464: Chapter 464 is over.

...

The morning sun in Los Angeles was scorching.

Good news: All the dancers were preparing inside the cars, out of the sun.

Bad news: Director Lin had already started sweating.

The third day of the road closure.

Lin Chuyan had already shot many, many takes of this opening musical number.

He had communicated the movement for every shot in this scene with Sand's camera team, and had discussed the costumes and choreography essentials for every dancer with the art director countless times.

But problems kept arising.

If he really had to be critical... he could see flaws in every single take.

However, he still kept a calm expression on his face: "Cut, five-minute break, then another take."

Sand was already numb to it by now; take after take, he didn't know what the director's standards were.

At this moment, he couldn't help but ask: "Director Lin, among those we've shot before, was there any you were satisfied with?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Curiosity... and, I want to know the standard."

"Sand, do you remember what I told you?"

Sand thought for a moment: "...Shoot, shoot 100 takes?"

"Exactly." Lin Chuyan smiled, "Sand, there is an idiom in China called 'practice makes perfect.' Is the one hundredth take the best? I don't know. But I can be certain that it is definitely better than the first one."

Lin Chuyan patted Sand on the shoulder: "At the end of the day, we only have 3 days. Once the 3 days are up, I will pick the most satisfactory one from among them to hand over to post-production."

Sand raised an eyebrow: "Övning ger färdighet! Träning ger resultat! Alla börjar som nybörjare!"

Lin Chuyan: "...What does that mean?"

"Hahahaha! That's Swedish. The meaning of these three sentences seems to be about the same as the idiom you mentioned: Practice brings skill, training produces results, and everyone starts as a beginner!"

Lin Chuyan also laughed: "Sand, you see, some cultures arrive at the same destination by different paths. Everything points in the right direction. Do you still question the 100 takes?"

Sand looked at his watch; the five-minute break seemed to be about up: "Director, let's continue with the next take!"

"Camera ready! Action!"

The lens tilted down and pushed in.

The young black woman in the yellow dress started singing, pushed open the car door, got out, and danced.

Another man in the car to the front right was looking at her curiously. He was attracted, couldn't help but also push open the car door, get out, and join the group.

Immediately after, the man to the front left also joined in.

The three of them sang and danced forward, and more and more people joined in, merging into a stream of people.

Green, white, black, blue, red, yellow... As the lens moved, a multitude of vehicle colors came into view. Paired with the dancers' outfits, it could be summed up in two words: Good-looking.

With a spinning motion from the young black woman in the yellow dress, the next shot began—

The scene began to become more complex.

The clothes worn by the five dancers from left to right were Klein blue, light blue, pink, deep red, and purple, respectively.

And their movements were all different: some were pushing open car doors to get out, some were standing up in convertibles, some were standing in the middle of the road with their hands raised high, some were leaning against the car bodies, and some were sitting on the trunks.

The young black woman in the yellow dress jumped into the frame from behind, making this Long take connect even more perfectly.

The lens pulled back, and more dancers entered the frame.

Some started dancing on the cars, some danced while embracing. The lens moved forward, beginning to follow a Latino man. He sang and danced, crossing through the traffic, and casually tapped a car door. A black woman got out of the car, and the two walked forward. The lens pulled back, and the view gradually widened—

Behind them, on both the left and right sides, there was a row of dancers standing on the car roofs, their movements uniform and synchronized.

The large crane began to swing, the lens slowly rose, turned, and finally stopped at the tail of a large truck bed.

The Latino man opened the truck bed—

Inside, there was actually a four-piece band playing!!!

The joyful atmosphere reached its peak at this moment, and the dancers gathered below the band, starting a grand celebration.

The traffic and costumes painted a vintage oil painting—it was a torrent of color that was dazzling to the eyes.

This wasn't the end. As the music went from fast to slow, there was another large crane shot, and the lens quickly swung to the young black woman in the yellow dress from the beginning!

This was the second edit point that Lin Chuyan and Sand had decided on!

At this moment, the girl was dressed in yellow, wearing white shoes, lying on a red car. This color combination made the eyes instantly comfortable.

After two crane shots, the Steadicam came into play.

A young man in blue clothes and white pants flew into the frame on a skateboard, and the lens followed, carrying the slight tremor characteristic of the Steadicam.

Some were skateboarding, some were playing with hula hoops, some were riding mountain bikes... If you didn't know any better, you'd think it was the Olympics.

Magical? Bizarre? Think this group of people is crazy?

Brother, in a musical, it's normal for these people to pull out anything; you're lucky they didn't pull out a basketball!

What's important? Sing! Dance! Get hyped!

The lens continued to look for people, and a blonde girl in a yellow dress burst in, becoming the protagonist of the scene.

The lens followed her, and just as she leaned back, a breeze blew by, lifting her dress—

"Holy shit, this wind!"

Lin Chuyan couldn't help but speak up in front of the monitor.

This damn thing wasn't something he designed, right? A sudden homage to Marilyn Monroe? And the effect was surprisingly good.

Blonde hair, yellow dress, the breeze lifting it to reveal healthy thighs, wheat-colored skin, a confident smile... Everything was shining under the sun.

Beautiful, too beautiful.

In this instant, Lin Chuyan had goosebumps all over.

As the Steadicam operator stood on the large crane platform, the lens began to rise—

In the distance, the skyline came into view, with a cloudless sky.

Nearby, countless dancers stood on the car roofs, their movements uniform and synchronized. As the music drew to a close, they jumped off the cars.

The last line of "Another day of sun" rang out—

♩ It's another day of sun ♩

All the car doors closed at this moment.

Perfect timing.

"Cut!!! That's a wrap!!!"

Sand was still a bit dazed: "A wrap? It's a wrap!"

The next second, countless cheers rang out, merging into an ocean of joy.

It wasn't easy, really not easy. Only this group of staff knew the hardship of these three days.

If there was anyone harder working than this group of dancers, it was definitely the camera crew!

The guys were really carrying the lenses, walking and running everywhere, and the sweat they shed was real, not a bit less than those dancing.

And everyone saw the brilliance of this final take.

Holy shit, that breeze?

—God had intervened!

A miracle? No, a divine miracle!

These foreigners were much more superstitious than the Chinese, and at this moment, their eyes looking at Lin Chuyan were a bit different.

"Director is awesome!"

"Director is awesome!"

I don't know who suddenly said it, but then it started rising and falling one after another.

Over these three days, Lin Chuyan's attitude towards work and his level of professionalism had been seen by everyone and were the subject of much praise.

He talked to the camera crew, the art director, the dancers, the costume and makeup team, and the floor managers... and he spoke with substance, his requirements were clear, and no one could fool him.

Awesome and strong—this was exactly what they wanted!

To put it simply, being a bit tired or exhausted was fine, but if they shot these 100 takes and the final movie still looked bad, who could be in a good mood?

They weren't afraid of hardship or fatigue; they were only afraid of you being incompetent.

"Thank you everyone, with you all, 'La La Land' will definitely succeed!"

Lin Chuyan looked up—

The morning sun in Los Angeles was scorching.

The morning sun in Los Angeles was also very bright.