Chapter 630 The Director's Eyes

With Luo Yuzhong directing "Chinese Paladin" and a generous budget, the filming set of this series had an atmosphere almost comparable to that of a movie production.

Lu Yanhe was actually quite shocked when he arrived at the film set for the first time.

Because this series will use a lot of CG special effects, many scenes will be filmed in a studio.

However, many scenes were filmed on location.

The high production cost of this show largely came from the expenses of set design and props.

Not only does Luo Yuzhong have high standards in this regard, but Lu Yanhe is the same.

If you're going to make a drama of this genre, the world you create must be believable to the audience.

However, even with the current high production costs, it would be impossible to cover the production costs of a 30-plus-episode series like "Chinese Paladin" to achieve the desired production effect.

With the current production costs, further increases in production funding would make it difficult to turn a profit. After all, they still need to allocate sufficient budget for the later CG effects.

It can be said that "Chinese Paladin" is the most expensive Chinese-language drama to produce in the past three years, and it has reached the pinnacle.

Top-tier director + top-tier screenwriter + most popular cast + most expensive subject matter.

Lu Yanhe was vaguely worried that with such high production costs, the project might not be as profitable as "Love Letter" in the end. Well, it was basically safe to say that it wouldn't be as profitable as "Love Letter".

However, due to the huge box office success of "Love Letter", Linghe now has ample cash reserves, which has alleviated the tension during the summer.

Xu Tianming also said, "As long as the revenue from the broadcasting rights can cover the production costs, I will make the money back in other ways. I have already contacted a company for the development of the show's costumes, hair accessories, character models, pillows and other peripheral products. In that time, the development of these peripheral products will make our money back."

-

However, filming this drama was much more arduous for the actors than filming modern dramas.

Putting aside the various action scenes, just the fact that I need to get up two hours early every day to allow time for styling is enough.

Lu Yanhe has relatively few scenes, so it's not too bad. Li Zhibai basically has to get up at five or six o'clock every morning and arrive at the set before nine o'clock with his hair and makeup all done.

Yan Lingyu was the same.

Of course, according to the rules of the film set, established actors have a better chance. For example, Jiang Lingyi, the newcomer who plays Lin Yueru, usually has her scenes scheduled for the earliest or latest time.

That's how it is on set; the best time slots are always reserved for the big stars.

Of course, newcomers don't care about enduring this hardship; what they fear is enduring hardship with no future prospects.

Jiang Lingyi landed the second female lead role in "Chinese Paladin," a role in a drama that was poised to become a blockbuster. Under these circumstances, she was incredibly energetic every day, putting in 100% effort into filming the series without ever complaining.

As the only newcomer among the main actors who landed the role through an audition, Jiang Lingyi knows how lucky she is.

On set, Jiang Lingyi herself was a girl with a personality quite similar to Lin Yueru's—it seems that when a newcomer wins a role through an audition, it's usually like this, more or less close to their true self.

She got along very well with almost all the staff on the set.

However, she was a little reserved in front of Li Zhibai and Lu Yanhe.

Fortunately, Yan Lingyu was on set. Yan Lingyu is usually a quiet person, but she and Jiang Lingyi often huddled together and whispered to each other on set. It seems like girls always have endless topics to talk about.

Lu Yanhe had no plans for him at all a few days ago.

However, he didn't stay in the hotel. He went to the film set early every morning and stayed with Luo Yuzhong for the whole day to see how he, as a director, would act.

After directing "Love Letter," Lu Yanhe realized his shortcomings in this area.

The director has so many things to do; every day, as soon as he opens his eyes, countless decisions await his approval.

Fortunately, Love Letter is basically a very simple movie with almost no big scenes or complicated staging, and a small crew.

But "Chinese Paladin" is different; it's a massive production with hundreds of people.

Luo Yuzhong's assistant director team consists of four people.

Each assistant director had different responsibilities, which relieved Luo Yuzhong of a lot of work.

Lu Yanhe was amazed.

The production crew also has a B team. As is customary, the B team will film simultaneously with the A team to save filming time.

The B team assembled by Luo Yuzhong was mainly used to shoot some transitional scenes and some establishing shots.

Seeing Lu Yanhe following him and observing, Luo Yuzhong curiously asked Lu Yanhe if he wanted to directly film a few scenes.

Lu Yanhe shook his head and refused.

If he were to direct it, the result would be exactly the same as the "Chinese Paladin" series he remembers.

However, this version is quite different. The camera quality, shot composition, and style have all changed from the original.

