Filming locations + Concept images + Drama stills + BTS photos

[zeest]

A few days ago, mecurtin posted a question about where the forest scenes in Guardian were shot and while doing a quick search on filming locations, I veered off-course :D

First-off, filming locations. A lot of town scenes were filmed in Shanghai Film Park. Some of the buildings in the European Courtyard part of the park are replicas of French Concession buildings (e.g. the university building is a replica of the official residence of the president of the municipal council), which I guess explains the overlap with Detective L.

The outdoors scene in the Hanga arc (and probably also the YOHE scenes) were filmed in "a mountain in Suzhou". Source: around 2:10 in this interview with Gao Yu'er, the actress who plays Zhu Hong. Apparently it was around 40C while they were filming!

So while digging around, I saw what must be concept images for the key sets, which made me realise that I've not looked at the photo archive in the Guardian drama official weibo. Obviously I had to remedy that! Most of the images they have are stills and gifs from the drama that have been shared widely but I did found some pictures that I like and have not seen before so I thought I'll share them here.

All images below are from the Guardian drama official weibo. I have included the source post under the images. Most of the posts have more than one image so do check them out for more pretty hi-res pictures! (I know weibo can be a bit finicky without an account but links to the mobile site seems to work for me.)

First up, concept images!


The concept images for the university and the SID headquarters look pretty similar to the actual thing but conceptual Dixing is another beast altogether! I like it a lot, it reminds me of artist's renditions of unknown places. This post has more images of the actual Dixing set (at that time, they were still calling it "Dijie").


Source for the two images above (has concept images for the other Hallows too).

My immediate thought on seeing this was ohhh so that's why it's a sundial. Also, I think it's pretty neat? It's like a portable mini sundial, from the era before watches! (Is that an actual thing? I have no idea.)


Source

They did a mini giveaway when the drama hit one billion hundred million views. The Da Qing USB flash drive is so cute! (Though it's a bit disturbing that you need to "behead" him to use it lol.) And the SID badge! Only five sets were given away.


Source

They had a wedding cake! This was from the press conference I think.


Source

I've seen the other still from this scene that's from a different angle many times but I don't think I've seen this one.


Source

Shen Wei's t-shirt with sleeves that looked like that were tacked on? Turns out they were indeed tacked on. It was so hot when they were filming that Zhu Yilong had hives, so to let him wear something that was breathable and yet would cover up his skin, the costume crew came up with this on the spot.


Source

I don't remember if I've seen this before but it's a nice picture. Something something the symmetry in the composition, the contrast in the way they sit...


Source

For Lao Chu fans! The source post has some more neat shots of him.


Source

This is... not one of my favourite scenes to watch but I love how hilariously dramatic the stills are, especially with the lighting.


Source

I know this is from blind arc but it took me a while to place exactly where in the arc did it happen because why would Shen Wei let someone else support Zhao Yunlan when he's right there. But yes, it did happen.


Source

Who are you and what have you done with Professor Shen??

Comments

[solo]

This is amazing! I really wish I knew my way around Weibo. Love the wedding cake! And that final picture. :)

It's great to get this view of SID HQ, too - I'd noticed the balcony bit, of course, but never quite figured out how one would get up there.

I'm intrigued that there's an actual explanation (beyond bad professorial sartorial choices) behind those tacked on sleeves. Poor Zhu Yilong, though. And LOL, Bai Yu must have been so glad to offload that windbreaker.


Thank you for digging all this up and sharing.

[zeest]

Weibo is so incredibly confusing to me. I know how to lurk and (sometimes) find things, but actual interaction is giant NO lol.

I knew Zhu Yilong had hives from the heat but I didn't connect it to his outfit until I saw that post. I'm still very fond of "bad professorial sartorial choices" as an in-universe explanation for that outfit haha but it also makes me wonder what were they going to make him wear originally.

[xparrot]

These are awesome, thanks for sharing! A wedding cake, aww! ...and poor Zhu Yilong suffering for his art. 40 C owwww...

...that last pic is totally a bodyswap, that's clearly Zhao Yunlan in Shen Wei's body...

