Chapter 378: Controversy

The filming of *Manchester by the Sea*, also known as *Love in the Seaside City*, is going very smoothly; at least for now, in terms of progress and fluidity, it is going quite well.

As for the interaction scenes between the "nephew" and his two girlfriends—that is, the scenes involving Zhu Yilong, Jing Tian, and Yang Mi—Cao Yang has arranged for them to be filmed last.

Yes, last.

Truly last, scheduled after the scenes where the "nephew" breaks down in tears in front of the refrigerator and the male lead encounters his ex-wife pushing a baby.

As for the reason.

The explanation given to Yang Mi and Jing Tian is that it allows them to learn and practice more with the crew, so they can discover their own shortcomings, correct them in time, and lay a solid foundation for their future acting careers.

In reality, Cao Yang is afraid that these simple scenes might result in too many retakes, affecting everyone's mood.

While the filming of the scenes is going smoothly, some "minor" problems have emerged regarding the actors.

Zhu Yilong is easier to handle; he is currently just a small student at the Beijing Film Academy. He remains silent and reserved when not filming, giving off a "keep away" vibe, so everyone just assumes that is his natural personality.

Only Cao Yang chats with him from time to time and has instructed Teacher Qin Peiling to pay more attention to him, fearing he might truly become depressed.

Teacher Qin Peiling is a specialist invited from the Beijing Film Academy who studies emotional guidance after actors enter a role. She holds a doctorate in psychology from Beijing Normal University and is a talent the school has only recruited in recent years.

The term "recruited talent" used here carries no derogatory meaning.

It is currently 2007, and undergraduate majors have only recently begun to expand enrollment; in this era, getting into university is no easy feat.

Teacher Qin Peiling obtained her doctorate in psychology from Beijing Normal University in 2003. When she took her university entrance exams, universities had not yet expanded enrollment, so her doctoral degree carries significant weight.

Teacher Qin feels that this trip with the crew is very worthwhile.

As for the reason, it is naturally because there are three people in the crew currently who interest her greatly.

One is the Beijing Film Academy student Zhu Yilong, and the other is the world-renowned international superstar Cheng Long.

The last one is the international master director and the face of the Beijing Film Academy, Cao Yang.

Teacher Qin’s doctoral thesis back in the day was on the "niche" topic of the psychological characteristics of actors after they enter a role. Combined with her years of teaching at the Beijing Film Academy, she considers herself to have quite a bit of experience regarding "entering a role."

However, following the crew this time has given her a sense of having her eyes opened.

She has seen "entering a role" many times, but it is truly rare to see it done like this.

Entering a role is a very complex topic; if Teacher Qin were to talk about it, she probably wouldn't finish in three days and three nights.

However, if one does not distinguish between the Method school and the Experiential school, and instead uses the simplest language to summarize it, entering a role can be divided into progressive immersion and extreme immersion.

Progressive immersion is when an actor reads the script thoroughly, understands the plot, and gradually "immerses" themselves into the character as the crew works together.

Not every actor can enter a character; it requires a certain level of acting skill to support it.

This type of progressive immersion causes almost no harm to the actor, and they can recover shortly after filming ends.

Extreme immersion is very extreme; the actor becomes completely immersed in the character, to the point where their cognition may even become impaired, believing they are the character themselves, making it very difficult to exit the role.

After extreme immersion, the impact on the actor is profound, ranging from being influenced by the plot to falling in love with their co-star, to depression, schizophrenia, or even tendencies toward extreme behavior.

Teacher Qin feels that Cheng Long and Zhu Yilong do not seem to be using progressive immersion. Just watching them perform in front of the camera, even when not filming, they seem completely immersed in their characters, which leans toward extreme immersion.

Another piece of evidence is that when they perform in front of the camera, it doesn't look like acting at all; it feels like real people and real events.

Combined with the movie's plot, it feels as if they are the characters in the film repeating their own lives!

This is even more extreme than extreme immersion—extreme immersion only means total emotional investment, which does not necessarily mean their acting is good, realistic, or natural.

But to say they are in extreme immersion doesn't seem right either.

A very obvious point of extreme immersion is the inability to distinguish between the play and reality.

