Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Uneasiness
Sun Quan: "Oh, I fell in love with him at first sight. I begged him to sign the contract. I worked so hard to get him signed. If it weren't for me, would you be here to help him with his makeup?"
He paused and said, "What a pity, the other one I like will never be able to sign a contract in this lifetime."
Jiang Yuxia: "..." He said it would be better if it wasn't Zhou Boye.
Thinking of Zhou Boye, his eyes darkened again, and his teeth lightly gnashed the corner of his lips. He could never get back at this humiliation, and it was so embarrassing in front of him.
"Oh, by the way, have you read the novel I recommended to you last time?" the makeup artist suddenly said.
Jiang Yuxia: "The Canary? I've finished reading it."
Jiang Yuxia was too nervous when he first started filming. After all, it was his first time. Seeing that he was not in good shape, the director gave him two days off to let him relax.
When he didn't know how to relax, the makeup artist recommended the novel to him. Coincidentally, the protagonist's name was very similar to his, both containing the character "Xia".
The makeup artist said: "Isn't it very tearful? Wow, Xia Xia in the book is so pitiful. I used to love reading stand-in literature, but after reading this one, I never want to read it again."
Seeing that she was about to cry, Jiang Yuxia hurriedly began to comfort her, "It's all fake."
By the time he changed his clothes and put on his mask, the rest of the crew had almost arrived.
He was dressed in a black suit with narrow sleeves, with his long hair tied up high with a crown. He was a dashing young man, and people passing by couldn't help but glance at him.
In the play, he plays the young guard beside the male protagonist, with a nice name, Lang Yuxi.
In a drama about political intrigue and martial arts, his character is a simple existence in the play. He has no so-called cunning thoughts, and his temperament is clear about what he likes and hates. He has the habits of a teenager and he means what he says.
Like a blank sheet of paper, all it contains is loyalty and righteousness.
In the director's words, his role is to serve as a foil to those with "hearts" and as their control group.
In fact, there are no good or bad people in this drama. From the perspective of each character, they are only doing things that benefit themselves and the people.
But the road to success requires sacrifice, and Lang Yuxi is the hero's sacrifice.
A person who only listens to the male protagonist ends up consciously and voluntarily becoming the male protagonist's last move and dying.
It is precisely because of the beauty and purity of this character that his death is particularly hard to accept, as if the only pure thing in the world has been calculated and completely disappeared.
He was slightly shocked when he read the script. It is difficult for a normal modern person to understand this kind of loyalty, and often he would be labeled as "blindly loyal." Therefore, he put a lot of effort into integrating into the role of Lang Yuxi.
And what we are shooting today is this last scene. In this scene, Lang Yuxi uses his own body to delay the time of the male protagonist's opponent, which is also a perfect embodiment of the fighting power of this character.
If it were just a fighting scene, it would be fine, but this scene also contains an emotional expression, which is the relief and regret before death. He is relieved that his master gave up on him, and he regrets that he did not see his master achieve great things.
Jiang Yuxia found a corner with few people around, read the script carefully again, then closed his eyes and replayed the moves in his mind.
It was not until the director shouted "start" that he slowly opened his eyes and walked over.
When the director saw him, he waved to him.
"Director Zhao."
"Xiao Xia, we have to do some wirework today. Are you ready?"
Director Zhao is a little old man in his seventies. He always speaks with a bit of Hong Kong Mandarin. He is cheerful all day long and it is rare to see him really angry.
Jiang Yuxia nodded. He had read the script beforehand.
Director Zhao: "That's good, but it will be a little different from before. This time we're shooting on location in the woods. The wires will be higher up, and there will be wind and the angle of light. These will all have some impact, so you have to pay a little attention."
In order to achieve a high quality, their drama was almost entirely shot on location, but the "high" the director mentioned must be quite high. He looked up and saw that the shooting location this time was not a sparse woods, but full of big trees that blocked out the sun, so a lot of special professional equipment was brought in to the scene.
"All departments are prepared."
"1, 2, 3, action!"