Luo Yuzhong is using the techniques and style of serious dramas to film this fantasy drama.

Of course, Lu Yanhe himself also felt that the original "Chinese Paladin" was not filmed in the style of an idol drama. At that time, period dramas still used many serious drama techniques.

The scenes between Li Zhibai and Yan Lingyu didn't feature any rotating shots or the currently popular style of creating ambiguous romantic tension between the two.

It was photographed perfectly.

The man is chivalrous, the woman is innocent.

Lu Yanhe noticed that on set, Luo Yuzhong instructed all the staff to call Yan Lingyu Ling'er instead of her real name.

Luo Yuzhong also provided a lot of guidance on Yan Lingyu's performance.

"Your smile is so goddess-like."

"You're too aloof. Give me a pure and lovely smile."

"Don't try to be coy. You're not a coy girl to begin with, and it's strange for you to pretend to be coy."

...

This is what shocked Lu Yanhe the most. Based on his experience working with Luo Yuzhong, Luo Yuzhong usually guided actors by breaking down and analyzing the scenes in detail, rather than using a negative approach to tell Yan Lingyu what she was doing wrong.

However, what surprised Lu Yanhe was that Yan Lingyu did not fall into a low mood because of Luo Yuzhong's criticisms. She could listen to them and then adjust her state.

“Yan Lingyu has too much pride and is too arrogant.” Li Zhibai said this to Lu Yanhe. “Although her appearance is very suitable for Ling’er, it is easy for her to turn such a gentle and intelligent girl like Ling’er into a cold and aloof goddess.”

Luo Yuzhong patiently corrected Yan Lingyu.

Although he kept criticizing Yan Lingyu, he wasn't angry.

This was also what surprised Lu Yanhe.

After Lu Yanhe stayed at the site for three days, Luo Yuzhong took him to the computer room.

The footage he shot was constantly being edited by someone working simultaneously to check if any footage was unusable. These issues needed to be identified promptly so that reshoots could be done.

At first, Lu Yanhe didn't understand why Luo Yuzhong had brought him here, until Luo Yuzhong had the editor open several videos.

These are all videos of Ling'er, played by Yan Lingyu.

The video shows almost all of Yan Lingyu’s different reactions, such as smiling at Li Zhi or sulking. Each shot is only a few seconds long. However, the Yan Lingyu in the video is different from the Yan Lingyu he usually sees. She really has the innocent, naive, and lovely temperament of Ling’er.

"Wow—" Lu Yanhe exclaimed in surprise.

Luo Yuzhong said, "Did you think Yan Lingyu wasn't suitable for the role of Ling'er back then?"

Lu Yanhe nodded honestly.

The actress Yan Lingyu was chosen by Luo Yuzhong.

It wasn't Lu Yanhe—even though Lu Yanhe had collaborated with her on "Late Spring".

Luo Yuzhong said, "I watched 'Love Letter,' and the girl named Zhang Ruozhi in it left a deep impression on me. I heard that she was the one you took a liking to at first sight?"

Lu Yanhe nodded.

"She happened to be studying in Jiangzhi."

Luo Yuzhong: "Should it be a natural performance?"

"Yes, she herself is very similar to the girl in the movie."

"But you should know that you are not always lucky enough to find an actor who fits the role so well."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

Luo Yuzhong pointed to Yan Lingyu in the camera lens.

“She herself is indeed not very similar to the character Ling’er, but film and television dramas are all about editing. We don’t need an actor to be like a character all the time. As long as there are a few moments when you believe that she is the character, that’s enough,” Luo Yuzhong said. “Yan Lingyu is such an actress in this drama. A lot of her footage is actually unusable. Maybe we shoot for two hours, and in the end we can only use ten minutes. But those ten minutes are good enough.”

Lu Yanhe listened to Luo Yuzhong's words, seemingly lost in thought.

"To be a director, you have to know exactly what you want. You might not be able to describe it in detail, but you have to know what you want," Luo Yuzhong said. "On the set of 'Love Letter,' this was very clear, so everyone's work was relatively easy. Actually, many veterans in the film and television industry are reluctant to work with new directors. Do you know why?"

Lu Yanhe: "Inexperienced?"

“Lack of experience is just the surface; the real issue is that new directors often don’t know what they want to film, or what they want isn’t something that can be achieved based on the actual shooting situation,” Luo Yuzhong said. “This doubles the amount of rework and repetitive work.”

Lu Yanhe nodded.

