The scene where Shen Yu and Yan Sheng meet for the first time in the play would not take more than two minutes in the finished film. If it were a veteran actor, it would probably be a one-shot story. At best, I'll do two or three NGs and then find some shots to correct them. Director Xu took Shen Yu's acting skills into consideration and specially reserved a morning for him. Make sure Shen Yu’s acting skills won’t be too terrible in comparison with other big names. However, even so, Xu Musen found that he still overestimated Shen Yu's ability——
This scene took most of the day to shoot, and it was not until around four in the afternoon that it barely met Director Xu's requirements. By the time the props team and lighting and camera crew had finished setting up the set for the next scene, it was already dark.
Fortunately, Tao Mu and Yan Sheng's rivalry was in the bar, and the filming outside would not be affected whether it was day or night.
Tao Mu, who had been sitting behind Director Xu, watching the monitor and observing Yan Sheng's acting skills, stood up and walked into the set. The makeup artist came forward to touch up Tao Mu and Yan Sheng's makeup. Yan Sheng didn't dare to move too much, so he could only glance at Tao Mu with his eyes, and said without even moving his lips: "I heard them say that your acting is good."
Tao Mu also replied expressionlessly: "Actor Yan's acting skills are also very good."
Yan Sheng laughed and said, "Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. In the next scene, Mr. Tao, please let me see how good your acting skills are."
"No problem." After the makeup artist finished touching up the makeup, the assistant came over with a bottle of mineral water with a straw inserted in it. Tao Mu lowered his head and drank a sip of water, then stood up straight and looked at Yan Sheng: "You will see it soon."
Yan Sheng's smile faded slightly, and his gentle and calm aura suddenly became serious and a little aggressive.
The entire set suddenly fell silent. The actors who were still on the set gathered secretly in a corner where the camera couldn't reach, and the staff also took their positions. The atmosphere suddenly became tense, as if an arrow was on a string, ready to be fired at any moment.
Even Director Xu, who was sitting in the director's chair, couldn't help but straighten his back, lean forward, and stare at the monitor.
The script supervisor held the clapperboard and shouted "a" in front of the camera.
A powerful DI dance music suddenly sounded, and the extras stood on the dance floor, shaking their heads and dancing, and the waitresses dressed as bunny girls walked around holding trays. The male protagonist Yan Qi, played by Yan Sheng, was lying in front of the bar, drinking one glass after another and getting drunk.
I have to admit that Yan Sheng's acting skills are indeed superb. He sat precariously on the bar stool, leaning his elbows on the bar, dragging his body down from time to time. Whether it's the slightly dull and nonchalant eyes, or the details of shaking the wine glass and pouring it into his mouth, one can clearly realize from the body language that this person is drinking to drown his sorrows. One can even observe the bitterness and unwillingness in this person's heart from the slight tremors at the corners of his mouth, a complex mixture of restraint and the desire to vent brutality.
Director Xu, who was sitting in front of the monitor, had his eyes lit up and waved his hand to signal camera number one to follow up for a close-up of the face and hands. Yan Sheng has always been gentle, amiable and approachable. Therefore, when he is acting, he is also very considerate of his partner's emotions. Unless they meet an experienced and skilled actor like Zhou Yanqing, they will be more restrained when facing newcomers. It's rare to see such a shot that goes full throttle and is extremely aggressive.
It is like the calm before a volcanic eruption. Although it is calm and peaceful, it is extremely explosive between relaxation and tension. He attracted everyone's attention without making any noise. Even if Yan Sheng didn't say a word, there would still be no one more attractive than him in the entire shot.
Camera No. 2 turns to the bar entrance. Different from what everyone imagined, the camera did not focus directly on Tao Mu's face, but was fixed on the pair of feet wearing white sneakers.
It seems that the character's personality is reflected in his attire. After joining the gang, Zhou Yuanting, played by Tao Mu, usually wears white and black. Either a white T-shirt and black jeans, or black jeans and white sneakers.
When Tao Mu was writing the character's biography, he once analyzed or set up Zhou Yuanting's character to be a bit cocky. He is very handsome and is well aware of his attraction to girls. So even after joining the gang, Tao Mu's dress was still meticulous and he tried his best to look cool.
But in this scene, Zhou Yuanting, who is always exquisite, didn't even notice that his shoelaces were loose. Just walking into the bar step by step, the messy shoelaces seemed to reflect the owner's mood.
But even so, if Tao Mu can only show this level. I'm afraid that Yan Sheng will overshadow me.
Zhou Yuanting walked into the bar, went straight to the bar counter and sat next to Yan Qi. He tapped the counter with his slender fingers and asked for a glass of whiskey. But he didn't drink it. Instead, he played with the crystal glass, and the ice cubes in the glass clinked as he shook it. Zhou Yuanting put one hand on Yan Qi's shoulder, still maintaining the brotherly attitude, and asked Yan Qi: "You and Yan Yu are brothers, why have I never heard you mention it?"
Even though he was in so much pain that he had to drown his sorrows in alcohol, Yan Qi was still a trained Hong Kong police officer. His long undercover career made him always on high alert, not to mention that Yan Yu was the family member he cared about most.
Hearing this, Yan Qi's expression immediately changed. In the close-up shot, Yan Sheng's pupils suddenly dilated and his eyes became intimidatingly bright. Even the muscles around the eye sockets were affected at that moment, showing an extremely shocked micro-expression. However, in just a moment, Yan Qi woke up. He glanced calmly at the bartender at the bar. He turned his head and looked at Zhou Yuanting, still drunk: "What did you say!"
