The extras don't have much screen time, most don't even have a chance to appear, and the director certainly won't talk to each extra individually about their roles.
The assistant director has to handle various matters of the film crew, so he can't stay with the extras all the time. He arranged the positions for several grannies and briefly instructed them before getting busy again.
Ji Xizhi and others were arranged to sit in a pit and were left alone, with nobody paying attention to them.
The props team came and went, and the director was still discussing the scenes with the leading actors.
A few grannies sitting in the alley started off a bit nervous, but within a few minutes, they became lively, each took out their phone, either recording short videos or taking photos of each other.
Anyway, the assistant director said they could shoot casually before filming started, and since it was everyone's first time acting, they definitely wanted to keep some souvenirs.
