When it came to the most critical round, the four mentors showed their own talents.
Su Shijin and Guan Ruoying both invited famous directors with good connections in the industry to come over and help the participants rehearse.
Feng Wei called the makeup artist he often worked with. His play this time was a costume drama. The better the makeup, the more pleasing and impressive it would be to the audience.
As for Shen Tingyan… his two plays required very high camera switching and coordination, so he called a camera team to come over.
In the last two days of on-site rehearsals, all groups were present, and everyone was present.
It wasn’t their turn so Xue Xiao wandered around the theater and looked here and there.
Guan Ruoying had arranged her four participants into a single play.
Everyone in the group had similar roles. Jin Xiaochen and Jiang Lianlian played a couple this time. The two of them worked together very well. Compared to the first round, their acting skills had obviously improved a lot!
Su Shijin divided her four participants into two groups. Zhao Dong and Gu Ling were separated.
What was surprising was that the role Su Shijin arranged for Gu Ling this time was particularly suitable for me. Xue Xiao watched from the side for a while. He felt that Gu Ling seemed to have regained the state he was in during the first round of the competition!
Dou Mingjian, who was walking around with him, commented, “This time, Teacher Su tailored the script for the four of them. However, how many actors can receive this type of treatment after leaving the competition?”
It wasn’t pouring cold water on the situation. It was a real problem.
Gu Ling was an instinctive actor. For a role that suited him, he could perform in a shocking manner. However, whether he could find a role that suited him in the future was a very important question.
Xue Xiao sighed.
Based on Gu Ling’s acting ability, Xue Xiao felt it would be a pity if he could never see it on the big screen again in the future.
Feng Wei only had three participants this time. It was impossible to divide them into two groups.
In their group, Cheng Yang was undoubtedly the only protagonist. He played a swordsman and had the most prominent role. He performed well in both literary and martial arts.
After taking a lap, they were about to start rehearsals.
Shen Tingyan rolled up the cuffs of his white shirt to the middle of his forearm. He looked handsome and capable.
He arranged for Xue Xiao and Chang Yun to rehearse first.
The play started from the perspective of Xue Xiao, i.e. Zheng Nian.
The camera would first focus on a row of price lists in the cafe. It listed the meals available that day, just like a school cafeteria.
The camera shook slightly, suggesting that the owner of the perspective was dizzy.
“…Nian?”
“…Zheng Nian!”
The moment Zhao Wenlei called out, the camera would quickly turn to the left to Zheng Nian, who was looking up at the price list.
His mind returned. He turned in the direction of the voice and saw Zhao Wenlei sitting at a dining table behind him.
Zhao Wenlei was pleasantly surprised. “It is really you!”
Zheng Nian was stunned and instinctively smiled. “Lei Zi…”
Zhao Wenlei stood up. “Long time no see! I haven’t seen you since graduating from high school. Come on, sit here!”
The bizarre story started after Zheng Nian sat down on the other side of the table.
Shen Tingyan kept adjusting the camera while setting their rhythm.
He said to Xue Xiao and Chang Yun, “When I go to watch the rehearsal of the other group later, you can practice here a few more times. You must accurately remember the camera switching points of each shot.”
Xue Xiao and Chang Yun nodded vigorously.
“There is also the on-site framing teacher.” Shen Tingyan turned his head and spoke to the other group of staff he brought with him. “When the time comes to set up the scene, you must be quick. Be careful not to go under the camera and cooperate with the camera change.”
Shen Tingyan spoke concisely and clearly. His aura made it difficult for people to turn around and forget his words. Everyone replied with awe, “Okay!”
He clapped his hands. “Okay, let’s do it one more time!”
Dou Mingjian watched them doing it from below. He saw it and sighed. “The way he uses the camera makes it feel like a film.”
It didn’t look like it was shot live. It was just like an edited movie!
In order to achieve this effect on site, many aspects of control were required.
First, the director needed to be sensitive enough to the camera. Secondly, he needed to have absolute control over the rhythm. Thirdly, he needed to control the scene so that all the staff worked together as a team.
It wasn’t difficult to do these three things at the same time, but it was difficult to do them at the same time in a short period of time.
The man was literally born for the set.
The moment Xue Xiao heard this, he looked at Shen Tingyan in the middle of the crowd. He pursed his lips, smiled, and nodded in agreement.
In fact, it wasn’t just their Vertigo group. The scene effect Dou Mingjian’s House of a Thousand Faces’ could never be bad.
Xue Xiao felt that this wasn’t just because Shen Tingyan was strong enough. It was also because Shen Tingyan’s personal directing style was becoming clearer.
The themes of these two plays were different, but the styles were very similar—they were both strange and bizarre with a series of twists and turns.
As his personal style became clearer and clearer, he would have an increasingly clear idea of how a story should be presented.
Once a director’s personal ability reached a certain level, everything would fall into place.
……
At midnight, Shen Tingyan finally stopped.
He glanced at the time. Then he glanced down and saw Xue Xiao talking to Jiang Lianlian and Jin Xiaochen not far away during their break.
Shen Tingyan glanced at Jiang Lianlian and Xue Xiao, thinking deeply.
