It has already turned into something like the opening ceremony ritual, offering sacrifices to heaven and earth. It's long gone off track, becoming a segment where lead actors take turns showing off, each flaunting their intelligence to pick apart each other.
"Director, I think this..."
Many crews do this, but it doesn't mean Wei Wufeng will too. His approach is to start filming, getting the simple, emotionless scenes out of the way in one go.
He waits for the actors to develop a feel for their characters before moving on to script readings.
Usually, the first scene shot on the first day of filming isn't too challenging. It doesn't follow the sequence of the story either—where to start filming is decided by the director.
After much consideration, Wei Wufeng chose the scene where Bai Zhantang first meets Tong Xiangyu, a story of the original script's third episode and the tale of their first encounter at the guesthouse.