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.

[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...

[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.

[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.

[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

[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

[mekare]

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

[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...)

[goss]

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

[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.

[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.

[forestofglory]

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

[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

[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.

[daroh]

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

A WEDDING CAKE!!!

[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!

[sakana17]

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