Although "Seventeenth Floor" has only twelve episodes, each episode is made based on 40 minutes of content. It took a total of 65 days to shoot, of which Lu Yanhe shot for 52 days.
According to the shooting plan, Lu Yanhe joined the crew at the end of June and finished filming in late August.
Of course, if the filming of "Seventeenth Floor" goes smoothly without any unexpected problems, Lu Yanhe's actual filming time may only be more than forty days.
The film "Seventeenth Floor" tells the story of a group of young people who participated in a treasure hunt and came to a building on an isolated island. The building was built 20 years ago, but due to the owner's mysterious death, the renovation of the building was stopped halfway and it has been abandoned ever since.
The treasure hunt game was launched on the dark web, and those who arrived were all professional treasure hunters. However, upon entering the isolated building, they discovered they had entered a real, deadly pursuit game. The building had been transformed by the mastermind into a large-scale escape room and trap-filled game, live-streamed on the dark web.
They must rely on their own wisdom to find a way to escape from the building.
This is also why they need to do movement training in advance.
Rather than saying that this drama has a heroine and a hero, in fact, this drama is an ensemble drama, with a total of seven treasure hunters, each with their own ulterior motives and abilities. However, the story unfolds from the heroine played by Chen Bige, and it is also the heroine played by Chen Bige who leads everyone to escape in the end, so she is a well-deserved heroine.
Lu Yanhe's role is indeed the male lead in terms of screen time, second only to Chen Bi'ge. However, if we talk about the emotional line with the female lead, there is actually another male character who also has a heavy screen time, but he dies in the end.
Seven treasure hunters, seven main characters.
Chen Bige plays the orphan Li Meng, Lu Yanhe plays the silly genius Lian Cai, Li Yuefeng plays the long-distance runner He Huaijin, Shen Yue plays the con man Liu Mengna, Jiang Jun plays the retired soldier Fat Head Li, Yan Zhimeng plays the poison master Wang, and Lin Chan plays Wang Nianping.
Among the seven actors, four are top-tier actors.
Li Yuefeng was the one who recently rode on Lu Yanhe's popularity, while Shen Yue is a very popular actress at the moment. The other three actors are not unknown either, they are all well-known actors.
The fact that such a configuration can be put together in a twelve-episode drama shows how much importance Beijing and Taiwan attach to this drama.
-
Li Yuefeng complained a little on the way here.
"It's not a difficult play, why do we have to do a script reading?" Li Yuefeng complained to his agent, "A lot of it depends on post-production. Which actor here can play this kind of play casually?"
The agent said, "Who would have any objection to Chen Bi Ge's request?"
When Li Yuefeng heard the three words "Chen Bige", he also shut his mouth.
"Being able to co-star with Chen Bi Ge in this drama will greatly enhance your status. You know full well that no actress you'll ever partner with will be of higher status than Chen Bi Ge," the agent instructed. "Don't act like a spoiled brat in front of her. Just act honestly."
Li Yuefeng: "Of course I know, do I need you to explain this?"
Agent: "You've been a little off lately. I have to remind you."
"How am I arrogant? Don't talk nonsense." Li Yuefeng said, "I'm obviously very humble."
"You're so cocky," the agent said bluntly. "You've been on a few hit dramas in a row, and now you're not even willing to talk to people who aren't as famous as you."
Li Yuefeng: "They're pestering me one by one, what can I do? I want to say something to each of them, and then I won't be able to do anything for the whole day."
"Anyway, don't flatter the powerful and bully the weak," the agent warned. "I'm warning you, if you don't change your personality, you'll get into trouble sooner or later."
Li Yuefeng still looked a little unconvinced.
"We bought some press releases earlier and took advantage of Lu Yanhe's popularity. This time, the other party might not be very friendly. You better not take advantage of them."
Li Yuefeng snorted and said, "I don't know him. Besides, isn't he the second lead in this play? Why does he have a bad attitude? If anyone has a bad attitude, it should be me."
Li Yuefeng's agent is also troubled by overconfident and blindly optimistic artists like him.
However, who made him lucky?
A young actor who is on the verge of becoming a top star is someone that no agent would give up.
-
Lu Yanhe arrived at the hotel booked by the crew at noon.
The sun at the end of June was already showing signs of going crazy, and it seemed as if it would not stop until it had sunburned everyone to death.
Chen Ziyan took Lu Yanhe out of the car and happened to meet Jiang Jun, who played the retired soldier Fat Head Li, at the hotel entrance.
Jiang Jun is a veteran actor, 42 years old this year, and has been acting for almost 20 years. He is the kind of actor that the audience recognizes his face, but not many people know his name.
