Chapter 235

Lv Yi had only acted in a minor supporting role in one play and could be considered a newcomer, so she didn't have that many thoughts. Hearing Chen Shu's words, how could she think so much?

She glanced at Dong Xuan, who was touching up her makeup, and explained to Chen Shu in a low voice: "Many directors use the color of clothing to distinguish the positioning and contrast of characters, and it can also leave a deep impression on the audience."

Chen Shu looked at Lv Yi in surprise; she really didn't expect this girl to answer so seriously.

She hadn't expected Lv Yi to answer at all; she just wanted to find a reason to get closer to her.

Wait, sister, you seem to be from the Beijing Dance Academy too, right?

You are a dance student from the Beijing Dance Academy; why do you understand these things instead of just dancing well?

The key was that Chen Shu actually felt that what Lv Yi said made a lot of sense and didn't sound like she was just spouting nonsense.

"I can't tell, you even understand this? A top student!"

Chen Shu asked with some doubt. Could it be that the Beijing Dance Academy actually teaches these things now?

Lv Yi waved her hand a bit embarrassedly and said: "This was all taught to me by Sister Fang. I was her assistant for a few months and learned quite a few things."

"Sister Fang?"

"Yes, it's Chen Gufang, Sister Fang. She is very amazing. She is a famous costume designer and stylist. She won the Golden Horse Award for Best Costume Design in 'A Chinese Ghost Story' back in '87. She has collaborated with almost all the big-name directors and stars in Hong Kong and Taiwan."

"Ah, you are really amazing, having been her assistant. No wonder you understand so much."

Chen Shu praised her enthusiastically on the surface, but muttered in her heart: Is this another person who got in through connections? No wonder I wasn't chosen as the other female lead.

I hate these connection-based people the most.

Being young, Chen Shu finally couldn't help but make a snide remark, "Your Sister Fang must have a very good relationship with Cao Dao, right?"

Lv Yi shook her head. She really didn't hear the underlying meaning in Chen Shu's words. She looked around, and seeing no one was paying attention, she said in a low voice:

"Sister Fang actually wants to get to know Cao Dao, but unfortunately, she has never had the opportunity. Sister Fang has always collaborated with people in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and she said Cao Dao doesn't really pay much attention to that group of people..."

Speaking to this point, she probably realized she had said a bit too much, so Lv Yi stopped quickly and gave Chen Shu an embarrassed smile.

It seems she isn't a connection-based person; she's quite a simple little girl.

Chen Shu smiled much more sincerely. She took Lv Yi's arm and said softly: "Let's not talk about this. Cao Dao has coached us on the scenes for so long; let's ponder the plot and exchange some insights."

"Black Swan" is a psychological thriller that tells the story of a veteran ballet dancer who gradually falls into madness in the process of pursuing a perfect performance.

The female lead is a dancer in a ballet troupe who has always longed to become the lead on stage. When she learns she has the opportunity to play both the Bai Tiane and the Black Swan in the famous dance drama "Swan Lake," she feels incredibly excited.

She is at ease when playing the pure and flawless Bai Tiane, but cannot fully release the wildness and passion of the Black Swan.

In the process of pursuing the Black Swan role, she begins to discover the dark side of herself, which is also the release of the wildness that has been suppressed by her mother, who has a strong desire for control.

At the same time, her life begins to undergo strange changes; she often has hallucinations, sees her own shadow and other people, and her psychological state becomes increasingly unstable.

Meanwhile, she also faces the pressure of competition from Lily.

Lily can easily interpret the evil and wildness of the Black Swan, which makes her feel even more anxious and uneasy. Under the guidance and pressure of the stage director, she gradually falls into a state of self-doubt and madness.

As the performance draws near, her psychological state becomes even more unstable.

She begins to feel suspicious about her own body and discovers some strange scars on her legs. During rehearsals and performances, she is gradually completely swallowed by the Black Swan role, and her personality splits into two people.

One is the purity and perfection of the Bai Tiane, and the other is the wildness and evil of the Black Swan.

In the final performance, she finally successfully interprets the evil and wildness of the Black Swan.

At the same time, she also moves toward the edge of a mental breakdown.

After the performance, she discovers the scars on her body and realizes that all of this was real, not a hallucination...

