33.
Zhuang Qin didn’t suspect him at all. After all, Li Mu didn’t like to be close to people and was obsessed with cleanliness. Just before the kiss scene, he went to the bathroom and saw Li Mu washing his hands and rinsing his mouth.
Looking at his slightly depressed face, Zhuang Qin guessed that he might also be uncomfortable shooting and said, “Let’s try to pass the next one.”
Li Mu: “Okay.” Although he felt that this one may not pass.
On the other side, Director Guo called over the makeup artist to mend Zhuang Qin’s makeup, and simultaneously called Li Mu over: “Just now, why did you deliberately block the cameramen?”
Director Guo restrained himself and lowered the clapper board in his hand, lest he start swinging it at Li Mu. Although that third shot was a pity, he still didn’t dare to scold the investor’s father.
Li Mu quietly said, “It wasn’t deliberate.”
Director Guo was suspicious and started saying something when Sister W, who was fixing Zhuang Qin’s makeup, ran over with a brush: “Director Guo, Teacher Zhuang’s mouth is crazily swollen! Has he passed the kissing scene? I don’t recommend him to continue shooting. Oh my God, did you shoot it more than a dozen times??
Director Guo: “…”
Li Mu: ‘…’
Director Guo looked at Li Mu with a “You were saying” angry look: “I can see it wasn’t deliberate, right?”
“Hmm.” Li Mu nodded and couldn’t think of a good solution. Director Guo refused to take that single shot alone. He needed a complete shot to the end. In the end, the kissing scene failed. Director Guo was depressed. He looked at this month’s shooting schedule and said, “Let’s make up for it tomorrow.”
“Ah, we’re not shooting again?” Zhuang Qin was stunned, “How come?” He sacrificed so much and it was difficult to enter into the play. And now you want to reshoot it?
Li Mu saw that he seemed very reluctant and wanted to continue shooting. He smiled in his heart. He didn’t say the real reason but said instead “It’s my problem. Director Guo thinks I’m not in the right state. It’s a waste of footage to shoot again and delay the progress.”
“I see…” Zhuang Qin thought to himself, why not just delete it. It’s not difficult.
Seeing that he was out of sorts, Li Mu pondered for a beat and whispered, “If you don’t mind, we can continue to practice when the scene is over.”
“Practice? You mean…the kissing scene? Zhuang Qin at first assumed that it was Director Guo who said such a thing. It didn’t seem like Li Mu brought it up, “… Did Director Guo say that?”
“Director Guo didn’t say anything.” Li Mu stared at him, “I said so.”
Zhuang Qin thought for a moment: “Can we just shoot it directly tomorrow? Just… no practice. You saw my state yesterday. These intense emotional scenes are a little difficult for me, and I can easily get lost in them. If we prepare well in advance, we can pass it without practicing”.
Li Mu didn’t say anything and agreed. He believes that only in a quiet and undisturbed environment can you shoot this scene well, but the problem was that this was a film and it required the presence of cameramen and a set to shoot in. Even if you don’t like the set environment, you can only hate it in your heart.
The scene of that day was shot very badly. Zhuang Qin still acted very well and applied some powder around his mouth, so it wasn’t so red. But Li Mu was a little out of sorts. He got stuck again and again and Director Guo couldn’t stand it. He wanted to get angry but didn’t have anywhere to do so. Finally, he ran out and kicked a trash can, making his foot hurt.
Director Zhou advised him to calm down: “You ah, this is your first commercial movie…”
“It’s a literary film!” He retorted.
Director Zhou: “Right, literary film. It’s the same for literary films. Even the best actors act badly sometimes. Look on the bright side. These two are newcomers and this situation has only happened today. In other crews, the director will be burning incense.”
Director Guo: “So this is my problem?”
“Of course it’s your problem,” Director Zhou said. “Don’t shoot their scenes today. Go shoot the supporting roles instead. After shooting, you’ll see how good these two actors are. At least they aren’t picky about the camera positions and you can shoot what you think is good.”
The crew gave the two people an early night off. Zhuang Qin took off the concealer around his mouth in the dressing room and looked at tomorrow’s scene.
This scene was previously read when the three of them gathered together. He and Li Mu both proposed to change the scene.