Cheng Long and Zhu Yilong look like they are in extreme immersion, but Qin Peiling has had plenty of interaction with both of them every day; they can distinguish between the play and reality, know they are filming a movie, and are completely clear-headed.

As a teacher at the Beijing Film Academy, Qin Peiling certainly knows that Cao Yang is skilled at coaching actors.

She had always believed that Cao Yang achieved this through constant explanation and rehearsal, allowing actors to enter the role as early as possible, or even to enter the role the moment filming began.

She had observed this when Tian Zhuangzhuang was filming *Pieta*; that is exactly how Old Tian did it.

Old Tian spent nearly three months repeatedly explaining the scenes, allowing the actors to fully understand the "character" and the script, ultimately achieving "early entry and good performance."

From the perspective of "inheriting the tradition," Director Cao Yang should be the same.

However, reality is completely different.

Qin Peiling also inquired with Old Gu and some of Cao Yang's old crew members and learned that all the actors Cao Yang has "coached" are immersed in their characters in front of the camera but have full autonomous cognition when not filming.

This greatly surprised Qin Peiling.

Consequently, she became increasingly curious about Cao Yang, and like someone who had discovered a treasure, she felt that if she could write a paper on this, it would definitely astonish the industry.

Like someone who had discovered a "new toy," Qin Peiling talks to Cheng Long and Zhu Yilong every day.

However, Cheng Long's state has begun to worry his team and family.

In the past, when Cheng Long filmed, he was quite active, talkative, and loved to joke.

But the current Cheng Long feels like a pool of stagnant water; he is like this in front of the camera while filming, and he is the same on set when not filming.

When filming in Xiangjiang, his wife and son came to visit the set, but he still showed little emotion and acted exceptionally cold.

Especially toward A-Ming, he treated him almost like a random passerby; one could not see even a hint of the attitude one should have toward their own son.

A-Ming was stunned.

He is also an actor himself and knows that his father's state might be due to being too deep in the role, but this state is truly worrying.

Thus, A-Ming made a bold decision.

He sat next to Cheng Long and, in front of Cheng Long and his assistant, said to Cheng Long, "I picked up a pretty girl a while ago..."

Saying this, he carefully glanced at Cheng Long and continued, "However, she already had a boyfriend. We were cornered by her boyfriend at the hotel, and I... I gave him some money..."

After finishing, he secretly looked at Cheng Long again.

Based on his understanding of his father, at this moment, his father should be furious, shouting and cursing, and might even slap him across the face.

A-Ming has had similar experiences; his father would definitely suspect he had been "honey-trapped," call him stupid, call him a loser, call him unable to control his lower half, and would also curse him for being a spendthrift...

However, Cheng Long acted as if he hadn't heard, expressionless, not knowing what he was thinking.

Just as A-Ming was secretly anxious and worried, Cheng Long suddenly stood up and dropped a single sentence: "Time to work."

Cheng Long walked forward a few steps, then suddenly stopped. Without turning his head, he just said to the assistant, "Cancel his credit card. If he wants money, he can earn it himself."

After saying this, he walked away without looking back.

A-Ming widened his eyes, mouth agape, reaching out as if to say something.

However, in the end, he didn't say it; he just pulled back his hand and gave himself a hard slap in the face.

Let that be a lesson for being a busybody!

I shouldn't have cared about him!

Cheng Long's "immersion" state was eventually exposed by the paparazzi in Xiangjiang. One has to say the paparazzi in Xiangjiang are truly omnipotent; some tabloids even published a somewhat blurry photo.

In the photo, Cheng Long is expressionless, but he looks to be in poor condition, with a circle of stubble.

These days, everyone knows the character of Xiangjiang paparazzi and tabloids.

Those who don't can refer to those mainland paparazzi and "shock" departments that learn from Xiangjiang paparazzi and tabloids; one can roughly see the whole picture from a glimpse.

Thus, some tabloids used exaggerated headlines to report that while filming a romance movie for a master director, Cheng Long had entered the role too deeply and was facing depression and a breakdown.

Some tabloids also inferred that the plot of this romance movie must be that the male lead, Cheng Long, was abandoned by his girlfriend or wife, leaving him sad and desperate, and that a female lead would likely appear later to "save" him. That is why it is called *Love in the Seaside City*.