[zeest]

It's such a beautiful cake! Perfect to celebrate the happy union of two realms :p

Bodyswap was totally what I thought of too! The way Bai Yu is sitting, all one needs is to photoshop his phone into a sheaf of papers and it would complete the bodyswap look.

[kimboo_york]

omg this fandom needs so much more body swap fic!!!! 😁

[zeest]

I don't believe I've read any bodyswap fic for this fandom! But I have to admit that while it's an idea that's fun to play with on a superficial level, thinking about the "someone else having full access to your body" aspect of it creeps me out ahaha.

[maggie33]

All those pictures are amazing. Thank you for putting them together in one post. :) I especially love Chu Shuzhi one. It's so beautiful.

[zeest]

Glad you enjoyed! Did you check the source post for more Chu Shuzhi pictures? He looks amazing in them.

[maggie33]

I did and he does. :DDD

[firestar]

Re: the blind arc, I'm not sure he would have let anyone else support ZYL except Da Qing. At least while he's in the same room, anyway.

[zeest]

Oh, definitely Da Qing would be the only person he allows to support Zhao Yunlan but I couldn't remember where in the blind arc did that happen. In the blind arc in my memory, they were basically stuck together everytime they were in the same room lol.

[firestar]

Heh, I wouldn't have thought any differently in all honesty. XD

[naye]

Ahhhh, these are fantastic! I hadn't seen any concept art except for the sundial before. My immediate thought was to sob at what we could have had with a budget... but then I'm also really glad they decided to go for "light and airy" for the SID offices rather than "creepy abandoned building".

And you're right - I hadn't seen any of those promo shots before! :D

Ohh. Maybe a picspam of promo shots might be a fun idea for those who haven't had a chance to catch them yet? I came across some awesome ones the other day, including some I hadn't seen, like this one:



So amused that they apparently considered having this conversation with the two at different ends of the room - OBVIOUSLY the correct way to film it is with them in each other's personal space instead. XD

[trobadora]

but then I'm also really glad they decided to go for "light and airy" for the SID offices rather than "creepy abandoned building".

Right? I like that so much better, even if the creepy building would fit with the whole "we need a new location" thing.

[zeest]

I've not seen the concept art for the sundial before so I had always been wondering why it's called a sundial because it didn't look like one. Now I know...

Hahaha it didn't occur to me to compare that promo shot to how the actual convo was filmed! But yes, that is way too much space between them, how can they have difficult, probing conversations like that?

A picspam of promo shots sounds like a great idea! I admit that my first thought is, not it! :p But hmmm thinking about it, I think it's pretty easy to get the pictures from the official weibo and then upload them to somewhere like gdrive.

[naye]

I've got plenty of space on my Dreamwidth account that I save for fannish things (since I don't want Flickr to kick me off for copyright infringement). Just saying. :D

[zeest]

I'll keep that in mind! If I do end up doing this though, I'll likely still put them on gdrive since it's the easiest for me and everyone can save them to wherever they like.

[in_the_bottle]

It was so hot when they were filming that Zhu Yilong had hives

I admit my first thought was "OMG I'm not the only one!"

Aww... that wedding cake! That's beyond adorable. <3

[zeest]

I've had that happen to me once and it's just NO THANKS NEVER AGAIN PLS.

The cake is ♥

[in_the_bottle]

Let's just say I avoid the sun like a vampire. ;)

[mekare]

Thank you so much for sharing these here! They really should also go to the Wiki!

[zeest]

I have no idea how to edit the wiki or even where in the wiki they should go! But that's a great idea.

[asya_ana]

The wiki is here if you are so motivated! I think this info would make a fabulous addition.
https://guardian-wiki.fandom.com/wiki/Guardian_Wiki

You don't need an account to edit. You can just edit. But having an account can make it easier to track what you're working on.

My recommendation would be to add the location info to one of the place pages, such as: https://guardian-wiki.fandom.com/wiki/Haixing

If no place page exists for what you need to communicate, you can click "Create a New Page."

<3

[zeest]

It feels intimidating to edit a wiki that other people use as a reference :D;; I’ll give it a poke this weekend.

[jo_lasalle]

Wow, these are great! Thanks for digging them up and sharing!

The composition in the picture in Zhao Yunlan's office is so fascinating. I stared at that for a long time.

