Bright Era of China Entertainment

Chapter 778: Losses in the Film and Television Industry
The filming location was in a detached villa, sponsored by the developer of the residential complex built by Shenzhen CITIC Real Estate.

After the family arrived here by car, they were warmly welcomed by a group of people from the developer. According to the sponsorship agreement, Chu Xuan, Liu Yifei and Zhou Jielun took a group photo with the group at the gate of the community for publicity. Afterwards, the two sides said goodbye, and the couple went to the villa set.

The villa is not big, with two floors totaling less than 300 square meters, which is the safe home for the heroine in the play.

There are only about 20 to 30 crew members busy at work. This scene doesn't have many scenes, and according to the plan it should be finished this afternoon. The scene is not large, so not too many people are needed. The main crew will prepare in advance for other scenes in the subsequent shooting plan, so neither side will be delayed.

The cast is a little quiet. After Zhang Luyi and Ouyang Nabi left at the beginning, Zhang Ruoyun, Li Xin, Song Qian, Zhu Yilong and a group of special guests also left two days ago.

Yang Mi and several other actors whose roles were scheduled later witnessed the start of filming on the day and then went about their own business, waiting to be called by the crew.

Now, only the newcomer Gulina, who has no business relationship, follows the crew every day. There are also three actors with good acting skills, Zhang Songwen, Wen Zhengrong and Qin Hao, who follow the crew every day to get in the mood in order to better interpret the roles.

Huang Bo is also here. He went back to Beijing a few days ago to handle the pre-production work for the movie "Bullfighting". He rushed here from Beijing yesterday and started filming the female lead's scenes today. As the female lead's assistant, his role is naturally put on the agenda along with the scenes of Liu Yifei, the female lead.

"Director, producer, have you eaten?"

"Hello teachers, I haven't eaten yet, what's the dish?"

Chu Xuan and Liu Yifei greeted the actors and directors, then went to the dining table in the villa with Liu Xiaoli and Zhou Jielun to join the meal.

"It's quite wonderful to act with my aunt." Huang Bo said while eating.

Liu Xiaoli said gently: "I can't act, don't blame me if I disrupt your rhythm."

"Ah, Auntie, don't say that. Let's communicate together." Huang Bo looked at Chu Xuan with a smile: "Besides, it's not my turn to blame. It depends on our director's mood."

What he said was: If your mother-in-law made a mistake in acting, would you dare to scold her?

Liu Yifei was smiling and waited to see how Chu Xuan would answer.

"Eat, and then put on your makeup." Chu Xuan walked towards the director team with his lunch box as if escaping, not wanting to chat with them about this topic which was bound to be boring.

Seeing Chu Xuan running away, the people present felt it was interesting.

Chu Xuan came to the chair in front of the monitor and sat down, reading the literary script while eating. He did not read the storyboard script, and mainly directed the play for his mother according to the language of the shots. His mother would definitely not understand it, so he could only think about how to direct the play for his mother according to the clear plot description written in the literary script.

But facing his mother, who had never acted before and was his mother, he finished his meal without any clear idea of ​​what to do.

Let mom act based on her feelings first, and we can talk about it later if there are any problems.

Just like that, after the meal, the mother and daughter and Huang Bo finished their makeup, and Chu Xuan said nothing and directly announced that they were ready to start filming.

Liu Xiaoli, Liu Yifei and Huang Bo got into the nanny car outside the community.

"Should I sit here?" Liu Xiaoli was full of novelty. Even though she was used to sitting in a nanny car, this was her first time filming in it, which made her feel very fresh.

"Auntie, just sit here. They will sit opposite you." Assistant Director Lu Chuan instructed.

"Okay." Liu Xiaoli sat down on the sofa with great interest, and Liu Yifei and Huang Bo sat opposite her.

"Auntie, your camera in this scene is fixed and facing straight ahead, so don't move your face left or right, just face the camera." Lu Chuan said.

