Chapter 111: Filming Begins (Mandala)
Chapter 111
As soon as the New Year was over, Lin Yuan got busy.
He spent several days lying down, his daily routine extremely sloppy. After being criticized by his manager, Lin Yuan euphemistically called it "freeing up his brain for creative work," since songwriting itself is a brain-consuming activity.
Perhaps the warm atmosphere wasn't conducive to creation—the agent deeply suspected Lin Yuan was making excuses—in any case, Lin Yuan didn't produce any decent works during the Spring Festival period.
"It's all He Xun and Yu Ying's fault. They made me lose my will to live."
He Xun and Yu Ying reacted in unison – they rolled their eyes at Lin Yuan and said they would reveal Lin Yuan's true colors to the fans.
In the end, the two didn't reveal the answer.
The two realized that Lin Yuan was most abnormal in front of his fans.
His last Weibo post was that classic statistics table.
The public feud between Geng Yue and Wang Chen lasted throughout the Spring Festival, and netizens were tired of it because the two of them would occasionally drop a little bit of information, which was as long and tedious as a foot-binding rag, and not concise at all.
Later on, netizens didn't even bother to analyze the timeline anymore, and simply tagged Lin Yuan, asking him to organize the timeline for the two of them.
Lin Yuan: "?"
He has no interest in meddling in other people's messy affairs.
However, given the fierce feud between Geng Yue and Wang Chen, Pan Qi has once again come into the spotlight. Once Pan Qi is mentioned, it's hard for netizens not to pay attention to the table listed by Lin Yuan, so the number of visits to Lin Yuan's Weibo continues to grow.
In the words of netizens, this statistical table was just an ordinary thing for Lin Yuan, but it was Geng Yue's life and death record, marking the beginning of his decline from prosperity.
Lin Yuan: "?"
"Could you please stop being so exaggerated?" Lin Yuan said speechlessly. "I only played a tiny role at most, didn't I?"
Geng Yue's career has flopped, and his resources have been divided up. The dramas he didn't get to film have been signed by other male actors, and Lin Yuan didn't benefit much from them.
After all, his career path is not entirely the same as Geng Yue's.
However, Geng Yue's fans won't cause trouble for the actors who took away his resources; they'll only think it's all Lin Yuan's fault.
It was Lin Yuan who caused Geng Yue to fall into the abyss.
Lin Yuan himself felt that Geng Yue's biggest mistake in this incident was hiring Pan Qi.
Pan Qi was too blatant, and his level was too low. It's fine to praise someone, but don't use such an exaggerated method. Although Geng Yue himself may appreciate this method, it's just too much.
...
In short, whatever Geng Yue's thoughts, Lin Yuan has his own rhythm of life.
While "Ghost Arts" was in the midst of its final post-production work, Liu Xiaoguang still took the time to praise Lin Yuan, saying that the theme song was decided early, saving him a lot of trouble.
"Ghost Arts" is expected to be released in the second half of this year. It probably won't be released during the summer vacation. There are some time-consuming special effects scenes. Otherwise, Liu Xiaoguang would have submitted it for this year's Golden Wing Award.
The director felt that although "Ghost Arts" was not a genre favored by the Golden Wing Award judges, Lin Yuan and Yu Ying's performances in the film were commendable and they were definitely worthy of competing for the award.
Lin Yuan occasionally checks on "Ghost Arts," but lately he's been focusing his energy on the new drama.
Lin Yuan has only just joined the cast, yet the new drama has already garnered much attention.
When "The Powerful Minister" and "Major Case" were being filmed, Lin Yuan's situation was probably only slightly better than "nobody cared about him". "Major Case" was okay, but "The Powerful Minister" was indeed not well-regarded before it aired.
Moreover, there were popular dramas like "Lin Lang" airing at the same time.
This time, the situation is very different.
Before joining the production team, Lin Yuan himself didn't know much about the new drama, but the media had already dug up a lot of details.
The new drama is titled "Mandala," a name that sounds very dark, but the content is actually not that dark; it's just a revenge drama.
Judging from the plot alone, Lin Yuan felt that it was somewhat similar to "Tomorrow's Tomorrow".
However, in "Tomorrow's Tomorrow", Ji Feng's mother is still alive, and it is the mother and son who jointly carried out the revenge. In this "Mandala", the protagonist Han Shenze and his sister carried out the revenge together.
Compared to Ji Feng, his revenge was far more resolute.
Han Shen lived only for revenge. Love came his way, but he pushed it away with his own hands. The beautiful side of the world tried to approach him, but for him, this beauty came too late.