The pillar in Dixing looks super impressive in that concept picture. I guess they had bigger plans for the Dixing sets at some point when they still had more money?

With temperatures like that when they were shooting the Hanga arc, it's kind of >.< the plot called for it to be cold and everyone was wearing jackets... (Even if some of the jackets were jackets of love...)

[zeest]

Yeah, I keep going back to stare at the picture of the two of them in Zhao Yunlan's office. I don't even know how to describe what I like about it, it's just... GOOD PIC, I LIEK.

I suppose having it be cold works better for a ~mysterious atmosphere~ but yeah, it makes me feel bad for the cast and crew. (On the other hand, I wonder how the jacket of love would work in summer? Maybe it'll be a towel to wipe sweat off instead? That Shen Wei carries around and gets smelly gunk on...)

[jo_lasalle]

Maybe it'll be a towel to wipe sweat off instead? That Shen Wei carries around and gets smelly gunk on...)

LOL! It might have been a little harder to turn a hand towel into the big reveal, but now I'm imagining Shen Wei carrying a gross towel around like a security blanket because he got it from Zhao Yunlan...

[zeest]

Zhao Yunlan sniffing a gross towel is also going to look a lot more questionable than sniffing a jacket...

[goss]

Hee. These are all delightful! Thanks for sharing. ^___^

[zeest]

Glad you enjoyed!

[trobadora]

OMG, thank you so much for compiling these!

The Dixing concept images are particularly fascinating. I wish they'd had the budget to put some of that into practice.

[zeest]

Right?? Conceptual Dixing has a much more forbidding aura, especially that pillar, but alas. It also makes my heart ache a bit to think that that is what Ye Zun lived with for 10k years and that's what Shen Wei woke up to after his dirt nap.

[winter_blossom]

I've never seen any of these shots before, so thank you for sharing! That SID badge is amazing, I wish I had one.

Re: that last picture - don't they play some kind of RPG or something while waiting around on-set? I saw it in one of the BTS videos, iirc.

[zeest]

I know they played PUBG together and I guess they probably played some sort of mobile game during downtime on set. But it's just so amusing to see Shen Wei being so un-Shen Wei like :D

[winter_blossom]

Hahaha yeah, and eating a lollipop, too!

[forestofglory]

These are great, thank you! (And a wedding cake! Adorable!)

[zeest]

You're welcome! I love that cake hahaha

[no_detective]

thank you so much for sharing these! wow, the concept art is fascinating.

i LOVE the shot of them in zhao yunlan's office - that scene is one of my fave weilan moments, and the symmetry is beautiful <3

[zeest]

A lot of the images with the two of them have that kind of symmetry and it's just SO GOOD ♥

[rheasilvia]

Wow, how gorgeous and amazing! Thank you so much! *saves* I love the concept pics, and the office shot, too. Interesting composition!

I can't believe how often actors have to film winter scenes (or at least cold scenes, with jackets and all) in the tropical heat. O_O Poor Zhu Yilong... I would probably just have keeled over.

[zeest]

I know of two other dramas with winter scenes that were filmed in the height of summer and it's just very D: D: D: The clothes they were wearing for the 10k years ago scenes also looked like they had many layers.

[daroh]

This is just WONDERFUL!!! Thank you so much!!

A WEDDING CAKE!!!

[zeest]

I love the cake! Hahaha the topper really reminds me of wedding cakes.

[abyss_valkyrie]

The last one!!!It gives me life!
I will take any stills from Shen Wei hurt scene! <3
Also those concept images-the Dixing ones indeed look so mysterious and magical.Nawwww,I see how thoughtful and creative the crew got for Zhu Yilong's shirt sleeves,I wondered what kind of a nerdy looking style it was all along. >_<
That feather duster fight scene both makes me want to cry because of its ridiculousness and also try iconing it because the lighting is so cool!

[zeest]

I might have screamed a little internally when I saw that still of Shen Wei healing himself :D He's so beautiful.

Ahaha I cannot bear to rewatch the feather duster fight but the stills are so dramatic it's hilarious.

[sakana17]

Just finding this now via a rec, and this is awesome! Thank you!