"I understand." Liu Xiaoli nodded slightly and glanced at a camera fixed on the car wall above her daughter's head. This was the camera position for filming her.

She is confident in this regard: Although I have never filmed a movie, I have watched those two bastards filming for several years. Things like sense of camera, sense of light, positioning, and entering the camera are all basic operations. After watching for so many years, how could I not understand all of them?

"Auntie, have you read the script?" Lu Chuan asked.

"I've seen it. This scene is about my daughter returning home after being suppressed." Liu Xiaoli was prepared.

As early as last year when she got the character script, she took the time to read the script for her role and also spent time thinking about it.

It's just that I was distracted by my daughter and son-in-law's wedding during the Chinese New Year, and after coming to Shenzhen, I was distracted again by the issue of the wedding house. I took some time out in the past two days to review the script and get a clear idea of ​​what plot I am going to shoot today.

Lu Chuan pursed his lips, wanting to say something but not knowing how to say it. Seeing that the empress dowager seemed confident, he said no more and just filmed the situation once before telling the details.

"The stage manager hits the board!" Chu Xuan's voice came.

In the script, An Xin refused to sign a contract with Star Media, and policeman Yang Ming complained about Star Media's bad behavior online because his sister Yang Feifei was sexually exploited. These two things happened at the same time.

Starlight Media came up with a plan to create public opinion by using bad marketing methods to target An Xin. While suppressing the small public opinion complained by Yang Ming, it also suppressed An Xin who refused to sign the contract. At the same time, it also eliminated a strong opponent for its own artist Song Huiru in the micro-film competition. It can be said that it killed three birds with one stone.

The scene that was filmed was about An Xin being maliciously marketed and disqualified by the competition organizing committee due to negative news. After learning of the result, her mother Liu Xiuxiu and assistant Zeng Shuai went to the organizing committee to ask for an explanation, but after failing to get an explanation, they took a bus home with An Xin.

Scene: The nanny car drives all the way from outside the community to the entrance of the villa.

Character picture: Liu Xiuxiu and Zeng Shuai express their views on this result in the car.

"What do you mean by using a body double for more than half of the film? What do you mean by bribing the organizing committee to advance all the way? Spreading rumors is not against the law, right? You just say it out loud?" As the nanny car started to drive into the residential area, Huang Bo acted indignantly and, while saying his lines, he also opened the opening scene of the scene.

Huang Bo finished speaking and waited for the next performance anchor point.

The next performance anchor point is the aunt, who gives him a line, and then he extends it to the subsequent interpretation.

But after waiting for a long time, the aunt never gave any signal.

"stop!"

"Liu Xiuxiu, why are you laughing when your daughter is being suppressed? Also, where are your lines?"

Liu Xiaoli didn't react for a moment and didn't know who Liu Xiuxiu was. But Liu Yifei, Huang Bo on the opposite side, and Lu Chuan who was watching the whole situation from the back of the car all laughed.

"Mom, when I saw you laughing I knew something was going to go wrong." Liu Yifei was so happy that she patted the sofa a few times and said, "I, your daughter, have been suppressed to death, why are you laughing?"

"Oh, yes, I'm Liu Xiuxiu." Liu Xiaoli came back to her senses, covering her face as if she was embarrassed to see people. She was amused by herself: "No, I always thought this was a play, it was very funny, I didn't react, sorry, sorry, please do it again."

She was still in the fun atmosphere of her first filming and unconsciously raised the corners of her mouth. From a bystander's perspective, Huang Bo's performance came too fast for her to react at all.

Chu Xuan and the teachers in front of the monitor couldn't help laughing.

"I haven't found the sense of belief." Tang Jili said, and the teachers nodded.

Chu Xuan picked up the intercom: "Call the board."

