Chapter 67: Determining the Shooting Location

  Inoue-san was really enthusiastic about Shu Xiao's thing, and the next morning, he went to the studios of various major TV stations to find a suitable backdrop and shooting location. Among Japan's five major private broadcasters plus NHK, except for TV Tokyo which has almost no self-production capabilities, all have large studios, but even so, Inoue-san's task of finding a studio was extremely difficult, because this kind of thing originally requires advance reservations, some TV dramas and MVs had already booked specific studios half a year in advance, and someone like Inoue who comes asking for a studio with only one day's notice can only be described as "weird".

  Even if Ikegami has been in the major TV stations in Japan for 20 years, it can still be said that he is struggling to make a living. It's not that the people at the TV station are heartless, but this thing originally has a strong contractual spirit. Many studios have already been booked long ago. Let alone you Ikegami, even if the Emperor came, they wouldn't say let him in just because he asked.

  Around 10 o'clock in the morning, Zhou Xiao also arrived. It wasn't that he got up late, but rather there were things to prepare on his end as well, especially renting cameras and lighting equipment. These two items didn't require Uncle Jing to take action; with a willing heart, Zhou Xiao could rent them near the TV station.

  After everything was settled, Zhou Xiao and Uncle Jie continued to look for a filming location. In fact, according to Zhou Xiao's requirements, if they couldn't find a studio, they could also consider an ordinary residence with floor-to-ceiling windows. However, there was a problem with this approach: unless they could find a family with several children, they would have to transport all the props to the house, which would be time-consuming and costly.

  "Still no place?" Zhou Xiao asked with some disappointment.

  "Now there's only one place left we haven't gone to, and that's the Japanese TV station's studio," said Uncle Inoue.

  "Let's go then, we'll go together." said Zhou Xiao.

  Nippon Television is not the television station of Japan, Nippon Television is also one of the five major private television stations, in fact, it's no longer meaningful to say which one is which among these five major TV stations, because their shares have been fully shared long ago.

  The two arrived at the Japan TV station's studio, and Uncle Inoue, who was familiar with the place, found a staff member he knew. As expected, when he heard that Inoue wanted a studio, the staff member refused without hesitation: "Inoue-san, you know it's not easy to get a studio on short notice, I'm sure you've already visited many places, basically all the studios are booked in advance, and even if someone cancels at the last minute, I don't dare give it to you easily. After all, I'm just a low-ranking employee, unless I become a manager or something, no one would dare say this."

  "If it's about the same place? It doesn't need to be too big, just around ten or twenty square meters, as long as the height is enough!" Inoue said helplessly.

  "If it's like that...... wait a minute, let me think..." The staff member started thinking.

  "After waiting for a while, he said: 'Shall we go to the prop warehouse?'"

  "Prop warehouse?"

  "That's right, the warehouse is quite large and the height is sufficient. The key is that there is everything inside, if you want to shoot a dark scene, just close the windows and turn off the lights."

  "But if you lend out the prop room casually...". Mr. Inoue can't help but consider the other person, and the things in the prop room also have a certain value. This junior will inevitably take some responsibility and risk when handing it over to him.

  "Hey, senior, this is getting serious. When I first started out, if it wasn't for your help, I'm not sure I could have made it in this line of work. Now that you're having trouble, I couldn't even get the photography studio going, and to think that I couldn't even get a permit for a storage warehouse... it's simply unforgivable."

  "Thank you, thank you!" said Mr. Inoue.

  "Thank you, you've helped a lot." Zhou Xiao also came forward and said.

  "Huh? Is this Zhou Xiao?" said the junior on the well.

  "Yes, I am Zhou Xiao, you know me?"

  "How could I not know, now I'm even more at ease. You're currently the new star that all of Japan is paying attention to, it's impossible for you to be a thief just for that broken tool. Just be careful not to break anything else. Also, after filming, don't forget to sign an autograph for me, my wife and daughter are both huge fans of your music."

  "Definitely! No problem at all!" Zhou Xiao hastily replied.

  Three people walked through the corridor and arrived at the target warehouse. As soon as they opened the door, Zhou Xiao frowned, because there were too many things in the warehouse, but it couldn't be said to be messy, every single item was neatly placed in its own category.

  "There are many things in here that can only be used once for the show, but since the show hasn't ended yet, these things won't be thrown away and will just keep piling up. Come this way." The junior led the two to a corner of the warehouse, which barely had a few square meters of empty space. However, even with just a few square meters, it was still not enough to meet Zhou Xiao's requirements. In fact, Zhou Xiao's requirements weren't high - all she needed was a floor-to-ceiling window in the middle, a camera stand placed at a slight distance, and the other side of the window as the performance area for the actors. But these few square meters couldn't satisfy Zhou Xiao's small request.

  "This is the most suitable place I can find, take a look and see if it's okay. If the space is not enough, move it around a bit, but remember to put everything back in its original place after filming."

  "Don't worry, I won't make it difficult for you," said Zhou Xiao.

  "You guys go ahead, I still have work to do on my end, I'll come back and help when I'm not busy."

  "You go take care of your own business, being able to borrow this place is already a huge help, thank you!" said Uncle Inoue.

  After sending off the younger generation, Zhou Xiao and Uncle Jie looked at each other, smiled helplessly, this was already the last place that could be found, but it still fell short of their own requirements, so the remaining things were both simple and difficult: move!

  The various tools in the warehouse are quite strange, many things may not be heavy, but they are large and difficult to move, it's really tiring for just two people. Uncle Inoue said while moving: "I'm... an idiot, how did I suddenly think of testing your strength? If I hadn't said that, we wouldn't have this trouble now, it's... exhausting."

  The uncle is already middle-aged and breathes somewhat heavily.

  "I'm fine, but I feel guilty that you've been too busy to work properly these past few days. Why don't I pay your salary instead? I have enough money now."

  "Hey, am I here just for that tens of thousands salary? If you really have the ability, I'll definitely earn more."

  Two people worked until the afternoon to finally clear out the space they needed, and after a quick lunch, they rushed off in different directions again. Zhou Xiao was young and strong, but even he found it difficult to carry the equipment from the rental place, which included two lamps, a camera, a tripod, and boxes of accessories. He didn't even have a cart, so he had to lug one thing on his back and carry another in his hand all the way to the studio's warehouse! When he finally put everything down, Zhou Xiao felt dizzy and was a little scared - just making this ordinary 30-second commercial had already exhausted him like this. It was clear that filming a real movie would be even more troublesome.

  When he was moving the equipment, Uncle Inoue didn't stop either. He ran back and forth between various warehouses, barely managing to gather all the things Zhou Xiao needed. And just like Zhou Xiao, these items were also moved up and down by him alone, especially that large four-cornered table. Without any tools, it was hard for Zhou Xiao to imagine how Uncle Inoue had managed to carry it.

  "Is it finally... about time?" Uncle Inoue asked.

  "Well, it's almost done! The rest below... are just actors." Zhou Xiao said, sitting on the ground.

  "Look at the time," said Uncle Inoue, "today's time is already insufficient. We don't have a contract, so we can't stay here tonight and can only come back tomorrow to continue."

  "Alright... let's go, I'm going to treat you to this meal no matter what."

  "Ah, today is absolutely a big meal." Mr. Inoue also said.