The subsequent filming completely exceeded the expectations of Ning Hao and Gu Changwei.

Cao Yang required Dong Xuan to show satisfaction with the status quo and a little happiness. Dong Xuan's performance, even Lv Yi and Chen Shu could see, was completely achieved.

This gave the two of them quite a bit of motivation and pressure: the female lead is so excellent, what if I drop the ball?

Ning Hao and Old Gu were also very surprised.

In the third shot, Dong Xuan only used three takes to pass such a difficult close-up shot of micro-expressions.

Cao Yang didn't take the opportunity to get angry; he was very calm.

Ning Hao was a bit disappointed; his Zhongnanhai was gone.

Old Gu was a bit happy and even mocked Ning Hao.

The sixth shot was a scene between Dong Xuan and Pan Hong, who played her mother in the film.

Old Gu previously thought that someone like Pan Hong, who had already won three Golden Rooster Best Actress awards, would definitely crush Dong Xuan, who might not have gotten into character yet.

Cao Dao would definitely take this opportunity to film over and over again, letting Dong Xuan adapt to the rhythm, thereby opening up her "Ren and Du" meridians and achieving god-like acting.

Who would have thought that not only was the third shot filmed quite smoothly, but Dong Xuan could also keep up with the rhythm in the sixth scene, looking no worse than Pan Hong.

After filming two more dialogue scenes between the two, the morning's plan was completed. Cao Yang didn't get angry, and Dong Xuan also finished this part of the plot in the bedroom.

"Don't worry, Old Gu, I'm a man of my word. I said a pack of Zhongnanhai, so I'll definitely give you a pack. A real man can't go back on his word."

Ning Hao moved a small stool, sat next to Old Gu, and chatted with him during the break while waiting for the crew to eat.

Old Gu was stunned for a moment. When did this kid become so proactive in admitting defeat?

Then he realized something was wrong. This little bastard was doing it on purpose, just trying to trick him out of his Wuliangye.

"Go, go, go, don't play dirty. I said at the time that I was raising the stakes to Wuliangye, and you said you bet. You still want to trick me! Besides, neither of us won. How about I give you a bottle, and you give me a bottle?"

Ning Hao was a bit regretful that he hadn't tricked Old Gu.

"Forget it, if neither of us won, why give anything?"

Then he touched Old Gu with his hand and whispered: "How come I feel like Dong Xuan is acting out the satisfaction and happiness very well? Is she already in character?"

"Maybe, everyone's situation is different."

Gu Changwei thought for a moment. He had been collaborating with Cao Dao since "Secret Sunshine." At that time, Gao Yuanyuan was "tortured" by Cao Dao with one shot over and over again, and then suddenly she got into character and her acting became god-like.

At that time, Ning Hao, this bastard, was still his assistant and knew the situation very well, which is why the two of them thought Cao Yang would use a difficult shot and film it over and over again to guide Dong Xuan into character.

However, Old Gu had heard from the veterans in the crew that when Cao Dao filmed his first movie, he was collaborating with Li Xiaoran, and it wasn't like that with Gao Yuanyuan.

It is said that at that time, Cao Dao coached Li Xiaoran on the scenes over and over again, and before filming even started, Li Xiaoran was already in character, and very deeply at that.

Could it be that Dong Xuan is in this situation too?

Dong Xuan is definitely not in this situation.

If they had filmed the scenes of the psychological changes in the later stages first, Ning Hao and Old Gu would probably have seen Dong Xuan being "tortured" by Cao Yang over and over again.

However, what they were filming now were the beginning segments, requiring Dong Xuan to show satisfaction and happiness, which definitely wouldn't stump her.

Becoming the female lead in Cao Yang's new film and being able to film with Cao Yang every day—for Dong Xuan, could there be anything more satisfying and happy than this?

She didn't even need to get into character or think about other things; as long as Dong Xuan saw Cao Yang in the crew, she could naturally express it.

The afternoon filming was still scenes taking place in the bedroom.

Filming a movie usually doesn't follow the plot order; most of it is classified by scene to save the trouble of changing locations.

The first shot in the afternoon was an intense scene.

Well, not an intense scene between two people; it was an intense scene for the female lead alone.

This was already considered a later part of the plot.

