Chapter 179 – Filming Starts
Feng Yu rolled his eyes when Wu Zhigang asked him who will be filming the commercial. Can’t he see where they were for the past 2 days? Beijing Film Studio and August First Film Studio. Which crew from these 2 studios can’t film the commercial?
Although Baldy Chen did not agree to an 8-year contract, he signed a 3-year contract and will not be attending any promotional events. However, he will film 4 commercials, and his endorsement fess will be lesser than Zhu Simao. But Feng Yu still gave him 400,000 RMB. He heard that if it wasn’t for Baldy Chen wanting to raise funds for his movie, he might take up this job.
Feng Yu increased his fees by another 50,000 RMB, and Baldy Chen agreed to take charge of the filming. The filming equipment and crew will be settled by him.
The filming location will be at Bing City as the motorcycles were still at Bing City. The bikes were the main props.
3 days later, Feng Yu returned to Bing City first. That Friday night, Zhu Simao and the rest will be reaching there by train and will return on Sunday evenings. It will not affect their other jobs.
Feng Yu finally understood why Liu Daqing resigned and went into business. Their life under these units was too constrained. It was so troublesome to film an advertisement.
……
“What? You still want to collect the advertising fees from me? Didn’t I give you 5 million?”
“That’s for the advertisement slots at the TV stations. You think these movie stars work for free? Since it was partly my fault for not making it clear to you, just give me 500,000 RMB. I will make up the rest.” Feng Yu had a “suffering” expression.
“500,000 RMB? You think it is 50 RMB?! Who did you get to star in this commercial? Why is it so expensive?”
“Zhu Simao, Liu Daqing, and Baldy Chen. You tell me which one of them is not popular?” Feng Yu said while tapping the table with his finger and emphasizing his tone.
“But it should not cost so much. It’s only a commercial. How much is their monthly salary? How can they charge so high?” Li Mingde asked angrily.
“Because they appear on TV and they have the celebrities effect. You try getting someone else, or you be the star of the commercial. See if this commercial will be effective outside of Bing city?” Feng Yu purposely said that.
“How much did you spend in total?” Li Mingde asked.
“2.05 million. If you don’t believe me, you can ask them when they arrive.”
“What? Over 2 million?” Li Mingde was shocked. This kid was wasteful when it comes to money. He can accept getting TV stars for commercial, but it should not cost so much.
2.05 million RMB. How many motorcycles must be sold to make up for that amount?
“I am already paying for the bigger share and the Machinery Company is only paying for a small part. Manager Li, you should not bully me this much!” Feng Yu said with an anxious expression.
“Fine, fine. But this 500,000 RMB can only be given to you after Lunar New Year. There’s not so much budget this year.”
“Fine. I will also not charge you interest. Who asked me to be one of the shareholders here. This issue is settled. We will put it into writing later. Tomorrow they will be arriving for the filming of the commercial. We still need to give the 3 of them 1 motorcycle each. You should not be stingy about this, right?”
Feng Yu was in no hurry to collect this 500,000 RMB. Anyway, he had already profited from this advertising fees. He spent over 2 million RMB, but that was not for a year. In future, he can collect advertising fees from the Machinery Company every year!
Another 3 motorcycles? But Li Mingde had already delayed the payment of the 500,000 RMB till next year. If he were to reject this request, Feng Yu would surely jump on him.
“Fine. I agree! If you are unable to achieve the sales target next year, then we will follow according to what was stated in our contract!” Li Mingde reminded Feng Yu.
……
“Please take a rest. I had prepared the rooms for all of you. It will be at the Machinery Company guest house. Although the conditions here could not be compared to Beijing, I guaranteed the rooms will be clean and tidy.” Feng Yu went to pick them up personally. The 3 commercial stars, 1 cameraman, and 1 assistant. A total of 5 people.
“No need. We are not tired. Let’s start filming the first commercial. We are running short of time.” Baldy Chen said.
Feng Yu saw the only female, Liu Daqing did not object to this. Feng Yu, the one who paid for everything, would have no objections. It would be better for him to wrap up the filming as soon as possible. He could do some printed ads to warm up the market in the meantime.
Everybody went to the filming location, and when they saw the Land Rover Feng Yu was driving, Zhu Simao and the others were shocked. Liu Daqing envied Feng Yu. She swore to herself. She must drive imported cars in future!
The filming location was not far from the motorcycle factory. This was a road which was reconditioned the year before. It was still very new. Wu Zhigang ran to the factory to get 2 staff to ride the motorcycles to the location.
One motorcycle was red and the other blue. The helmets were in bright colors.
Zhu Simao changed to his leather jacket. Although it was freezing, he did not complaint. He put on the helmet and walked towards the motorcycle.
The filming equipment was set up, and Baldy Chen shouted “action” and they saw Zhu Simao riding the bike slowly forward.
“Cut! Old Zhu, you are riding too slow. Speed up a bit. This will not reflect the feeling of speed.” Baldy Chen shouted.
“I had just learned how to ride a bike. I don’t dare to ride too fast. I still have to do a sliding stop later.” Zhu Simao had only learned how to ride a motorcycle before they came. Before this, he just knows how to ride a bicycle.
Zhu Simao practiced with the bike, and soon the wind started.
The December temperature at Bing City was already very low. The actors were already wearing very little, and now there’s cold wind. Feng Yu immediately suggest resting until the wind stop.
“No. What if it snows after the rain stops? Furthermore, it is better with the wind blowing. The wind blowing on the scarf on Liu Daqing will look better on the camera.” Baldy Chen loudly rejected Feng Yu’s suggestion.
Liu Daqing also said: “It’s fine, Manager Feng. I am able to tolerate this temperature. I had filmed Summer shoots during End Autumn. That’s even colder than this.”
The filming continues. Zhu Simao finally picked up his speed. It was a straight road, and the road surface was in excellent condition, and there were no cars around. But when he reaches in front of Zhu Daqing, he could not execute the sliding stop.
To a beginner, this was a tricky move and quite frightening. Feng Yu saw that almost 1 hour had passed, but they did not even finish filming the first scene. He too was a bit anxious. With this speed, they might not even be able to finish shooting the 4 commercials. There’s still the printed ads.
“Mr. Zhu, let me show you how to execute the sliding stop.” Feng Yu walked over and took the helmet from Zhu Simao. He wore the helmet and ignored the objections of others and sped away.
“Eh, why you did not stop your Manager Feng?” Zhu Simao was still in a dazed, and Feng Yu had already sped away. He nervously looked at Wu Zhigang.
Feng Yu was still so young, and if anything happens to him, they would feel bad.
Wu Zhigang had seen Feng Yu’s riding techniques. When the first motorcycle was out of the factory, Feng Yu had tested it personally. He was even better than anyone in the factory.
Just when Zhu Simao finished speaking, Feng Yu was already riding the bike back. He did not even slow down when he was approaching them. When Feng Yu was about 10 meters away from them, he slowed down slightly and did a beautiful sliding stop in front of the camera.
Feng Yu removed his helmet and smiled at the shocked Liu Daqing: “Do you want to go for a ride?”