Chapter 611 Bet
For viewers, a mediocre 80-point film is definitely more enjoyable and suitable for them than an innovative 60-point film. However, creators cannot always choose a mediocre 80-point film; a mediocre 80-point film will always remain an 80-point film, while an innovative 60-point film may one day become a 90-point film.
For actors, performing a challenging and demanding role is certainly more beneficial than creating a good film; the former can certainly help them gain recognition as a "skilled actor." However, whether an actor becomes a "skilled actor" or simply an "actor" in the eyes of the audience depends on the latter—the latter is the prerequisite.
Lu Yanhe is protective of his characters and won't let them be mistreated. However, Lu Yanhe also respects the principle that the work is more important than the actor. He firmly believes that only when the work is good enough can everything else be truly good.
Why did you accept the role in the movie "Tropical Rainy Season"?
Lu Yanhe gave different reasons to different people, all sorts of reasons. Ultimately, it all boiled down to this script; it touched him when he read it. Why did it touch him?
Because he's already so famous, among all the film scripts he's received, there are very few that, like "Tropical Rainy Season," simply and earnestly tell the story of a boy's growth, the silhouette and changes of a family, and the story of people themselves. And this is the best of them all.
—You could have taken on a bigger production with a better team, so why did you choose this one?
—Because I have all of those things, I want to act, and there are plenty of good projects for him to act in, but apart from this script, I haven't come across another one like "Tropical Rainy Season".
Now, Huang Tianlin is discussing with him how to better present this scene in the movie, even if it means sacrificing his performance space, so what?
Actors can touch the hearts of audiences not only in the performance space.
Just by listening to Huang Tianlin's description, Lu Yanhe could already picture how this scene would be presented in the movie.
The way he imagined it perfectly matched his expectations for the film.
Why didn't he cooperate?
“Actually—” Lu Yanhe hesitated for a moment.
Huang Tianlin felt a sense of relief; as expected, Lu Yanhe still hadn't fully accepted it.
How could a big-name actor allow himself to appear in a movie as such a blurry figure, without close-ups or any performance?
"Go ahead," Huang Tianlin thought. If all else fails, adding two close-up shots would also work.
Lu Yanhe's performance was indeed good.
He didn't say it during the day, but he was very satisfied with the look in Lu Yanhe's eyes after he was slapped.
They are truly good actors. Not every actor with great acting skills can deliver a scene like that.
As Huang Tianlin was thinking this, he heard Lu Yanhe say, "I'm thinking, how about we delete my two lines and my brother's lines as well, so that no one speaks in this scene and everything is conveyed through actions?"
Huang Tianlin was taken aback. "Huh?"
Lu Yanhe: "In the script, the younger brother came up, and I told him to get off. He whispered an apology, but I ignored him. He came back, and I pushed him away again. He got off, feeling wronged, and sat down on the floor by the bed. After a while, I softened and let him get back on the bed. I was thinking that if this scene were to be filmed with a fixed camera, then all the changes should be shown through actions, without a single line of dialogue. This would also seem to better reflect the two people's mindset. Everyone is proud and unwilling to apologize verbally, but the younger brother wants to express his apology to his older brother. The older brother, in the end, is not really angry with his younger brother and will forgive him. Using this kind of physical interaction might present it more... how should I put it? Less direct, and more touching."
Huang Tianlin was completely dumbfounded.
Originally, Lu Yanhe had a few lines in this scene, but he's now suggesting they all be cut...
In that scene, all that's left are the silhouettes of the two people.
"In this way, you will basically be invisible to the audience in this scene."
Especially Lu Yanhe, except when he entered the room and got into bed, he just lay there, and the audience could hardly see his face. The lighting was dim, and nothing could be seen clearly.
Lu Yanhe smiled and said, "Isn't this a good thing? Chinese people, we Chinese, are actually quite reserved in our emotions. We're not so direct. It's in these kinds of ambiguous situations that we're more likely to express our love and tolerance for our family, isn't that right?"
Huang Tianlin nodded.
He actually agreed with what Lu Yanhe said. Sometimes, in a scene, silence speaks louder than words. With this change in the camera language of the scene, silence is indeed better than sound.
However, this left Huang Feng completely bewildered. He didn't know how to act.
Huang Tianlin had no choice but to demonstrate on the spot, going through it with Lu Yanhe so that Huang Feng could learn.
Huang Tianlin poked Lu Yanhe's shoulder with his hand, and Lu Yanhe immediately pushed his shoulder away.
Huang Feng: "Why did you poke him with your finger?"
Huang Tianlin: "Because you just had a fight with him during the day, you're too embarrassed to talk to him directly at this time."
Huang Feng: "Then just say sorry."
“You can say that the younger brother you played can’t say it.”
"Why? If you feel you're wrong, just say sorry."
"Because he doesn't think he's wrong, or maybe he does think he's wrong but is too embarrassed to say sorry," Huang Tianlin explained.
