Chapter 254: The student-era scenes have officially wrapped!

Yan Xingdong suddenly discovered that after a short rest, Gu Cheng's state had become even better.

He felt that he was still somewhat capable of teaching people; otherwise, how else could one explain Gu Cheng's current state, which was simply not on the same level as his previous performances?

Previously, Gu Cheng's acting was superficial, relying only on his outstanding and handsome appearance to display the character's charm.

That was why he hadn't been optimistic about Gu Cheng's change in acting style at the time.

In his view, even if Gu Cheng added so many flashy movements, the character portrayal was no different from before.

But now, Gu Cheng's performance was, on the contrary, a bit like he was digging deep into the character of Gu Xiude.

"His state is super good when he and Seeing Jin Li are doing dramatic scenes; could it be that these two are more suited for filming dramas?"

If that were the case, then the upcoming scenes would have to be adjusted again.

Yan Xingdong planned to concentrate on filming dramatic scenes for a period of time, rather than inserting them intermittently into intense plot scenes; this would help build up their state and make the filming better and better.

So, he made a test.

After filming dramatic scenes for a while, he attempted to film scenes with more intense emotional fluctuations.

As it happened, the plot's development had also reached the climax of the first part—

The death of Gu Xiude!

As Gu Xiude paid more and more attention to Li Feifei, those students who secretly admired Gu Xiude grew to despise Li Feifei.

So, they specifically chose a time when Gu Xiude was away, planning to give Li Feifei a harsh lesson.

The more Gu Xiude protected Li Feifei, the more they wanted to bully her, as if they could challenge Gu Xiude's authority through this method.

On the set.

Following the director's "Action," all the actors took their places.

Seeing Jin Li was tied to a dilapidated chair, her mouth gagged so she couldn't call for help, and her wrists were bound very tightly.

Never expect the enemy to let you off at a critical moment; those students skilled at tying knots would only bind you tightly when they intended to bully you!

But Li Feifei, played by Seeing Jin Li, was smart; when she sensed something was wrong, she had prepared a thin little blade.

The blade was wrapped in plastic film in her palm, and while being tied up, she never dared to open her hand for fear of being seen.

They had tied her far too tightly; Li Feifei felt her palms were about to be sliced open by the thin blade, it was painful, extremely painful... her hands must have been cut!

She didn't want to exert force, but the ropes compressed her hands together.

"That should do it," the person tying her said.

Another person checked it once more, feeling it was very secure. "Alright, just leave her here. Heh, let's see how Gu Xiude goes crazy when he finds out!"

This student sneered; he usually didn't get along with Gu Xiude, and wondered why Gu Xiude always had to be one step ahead of him.

This time, he would also turn the tables on Gu Xiude and let him taste the feeling of begging for help!

Li Feifei felt her chest was being constricted to the point of suffocation, and because her emotions were too agitated, she kept trembling, tears falling drop by drop from her eyes.

She looked so pitiful.

The student who tied her hesitated for a moment and whispered, "She is, after all, someone Gu Xiude covers; don't go too far. When Gu Xiude finds out, he'll definitely come looking for trouble."

The other student scoffed, looking at Li Feifei with eyes full of disdain.

"Gu Xiude doesn't even like her. As long as we don't kill her, or break her hands or legs, what's the harm in a little blood?

Besides, according to our plan, we won't even make her bleed; we'll just make her faint. If Gu Xiude really cared that much about her, he wouldn't be going to the banquet with Liu Fen."

Tears welled up in Li Feifei's eyes; those eyes seemed to glow and speak, displaying a look of terror.

Yan Xingdong specifically took a close-up of her crying scene.

During filming, he also discovered that Seeing Jin Li was very skilled at crying scenes; this was actually a talent.

Some actors look ferocious when they cry, but others look pitiful enough to stir one's heart.

Some actors make people empathize when they cry, while others make people feel the performance is stiff.

Seeing Jin Li was the type who cried very miserably; she was playing a student, and the combination of a student's innocent temperament with a desperate crying scene gave people a sense of contrast that was both dreamy and cruel.

Yan Xingdong felt that this sense of contrast could attract netizens to watch, and this acting style was also one of Seeing Jin Li's traits, so he didn't suppress it, but chose to amplify it.

Of course, a more important reason was that under high pressure, he didn't have much time to polish things.

He could only hand over some creative power to the actors to present.

This was also a common problem for many new directors: wanting to hold onto everything but failing to do anything well, eventually having to rely on the actors.

He didn't want to be incompetently furious, so the only path left was to trust Seeing Jin Li.

After a short rest, this scene continued to be filmed.