It was written in Zhuang Qin’s contract that he could not appear fully nude on camera and tomorrow’s scene picks off after today’s kissing scene. Director Guo initially wanted to give them some breathing space, so he didn’t schedule it till the end of the day. But as a result, he didn’t expect that all of it would be arranged on the same day.
In this scene, it showed that after the kiss, the two kissed each other’s necks and other places. They stroked each other through their clothes, unbuttoning them as they went. Li Mu took off his shirt, and there were hundred more words describing a big scene afterward. It wasn’t a boat scene*, but nevertheless, the scene was now cut short. The ambiguous scene will cut off at Zhuang Qin’s hand lingering on Li Mu’s trousers and then the camera will turn to the window, where the curtains were blown up by the wind.
t/n: boat scene: Sex scene
Regarding the hundreds of words describing the big scene, Director Guo also explained: “I didn’t write that, another screenwriter did. He still doesn’t know we removed that part. If he knew, he would scold me for falsely shooting it. The two men were exploding with desire, so how can you still calmly shoot the window?”
Zhuang Qin now had a headache. Even if it has been cut to this extent, it was still embarrassing. He mulled over the movements in the mirror and envisioned the camera in his mind. Li Mu was going to kiss him on the chest, and he had to touch Li Mu here. This is too…!!!
Zhuang Qin painfully scratched his head and buried his face in the spread-out script. His forehead hit the table.
At this time, Li Mu came in holding the cat only to find him weakly banging his head on the desk and emitting whimpering sounds similar to a cat from his mouth.
Li Mu paused at the door.
Zhuang Qin was oblivious to it. He was still trapped in the scene. To touch someone like that, he couldn’t do such a thing even if he died. Just thinking about it was shameful!
Zhuang Qin froze when his forehead hit a soft and warm palm. His forehead was lifted by the large palm and he gazed at Li Mu’s deep eyes.
They looked at each other quietly and didn’t speak.
Li Mu’s hand on his forehead didn’t move. He looked down and saw the page of the script.
To be honest, the first time he saw this scene, the only thought he had was to delete it.
But after the scene yesterday, he saw that the ambiguous scene was going to be shot again and he had a strange feeling in his heart. It was something he hadn’t anticipated before taking the film.
“You’re reading the script?” Li Mu’s hand moved from his forehead to his hair and gently stroked his black hair like he would a small animal. “Why is your face so red?”
Zhuang Qin turned his head to look at the mirror. It was really red–
He didn’t answer.
Li Mu: “Are you worried about the scene to be shot tomorrow?”
His eyes uncontrollably fell onto the tip of Zhuang Qin’s ear, which was very red. The tips were so red like they wanted to drip blood.
Zhuang Qin nodded and rubbed his face. He tried to calm down: “I don’t know how to shoot it. I don’t have any lines, so I can only analyze it by myself. As a result…”
Your face was so red from just thinking about it?
Li Mu sat down in the dressing chair beside him: “This is also my first time filming. I’m inexperienced.” He also thought about it last night. In a situation where he might blunder, he wasn’t sure he still wanted to shoot such a scene.
“Neither have i…besides…” He lowered his eyes and bit his lower lip.
Zhuang Qin was also worried about some small details. Southeast Asian weather was very hot. He was afraid that he would sweat on the set. Kissing on the lips wasn’t so embarrassing. At least he can rinse his mouth in advance and ensure that he doesn’t eat. Besides, it’s just on the face but kissing the skin…
Li Mu: “Besides what?”
Zhuang Qin paused and said, “I will definitely sweat. I’m afraid you’ll be uncomfortable. And here…” He has this personality. If he was going out with a friend, and the friend was late, he won’t be too annoyed and would wait. But if he was late, he would be anxious.
He was embarrassed to say this part out loud. He picked up the script and pointed to the line where An Ke’s hand lingered on his trousers: “If we shoot this line, I will definitely offend you.” He sincerely prayed that Li Mu felt uncomfortable. Hurry to Director Guo and delete it!
It turned out that he was worried about this kind of problem, to the point of hitting his head on the table.?
“I will also sweat. These aren’t issues. As for being offended…” Li Mu raised his eyebrows. “Don’t be embarrassed. If it’s you, it’s okay.”
t/n: wa-wu 🤩🙈