"Teacher Jiang." Chen Ziyan walked forward with a smile and turned back to greet Lu Yanhe, "Little Lu, come and say hello to Teacher Jiang."
Lu Yanhe hurriedly followed and called out "Teacher Jiang" honestly.
It was a hot day, but Jiang Jun was still holding a thermos cup in his hand.
He is a bit strong and looks a bit fierce when he is not smiling, but when he smiles, he is quite kind.
"Classmate Lu, we finally meet and get to know each other. Let's communicate more in the future!" Jiang Jun could feel from the moment he spoke that he was a generous person, and he patted Lu Yanhe on the shoulder.
Lu Yanhe smiled brightly and said, "Okay, please give me some advice, Teacher Jiang."
"It's not really about giving me advice. You've been nominated for the Red River Award, but I've never been nominated once." Jiang Jun laughed.
Chen Ziyan said, "You are the recognized uncrowned king. I think they didn't nominate you because you are wearing this hat. The judges felt that not nominating you would not affect you."
"Don't do that. Whoever wants to be the uncrowned king can be the uncrowned king. Nominate me quickly." Jiang Jun laughed loudly.
The key point is that he seems to be very open-minded about not being nominated. He says he minds it, but he doesn't mind joking about it at all.
Chen Ziyan asked: "How is sister-in-law's health?"
Jiang Jun: "It's still the same. There's nothing we can do. There's no way to cure it. We can only take care of it."
"Where's Xiaozhuang?"
"He's still in school." Jiang Jun said, looking at Lu Yanhe. "Oh, how nice it would be if little Lu was my son? Zhenhua, tsk tsk, that bastard finally got into college, and I had to beat him with a stick."
Lu Yanhe: “…”
Chen Ziyan laughed out loud. "Xiaozhuang is smart, good-looking, and has a good heart. He will have a bright future. You really are expecting too much. He's such a good kid. If you don't like him, send him to me. I've watched him grow up. I'll do the same for you."
Jiang Jun immediately said, "That's right. On the first day I was sent here, my wife kicked me out."
Chen Ziyan laughed again.
-
Chen Ziyan and Jiang Jun seem to have a particularly good relationship.
After Jiang Jun left, Lu Yanhe curiously asked Chen Ziyan, "Sister Ziyan, are you familiar with Teacher Jiang?"
"We know each other very well. He helped me when I first started in the industry, and we've kept in touch ever since," Chen Ziyan said. "He's truly an uncrowned king. He used to do more theater, but in recent years he's been in more film and television roles. However, they've always been unremarkable supporting roles, so he hasn't won any significant awards. It's a shame. With his ability, he should have received higher honors."
"Did you introduce this play?"
Chen Ziyan nodded, "Yes, when I read the script, I felt that this role was suitable for him, so I recommended him to the crew."
Lu Yanhe: "It seems that Teacher Jiang is really a good person."
Chen Ziyan: "If you have the chance in the future, you should pay more attention to good opportunities for him. He is indeed a good actor."
Lu Yanhe was very surprised and said, "I am just a small actor. How can I be qualified to help Teacher Jiang find a good opportunity?"
Chen Ziyan rolled her eyes at him and said, "You have access to many more opportunities than he does. Don't underestimate yourself."
Lu Yanhe: “…”
-
We met at two o'clock in the afternoon.
Lian Bei, the director of "Seventeenth Floor", is in his early thirties and is considered very young among directors, but the huge success of his previous film "Centennial Chronicle" made him directly enter the ranks of first-line directors.
This time, "Seventeenth Floor" was also personally selected by Jiang Lan, the deputy director of Beijing TV.
Jiang Lan is the producer and general producer of this drama and she is not here today.
Hu Siwei, the producer sent from Beijing and Taiwan, is in charge.
There was a large conference room with a long oval table. Lu Yanhe walked in holding his script and a cup of water.
He was almost one of the first few to arrive, with only Lin Chan and Yan Zhimeng arriving before him.
Both of them are in their twenties and have been acting since college, and have gained some fame.
Lin Chan was chatting and laughing with Yan Zhimeng. When they saw Lu Yanhe come in, they both stood up.
"Sister Chan, Brother Meng." Lu Yanhe quickened his pace and went over to greet the two people. "Hello, I'm Lu Yanhe."
"Hello, hello." Lin Chan's voice was a little delicate.
Yan Zhimeng also seems to have a rather reserved personality.
The three of them exchanged pleasantries for a while, and then Jiang Jun came over.
"What are you three kids talking about?" Jiang Jun came over naturally and joined their conversation.
