Chapter 38: The Importance of Persona

Dong Xuan, Wen Zhengrong, and Che Xiao, although in different years, were all students at the Beijing Film Academy and had been assigned to the same room, naturally forming a small clique within the production crew.

Old Tian’s act of throwing himself into the game had truly frightened them, instantly shattering all previous rumors.

That evening, after eating, the group stayed in their dormitory and chatted about the day's events.

"Oh my god, I was scared to death today. Director Cao is so fierce. That was Director Tian, and he scolded him in front of so many people without giving him any face at all," Che Xiao exclaimed.

Dong Xuan seemed rather happy, replying, "I guessed before that the last film was directed by Director Cao, and now it seems it's true. Look, he dared to scold Director Tian directly."

Wen Zhengrong nodded, still feeling a lingering fear as she whispered, "This is truly unexpected. I had something to do and arrived at the set a day late, and I asked Director Tian for leave; I didn't tell Director Cao at all. Do you think Director Cao will be angry because of that?"

Che Xiao raised her hand and said weakly, "Two days ago, I went out with some senior students from school who came for an internship, and I also asked Director Tian for leave."

Wen Zhengrong and Che Xiao exchanged a look, both beginning to worry whether Cao Yang would make things difficult for them.

Dong Xuan comforted them, "It should be fine. I think Director Cao is usually quite gentle; maybe he only loses his temper when filming. Let's just be careful from now on and not do anything stupid."

"Mm-hmm."

Wen Zhengrong and Che Xiao both nodded quickly.

The next day, the production resumed. Cao Yang could feel that the spirit of the crew was completely different from yesterday. Most obviously, everyone had a sense of awe toward his attitude, especially those who had newly joined the crew.

Cao Yang still didn't let Liu Ye and Yu Feihong join the scene for an experience; he wanted to test the waters and see to what extent their acting skills could reach.

At the same time, he wanted to show the rest of the crew so they wouldn't think they had just gotten lucky and found two people with god-tier acting skills.

This shoot was not filmed in the order of the film's plot. Although this film wasn't too complex, there were still quite a lot of scenes, and filming in order would be too much of a hassle.

All shots in the same location, including events from different parts of the plot, were filmed together.

This is also the filming method for most movies, which must be reasonably arranged according to factors such as actors' schedules, location requirements, weather, and budget.

There are exceptions, too.

Chen Kaige’s *Farewell My Concubine* was filmed in plot order, and many of Hitchcock’s films were also filmed in plot order.

Cao Yang learned something new today: Yu Feihong’s acting... was relatively hollow, with almost no emotional fluctuations.

To put it nicely, this natural, unpretentious sense of relaxation, when encountering a suitable role—that is, a cold and aloof persona—is truly performed quite naturally and is extremely brilliant, living up to the title of "fairy."

Therefore, as long as she only takes on roles with this persona, she will almost never fail and can continuously attract fans who are there for her looks.

"Cut! That’s a wrap."

Cao Yang scratched his head. It was truly unexpected; the female lead's scenes here were actually performed perfectly by Yu Feihong. Well, it should be called a natural performance.

The female lead is beaten black and blue by her husband and is grieving alone in a small room. She actually saw the male lead sneak in a long time ago, but she shows no reaction.

Her emotions here should be complete despair, heart as still as water, eyes hollow, a "whatever happens, happens" kind of state.

It reached a perfect fit with Yu Feihong’s unpretentious acting!

In this part of the plot, the male lead thinks no one is home, so he enters and treats it like his own house, doing laundry, cooking, and fixing scales, then goes to sleep on the bed. He doesn't know the female lead has locked herself in a small room.

In the original plot here, Tsui Hark also had a perverse hobby: the male lead is on the bed looking at the female lead's photo album and masturbating, and the female lead opens the door and watches him with an expressionless face...

Cao Yang understood a bit of what Tsui Hark meant; he wanted to express that the female lead had already collapsed in despair and no longer cared or concerned herself with anything—including the male lead's current behavior.

But actually, it’s fine not to include this part; there are many, many details that reveal the female lead's collapse and despair.

Cao Yang changed the male lead's masturbation to flipping through the female lead's photo album. Not changing it wouldn't have been a plus, and it might have even been cut during domestic release, so why do something unnecessary? From the audience's perspective here, it is the female lead looking at the male lead on the bed.

But when filming, it was actually the female lead looking at the lens, and then the lens filming the male lead, meaning the lens became the eyes of the female lead and the audience.

Yu Feihong wore makeup that made her look black and blue, and those eyes had no emotional ripples, large and vacant, extremely fitting for the female lead's state at this time.

One take, perfect!

This is where the importance of a persona is seen. If you are an actor without a spark who acts the same in everything, if a play is specifically tailored to fit your persona, you might actually be praised for your acting.

Of course, Yu Feihong’s perfect performance was limited to when she first met the male lead. The later plot requires her to have a process of emotional transition, which I estimate will be a bit difficult for her.

In this part of the plot, it was Liu Ye who had problems.

Liu Ye was half-lying on the bed, his upper body bare, holding the photo album, his expression somewhat... shy!

You’re a grown man, what the hell are you being shy for!

"Cut! Five-minute break, let's shoot it again."

"Liu Ye, you see the female lead at the door; you can look surprised, shocked, or even scared. What kind of reaction is that?

What the hell are you being shy for? What do you have to be embarrassed about? You’ve already broken into someone else’s house and are sleeping in their bed; it’s not like you’re being caught in the act of adultery!"

There was one more thing Cao Yang didn't say: you aren't a woman; even if you were caught in the act, you should be scared, not shy and coy!

He still hadn't come out of character, influenced by the emotions of his previous film, *Lan Yu*.

"Sorry, Director, my fault. I'll adjust," Liu Ye said quickly.

!

After filming a few more times, it finally reached Cao Yang's requirements.

What was to be filmed next was still happening in this villa, but in terms of the plot, it was the final segment of the film. The male lead returns with his divine arts perfected; he wants to be invisible, so he is, and if he doesn't want people to see him, no one can see him.

What was to be filmed now was what happened at the dinner table. The female lead and her abusive husband were eating face-to-face, and Liu Ye was standing behind the abusive husband, also holding a bowl and eating.

Yu Feihong had an unnatural smile on her face, her eyes showing no emotional fluctuation, pushing the plate. There needed to be a close-up of her face here, a low-angle shot, especially the eyes, which were the focus.

"Cut!"

"Sister Hong, you can have a bit of a smile here. Your eyes can't be vacant. You have 'come alive'; the male lead you’ve been hoping for has returned and is right behind your husband. You can have a smug smile, you can have a disdainful smile, but you cannot have a stiff smile."

"Cut!"

"Sister Hong, the eyes, the eyes."

"Cut!"

"I... Sister Hong, if you saw someone you liked return from outside, what expression would you have?"

"If they return, they return. What other expression could there be?" Yu Feihong muttered softly.

"What?"

"Okay, Director, I'll adjust."

"Cut!"

Cao Yang took a deep breath, making a final attempt, "Sister Hong, you've seen horror movies, right? The kind of smile the female lead or supporting actress has—it can be a bit eerie. Just smile like that."

"Cut!"

Cao Yang sat powerlessly in the director's chair and gave up. She couldn't act out that sense of layering; lowering the requirements didn't work either. She couldn't even act out a sense of thrill.

"Change the scene. We'll film these shots tomorrow."

Why make things difficult for myself? There’s no time to grind out acting skills here. Let's move on!

(End of chapter)