Before the official start of filming for "The Curtain", Ji Yan and Xi Ming underwent gunfight and action training. The action directors of the "The Curtain" crew were top-notch in the industry, in order to ensure that the actors were in the best condition during filming. However, the training before filming was not enough. After filming began, Ji Yan and Xi Ming would receive action scene guidance during their breaks.
This is a strict requirement for Qu Xiyu.
Both of them chose to accept.
Because of the Changkong Award, Ji Yan and Xi Ming had some exchanges. Xi Ming also strongly invited Ji Yan to participate in the script "Black Curtain". However, in reality, the two were not very familiar with each other, and they had almost no interaction in private.
Ji Yan only knew that Xi Ming was a very serious person when it came to filming, but he didn't have a clear understanding of just how serious he was.
However, after officially cooperating with the other party, Ji Yan gradually realized this.
Xi Ming is 40 years old this year. He has been in the film and television industry for much longer than Ji Yan. However, he is also a model of early fame. He entered the film industry at a young age and was recognized by the Chang Kong Award. His career has been brilliant ever since.
Logically speaking, at Xi Ming's age, with two Chang Kong Awards for Best Actor already in hand, there's absolutely no need for him to work so hard.
Even during the pre-filming training, Xi Ming completed everything meticulously. Although his stamina was not as good as Ji Yan's, Ji Yan could hear him panting heavily after a training session. Even so, he did not ask to stop. On the contrary, his shooting movements were standard and meticulous. When sparring with the action director, he also threw every punch with great force, without any intention of slacking off.
In daily interactions, Xi Ming is known for his gentle personality. In addition to being an actor, he also holds positions in some industry associations. He served as the vice chairman of the jury for the award-winning film "I, Nameless" when it was nominated. Xi Ming has always had a very good reputation in his interactions with people in the industry.
However, when filming the movie, the other person seemed to be a completely different person.
He not only has high standards for his own filming, but he is also quite demanding of his co-stars. However, Xi Ming's demands are not offensive, because even if he offends someone during filming, he always makes amends promptly after filming ends.
After only a few days on the set of "Black Curtain," Ji Yan realized how capable Xi Ming was.
As rumored, director Qu Xiyu remained aloof and indifferent towards Ji Yan. Regardless of whether Ji Yan had just won the Chang Kong Award or had millions of fans, she treated him with cold indifference. Of course, she treated Xi Ming the same way, always maintaining a businesslike tone.
Ji Yan felt that this was the kind of filming atmosphere he was used to.
Qu Xiyu just had a cold face. In fact, she wasn't as fierce as Zhu Shuguang. However, this director also had his own unique insights into the script, and could even be described as stubborn. Not long after joining the crew, Ji Yan experienced it firsthand.
In this movie, Ji Yan plays Li Yu, who is the villain, but his villainy is different from the villain in "The Vanishing Murder".
If Cheng Yuan is a flesh-and-blood avenger, then Li Yu is a heartless devil. This character suffered abuse from his parents when he was young, which triggered Li Yu's antisocial personality. He did bad things not for any purpose, nor did he have any great ambition. He was just pure evil. He was born to be a bad person.
Ji Yan had never encountered this kind of role before.
Xi Ming was actually quite surprised when Ji Yan accepted the role, because in the script, Li Yu was a born bad guy. For an actor like Ji Yan who was in the rising stage of his career, taking on this type of role would not be conducive to his own development.
Villains are usually supporting characters rather than protagonists, and Ji Yan also played a villain in "The Vanished Murder Case". This time, "The Curtain" adds another villain. Over time, the industry and the audience will form a stereotype of him.
Ji Yan accepted it anyway, without any objection or even thinking of asking the screenwriter to change his character. Xi Ming himself had never done such a thing, but he knew that some actors would do it. Not only would those newcomers who were blinded by the praise of their fans do it, but even some veteran actors would do it.
When portraying the character Li Yu, Ji Yan habitually brought over the habits he developed while filming "The Vanishing Murder"—since Li Yu had a tragic past, Ji Yan thought that he should portray the shadow of the past Li Yu in the present Li Yu.
He believes that if viewers think about it this way, they will be able to better understand the character of Li Yu.
Qu Xiyu only replied with three words: "No need."
What she meant was that the script didn't describe this aspect, so Ji Yan didn't need to expand on the character; he just needed to faithfully perform what was already in the script.
Ji Yan's first shoot for the TV series "Black Curtain" was a complete disaster.
However, Qu Xiyu didn't say much, only asking Ji Yan to clarify the character again: "I hope you can put aside the knowledge you have acquired before and think about the character of Li Yu from Li Yu's perspective."
“Okay.” Ji Yan did not object, but instead took the script, sat down, and began to read it carefully again.
"Have some water."
Ji Yan looked up and greeted Xi Ming, who was sitting next to him.