If it had happened sooner, he might not have been so stubborn in seeking revenge.
When he needed it, good things didn't come; now he doesn't need them anymore.
After Lin Yuan agreed to play Han Shen, the production team readily signed a contract with him without any setbacks.
The production team even asked Lin Yuan if he would be willing to work with a certain actress they planned to invite to the show.
In the past, Lin Yuan would never have received such treatment.
He had heard of a strange story in the industry: actress A was dissatisfied with actor B, who was to be her co-star, and demanded that the production team replace B with actor C.
As a result, C's first request upon joining the group was to replace A with someone else.
Lin Yuan expressed his shock.
He doesn't care about the fame of his collaborators; his only requirement is that they genuinely love performing.
Lin Yuan considers himself to have a pretty good temper while filming, but he can't maintain a good temper the whole time if his co-stars are too perfunctory and keep making mistakes.
The production team has found an actress who isn't particularly well-known, but whose acting skills are among the best of the young actors.
The actor playing the villain is also one of Lin Yuan's acquaintances—Wang Zhimin, who played Song Kuan in "The Powerful Minister".
Lin Yuan and Wang Zhimin are collaborating again; their new drama can leverage this buzz for marketing.
The Mandala is a short and very simple story.
When the brother and sister were young, their parents were murdered. More than ten years later, the two siblings followed the clues to find the murderer and began their path of revenge.
The older brother, Han Shen, is rational, while the younger sister, Han Wen, is sensitive. They are each other's support and only reliance. Han Shen has lost hope in the world, and the only soft spot in his heart is Han Wen.
No one except Han Wen could get into his inner world.
When the final moment of revenge arrived, Han Shen shouldered everything alone. He hoped that his sister could live a carefree life, and that he himself was not so important.
Even at the beginning, he didn't want his sister to get involved in this revenge.
In his heart, his sister deserved a happier life.
However, these two siblings were destined to remain siblings.
Hatred made the two of them grow up overnight. Han Wen was also wary of the world. She understood Han Shen's thoughts from the beginning and rejected Han Shen's arbitrary choices.
Lin Yuan chose this script because the emotional expression in "Mandala" was quite delicate, giving him ample room to perform.
Although it is a story of revenge, it cannot be just about revenge.
Han Shen is a character consumed by hatred.
When the director met with Lin Yuan, he told him that after the script was finalized, the screenwriter immediately considered him, and the director had the same idea.
Because they saw a dark cloud hanging over Lin Yuan.
"Do I look sinister?" Lin Yuan asked his agent.
"How is one supposed to answer that question?" The agent hesitated for a moment. "Because I'm your agent, you're not cunning."
Lin Yuan: "?"
hehe.
Of course, the director didn't mean that Lin Yuan looked sinister, but rather that he had a certain aura that suited the role of Han Shen.
A person who harbors hatred is different from a person who lives a carefree and simple life in this world.
This meant that Han Shen couldn't find an actor who was a blank slate.
Lin Yuan clearly has the ability to handle this role.
Considering the popularity of the dramas "Major Cases" and "The Powerful Minister", it is clear that Lin Yuan is the best choice for the role of Han Shen.
The actress Shi Ran plays the younger sister, Han Wen, in the new drama.
She has formal training and has been acting for several years, so she is more experienced than Lin Yuan.
However, considering her level of fame, she is not particularly high. The reason she was able to take on the role of the younger sister is not only because her acting skills meet the requirements of the role, but also because Lin Yuan was willing to work with her.
Shi Ran did have one or two roles that were initially rejected; the production team had already cast her, but she ultimately didn't get the part.
The production team of "Mandala" did not arbitrarily change actors, probably taking Lin Yuan's thoughts into consideration, since it is well known that Lin Yuan is not someone to be trifled with.
Replacing the actor might be simple, but if other problems arise afterward, Lin Yuan could become a nuisance to the production team.
This person is not afraid of causing trouble at all.
Shi Ran remembered that before Lin Yuan became as popular as he is now, he had already clashed with Xie Yu and Ye Liuchuan of Wink, and recently Geng Yue was even defeated by him.
In the circle of young male actors, Geng Yue is already considered a big name.
Shi Ran had the good fortune to work with Geng Yue once.
She remembered clearly that even the director treated Geng Yue with utmost respect and dared not offend him in ordinary times. Such a big-name actor was inherently difficult to control, and he had many fans. If he was dissatisfied with anything, everyone else in the crew would be in trouble.
Even a character like Geng Yue can only suffer when he encounters Lin Yuan.
In short, one thing is certain about Shi Ran—Lin Yuan must have given his approval when she finally decided on this role.