It is just that, perhaps because the director is "too good" at coaching actors, Cheng Long entered the role too deeply while filming the scene where he is abandoned by his ex-girlfriend, leading to his current state.

Based on this, this tabloid boldly speculated that Cao Yang's new movie was definitely finished and could no longer be filmed.

Hmm, between the lines, there is still a kind of high-and-mighty "sense of superiority."

First, the messy tabloids reported on this frantically, most of them bearish on the prospects of this movie.

Then, a so-called "insider" who wished to remain anonymous revealed that Cheng Long already had tendencies toward depression, was currently unable to continue filming, and that the crew and his family had privately hired the best psychologists in the world...

If the "insider's" revelation only left everyone half-believing, then a fairly clear video, likely shot with a digital camera, brought the "truth" to light.

In the video, a drunk A-Ming is seen hugging a pretty girl, pushing aside someone blocking his way.

At this moment, a voice says angrily, "Your old man is depressed from filming, and you still have the face to drink and pick up girls here."

These words completely broke the drunk A-Ming.

He pointed his finger at the person and cursed, "You bastard, when was my old man depressed? If you talk nonsense again, believe it or not, I'll find someone to kill your whole family? My old man just entered the role, entered the role, do you understand..."

From the fairly clear video, it can be seen that A-Ming was likely set up again.

Xiangjiang is a place where the temple is small but the demons are many, the pond is shallow...

Although A-Ming denied that Cheng Long was depressed, he confirmed the "entering the role" part.

Although entering a role and depression cannot be equated, they are somewhat linked; many actors who enter a role deeply have a high probability of becoming depressed.

Sometimes, the situation of being unable to exit a role can be much more serious than depression.

With this video, those famous Xiangjiang newspapers and media outlets began to get involved.

Some reported on the serious consequences that might arise from entering a role too deeply, citing Xiangjiang's Zhang Guorong and the actress who played Lin Daiyu in the mainland's *Dream of the Red Chamber*, Chen Xiaoxu, who passed away in May of this year, as examples.

These are typical examples of being unable to exit a role.

Of course, in general, one certainly cannot blame the director for an actor entering a role; one can only say the actor was too "immersed" in the character.

But there are exceptions to everything.

As everyone knows, Cao Yang is world-renowned for his skill in coaching actors.

Since you are skilled at coaching actors, any negative impact caused by an actor entering a role must certainly be the director's responsibility—this is the implication of many Xiangjiang media outlets.

In short, no one is optimistic about the movie's prospects, and the Xiangjiang media has also subtly criticized the unprofessionalism of the director and the crew.

Unprofessional?

Cao Yang was speechless after reading the reports.

At this point in time, most people in Xiangjiang are still immersed in the past glory of being "superior" to the mainland and cannot extricate themselves; it is estimated that they won't be able to change for a while.

Cao Yang is an international master director from the mainland. In the past two years, thanks to the efforts of a group of people led by him, although the Xiangjiang and Taiwan people who have moved north have not yet let go of their inner arrogance, many previous inequalities have improved significantly.

Therefore, the Xiangjiang media has always had a complex attitude toward Cao Yang. When Cao Yang was still filming art films in the country and winning awards, they chose to give him the cold shoulder, not reporting or reporting little, pretending not to see him.

But Cao Yang’s achievements after entering Hollywood were too dazzling, especially with the 900 million dollar global box office of *Inception* last year; it wasn't something you could just ignore even if you didn't want to report on it.

Consequently, the Xiangjiang media desperately tried to amplify Depp’s role in it—a very petty move.

Did they not understand Cao Yang’s influence?

Of course not; in reality, they understood everything.

It was just that the mainland film and television circle, which they had always looked down upon, had produced a great director like Cao Yang, leaving them somewhat at a loss and unwilling to admit it.

Now that an opportunity had arisen, they naturally wanted to take the chance to smear him.

In fact, by the time the Xiangjiang side began reporting on this extensively, Cao Yang had already brought the crew back to the mainland; the 10-day shooting schedule expected in Xiangjiang had been completed in just 8 days.

