Director Wang had Qin You reshoot a few more times for backup shots, and then the scene was officially wrapped.
Though they had gone back and forth seven or eight times, by Director Wang’s standards, it was considered an exceptionally easy pass.
In a previous scene where Fang Ziyu had a disagreement and an argument with a colleague, the dialogue was both fast and dense. Director Wang had filmed dozens of takes, nearly killing the two actors with exhaustion. However, after those dozens of takes, the weary energy they displayed during their quarrel perfectly matched the state of someone who had just finished a twelve-hour shift, so it turned out for the best.
The next scene was the one where Fang Ziyu runs into the scumbag couple in broad daylight.
It was the final scene of this episode’s script, though not the final scene of the day’s filming schedule.
For this scene, Qin You changed into “casual wear”—still a black dress, but shorter, with a large embroidered print on the corner of the hem, making it look more relaxed than the previous one.
She walked a stretch of the path with the Male Lead, her hair fluttering in the wind and a faint smile on her lips, looking as charming as ever.
The Male Lead’s task was even simpler. He wasn’t the focus of the shot; he only needed to look happy.
As the Male Lead pushed open the glass door for Ling Yu, Ling Yu turned back and happened to collide with Fang Ziyu’s line of sight. She then naturally turned back and entered the building.
Then, the camera focused on Fang Ziyu.
While Qin You was getting her makeup touched up, Director Wang gave her acting notes: “You don’t know Fang Ziyu. However, from her reaction, you can easily guess her identity. But your gaze shouldn’t change at all. Don’t linger, don’t show provocation, and don’t show any hesitation or soft-heartedness. Her existence is completely unimportant to you.”
Qin You nodded, gave an “mm,” and then couldn’t help but smile.
Director Wang was about to ask what she was laughing at and what she didn’t understand when he suddenly realized the reason for her smile.
He had previously refused to confirm if Ling Yu’s persona was exactly as Qin You had speculated, but his words just now had basically said it outright—”Your initial guess was correct.”
Director Wang felt a bit depressed for a moment. Other directors complained about actors being too dim-witted to take a hint; would it be bad for him to complain about an actor being too smart?
Forget it. He was going to have to let this girl have her moment of triumph sooner or later anyway…
Only at times like this did he truly feel that this girl was indeed in her early twenties, still possessing a bit of a youthful, playful spirit.
With a stoic face, Director Wang went out to handle the on-set dispatching.
Qin You pulled back her smile.
She had gotten a bit carried away. After finishing that last scene, she had appeared perfectly calm, but her heart was actually surging with emotion.
She was so excited she wanted to shout at the top of her lungs, yet she couldn’t show it.
Her emotions ebbed and flowed; for a moment, it felt as if she had returned to the year she was actually twenty. That was the year she left university and headed to the film city to struggle through the industry. She knew the future would be hard, and she knew exactly what kind of boring but stable life she had given up, but there was always a beautiful dream dangling in front of her, keeping her moving forward tirelessly.
Ten years had passed, and that beautiful dream was finally about to come true.
***
Qin You’s backward glance was filmed very smoothly, but the shots on Yang Qiu’s side were anything but.
Director Wang was fuming at Yang Qiu’s performance. Even the staff members standing far away could hear his explosive outburst.
“What is wrong with your eyes? In this scene, your premonition that your boyfriend’s feelings had shifted has been proven true. Your gaze should be filled with panic! You’ve had big and small arguments before, but you always felt that as long as you found the time, you could repair the relationship. This shot is the first time you realize your previous thoughts were just an escape; it’s the first time you realize your relationship might be beyond repair!”
“This is as simple as it gets! Just that slight sense of terror—is it that hard?”
“Why are you using such an arrogant, world-disdaining gaze? Do you think Fang Ziyu is an Empress? At this moment, Fang Ziyu still has feelings for her boyfriend. He’s her first love, and they’ve been together for so many years. Her first reaction should be disbelief and pain, not indifference and decisiveness! Breaking up comes later. I just want you to show Fang Ziyu’s instinctive feelings in this moment! How hard can it be?”
Director Wang was exasperated. They had filmed this shot several times, but Yang Qiu hadn’t grasped the feeling from the very beginning. He even had Qin You and the male actor do their blocking over and over to support her, but every time she performed, it was completely wrong. He had already envisioned this shot: the camera zooming in on Yang Qiu’s face for a long close-up, where that feeling of a muffled thunderclap would be truly heart-shaking.
