Chapter 39 Acting Together [VIP]

Chapter Summary: I want to see just how terrible her performance is.

After waiting on set for an hour.

The actors began rehearsing their lines.

All of the female lead's scenes were reshot, and Mu Zhi undoubtedly had the most scenes.

Logically, the notice list should be quite full.

However, Ning Yao had to make time for the filming of the series, and since his schedule was limited and he was the biggest star among the actors, the early part of the production schedule mainly focused on scenes between the male and female leads.

Filming began today, focusing on the first scene between the male and female leads.

The plot summary of the ancient costume fantasy drama "The Bell Ringer": There is a mysterious antique shop, owned by a beautiful and charming woman. If you bring the most important item to your possession, she can grant you one wish. However, no one knows where the shop is located. Rumor has it that someone once visited and made a fortune by exchanging a single hairpin...

The female lead, A-Ying, played by Mu Zhi, is the owner of this antique shop.

She carries half a broken bell and collects its fragments by granting wishes. Anyone who enters her shop seeking help must have a fragment of her bell attached to something on their person or in their home to gain entry.

Ah Ying's background and past remain a mystery.

All she knows is that her name is Aying, and that she needs to collect the bell fragments in order to recover her lost memories.

I keep one sentence in mind:

"When this bell rings, everything will be remembered."

The plot of the first scene is brought forward:

A man carrying a jewelry box walked into the antique shop owned by the female lead, Ah Ying, looking flustered. He put down the jewelry box, said he was giving it to Ah Ying, and was about to leave, wanting to get rid of the box as soon as possible.

Ah Ying stopped the man and asked him about the origin of the jewelry box and what his wishes were.

The man said he just wanted peace and quiet at home and hoped his wife would return to her former self. He suspected his wife was possessed by a ghost and had been behaving strangely lately.

The female protagonist accepted the jewelry box and agreed to the matter.

At night, he went to the man's mansion to investigate his wife's strange behavior, and ran into Ning Yushan, a commander of the Imperial Guard who was recently investigating the case of the faceless female corpse.

Ning Yushan sees a veiled woman appearing on the street at night, acting suspiciously. He mistakenly believes she is connected to the faceless female corpse case, and a fight ensues between them...

During rehearsals, director Xu Tao came over to give Mu Zhi and Ning Yao some instructions.

Ning Yao filmed "The Bell Ringer" not long after it finished filming.

The main person to be discussed with was Mu Zhi.

Before filming began, Xu Tao had already spoken with Mu Zhi about the role during the script reading and the day of the costume fitting. He discovered that Mu Zhi had done her homework thoroughly, knew all the scenes and plot of the female lead by heart, and had even memorized all the lines.

Right now, we're on set, discussing and rehearsing the scene.

"We'll film Ah Ying's scenes first, Mu Zhi, be careful with the camera angles so they don't go out of frame..."

As a mature actress, Mu Zhi was well aware of the director's suggestions.

But on the surface, he listened attentively like a newcomer, nodding and taking notes.

Xu Tao was pleasantly surprised to find that Mu Zhi not only memorized the lines, but was also a natural-born actress with a great sense of the camera. During the audition, her positioning, camera angles, and performance were all very accurate.

What's particularly remarkable is that he showed no signs of pressure or tension in Mu Zhi; instead, he was focused and completely absorbed in the role.

After filming officially began.

"Action!"

Clapperboard: "1 scene, 1 shot, 1 take!"

Hearing the instructions.

Mu Zhi quickly got into character, and the first take went very smoothly.

Xu Tao said happily, "This one can be skipped directly."

Instead, Mu Zhi watched the monitor playback and took the initiative to ask, "Director Xu, could we do another take?"

Although she practiced the role alone in her dorm room during this time, the body was still unfamiliar, and she hadn't been able to show her best performance in front of the camera...

In the previous scene, Ning Yao and Mu Zhi didn't have any direct scenes together.

He stood aside watching Mu Zhi's performance. Even though they had filmed the same scene before, he felt the pressure from his co-star, which ignited a fire in his heart.

Next, we'll be filming the action scenes for the male and female leads.

Mu Zhi and Ning Yao practiced sparring moves with the martial arts instructor. After mastering the moves, they put on their harnesses...

It's quite a challenge for a newcomer to be suspended by wires on their first day of filming.

Xu Tao and Ning Yao were both somewhat worried about Mu Zhi.

"Muzhi, you're not afraid of heights, are you?"

"Teacher Xiaozhi, let the wire operator show you how to use it. It'll be hard to control your body the first time you're suspended by wires; you'll need time to get used to it..."

As a result, Mu Zhi was a little uncomfortable at first after putting on the wire harness, but she quickly got the hang of it.

I tried several moves under the direction of the director and the wire stunt instructor, and I performed them all very well.

After the audition, the makeup artist came forward to touch up the makeup of the two lead actors.

The action scenes have officially begun filming.

"Halt! Who are you? The government has issued a curfew; what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

In the surveillance footage, Ah Ying paused in her steps after being scolded, and turned her head slightly, revealing a close-up of her profile wearing a red veil.

"I'm lost, I'm going home now."

When Ning Yushan saw the woman in front of him using her lightness skill to run away, he assumed she was guilty of something and quickly drew his knife from his waist to chase after her and block her way.

He turned around and, without saying a word, swung his sword and came hurtling through the air.

Ah Ying grumbled, "Annoying." She deftly ducked to avoid Ning Yushan's attack...

This fight scene was filmed in just four takes before it was done.

