[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr":3,"chapter-the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-84":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Academic Director: Reborn in the Film Industry",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2297084,4493,"Chapter 84: The Pitiful Girl","the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-84",84,"\u003Cp>\"Cut!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Take a ten-minute break.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang beckoned for Gao Yuanyuan to come over, and he asked her once again: \"Do you still remember what I told you about how the female lead should act at this moment?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm sorry, Director Cao, it's my fault.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Yuanyuan bowed her head to apologize, not just to Cao Yang, but to the entire crew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was her fourth time messing up this shot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She is in pain inside, yet unwilling to face reality, because the place she is going is a slum in her eyes, so she must appear somewhat arrogant on the surface to cover up her insecurity,\" Gao Yuanyuan said in a low voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do you have even a hint of arrogance in your performance? Even if she is in pain and numbing herself inside, she must have arrogance on the surface; you cannot speak with a sorrowful tone,\" Cao Yang said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm sorry...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang did not get angry; instead, he guided her from another angle: \"Just pretend the other person is being unreasonable, and you are arguing with her. Be a little more aggressive, can you do that?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mm-hmm.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Yuanyuan nodded quickly, and as she walked back, she wondered just how aggressive \"a little more aggressive\" should be. Like a street brawl?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Attention everyone, let's do it again.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clapperboard snapped, and Gao Yuanyuan held her phone, saying angrily: \"Where? How would I know where this is? There's a road sign here that says it's still four kilometers to Kwun Tong...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang stroked his chin and sighed. Damn, she really had spirit—a cute, milky kind of ferocity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But big sister, I only asked you to be a little more aggressive, not to get into a street fight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that attitude of yours, if this were Hong Kong before '97, you'd be... in a minute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Quickly shaking off the messy thoughts in his head, Cao Yang called out a listless \"Cut\" and said, \"Ten-minute break, touch up her makeup, we'll shoot another take later.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After saying that, he half-reclined in his director's chair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Yuanyuan walked over with her head bowed, feeling self-conscious. \"I'm sorry, Director Cao, I...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest, although Gao Yuanyuan hadn't delivered the effect Cao Yang wanted, her attitude was truly beyond reproach—much better than Yu Feihong's had been at the start.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tone it down a bit later, don't be too fierce, just restrain yourself a little,\" Cao Yang said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Okay.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Yuanyuan nodded quickly, and as she walked back, she couldn't stop bowing and apologizing to the crew members.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang shook his head slightly. With a temper like that, she really did look soft, cute, and easy to bully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yiwei, Dong Xuan, and the tomboyish Wang Luodan were watching from the sidelines... no, learning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yiwei whispered to Dong Xuan: \"How long do you think it will take for Gao Yuanyuan to get the hang of acting?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dong Xuan thought for a moment. \"Three days?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yiwei shook his head. \"I think she might have a breakthrough in her acting tomorrow.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What do you mean 'get the hang of acting'? What acting breakthrough?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Luodan didn't quite understand and asked curiously. Acting is just acting, can you really 'get' it or not?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Gao Yuanyuan, of course.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dong Xuan said it as if it were obvious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Her acting... can have a big breakthrough?\" Wang Luodan didn't understand; it felt rather inexplicable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't that she looked down on Gao Yuanyuan's acting, but she felt that with Gao Yuanyuan's mediocre skills, even if there were a breakthrough, how far could it go? Could she really become like Li Xiaoran or Yu Feihong?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking of those two, Wang Luodan wasn't so confident anymore. Their acting used to seem mediocre too, with nothing that stood out, but in those two films, they performed as if they were completely different people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was hard to explain. Was Director Cao's ability to coach actors really as divine as the legends said?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While they were whispering, they saw Cao Yang call Gao Yuanyuan over again to give her notes. It was still the same shot; who knew how long he would keep grinding at it. Everyone could see now that Cao Yang was just trying to find a rhythm, giving Gao Yuanyuan special attention, and constantly making her interpret this scene in various ways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But so far, there hadn't been a single satisfactory result.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Changwei was getting bored and felt like yawning. Only he and the assistant, Ning Hao, knew that the camera wasn't even turned on. Every time, they were just going through the motions as if it were real, but in fact, nothing was being filmed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang had instructed him to do this early that morning, telling him that this film was aimed at Cannes, so the actors' performances were crucial. The task for today was to keep playing opposite Gao Yuanyuan to help her find her feel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That excuse was truly... novel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Changwei admitted that if the director of this film weren't Cao Yang, he would have started ranting: Are you kidding? The film has already started shooting and you want to help her 'find her feel'? What were you doing before filming started? And if you really need to find a feel, couldn't you have found someone who can actually act?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gong Li, Li Xiaoran, Yu Feihong, International Zhang... even the lesser-known starlets, which one of them didn't have acting skills that crushed Gao Yuanyuan's?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, he only thought this to himself. The man had produced two international best actresses in one year and won a Golden Lion; he was one of the few top directors in the country. If he said he was helping an actor find her feel...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he was helping her find her feel. Who knew, maybe Gao Yuanyuan would have an acting breakthrough?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he hadn't seen that Gao Yuanyuan's progress was consistently minimal, Gu Changwei would have almost believed this nonsense himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had always firmly believed that some people's acting skills really couldn't be ground out; this stuff was very much dependent on talent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang kept trying different ways to give Gao Yuanyuan advice, just for this one shot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Yuanyuan kept messing up, kept apologizing, and then kept messing up again, kept apologizing...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cut! Another ten-minute break.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Yuanyuan sat on the ground without a care for her image, staring blankly ahead. The joy of being the female lead had long since vanished, and the long-suppressed grievances and sadness surged out. She began to doubt everything about herself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang's female lead wasn't so easy to play...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With my acting skills, besides making a fool of myself, what else is there...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I deserve to be...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I am such a failure...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone must be laughing at me...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Director Cao might already be thinking about replacing the female lead...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I really want to cry...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before she knew it, Gao Yuanyuan was already streaming with tears. Only then did she realize it, scrambling to stand up, wiping her tears away with both hands while smiling stiffly, bowing and apologizing to everyone around her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, uh... I'm really... really sorry, I... I remembered... I remembered the female lead's plight...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She sobbed, trying hard to stop herself, but she couldn't hold it back. Finally, she covered her face with her hands, and wailing sounds came out, along with intermittent words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm sorry... the female lead... the female lead is too miserable... I really can't... can't help it... I'm sorry... it's all my fault...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright, stop looking, she's just gotten a bit too into character while we were finding our rhythm.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang stood up, waved his hand to disperse the nearby crew members, and pointed to a few girls from the Beijing Film Academy. \"You few, take care of her, send her back to the hotel, and keep an eye on her so nothing happens.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Afterward, he instructed the assistant director, Li Mingyi: \"That's it for today, wrap up early, you handle the follow-up.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Understood, Director Cao.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang let out a breath. Gao Yuanyuan's emotions had finally collapsed; this was the best state for layering in the experience of being in character.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Gao Yuanyuan's acting suddenly improved, everyone would think it was the result of the acting skills ground out by Director Cao's constant coaching and the time spent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1403,"2026-06-20T05:36:32.009Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","b3ad419edefb0acfa5b07813f98e71976163a5dedfa2399948ee90ac16775ea3","the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-85","the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-83",411,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-cover.jpg"]