Chapter 129: The Burden of a Beauty's Favor is Hardest to Bear

The script for Love is Not Blind is quite long; filming it in its entirety would take two and a half hours.

Yet, the current standard for film length is around ninety minutes, which means the post-production editing team must select the highlights from the two-and-a-half-hour film and cut out the irrelevant parts.

This is a heavy test for the editing team.

The editing team Ren Man invited this time is also a veteran team with a full decade of industry experience; they are highly experienced and have previously edited several award-winning films, so there is no need to worry too much in this regard.

After the crew members spent two days getting familiar with each other and checking the script, director Ren Man announced the start of filming.

They began by shooting the scenes for Da Laowang first.

Because the research and development for Ultraman Duel is entering its final stages, Xu Heng must resolve his work on the Love is Not Blind set as quickly as possible, so Ren Man specifically moved his scenes to the front of the schedule.

Film is not something that needs to be shot in strict accordance with the plot flow; one only needs to film each scene well and piece them together at the end.

The first scene where Da Laowang appears is in the first few minutes of the film.

Huang Xiaoxian (the female lead) has neglected her work due to a breakup, and after arriving at the company, she is scolded severely by her boss, Da Laowang.

This scene is easy for Liu Yiyan to perform; she only needs to remain expressionless throughout, maintaining the look of extreme disappointment after heartbreak.

But conversely, it is much harder for Xu Heng to act.

In this scene, Da Laowang's facial expressions change significantly, and it requires natural movements and tone; even if the audio can be dubbed in post-production, the movements and expressions cannot be added, unless one uses image matting.

As expected, Xu Heng acted it twice and was called "cut" by Ren Man both times.

Either the tone was wrong, or the expression was not quite right.

Even though Xu Heng had the film footage of Love is Not Blind in his mind and knew how the original actor performed it, he just couldn't get his hands and feet to cooperate.

Helpless, Ren Man could only guide him personally, telling him what kind of movements to use in what places, how the tone should shift, and if that didn't work, to follow Liu Yiyan's lines to find the rhythm and memorize it by rote.

Fortunately, Xu Heng has good intuition; after being "cut" a few more times, he gradually entered the state, and his movements and tone were no longer so stiff.

Although he is still not as good as a professional actor, he is at least looking the part.

"What did you eat yesterday that made you sick? Scolding me like I'm your grandson!"

Inside the office, Da Laowang asked with a frown.

Huang Xiaoxian, with her head tilted due to a stiff neck, said in a hoarse voice: "I've broken up, Boss Wang."

"Oh—"

Da Laowang suddenly realized.

"Broken up?"

He then whispered a curse: "Serves you right!"

His tone was full of disappointment in Huang Xiaoxian, and he walked over to her side, unintentionally seeing her clutching a wedding dress meant for someone else's wedding, and said helplessly: "Can you stop ruining someone else's wedding dress? Let go! You've made it all dirty and wrinkled; are you even worthy of it?"

"Boss Wang, I was wrong. I know I made a huge mistake this time. You should fire me, but I really have extenuating circumstances," Huang Xiaoxian said.

"What extenuating circumstances?" Da Laowang sat in his office chair, crossed his legs, and disparaged: "Look at that face of yours, looking like a resentful wife. Which sensible person dumped you? That kid who came to the annual meeting last year? He had a huge head, top-heavy; at first glance, you two really were a match."

"But I really have to tell you the truth: he wasn't worthy of you. Just consider that part of your life as having gone astray. Wake up!"

Da Laowang lectured Huang Xiaoxian for a while, and finding that she was still standing motionless in his office, he urged her again.

"Hurry up and get to work!"

Huang Xiaoxian walked slowly out of the office holding the wedding dress, and the first scene of Da Laowang's appearance ended.

This time, Ren Man finally didn't call "cut" halfway through, so it counted as a pass.

Xu Heng and the other actors watching on the set breathed a sigh of relief, because the filming of the first scene reveals the director's personality.

Ren Man kept a cold face the whole time and would even reprimand Xu Heng and the others, but it was much better than those directors who are extremely short-tempered and prone to swearing at the drop of a hat on set.

And this was Xu Heng's first time acting; to be honest, it was much harder than he had imagined. Memorizing lines was not the big problem; it was mainly the nervousness and restraint of standing in front of the camera lens.

How to deliver lines and perform expressions and movements smoothly and naturally in such an atmosphere is where the real test for an actor lies.

The whole afternoon passed in a flash.

His scenes were only completed through the first act plus a little bit more, and filming continued intermittently until after nine in the evening, with the progress of other actors also advancing somewhat.

Unexpectedly, Ying Ziyun performed much better than Xu Heng.

She was also filming her debut scene.

For this film, Ying Ziyun had cut her hair short several days ago, tied it in an artistic braid, and wore glasses; with the photographer's makeup techniques, she looked very masculine, appearing at first glance like a "feminized" version of some young heartthrob.

With five lines of dialogue upon her entrance, plus her movements and demeanor, it would only make the audience think she was a man dressing in a feminine way, and they wouldn't associate the fact that the actor for Wang Xiaojian is a woman.

The entire process of this scene went in one take, and Ren Man didn't even call "cut."

"Good performance, keep it up."

After the last scene of the day was finished, Ren Man praised Ying Ziyun.

Ying Ziyun smiled shyly.

"Let's go eat together tonight; everyone worked hard today." Ren Man was satisfied with the crew's performance.

Several supporting actors performed remarkably well, and the lead, Liu Yiyan, had acting skills that were off the charts, bringing the demeanor of Huang Xiaoxian in her mind to life.

For this reason, she proposed treating the crew to a celebration dinner.

Xu Heng smiled at her: "You're too kind, Senior."

"It's fine, your progress is very obvious. At this rate, our film is expected to be released by Valentine's Day next year, so a little reward is deserved."

It must be said that Ren Man truly has that aura as a leader; just her way of speaking makes it easy for others to follow her suggestions.

Several college students naturally agreed with both hands, and those minor celebrities who didn't know how many tiers down they were also intended to get closer to Xu Heng.

After all, Xu Heng is the "Song Master" who created two hit songs in the second half of this year.

Regardless of whether his film can be a hit, it at least proves that he has the ability to write good songs.

These minor celebrities thought that after getting close to him, they might get a pointer or two, or perhaps even discuss potential collaborations.

Seeing that most people agreed, Xu Heng said, "Alright, I happen to know a place where the food is good and the prices are reasonable."

As for how to get there, those with cars would drive, and those without would take taxis.

Ren Man did not drive that flashy Maserati this time, having switched to an unpretentious BMW; she drove Xu Heng and Liu Yiyan, and there were two empty seats.

Seeing her chance, Ying Ziyun said she didn't want to take a taxi either, and joined the group.

This resulted in Xu Heng having his lover Liu Yiyan on his left, and his ex-girlfriend Ying Ziyun on his right.

Liu Yiyan and Ying Ziyun were like the bickering enemies played in movies, but in reality, they acted as if they were enemies, with every word and phrase full of probing and hidden daggers.

Caught in the middle of the two, Xu Heng felt immense pressure, experiencing for the first time what it meant to be in a dilemma.

He wanted to change seats and sit in the passenger seat, but was held fast by Liu Xiaosan's lower leg.

Liu Xiaosan glared at him with her pretty eyes, as if to say.

Hmph! Want to escape now? Too late!