Chapter 79: Solving Pain Points is the Growth Point!

Early the next morning, Lu Kuan brought Zhou Jielun to the studio to start their morning exercises, and Liu Yifei followed along, tagging behind.

"Jielun, you already mastered the method regarding your psychological state and emotions yesterday; now I want to teach you a few simple movements."

"These movements will help you adjust your physical state, allow you to better enter the rhythm of the performance, and enable you to present your thoughts and ideas through your acting."

Da Ni, chewing on a juicy steamed bun, laughed and said, "Director Lu, isn't this just like learning internal cultivation before learning the moves?"

Zhou Jielun’s eyes lit up; put that way, he understood. What he experienced yesterday was the circulation of internal energy, and today he was learning the techniques and routines.

Then, the three of them performed the Tiger Pose yoga from Grotowski’s method, which is found in many gym classes in later generations, though it makes no difference if the movements are incorrect or not practiced properly.

Lu Kuan had Zhou Jielun inhale and pull in his abdomen, lying flat on the ground, trying to expand his body area as much as possible.

He moved his spine along with the rhythm of his breathing, first doing stretches and relaxation like the Cat Pose, then immediately arching slightly while coordinating with a leg-lifting movement.

After a few sets of movements, Zhou Jielun was sweating, but he felt his back muscles were much more relaxed, as if a weight had been lifted off him.

Lu Kuan watched him and nodded secretly.

The reason he chose Tiger Pose yoga was that he considered the young superstar’s congenital ankylosing spondylitis; this kind of horizontal movement is beneficial for the release of his spine and back muscles without causing further injury.

Liu Yifei performed the movements with ease; the young lady’s flexibility was quite good.

The morning’s scenes started filming quickly, and the crew members arrived quite early today.

The employees of the Film Studio, already accustomed to this tyrant’s work habits on set, knew his personality: when he let everyone relax, they could move about freely.

But once he made a clear demand, he would not allow anyone to slack off; even the delicate young lady Liu Yifei would be scolded severely if she made a mistake—no one was an exception.

Feng Yuan was still a very professional actor; he didn't complain at all about the situation yesterday where his scene partner was full of errors, and today he was still on the sidelines early, looking at the script and rehearsing his own lines.

"Good morning, Mr. Feng." Lu Kuan held a water cup and greeted him with a smile.

Feng Yuan belonged to the type with a colder expression, not easily showing joy or anger on his face; he responded to Lu Kuan politely but didn't say much.

"Action!"

Today, Lu Kuan directly arranged another conflict scene from the story. Because Xu Huan’s resistance in the previous scene was only subtle and passive, this was the first time in this scene that he loudly said "no" to Zhuang Zhong.

Lu Kuan hoped that through this intensified conflict, he could make Zhou Jielun completely remember the feeling of psychological and emotional eruption, so he would no longer be a machine that dryly repeated lines and performances.

The plot of this segment is that Xu Huan is in a rush to get to a performance and leaves his drumsticks at the convenience store, not expecting that Zhuang Zhong would directly revoke his status as lead drummer.

Xu Huan resists in anger, gathering the courage to confront Zhuang Zhong head-on for the first time.

Feng Yuan glanced at Zhou Jielun with contempt: "I won't let someone who doesn't even bring his drumsticks be my lead."

"Drumsticks?" Zhou Jielun’s expression changed drastically; he reached back to touch his backpack only to realize a drummer’s weapons were missing, and he immediately prepared to turn and drive to get them.

"Don't bother, the performance is starting immediately, you have already been removed from the roster."

Zhuang Zhong didn't even seem to have the patience to look at him, telling the substitute to get ready to go on stage.

Xu Huan was both angry and anxious: "Can't I just borrow someone else's for now?"

"I’ll repeat myself! You! Are no longer the lead! Get out immediately!"

How could Xu Huan give up the opportunity he had worked so hard to win? His pent-up emotions finally erupted.

"How am I not the lead? You can't do this!"

In an instant, Zhou Jielun experienced the feeling from the basketball court last night.

In his mind, his previous twenty years flashed by frame by frame like a movie, thinking of the experience of being ignored and targeted while he was unknown at the company.

Feng Yuan seemed somewhat incredulous; was this Zhou Jielun? The singer from yesterday who couldn't give a strong reaction even when his face was being berated and he was being slapped?

"Cut!"

Lu Kuan was a bit helpless: "Mr. Feng, it was too slow."

Feng Yuan was truly amazed; he smiled and nodded at Lu Kuan to indicate he should continue, as he was looking forward to the performance that followed.

We often say that to improve a sprinter’s performance, you put two athletes with a small gap between them together to compete; having a benchmark and a rival often helps one break through their own potential.

It is the same for talented actors; they are strong when they meet strong opponents, and excellent actors of different styles can often spark reactions beyond the director’s expectations.

Therefore, Wang Jiawei likes to shoot a scene in dozens of ways; his crew is almost entirely made up of Best Actors, which can greatly satisfy his creative desire.

For Feng Yuan, the performances since the start of filming had been boring and lonely, because he couldn't see feedback of the same level and intensity from his scene partners.

In other words, he wasn't having a good time acting!

It was like Guan Yu beheading Yan Liang and Wen Chou; he solved it in a few strokes, without any sense of achievement or gain.

"Action!"

Zhou Jielun resisted: "How am I not the lead? You can't do this!"

Feng Yuan seemed to doubt he had heard correctly: "I can't do this?"

"That's right, you can't!"

"Are you fucking out of your mind? This is my band, I give the lead to whoever I want, when is it your turn to tell me how to do things?"

Feng Yuan went full throttle, stepping forward to intimidate Zhou Jielun, wanting to crush him with his presence.

Zhou Jielun looked at his terrifying face, influenced by the previous psychological shadow, and suddenly reacted, shouting: "The lead was something I earned with my own ability, not something you gave me!"

"Cut, that’s a wrap!"

The crew members were very excited; they had finally solved the pain point and difficulty of the whole film. There were many such conflict segments, and since Zhou Jielun had nailed this take, there wouldn't be too many problems with the others.

Liu Xiao sighed: "This little Lu really has talent! He actually brought little Zhou out like this."

She had even more confidence in her daughter’s acting growth.

Liu Yifei also looked at Lu Kuan with bright, beautiful eyes.

Growing up, whether because of her family background or her appearance, there were many men around her showing off like peacocks spreading their tails.

But she felt increasingly special about this young director who often mocked her shortcomings and scolded her until she cried during morning exercises and on set without mercy.

She couldn't say what kind of feeling this was...

She was disdainful of Lu Kuan’s uninhibited nature, yet she had to admit that he was an existence that attracted attention from his talent to his temperament.

"Ning Hao, remember to add more skeleton lighting here later, for the part where Xu Huan plays the drums at the end."

"Alright, Director."

Ning Hao clapped along with everyone else and asked with some curiosity: "Director Lu, how did you do it? How did he make such great progress overnight?"

Seeing Feng Yuan also looking at him curiously, Lu Kuan smiled and explained: "Jielun is a bit repressed; I took him to the Tianshang Renjian club yesterday to relax, and he was fine after letting it out."

"Hahahahaha~~"

The men on the crew all understood without saying a word; although they didn't believe the director’s words, they were always happy to have a chance to tease the young superstar.

(End of chapter)