Yunnan.
Shangri-La.
At the edge of a deep mountain forest, the film crew of A Bite of China set up a temporary contact point. They set up their tents and communication equipment in a small village about a kilometer away. Zhang Ye and eight or nine of his colleagues stood at the foot of the mountain, weary from the journey. As they took in the scent of nature, their minds unknowingly became more open. It was indeed worthy of being a legendary tourist attraction. Many people fell in love with this place the first time they came here. This was a paradise for animals and also a paradise for plants. The beauty of nature was unreservedly displayed before their eyes and made them feel refreshed.
There was the smell of grass seeds everywhere.
Ha Qiqi exclaimed, "What a great place!"
Little Wang was also overjoyed. She whispered, "I thought it was going to be a tough job since we have to rush for more than a dozen episodes of the documentary in two months. Who could have expected that Director Zhang would arrange such a good place for us? Isn't this just a vacation?!"
Tong Fu laughed and said, "Director Zhang is still the most considerate of us!"
Huang Dandan opened her arms to embrace the air. "It's so refreshing. Those people who did not join our film crew will definitely regret it. I'll send the pictures to them later, hehe!"
At this moment, a clear cloud floated past. Everyone looked up and started chatting.
Zhang Ye came over. "Is everything ready?"
"Everything is ready."
"We've checked the cameras as well."
"Director Zhang, everything is OK!"
Everyone was ready.
Zhang Ye said in satisfaction, "Good. Tong Fu, Dandan, Little Wang, Old Wu, follow me up the mountain. We'll scout the area first and find a place where we can set up the camera."
Wu Yi found it strange. "Set up the camera?"
Zhang Ye said, "I want to capture a day's worth of footage from day to night, the changes in the clouds for a few hours, and the movement of the fog. All of that will require a long lens, so we need to find a place with a wide view and a suitable view to set up the equipment. When the time comes, we'll also need someone to look after the equipment to ensure that nothing goes wrong."
Wu Yi immediately said, "Then I'll do it."
"Alright." Zhang Ye then said, "Sister Ha, how's the matter that I asked you to find out?"
Ha Qiqi said, "I've already spoken to the villagers. Now that they know that we're from Central TV, everyone is very enthusiastic. There won't be any problems with the filming. I've also arranged for the accommodation and meals for the next few days."
See if anyone is willing to come. If the filming goes smoothly, it might take a day or two. Make it clear to them first. Oh, it's not free. You can give them some fees. You can decide the amount. Oh right, the person must have experience picking matsutake. It's best if she's a woman, and a little younger. "Zhang Ye nodded," That's good. There's one more thing. I need a guide.
Ha Qiqi was taken aback. "A woman? Young? I don't think so. "
Zhang Ye said, "Even if it's not a lot, we still have to find them. I'll leave this matter to you."
"Alright, I'll definitely get it done," Ha Qiqi replied.
After assigning a few more tasks, Zhang Ye led his men into the forest.
"Eh, this place is not bad."
"The scenery is very good!"
"Old Wu, set up the equipment and try out the lens!"
"Alright."
"The lens is fine, let's set it here. We have to keep this equipment in place for at least five hours. Make sure it's secured properly so that it doesn't get blown over by the mountain winds. The lens must not shake either!"
"Director Zhang, do we need to take out the sound?"
"We need to take out the sound too, but there's no need to do it deliberately. When the time comes, we'll just have to find something that can be used."
"Alright!"
After busying themselves in the mountains for a full two hours, familiarizing themselves with the route and the surroundings, there was news from Ha Qiqi. She had brought along a local Tibetan girl — Sanji.
Ha Qiqi was panting. "Can she do it, Director Zhang?"
Sanji walked up the mountain without panting. She looked curiously at everyone and the equipment in their hands with a shy look on her face.
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Hello, my name is Zhang Ye. I'm the person in charge of the film crew."
Sanji quickly said, "My name is Sanji. Hello."
She knew Mandarin, but her pronunciation was average. She could probably understand him.
After chatting with her for a while, he asked her about the matsutake collection. Finally, Zhang Ye said, "Alright, I'll choose you. You've worked hard these two days, Sanji. Let's start filming now. What do you think?"
Sanji nodded. "Sure." After saying that, she hesitated for a while before plucking up her courage to ask, "Me? Can everyone see me on TV?"
Ha Qiqi smiled and said, "Yes, I'll give you a call before the broadcast starts. We're from Central TV Department 14, so you guys can receive the signal here too."
Sanji was overjoyed and immediately led them up the mountain.
Zhang Ye said from the side, "Sanji, be more natural. Don't be nervous. Right, you have to look more natural as well. Just pretend that we don't exist. Just focus on your journey and collect the matsutake. That's what we're going to film." After trying out a few shots, Zhang Ye took a look at the finished product from the camera and was not satisfied. He quickly got everyone to stop and said to the staff, "Someone, come and help Sanji dress up."