Zhou Yuanting leaned forward and moved in front of Yan Qi. The camera freezes on the two of them from the side. Yan Qi is half lying on the bar, and he looks drunk. The body is relaxed and the posture is lazy. However, under the bar, Yan Qi put his feet on the bar stool, his right hand hanging at his side was clenched into a fist, but the upper half of his arm was still relaxed. It vividly expresses the emotions of a person who is wary of his inner thoughts but wants to hide the past.
Zhou Yuanting, who was sitting next to him, kept his arm on Yan Qi's shoulder in an intimate gesture. However, Zhou Yuanting, who was supposed to lean over with this movement, always kept his lower body a fist's distance away. From the camera, it looks like the two of them are good brothers with their upper bodies linked by each other's shoulders, but their lower bodies unconsciously keep a distance from each other. This small detail of the two people gradually turning from mutually trusting partners to rivals who appear to be close but are actually estranged is particularly visually effective.
Director Xu, who was sitting in front of the monitor, had an idea and signaled the camera to give Zhou Yuanting a close-up of his face.
Camera No. 2 moves up along Zhou Yuanting's arm, from forearm to shoulder, to Adam's apple and then to chin, finally revealing Zhou Yuanting's eyes.
The corners of Zhou Yuanting's mouth still had that familiar curve. Zhou Yuanting likes to laugh very much. When he laughs, he has a naughty tone, with the corners of his mouth raised fiercely, the orbicularis oculi muscle contracted, and the zygomatic major and levator anguli oris muscles contracted coordinatedly, making his smile look particularly full. Coupled with the rich collagen in young people's apple muscles, they look particularly youthful and handsome, with the unique spirit of a big boy.
However, now, Zhou Yuanting's smile only remained on the lower half of his face. His zygomatic major muscle was symbolically lifted up, but his orbicularis oculi muscle did not change at all. His dark eyes were also deep and without any emotion. Looking at it suddenly through the camera, it was actually quite hideous.
From the perspective of the entire script, this scene is the turning point of Zhou Yuanting's transformation to evil. It was in this scene that Zhou Yuanting learned that the police's first undercover candidate was Yan Yu, but because of Yan Qi's strong opposition, he was eventually chosen.
The man who should have graduated successfully from the police academy and become a glorious policeman has now become a street thug who is despised by everyone. All his family and friends stayed away overnight, and Zhou Yuanting's father was so angry that he had a heart attack and refused to let him step into the house. His peers, whose training results were far inferior to his, were all able to wear police uniforms and perform duties. He could only roam the streets every day with a group of thugs. From time to time, he would be detained by these police cadets of the same class, handcuffed and forced to squat in the police station, listening to them scolding him like a prisoner.
All of this was brought to him by the man in front of him. It's ridiculous that Zhou Yuanting actually regarded Yan Qi as his partner, and even fantasized about completing the task with him and then returning to the police station to refresh the file in glory.
In the script, this is to pave the way for Zhou Yuanting's transformation into a villain. In fact, there is another scene before this. It is said that Zhou Yuanting accidentally met a policeman who used to be an undercover agent. The man had been undercover in the gang for eight years and finally successfully completed his mission and returned to the police station. However, what greeted him was not flowers, applause, high position and generous salary, but the bad habits left over from his years of gangster life - making him out of tune with his other colleagues in the police station.
"They always say that an official is an official and a thief is a thief. It is only natural for officers and soldiers to catch thieves. But who are officials and who are thieves?"
"If you work in a police station and wear a police uniform every day, then you are an official. If you live in a den of thieves, then you are a thief."
"I have been undercover for eight years. I have done all kinds of bad things in order to gain the trust of the boss. I have hacked people, sold drugs, and visited prostitutes. If others do it, wouldn't you do it too? But can the police do these things?"
"I have been undercover for eight years and returned to the police station. The police officers who worked with me during the same period have all been promoted to senior inspectors. My connections and colleagues are all over Hong Kong. Only I don't know anyone except my superiors. When I go out to work on a case with others, they still suspect that I will tip off the gangs. The brothers who helped me block the knife in the past are also my comrades on the battlefield. But I have to send them to jail with my own hands..."
"Being an undercover agent means you have no human rights. Once a thief, always a thief. The officials won't believe you, and the thieves will kill you to avenge you. You are neither of you. It's not easy for you to get rid of the shadow of these years."
The undercover officer was later hacked to death by his brother after he was released from prison.
Before that scene, Zhou Yuanting, Du Ze and their brothers had a fight with other gangs, but were caught by Yan Yu and the police at the last moment. While being handcuffed and squatting in the police station while giving his statement, Yan Yu righteously accused him of being self-degrading and disappointing.
It was under such circumstances that Zhou Yuanting learned about the brotherly relationship between Yan Qi and Yan Yu, and learned that in order to protect his brother, Yan Qi had caused others to become a half-human, half-ghost and go undercover.
All the foreshadowing and emotional accumulation in the previous scene burst out in this scene. However, Tao Mu had not filmed the previous scenes. Without the accumulation of emotions, there is a need to explode immediately. Director Xu was originally worried that Tao Mu's performance would be slightly inferior. After all, Yan Sheng performed so well in this scene.
But I didn't expect that Yan Sheng's performance was so wonderful, and Tao Mu's acting skills were even more amazing.
"I said I didn't know you and Yan Yu were brothers." Zhou Yuanting leaned over Yan Qi's ear, his arm changed from being around his shoulders to pressing the back of his neck: "We are partners. Sir Zhou asked me to work with you. And let us trust each other. But Brother Yan, you refused to tell me such an important thing."
Zhou Yuanting chuckled, but there was no smile in his eyes: "Brother Yan, did you never believe me from the beginning to the end?"
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