outdated pop songs and looking at this spacious outdoor location boringly. The shooting progress had exceeded one-fifth, and nothing had gone wrong so far. The film had been progressing in a steady and orderly manner. According to this trend, it seemed like the film would be accomplished as scheduled.
According to the script, the part in the police dog training base had come to an end, and Lightning, played by Famous, had officially become a member of the police dog team. Led by the protagonist Lin Feng, they came to the Northwest border area to replace a group of armed border police officers, carrying out the tasks of cracking down transnational crimes. As important supporting roles, several other dogs would accompany their owners and come along.
With so many people in the crew and limited funds, it was impossible to take everyone to the real Northwest frontier to shoot with the genuine scenery there. As early as the start of shooting the film, a team had gone to the Northwest to capture the scenery there, while most of the crew stayed in the Studio to shoot scenes. In the end, the shots taken by both teams would be edited and synthesized into the movie. Having worked in the movie industry for over two decades, Guan Biao was more familiar with these routines than general members of the crew.
Guan Biao was at the outdoor location provided by the Studio, which covered a great stretch of wilderness located on the outskirts of Binhai City. Most of the exciting and soul-stirring shots would be completed here.
He came to arrange the setting with the art designers in the crew a few days in advance before shooting began. This was where the first fight in the script took place. A group of armed thugs from Russia would attempt to cross the border, but encountered the border guards. When they fought, injuries and fatalities occurred on both sides. During the impasse, the armed police officers released the police dogs who quietly struck the enemies by surprise. The police dogs suddenly became the aggressors by biting the enemies’ wrists, refusing to let go. The enemies were disarmed. The police officers took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack and destroy the enemies in one fell swoop. If this battle were in other war films, it would be regarded as a child’s play, but in this film, it was one of the big climaxes.
The setting was almost complete. The art designers had made full use of the desolate topography here, and the layout made this place look no different from the Northwest border.
Guan Biao narrowed his eyes and looked up at the sky. The sky was overcast, with a light breeze. It would be best if it snowed, because in the script, it was snowy in these scenes.
A few young people on the art designers team were arranging tumbleweeds. There was a scene in Feng Xuan’s script when the enemies and the police officers were watching eachother in the deathly silence. Blown by the breeze, tumbleweeds started to roll on the desert, and just like a fuse, they triggered the fierce fighting. Feng Xuan liked this scene very much. He felt it had the beauty of the gunfights in old Western movies, so he required that the art designers must arrange the tumbleweeds properly.
Guan Biao stared at them, but his thoughts had drifted away to other irrelevant things. Yuan Fei gave him another call yesterday, scolding him, and telling him not to postpone the plan anymore. Over one-fifth of the filming had been completed, if he kept hesitating, it would be difficult to replace the lead.
Guan Biao had secretly cursed Yuan Fei a hundred times, but he had promised Yuan Fei that he would do this. He was really afraid that Yuan Fei would expose his past and let the families of those victims in the mine sue him on charges of manslaughter, then make him pay a huge compensation fee. Even if he was lucky enough to be acquitted, no crew would be willing to hire him as a pyrotechnician. He wasn’t young anymore, and he hadn’t saved much money because of his laziness. What else could he do other than be a pyrotechnician?
Since the close call in the audition, the dog trainers hired by the crew all became cautious with him, especially that kid named Zhang Zian. Whenever Zhang Zian was present in the crew, he would always watch Guan Biao closely, as if he were a thief. It had been very tricky for Guan Biao to make any moves under his watch.
However, he was a pyrotechnician with over 20 years of experience. As long as he wanted to play some dirty tricks, there was always a chance for him. The difficulty lied in how to make it look like an accident. He still had no clue.
“Are these real guns or fake guns?”
Guan Biao’s thoughts were interrupted. He was slightly annoyed. He came back to reality and saw that the new lunchbox guy in the crew was squatting in front of a row of guns, looking at them curiously. This new guy was here to replace the previous one that had made mistakes. He was only responsible for handing out lunch, not in charge of any other matters.
“Both real and fake.” Guan Biao spitted out the Setaria from his mouth. “They used to be real guns, but were altered after being used by real troops. But if you change them back and load them with real bullets, they can still be used as real guns.”