For Lin Yuan, this might be insignificant, but for Shi Ran, it was a pretty good role in her acting career.
Han Wen has a lot of screen time and a good character design; she's definitely not just a background character.
She fell in love with the script of "Mandala" at first sight. At that time, the production team had not yet determined the male lead, so Shi Ran asked her agent to inquire whether she could play Han Wen.
She was willing to participate even if the production team chose to hold open auditions.
Good roles are always a rare commodity for actors.
At first, Shi Ran was full of hope. Although the production team didn't give her a definite answer, they didn't reject her outright.
Shi Ran truly felt she had no chance after the role of Han Shen was confirmed.
Before this, she felt that she could still compete.
However, she heard that Han Shen had arranged a marriage with Lin Yuan.
It was truly like a bolt from the blue.
Could she play the female lead in Lin Yuan's drama? And not just a pretty face, but a character with equal strength and ability.
Who is Lin Yuan currently collaborating with?
He collaborated with Yu Ying on "The Art of Ghosts".
Shi Ran felt she was somewhat famous, but compared to Yu Ying, her fame was nothing.
Although the film and television industries are quite different, those within the industry generally consider film actors to be of a higher status than television actors.
Moreover, Yu Ying achieved fame early and has won many awards, making her her senior.
Although Lin Yuan has filmed a few dramas, each one has achieved good results—"The Powerful Minister" and "Major Case" happened to be the top two in terms of TV ratings and online viewership last year.
Of all the dramas that aired in a year, these two can be considered to have been effectively broadcast.
Shi Ran had no doubt that there was already a long line of actors in the industry who wanted to work with Lin Yuan, and actresses with higher status than her were probably already planning to do so. The chances of this opportunity falling into her lap were... very low.
If the male lead for "Mandala" had been someone less famous, Han Wen probably would have gotten the role.
So when Shi Ran received the notification from the production team, she was filled with joy.
Her agent also told her to seize the opportunity. Even if "Mandala" didn't perform as well as Lin Yuan's previous two dramas, as long as the drama aired, it wouldn't be an ineffective broadcast.
The industry is undoubtedly keeping a close eye on Lin Yuan's new drama.
As the female lead in this drama, Shi Ran will inevitably make a strong impression.
This is a huge opportunity.
Just like He Xun in "The Powerful Minister".
While the other three actors in the "Major Cases" quartet haven't reaped the same benefits as He Xun, they have gradually established themselves in the entertainment industry. The actress who played the forensic doctor in the series has already become the female lead this year, transforming from a nobody in the entertainment circle into a highly anticipated newcomer.
Once you're in the entertainment industry, who doesn't want to be famous?
Anyone who says they don't want to be famous is lying. It's like how all the world's celebrities just happened to accompany their friends to auditions and ended up being chosen themselves.
Friends all over the world will have someone much prettier than themselves accompany them when they audition.
Shi Ran deliberately arrived a moment earlier than the time required by the production team, worried that if the other big-name actors in the crew arrived early, she would be the one being waited for, which would be awkward.
After arriving at the film set, she saw Lin Yuan.
At first, she didn't recognize him because Lin Yuan was wrapped in an incredibly thick down jacket, which looked like it was detachable, with his head tucked inside. If he hadn't suddenly raised his head, Shi Ran would have thought she was seeing things.
She didn't recognize Lin Yuan right away, so it was Lin Yuan who greeted her first.
Shi Ran quickly bowed her head and said, "Good morning, Teacher Lin."
"Good morning!" Lin Yuan looked very energetic, although... the way he was huddled in his down jacket dampened his spirits. "No need to call me teacher, just call me Lin Yuan."
Shi Ran: "..."
To be honest, when they first met, she found it hard to connect Lin Yuan with the Lin Yuan she knew online.
Lin Yuan's first impression of her was that he was like a lively puppy.
The Lin Yuan online is much fiercer; going up against him is never a good thing.
Lin Yuan himself looks younger than he does on camera. Shi Ran guessed that it was probably because he had played more mature roles before.
Shao Jing spans a wide age range, while Qiu Heng, having experienced numerous murder cases, is far more mature than the average person.
Han Shen in "Mandala" is also a cautious, reserved, and cold character.
Lin Yuan himself is quite different from the character he plays.
The real person is much more lively.
There was absolutely no sense of gloom in the character.
Although Lin Yuan is lively, Shi Ran could tell that he wasn't completely without boundaries. She was also quite afraid of getting along with people who were naturally outgoing. Based on Shi Ran's experience as an actress, those who were too outgoing... would eventually get her in trouble.
