On March 10, Tang An took the crew to New York after finishing the filming of "The Founding of the People's Republic of China".
Except for a few actors, the crew only had about 100 people.
There are only a few scenes, nothing complicated. If there are too many people, the cost will be overrun.
The original cost of 30 million has been almost spent, and it is estimated that a little more will be needed.
The shooting locations were all over New York. The first stop was Columbia University. There were two shots in total on the steps outside the teaching building.
The first time was when Deng Chao was still working as a teaching assistant, he met a classmate. At that time, he was working as a teaching assistant at a world-famous university and was very high-spirited. The other student was just an international student who couldn't find a job.
The second time, my position was replaced by the other person, who had a master's degree in biology. It was both a slap in the face and a satire. It also showed how difficult it was for Chinese people to survive in the United States at that time.
In Meng Xiaojun’s words, does a job of feeding mice require a master’s degree in biology?
But even for such a job, the competition is cruel.
The two shots of this scene are just like the scene at the airport. The characters before and after have completely different mentality and expressions.
There is no doubt that the Deng Dynasty is stuck again.
"Click!"
"Let's all take a rest!"
"Old Zhao, how long do we have?"
Tang An recruited Zhao Jun. This was not in the mainland. He could shoot as long as he wanted. He was given two hours, so try not to overtime.
Zhao Jun trotted over and looked at the time and replied, "There are still 41 minutes."
Tang An nodded, "Let everyone take a break and get some water and food."
Then he called Deng Chao over.
"Do you know how to act?"
Deng Chao smiled bitterly and nodded, "I know, I know, but I almost feel it."
Tang An patted his arm and said with a smile, "Don't be discouraged, that's just how filming is. We have enough time, so just treat it as a way to experience the atmosphere of the world's higher education institutions."
Many times, we know exactly what effect we want to achieve, but we just can’t achieve it, and it’s useless to force it.
"Think carefully about your state and his state when you met him before. At the beginning, he came to apply for a job and his future was uncertain, but you came to work and your future was bright. At this time, he came down the steps and you went up.
You looked at him with your head held high, which represents your state at that time, with your head held high and your chest high, full of confidence."
"Then you lose your job and he gets his job. You go down the steps and he goes up the steps. You have to look down at him again. This was also your state at that time. You were down and out and couldn't hold your head up."
"Actually, this can be regarded as a camera scene, but you are playing two versions of yourself..."
After Tang An finished speaking, he asked him to think about it by himself and did not start filming immediately due to time constraints.
I waited for him for a quarter of an hour before continuing to shoot.
Finally, when the time was almost up, the scene was successfully filmed.
"Okay, rush to the next set!"
After that, Tang An quickly took the crew to a nearby restaurant.
It happened to be noon, so I had lunch in the restaurant.
I have no choice but to film in a restaurant, so I have to take care of business no matter what.
Three or four larger burgers, and a cup of Coke, black tea or coffee.
Food in the United States is expensive, so we can only eat fast food like this. The food will only be improved every two days.
As for the Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, those Western-style Chinese food taste weird, so just eat some burgers.
After resting for a while and waiting for all the extras to arrive, we officially started shooting.
"Scene 41, one shot, one shot!"
"action!"
Americans can't understand Chinese, so the last sentence was shouted in English.
Deng Chao in the camera looks very busy. The waiters all have the same clothes, a white shirt with a small vest on top, but he only has the white shirt he usually wears.
The clothes showed his identity. He was a part-time handyman, and he was ordered around by the waiters.
After work, the boss paid him a few coins, folded them into a pile, and dropped them one by one into his palm.
Deng Chao flipped the money in his hand, looking a little helpless.
"Click!"
When the camera zoomed in on Deng Chao's face, Tang An shouted stop.
"Stop a moment, the makeup artist is here."
"Hey, Director Tang."
"Go and put some makeup on Deng Chao. His face should be a little paler, his whole body should look downcast and tired, and his lips should look bloodless. You can take care of the rest."
"No problem director!"
Ten minutes later, filming continued.
After receiving his salary, Deng Chao was about to leave, but a kind-faced old white lady not far away stopped him.
"Hello, do you need anything?"
The old lady took out a 20-meter note and stuffed it into Deng Chao's palm. He immediately looked back reflexively.
Hourly handymen cannot receive tips. This is a rule. Deng Chao immediately returned the money to the old lady.
"No, you deserve this."
The old lady insisted on giving the money to Deng Chao and grabbed his hand to hold the money.
"You are still young and you will go far!"
"And she can only stay here for the rest of her life."
By this she naturally refers to the boss lady.
"Thanks!"
"Thanks!"
Deng Chao said thank you twice in a row and clenched her hands tightly, not because of the 20 dollars, but because of her words of encouragement!
It is rare in life to have someone who helps you when you are at your lowest and most helpless, even if it is just a heartfelt encouragement.
And how many people are constantly sinking!
In the evening, the crew filmed a night scene in a laundry.
"Deng Chao, please walk over here later. When you were drinking water, you caught a glimpse of Wan Qian who was ironing clothes inside, and then turned around and looked outside silently."
"Wan Qian, please move a little slower and gentler, because you have been in the United States for so long and your life is not good. You are exhausted both mentally and physically. When you see Deng Chao's face in the mirror in front of you,
When the time comes, don’t look back, just look in the mirror silently.”
"Okay Director Tang, I understand!"
"Okay, all departments are ready!"
"Scene 43, one shot, one shot!"
"start!"
In the camera, a man and a woman in a foreign country are looking at each other through the mirror.
They both lied to each other, all to reassure each other.
In the next few days, the crew traveled to Times Square, Fifth Avenue and other places for filming.
A week later, the crew came to Wall Street near the New York Stock Exchange.
While Tang An was directing the crew, he looked in the direction of the New York Stock Exchange with some envy.
Suddenly, an LCD screen lit up outside the wall of the New York Stock Exchange, and the same ceremony as when Huayi went public was going on inside.
A company went public today.
And this company is still a domestic enterprise, and one that most young people have consumed.
Seven Days Hotel Chain!
Following Home Inn's listing on Nasdaq and Jinjiang Inn's listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, it became the third domestically listed express hotel.
The listing was very successful. The issue price was US$11 and it rose to US$13.5 at the opening. This means that this domestic company is favored by Wall Street capitalists and investors.
NYSE, I will come again!
After one week of filming, "China and Partners" has officially been completed.
In the evening, we found a hotel that was not too small, booked a banquet hall, and held a finals banquet in this foreign country.
"Thank you everyone. After several months of hard work, our movie is finally finished. Today is a bit simple. I will treat everyone to a nice meal when I return to China!"
Tang An raised his glass to everyone!
PS: I remember when I was working a summer job during the summer vacation in high school. I was also a waiter in a Western restaurant. The waiters wore vests outside their shirts. There were no summer jobs. At that time, the shirts could not be tucked into the trousers and were wrinkled.
It’s super ugly. I also occasionally place wrong orders, such as Spanish seafood baked rice, Spanish seafood risotto, cappuccino cake, cappuccino coffee, etc. If I can’t get it out in time, I have to pay for it myself, which is very heartbreaking.