Chapter 76: The Seven Powers, Four Senses, and Dramatic Tension in Acting

As everyone ate together, Lu Kuan felt embarrassed to just keep staring at the script and storyboards, so he chatted casually with Liu Xiao.

"Auntie Liu, it's basically confirmed that little Liu will play Wang Yuyan in *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*. Has the *Chinese Paladin* production team contacted you yet?"

He was just subconsciously chatting with her, following the development path of Liu Yifei from his past life.

*The Story of a Noble Family*, *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*, *Chinese Paladin*, and *The Return of the Condor Heroes*—these were the four shows that forged little Liu’s "blood cow" constitution.

"Huh? What *Chinese Paladin*?"

Liu Yifei didn't know what this *Chinese Paladin* production team that Lu Kuan mentioned meant; she had heard of the game, though.

Lu Kuan turned his head to look at the stunned expressions of Liu Yifei and her mother, only then realizing that they shouldn't have been in contact with the *Chinese Paladin* production team yet.

It was even questionable whether the *Chinese Paladin* project had been officially greenlit within Tangren at this point.

He slapped his forehead, stopped eating, took out his phone, and walked out.

"Hello? Director Lu?"

The person answering the phone was Sun Wenwen, the assistant Zhuang Xu had helped him hire, and currently the only employee at Wenjie Culture Media.

Wenjie Culture Media was a sole proprietorship limited company owned by Lu Kuan. Out of consideration for building the company's reputation, Boss Lu ultimately did not use the filming quota of the Qingying Studio.

Instead, he had this Master’s graduate from the Renmin University Law School, who had been out of school for two years, complete the filing and filming permit process.

"Contact the Dayu Company in Taiwan immediately. Ask about the film and television adaptation rights for *Chinese Paladin*. If possible, negotiate a partnership as quickly as possible."

Lu Kuan carefully recalled information from his past life; he only remembered that there had been a long-standing copyright conflict between Tangren and Dayu later on.

But since Liu Yifei and her mother didn't even know about this film project yet, it was very likely that the adaptation rights hadn't fallen into Tangren's hands.

It wouldn't hurt to try; even if nothing came of it, he wouldn't lose anything. If he could snatch *Chinese Paladin*, he could incubate a major IP for Wenjie Culture, and there would be no shortage of buyers later, whether for a feature film adaptation or other merchandise.

Sun Wenwen was a small-town youth who had tested her way out of Sichuan Province; she was very efficient: "Understood, Director Lu. Received."

"Wait!"

Boss Lu calculated the funds on hand and the expected additional income after the World Cup, deciding to hoard a few more shows.

"Two more things."

"Contact the PLA Literature and Art Publishing House and buy the rights to the novel *Drawing Sword* by the author Du Liang."

The fate of this novel was rather tortuous; Du Liang had been rejected by publishers six times, and even when it was finally published, it had undergone major revisions, leaving it somewhat unrecognizable.

In the later years, a Shanghai film and television company bought the rights for 188,000 yuan. Due to the subject matter and filming difficulties, it changed hands several times before finally being purchased by Liu Yanming of Hairun Film and Television for 1 million yuan.

"Also, contact the screenwriter Lan Xiaolong of the Beijing Military Region's Zhan You Drama Troupe and buy the rights to *Soldiers Sortie* from him."

This was the predecessor to *Soldiers Sortie*.

Sorry, Huayi. Although we haven't crossed paths yet, and although there is no grudge or enmity, let me, Boss Lu, steal two parts of your fortune first!

Sun Wenwen always felt pained by not being able to keep up with her boss's rhythm, but she still pulled herself together and replied that she had received the instructions.

With the situation still unsettled, she was still a beast of burden.

Sometimes this beast of burden, who had just stepped into society, wanted to resign because of Boss Lu's demands, but the capitalist paid too much!

Lu Kuan paid her a salary of nearly ten thousand a month, which was quite high in this era where the average monthly salary was 2,000.

Things went smoothly for several days, until June 1st, Children's Day, when the crew encountered the biggest difficulty since filming began.

This was a scene between Feng Yuan and Zhou Jielun, the first turning point after the film entered its plot, and also the first time the drummer Xu Huan witnessed the terrifying nature of Zhuang Zhong.

In the film, the drummer Xu Huan finally joined Zhuang Zhong's band. He was still playing according to his previous rhythm and mindset, but Zhuang Zhong was intent on pushing him toward the path of "if you aren't obsessed, you won't succeed."

