25.
The sound of the door closing was loud. Zhuang Qin shifted and seemed to have woken up.
Xiao Lian outside was stunned for a few seconds – He didn’t know why but he didn’t have the courage to open the door again. He raised his hand and knocked on the window: “Brother Zhuang the set is ready, filming will start in a moment. The makeup artist is looking for you.”
“Okay, I got it.” Zhuang Qin got up from Li Mu’s shoulder and sheepishly apologized to him, “I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”
He knew that Li Mu didn’t like to be close to people. Although they had been filming close scenes together for so many days and had gotten familiar with each other, they were by no means at the point of being able to sleep on each other’s shoulders when not filming.
Li Mu pinched the bridge of his nose and got up angrily. With an overly polite look, he indifferently said, “It’s alright”
Because Zhuang Qin gave him lunch, Li Mu resisted not waking him up. He only just pushed him away once, but after a while, Zhuang Qin fell back all over again, so he couldn’t help but wonder if it was intentional.
He then stared at Zhuang Qin’s sleeping form for a while to be sure that he wasn’t pretending.
Li Mu took out two bottles of cold water and handed him one. The door opened and the two got out of the car. Zhuang Qin rubbed his face and rubbed his black hair, which was a little messy and squinted in the sun.
Xiao Lian took him to find the makeup artist: “Brother Zhuang, why did you sleep on someone else’s shoulder again? Fortunately, no one saw it.”
Zhuang Qin said, “I thought it was you.” He himself was surprised. Why didn’t Li Mu push him away but let himself sleep like that?
Xiao Lian couldn’t say anything again. Zhuang Qin has slept on him several times before. Once he even slept on the shoulder of another actor he had worked with on a program in the backstage dressing room and been photographed. Fortunately, it didn’t spread out, otherwise, it would cause a great uproar.
“Let me tell Director Guo to buy two sofas for the dressing room. It’s more comfortable to rest on the sofa than in the car.”
Zhuang Qin agreed.
One advantage of filming in a place like Southeast Asia was that you didn’t have to worry about the lighting. Even in the rainy season, the rain will end quickly and the dark clouds will drift away letting the sun shine through again.
The lighting of this scene was very important, so the shooting time was set at 2:30 in the afternoon. 3 o’clock if there was a delay and 4 o’clock was the optimum shooting time.
The makeup brush coated in eyebrow powder gently swept over Zhuang Qin’s thick eyebrows. The makeup artist put a thin layer of shadow on the side of his face and on his under-eye and painted bruises and redness on his face, then they put the mud prepared in advance on Zhuang Qin’s head and cheeks.
In this scene, he had gotten into trouble outside and went home after fighting with someone. He was supposed to take a shower, but the shower had been badly broken by Jiang Zhuo. Jiang Zhuo had looked at the array of injuries and mud on his face and then helped him to wash his face and hair.
During the makeup, Zhuang Qin closed his eyes and mulled over the emotions to get into the scene.
When he was ready, the scene manager clicked the clapper board: “Take your places -“
Washing the hair and running hands through the hair, Director Guo had already figured out the tone of this scene for the latter stages1post-production. The beginning of the scene was a cold tone. Then from there, the sun radiated warmth and it turned into a warm tone. The solo revenge scene that followed would turn it into a dark tone with low saturation.
The camera was aimed at the kitchen where the kettle whistled.
A hand grasped the handle of the kettle and lifted it up.
With the “zizi” sound of hot water being poured, the camera cut to Jiang Zhuo carrying a steaming hot basin and placing it on a stool: “Go lie down there.”
An Ke stood at the door wearing dirty clothes and covered with injuries.
“The sofa?” He walked over following his voice and stopped in front of the obstacle. Jiang Zhuo put his palm on his shoulder and pressed him into sitting down: “Lie down on it.”
The camera cut again to An Ke already laying down. Jiang Zhuo’s slender fingers gripped his hair and told him to “Move up a little bit to the front.”
He obeyed. His body was still trembling and his eyes were wide open but they were dark and unfocused.
He only blinked slowly when the sun crept onto his face. Jiang Zhuo picked up the hot water and poured it over his head.
Drops of water slid down the black hair.
The clean and steaming hot water became dirty.
“Who bullied you?”
“…No one bullied me.” The voice sounded tearful.
“Then you fell into the mud?”
“Someone hit me and I fought back…”
“You should fight back. But what started the fight?” In the eyes of a killer, a teenager was still a child, a child who would fight with others.