“The same principle applies to casting actors,” Luo Yuzhong said. “Do you remember when I went to Star Entertainment to audition for an actor? Star Entertainment brought over a hundred idols and asked me to audition for your role.”

"I remember." Lu Yanhe nodded; how could he possibly forget?

That was the day that changed his destiny.

Luo Yuzhong said, "Among more than a hundred candidates, do you really think you can say that there is one who is the most suitable and the best? At that time, there were Li Zhibai, Yan Liang, and several other actors whose performances I thought were also very outstanding, but I finally decided on you."

"Yes, teacher, why did you choose me?"

Do you want to hear the truth?

"think."

"The main reason is that Jiang Yuqian told me that she saw the shadow of someone she once loved in you, and she would feel a strong connection with you when acting in a play about college days," Luo Yuzhong said. "Actually, it has nothing to do with your audition that time. Of course, your performance in that audition surprised me quite a bit, put my mind at ease, and made me realize that you are a capable actor."

Lu Yanhe looked at Luo Yuzhong in surprise.

“Sometimes, as a director, I don’t just choose the one I think is the best. Take your role in ‘The Golden Era’ for example. His importance is actually relative to Jiang Yuqian. And the scene between Jiang Yuqian and you determines the tone of Jiang Yuqian’s character throughout the rest of the film. So, her attitude is the most important. As it turns out, that’s true. You surprised the audience as soon as you appeared, and people still talk about and regret your college romance with Jiang Yuqian.”

Lu Yanhe nodded.

When "Love Letter" was first released, some viewers said that he was playing the white moonlight of the female lead who died again.

There was a trending topic at the time: Lu Yanhe returns to the White Moonlight track.

Luo Yuzhong said, "However, the role of Ling'er cannot be chosen in this way. Actually, this is also due to the script you wrote. In your script, the female character of Ling'er can almost be said to be a perfect image that satisfies all Chinese people's imagination. All the good qualities are in her. It is basically unrealistic to find an actress who matches her in real life."

Lu Yanhe nodded, agreeing with what Luo Yuzhong said.

That's why they say the "Fairy Sister" has a lot of staying power. Without big companies or big capital, she relies entirely on her classic roles to survive the era of the "Big Flowers" competition, the era of the "85 Flowers," and in the era of "Internet Celebrity Flowers" where ordinary girls compete, she still returns as a top star.

She single-handedly supported three generations of her family; she was the only one in the family to do so.

He also has no way to find a fairy-like beauty in this world through a public search.

“At this point, you can only find a suitable raw material to sculpt into this character.” Luo Yuzhong finally got to the point of bringing Lu Yanhe to the editing room today. “An actor, as long as there are a few moments that make you feel that she is that character, then she is done. On set, you have to explore this aspect, stimulate more moments, and use the camera, editing, costumes, props and all kinds of film and television techniques to completely shape her into that character in front of the camera.”

Luo Yuzhong nodded earnestly at Lu Yanhe with his eyes.

"Your 'Love Letter' is very well made, but you rely too much on the suitability of the actors and roles, on the actors' own acting skills and character portrayal abilities, while ignoring the various conveniences that the film and television industry can provide."

"If it weren't for Chen Bige, who could portray two such similar people as two completely different characters?" Luo Yuzhong said to Lu Yanhe. "To be honest, 'Love Letter' is top-notch in terms of cinematography, music, acting, and editing rhythm. However, the camera doesn't lie. You rely on the actors completely becoming the characters in their performances. What if you have a role and can't find an actor who can achieve that?"

Lu Yanhe's head went blank.

At that moment, he was thinking of Jin Xiangyu from "Dragon Inn".

To this day, he still can't think of any actress who could play this role, so when Liu Bige said he wanted to film the script, he handed it over with a huge sigh of relief.

Luo Yuzhong hit the nail on the head, exposing the weakness he had been avoiding.

"You've been following me around these past few days, are you trying to see what a director actually does?" Luo Yuzhong asked.

Lu Yanhe nodded.

Do you want to continue directing in the future?

"For some films, I feel that it's better if I direct them myself, so that I can capture the feeling I wanted when I wrote the script."

Luo Yuzhong laughed.

"Who was that person who said they never wanted to be a director again?" he asked Lu Yanhe jokingly.

Lu Yanhe lowered his head and chuckled softly.

At that moment, he felt nothing but admiration for Luo Yuzhong.

Luo Yuzhong only watched one film, "Love Letter," and he immediately saw Luo Yuzhong's shortcomings and flaws as a director. Using only the example of Yan Lingyu, Luo Yuzhong made him acutely aware of the difference between his perspective as an actor and his perspective as a director.

