Li Xingyu was dissatisfied with the two leads and wanted to steal scenes from them!
After reaching this conclusion, Shao Yichen did momentarily feel a headache coming on.
She acknowledged that Li Xingyu was a good actor who certainly deserved to be the lead more than the South twins. However, she also knew that Nan Rongyu and Nan Rongzhou didn't harbor any malice—apart from their tendency to avoid real work, their personalities were relatively decent for wealthy heirs. If these three people caused problems over a film she was making to lose money, she would bear the responsibility.
But after observing Nan Rongyu and Nan Rongzhou's expressions, Shao Yichen found they didn't seem particularly upset.
Especially Nan Rongyu—if he were truly unhappy about this behavior, they probably couldn't continue filming this scene. Given Nan Rongyu's temperament, he would likely have thrown off the police uniform and engaged in a real fight with Li Xingyu right in front of the camera.
Since he was willing to continue acting alongside Li Xingyu, it meant he had no objection to this behavior.
No, after considering the twins' intelligence, Shao Yichen realized they probably hadn't even noticed the scene-stealing!
And since Li Xingyu had decided to express his dissatisfaction with the two leads' acting by stealing scenes on camera, he presumably wouldn't oppose them through other means—such as brawling.
Looking at it this way, scene-stealing could prevent violence in the crew while also creating a tense atmosphere, which would help lower the filming quality.
If that was the case, why not let Li Xingyu continue stealing scenes!
As for what Li Xingyu's added line actually meant, since the shot was so brief, Shao Yichen had missed it as it was delivered quickly. She figured it probably wasn't an important line anyway, so it didn't matter if she hadn't caught it.
With this in mind, Shao Yichen nodded with satisfaction. Seeing that both actors in the frame had completed their performance, she called out "Cut!" loudly, gave an OK gesture, and announced: "This take is approved! Congratulations everyone, today's filming task is successfully completed!"
Hearing this, the other crew members sighed with relief and smiled.
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Shao Yichen was correct—Li Xingyu had indeed added a line.
But he had done so after consulting with Nan Rongyu.
Not only that, Li Xingyu had even incorporated some of the twins' styling suggestions—like the autumn school uniform jacket.
The line about being "accidentally locked in the bathroom by students on duty" was actually a hint at Yuan You's experience with school bullying. He certainly wasn't "accidentally" locked in; he was deliberately confined there by a clique.
As for why he wore the autumn school uniform, it stemmed from a casual comment by Nan Rongyu during their conversation: "When I was a kid, I messed up. I wanted to form a gang with my brother, and of course we had to swear a blood oath. I made a cut in my palm and started crying. There's still a mark there... Oh, by the way, do you think Yuan You might have scars on his wrists? If he was planning to jump from the roof, maybe he'd tried cutting himself before?"
Li Xingyu had initially treated it as a joke (because it was indeed a joke, just a painful one), but as he listened to the latter part, he began to consider it.
Such a notion was not only possible but would help further shape the character.
However, given Yuan You's radical and self-deprecating personality, even if he had such scars, he would certainly try to conceal them from others.
At this point, the experienced Nan Rongyu offered his insight—to prevent his father from discovering the cuts on his hand and punishing him, he had specifically worn an extra-long sleeve and gripped the cuff, effectively hiding the marks.
Hearing this, Li Xingyu felt the loose autumn school uniform would perfectly execute this concept, so he changed from the summer uniform to the autumn one.
Now it appeared that the director hadn't objected to this change and hadn't even questioned it. She had also tacitly accepted his added line.
It seemed the director understood his intention and silently approved!
With this realization, Li Xingyu finally felt confident that his understanding of the character was correct, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, the overly familiar Nan Rongyu, seeing that the scene had been completed, also sighed with relief and approached Li Xingyu, patting his shoulder with "thump thump" sounds: "Xiao Li, how was my performance this time? Any improvement?"
Compared to the morning, the improvement was tremendous.
But Li Xingyu didn't say this directly—after all, that would indirectly tell Nan Rongyu how terrible his morning performance had been. He simply nodded briefly while discreetly extracting himself from Nan Rongyu's forceful shoulder patting.
Before Nan Rongyu could rejoice, Li Xingyu continued: "But this is just the first scene. In later filming, the protagonist will experience more intense emotional changes. To perform well, you'll need to continue exploring the character."
Nan Rongyu let out a wail and collapsed on the ground.
Just as Nan Rongzhou was about to mock his brother, he caught Li Xingyu giving him a calm glance as he continued: "The deceased's scenes are the same. Though the deceased expresses emotions more subtly, this requires even deeper character understanding and attention to detail; otherwise, it's just being expressionless."
Nan Rongzhou: ...
I was wrong. I'll go back tonight and practice acting with my brother.
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Thus, the first day of the crew's filming came to an end.
To Shao Yichen's disappointment, during the following days, filming progressed steadily without any more absurd situations like the entire crew taking the day off and working in the evening.
If there was anything noteworthy during this period, it was Professor Zhao Kang's visit to the set.
Being summer with schools on break, Professor Zhao Kang didn't come alone but brought Shao Yichen's professor's wife—his spouse—and his young granddaughter.
Shao Yichen was delighted to see Professor Zhao Kang's granddaughter and solemnly presented her with a previously prepared arithmetic workbook, encouraging her to study hard and improve every day.
Seeing the gift, the little girl became so emotional she cried on the spot, sobbing while thanking Shao Yichen: "Waaah—I don't want to do exercises—"
Hearing this familiar crying, Li Xingyu, who had just finished filming a scene, immediately rushed over—having heard this child throw tantrums countless times when he worked as her tutor, he instantly recognized what was happening and came to provide support.