This even included the one day of rest upon arriving in Xiangjiang; the actual filming only took 7 days.

The crew did not immediately set off for Canada to film, but instead had to finish attending the 26th Golden Rooster Awards on October 27th before heading to Canada for location shooting.

Because filming finished two days ahead of schedule in Xiangjiang, Cao Yang simply gave the crew three days off: two days for the time saved, plus the third day to attend the Golden Rooster Awards ceremony.

It was precisely because he finished early and returned that Cao Yang missed this wave of extensive reporting by the Xiangjiang media.

Otherwise, he would certainly have been annoyed to death by those media outlets in Xiangjiang.

"These Xiangjiang paparazzi are too much, and these newspapers too—isn't this just nonsense? An actor getting into character is because the actor wants to play the role well; how can you blame the director and the crew?"

Gao Yuanyuan looked at the news on the computer in anger, saying a few colorful international common phrases as she read; if anyone else heard her, their jaws would drop.

Her fans and supporters would surely wonder: is this still our quiet, gentle goddess?

"I'm not even angry, what are you angry about?"

Cao Yang smiled and pulled Gao Yuanyuan up from the computer chair, letting her sit in his lap.

This Golden Rooster was the first one since Cao Yang became Vice Chairman of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and it could be considered a session that carried out some of his will; he took it very seriously and was definitely going to attend.

And precisely because of the importance of this Golden Rooster, Li Xiaoran, Yu Feihong, Gao Yuanyuan, Dong Xuan, Fatty Bing, and others would all be attending.

Furthermore, Yu Feihong, Gao Yuanyuan, and Fatty Bing would appear as award presenters, while Li Xiaoran and Dong Xuan both had works nominated.

Gao Yuanyuan had returned to Jingcheng today, and Cao Yang had come over.

"Look, didn't many Xiangjiang actors and directors speak up for me?"

Cao Yang said, pointing at the computer screen.

Gao Yuanyuan took a look, and there really were.

However, some didn't speak up voluntarily, like Wang Jiawei, who was interviewed by the media and asked how he viewed the matter of a director making actors get into character.

Although he was wearing sunglasses, one could still see that Wang Jiawei looked at the reporter as if they were an idiot, and said slowly:

"Haven't you reported before that Liang Chaowei suffered from depression because of filming my movies? I want to say that being able to make Liang Chaowei get into character and become depressed is the thing I am most proud of.

Why are you reporters reporting blindly? It’s simply baffling.

Do you understand what the art of film is? Do you understand what every director desires most? If I had Cao Dao’s ability, I’d be the king of the world, damn it!"

"Pfft."

Gao Yuanyuan burst into laughter; at this moment, she suddenly felt that Wang Jiawei was also a pretty good director, and her impression of him improved greatly.

Of course, if Wang Jiawei were to invite her to film a movie, sorry, she had no time or energy; she couldn't afford to waste it, she really couldn't afford it.

With that time, wouldn't it be better to endorse a few big brands?

Don't look at the fact that Gao Yuanyuan hadn't acted in many movies since winning the Cannes Best Actress award; her advertising resources were the best in the country, and her endorsement fees were also the highest in the country.

"Wu Qihua is still the one who is loyal; look, he even specifically accepted an interview on this face-to-face program to denounce the media."

Gao Yuanyuan said, pointing to a news story.

Afterwards, she pointed to another news story and said with some anger: "How can this person be like this? He’s even a star who broke into Hollywood; when people interview him, what does his 'no comment' mean?

Hmph, he’s been acting for so many years, how could he not know the benefits of getting into character? How could he not know that getting into character is something some actors dream of? This Xiangjiang person really has no sense of responsibility."

"Alright, alright, why are you getting angry? It’s other people's freedom not to want to wade into muddy water; this is such a normal thing."

Then, Cao Yang used some force to lift her up and said with a smile: "Come, let me help you cool off; I guarantee you'll be happy in a moment."

Gao Yuanyuan wrapped her arms around Cao Yang’s neck, looked up at him, bit her lower lip, and whispered: "What about you? Are you angry?"

Cao Yang thought for a moment.

"I am very angry right now."

(End of chapter)