At that moment, Lu Yanhe suddenly understood a principle.

Why are so many directors known for their ability to coach actors?

It wasn't about training the actors.

Rather, they are able to see things in actors that others cannot see.

Just like Luo Yuzhong was able to see in Yan Lingyu things that others couldn't see, things that belonged to Ling'er.

-

After being taken to the editing room by Luo Yuzhong, Lu Yanhe saw a different side of Yan Lingyu's acting on set.

He noticed that Yan Lingyu was indeed a rather aloof person, which basically constituted the main tone of her image.

However, sometimes, after she talked to everyone for a while and became a little enthusiastic, it was like breaking the ice, and her eyes and face became warmer.

As soon as she felt that warmth, her demeanor changed, giving her a bit of Ling'er's feel.

But she's not always like that. If she doesn't talk to anyone for a while, she'll revert to that somewhat aloof state, and we'll have to lure her out little by little, like drawing a snake out of its hole.

Lu Yanhe then recalled what Li Zhibai had told him before, and he suddenly wondered if Yan Lingyu's aloofness stemmed from her pride.

He knows that many people, because of their strong sense of self-esteem, will subconsciously hold back and be unable to let go under normal circumstances.

Looking at Jiang Lingyi, who plays Lin Yueru, when she is with Yan Lingyu, it is often when Yan Lingyu is most lively, but it is also when Jiang Lingyi is least mischievous.

She actually has a bit of a tomboyish side, which perfectly complements Lin Yueru's chivalrous spirit. Only when she's with Yan Lingyu does she become a very girlish person.

-

That day, Li Zhibai asked Lu Yanhe.

"What have you been doing, staring at Yan Lingyu and Jiang Lingyi like that these past two days?"

Lu Yanhe relayed what Luo Yuzhong had told him to Li Zhibai.

Li Zhi suddenly realized.

"Are you trying to practice your ability to observe people?"

"Pretty much. I always thought I was pretty good at observing people, but after my teacher pointed it out, I realized I had really overestimated myself."

Li Zhibai: "How old are you? You're exaggerating too much. Director Luo was just reminding you what you hadn't noticed before, but now you want to develop a pair of discerning eyes."

Lu Yanhe: "I didn't, don't slander me."

"So what are you thinking about?"

"I just want to see what I didn't see in Yan Lingyu before, why I didn't see it, and why Director Luo could see it."

"Tch, isn't that exactly what I meant?" Li Zhi rolled his eyes at Lu Yanhe, speechless. "Hey, have you read 'The Flowing Light'?"

"I've seen it." Lu Yanhe nodded.

What do you think?

"Uh, it's alright?" Lu Yanhe said. "I think Yan Liang acted quite well, his character is good, but Zhang Lan..."

"Right? You think so too?" Li Zhibai said, "Why do I feel that Zhang Lan's acting in this drama is completely lacking? There's absolutely no chemistry between her and Yan Liang."

“Hmm.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “The camera work and background music have already created the atmosphere, but there’s just no tension between Zhang Lan and Yan Liang.”

Li Zhibai: "There are so many people online criticizing Zhang Lan."

"That's not reliable. Actresses like Zhang Lan have a lot of fans and haters, and they're all very active. You can't really tell in the early stages," Lu Yanhe said. "The show's initial ratings are okay, but we don't know how it will turn out later. But we both feel there's no chemistry between them, and the audience probably feels the same way."

Li Zhibai: "However, from what I've seen, most people are satisfied with Yan Liang, and many are praising him for being very handsome in the show."

“Mainly because I’ve never seen a character like him in fantasy dramas before,” Lu Yanhe said. “His character design is well done, heroic, with the air of a young general, and with his physique, he’s very handsome.”

“Zhou Ping’an had his own stylist done, instead of using the stylist hired by the production team,” Li Zhibai said. “Zhou Ping’an is quite skilled in this area. He felt that the stylist provided by the production team of ‘Liu Guang Yin’ was too similar to the images of generals and war gods in other ancient costume dramas, and there was no difference.”

"Now everyone imitates whatever show is popular."

"What if the drama 'The Flowing Light' doesn't receive good reviews later on?" Li Zhi asked repeatedly. "Won't it drag Yan Liang down with it?"