After both people left, Li Feifei struggled to get the blade out of her palm, enduring the pain of it being embedded in her flesh; she used her blood to test the sharpness of the blade and also to find its position, then began to cut the rope!

The blade was specially made from sugar candy; it looked sharp but wouldn't hurt people. The rope looked tough, but its material was actually special and not difficult to cut.

Before the binding scene, they had tested cutting with the candy blade several times; if they spent some effort, it could be cut!

This method could just happen to capture the tense and difficult struggle for survival.

A camera was specifically aimed at Seeing Jin Li's hands.

Because it was tied too tightly, Li Feifei's hands were very painful during the movement, so painful that her palms were sliced by the blade, and because she used too much force, it embedded into her flesh until she lost all feeling!

Yan Xingdong suddenly shouted "Cut" and said anxiously, "Quick, quick, get some fake blood on her hands! Be careful not to put too much; apply it along the cut lines, I want to create the feeling of being sliced and compressed!"

This kind of processing would still require special effects in post-production editing.

The fake blood was made from red pigment, honey, and water; it was sticky when smeared on the palms, very realistically restoring the feeling of bleeding.

Because it was very sticky and became slippery under the washing of water, Seeing Jin Li couldn't hold the blade steady several times during the cutting process!

After slipping several times and narrowly avoiding dropping it, it eventually slipped from her hand and fell into the gap of the ropes.

This counted as an accident during filming.

But Yan Xingdong didn't call cut. Seeing Jin Li's heart tightened slightly, and she understood what the director wanted her to do, so she gritted her teeth and used all her strength to reach her hand into the gap of the rope to pick up the blade.

The close-up lens also swayed along with the wobbling blade, once, and then again.

Yan Xingdong had filmed enough, so he shouted to the narrator, "You smell fire; there is a burnt, smoky smell coming, and you start to feel panicked!"

Seeing Jin Li hadn't picked up the blade yet; she gritted her teeth again and used all her strength to push her hand to squeeze in that direction.

Her body was squeezed into spasms, her chest cavity felt like it was being compressed and flattened, fiercely shoved into a very small tube.

Pain, panic, the desire to survive, the collapse of wanting to cry...

All emotions were presented one by one in Seeing Jin Li's eyes. The scene suddenly became very quiet; all the staff members didn't say a word, watching Seeing Jin Li, who was sweating profusely in the center, and couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.

Yan Xingdong suddenly said, "You smell smoke; you finally realize it, they are committing arson! They want to burn you to death!"

"Ah—"

In the midst of desperate collapse, Li Feifei, played by Seeing Jin Li, suddenly let out a hoarse roar!

Storing strength, and storing it again.

Squeezing until her chest cavity felt like it would explode, but she still had to struggle to break free; just a little more, just that little bit left, just a little...

Finally, the tips of Seeing Jin Li's two fingers finally hooked the blade, returning it to her palm.

"Fake blood, quick! Quick, sprinkle it between her fingers. Makeup artist, go over, I want to see clearly visible knife wounds!"

All of Seeing Jin Li's movements paused, as if she had arrived in a space where time stood still, entering a mirror surface where her cheeks were reflected.

She stood outside the mirror, expressionlessly examining her own performance in the mirror.

"Continue acting!"

Following this shout, the mirror shattered, the two selves in the mirror merged together, returning to reality from the place where her thinking had stalled, and the suppressed, surging emotions poured out.

When the firelight was already flickering in front of her, she erupted with several more roars, the veins on her forehead pulsing with effort, and finally, she cut open the ropes that bound her body!

Just by cutting one rope, Seeing Jin Li wobbled laboriously, shaking the wrapped ropes loose before stumbling out.

Gu Xiude was attending the banquet.

He suddenly received a message from his lackey saying that his arch-rival had caught Li Feifei and taken her to the school, seemingly intending to beat her up.

After receiving this message, Gu Xiude frowned, tugged at his tie, and prepared to leave the banquet.

Liu Fen blocked him at the entrance, saying with dissatisfaction, "Gu Xiude, you said that as long as I didn't target Li Feifei at school, you would accompany me to attend once.

Our parents know each other, and we haven't even left yet; if you leave first, where will I put my face?"

Gu Xiude curled his lips: "Young Lady, I already greeted your parents at the very beginning; they all know I came. What else do you want from me?"

His face was a bit dark, and he spoke mercilessly: "Get lost!"

Liu Fen hesitated for a moment and stepped aside.

Not knowing what she thought of, she also followed him out: "Where are you going? If you aren't staying here, I feel bored too."

Gu Xiude returned to the school.

At this moment, the school was already engulfed in flames!

On the set, a combination of green screen and real scenery was used, and the fire was generated by post-production special effects.