Two of the NGs occurred during the fight between Mu Zhi and Ning Yao, when the veil they were wearing fell off.

This finally gave the actors and crew members on set a sense of realism:

Oh, even Mu Zhi makes mistakes. She's finally acting like a newbie.

Then the actors playing the second male and female leads also appeared...

The first day after turning on the machine.

Many staff members on the production crew looked at Mu Zhi with a scrutinizing gaze.

I want to see how terrible Mu Zhi's performance is.

They were all proven wrong.

The professional-level performances, along with the actors' focused dedication and professional work ethic, helped the crew members involved in the reshoots to shake off the gloom and regain their confidence.

Today on set, the director's lips never left his mouth; a weight had been lifted from his heart.

The film crew wrapped up three hours earlier than expected.

Xu Tao plans to discuss with the producer and the production coordinator whether to schedule a few more scenes based on Mu Zhi's acting skills, in order to wrap up filming as soon as possible...

Time flew by amidst the busy and fulfilling filming.

The reshoot of "The Bell Ringer" did not involve any on-set script changes; it was filmed according to the final version of the script. Only one crew was formed, and all efforts were focused on the project.

The filming went smoothly and efficiently.

Before I knew it, a month and a half had passed since I turned on the computer.

During this period, Mu Zhi has completed every scene of filming excellently every day. Some of these scenes were filmed in front of a green screen, relying on imaginary monster opponents...

The entire crew can attest to their acting skills.

The second male and female lead actors who gossiped about Mu Zhi behind her back on the first day of filming have now completely changed their tune, going from being indifferent to being polite and attentive.

This is during a break on set that day.

The second female lead brought a box of fresh fruit to Mu Zhi.

"Teacher Mu, I brought you a box of strawberries."

"It's very sweet."

Mu Zhi, who was reading the script, looked up. The actress playing the second female lead was named Wei Lishu. This was the third time that Wei Lishu had brought her food. She had declined the first two times, but refusing again would seem too distant and make her feel unapproachable.

He could only accept it with a slight smile: "Thank you."

After delivering the strawberries, Wei Lishu didn't leave immediately but sat down next to Mu Zhi.

I sincerely praised Mu Zhi's acting skills.

"Teacher Mu is so amazing in her first acting role. She is the 'genius actor' that everyone talks about. Director Xu really has a discerning eye!"

"Ms. Mu, could you tell me how you auditioned for and landed this role?"

Curious probing: How did Mu Zhi obtain this resource?

In Wei Lishu's view, "The Bell Ringer" has no connection with Mu Zhi's company, Xinghe Culture. Without the company's support and without connections, it would be almost impossible for Mu Zhi to access this resource.

She had been acting for several years, but ended up playing a supporting role to a newcomer who had just debuted. Although the other person's acting skills were impressive, she felt that she was not bad either, and was still somewhat unwilling.

Mu Zhi briefly recounted her audition for "The Legend of the Flying Immortal" and how she met director Xu Tao, concluding with, "Maybe I was just lucky."

Upon hearing this, Wei Lishu exclaimed, "Mu Zhi is so lucky?!"

She smiled wryly and said, "I really envy you. Some actors have been in the industry for several years and still don't know when they'll get to play the lead role. I wish I were as pretty as you."

In the entertainment industry, where beauties abound, Wei Lishu's appearance has been the subject of much online ridicule:

He has the face of a supporting character.

Mu Zhi wasn't good at comforting people and didn't know what to say, so she could only manage to squeeze out, "There will be opportunities."

After Wei Lishu left.

Assistant Minmin whispered, "Teacher Wei has been in the industry for many years. If she doesn't get a leading role now, she probably won't have another chance."

Mu Zhi felt that Wei Lishu should be able to get scripts for leading roles, but perhaps she was not satisfied with the resources and preferred to play the second female lead in a big project.

This is also a form of clear-headedness.

As an actress herself, Mu Zhi understood Wei Lishu's ambition, so she refrained from saying anything like "You don't necessarily have to play the lead role," which is just ignorant talk.

But there is no fairness in this circle.

"Sister Zhizhi, is the variety show we recorded before, 'Heartbeat Lovers,' going to air soon?"

When Minmin checked her phone calendar to confirm the broadcast time, she discovered that the crew had been filming for a month and a half.

"Except for the day filming started, Mr. Shang never came to visit the set afterward."

Hearing Minmin's soft complaints, Muzhi remained silent.

Not only did they not come to visit the set.

For the past month, Shang Jian has been having his assistant, Xiao Zhang, contact Mu Zhi or Min Min to get information about Mu Zhi's filming situation on set.

I only called Mu Zhi once. The content of the call was as follows:

How's filming going on set lately?

"Take good pictures."

The call lasted no more than half a minute, and the tone was very impatient.

Minmin realized she had brought up the matter of her agent visiting the set, and that she had been too talkative.

Fearing Mu Zhi might overthink things, he quickly added, "Sister Zhizhi, it seems that Senior Sister Lin Xuan's new drama has started filming. President Shang has to be on set, and the boy group the company is eyeing is going to have their final competition on the Green Apple platform. He has a lot on his plate and can't get away..."

Mu Zhi actually knew the reason very well.

While the situation mentioned by Minmin cannot be ruled out, Shang Jian's actions were mainly intentional neglect.

About two weeks after joining the crew.

She "ungratefully" turned down yet another business opportunity arranged by her agent.

[Author's Note]

Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 19:05:16 on May 21, 2022 and 20:53:34 on May 23, 2022!

Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: 2 bottles in a fit of chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) mode;

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!