Chapter 88: Quantitative Change and Qualitative Change

Wu Qihua’s acting skills were actually not bad; Cao Yang had explained so much about the scenes to him and Gao Yuanyuan before filming began, so he had a very good understanding of the film’s story and core.

Therefore, before filming started, he felt he would surely handle it with ease, feeling more relaxed and natural than in any previous role.

On the first day, he still looked down on Gao Yuanyuan a little.

This little girl with big eyes didn't have acting skills as good as some famous "vases" in Xiangjiang; even those like Guan Zhilin or Li Jiaxin could perform to the director's requirements at a level of four, five, or six out of ten after the director's tireless guidance, right?

Wu Qihua wished he could just push Gao Yuanyuan aside and step in to demonstrate for her himself.

However, it had to be said that Director Cao was truly ruthless; he filmed a single shot from morning until afternoon, filming until Gao Yuanyuan broke down and sat there sobbing.

Wu Qihua had originally thought that even if things were slightly better on the second day, there wouldn't be any fundamental change; after all, this girl’s acting skills were not even as good as Yu Feihong’s before she was coached by Director Cao.

But the situation exceeded his expectations; Gao Yuanyuan was like a completely different person, acting with ease and appearing to be a different individual compared to yesterday.

If it were just that, it would be fine, but what made Wu Qihua unable to sit still was that he was no longer a supporting actor; unlike in "Empty House," where he had many scenes but the focus wasn't on him, so the requirement for him was just to pass.

In "Secret Sunshine," Wu Qihua was the male lead, and even if the main focus wasn't on him, the requirements were definitely different.

Consequently, whenever there was a scene with Gao Yuanyuan, if the shot wasn't done in one take, the one making mistakes was always him—either being overshadowed or failing to keep up with the rhythm.

He couldn't even blame Gao Yuanyuan; if she were a very skilled actress, she could control her performance during the scene and lead her partner into the role.

But Gao Yuanyuan was different; it was as if she had practiced the "Evil-Warding Sword Manual"—her acting had improved, but her foundation wasn't solid, and she couldn't control her performance or lead others into the role.

Wu Qihua was so frustrated; his acting was being completely crushed by a girl who had undergone a crash course.

In the end, he could only sigh that Director Cao was truly awesome.

Huh?

Wu Qihua suddenly thought that he was the male lead now too; could Director Cao also guide his acting? He wanted to practice the "Evil-Warding Sword Manual" too.

Thus, after another NG due to his own mistake, Wu Qihua apologized to the crew and walked over to Cao Yang.

"Director Cao, I feel there is still a lot of room for improvement in my acting. Could you guide me again? I always feel like I can't keep up with Yuanyuan’s rhythm, and I feel a bit ashamed."

Cao Yang thought for a moment; Wu Qihua’s acting was fine for a supporting role, but he was indeed dragging the crew down a bit now, so he would give him the "immersion experience" as well.

"Teacher Wu..."

"Director Cao, I've said it so many times, you can just call me Ah Hua or Hua Zai," Wu Qihua interrupted Cao Yang and corrected him.

Fine, though calling him Hua Zai seemed a bit inappropriate.

"Ah Hua, through these past few days of observation, I’ve discovered that you are only one opportunity away from a complete transformation, allowing you to act with ease in this film."

"Huh? Director Cao, I don't quite understand what you mean."

"Before we started filming, I explained so many scenes to you and Yuanyuan. You understood them more thoroughly than Yuanyuan, and your acting is better than hers, so I thought you could already perform the feeling I wanted."

Wu Qihua felt a bit ashamed; so Director Cao trusted him this much, yet he hadn't met Director Cao’s requirements. Could it be that his talent wasn't even as good as Gao Yuanyuan’s?

Cao Yang dealt Wu Qihua a blow, then began to comfort him: "You have understood the plot and know how to play the male lead, but you are just missing that little bit of spark. Just like Yuanyuan, she also understood the plot and knew in her heart how to play the female lead, but she just couldn't perform it. My method for her was to use an entire day, filming repeatedly, to help her find the feeling, and you saw the result."

"What about me, Director Cao? Do I also need to use an entire day of repeated filming to find the feeling?" Wu Qihua asked impatiently.

"You are much simpler than Yuanyuan; you only lack one opportunity. Go back today, read the character biography I wrote a few days ago carefully three times, then go to sleep without thinking about anything, and let these insights settle in your mind. You might have new realizations tomorrow."

"Okay, Director Cao, thank you. I will listen to you; I'll go back and read the character biography as soon as we wrap up today."

Watching Wu Qihua walk back, satisfied, Cao Yang secretly said sorry; he had to find a decent excuse.

Otherwise, if he just added the immersion experience, he might think it was his own acting talent exploding.

Returning that night, Cao Yang tried to add the immersion experience to Wu Qihua. The result was fine; it succeeded directly with a +1, which showed that Old Wu’s acting was actually okay—this was system-certified.

Cao Yang didn't know what Wu Qihua had experienced, but from the second day on, Wu Qihua was never suppressed in his scenes with Gao Yuanyuan. Although he still didn't perform as brilliantly as Gao Yuanyuan, his acting in their scenes was completely qualified.

Cao Yang was also curious about how the system managed it, so he took a moment to ask Wu Qihua if he had gained anything after reading the character biography that day.

Mentioning this, Wu Qihua became quite excited and spoke endlessly.

To summarize, he followed Cao Yang’s instructions, read the character biography three times, and then washed up and went to sleep.

!

That night, he felt that all his understanding of this film over the past few days had formed a vivid thread, just like a real movie; he had experienced everything in the film from the perspective of the male lead.

He praised Cao Yang incessantly, feeling that Director Cao was truly a god descended to earth, giving him a grasp of the character he had never had before, as if he had completely repeated the male lead’s experiences.

Wu Qihua emphasized repeatedly that if he couldn't play the character well after this, he might as well not be in the entertainment industry; retiring early would be the best choice.

Then, he asked Cao Yang a bit shyly if he could use this method in the future when acting in other people's films.

Cao Yang waved his hand dismissively: No problem, as long as you like it.

Wu Qihua left happily.

Then, he wrote down in his notebook with extreme seriousness:

1. After receiving the script, read it thoroughly to understand the director’s ideas and requirements.

2. Write a character biography; one must analyze the character thoroughly.

3. Combine the theme of the script and the content to be expressed to analyze how the character should express it most appropriately.

4. If you still can't perform what you want, it must be that you haven't fully grasped the script and the character.

5. If the final performance still doesn't meet the director’s requirements, it depends on the situation; it might be that you haven't fully understood the director’s meaning, or it might be that you have encountered a stupid director.

The crew’s filming went very smoothly, and the progress was very fast. Now, the ones dragging their feet were basically other actors; the two leads had almost never made any major mistakes.

After more than a month of filming, only the last set of shots remained, which was also a very important set of shots that Cao Yang had left for the very end.

This set of shots was the crying scene in the church, a scene that required a major emotional outburst and release.

(End of chapter)