462: Chapter 462 Road Closure

Styling a female artist takes much longer than a male one, but fortunately, the character styling had been decided long ago. Lin Chuyan went over to his girlfriend's dressing room and waited for a while before she was finally ready.

"Beautiful, absolutely beautiful."

Lin Chuyan couldn't help but compliment her.

Honestly, his girlfriend's aura was different from Emma Stone's in the original film.

"Mature woman" was synonymous with Ruan Xingyu; the word "elegance" seemed etched into her bones with every gesture.

Even more incredible was that whenever Ruan Xingyu looked at him, her eyes would shift, appearing incredibly lively and adding a touch of playfulness.

This was the best leading lady he had imagined!

Ruan Xingyu was walking towards him.

She was wearing one of the costumes Melanie had introduced earlier—a bright yellow floral dress.

The fabric of the dress was delicate and soft, hugging her figure as it flowed smoothly from her slender waist down to the hem. As she walked, the skirt moved, each sway carrying a graceful rhythm.

Her hair had been styled into soft waves, falling naturally over her shoulders, framing her face and making it look even more exquisite.

At this moment, the lighting and her own aura reflected off each other, inexplicably carrying a touch of the charming atmosphere of the last century, perfectly complementing the vintage texture the film aimed for.

"How is it?"

"Elegant, lively, and with a touch of vintage flair—it fits this movie perfectly. The lead role belongs to you."

"Shh, there are outsiders here."

"What are you afraid of? They don't understand."

Melanie was indeed looking bewildered, so Lin Chuyan switched back to English.

"Mel, what do you think?"

"Honestly, I'd pay to go to the cinema just to see your faces blown up on the big screen."

"Haha, let's go, time to shoot the costume photos!"

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but the biggest challenge was about to arrive.

Which scene would they shoot on the second day? On this point, Lin Chuyan had no hesitation—they would shoot the very first scene of the film, which was the most difficult song and dance sequence in the entire movie!

Why shoot this one first?

His thinking was simple: if they could pull this off, the rest wouldn't be a problem for him. Furthermore, it would be a huge confidence boost for everyone on the crew, which would be beneficial for his subsequent shooting.

Besides, the budget wasn't spent for nothing.

When Lin Chuyan was filming summer of the little monsters, the mission, and new police story back home, all the dancers had already practiced for a long time, and then they had rehearsed in the parking lot for a very, very long time.

After finishing the costume photos, Lin Chuyan went to the parking lot to check on them, but... honestly, looking at it like that, you could only tell they were dancing skillfully; without shooting on the actual location, many problems couldn't be seen.

What else could he do? Just get to work!

The crew had applied in advance and directly closed off a highway in Los Angeles that didn't have much traffic, blocking it for three whole days.

Lin Chuyan had already planned it out: the first day for rehearsal, and the next two days for filming.

For these three days, his requirements weren't high—shooting 100 takes should be no problem, right? He could slowly pick the best ones later to ensure everything was foolproof.

Yeah, this was the kind of operation that would make Director Du Qiyu's heart ache to death.

The next day, the crew officially started filming.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do; people here didn't worship gods, so Lin Chuyan just said a few brief words.

He didn't talk about any long-term plans, sticking simply to this song and dance sequence.

"Three days, we only have three days!"

"Another day of sun—the lyrics are one of the themes of this film: dreams! The lyrics are about the bitter trivialities of little people chasing their dreams, but we need to dance it out like a grand celebration! This song must also be sung in the most positive way possible!"

"Everyone, I know that the musical format is no longer mainstream. So for this scene, or rather this first song and dance, I will make it happen as early as possible—it might start less than 2 minutes into the movie. That way, if viewers don't like musicals, they can leave early when they see the song and dance sequence."

"But is the musical really dead?"

"I, Lin Chuyan, have waited three years just for this opportunity to make a good musical! I want to fight for this, not to prove that I'm amazing! I want to tell people that the musical has never died! I want to make the musical great again!"

If anyone else heard this, they might not feel anything.

The problem was that the crowd below was full of dancers...

It got them all fired up instantly; how could you argue with that?

"Good! Director Lin is awesome!"

"We must nail it!"

"La La Land is awesome!"

Director Lin waved his hand, hiding his achievements and fame.

After a simple group photo, the dancers got ready, and Lin Chuyan pulled the cinematographer aside to discuss the filming.

The cinematographer was named Sandgren; Lin Chuyan usually called him Sand.

The communication yesterday morning was very effective; the two understood each other well and knew that the other was a professional. Both were already very familiar with the script and the storyboard, so the conversation now was even smoother.

"Director, for the opening shot, we'll pan down, then use the Movie Bird 45 telescopic crane to pan across, starting with a close-up to introduce the drivers."

Lin Chuyan nodded: "The subject of this segment is people, and as the colors of the cars gradually become richer, the scene will have vitality."

"At this point, the music will start, and the camera will begin to push forward at a constant speed... entering the story."

Lin Chuyan understood immediately: "Follow this with a new push-in; use the camera movement to break the previous rhythm."

At this point, the camera will be aimed at the dancer—she begins Singing.

Just talking wasn't enough, so Lin Chuyan simply dragged Sand to find the dancer and observed the lighting up close.

Then...

He turned to the assistant director: "Make a note, this shot needs a bit of fill light on her face in post-production; after all, it's the first close-up of the entire film."

Although the official shooting time was 10:00 AM, this was a black girl, and if they didn't add fill light, it would really be a bit too dark.

The two continued going through the process.

Sand continued: "The dancer opens the car door, and the camera immediately moves backward, which gives the camera a motive for movement. Then the camera pulls back, introducing new information, and the frame gradually opens up."

"Good, pull it all the way to the end."

"To the end?"

"To the end!" Lin Chuyan explained, "The dancer in the yellow dress gets out of the car, walks forward, and others join her one after another... Remember, this is a Long take."

"Understood, but Director, that Long take later is really impossible to do."

They had discussed this yesterday morning, and Lin Chuyan also understood that his Long take was too complex and couldn't be compared to others; there were too many problems, so he wouldn't force it.

However, there are always more solutions than problems.

"I know, but I want a 'pseudo-Long take'; you are responsible for stitching it together into a 5-minute Long take."

"Then we can pan the telescopic crane halfway, shout 'cut,' and then re-pan to connect it."

"How many edit points?"

"Two at most, and I guarantee that even if you watch it frame by frame in post-production, you won't be able to tell!"

"Okay." Lin Chuyan nodded and pointed to the black girl in the yellow dress, "Let's use her; use her as the edit point. When she spins, your telescopic crane will do a sharp pan."

"Good, noted."

The two chatted and confirmed, and soon the filming plan was set—

The first edit point was the spin of the black girl in the yellow dress, and the second was the sharp pan before she danced on the vintage car. Everything before this would be shot with a large crane, and finally, they would use a Steadicam.

At the very end, the Steadicam operator would stand on the platform of the large crane, and the camera would gradually rise, signaling the end of this segment...

Lin Chuyan summarized this segment: "With the last note of 'another day of sun,' all the dancers return to their cars! Close the car doors on the beat! Return to reality. The title appears in big letters, and the movie officially begins!"

Awesome!

Teacher Sand hadn't had such a satisfying conversation with a director in a long time.

Sure enough, professionals need to work with professionals to feel satisfied in body and mind.

However, he still asked one more question: "By the way, Director, how many takes are you planning to shoot? Over these three days."

Lin Chuyan replied nonchalantly: "100 takes."

Sand: "..."