Zhuang Zhong deliberately claimed his perfectly normal drum beats were dragging or rushing, making him repeat them over and over.

Feng Yuan would frequently spout vulgarities, with words like "dick" and "fuck" flying everywhere as in the original, scolding Xu Huan until he couldn't even recognize his own mother.

Zhou Jielun was completely crushed in this scene with Feng Yuan. He was too weak in terms of movement, expression, and physical reaction, causing a sense of fragmentation in the film's plot and failing to form effective interaction between the characters.

"Cut!"

The crew members all looked solemn. Ning Hao also looked at the frowning Lu Kuan. This was already the 12th take of this scene, and Zhou Jielun's performance still lacked the point; under Feng Yuan's intimidation, he hadn't given the necessary feedback.

In Lu Kuan's vision, this conflict scene should have been relatively easy to film.

Because the character's psychological state of being submissive to his teacher Zhuang Zhong at this time was very consistent with Zhou Jielun, who had once stated that he had also received strict musical education since childhood.

Take this scene, for example: Zhuang Zhong brought his entire face close to Xu Huan's ear, forcing him to repeat it over and over, each time punishing him with insults and slaps, deliberately messing with his mindset.

At this moment, the performance feedback from Zhou Jielun—or rather, Xu Huan—should have been a mix of timidity, suspicion, hesitation, and unwillingness, rather than just standing there like a wooden post, letting Zhuang Zhong mold him as he pleased.

If he just blindly submitted and took the abuse like Zhou Jielun, then the later plot points—where the protagonist is removed as lead drummer for forgetting his drumsticks and reports Zhuang Zhong to the school—would be too abrupt, affecting the rhythm of the entire linear narrative.

And what was Andrew's performance like in the original?

From the initial ease and confidence to self-doubt, even after teacher Fletcher slapped and insulted him, breaking his psychological defenses, he still repeated over and over: "I'm in pain! I'm in pain! I'm in pain!"

That was a performance with contrast and progression; repeating a single emotional element was very detrimental to establishing a character's image.

"I'm sorry, Director, I can't grasp the emotion in this part."

Zhou Jielun felt a bit embarrassed.

Feng Yuan patted him on the shoulder. He had seen many new actors with such problems, so he smiled and went to the side to drink water.

Lu Kuan checked his watch; they had already had over thirty NGs today...

"Everyone rest for today. We'll start early tomorrow."

Lu Kuan announced the end of the day, concise and to the point.

Almost all the scenes following this one were between Zhuang Zhong and Xu Huan. With Zhou Jielun stuck, the entire crew had to stop; his problem had to be solved first.

Lu Kuan pulled Zhou Jielun to the flower bed outside the studio and called over the two male actors who were just preparing to finish their scenes.

"Huang Bo, Teacher Feng, let's go out for a smoke."

Lu Kuan was a heavy smoker. Feng Yuan had quit smoking earlier to protect his voice, but he had been dragged back into it by Boss Lu upon joining the *Whiplash* crew.

"Teacher Feng, you are a veteran actor from the Beijing People's Art Theatre. Where do you think the problem lies in Jielun's performance?"

Feng Yuan smiled: "Is Director Lu testing us?"

Zhou Jielun pricked up his ears in anticipation; he was also desperate to solve his problem.

Huang Bo pondered: "In the seven powers and four senses of acting, Jielun is lacking a bit of sensory perception and creativity."

He looked at Lu Kuan with an inquiring gaze, wanting to get the answer from this young director who was skilled in his craft.

Lu Kuan patted Zhou Jielun on the shoulder: "Actually, Jielun is lacking a bit of tension."

The tension of a performance does not belong to the seven powers and four senses. This thing is relatively mysterious; audiences usually don't notice its existence in actors with excellent acting skills.

But once this thing is missing, the character image immediately fails to stand up.

Zhou Jielun asked anxiously: "Director Lu, tell me what I should do!"

Lu Kuan looked at Feng Yuan with a smile.

The latter crushed the cigarette butt under his foot: "The tension of a performance can be summed up in eight words."

"'Appropriate and fitting, free and easy in control.'"

"Appropriate and fitting" means being harmonious and not abrupt.

Tension is not just tension in the physical sense, and it is certainly not mindless roaring like Ma Jingtao.

As for examples of being "free and easy in control," there are many.

For example, Chen Daoming's speech segment in *My 1919*, or Zhang Manyu laughing and then crying while looking at the Mickey Mouse on the corpse in *Comrades: Almost a Love Story*.

Zhou Jielun listened, seeming to understand but not quite.

(End of chapter)