Huang Feng frowned. "Does he even realize he was wrong?"
"What do you think? Do you think your younger brother feels he was wrong?"
Huang Feng thought about it seriously for a long time and finally came to a conclusion: "I don't know."
"Then just start acting."
So, they came directly.
When Huang Tianlin told Lu Yanhe to open the door, he had to stop the door at a certain position so that half of the light coming in from outside would fall on Lu Yanhe's bed.
As a result, they filmed three takes just for the action of opening the door.
Huang Feng is indeed talented in acting.
Although he didn't really understand why the younger brother he was playing did those things, Huang Tianlin patiently explained to him what the younger brother was thinking and how he should act, and Huang Feng basically followed Huang Tianlin's instructions to perform.
However, since this scene only has one camera position and one shot, Huang Tianlin wanted to shoot a long take, filming it in one go without any editing. Therefore, if there is even the slightest flaw or problem, it will have to be done again.
That night, filming started at 7:30 and continued until almost midnight.
Huang Feng had yawned countless times.
When children are still growing.
Lu Yanhe said to Huang Tianlin, "How about we stop filming here for tonight? Huang Feng looks exhausted."
Huang Tianlin said, "But this scene didn't achieve the effect I wanted."
"Let's continue filming tomorrow."
"I have another scene to film tomorrow."
Lu Yanhe: "Then the day after tomorrow."
“You have scenes to film every day, and you only gave us seven days,” Huang Tianlin said.
Lu Yanhe: "..."
Huang Tianlin's expression seemed to say, "This is not my fault."
Lu Yanhe: "We really can't finish filming, so we'll film for a few more days."
Huang Tianlin looked at him with some surprise.
Lu Yanhe: "Let's take a break and call it a day."
Huang Tianlin: "Okay, that's a wrap!"
-
Nobody wanted to stay up all night. Everyone thought they would have a tough night, but then they suddenly heard the director call it a day, and everyone in each department looked happy.
Huang Feng fell asleep right on his mother's back.
Lu Yanhe and Wang Biao went back together.
As they approached, they could see the lights on inside the house from afar. Suddenly, Wang Biao remembered and said, "Sister Siqi is already here. She sent me a message an hour ago, but I forgot."
Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised, "Isn't she supposed to arrive tomorrow?"
"It seems the negotiations went smoothly and were settled ahead of schedule," Wang Biao said.
Lu Yanhe was already a little sleepy, but as soon as he learned that Chen Siqi had arrived, he was no longer sleepy.
"Do I have to get up early tomorrow morning?" he asked.
Wang Biao nodded, "Yes, I have to go out at seven o'clock tomorrow to get my hair and makeup done."
"Sigh." Lu Yanhe yawned. "So tired."
Wang Biao laughed and asked, "Then how about I ask the crew for a morning off?"
"No way, I can't do that."
“Since you’ve already promised them they could film for a few more days, they’re not in such a rush anymore.”
“Two different things.” Lu Yanhe shook his head. “Although I really want to ask for leave.”
Wang Biao knew Lu Yanhe's style on set, so he didn't try to persuade him.
"However, Brother Lu, you also have a full day of filming tomorrow, so Sister Siqi will have to wander around the neighborhood by herself."
"Okay, you can keep her company tomorrow. Dong-ge will be fine with me."
-
When Lu Yanhe entered the house, Chen Siqi had just finished showering and was sitting on the balcony letting her hair air dry.
She was wearing only a loose white silk nightgown, half-reclining on a sofa chair, with her laptop on her lap, typing away. Judging from the frequency of her typing, she was probably replying to an email.
"You're finally back!" Upon hearing the voice, Chen Siqi immediately jumped up and ran back to the living room in surprise.
Lu Yanhe immediately took two steps forward, hugged her, and subconsciously spun around on the spot.
This was something neither of them had ever done before.
After spinning around, Lu Yanhe was stunned and didn't react.
Zou Dong and Wang Biao acted as if they hadn't seen anything, and went back to their respective rooms with their things.
Lu Yanhe put Chen Siqi down, and when he thought about how Wang Biao and Zou Dong had seen what had just happened, he chuckled and scratched his head.
Seeing him like this, Chen Siqi smiled, took his hand, and pulled him into the room.
-
As a result, the next day, Chen Siqi was too lazy to go for a walk around the neighborhood by herself.
She directly asked Wang Biao to take her to the film set.
Visiting the set.
Lu Yanhe's girlfriend suddenly appeared, stunning everyone.
No one received the news in advance.
Upon learning this, Huang Tianlin immediately smiled thoughtfully at Lu Yanhe.
No wonder I urged him to finish work last night.
Huang Tianlin was also Lu Yanhe's age, so he could understand why Lu Yanhe was in such a hurry to go back.
He told Yuan Hai, "I said he suddenly agreed to give us a few more days to film."