Little Wang said, "I'll do it. Makeup?"
Zhang Ye said, "There's no need for makeup, but make sure that he looks neat and tidy and that his hair isn't so messy."
This was Zhang Ye's first time directing a documentary, and it was also the first time for most of his team members. Everyone needed some time to familiarize themselves with the process, so it was within Zhang Ye's expectations that the progress would be slower at the beginning. He believed that after today, the filming progress would get faster and faster. What they needed to do now was to take things step by step and lay down the foundation for the filming. They could not afford to make any mistakes in any of the scenes. Otherwise, if they were to return to Beijing after they finished filming at this location, only to realize that a certain crucial scene could not be used? At that time, they would not have the time to come back and re-record! Therefore, Zhang Ye could accept the slow progress at the beginning, but the quality of the filming had to be perfect!
During the break.
Zhang Ye looked at his cell phone and saw that there was still a signal. He immediately contacted the second film crew, who was at another location. Zhang Ye had appointed Assistant Director Zhang to be in charge of the second film crew. Their second film crew was currently in Zhejiang.
"Hello, Director Zhang!" Zhang Zuo's tired voice could be heard over the phone.
Zhang Ye immediately said, "Have you arrived yet?"
Zhang Zuo was panting. "Phew, we've just arrived and found the village. The transportation here isn't very convenient."
"Alright, it's been hard on you guys." Zhang Ye said, "You guys take a break and catch your breath first. After that, the rest of the work will be arranged according to what I told you earlier. Brother Zhang, your team's task is the most urgent one right now. Try to finish filming the scene before tomorrow and then head to the next filming location. It's almost October, so it's already a little late for us to shoot the winter bamboo shoots. If it drags on any longer, we really won't be able to get any footage. So you guys have to work hard and bear with it. I'll leave the scenes over there to you guys. I've already booked the plane tickets tomorrow afternoon. I'll fly directly to your location.
Zhang Zuo said, "Why would we have to work hard? You're the one who has to work the hardest, so don't worry about leaving everything to me."
After putting down the phone, Zhang Ye gave a call to the third film crew.
The three film crews of A Bite of China had already been sent out by Zhang Ye. All three crews set off at about the same time. Zhang Ye did not have three heads and six arms, so he could only tag along with them one by one. He would first tag along with Ha Qiqi's crew to familiarize them with the filming process and let them know the style he wanted to shoot the documentary. Then, Zhang Ye would tag along with the next crew tomorrow, and then head to the third film crew the day after tomorrow or the day after that. As such, he had to be satisfied with all the scenes that he wanted to shoot. If he did not go and see it for himself, he would definitely not feel at ease. A Bite of China might look simple, but there were actually a lot of tricks involved in this documentary. The simpler something was, the harder it was to film. The massive amount of information and content, and even the artistic mood, were sometimes all contained in just a few simple scenes.
As the executive director of A Bite of China, Zhang Ye was destined to have to run all over the place for the next two months. There was no other way, as time was too tight!
For example, the scene with the winter bamboo shoots in A Bite of China.
For example, the scene with the matsutake mushroom that was also in the first episode.
Although the matsutake mushroom would be harvested later by mid-October, no one could predict the weather. By the time Shangri-La's rainy season was over, the matsutake mushroom could no longer be seen in the mountains. This was a race against time. As such, before Zhang Ye set off from Beijing, he had already planned out the filming schedule for the three film crews. The three film crews would rush to different locations, and the sequence of filming would not necessarily be the same as the sequence of A Bite of China in Zhang Ye's previous world. They would have to rush for those scenes in order to ensure a smooth completion.
As for the scenes that could not be filmed in September or October, what would they do? After all, the original A Bite of China also had a lot of spring and summer scenes.
Zhang Ye had also thought of this point.
His solution was two-fold.
One: Change the location. Although it was already winter in the North, there were still places where it was like spring all year round. He would definitely be able to get the scenes that he wanted.
Two: Change the ingredients. A Bite of China was a documentary that focused on food and culture. By changing the ingredients, it would still be the same as before. The food and culture could still be shown normally, but Zhang Ye would have to use his brain to write this part of the script according to the format of the original A Bite of China. There probably wouldn't be too many scenes that required him to change the ingredients, so the workload shouldn't be too heavy. The first and second seasons of his previous world's A Bite of China had already been imprinted in Zhang Ye's mind using the Memory Search Capsule. Every scene and every detail was memorized by Zhang Ye. With the help of the Directing Skill Book and Cinematography Skill Book, he could still mimic a few scenes without affecting the quality of the documentary.
The filming time was settled.
The time gap was settled.
As such, everything was no longer a problem!
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