The film "Black Curtain" has two storylines. One is the justice side represented by Gu Chao, played by Xi Ming. At the beginning of the film, police officer Gu Chao and Li Yu have cooperated many times. Gu Chao has obtained a lot of key information with the clues provided by Li Yu and solved many cases. However, with the emergence of a murder case, Gu Chao's suspicions gradually shift to Li Yu.
The other storyline is the dark side represented by Li Yu.
The two storylines overlap to some extent, but in the initial filming, Ji Yan and Xi Ming's scenes were often filmed separately. After Ji Yan's scenes were finished, Xi Ming's scenes would officially begin filming.
While pondering the character, Ji Yan observed Xi Ming's filming.
If Ji Yan had to describe Xi Ming's mastery of the role in one word, he would only use the word "shrewd and experienced." Gu Chao is a police officer with a sense of justice, but he is not a police officer in the traditional sense of being upright and righteous. He has his own thoughts and sometimes takes unconventional approaches. Within the team, he is quite maverick.
The moment Xi Ming's filming began, the phrase "possessed by the character" immediately popped into Ji Yan's mind.
He felt he wasn't exaggerating, because it was indeed true.
Ji Yan had seen "One Me". After all, he had lost to Xi Ming several times during the awards season, so he naturally wanted to see what kind of movie "One Me" was.
But now he has discovered that Xi Ming's portrayal of Gu Chao is completely unrelated to his character in "One Me," and they are two completely different characters.
That's what makes Xi Ming so remarkable.
The moment the other person stood there, the essence of Gu Chao's character was completely revealed.
Ji Yan flipped through the script. In the latter half, he and Xi Ming had a lot of scenes together. Watching Xi Ming's performance, Ji Yan couldn't help but wonder if he could keep up with Xi Ming's acting when they actually had their own scenes together.
As actors who rose to fame at a young age, it must be said that Xi Ming's performance truly amazed Ji Yan.
In what was merely a simple scene of instructing subordinates, Xi Ming's performance, complete with actions, facial expressions, and eyes, went far beyond mere surface-level acting. Under his portrayal, the character Gu Chao seemed to come alive.
Ji Yan simply stopped reading the script and stood behind the monitor, watching Xi Ming's performance live.
Qu Xiyu didn't say much when she saw Ji Yan's actions. She still stared at the monitor with a cold and solemn expression, as if the actors present all owed her tens of millions.
"It's extremely urgent, Lao Gu, why are you telling me this?"
"What's the rush?" Gu Chao's eyes flashed with a hint of nonchalance. "He can't escape."
Gu Chao's fingers seemingly casually swept across the documents on the table, but his sharp eyes were inconsistent with his relaxed movements. His gaze searched through the documents, while his mind rapidly processed the evidence he had gathered.
Ji Yan recalled the contents of the script. He had memorized Xi Ming's lines, not only the lines after the two had scenes together, but also the lines before. The only thing he was sure of was that Xi Ming had really performed the contents of the script completely.
Exactly the same word.
Qu Xiyu did not call a pause, and Xi Ming's performance continued.
Xi Ming's performance in this segment was very coherent. Ji Yan witnessed him transform a long passage from the script into detailed performance, without any pauses, almost in one go.
However, Qu Xiyu still pointed out a problem with Xi Ming's performance. It was just a small detail, but Qu Xiyu did not brush it off. She hoped that Xi Ming could improve this part.
Xi Ming nodded in agreement.
He sat down next to Ji Yan, and while the other actors were filming, the two of them held the script, went over their lines, and analyzed the details of the characters. Xi Ming told Ji Yan his understanding of the character Li Yu, and Ji Yan told Xi Ming his opinion of Gu Chao.
“Indeed.” Xi Ming said thoughtfully, “Your approach is a little different from mine, but it’s a good one.”
The two opened the script at the same time and wrote down their feelings about the characters in the blank spaces.
Then, Xi Ming looked at Ji Yan and smiled, and Ji Yan couldn't help but smile too—both of their scripts looked a bit old, and the scripts were covered with notes, especially the parts with a lot of dialogue. In addition, the two of them had brought a separate notebook, which contained quite a thick biography of the characters. All the parts that couldn't fit on the script were written in the notebook. However, Xi Ming was more experienced, and his notes were more organized, while Ji Yan's were a bit messy.
"Can I borrow this one first?" Xi Ming asked. "You can borrow mine too."
Although their conversation was brief, they did hear some useful things from each other, which would undoubtedly provide a more thorough understanding when viewed in conjunction with the script.
And so, the two exchanged scripts and notebooks, intending to go back and slowly ponder each other's views on the characters.
Although Gu Chao and Li Yu are two completely different characters, they have many scenes together in the film. Ji Yan and Xi Ming will inevitably take into account the personality of each other's characters when performing, and then cooperate in a targeted manner.
More communication is indeed very necessary.
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