The sunlight froze on his face and the golden light made him appear pure and clear. Jiang Zhuo’s wet palm stroked his face and rubbed off the dried mud. An Ke made a strange expression as if it hurt a little. He replied in a quiet voice, “My uncle sold powder to his father. I should never have fought back, he ruined someone else’s family.”
“It’s someone else who’s wrong. You’re not wrong.” Jiang Zhuo’s voice seemed almost like a breeze: carefree and indifferent. “Remember that.”
The sunlight shone completely on the actors.
Director Guo and Assistant Director Zhou stood behind the viewfinder and watched. Both of them were very focused. Assistant Director Zhou asked, “Director Guo, did you privately talk to the actors about the scene?” He hadn’t seen him instruct the actors on the set.
Director Guo’s voice was low: “No, I told them to privately rehearse together. The actors themselves can act well on their own, what do I need to instruct them on? Look at this performance, Isn’t it quite natural?”
In one afternoon, several indoor scenes were successfully filmed.
At the end of the scene, Xiao Lian immediately rushed up to hand him a towel to wrap up his wet hair.
During the filming just now, the water splashed on Zhuang Qin’s white shirt. It became a little transparent and his chest could be seen. Li Mu stood in front of him and blocked him. He said, “Stay behind me and follow me to the dressing room.”
Zhuang Qin glanced down and was embarrassed by his current state.
“Thank you.” He followed Li Mu quickly into the dressing room. Li Mu opened the drawer and found a hairdryer for him while Zhuang Qin wiped his hair with a towel: “I made you wash my hair for so long just now, I’m really sorry”
Li Mu grabbed the hairdryer and looked back at him: “It was necessary for the shoot.”
Zhuang Qin took the hairdryer from him, turned on the switch, and thought about how to compensate for it. Then he suddenly thought about something and turned off the hairdryer: “The next time you have a day off, I’ll wash your hair for you.”
Li Mu withdrew his eyes from his pink skin and answered, “Okay.”
In the evening, the rehearsal was changed to a different room. Zhuang Qin had asked Director Guo for a new room card. The new room was next door to his room, and it was originally reserved for Li Mu.
The two sat on two single sofas. There were several packs of snacks on the table. Two straws were inserted into coconuts and there was a box of mangos cubes.
Filming a movie was very exhausting, so Zhuang Qin still wanted to eat some snacks at night.
He and Li Mu were constantly pairing and honing the lines, figuring out their tone of voice and the psychological and emotional state of the characters.
Zhuang Qin felt quite comfortable with Li Mu, and this was also the case when filming because Li Mu was so smart. It seemed that without any hard work he was able to perform perfectly in front of the camera.
After sending Li Mu away, Zhuang Qin went back to his room to rest and saw the message from Director Guo.
“I just heard from the set manager that you asked for leave from the 23rd to the 25th. You’ll return to set on the 26th. You also plan to move your three-day leave of absence to next month?”
Zhuang Qin: “Yes.”
“If I remember correctly there’s a kissing scene on the 23rd and an ambiguous scene on the 24th.” Director Guo didn’t understand what he was thinking.
Zhuang Qin was clearly a bit resistant to these scenes.
Zhuang Qin: “Um…”
Director Guo: “You are a little concerned by these scenes.?”
“No.”
Zhuang Qin could not imagine how to go about shooting kissing scenes but he also felt that he was not very dedicated. He typed a few words, then deleted them and directly sent a voice note.
“Director Guo I have not shot similar scenes before and I’m shooting this with Li Mu. I think ……” Before he finished speaking, his hand slipped and sent it out.
“What, you don’t like him?”
Zhuang Qin quickly explained by another voice note: “No, how can he be unpleasant? He’s very pleasing! Although he doesn’t like to talk, we get along well with each other, but I feel that I’m not ready yet. I’m afraid I won’t act well and waste everyone’s time. I need more time…”
“Do you mean you want to cultivate more feelings before you shoot the kissing scenes?”
“Yes, yes, yes, that’s what I mean.”
“That’s fine. Then I’ll arrange it for next month.” Director Guo didn’t think it was a big deal, after all, the shooting is on the 26th which is only five days away, and the 1st of next month. It doesn’t matter if the order is changed. He was only worried about the actor’s resistance and enlightenment.
t/n: only worried about if the actors didn’t want to do it and how he could talk sense into them 🙂
Time on set flew by. Li Mu only realized, on the day before Zhuang Qin left, that his (ZQ) flight was on the 22nd; in the night.