It all starts with a very eye-catching fight scene. The martial arts teacher watches and reviews the movements. If there is a movement that is not up to standard, his brows will be knitted together, as if he is being watched. Everyone is on high alert, afraid of making any mistakes.
Jiang Yuxia felt a little pain when he was first hoisted up. The wire looked simple, but it was actually very tight because it carried the weight of the whole body.
But his movements were not at all chaotic, he turned around and swung the gun cleanly and neatly.
The martial arts teacher stared at him for a long time, nodded slightly, looked away, and began to judge other people. Jiang Yuxia breathed a sigh of relief.
As each scene progressed, Jiang Yuxia's makeup became thicker and thicker, until by the end his face was covered in bloodstains, commonly known as "battle-damaged makeup." His skin was very pale, and the bloodstains on his face were a stark contrast.
The same goes for his lip color. He originally had red lips and white teeth, but now there was blood plasma on his lips, his hair was slightly stuck to his face, and when he lowered his eyes slightly, it was as if he was making the last struggle of his life, blooming with a different kind of splendor.
The scene was very quiet, with only the voices of the actors.
"Why bother? Your master has already treated you as a pawn. He knew this was a deadly game, but he still let him come."
Lang Yuxi didn't say anything. He had no strength left. He supported the spear with his hands, his back still straight. His black suit was wet, and it was hard to tell whether it was blood or sweat. If it was blood, whose blood it was, it was unclear.
"I'll give you one last chance, will you please move aside?"
After waiting for a while, the young man in black didn't make any sound. The man sighed and waved his hand with a look of regret and impatience.
In an instant, thousands of arrows were fired. Lang Yuxi, who had long since lost his strength, had no way to dodge. He could only concentrate countless arrows to shoot at himself.
Director Zhao held the intercom and said, "Camera advance."
In this final scene, the script gives a feeling of regret and relief.
But Jiang Yuxia suddenly felt that if he were Lang Yuxi, he would not be relieved.
Being a young man, his concept of life and death is vague, perhaps it cannot compare to his desire for victory, the joy of completing his master's instructions, or the satisfaction of seeing his enemies suffer defeat.
The camera zoomed in for a moment, and Jiang Yuxia suddenly smiled. The midday sun was shining on him, and there was no relief or regret in his dark eyes, but a sense of pride as if he was seeking credit.
"You lose." He successfully bought time.
In the blood mist, the young man slowly knelt down, holding the red tasseled spear. The smile on his face began to fade slowly, and only the red tassel on the spear swayed in the sunlight and the breeze.
The sunlight was like the dawn of victory, but it couldn't reach him, even though he had come such a long way...
Director Zhao was slightly stunned. For a moment, he seemed to really see Lang Yuxi carrying the red tasseled spear and laughing freely.
He looked Jiang Yuxia in the eye and said to the assistant director beside him, "There were many people who auditioned for this role. Didn't you always ask me why I chose Jiang Yuxia?"
"Giving such a popular role to a little-known actor has indeed caused quite a lot of controversy, and all kinds of rumors are flying around, but there is only one reason."
He pointed at the eyes and said, "Because they are so pure, just like Lang Yuxi's. Beautiful things always attract people's attention."
…
"Okay, Ka."
As soon as the director called "Cut", Jiang Yuxia felt as if all his strength had been released and sat on the ground gasping for breath.
The staff hurried over to help him, but Jiang Yuxia just shook his head. He had changed the last scene on his own initiative and didn't know what the director would say.
The director seemed to see Jiang Yuxia's thoughts and gave him a thumbs-up. "Very good, Xiaoxia, you performed well. The actor and the role really complement each other. Just like I could never get that last laugh out of him."
He sighed softly, "This smile is very Lang Yuxi."
Jiang Yuxia was slightly startled, and his eyes were a little hot as he had not yet recovered from Lang Yuxi's emotions.
The second male lead who was acting with Jiang Yuxia also came up, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Wow, that smile of yours really broke my defense. My heart was in a knot. I almost told my men to retreat."