"What are you thinking about now?" Yuan Hai asked with a smile.
Huang Tianlin said, "Believe it or not, he will definitely ask us for leave in the next few days to spend time with his girlfriend."
Yuan Hai: "How could you think like that? You're being petty."
Huang Tianlin: "Just you wait and see."
He seemed very confident in his judgment.
Yuan Hai: "Fine, I'll wait and see what you say if he doesn't ask for leave."
-
As a result, even though Chen Siqi came to the set, it did not affect Lu Yanhe's filming at all.
Chen Siqi did not go up to Lu Yanhe, and Lu Yanhe did not speak to Chen Siqi while preparing for the scene.
When Chen Siqi was on set, she simply found a chair, sat in a corner, looked at her phone, and chatted with the crew.
She watched Lu Yanhe act from the sidelines.
It wasn't until lunchtime that Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi sat down together.
Why don't you go for a walk around the neighborhood?
"I'm tired, I don't want to move or turn around," Chen Siqi said. "It's nice to just sit here, look at my phone, watch you act, and see a movie star perform live. This is such a rare opportunity."
Chen Siqi's teasing made Lu Yanhe shake his head helplessly.
"By the way, did you greet the director and the others? Did you get to know them?"
"Yes, Wang Biao took me to say hello to them," Chen Siqi said. "That director Huang Tianlin is quite interesting."
"What's interesting?"
“He’s quite unique,” Chen Siqi said. “Didn’t you tell me that he was quite resistant to you because of your status as a big star? He’s actually quite… how should I put it, respectful to me? He even knew that I was promoting the release of ‘Jump Up’ in various overseas countries, and he still expressed his respect for me.”
Lu Yanhe: "...What the hell? Why is his attitude towards you so different from his attitude towards me?"
Chen Siqi laughed and said, "Why do I feel like he's trying to win you over in the opposite way? Because his attitude towards you wasn't very good before, but he's too embarrassed to apologize, so he's using this method to try and salvage the situation?"
Lu Yanhe: "...Is that so? Then I have no idea what he's thinking."
Chen Siqi: How did you feel about making this movie? Did it meet your expectations?
"I don't know yet. I've had a comfortable time filming these past two days on set. Huang Tianlin understands acting very well, and he knows how to use the camera and visuals to present the feeling of the story," Lu Yanhe said. "None of the directors I've worked with before have used the camera so extensively to present a story. Moreover, his camera design, especially the shooting angles, is very creative. I think that after the movie comes out, I don't know how it will be overall, but I should see something that hasn't appeared in other film and television works before."
Chen Siqi looked at Lu Yanhe with some surprise.
"That's already a very high compliment."
“Hmm.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “Mainly, he surprised me. He is a director who truly understands film cinematography. Many directors make good and entertaining films, but most directors' films are entertaining because of their good pacing and narrative perspective. He is different; he is very special.”
Chen Siqi: "Can I see the footage that's already been shot this afternoon?"
Lu Yanhe said, "I'll ask him if we can take a look at the conflict scene we filmed all day yesterday."
"You finished work so late last night, what were you filming last night?"
"We filmed the conflict during the day and the reconciliation at night, but we didn't manage to film the night scene," Lu Yanhe said. "We temporarily adjusted the filming strategy, and we have to continue filming tonight."
How many takes do you need to film for this scene?
“There are quite a few, I haven’t counted them, maybe a dozen or dozens?” Lu Yanhe said. “Anyway, I’ve been tormented by him and constantly asked to start over.”
"Is he that strict?"
“He’s not strict, he’s a perfectionist when it comes to details.” Lu Yanhe said helplessly, “I was filming a scene at night where I pushed open a door to enter a room. In order to make the light shining into the room just stop in the position he wanted, I only had that one action, and it took almost half an hour to film it.”
Chen Siqi: "...You have such a good temper."
“If it were someone else, I might have been impatient, but because I knew what effect he wanted, and I also wanted to achieve that best effect, it wasn’t that I had a good temper, it was that he made me feel that this scene could indeed have been filmed better.”
Ultimately, it's because Lu Yanhe himself is an actor who wants to improve his acting.
To achieve this goal, he can constantly push himself to the limit.
He is willing.
As the two were chatting, Yuan Hai suddenly brought over a plate of what looked like freshly roasted chicken, smiling as he said, "This is a chicken we just roasted. Try it; it's how we do it locally."
"Thank you, Mr. Yuan."
"That's so thoughtful."
The chicken was still whole, so Yuan Hai put on plastic gloves and sat down to help them tear the chicken meat apart so they could eat it easily.
As Yuan Hai tore apart the chicken, he asked, "Siqi, will you stay here with Yan He until the filming is finished, and then go back together?"
“Me? I can’t. I don’t have that much time. I have to leave the day after tomorrow,” Chen Siqi said with a smile.
-
I recommend the new book "The Demon-Slaying Sword".
(End of this chapter)
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