Although Li Xingyu, due to recent busy schedules and the girl's improved grades, was no longer her tutor, his lingering authority as a teacher was still effective. While he might not be able to stop an infant's midnight crying, he could certainly make a little girl stop crying.
So for the remainder of Professor Zhao Kang's visit, the rest of the crew could only watch with sympathetic eyes as the pouting little girl did homework under Li Xingyu's guidance in the shade.
Having to do homework during what should have been a fun visit was truly unfortunate for the child.
Nan Rongyu and Nan Rongzhou initially volunteered to help the pitiful child with her work, but after discovering that their years of calculator use had completely atrophied their mental arithmetic abilities—they couldn't solve problems as quickly as the child—they could only retreat silently.
After dealing with the unexpected episode with the granddaughter, Shao Yichen remembered her previous phone agreement with the couple and enthusiastically brought the professor and his wife to the filming area, having each cameo in a role.
Since these were just cameos, Shao Yichen certainly couldn't make things difficult for the professor and his wife. She repeatedly emphasized that they should act casually, not take it too seriously, and that any level of exaggeration was fine—after all, these were just cameos.
Zhao Kang himself had no acting skills, so he readily agreed.
His wife simply smiled without speaking. Shao Yichen took this as reticence and again assured her to relax and act however she wanted. Seeing that the professor's wife didn't show any significant aversion, she felt comfortable letting her cameo freely.
Shao Yichen assigned the role of the deceased's father to Zhao Kang and the role of the deceased's homeroom teacher to his wife.
The deceased's father only had one scene with the police officer played by Nan Rongyu. As for his memories with the deceased, Shao Yichen planned to use the photo flashback technique from her first film—the professor was only visiting for an afternoon, so she couldn't give him a lot of scenes and waste his time.
At Shao Yichen's command, filming of this scene began.
In the frame, Zhao Kang and Nan Rongyu somehow became angry while discussing the case.
Zhao Kang said, "How could I possibly harm my son?" while Nan Rongyu produced the insurance evidence;
Zhao Kang began glaring at Nan Rongyu, and Nan Rongyu glared back;
Zhao Kang pounded the table, and Nan Rongyu followed suit;
Zhao Kang swept the documents off the coffee table with one motion, pointing at Nan Rongyu and telling him to get out, and Nan Rongyu... oh, there was nothing left on the table to sweep away. Seeing he couldn't follow through, Nan Rongyu promptly turned around and efficiently got out.
And the scene ended.
In a word, it was—exaggerated and affected acting.
But Professor Zhao Kang felt good about his performance, Nan Rongyu felt good about his, and Shao Yichen, though not understanding much, thought the commotion was impressive and also felt good. The only ones who didn't feel great were Qin Lü, who had created the props—worried that his carefully crafted insurance document props might blow away after being thrown—and Li Xingyu, the only one with acting knowledge.
Fortunately, he had made some suggestions to the cinematographer, expecting this segment would use various environmental shots to build atmosphere, such as cicadas chirping outside the window, water swirling in the glasses on the coffee table after the table-pounding, and the scattered insurance documents on the floor. Thinking of these, Li Xingyu was grateful that he'd known in advance about Professor Zhao's cameo and had prepared accordingly.
Shao Yichen, of course, had no idea Li Xingyu was working hard to salvage her money-losing efforts. She jokingly praised Professor Zhao Kang, saying that the great director was indeed naturally gifted and should enter the acting world, where he would certainly be a dazzling new star—to which Zhao Kang responded with mock scolding.
When she first crossed over, she had been very unfamiliar with this professor and communicated cautiously. But after several months together, Shao Yichen recognized that Professor Zhao Kang truly had a kind personality and was generous in helping his student, so her relationship with this nominal teacher unconsciously grew closer.
Now, although Shao Yichen still wholeheartedly wanted the film to lose money, she genuinely regarded Professor Zhao Kang as her teacher.
After playfully filming Professor Zhao Kang's cameo, Shao Yichen turned the camera toward his wife.
When she redirected her attention to the professor's wife, she was surprised to find that she seemed thoroughly prepared.
Not only had the professor's wife applied makeup while the professor was filming his cameo, but she had also changed into an outfit appropriate for a teaching profession. Moreover, though nearly sixty, she was well-maintained, and sitting at the office desk, she genuinely conveyed the impression of a capable and shrewd homeroom teacher!
Shao Yichen was somewhat surprised. After all, Professor Zhao Kang had at least worked as a director and had some experience in the entertainment industry, yet his acting still remained at the eye-widening, table-pounding stage, demonstrating how difficult acting could be.
Unexpectedly, just by sitting down, his wife emanated the aura of a seasoned actor!
Could this be the legendary... mastery through formlessness?
Or was the professor's wife actually a homeroom teacher? Was that why she fit the image so well?
While Shao Yichen was lost in these thoughts, Li Xingyu, also dressed in a school uniform, approached. Despite his height of 180 cm, perhaps due to his deliberately hunched posture to shape the character, he not only resembled a genuine high school student but also appeared somewhat shy, unexpectedly matching Yuan You's character image.
—That's right, in this scene with the professor's wife's cameo, her counterpart wasn't Nan Rongyu, but Li Xingyu.
Author's Note:
Poor Tongtong, finally getting to visit the film set only to be subjected to arithmetic workbooks.
Shedding tears of sympathy
Second update today!
Thanks to the little angels who cast Emperor Votes or poured Nutrition Fluid for me during the period from 2020-08-28 10:34:38 to 2020-08-28 20:14:00~
Thanks to the little angels who poured Nutrition Fluid: Xia 30 bottles; momo 20 bottles; Ying Bao's Fur Ball 10 bottles; Make a Little Heart, Human Ultimate Taste, A Jing, My Beloved Yue Rong 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!