"This is the first time I meet Sister Chan and Brother Meng, let me introduce myself." Lu Yanhe said with a smile.
Jiang Jun slapped Lu Yanhe on the shoulder and said, "You are indeed a boy brought up by Chen Ziyan. You are so enthusiastic."
Lu Yanhe smiled.
Yan Zhimeng and Lin Chan obviously already knew Jiang Jun. They called him Teacher Jiang and behaved more obediently.
Jiang Jun pointed at Yan Zhimeng and said, "Xiao Lu, you probably don't know this, but this person is a hidden master."
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe looked at Yan Zhimeng in surprise.
"He studied martial arts seriously and has been learning martial arts for more than ten years." Jiang Jun said to Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe looked at Yan Zhimeng in surprise.
Yan Zhimeng looked very young, with thick eyebrows and big eyes. He was a handsome young man with a righteous look. After being praised by Jiang Jun, his cheeks seemed to be a little red because of embarrassment.
"Brother Meng is so awesome!"
But Lu Yanhe frowned as he thought about it. Yan Zhimeng played the role of King Poison in "The Seventeenth Floor", a character who relied on his wits to win, but his physical skills were not so good. Especially in some physical and competitive levels, he was the one who held the team back.
Why did such a person play the role of Wang Dushi instead of the athlete role played by Li Yuefeng?
That character is the second most capable fighter in the whole show.
The best fighter is Li Meng, played by Chen Bige.
-
People arrived one after another. At 2:10, no one was late and everyone was assembled.
Lian Bei introduced himself to everyone, then introduced the play, and finally introduced the main actors present one by one.
Except for Li Yuefeng and Shen Yue, Lu Yanhe had greeted and gotten to know all the other actors privately.
Shen Yue was a girl who looked somewhat arrogant. Even before Lu Yanhe had spoken to her, he could sense her arrogance.
And Li Yuefeng...he gave Lu Yanhe the feeling that he was inexplicably pretentious.
Every time Lian Bei talked about his expectations for the show and his requirements for quality, Li Yuefeng would nod in agreement with a sincere expression, and said, "We are all people who pursue art."
At that moment, Lu Yanhe felt inexplicably embarrassed.
He happened to make eye contact with Yan Zhimeng at that moment.
Yan Zhimeng sat directly opposite him.
Yan Zhimeng probably couldn't help it, and actually raised his hand to cover his mouth.
When Lu Yanhe saw him like this, he almost couldn't help but lower his head.
The two of them didn't even dare to make eye contact for fear of bursting out laughing.
This was not his first time filming a movie, and Lu Yanhe was no longer as nervous and worried as before about joining the crew.
After some introductions and getting to know each other, everyone started to follow the script.
Lu Yanhe had participated in script readings before, but not like this time. Before the official filming, everyone sat together for a few days to read the script.
Everyone just starts from the first episode and goes through them one by one.
Lian Bei would interrupt them from time to time and give them some of his own ideas and opinions.
Even if it was Chen Bige, Lian Bei would interrupt and offer his own opinions.
This made Lu Yanhe quite impressed with Lian Bei. After all, it was Chen Bige. Would any other director dare to do this? Of course, the director had to do this. Even the most famous actors, once they were on your set, were under the director's control. Chen Bige clearly understood this principle very well. She refuted and explained Lian Bei's opinions, but there was no unpleasantness.
Lu Yanhe was quite surprised by this creative atmosphere.
The most striking feature of the character played by Lu Yanhe is his ahoge. He is not really stupid or dumb, but because of his personality, his reaction is not particularly fast.
Lu Yanhe was a little unsure for a moment, worried that he might easily make the person look like an idiot.
Lian Bei said, "Yan He, the character you play, Lian Cai, has a very high IQ and is a genius. He is just introverted, which makes it difficult for him to express many of his reactions immediately. Just like you reading lines, he should have his own rhythm. He is very clear about every word he wants to say, but he just has trouble expressing it normally."
Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "Director, I know what you mean, but I'm a little unsure how to handle it. I always feel like I'm reading his lines like a fool."
"He really does look like a fool." Lian Bei also said with a smile.
Chen Bige said, "You can look for some movies and TV shows about geniuses and see how others portray them."
A genius always has his special qualities.
In many film and television dramas, there have been many different types of geniuses.
In this script, Lian Cai is a fool with a very high IQ, a gentle and kind personality, but a problem in expression. The reason why he is foolish is that he knows that he cannot express himself fluently, so he often chooses not to express himself, which makes him an fool in the eyes of others.
Lu Yanhe had done a lot of homework before, including what Chen Bige said, referring to the images of geniuses in other film and television dramas, but so far, he still has not found a performance state that makes him completely convinced and able to enter.