This is based on her personal experience, and it doesn't mean she discriminates against this type of personality.
...
Zhong Xinghai, the director of "Mandala", is 42 years old this year and is completely bald. According to him, he started shaving his head when he was 35 years old because the Mediterranean hairstyle is not something that most people can pull off.
He had offended some big shot before, and that person cursed him, saying that he wouldn't even need to find a target to be struck by lightning; the glowing thing in the middle would be it.
Lin Yuan: "..."
He felt there was a problem with this logic.
What's the difference between a whole light bulb and a light bulb surrounded by grass?
Feng Zeng happened to be there and knew that Lin Yuan was having another episode and wanted to say some nonsense, so he quickly stopped him with a look.
Lin Yuan: "...I haven't said anything yet."
"Shut up right now."
Lin Yuan said that the agent's remote communication skills have reached a high level, and next time he can try practicing ventriloquism.
Zhong Xinghai is a well-known director in the industry who is good at making dark and brutal films, especially when he was young. His ideas were very advanced, which made it easy for him to offend big-name actors.
As he's gotten older, Zhong Xinghai has become much gentler, and the scripts he directs seem more normal. "Mandala" is one such normal script.
His works certainly have their merits; he dares to film dark things for the audience to see.
Zhong Xinghai did not deliberately construct a non-existent darkness. On the contrary, the darkness in his dramas is real, and it is not the kind of darkness that is far removed from the lives of normal people, such as corruption, corruption, and drug trafficking. His selection of materials mostly focuses on daily life and the choices of ordinary people.
An ordinary person, driven by selfish desires in a moment, brings about a dark outcome—this is a theme he often films.
The thoughts of ordinary people are commonplace, but the consequences can be overwhelming and cruel, even beyond what most people can accept.
The reason why viewers can't stand his perspective is because the choices made by the characters in the drama are too ordinary, choices that any normal person would make.
The audience understands the choices made by the characters in the play.
Who doesn't have selfish motives?
But the consequences of that choice are something no one can accept.
In short, Zhong Xinghai is good at digging deep into human nature. Many directors can do the same, but those directors analyze as much as they can dig. Zhong Xinghai is the type who, for example, judges someone for committing a petty theft as someone who has violated the laws of heaven.
A dark outcome beyond reality.
Fortunately, the director has now stopped.
"That's not entirely true," Zhong Xinghai said. "The main problem is that we don't have enough materials."
Lin Yuan: "..."
The resources have been exhausted, so there's nothing left to film—does the director even realize how cruel this statement is?
Lin Yuan found the reason for his baldness.
Sure enough, not a single hair on the director's head was lost in vain—his father wasn't bald.
Feng Zeng: "..."
The agent felt it was a miracle that Lin Yuan hadn't made enemies with the director.
...
After arriving at the film set, the director gave the actors a general introduction to the script and analyzed the characters. The preliminary work was done by the director and screenwriter together, and Lin Yuan and the other actors had no objections to the character design.
Lin Yuan doesn't like to interfere with screenwriters' work, and he doesn't have a go-to screenwriter in his studio.
In the script of "Mandala", Han Shen's character design was already quite good, and Lin Yuan couldn't find anything that needed to be changed.
Han Wen is the same.
Lin Yuan has many scenes with Shi Ran in the drama. Lin Yuan feels that both the dialogue and inner thoughts of the characters in the drama are very consistent with the character settings and do not need to be changed.
Wang Zhimin's villainous character only appears in the middle of the story, so he hasn't joined the cast yet.
Besides Lin Yuan and Shi Ran, the main cast also includes Wang Tong, Han Shen's suitor, played by Yuan Yuan, whom Lin Yuan had never worked with before.
Yuan Yuan seems to have a cheerful and optimistic personality, and is not difficult to get along with, at least at first glance.
Anyway, Lin Yuan didn't plan to make friends with all the actors. In the entertainment industry, it's already quite difficult for an actor to have three or four colleagues as friends. Lin Yuan felt that, starting from "Thousand Mountains", he already had more than that many friends.
The budget for "Mandala" is acceptable.
In the director's words, after casting the male lead, he never had to worry about money again. Investors would always call to ask him if the show needed more funding.
Zhong Xinghai couldn't help but complain to screenwriter Liu Ge: "With so many people investing in the last drama, I'm sure I could have made the ending even better."
In his previous drama, he still followed a dark path of human nature, just not as dark and cruel, so the public could still accept it.
Liu Ge glanced at him: "The investors aren't here because of you."
Zhong Xinghai: "I know, there's no need to emphasize this."
