Chapter 88: A Perfect Appearance
Having made an outstanding first impression on the male lead of the movie, Li Sishi's next step was to maintain a consistent persona until this perfect facade was completely dispelled.
Her appearance itself greatly enhances the "white moonlight little white rabbit" persona. Coupled with the image she has intentionally maintained in public since her debut, when she deliberately maintains this persona, even if everyone around her is a professional with connections to the entertainment industry, it is difficult for them to tell whether it is real or not.
However, actors are always acting, both on and off screen, when there is a need, right?
With the fresh-faced aura and the beautiful appearance, even the most bad-tempered person would have to be extra patient. After asking Li Sishi some questions about the script and the role, and confirming that Li Sishi had memorized the script before coming over, Zhou Shengyi asked her to sit aside to prepare for makeup and changing clothes.
"If you still have time, take another look at the parts where the female lead appears to familiarize yourself with the role." After saying this, he went over to talk to the production team.
Li Sishi changed into her costume and then sat down in a chair with her script, asking the makeup artist to come and do her makeup.
While getting her makeup done, she looked at the script and secretly glanced ahead out of the corner of her eye. She saw Zhou Shengyi talking to the martial arts director and the male supporting actor.
Li Sishi immediately understood the content of the upcoming "challenge".
In this story, the female lead makes her entrance at the Taekwondo arena in the New Century Global Sports Center, where she engages in a teaching-style sparring match with the male supporting character, "Giant Bear," who is a Taekwondo instructor.
The coach, Giant Bear, pretends to be a good person on the surface, but is actually lewd and despicable. In the story, he has his eye on the young and beautiful female protagonist from the very beginning. So, he uses the guise of teaching to compete with the female protagonist, while at the same time using the excuse that he is going to have a birthday party next week to invite the female protagonist to his house.
As for the supporting male character, Giant Bear, his line, "My sofa at home is big and comfortable," is full of implications, and coupled with his lewd and obscene expression, it will become a lasting meme, frequently used by audiences and comedy films to tease him. It has also made its way into the internet age, joining the family of emojis...
Of course, this short clip is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the various classic memes that have been created in this movie that is full of references.
But the reason why Chow's comedies can transcend time and bring laughter and tears to audiences for decades is because they are "classics".
The abundance of memes is undoubtedly a significant and crucial element.
After Zhou Shengyi, the martial arts director, and the male supporting actor finished speaking, Li Sishi didn't have much time left.
Seeing Zhou Shengyi wave her over, Li Sishi handed the script in her hand to her assistant Zuo Lili, then got up from her chair and walked over quickly. With Zhou Shengyi's introduction, she greeted the martial arts director and the male supporting actor.
"Ah May, right? I heard you had some martial arts background before?" Martial arts instructor Zheng Dong was a veteran in the industry, having started in the Zhao family films of the 1960s. He had worked with three television stations and major film companies in Hong Kong and was extremely experienced. He didn't discriminate against or give preferential treatment to Li Sishi, who looked like a delicate newcomer, but just asked a couple of questions out of habit to get to the bottom of things.
"Yes, I learned a little about it during my performances on the Miss Hong Kong stage and at the TVB Anniversary Gala," Li Sishi answered honestly.
When Lu Yiting was trying to get the role for her, one of the requirements was that she had a martial arts background. In the movie "Hero in My Heart", not only the male lead knew kung fu, but all the supporting actors with some screen time were also people from the sports center who had some basic skills. Even the female lead, who seemed like a first love goddess, could also do a few moves.
Therefore, if the actress playing the female lead has some martial arts background, it will be much easier during filming—and this is also an important factor in Li Sishi's success in winning the first choice for the female lead role.
Having ascertained Li Sishi's abilities, Zheng Dong, along with the male supporting actor, began demonstrating the grappling moves they would be filming: "See? It's like this—he'll pounce like this, and you'll use a backhand to deflect 'Giant Bear's' attack and counterattack, throwing him to the floor with a back throw. Then 'Giant Bear' will counter your moves and pin you down, and you'll return the favor with another back throw..."
“Of course, when you throw the ‘giant bear,’ he will secretly help you complete the action. Come on, you try it first…” Considering the size difference between Li Sishi and the male supporting actor, Zheng Dong added a point.
Li Sishi carefully watched and memorized the action choreography. Then, following Zheng Dong's instructions, she stepped forward and imitated his back throw, slamming the male supporting actor, "Giant Bear," heavily onto the floor.
"Not bad, not bad!" Chen Jinrong, the actor who plays the supporting role "Giant Bear," was originally an artist in the TBL dance group. Later, after kung fu films became popular, he added martial arts training to his career in the film industry. He can be considered an experienced senior to Li Sishi.
