Chapter 183: Everything Ready? A Small Mishap

Although current circumstances—whether public opinion or other factors—could hardly be described as favorable for Wang Dagang, he nevertheless remained entirely confident in himself.

Viewed from an outsider's perspective, the fact that Wang Dagang had not quit the industry despite the failure of so many films was already a testament to his immensely strong conviction. Therefore, having such self-assurance was somewhat understandable.

As for how Wang Dagang viewed himself, it goes without saying. In his mind, this profession required accumulation and sedimentation. Why did many directors only achieve growth and fame after weathering numerous setbacks? Wasn't it precisely because of the critical importance of experience?

Whether it was Bai Ling or Ouyang, producing trashy web dramas like *Go Princess Go* was one thing, yet they actually dared to covet a genuine traditional costume immortal-hero romance? It was nothing more than wishful thinking!

"Even if Bai Ling's acting has a few tricks to it, stage performance, long-form television series, and feature films are entirely different beasts."

"Once they hit a wall, they will realize just how ridiculous it is to provoke me!"

The more Wang Dagang pondered this, the brighter the smile on his face became. At that very moment, it felt as though he had already successfully crushed Bai Ling and secured total victory.

Originally, he had planned to find an aspiring actress tonight to vent his frustrations. Suddenly, however, he was struck with the mood to review some footage.

"Hurry up and polish the quality of the production. We need to make Bai Ling admit defeat wholeheartedly and show the public that ginger only gets hotter as it ages!"

"Hahaha~"

Looking at this display, Wang Dagang's assistant was at a loss for a while, unable to figure out what kind of madness or frenzy his boss was falling into this time.

Public sentiment continued to ferment. Some fans drooled over Bai Ling's costume stills, while others simply wanted to watch the spectacle and see the aftermath of the battle between Wang Dagang and Bai Ling.

The numbers for both groups were quite substantial. After all, this could be considered one of the liveliest major events in the current entertainment circle. Compared to this, those so-called scandals and breaking-up celebrity couples—or even model couples cheating and divorcing—seemed utterly trivial.

After all, sensational as those news stories might appear, they were ultimately just the same old cliches. Having surfed the internet for a few years, who hadn't seen celebrity artists experiencing sudden downfalls, infidelity, or divorces?

Give us some real news. When all was said and done, those were just melodramatic ethical soap operas.

The more one watched them, the more they felt inferior to watching cheesy, old-school melodramas.

Bai Ling's situation, however, was quite different. An actor squaring off against a director—this was a class-crossing confrontation. Moreover, the vast majority of people stood firmly on Bai Ling's side.

That made it exceptionally interesting. It even gave people the feeling of teaming up to play a massive game of landlords.

Of course, despite the overwhelming public discourse, neither Wang Dagang's camp nor Bai Ling's camp had stepped forward to conduct any overt public relations. Instead, they allowed the matter to ferment naturally, causing public anticipation for the project to soar ever higher.

However, to see the ultimate outcome, people would likely have to wait until Bai Ling's drama was officially released. Therefore, while they discussed it animatedly, they did not relentlessly hound the participants.

A few days later, the hype began to subside, settling at a relatively stable level. Meanwhile, Bai Ling and her crew had already entered the studio to begin filming.

The initial script-reading phase was of paramount importance, so it took up two full days. In truth, this pace was already blindingly fast. For many crews, spending a week or even longer on script reading was standard practice.

Putting aside the hundreds of thousands of words across the entire script's plotlines, just reading through the material for one's own character, coupled with communication, discussions, and questions directed at the director, meant that even with Bai Ling, Su Zhaolin, and the others having received the script in advance to study, two days was still far too rushed.

Yet, that was simply Ouyang Ruofeng's style. If there was anything unclear, they could figure it out while filming on the fly. Besides, Ouyang and Zhuge Ming had received the script long ago. They had thoroughly digested its contents ages ago.

And as it turned out, these two young men truly lived up to their reputations as former members of the destined female protagonist's inner circle. Each of them possessed genuine skills.

Combined, Zhuge Ming and Ouyang Ruofeng's mastery of the shooting material was in no way inferior to that of an experienced director.

No!

The two had a clear division of labor: Zhuge Ming excelled at comprehension, capable of perfectly grasping the nuances of the script and helping Ouyang guide the actors' emotions, while Ouyang possessed a unique talent for coaching actors.

What was the most important attribute of an outstanding director?

Lens language?

Camera framing?

Or perhaps logical coherence and editing capability?

Perhaps all of these mattered, but there was another aspect that was rarely mentioned yet immensely crucial: the ability to coach actors.

Why is it that many actors can deliver utterly atrocious performances in one production—with their facial features flying everywhere and their acting utterly limp—yet display an entirely different spirit and caliber in another?

Did the actor grow rapidly overnight?

Or did their acting skills regress?

In reality, this was closely tied to the director's ability. A good director can help actors integrate into the plot and achieve their optimal state. Some actors even experience a soaring leap in their acting prowess after being coached by master directors, rather than merely achieving success in a single role.

Although Ouyang Ruofeng currently looked like nothing more than a young man who had only been in the industry for a few years, he had already begun to exhibit such potential.

Whether this had anything to do with his family background remained unknown, but through subtle influence, he had perhaps cultivated an impressive set of skills.

With such a solid foundation crew, the filming progressed exceptionally smoothly.

However, it wasn't long before Bai Ling, Ouyang, and the others began to worry. There were no problems with the actors' performances or the various coordination aspects on set. Yet, the actual captured results were far from satisfactory.

Because it was an immortal-hero romance, numerous visual effects were required throughout the process. Although Bai Ling had rented a green screen, producing matching visual effects of adequate quality was extremely difficult and demanded a professional team. The small core team assembled by Ouyang Ruofeng simply couldn't handle the workload.

"Look at this, the visual effects don't blend with the footage at all."

"If there were only a single instance, it might be tolerable, but practically all the visual effects are at this level."

"To put it bluntly, it looks like something made by a fresh college graduate. This team just won't cut it!"

When Ouyang formally reported this issue to Bai Ling, he had already gotten into a shouting match with the person in charge of the visual effects.

"I've already fired them. We're going to have to recruit a new visual effects team."

"So, have you found one yet?" Bai Ling asked.

After reviewing the finished cuts, she had to admit the results were truly atrocious, giving off a distinct vibe of cheap, five-cent special effects. She hadn't expected that after successfully nailing the costumes, makeup, and styling, they would stumble over this hurdle.

When filming *Go Princess Go*, a single hair dryer had sufficed to support the visual effects for the entire series.

How she longed for those low-cost, high-yield days.