How could he possibly blame Lin Yuan?
Although the director isn't responsible for raising funds—that's the producer's job—for Zhong Xinghai, the successful filming of a movie is a victory in itself.
He used to worry a lot about investing.
He believed he had made a remarkable film, but unfortunately, no one appreciated it, and even fewer people invested in it.
His ability to survive in the directing world is mainly attributed to his hair and his extraordinary optimism.
Add a little trickery to scam money.
A director may not be responsible for raising funds, but they cannot be completely without the skills to do so.
Zhong Xinghai was also exceptionally good at cost-cutting; for a while, he often borrowed props from others.
As long as you have thick skin, you can keep getting roles in dramas.
Therefore, he was still somewhat unaccustomed to the ample budget of "Mandala".
"Thank you, Lin Yuan," Zhong Xinghai said with emotion, "for helping me find new employment."
"Luckily, Lin Yuan can't hear that," Liu Ge said speechlessly. "If he did, he would just feel like he's been tricked."
"It doesn't matter if you hear it, he's not coming down anyway."
...
Although Zhong Xinghai occasionally reveals his unreliable side, as a director, his skills are absolutely top-notch; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to make a living while constantly making films on unconventional themes.
After a short rest, filming for "Mandala" officially began.
The script only has 24 episodes, and it's unlikely that any more will be added.
The director dislikes pointless, filler storylines.
Moreover, the revenge arc is meant to shock the audience. If the early part drags on for too long and there's too much buildup, the audience's patience will be worn down, and even if there's a twist at the end, it won't meet the production team's expectations.
A TV series doesn't need to be that long.
Unless it's a story like "The Powerful Minister" that tells the story of a character's life for most of his life, interspersed with historical events, this drama is destined to be quite long.
The story of "Mandala" is simple, and Zhong Xinghai had no excuse to make it longer.
The first scene depicts the daily life of the Han siblings.
In pursuit of the murderer, the Han siblings moved to City S. Both were well-educated and had respectable jobs. Their parents were no longer alive, and they had never revealed the fact that their parents had passed away. In a big city like City S, they were just an ordinary and inconspicuous pair of siblings.
No one knew that they carried a deep-seated blood feud.
This day was just another peaceful, ordinary day.
The younger sister made breakfast, the older brother washed the dishes, and his briefcase contained documents needed by the company. By the time the older brother finished washing the dishes and came out, the younger sister had already left for work.
There was only a stack of printed A4 papers on the table.
In the clear morning light, Han Shen squinted and stared silently at what was written on the A4 paper.
“
To outsiders, it seemed as if the younger sister had assigned a difficult task to her older brother.
Only the two of them knew in tacit agreement that what was recorded on the paper was information about the murderer they had been chasing.
"The interaction between the brother and sister should be both ordinary and extraordinary, understand?" Zhong Xinghai instructed from the side.
Lin Yuan and Shi Ran frowned in unison, then nodded at the same time.
Filming officially began at this point.
Han Wen hummed an unknown tune, which Shi Ran had learned in two nights. She herself was a little tone-deaf. The reason she was humming this tune was because the song was a folk song about revenge.
Although the rhythm is cheerful, the content has nothing to do with cheerfulness; it only talks about revenge.
The moment Han Shen stepped out of the room, his eyes met those of his sister.
Although the two tried their best to act like ordinary people, their unique aura was still revealed.
This is not an ordinary brother and sister.
Both of them were equally burdened with heavy thoughts.
Shi Ran's thought at this moment was that after getting into character, Lin Yuan seemed to have abandoned the cheerful side of his personality and become cautious and reserved.
Shi Ran felt that Han Wen's personality was not too different from her own. In "Mandala", the main role of revenge was played by Han Shen.
As the younger sister, Han Wen lived under Han Shen's protection. She didn't have as much trouble as Han Shen, nor was she as cunning.
Even though life was tough, she was still the one being protected.
Han Shen, however, was different.
However, Han Shen's personality and Lin Yuan's true personality are... quite different.
Shi Ran spent a few days with Lin Yuan on set, and she gradually got used to Lin Yuan's optimistic and cheerful attitude. To be honest, when she suddenly saw Lin Yuan's portrayal of Han Shen, Shi Ran was not quite used to it.
It feels like she's a completely different person.
In front of her, "Han Shen" suppressed his murderous intent.
The moment Han Shen saw the documents on the table, his murderous intent and sinister nature were laid bare.
After reading it, Han Shen set fire to and burned all the documents.
The firelight reflected perfectly in his pupils, which seemed to contain a raging inferno.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Update! [doge][doge][doge]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com