Liu Xiaoli raised her state of mind and repeated to herself several times that her name was Liu Xiuxiu. This name was very much in keeping with her era. The words "Xiu", "Juan" and "Li" were the common and simple ways of naming in the 1960s and 1970s, which made her look more like a character.

"...It's not illegal to spread rumors, right? You can just say it out loud?" Huang Bo got into the mood.

Liu Xiaoli said calmly, "What can we do? They control the media resources of Brilliant Times and have the final say on what they want to say. We little people can only passively endure all these right and wrongs. We don't even have the qualifications to ask for justice and fairness."

She was very proud in her heart: I memorized such a long passage of lines, it's really excellent!

However, seeing her daughter and Huang Bo laughing, she was puzzled. Was this line funny? Her performance was fine. Was there going to be a dramatic turn here, so her daughter and Huang Bo were smiling?

"Auntie, it's Starlight Media, not Brilliant Times." Lu Chuan's voice came from the back of the car, his tone full of amusement.

"Mom, my Brilliant Times is a conscientious company. Even if you make a mistake, please don't bring it down on your own company. I'd feel better if you brought it down on Huayi Brothers." Chu Xuan said into the intercom.

As soon as the words were spoken, all the crew members burst into laughter. Some held their stomachs, some leaned against the wall, and some clapped their hands on the table. The atmosphere was filled with endless joy.

Liu Xiaoli reacted and covered her face, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. She asked why her daughter and Huang Bo suddenly laughed. Her lines were not funny, and her performance was fine. It turned out that she had a slip of the tongue and the lines were messed up. She was really dizzy.

"It's because it's our own company, so I'm used to it," she explained.

"Come on, come on, I feel it." She quickly asked for another shot, trying to break the awkward atmosphere.

After a short break, Liu Yifei and Huang Bo calmed down their happy emotions and started filming again.

"What can we do? They, Starlight Media... don't even have the qualifications to seek fairness and justice." Liu Xiaoli was right this time.

Huang Bo took over the conversation, extremely angry: "It's because Yatou refused to sign with them that they maliciously targeted us. The media also followed suit, and no other company spoke for us. The entire entertainment industry is controlled by Starlight Media, right? Such a big company doesn't do anything good, but only does dirty things. It's really disgusting!"

Liu Xiaoli sighed, said nothing more, and fell silent.

The person involved in this plot, Liu Yifei, remained silent the entire time. The entire scene presented the dramatic conflict of the incident with the counter-attack between Huang Bo's anger and Liu Xiaoli's relaxation. It also initially highlighted Huang Bo's hatred of evil and Liu Xiaoli's calm and indifferent temperament.

The scene ended when the nanny car stopped at the door of the villa.

"stop."

"Liu Xiuxiu, come here for a moment."

Liu Xiuxiu...Liu Xiaoli raised her eyebrows, good boy, this is how you order your mother around, right?

She got out of the car and walked into the villa and came to the director's team. Chu Xuan immediately changed his expression: "Mom, sit down and discuss it."

You're a sensible boy... Liu Xiaoli smiled slightly and sat down beside him.

The teachers watched this scene with great interest and it was quite entertaining.

"Mom's acting in this scene is very good, but I think it would be better if she had more emotions?" Chu Xuan expressed his opinion.

Be more emotional? ... Liu Xiaoli frowned slightly, thinking, trying to understand what her son-in-law meant.

"No need." Tang Jili said, "Xiao Li just now seemed to be indifferent. The heroine An Xin also has a quiet and elegant personality. This is a continuation of the same lineage. I think Xiao Li's performance just now was just right."

Huang Lei nodded: "It's good to keep this character like this, without too much emotion, so that the audience can feel that the mother and daughter are cast in the same mold, the effect is the best."

Ning Hao agreed: "Yes, just be plain and simple, with a little care. This is what the character of Liu Xiuxiu should be like. No matter An Xin succeeds or fails, she should not be too emotional. Let the audience see the inner strength and power of this mother, and pass this strength and power to her daughter An Xin. This is the core of this character."