Someone nearby joked, "Will you slap yourself every time you wake up in the middle of the night? Am I sick? Why did I shoot arrows?"
"Then I'm not the only one who got slapped. Brother Tian has to get slapped too. That was his dirty trick. He was the one who asked Xiao Jiang to stop me."
Brother Tian is the male lead of this drama, and he plays the role of Wu Wu, who is also Lang Yuxi's master in the drama.
"Hey, don't take me with you. Wu Wu's words have nothing to do with me. Wu Wu, feel free to fly. If anything goes wrong, you'll be responsible for it yourself."
"Hahahaha", everyone in the audience burst into laughter.
Jiang Yuxia walked to the monitor. The director was watching the recently shot clips. He also wanted to watch what he had just shot. There would be a big difference between what he performed and what he watched.
For example, the degree of facial expressions and the range of movements during performance, these can only be determined after watching the performance to determine whether they need to be changed later.
The director happily made some space for him and pulled a stool for him to sit on. Jiang Yuxia was a little embarrassed at first, but only sat down after the director's strong request.
Watching the scenes one by one, Director Zhao suddenly frowned, "Why is there a bag hanging on the tree here, stagehand? You've exposed me."
That was the first fight scene. There was indeed a small yellow spot in the camera, but it was not very noticeable. Some directors might not care at all, but Director Zhao was notoriously picky about his works and he definitely couldn't tolerate it.
The groundskeeper hurried over, looked at the unremarkable yellow backpack on the monitor, and paused. "Sorry, sorry, it was quite far away and we thought the camera couldn't capture it."
"I'm shooting a panoramic shot. I told you before, you have to clean up the scene. I'm in a period drama, how can you put a bag in here? This is a debut, I can't even delete it."
Director Zhao: "We can only reshoot one scene."
It happened to be the scene where Jiang Yuxia appeared, and the stage manager looked at him with a pleading look on his face.
Jiang Yuxia blinked and smiled, "Then you have to treat me to a meal later."
The stagehand nodded hurriedly, "Of course!"
After Director Zhao announced this "bad news", the scene was immediately filled with grief. The staff apologized in various ways and hurriedly checked the venue to prevent such a situation from happening again.
In this scene, Jiang and Xia's wire had to pass over the treetops. They were all old trees, so the height was still amazing.
"Everyone, thank you for your hard work. The props team should check the equipment to ensure safety. We are almost ready to start filming. Let's finish it as soon as possible."
Director Zhao glanced at the sunlight on the monitor. The sunlight had shifted a little. The sunlight at this angle was not as beautiful as the one early in the morning. That was why he was in such a hurry to make up for this scene. If he delayed any further, the sunlight would be wrong.
He sighed softly, blaming himself for not noticing it in time.
Jiang Yuxia went to touch up her makeup and removed the battle-damaged makeup on her face to restore it to its original state.
When the wire was rising and being pulled upwards, the rope suddenly shook. Jiang Yuxia paused. He wanted to say something, but seeing that everyone was more or less tired and the camera was already turned on.
I thought it shouldn't be a big problem, so I didn't say much.
This scene is not difficult and is relatively simple to shoot, but it is a bit large in scale and the shooting time is not as long as the previous preparation time.
Director Zhao: "Ok, very good, it's done. Xiaoxia, are you okay there? I'll put you down right away."
Jiang Yuxia made an "OK" gesture from a distance.
Everything was going on in an orderly manner. Just as the wire was slowly lowered and about three meters from the ground, Jiang Yuxia, who was hanging in the air, suddenly shook and lost control.
The person in charge of the props team stared at that spot, his pupils suddenly shrank, and he shouted uncontrollably: "Not good!"
On the other side, Zhou Boye had just finished a meeting and stood up to get a glass of water. His elbow accidentally hit the glass, and the glass fell to the ground and shattered with a "bang".
The assistant heard the noise and came in to check, "President, are you okay?"
Zhou Boye shook his head and reached out to pick up the glass fragments. His finger was accidentally cut, leaving a thin line of blood, and his heart skipped a beat.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