In order to get the opportunity to play the Bai Tiane and the Black Swan, the female lead listened to the director's words and subconsciously wanted to comfort herself, which led to this little segment of the plot.

"Don't be embarrassed. It's mainly the expression; there will be a close-up. Prepare yourself, and once you're ready, I'll start filming."

Cao Yang said to Dong Xuan, who was lying on the bed.

Dong Xuan was indeed a bit embarrassed. Self-comforting is something that, especially when done in front of others—even if it's filming—makes her a bit unable to let go.

But as an actor, especially a female actor, who hasn't filmed an intense scene?

She was already very lucky. Since being with Cao Yang, she had almost never filmed an intense scene, and even if there was one occasionally, it was all done with camera angles or body doubles.

Dong Xuan hypnotized herself in her heart, pretending this was her own home...

She took a deep breath, nodded at Cao Yang, and then closed her eyes, silently chanting in her heart: This is my home, this is my home... Cao Yang shouted, "Action."

The script supervisor clapped the board, and filming began.

Dong Xuan covered herself with the quilt, reached her hand into the forbidden area, just touched it, and then opened her eyes with a start.

"Cut! Ten-minute break, then let's do a safety take."

This was a more tactful way of saying it; he was actually not satisfied with this take.

Cao Yang walked up to Dong Xuan and looked at her:

"You opened your eyes too fast, and the expression on your face is wrong. You need to have an expression of enjoyment. Enjoyment, understand? Sustain it for ten seconds, open your eyes, and suddenly see your mother sitting next to you, then have an expression of shock. Understand?"

Dong Xuan nodded quickly, "Okay, Director, I've remembered."

Cao Yang thought for a moment and said again: "And the sound—suppressed in the throat, but some of it needs to come out."

Dong Xuan steeled her heart. Anyway, it's not showing anything; isn't it just expressions and sounds? Let's see if you're familiar with it.

Women, as long as they are adults, will have this kind of thing to some extent, so it's still easy to perform.

!

Next, they filmed a few more scenes in the bedroom with Pan Hong. Because they hadn't filmed the subsequent changes yet, everything went quite smoothly.

The first day of filming ended in such a calm manner.

"Do you still want to bet?"

Ning Hao touched Gu Changwei and asked in a low voice.

"How to bet?"

Both were people of status—one a deputy director, one a chief cinematographer—so they didn't need to worry about cleaning up the equipment; others would do that.

They found a place, each with a cigarette, and started puffing away.

"Let's bet on whether Dong Xuan is in character."

Ning Hao thought about Dong Xuan's performance today and quickly threw out his point of view, "I bet she isn't in character. Let's make it a bottle of Wuliangye."

Old Gu deliberated. Dong Xuan's performance today indeed didn't look like she was in character.

Based on his experience following Cao Yang, if a lead is in character, the performance is visible to the naked eye, performed extremely naturally. Most of the time, as long as the co-star doesn't have problems, it's almost always a one-take pass, and then a safety take.

Dong Xuan's performance today was sometimes good and sometimes bad. Although it was very good compared to an average actor, it was still a big gap compared to an actor who had been coached by Cao Yang and was in character.

Old Gu really wanted to say he also bet that Dong Xuan wasn't in character, but Ning Hao, this little bastard, had already chosen, so he could only choose the other answer. Anyway, it was just for fun; if he lost, he lost.

"Fine, just a bottle of Wuliangye. I say she is in character."

Ning Hao chuckled, feeling he had the victory in his grasp.

Cao Yang returned to his hotel suite in the evening. He originally intended to film for two or three days before adding the "in-character experience" for the actors, but thinking about it, who in the world doesn't know that he is good at coaching actors?

He didn't need to prove anything anymore, so why make things difficult for himself and torture the actors?

He had already coached the actors with more significant roles for over a month. If their acting suddenly improved, could it be that they thought they were geniuses?

They would definitely attribute it to his coaching.

Then he would just add it to them.

Dong Xuan's acting was actually okay, probably better than Li Xiaoran's back then. If he were to mess around crazily like he did with Li Xiaoran back then, one in-character experience would probably be enough.

However, one in-character experience definitely wouldn't work now. Even though they had coached for over a month, she only had a deep understanding of the plot of "Black Swan," but her mental state hadn't been affected yet.

Cao Yang tried to add one for Dong Xuan, but as expected, it didn't work; it couldn't be added.