After Seeing Jin Li's scene was filmed, Yan Xingdong didn't stop for a moment and filmed Gu Cheng's performance.

Gu Cheng's previous scene wasn't important, and logically, it should have been handed over to Group B for the assistant director to film.

But Yan Xingdong wanted to know his state at this moment more accurately, so he handled it himself.

He felt Gu Cheng's state was still pretty good, so he let him quickly transition to the next scene.

Outside the school, Gu Xiude saw the sky-high flames; his heart skipped a beat, feeling that something was very wrong, and he immediately sprinted over.

In front of the school, he saw his arch-rival who always went against him, even though he had suppressed him, this person was still very unconvinced; his name was Lin Ba.

Gu Xiude grabbed Lin Ba by the collar and asked, "Where is Li Feifei? Where is she?"

Lin Ba appeared a bit panicked: "I, I didn't mean to. I tied her up at the teaching building; I just wanted to start a small fire to scare her, to make her faint from inhaling too much smoke. I didn't expect..."

Gu Xiude punched Lin Ba in the face, knocking him to the ground!

The staff members watching from the side couldn't help but secretly cheer; well hit!

Gu Xiude pulled Lin Ba back up: "I ask, you answer."

Lin Ba nodded repeatedly.

"Where did you tie Li Feifei?"

Lin Ba's lips parted slightly, stammering.

Gu Xiude roared at him: "Where did you tie Li Feifei?"

Lin Ba still didn't say, but the student next to him couldn't hold back, covering his head in terror: "Third floor, in the cargo display room on the third floor!"

This person was very scared, his body trembling non-stop.

"Did I kill someone? No, it's not, it's not what I did..."

Gu Xiude turned his head to look at the burning and smoking teaching building; the fire was fiercest on the fourth floor and had already spread to the third.

The fire department had already been called, but they hadn't arrived yet.

He just stared at the third floor for a few seconds before charging in without hesitation.

His speed was so fast that even Lin Ba didn't react; by the time he had charged in, Lin Ba widened his eyes and shouted at the entrance:

"Gu Xiude, are you crazy! There's such a big fire and you actually charged in! Come out quickly!! Come out!!!"

Following Gu Cheng's charge in, Yan Xingdong also shouted "Cut," his expression somewhat tense.

Gu Cheng returned to the scene, quietly waiting for Director Yan to finish watching and review the evaluation.

He was prepared to film it again.

In this performance, he had completely forgotten Seeing Jin Li, and also forgotten that he was Gu Cheng, immersing himself entirely in Gu Xiude's mode of thinking.

Gu Cheng thought, perhaps this was what it meant to get into character.

Gu Xiude actually had similarities to him, which was stubbornness; once he had determined an idea, no matter how others tried to persuade him, it was useless.

Through this similarity of stubbornness, he also walked bit by bit into Gu Xiude's inner world, and only now did he have a sense of mastery.

After a long while, Yan Xingdong let out a sigh of relief and said, "Passed."

Gu Cheng looked at him, his expression somewhat puzzled: "No need to re-film? This is my first time passing a major scene in one take."

Yan Xingdong nodded, a look of relief appearing on his face.

"After polishing for more than a month, I've finally polished you into the right state. This scene was filmed well; both the emotions and movements were on point. I have nothing left to correct."

A wave of unspoken emotion surged in Gu Cheng's heart; a strange feeling was churning in his mind, flashing fragments of Gu Xiude one moment, and himself striving on stage the next.

Acting was actually the same as stage performance; one was an actor's battlefield, the other was an idol star's battlefield.

Treating everything as a goal that must be conquered, Gu Cheng suddenly felt that acting didn't seem like such a mysterious thing after all.

Before he could understand what this emotion was, Seeing Jin Li's scene followed closely.

When Lin Ba was shouting at the entrance, Li Feifei came stumbling over from another teaching building.

She was afraid of being caught by Lin Ba and tied up again after going out, so she hid in another teaching building after leaving.

When Gu Xiude arrived, she saw him and hurried over.

But her running speed couldn't compare to Gu Xiude's speed; by the time she arrived, Gu Xiude had already charged into the sea of fire.

Li Feifei also shouted at the entrance, telling Gu Xiude to come out quickly; she even wanted to charge in, but Lin Ba didn't stop her.

But as soon as she reached the entrance, she retreated due to fear and dread.

No, she didn't dare...

This scene was specifically slowed down several times in the film.

Including the sorrowful expressions of everyone later, the memorial service held by Gu Xiude's family, and Li Feifei being driven out when she went to attend...

Gu Xiude's death also marked the conclusion of the first part of "Assassination."

The student-era scenes have officially wrapped! ===== CHAPTER 255 =====