In the end, Yang Qiu failed to show even a shred of the required emotion. Her expression held disdain and disgust, but lacked the one feeling she actually needed. Under her performance, Fang Ziyu and her boyfriend looked like they had just met on a blind date two days ago.
Director Wang practically wanted to scream at her—Fang Ziyu and her boyfriend had been dating for nearly seven years; wasn’t that worth a bit more expression?!
Yang Qiu bit her lip.
She really wanted to give Director Wang a suggestion. She felt that Fang Ziyu’s behavior wasn’t very likable. Nowadays, the trope of the male and female leads having endless misunderstandings was out of style. If the boyfriend cheats, the female lead should just break up with him cleanly—why keep such a piece of trash? That kind of persona would be far more popular.
However, she knew that this was only one of the reasons she couldn’t produce the feeling Director Wang wanted.
“Director Wang… can I talk to Yang Qiu?”
Zhao Anya suddenly appeared. She wasn’t filming today and had only accompanied Yang Qiu, so she was wearing an extremely plain gray hoodie that almost blended into the background. However, the moment she spoke, that inconspicuous feeling vanished.
Director Wang glanced at her and waved his hand, signaling his consent.
Zhao Anya reached out and pulled Yang Qiu into a corner.
Zhao Anya looked at her best friend with a scrutinizing gaze.
“Is it because of Qin You?” she asked abruptly.
“What?” Yang Qiu frowned nonchalantly and looked away, acting as if she didn’t understand what Zhao Anya was talking about.
Seeing her like this, Zhao Anya understood everything. She sighed. “Didn’t I tell you? Don’t let her affect your performance. The entertainment industry is full of filthy things. Are you going to let it show in your acting every time you encounter an actor whose character is questionable? If so, you might as well stop acting.”
“What does it matter if you tolerate her for a while? How much screen time can she possibly have? Once you’re done filming, you’ll never have to see her again. Why let her affect your work?”
“Acting is your job. Would you perform poorly just because you’re in a bad mood today? Of course not, because that would be unprofessional. This is the same thing. What’s the difference between ruining your performance because you can’t stand a co-star and ruining it because you’re in a bad mood? Why is this the one thing you can’t understand?”
Yang Qiu looked gloomy but didn’t argue. In fact, when she first did the take, she instinctively felt she should act that way. Later, after Director Wang explained the scene to her, she found she couldn’t force her gaze to change. As long as she saw that expression on Qin You’s face when she turned back, Yang Qiu couldn’t help but respond with disdain and disgust.
Zhao Anya looked at her expression and then smiled as she walked toward Director Wang. “Director Wang, could we let those two actors take a break? We won’t need them to act opposite Yang Qiu for this take.”
Director Wang asked, “Hmm?”
Zhao Anya lowered her voice slightly. “Yang Qiu isn’t that familiar with Han Rong yet. Having him act opposite her might actually be breaking her immersion…”
Han Rong was the name of the male actor.
“…Let her try it alone one more time. This time, I’ll have her imagine she’s seeing her ex-boyfriend. It might go more smoothly.”
Listening to Zhao Anya, Director Wang thought it made some sense. If it made it easier for Yang Qiu to get into character, there was no harm in trying—though, these two actors had been building chemistry for so many days, how were they still not familiar? Their previous chemical reaction had clearly been fine.
He waved his hand, signaling Qin You and Han Rong to leave the glass door. Qin You had no objection; the camera wouldn’t have captured her anyway, and she was essentially just doing voluntary labor.
Meanwhile, Yang Qiu was led back by the hand, Zhao Anya still whispering to her.
Yang Qiu took a deep breath, looked at the empty set, and readjusted her expression.
The massive camera slowly approached her face. Following Director Wang’s requirements, she let out a trace of shock and sorrow, successfully completing the shot.
“Cut!”
As Director Wang’s voice rang out, Yang Qiu breathed a sigh of relief. She closed her eyes. Anya was right; she couldn’t let others affect her acting. Qin You’s character likely only had a few more scenes with her at most, and then she would be beneath her notice.
Holding onto this thought, she quickly calmed down. The next few scenes were from earlier in the plot, exactly when she needed to show her full drive and energy.
Though she was still very dissatisfied. There were as many beautiful girls in the film academy as there were stars in the sky. They could have found countless suitable people to play such a “vase” role; why did they have to pick such a mistress?
One rat dropping truly ruins the whole pot of porridge.
If she could help it, she really didn’t want to stay in a production like this.