Therefore, he was able to successfully execute the back throw move on his first practice session with Li Sishi.
He gave a thumbs-up to show his approval and added, "I'll try to be gentle when I drop you later."
"Then I'll thank you in advance." Li Sishi replied with a smile, her expression showing a hint of joy and excitement. She looked like a well-behaved student who had just gotten good grades, and people couldn't help but smile knowingly when they thought about her current age.
I practiced a few more times
After seeing that Li Sishi's back throw was already quite good, Zheng Dong went over to the director and told him that they could start filming.
After a "A" sound, Li Sishi and Chen Jinrong began to spar in the taekwondo gym, just as the script had been set up. They threw each other, and the movements were real and without any fakery.
Zhou Shengyi, who had no scenes to film yet, stood behind the monitor and first nodded to Li Sishi for her quick learning ability and her willingness to endure pain and fatigue. Then he signaled to the director to arrange for them to shoot a few more takes to achieve the best performance and visual effects.
It has to be said that action scenes are really tiring, especially when you encounter a producer like Li Sishi who has high standards for herself and others. After filming one action scene repeatedly, I felt that my heavy taekwondo uniform was soaked with sweat.
But it is precisely this flushed cheeks and the fine beads of sweat on the forehead after exercise that make him more befitting of a "student" learning and competing with his coach.
After finally getting a shot of Zhou Shengyi that she was somewhat satisfied with and felt relieved, Li Sishi quickly changed into another costume and then immediately came out to have the makeup artist touch up her makeup.
The next scene didn't require changing locations or setting up, so there wasn't much time for her to rest. She could only squeeze in a few sips of water and glance at the script with Zuo Lili's help. Zhou Shengyi had already come over by then.
In the following scene, in order to get rid of the coach, Giant Bear, the female lead, Lili, randomly pulled the male lead, Yiwen, who had just delivered the takeout, to say that even if she liked this penniless tea restaurant deliveryman, she would not like Giant Bear, this annoying guy.
The self-assured and charming bear, of course, did not believe Lily's words. So Lily kissed the delivery boy to prove that what she said was true, using the phrase "seeing is believing".
While the giant bear is stunned by the shock, Lily will pull the delivery boy away from the taekwondo arena to the grass outside, setting the stage for the next scene and the male lead's attraction.
Connecting the dots in this plot, Li Sishi roughly understood why Zhou Shengyi had come all this way specifically to whisper something to her.
What is the reason?
Therefore, when faced with Zhou Shengyi's concerns, Li Sishi reiterated: "I am a professional actress. When the plot requires kissing scenes, I will not refuse or have any other ideas."
"In that case, I was overthinking it." Zhou Shengyi smiled.
If it were anyone else, he probably wouldn't have cared about anything. The reason he made this special trip to communicate with her was simply because Li Sishi, his co-star, was too young—just over eighteen years old and had never acted in a kissing scene before…
The communication and filming experience is completely different for female artists who have no such experience and those who do.
"Actually, I've already filmed a drama like this, but it hasn't aired yet, so you really don't need to worry too much, Mr. Sheng." Li Sishi raised one hand and clenched it into a fist. "I will try my best!"
“Okay.” Zhou Shengyi was amused by her appearance and laughed again. After thinking for a moment, he added, “You don’t need to call me Master Sheng. That’s just something people call me jokingly.”
"Then what should I call you?" Li Sishi asked, tilting her head back, looking every bit like an eager, inquisitive child.
“Just call me by my English name or Ah Sheng, that’s what most of my friends call me,” Zhou Shengyi said.
Li Sishi nodded, and after exchanging a few more words with Zhou Shengyi to ease the tension between them, it was soon time to start filming again.
This kissing scene wasn't like the passionate, heartfelt kiss in the script of "Mr. Morning," but rather a perfunctory kiss used as an excuse to get rid of someone. If Zhou Shengyi hadn't been so demanding of his films, insisting on real kissing whenever possible, it could have been done with a camera trick.
However, he was the one who insisted on filming, and after filming one take, he went back to check and confirm that it was acceptable before hastily announcing the end of the shoot.
Completely different from the cheerful and sunny character in the movie, Zhou Shengyi in real life is more like a "two-faced person" with a strict and difficult-to-get-along-with exterior and a gentle heart.
Moreover, he shares a characteristic with other comedy masters: he rarely smiles. Perhaps these comedy masters, who bring joy to people, have exhausted their smiles for the audience in movies, so in real life, they don't smile much.
After all, they racked their brains to come up with all sorts of methods to create laughs, and ordinary things basically could no longer elicit a smile from them.
That's for the best. Otherwise, when her disguise comes off, it would be quite sad to see a comedic emperor who can't even laugh...
While waiting to change venues, Li Sishi thought to herself, her smile becoming even more meaningful.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com