“Wow!” the newcomer exclaimed loudly. “Can I touch them?”
“Suit yourself.”
The lunchbox guy looked at the guns, and selected one seemingly formidable assault rifle. He carefully picked it up in his hands and observed it like a treasure. “Master Guan, are there any bullets in this gun?” he asked nervously.
Guan Biao laughed. “Of course not. If there were, how could I let you pick it up so carelessly?”
“Great! This is my cell phone, can you take some pictures of me holding the gun? I wanted to be a soldier before, but I didn’t make it. Consider the pictures as a way to make up for my regret.” The lunchbox guy took out his cell phone and sincerely begged Guan Biao.
“Okay,” Guan Biao agreed. He had nothing to do anyway.
“Thank you!” The lunchbox guy unlocked his cell phone and handed it to him. Holding the gun like a real soldier, he made several poses, and despite the dirt, he even lied on the ground to imitate a prone position.
Guan Biao casually snapped some pictures for him, and then threw the phone back to the guy. Guan Biao patted his butt and stood up. “Hey, stop playing with the guns! When are we having lunch? I’m hungry!”
Having satisfied his craving to hold a gun, the lunchbox guy excitedly said, “Soon. I’ll go get the lunchboxes right away. What do you want to eat?”
Guan Biao rolled his eyes and glared at him. “What do you have?”
The lunchbox guy accessed the WeChat account the Studio’s food orders, then explained, “Our crew orders the 25-yuan Combo provided by the Studio, including three types: Combo A, B, and C. The combo varies everyday, and we can choose whatever we want. Master Guan, why don’t you choose the combo for today?”
Guan Biao took his cell phone and looked at the photos of the three types of combos in the WeChat account. The former 10-yuan lunchbox was the cheapest available in the Studio. The 25-yuan lunchbox contained much more food. Each combo had four dishes, including two meat courses, two-vegetarian courses, and one soup. They could choose one can of cola or orange juice as beverage. And there were also apples and bananas after the meal. With his meaty fingers sliding on the screen, Guan Biao was browsing carelessly. Suddenly his eyes focused on one of the dishes. He was silent for a long time.
The lunchbox guy thought he was struggling to make up his mind in the face of abundant choices. Instead of urging Guan Biao, he lowered his head to play with the prop gun in his hand. His fingers moved across the gun and felt its cold metal texture. He pulled out the rifle bolt and the chamber, then inserted it back in place again. The more he touched the gun, the more he grew to like it. How he wished he could get a few real bullets to fire the gun!
“Let’s choose Combo B.” Guan Biao quietly returned the cell phone to him. “Hurry up! the rest of the crew will arrive soon, and we start shooting after lunch. If shooting is delayed, the director will reprimand you harshly!”
If it were someone familiar with Guan Biao, he or she would find it very strange hearing these words from Guan Biao since he was always dilly-dallying, and didn’t start working unless he was repeatedly urged by the director and producers. Why was he so active today? As a pyrotechnician, Guan Biao was paid daily. If the shooting was extended one day, he could get paid for one more day. Wouldn’t it be better for him if the shooting progress was delayed?
“Okay, okay, I will go get lunch immediately!” The new guy did not know this about Guan Biao. He reluctantly put down the prop gun, and tried to negotiate repeatedly with Guan Biao, “When the shooting is over this afternoon, can you let me play with the guns again?”
“Okay, just go! Stop the jibber-jabber!” Guan Biao impatiently urged him.
The lunchbox guy excitedly ran away, driving the minivan dedicated for lunchbox delivery away from the outdoor location.
Standing there and thinking for a moment, Guan Biao pulled out his cellphone and searched on the internet, confirmed that he had remembered it correctly. He glanced around. The art designers were still busy arranging the setting, and no one was paying attention to him for the time being.
He walked into the compartment of the small truck that the crew had assigned to him, and rummaged through some ordinary stuff that was available online and in drugstores. As a pyrotechnician, it was even easier for him to get ahold of this stuffs.
He gently rubbed the contents in his hand, and the chemical formulas that he had learned in the classroom a few years ago once again emerged in his mind.
It is true that knowledge can change destiny.