"Good guy, have you united?" Chu Xuan turned his head and looked at the teachers. He raised a point, but the teachers denied it one after another. This was unprecedented.

"Why should we unite? Your mother-in-law is acting in her true colors. It's right for her to act based on her feelings. We are stating the facts." Tang Jili said.

Everyone looked at Chu Xuan with interest, waiting to see how Chu Xuan would respond.

"Director, what do you say?" Liu Xiaoli joked.

Chu Xuan thought about it and agreed with the teachers: "Mom, feel free to act according to your feelings."

He felt that his mother's performance was more emotional and the character was fuller, but this was contrary to the fact that his mother was mostly elegant and indifferent in real life. Just as the teachers said that his mother was acting in her true colors, this was also consistent with Liu Yifei's performance style in the play.

So be it, maybe playing my real self this way will make me more convincing and iconic.

With the affirmation of her son-in-law, Liu Xiaoli felt more confident. She no longer had complicated thoughts about the unpredictable performance style. She no longer used her son-in-law's three-act theory as a criterion for self-evaluation. She just performed naturally according to the situation.

Even so, filming for an entire afternoon gave her many new and different experiences, and she also learned what a sense of belief is.

At the beginning, she just thought she was acting, so she felt at a loss as to what to perform. But as long as she could convince herself to put herself into the character and the corresponding situation, she would forget the camera, forget herself, and thus forget that it was acting.

Different situations have different emotions and different characters' self-perceptions, which made her deeply realize the difficulty of being a high-level actor.

The role she played was in line with her reality, and she gradually developed a sense of conviction and character perception. As for other actors, how strong a sense of conviction must they have to be to be able to switch back and forth between emotions and character perceptions that do not fit their reality.

An actor needs to have a very strong heart, this statement is true.

"My daughter and son-in-law are really outstanding." Deeply feeling the difficulties of being an actor, Liu Xiaoli praised her daughter and son-in-law on a higher level than ever before.

"Begin!" At dinner time in the evening, the last scene of the day began filming.

In the villa restaurant, Liu Xiaoli and Liu Yifei sat opposite each other. There were several dishes on the table, and the mother and daughter were eating.

An Xin was disqualified from the competition and was subjected to cyberbullying. She remained silent after returning home.

Seeing how sad she was, her mother Liu Xiuxiu tried to comfort her.

Liu Xiaoli reached out to pick up the food and said calmly, "Being an actor is your own choice. If you don't have a strong heart to endure all this, how can you continue to pursue your dream?"

She suddenly stopped, there was more lines to be said, but she didn't continue, her eyes flickered and no one knew what she was thinking.

When Liu Yifei saw that her mother was stuck in the role, she looked up at her with curiosity.

"stop."

"Mom? What's going on?"

Liu Xiaoli waved her chopsticks, stood up and walked to the director's team: "I need to change this line, it doesn't fit the tone."

Change the lines? ... Chu Xuan and the teachers were stunned, and then the teachers took a wait-and-see attitude and left this issue to our director to handle. The mother-in-law wants to change the lines, do you, the son-in-law, agree?
"This line... doesn't sound right?" Chu Xuan was confused, but perhaps his mother had her own understanding and ideas, so he asked, "What should it be changed to?"

"Shoot it again and see how it goes." Liu Xiaoli said.

"Okay, Mom, you go and prepare." Chu Xuan nodded.

The teachers watched this scene and said nothing. The lines designed by professional screenwriters emphasize the emotional coherence of the previous and next parts. You, an unprofessional, deny it. This is Liu Xiaoli, the queen mother of the crew, and there is nothing she can say.

Liu Yifei watched all this at the dining table and found it very interesting. It seemed that her mother was addicted to acting and had even come up with her own ideas. She didn't know what kind of lines her mother would change into, and she was looking forward to it in her heart.

