Chapter 75: The Progress of Liu Yifei

The two walked cautiously to the side of the monitor, knowing they were about to be nitpicked again.

Lu Kuan first had someone bring over two folding chairs, letting them sit down and watch their own performance once.

The so-called "safety take" means this take is barely usable, giving the actors room to continue to perform.

Lu Kuan did this out of a psychological strategy.

It was aimed at telling the two that they already had a baseline performance, allowing them to perform more freely and enter a more relaxed state of acting.

This strategy is relatively stress-relieving for new actors, and for veteran actors like Feng Yuan, it allows him to try a different way of performing, providing the director with more ideas for shooting and editing.

"You two, to be honest, this take is usable, but I think your potential is far more than this."

Lu Kuan continued to analyze the scene for him in detail.

"Jielun, your lines need rhythm."

"For example, in this line 'There will only be one result from now on,' you must follow Yu Yan's rhythm and emotional fluctuations when speaking; don't just dump it all out at once like reciting a poem or memorizing a book."

This is a common mistake for new actors; the reason for the term "opposing scene" is that actors must provide rhythm to each other.

If someone like Zhou Jielun is desperate to blurt out all his lines as if he were performing "Nunchucks," the performance loses its interactivity and vitality.

Anyone who has played soccer knows that new players or beginners on the field feel the ball is too hot to handle.

Because they are afraid of making mistakes, they pass the ball quickly after receiving it with the mentality that being careful is always safe; it’s the same principle as a novice actor like Zhou Jielun dumping out his lines all at once.

"Okay, Director."

Feng Yuan, watching Lu Kuan's guidance to Zhou Jielun and Liu Yifei from the waiting area, nodded secretly, although these scenes were relatively simple and could not fully reflect the level of Lu Kuan's directing.

But being able to gradually lead a young superstar who had never been exposed to acting onto the right path, moving and striving in the correct direction of performance, demonstrated Lu Kuan's rich experience on set and his ability to coach new actors.

He was puzzled; how could such ability appear in a novice director?

It was just that Feng Yuan did not yet know of Lu Kuan's identity as a Daoist Priest before changing careers, otherwise, he would have developed the same doubts as Zhang Jizhong and the others.

The performance continued.

"Because I want to be better." Zhou Jielun looked at Liu Yifei's expression with some reluctance, but he had to continue.

"Aren't you good enough already?"

"I want to be the best!"

Next was Liu Yifei's long lines and key scene; Lu Kuan had Ning Hao give a close-up from an angle, not placing her face in the middle of the screen.

This is a type of camera language for two-person dialogue; the side-angle close-up displayed Liu Yifei's delicate face and high, straight nose bridge perfectly.

Lu Kuan sat in front of the monitor, staring intently at her performance; at this moment, Liu Yifei's micro-expressions and lines, and even the slight tremor in her voice while speaking, were all crucial.

Why is it always said that there is a hierarchy of contempt from film actors to television actors?

There are too many close-up shots in films; an actor who has not received formal acting education and lacks rich performance experience finds it difficult not to make mistakes under such close-range tracking.

Take Liu Yifei at this moment; the tremor in her voice, her flickering eyes, and even her slightly bobbing throat—these would all become key elements for the actor to express emotions and advance the plot in a film.

This kind of expression requires extremely high demands on an actor's facial control, line delivery, emotional expression, and precision of performance, far beyond what television camera shots can compare to.

Liu Yifei seemed to want to make a final struggle: "Are you so sure that with me, you can't succeed?"

"Are you so sure this is a settled fact?"

Zhou Jielun did not hesitate: "That's right."

Liu Yifei took a deep breath, her throat bobbing slightly, as if she were trying to swallow her sad emotions alive.

"Even though I've barely seen you, and when I finally do, you're indifferent."

"Because I'm a girl who doesn't know what she wants!"

Liu Yifei's tone suddenly became intense, as if she wanted to release all the grievances of this moment.

"You have ideals, you can succeed, I will only be forgotten, so you can't possibly have time to accompany me, because you have greater pursuits."

Zhou Jielun was infected by her emotions, and helplessly hardened his heart: "That's right, that's what I wanted to say."

"Are you sick?" Liu Yifei completely exploded, then wiped away the falling tears: "You're right, we shouldn't be together anymore."

She turned around, picked up her bag, and left the coffee shop, leaving Zhou Jielun alone and feeling lost.

"Very good! Cut!"

"Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!"

Lu Kuan took the lead in applauding, nominally in recognition of the two's performance, but more so in recognition of Liu Yifei's progress.

This segment of the performance was not difficult, and the chain of character actions was simple, but it required a high level of emotional progression from the performers.

At least she wasn't a piece of rotten wood; she finally seemed to have a bit of a breakthrough.

Lu Kuan called the two to the monitor to let them see their performance, and he did not stint on commenting and praising the young girl:

"Little Liu's performance this time was indeed good, from the dazed look after Xu Huan spoke, to the attempt to salvage the situation midway, to the final explosion of questioning, and leaving in tears."

"The layers are distinct, and the interaction with Jielun's eyes and movements was just right; a great improvement."

Liu Yifei said excitedly: "Thank you, Director!"

She also raised her eyebrows at Liu Xiao nearby, her charming and lively appearance truly cute.

Lu Kuan looked at her smug appearance and teased: "Ayi Liu, Little Liu must have had puppy love before, otherwise this breakup scene wouldn't have adjusted its rhythm so quickly."

"Impossible, I didn't, you're talking nonsense!"

Liu Yifei quickly denied it three times, making everyone laugh.

Everyone relaxed; it was a relief to have finally filmed these two ancestors, otherwise, everyone would have been starved to death today!

Taking advantage of the two being in a good state, the afternoon shoot went very smoothly.

Liu Yifei's scenes were few to begin with, and Lu Kuan arranged her scenes as much as possible at the front, so she could finish early and not be delayed in the crew.

When it was time for dinner in the evening, Lu Kuan picked up his boxed meal and started eating in the studio; Liu Xiao could not refuse her daughter, so she also came over with her.

"Lu Kuan, eat mine!"

Liu Yifei looked at Lu Kuan wolfing down his food and picked up her own chicken leg to put it in his bowl.

Lu Kuan focused on reading the script while eating, not even raising his head.

He said "Thanks" to Liu Yifei and started eating in big mouthfuls, without any sense of modesty.

Seeing her daughter being so unreserved, Liu Xiao hurriedly stopped her: "Xixi, how can you use your used chopsticks to pick food for others? Director Lu will be so disgusted by you, hurry up and eat your own."

Boss Lu laughed: "It's fine, Ayi Liu, Little Liu has grown up and knows how to bribe the boss."

Liu Yifei said proudly: "I felt my progress today, I'm very happy!"

Entering the crew of "The Golden Mansion" for the first time was not a normal shooting rhythm at all.

This week of living together day and night allowed her to see up close how a talented young director could command with ease, how to explain scenes to actors, and how to make the lighting and photography staff of the Beijing Film Studio admire him wholeheartedly.

The young girl took off the filter of Lu Kuan "not liking to wash his hands" in her eyes and discovered that, apart from that, this lecherous director was indeed quite capable!

(End of chapter)