“How could that be? This drama is Zhang Lan’s leading role in a historical romance, and she’s the one who carries the show,” Lu Yanhe said. “Besides, with Yan Liang’s performance, there’s no way to criticize him. Historical romance dramas used to be Zhang Lan’s comfort zone, so I don’t know why she acted so badly this time.”

-

When Yan Liang returned to the "Chinese Paladin" crew, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" had already been airing for a few days.

In the past few days, Yan Liang has been trending positively on social media almost every day.

However, at the same time, Zhang Lan has been trending on social media for negative reasons several times.

One of them is "poor acting skills".

It's fair to say that "The Flowing Light" is quite controversial.

Yan Liang's emotions were also somewhat affected.

Li Zhibai said, "Everyone is praising you, what are you afraid of?"

“Those were all trending topics that Zhou Ping’an bought for me. He didn’t want the negative reviews of the show to affect me.”

“But your performance was indeed good,” Lu Yanhe said. “Li Zhibai and I both watched it. Trust us. We’re not saying this because you’re our friend.”

Yan Liang: "Okay."

"Hey!" Luo Yuzhong suddenly walked over and patted Yan Liang on the shoulder from behind.

Yan Liang looked at him in surprise, "Director."

"Although I've only watched a little bit, you acted quite well in your new drama. Although it's the kind of ancient costume drama that I don't particularly like, I can tell that you're seriously creating a character, and your performance is different from other actors in similar dramas." Luo Yuzhong nodded affirmatively at Yan Liang.

Yan Liang was flattered and said thank you.

Luo Yuzhong said, "However, now that we're back on set, let's focus our attention on the drama we're currently filming."

“Okay.” Yan Liang nodded immediately. “Director, don’t worry, I will focus on filming this drama.”

As soon as Luo Yuzhong left, Li Zhibai hooked his arm around Yan Liang's neck.

"You rascal, what we say doesn't work. You don't believe us, but as soon as the director says it, you immediately grin."

Yan Liang had to struggle for a while before he could free himself from Li Zhibai's "control".

"Damn, how come you have so much strength now?"

"It's something you learn through practice," Li Zhi smugly hummed.

-

That day, Chen Yin came over, firstly to check on the filming progress of "Chinese Paladin". As the deputy general manager of Linghe, he was the producer and executive producer of the project.

He also took the opportunity to report to Lu Yanhe on the progress of several projects in the company.

"Filming for 'Roommates' has wrapped up, and editing is expected to be completed in October. Hu Siwei ultimately decided to give the show to Aurora Broadcasting, agreeing to Aurora Broadcasting's new revenue-sharing model."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

"The movie 'Home Alone' has been greenlit, and we are in contact with a suitable director. As for the two bumbling thieves in the movie, we are still planning to hold auditions to find suitable actors."

When will filming for this movie begin?

"Next January, when Huang Feng is on winter vacation, the background of the script will coincide with the Chinese New Year."

"Um."

"TVN said that the Korean version of 'Rouge' is scheduled to air this November, and they hope that you can come to Korea to attend the global premiere ceremony of the drama."

"They even held a global launch ceremony?" Lu Yanhe asked in surprise. "That's going too far?"

“Yes,” Chen Yin said. “It’s just that it’s being broadcast globally on Maxine streaming platform simultaneously.”

“Okay,” Lu Yanhe said. “I can’t agree to them for now. You should talk to Wang Biao and Sister Ziyan and see if I can make time for them.”

"OK."

"In addition, there's the movie 'Telephone,' which you wrote, and it's scheduled for release on New Year's Day. 'Lost in Thailand' will be released during the Spring Festival next year, and the second season of 'My Own Swordsman' is also scheduled to air during the Spring Festival."

"Also, Director Wang Zhong is preparing to submit 'Raise the Red Lantern' to the Sitour Film Festival, which may clash with Director Huang Tianlin's 'Tropical Rainy Season.' It seems that Director Huang Tianlin's first choice is also the Sitour Film Festival."

They got into a fight.

Lu Yanhe thought for a moment and said, "So what if we run into each other? One is a movie I wrote, and the other is a movie I acted in. Anyway, it's not like I'm fighting myself."

Seeing Lu Yanhe's response, Chen Yin said nothing more.

After listening, Lu Yanhe had only one feeling in his heart.

There are a lot of projects.

When did you start accumulating so many projects?

For some reason, I have a feeling that every month from now on, there will be projects related to him, and even at the same time, there will be movies and TV series.

"..."

It's so productive, it's like... well, you know.

Never before have works been bombarded with such intensity.

-

I recommend the new book "The Demon-Slaying Sword".

(End of this chapter)