75: What to film

In the virtual space, a bald man was looking at the young man sitting opposite him.

The bald man, Yu Sanxing, said in disbelief, "Still no script?"

"Then what did you seek me out for!"

He had originally thought that even if it was total garbage, he would pinch his nose and film it.

But as it turned out, nothing had even been 'produced' yet.

Ye Bai smiled. "Director Yu, don't be in such a hurry. If you want a script, I can give you one anytime. Let's talk about other matters first."

"I've looked at your previous works; they're all excellent, and your team seems very capable as well."

"So, I will pay you ten percent above the market rate, and the same goes for the members of your team."

Yu Sanxing had been ready to leave, but hearing the praise followed by the talk of money...

...he restrained himself.

"Kid, when others ask me to film a movie, they offer at least this much," he said, holding up one finger.

Ye Bai smiled. "I'll give you and your team a total of seven million. What do you think?"

Yu Sanxing took a deep breath. "Are you serious?"

To be honest, since their movie flopped last year, they had been getting roasted alive online.

He hadn't had anything to film until now.

Now this kid was offering seven million right off the bat; no wonder Zhang Haoqi said he was quite wealthy.

Ye Bai nodded. "Of course. Rest assured, as soon as you agree, I can transfer the money to your account immediately."

"However, I have a few small requests."

Yu Sanxing frowned. "Go on."

Ye Bai: "First, I will be the chief director. Second, you will only receive a fixed salary for this film, with no profit sharing."

To be honest, seven million was indeed a fair price.

When Ye Bai used to film in the past, the expenses were quite high, but since there were investors, he would spend lavishly.

But for this film, he was going to invest and produce it himself, and he didn't plan on giving anyone a cut.

A team like this included a director of photography, art director, editor, sound recordist, costume designer... a whole bunch of roles. Any one of them would easily command a monthly salary starting at several tens of thousands.

Not to mention Yu Sanxing's crew had won awards before. Even if it was for an art film, it only proved how meticulous their work was.

Furthermore, even if Ye Bai didn't hire him, finding a crew on his own would cost just as much, and he might waste more time running into pitfalls.

Including Yu Sanxing might cost a bit more.

But this was fine; he didn't have much time himself and wasn't familiar with holographic filming, so it was a good chance to learn the ropes.

Besides, having two directors working together might give him more ideas.

However, there was a downside: both of them would have their own ideas.

But that wasn't a big problem; the investor was the boss!

And he was the investor.

Yu Sanxing's face turned ashen. "You're going to be the director?"

Then what the hell was he supposed to be? The assistant director?

He had originally thought he was filming garbage this time, but now it seemed the economic downturn was real—money was hard to earn.

Forget it. For the sake of his debts, he would endure it.

He'd just treat it as playing house with a rich young master.

"Fine, I accept," Yu Sanxing took a deep breath. "Then how much do you plan to invest in this film?"

Ye Bai rubbed his chin. "I haven't decided on that yet. I'll let you know once I have."

Yu Sanxing: ...This is totally just playing house! *Smash!*

"Then when will you give me the script? When do we start filming?"

Ye Bai thought for a moment. "How about this: in ten days, I'll tell you what I want to film. Then I'll discuss the specifics of your payment. If it's a TV series, I'll calculate it differently for you."

Yu Sanxing found this increasingly unreliable.

He nodded. "Alright then."

He was so strapped for cash right now that he had no other choice.

He had borrowed everything he could, but he was still several million short.

It was a real headache; if he had known, he wouldn't have filmed that movie.

Yet even now, he still felt there was nothing wrong with that movie. Maybe it was just that the public's aesthetic taste was lacking?

After finishing his conversation with Yu Sanxing, Ye Bai went back to working on "See".

It had to be said that making a holographic game was indeed much more complex than making a mobile game.

Fortunately, he had consulted Mentor Hou, and he asked Pei Ji about some simpler issues.

This made his current progress much smoother.

Now that "See" was nearing completion, Ye Bai finally breathed a sigh of relief when he finished.

He carefully counted the tasks at hand: the animated version of romance of the three kingdoms was finished, the animated journey to the west was finished, and "See" and the public service announcement were finished.

It seemed he was quite free now.

It was the perfect time to ponder what kind of show to film. At the thought of this, classic after classic immediately surfaced in Ye Bai's mind.

For movies, there were Farewell My Concubine, A Chinese Odyssey, God of Gamblers, The Truman Show, The Legend of 1900... there were just too damn many.

Just Stephen Chow's movies alone would be enough for Ye Bai to film for years.

As for TV series, there were even more. Not even counting the four great classical novels, there were tons of historical dramas.

Then there were the historical time-travel spin-offs, also in abundance. From the early ones like A Step into the Past and Love Across Time to the later hits like Palace and The Myth.

Besides historical dramas, there were plenty of other great shows too.

Ye Bai felt like a hamster that had fallen into a granary, unsure of what to eat first.

He spent the whole afternoon thinking like this.

Until Qin Yushan contacted him once more; this time, he looked in even worse shape.

The dark circles under his eyes were even darker than before, his eyes were bloodshot, and his hair was a complete mess.

He seemed to have lost quite a bit of weight too.

Ye Bai looked at his stubble-covered face; as soon as he got close, he could feel his exhaustion. "Are you okay?"

Qin Yushan waved his hand. "I'm fine. I've finished a part of the first chapter during this time. Want to take a look?"

"Oh? So fast!" Ye Bai hadn't expected his speed to be so much faster than his own.

"But you... you should take it slow. Life is more important."

If he kept going like this, Ye Bai was afraid he might drop dead.

Then he would be the culprit again.

Wait... why did he say "again"?

Was he sent by the heavens to make the humans of this world stay up late and thus destroy the world?

Qin Yushan sighed. "Why don't you try playing it first?"

Ye Bai hummed in agreement and accepted the file Qin Yushan sent him.

Then he downloaded and opened it.

He soon entered the game. Since it was a simplified version, he didn't have the chance to choose a character or customize his appearance.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he found himself in an unfamiliar bedroom.

Ye Bai looked down at his body, then noticed the computer on the desk light up.

It was a message from someone named Ice Cream.

[Ice Cream: Have you rested well lately? I've discovered another urban legend. The location is an abandoned middle school in Xizhou City. Are you interested? We can go explore together.]

Besides this person's message...

...there were messages from others as well.

[Mu Mu: I saw that post you made last time; you've really gone viral! Thinking back to when we used to go on adventures and visit so many places... it's a pity I broke my leg last time and couldn't go. This time, I saw Ice Cream mention a new place. Shall we go check it out together?]

[Jiang Dagen: Buddy, do you have any plans lately? Count me in. I just bought a new set of equipment.]

[...]