When the filming started again, Liu Xiaoli stopped picking up the food and looked at her daughter who was eating with her head down to hide her sadness. She then put her chopsticks on the bowl, supported her elbows on the table, and crossed her hands in front of her chin.

"If it is bad, it cannot be cured; if it is good, it is enough for you to know it yourself."

"Since I have chosen acting as my dream, I should just ignore the disturbances from the outside world."

"When women are independent, the world is vast; when they strive to be strong, the sea and sky are vast. Compared with your external improvement, mom hopes to see you become stronger on the inside. Only when you become strong on the inside can you find your true happiness."

Liu Yifei paused, looked up and said, "Mom, I'm fine."

Liu Xiaoli spread her hands, picked up the chopsticks and picked up a handful of food for her daughter: "Come on, mom will always support you."

Liu Yifei smiled: "Mom, I love you."

"I love you, too." Liu Xiaoli put away her chopsticks and smiled at her daughter.

The mother and daughter looked at each other, and the atmosphere changed from gloomy to warm.

Until Chu Xuan shouted "Stop", Liu Yifei stood up and walked to her mother, giving her a loving hug.

"I almost cried, you know."

"That means you still remember what your mother said to you."

"Of course I remember. I will never forget it, okay?"

Liu Yifei never imagined that the lines her mother changed were the words she said to her in real life, which were said when "Tian Long" was criticized. After so many years, her mother reproduced the words almost word for word, which touched and moved her greatly.

In front of the monitor, Chu Xuan looked at the heartwarming scene between the mother and daughter and raised the corners of his mouth.

When he first heard the first part of the lyrics, he didn't know his mother's intention of changing the lyrics, but when he heard "When women are independent, the world will be wide open", he completely understood his mother's intention. This is bringing the teachings she once gave to Liu Yifei into the play, and the corresponding situations in and outside the play are perfectly matched, which is really wonderful.

"Liu Yi can be laid off now. The revised lines are of high quality and more heartwarming, which also fits the character and style of Liu Xiuxiu." Tang Jili commented that the revised lines were a pleasant surprise. It was unexpected that Liu Xiaoli had some literary skills.

"Liu Yi can be laid off..." Huang Lei was amused, but he also agreed with Tang Jili's evaluation of the changed lines. This line is indeed much better than the script. It has golden sentences and emotional value, maternal love and stronger positive communication, which is enough to make Liu Xiuxiu, the mother, more impressive in the hearts of the audience, thereby improving the overall quality of the play.

"This is it, it's pretty good." Ning Hao said.

Chu Xuan nodded. He never expected that his mother gave him a surprise. He replayed the audio and asked the screenwriter to change the script lines. He gave a thumbs up to his mother who was walking over from the set.

Seeing her son-in-law like this, Liu Xiaoli came over with anticipation: "How is it?"

"Very good." Tang Jili nodded in approval: "Xiao Li, you have your own understanding of the character, which is also a manifestation of your acting talent. With your dancing background, why didn't you think of trying the profession of actor before? The industry environment in our era was relatively good. If you were an actor back then, you might be a veteran movie queen now."

Hearing this praise, Liu Xiaoli waved her hand gently: "Well, we didn't have so many ideas back then. The main idea of ​​our generation was to do something and survive."

Tang Jili nodded slightly, agreeing with Liu Xiaoli's statement, and said no more.

"What a pity! If my mother had been an actress, she would have been like Lin Qingxia from mainland China if she had gone for the martial arts route, or like Maggie Cheung from mainland China if she had gone for the literary route. This is such a loss to the film and television industry."

"Hahaha……"

Everyone laughed when they heard the son-in-law Chu Xuan praising his mother-in-law.

Liu Xiaoli felt quite embarrassed by the compliment and immediately pinched Chu Xuan's ear, but her happiness was evident on her face. She felt very happy to receive praise from her son-in-law in front of everyone.

(End of this chapter)