He didn't waste too much time on himself and continued with the script.
Some problems cannot be solved now.
He wants to solve it himself.
This face-to-face script reading can also help the actors better understand the script and the relationships between the characters.
-
In the evening, Jiang Lan appeared.
She arranged a restaurant and took everyone out for dinner.
The total investment of "The Seventeenth Floor" exceeds 200 million yuan, of which more than one-third is used to build various escape room scenes and game production in the building on the seventeenth floor, striving to give an excellent and realistic visual effect in the creation of the entire world view, rather than the cheap feeling of full-screen game special effects.
The actors' pay was not high, after all, there were only twelve episodes. Chen Bige, who received the highest pay, only received 2 million yuan per episode, which was far below her market price. Not to mention Lu Yanhe, who received 200,000 yuan per episode, which was lower than Li Yuefeng.
There is no way. Although Lu Yanhe is the male lead, Li Yuefeng is already a young actor with three hit dramas under his belt. He has more experience than Lu Yanhe and is more recognized by investors and TV stations.
Of course, this is also why Chen Ziyan doesn't care much about the salary. Otherwise, with Lu Yanhe's current fame, he could have negotiated for a raise. Or maybe the contract was signed too early. If it had been signed after "The Golden Age" aired, the price would definitely not be this high.
Like Chen Ziyan, Lu Yanhe didn't care much about the current pay.
When he took on this drama, he hadn't even aired a single drama yet, so no one knew how the audience would react to his performance. If Xu Bantian hadn't caused such a big mess in order to put down Chen Ziyan's anger, Lu Yanhe, with his status at the time, wouldn't have been able to get such an S+ drama as the second male lead.
-
Drinking is inevitable at this kind of dinner, but Lu Yanhe is now very clear that he can only drink two taels at most and no more.
No matter who he drinks with, he only takes a sip.
Fortunately, up to now, he has not met anyone with bad drinking habits who forces him to drink.
However, just as there are people like Lu Yanhe who don’t like drinking very much, there are naturally people who love drinking very much.
Li Yuefeng swirled the wine glass around, and then toasted the director from time to time.
The director also seemed to be a heavy drinker, and his spirits grew higher and higher as he drank.
Jiang Jun is the oldest here.
After a few drinks, he started to talk to everyone about his true feelings.
When he arrived at Lu Yanhe, Jiang Jun became even more sincere.
"As for me, I'm not doing so well. At this age, my peers have all made it, but I'm still playing these small roles. My skills are not great, but as long as there is anything I can do to help you, I will definitely help you." Jiang Jun took Lu Yanhe's hand, "My son is about the same age as you. I look at you as if I were my own son."
"Teacher Jiang, Sister Zi Yan told me that you are a teacher who is very worthy of my learning. When it comes to acting, no matter how famous you are, it is useless. I am not from a professional background and have not received professional training in acting. Please give me more guidance."
Lu Yanhe acted like a junior in front of Jiang Jun and gave him full respect.
Jiang Jun also naturally felt Lu Yanhe's respect for him.
He was a little confused at this moment.
Some people's brains that are in a trance also have a moment of clarity.
Jiang Jun has been in the entertainment industry for so many years, so of course he can tell whether a person truly respects him or not.
Jiang Jun never expected that he would feel such sincere respect from Lu Yanhe.
After all, Jiang Jun has seen many young people who became famous overnight, and they all went through a period of arrogant and proud attitude.
Any politeness or propriety displayed during this period is just a disguise due to social etiquette.
Jiang Jun never expected to feel genuine respect from these people.
He is not a big shot, and in this entertainment industry where profit is paramount, he has nothing worthy of respect.
Just like Li Yuefeng, Jiang Jun could clearly feel his perfunctory attitude when talking to him.
Li Yuefeng has been focusing on getting close to Lian Bei and Chen Bige tonight, trying to build good relationships with them. Anyone with eyes can see that.
As for other people, Li Yuefeng obviously didn't take them seriously, or rather, they were not among those he thought were worth spending time to make friends with.
Lu Yanhe chatted with Jiang Jun for a long time, mainly about this play.
"I'm having trouble finding my rhythm. I'm aware of the problems the director mentioned, but I can't find a way to solve them," Lu Yanhe said. "I don't know how to make everyone feel that I'm not playing a fool, but a highly intelligent genius with a difficulty expressing himself."
Jiang Jun said seriously, "Actually, Bi Ge is right. When you don't know how to act, you should find a way of acting that you think is closest to the character you imagined. First imitate it, then add or subtract."
Lu Yanhe said, "Won't this make my performance look similar to others?"
