The latest script from Director Zhu Xiaocai ended here. Lu Zhiyao wasn’t quite clear about where exactly this part of the script fell within the overall plot, but judging by the approximate filming schedule, it probably hadn’t reached even half of the entire movie.
Even considering that later scenes with special effects would increase and the plot would be diluted, the current storyline still wasn’t enough to deduce the entire story.
But this was precisely the effect Director Zhu Xiaocai wanted to achieve.
There were many stages in this movie where plot twists occurred, and the protagonist Qin Yi’s mindset was undergoing either subtle or dramatic changes.
If Lu Zhiyao already knew the ending from the beginning, it would certainly influence his performance in earlier scenes.
So, the script was given in segments, with the main purpose of allowing Lu Zhiyao to escape the influence of “spoilers” and fully immerse himself in the character.
But problems had emerged with this “immersion.”
Lu Zhiyao had already filmed quite a few scenes, some satisfactory, others not.
Regardless of satisfaction, he felt somewhat lost.
Without a very clear performance direction or knowledge of the complete storyline, unsure whether his grasp of Qin Yi’s character was accurate, Lu Zhiyao felt confused and lacked confidence.
Looking back at these script segments now, Qin Yi’s emotions had changed several times.
At the beginning, Qin Yi had a sense of gratitude for surviving and anger at being deceived.
After seeing humanity’s initial defeat against the insects and learning about the previous commander’s self-sacrifice, Qin Yi’s emotions became complex. Although he understood the necessity internally, he hadn’t completely let go.
In the subsequent command process, with the addition of “realistic elements,” Qin Yi’s thinking and mindset gradually transformed toward the previous commander. When personally commanding the battle review and sending the “reinforcements are coming” order to Squad AS-371-45, he had completely understood the previous commander’s mindset.
And when he unexpectedly discovered that some of the battles he commanded were real fights, Qin Yi’s mindset fluctuated again.
For Lu Zhiyao, displaying these emotional changes was very challenging.
Because Qin Yi was established as a very rational, calm soldier, soldiers consider obedience to orders their duty. He was also very clear internally that his minor grievances, even his life, were insignificant compared to humanity’s victory over the insects and the continuation of the species.
So, on one hand, Qin Yi constantly suppressed his inner human emotions, making himself more ruthless and rational, striving to win every battle and reduce casualties to a minimum. On the other hand, he always questioned this and had a confused feeling about his own and humanity’s future.
These complex emotions would have subtle differences at each stage of the plot. For Lu Zhiyao, the most difficult part was how to portray these differences while ensuring Qin Yi’s character remained consistent.
Lu Zhiyao stood up, took a small mirror from the side, and continuously made various expressions in front of it.
Suddenly, he thought of something, got up, and found Zhu Xiaocai.
“Director Zhu, from now on, except for filming, I’ll just stay in my hotel room and not go anywhere. Could I use that laptop with ‘Star Ocean’ that you mentioned last time? I want to use it to further understand the character.”
“Also, please get me a DV camera. I want to record my expressions while playing the game so I can review them repeatedly.”
“And about AEEIS, could you help me find a similar smart speaker? It would be best if all of AEEIS’s lines could be input into it, so it can act with me. I suddenly realized that Qin Yi’s scenes aren’t monologues, but interactions with AEEIS. I’ve been treating them as monologues, which is why I felt something was missing.”
“If there were a system voice to act with me, the effect might be better.”
Zhu Xiaocai looked slightly surprised but quickly nodded happily: “Sure, no problem.”
“The DV and computer will be sent to you tonight. As for AEEIS… I heard that OTTO Technology’s samples are about to come out. I’ll get an OTTO phone first as a temporary solution, which also has AEEIS’s smart voice. As soon as the AEEIS speaker samples are ready, I’ll get one sent to your hotel room immediately.”
…
…
November 17th, Thursday.
Jindi Huating Complex in Guangming District, Jingzhou City.
This was a brand-new property development. Liang Qianfan had selected one of the buildings to use for Tree Sloth Apartment’s 2.0 model.
Pei Qian happened to be free and came to check on the preparations.
Liang Qianfan was already waiting downstairs. After meeting Mr. Pei, they went together to the model room on the third floor.
“Mr. Pei, this building has two elevators serving three units per floor, with areas of 120 square meters, 130 square meters, and 150 square meters, respectively. They all have large south-facing bay windows and balconies, and the layouts are quite good. Considering the location of the complex, it meets the mainstream needs of the vast majority of people.”
“However, because the houses come with premium decorations, the developer has set a relatively high price, about two to three thousand yuan higher per square meter than surrounding properties, so sales haven’t been very good so far.”
“I considered that there might indeed be a price reduction in a few months, but by then, it might be more difficult for us to buy an entire building, so I just bought it at the current price.”
Liang Qianfan briefed Pei Qian on some basic information about the building.
Pei Qian nodded with great satisfaction: “Good, you’ve done very well!”