The 23rd… wasn’t there a kissing scene that day?
Li Mu flipped over the shooting plan and confirmed that there was indeed one.
He suddenly remembered that the other day he heard Zhuang Qin discussing with the set manager that he could move the scenes of these three days to the next month.
He didn’t even have to think about it to understand Zhuang Qin’s meaning.
He didn’t want to shoot kissing scenes?
Li Mu, who originally intended to delete those scenes, found Director Guo on set the next day, called him aside, and told him, “Director Guo, let’s delete this scene on the 23rd.”
“No!” Director Guo was shocked.
Li Mu: “I remember that it is written in our contract that I am allowed to ask for the deletion of a scene.”
“I know…but it can’t be deleted. You really can’t delete it. Why do you want to delete it?”
He was distressed. Director Guo knew that Li Mu had the right to change the script and according to the contract, he could not stop it. If Li Mu wants to delete a scene, he could not shoot it.
But he worked hard to write this script and after preparing for so long, how can it just be cut when he says so!
Li Mu said, “I don’t want to shoot it.”
Director Guo was simply incredulous. He looked up and stared at him: “But Teacher Zhuang wants to do it!”
Li Mu: “Hmm?”
“Really, he wants to shoot it. He will definitely not agree to delete it. Although I am the director and screenwriter, you two are the main actors. If you want to delete it, at least ask him?”
Li Mu looked at him thoughtfully: “I thought he wouldn’t want to shoot them.”
“Who told you that? Teacher Zhuang is very dedicated. He just discussed with me when to move the scene to, wait… I’ll find the chat record for you.”
Two people stood under a sunshade. Director Guo took out his phone and started flipping through the logs: “This was from last week. I thought he was a little resistant, so I asked him but he said he was just not ready.”
Li Mu looked at his phone screen.
Director Guo clicked on those two voice notes, and Zhuang Qin’s voice played out.
Director Guo’s message was: You want to cultivate feelings before shooting the kissing scenes?
Zhuang Qin’s reply was: Yes, yes, yes, that’s what I mean.
After reading the chat record, Li Mu’s eyes moved from the cultivating feelings to the word “very pleasing”.
“There are still some here, it’s an earlier one.” Director Guo continued to show him, “It was on the scene where you washed his hair. That day, I asked him how he felt about you. He said he felt very comfortable and thought you had a good grasp of things. That it was good working with you. Look, I didn’t photoshop it. He said it himself.”
Li Mu stared at it for a few seconds.
Director Guo: “He said he wanted to cultivate feelings and you now want to delete the kissing scenes? How uncomfortable would he be if he knew?
Li Mu frowned as if it was a very difficult problem.
After a long pause, he said, “I won’t delete it for now.”
Director Guo was relieved.
Most actors who shoot emotional films will try to cultivate feelings. They may date, or constantly eat meals together, and some may live together for a while outside of filming.
Director Guo said, “In this instance, I think Zhuang Qin is like a turtle. If you poke him, he will look up at you, but he’ll keep shrinking his head if you don’t touch him. He said he wanted to cultivate feelings, but he may not do anything. If you don’t take the initiative, it may be difficult for us to shoot those scenes.”
Back then, he chose Li Mu on the spot because when Zhuang Qin came to audition at the hotel that night, the two of them standing there together, clearly made people feel a sense of CP. This type of feeling was rare. If Zhuang Qin and Tao Chong were standing there together, you won’t get that same feeling.
“Do you know how to take the initiative?” Director Guo’s words were full of implications. He started deciphering a dating plan in his heart. First, take him to live with you, you need to be alone together for a while. Then talk and spend more time together. Maybe even hug and hold hands. When the mood is right you could even kiss – at this point those fake actors in the circle would not be able to control themselves in the moment.
But Director Guo thinks that with Li Mu’s character, he should be able to control himself, and Zhuang Qin was not a messy person. Then again if he took ten thousand steps back* and they really messed up, there would be no loss. He’s not afraid of actors with real feelings but he’s afraid of actors who act falsely.
t/n: take 10,000 steps back: even if the worst-case scenario/worst happens….
How to take the initiative to cultivate emotions?
Send a gift?
Li Mu thought for a moment and said in a low voice, “I understand .”
When Zhuang Qin comes back, he’ll send him a kitten and just say it was picked up.