Jiang Jun shook his head and said, "There are a thousand Hamlets in the hearts of a thousand readers. The same action performed by different actors will have different effects. Moreover, you certainly won't choose to copy it. You have to incorporate your own understanding. You just need to find a way to enter the role first. Once you find your own rhythm, you can naturally put the previous ones aside."
Lu Yanhe thought about it seriously and said, "I have to try it first. I'm really unsure right now."
Jiang Jun nodded. "It's right to give it a try, Yan He. You have to know that no actor has a clear idea of what they want to play before they start. Because no one knows what the role will be like before you play it. It's normal to have no idea. If you have an idea, it means that your imagination of the role is only so shallow."
Lu Yanhe immediately laughed.
He nodded. "I understand."
-
Chen Bige came over to Lu Yanhe, put an arm around his shoulders, and asked quietly, "How are those two scripts of yours going?"
Lu Yanhe said, "I've already written the first draft, but I'm still revising it, so it's a bit awkward to present."
Chen Bige nodded: "Don't worry, take your time, I won't rush you."
Lu Yanhe couldn't help laughing.
After getting to know Chen Bige more, I found that she is actually a bit "careless".
She doesn't have the air of a movie queen or a top star as one might imagine. In fact, when her aura is fully released, she gives people the feeling that the whole world is at her feet.
Lu Yanhe imagined Chen Bige as a strong woman, but in private, Chen Bige gave him the impression of being a carefree woman.
However, Lu Yanhe also knew that it was because of Chen Ziyan that Chen Bige treated him as a junior brother and acted much more casually in front of him.
Chen Bi Ge added, "If you have any questions or doubts about acting, you can come to me. If nothing else, I have many more years of experience than you."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"Well, thank you, Sister Bi Ge."
Chen Bige: "I met Wang Zhong yesterday, and he showed me a clip of your guest appearance in his play. I didn't mention it to everyone just now, but since you're playing a genius with speech difficulties, I think you could refer to the rhythm of your language in 'Three Mountains'. It's like rain, sometimes rapid, sometimes slow. I feel like you're really trying to construct a psychological set based on your own perception of the character. But in reality, if you can't first change your appearance and portray the feeling of this highly intelligent genius, it's very difficult to play this kind of role based on conviction. It's not an emotional drama, it's a technical one."
Chen Bige’s words made Lu Yanhe thoughtful.
-
That night, after Lu Yanhe returned home, he lay on the bed and seriously recalled what Jiang Jun and Chen Bige had said to him.
In fact, if you think about it carefully, they all mentioned a common point, which is that they have to shape some characteristics from the appearance first.
This appearance definitely does not refer to the facial features, but rather the external things such as voice, stage name, and appearance.
"Three Mountains"?
Lu Yanhe never thought that Chen Bige would actually suggest that he refer to his performance in "Three Mountains".
The character he played in "Three Mountains" was originally a fortune teller who was a little abnormal and had difficulty communicating with others normally...
It’s difficult to communicate with people normally!
Lu Yanhe suddenly sat up from the bed.
Yes, it’s not that Lian Cai doesn’t communicate with others, but it’s difficult for him to communicate with others normally!
Why does he always pretend to be a fool who can't speak properly and dares not look people in the eye when speaking?
At this moment, Lu Yanhe realized where his problem lay.
Intellectually, he knew that Lian Cai was just a genius with expression difficulties, but emotionally he regarded him as a genius who was somewhat abnormal, even with some childish mental retardation.
So, on the one hand he has a high IQ, but on the other hand he is mentally retarded, which makes him conflicted and he can never find the balance.
Lu Yanhe suddenly became excited at this moment. He turned on the light again, took out the script and read it again from the beginning.
Those lines whose punctuation was unclear and those scenes whose rhythm was unclear suddenly had a vague structure, as if there was a direction to study.
-
Lu Yanhe completely deleted all the little actions and details he had added to himself before.
He is a normal person who can speak normally, react normally, and get along with others normally.
Lu Yanhe decided to only deal with it. Normally, he would not speak. But once he spoke, his speaking speed could not keep up with the speed of his thoughts, so his tone of voice would be a little hurried and annoyed. His eyes and expression would also change at this moment, becoming hurried and annoyed, as if he was sulking.
After he decided on the solution, he communicated with Lian Bei.
"Director, what do you think of my acting like this?" Lu Yanhe asked.
After listening to Lu Yanhe's story, Lian Bei looked at him in surprise.
But he didn't rush to make a judgment. Instead, he said, "Let's see when we rehearse. What do you think?"
Lu Yanhe nodded and agreed.