Then he tried with two, and it was added.

Thinking about it, since he wanted Dong Xuan to win a Venice Best Actress award, should he add another one to make her perform even better?

Cao Yang's fame was too great now. When he attended the Venice Film Festival, he would definitely be watched by many people. With Old Ma there and the film's core being very high, as long as it was filmed well, winning the Golden Lion shouldn't be a problem.

The key was the Venice Best Actress award, which wasn't that easy.

Everyone knew Cao Yang was good at coaching actors. As long as the actor's performance had the slightest flaw, it would be viewed under a magnifying glass and treated with "discrimination."

So to win Best Actress, she must perform in a way that everyone says is good.

As long as everyone feels Dong Xuan's acting is very good, by the same logic, they would unanimously decide to give her the Best Actress award.

However, the female lead had some mental problems. If he added too many in-character experiences and gave Dong Xuan a split personality, it would be troublesome.

Cao Yang carefully thought about the performances of Li Xiaoran, Yu Feihong, and Gao Yuanyuan. Without a doubt, they were all affected by their characters at the beginning.

Li Xiaoran's deep affection and avoidance, Yu Feihong's initiative and vanity after being suppressed, Gao Yuanyuan's wildness and the "child" she kept in her heart...

As time passed, their "symptoms" gradually improved. Even if they suddenly said something at a critical moment of passion, it wasn't because of the character, but for flirting, to reach... that point more easily.

Hesitating for a moment, Cao Yang sighed and added another in-character experience for Dong Xuan.

Girl, I'm doing this for your own good. My fame is too great now, and so many people are watching. If you don't perform in a way that is beyond dispute, it's really hard for you to win Best Actress.

But as long as you act exceptionally well, no one will dare to deny you the Best Actress award.

Lv Yi, the little wife of the Hammer King, Cao Yang still had a deep impression of her.

During the audition, she looked a bit shy, but she was very confident and charming when dancing.

Later, during the scene coaching, she was also the most serious. As long as she didn't understand something, she would ask immediately, and she was the most diligent in taking notes and writing down her insights.

She was just a very simple, serious, and meticulous girl.

As for acting, it was definitely not as good as Dong Xuan's, probably similar to Yu Feihong's in the past, and a little better than Gao Yuanyuan's back then.

Cao Yang added an in-character experience for Lv Yi, but it didn't work; it couldn't be added. With two, it was done.

Compared to Dong Xuan, although Lv Yi was nominally one of the female leads, her scenes were much fewer. Strictly speaking, she should be the second female lead.

If he added another in-character experience, was it possible to have a double Best Actress win?

Then Cao Yang shook his head himself. If there wasn't the biggest award, the Venice Golden Lion, and both female leads performed well, it might be possible to have a double win.

But if there was a Golden Lion, there would definitely not be a double Best Actress win.

Because in the history of Venice, there has never been a case where a film won the Golden Lion and also won a double Best Actress award.

Things without precedent are generally hard to break.

Cao Yang did not continue to add in-character experiences for Lv Yi.

Huang Xiaoming...

This is a very strange guy. His acting is strong when the opponent is strong and weak when the opponent is weak. In the industry, he is called "fifty-fifty," being fifty-fifty with everyone.

Cao Yang actually wanted to try whether he could also be fifty-fifty when acting with Dong Xuan without giving him an in-character experience.

Then let's try it.

Cao Yang thought with some mischievous interest: at worst, if Huang Xiaoming can't keep up, he'll just add an in-character experience for him then.

Chen Shu, this person, probably started working early and has some little cleverness.

She worked in the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe for many years. Although she has been an actor for a few years, most of them were minor supporting roles, and her acting is just average.

However, she didn't have many scenes. Cao Yang added an in-character experience for her to try, and it was added immediately.

From this, Cao Yang summarized another rule of the system: as long as the scenes are not many, even if the acting is not good, one in-character experience is enough.

Teacher Pan Hong looks like a supporting actress, but her scenes are not few.

Her acting is definitely beyond question. So far, she has won three Golden Rooster Best Actress awards and also a Hundred Flowers Best Actress award, belonging to the acting school.

Cao Yang considered it. Although she could perform well without an in-character experience, adding one would definitely be better, so he added one.

(End of chapter)