Previously, Pei Qian had given Liang Qianfan fifty million yuan and told him to buy a place with little appreciation potential.
This was mainly because Pei Qian had been hurt by the Tree Sloth Apartment 1.0 model before. He deliberately chose unpopular buildings in remote locations, but the purchase price was too low, and after renovation, the property values skyrocketed.
If not for the special mission, he would have almost failed in the last settlement cycle.
Now, this place didn’t seem to have much potential for appreciation in the short term.
The location of Jindi Huating Complex was good, and the developer, layout, and other aspects of these houses were quite satisfactory. But it was precisely because everything was unobjectionable that the developer became ambitious, positioning it as high-end with high-grade decorations, and pricing it two to three thousand yuan per square meter higher than surrounding houses.
For a house of about 150 square meters, that directly added three to four hundred thousand yuan, which was very painful given the prices these days.
The developer’s pricing strategy also involved some tricks. The price tag for houses could only be high, not low.
Setting a high price could emphasize the “prestigious attribute” of their property, first deceiving wealthy people. When they couldn’t sell them, they would secretly offer disguised price reductions, such as giving discounts to make customers feel they got a bargain, exploiting price discrimination to the extreme.
But if they set the price too low and then raised it later, they would be cursed to death.
So, the developer’s pricing was somewhat inflated, and home buyers felt the houses were ridiculously expensive, with many people waiting and watching. Liang Qianfan seized the opportunity and bought an entire building.
If the price dropped in the future, even if it was only 200 yuan per square meter, Tenda would lose six to seven hundred thousand yuan. The more it dropped, the more they would lose.
But this was exactly what Pei Qian wanted. Spending more money was a good thing, worthy of praise!
Liang Qianfan took Pei Qian to see several units on the third and fourth floors.
“Mr. Pei, these three units on the third floor were the developer’s model rooms. Since they were already fully furnished, it would be a shame to completely tear them down and redo them, so we kept them. This way, we can also show customers the difference in taste between our Tree Sloth Apartment and the developer’s decoration design.”
“The three units on the fourth floor are Tree Sloth Apartment 2.0’s model rooms, completely decorated according to our consistent extreme minimalist style.”
“As for the other floors, decoration is still ongoing. Considering the installation of furniture, appliances, and various supporting facilities, it may not be completed until the end of December. But they’ll be ready for occupancy in early January, consistent with our previously estimated schedule.”
Pei Qian first visited the developer’s model rooms on the third floor, then the Tree Sloth Apartment 2.0 model rooms on the fourth floor.
The difference was very obvious.
The developer’s model rooms couldn’t be called ugly. The wallpaper, carpets, large murals on the TV wall, dark mahogany furniture, etc., basically represented the current mainstream style.
It was still the issue mentioned before: the current main group of home buyers was still middle-aged people. The model rooms were mainly designed to meet their needs, and sometimes, the designer’s aesthetics had to compromise for the client’s requirements.
But arriving on the fourth floor, at the Tree Sloth Apartment 2.0 model rooms, the feeling of the entire space instantly changed!
Compared to the 1.0 model, Tree Sloth Apartment 2.0 maintained the overall style but added more storage space in the rooms, making it more practical.
Pei Qian observed briefly and found that although the 2.0 model relaxed the storage space restrictions, Liang Qianfan was still very restrained and didn’t fill every corner with cabinets. Especially in the living room area, he still maximized the spacious style.
However, in the study, bedroom, near the entrance door, and the living room areas close to the balcony, some cabinets matching the decoration style had been added, which didn’t look out of place.
Compared to the developer’s model rooms, Tree Sloth Apartment’s style is better suited to young people’s tastes, with obvious improvements in space utilization, practicality, living habits, cultural atmosphere, and so on.
Liang Qianfan asked, “Mr. Pei, what do you think?”
Pei Qian nodded, “Hmm, not bad.”
Would such a Tree Sloth Apartment 2.0 be immediately snapped up once opened?
Pei Qian’s decision to create Tree Sloth Apartment 2.0 was originally to help young people troubled by renting. The only drawback of the original Tree Sloth Apartment was too little storage space. Now that this flaw had been remedied, it became a rental space completely meeting young people’s needs.
This way, it might be difficult to rent out the Tree Sloth Apartment 1.0 model in the future.
But Pei Qian didn’t mind this. Anyway, whichever was more popular would be opened more, and opening either would result in losing money.
Pei Qian walked around the model room and felt that the furniture inside, including the sofa, coffee table, TV cabinet, etc., seemed to have some subtle differences from before.
Because the layout was different, Pei Qian hadn’t noticed when he first entered.
“This furniture seems different from before?” Pei Qian asked.
Liang Qianfan nodded: “Yes, most of the furniture in the room has already been replaced. The reason it doesn’t look much different from before on the surface is that a large part of it was specially customized by the furniture factories we cooperate with.”