…No matter how he looked at it, this didn’t seem to go beyond friendly.
So who was the girl that this little lightbulb had a crush on?
It was true that he couldn’t find the answer, but Shen Tingyan had recently started to learn to deal with this matter. He would no longer make himself unhappy because of it. After all, if he was unhappy then the little light bulb would also be unhappy.
At this moment, Guan Ruoying and Su Shijin’s assistants suddenly ran in. They had two big bags hanging from their bodies, and they shouted, “The milk tea is here. We bought different flavors. Come and pick it yourself!”
Regardless of whether their rehearsal was over or not, everyone’s thoughts drifted.
“Does everyone have one?”
“Yes, we bought more than 40 cups. The mentors also have one!”
“Wow, thank you, Teacher Su!”
“Drinking milk tea at this hour? Hahaha, do you not want to sleep tonight?”
“No need to sleep, there is no need to sleep. It is the last game. What sleep? Let’s stay up all night!”
Xue Xiao was just about to run to get milk tea when he suddenly turned around and asked Shen Tingyan, “Teacher Shen, what flavor do you drink?”
Shen Tingyan wanted to say that he didn’t drink milk tea. However, Chang Yun had already answered for him, saying firmly, “Teacher Shen definitely doesn’t like anything too sweet!”
Xue Xiao blinked his almond-shaped eyes twice, the words, ‘Yes, yes?’ written in them.
The expression was too cute, and the eyes were too sparkling. Shen Tingyan was so shaken that he instinctively answered the question. “…Yes.”
By the time his mind returned, the little light bulb was already running to get milk tea…
In the hot summer, ice naturally needed to be added to milk tea.
As Xue Xiao took the cup handed over by Xue Xiao, he stared at it deeply for a second. Then he heard Xue Xiao’s soft urging, “Try it and see if you like it.”
“……”
The straw was inserted for him.
Shen Tingyan lowered his head silently and took a sip.
It had a very light sweetness. Most of the taste was brought by the tea. It was definitely an ordinary tea bag and wasn’t a good tea, but it was really refreshing on this hot summer night.
Xue Xiao felt that the picture of Shen Tingyan drinking milk tea was quite unusual.
Not only was it strange, but Shen Tingyan could be so pleasing to the eye even when drinking milk tea.
His eyelashes were lowered and looked long. The shape of his eyebrows, the bridge of his nose, and the cold white complexion were all attractive.
Thus, Xue Xiao watched with pleasure while sipping his own milk tea.
This was until Shen Tingyan looked up and smiled. “Xue Xiao, are you taking me as a snack?”
Xue Xiao: “!”
He blushed and lowered his eyes.
Shen Tingyan saw his appearance, and his expression became more and more playful. He said casually, “Are you in such good spirits today?”
Didn’t he fall asleep completely before midnight during the rehearsal for the second round?
After spending more than a month together, he could tell that Xue Xiao definitely had a very standard biological clock.
Xue Xiao thought for a moment before saying with a smile, “Maybe it is because this might be the last game.”
He might be very popular now, and everyone thought he could definitely make it to the finals, but how could anything in the world be 100%?
Xue Xiao would never be self-righteous. When it came time to treat the game as the last game, he would definitely correct his mentality.
What’s more, even if he could make it to the finals, this would be the only chance to rehearse the play with everyone.
Shen Tingyan paused slightly when he heard Xue Xiao’s words.
Xue Xiao looked around.
Tonight, everyone was working in a tireless manner.
Everyone concentrated, worked hard and seriously, and laughed and cursed.
Naturally, they had to enjoy the last game to the fullest. How could they be willing to go back to the dormitory to sleep at this time?
“Everyone wants to act a bit longer and work harder with their friends—”
Xue Xiao turned around, looked at Shen Tingyan, and smiled sweetly, “—And listen to the teachings of the mentors more.”
Shen Tingyan stared directly at him.
After a moment, he said softly, “If you fall in love one day, you must be the type to say affectionate words every day.”
Xue Xiao didn’t hear it clearly so he asked doubtfully, “What?”
“It’s nothing.” Shen Tingyan rubbed his head, glanced around at the huge theater, and said lazily, “Come on. Get to the next level. The further you go, the more you will realize—”
Some people weren’t chasing the stage.
They were born to have the stage chase them.
The stage was waiting there.
As long as the ideas were consistent, their parents in the same industry wouldn’t disappear.
—
[Everyone’s Interview]
“This should be the last interview and recording. The competition will end soon. Let’s review the starting point of this journey. Can you tell me specifically when and in what circumstances you first became interested in acting?”
Chang Yun replied, “I have to talk about the summer when I was in the third grade of elementary school. I saw Ultraman for the first time during that summer vacation. At that time, my desire to act was revealed. My mother scolded me for acting too much. I had a lot of dramas. I told my mother that I wanted to be an actor, and my mother asked me to run three laps downstairs to wake up my brain…”
Jiang Lianlian said, “Me? As for me, I probably became interested in martial arts dramas when I was in elementary school. At that time, I really wanted to play a chivalrous girl, a beautiful and sassy one. I even enrolled in a swordsmanship class, even though I couldn’t persist for a semester, cough…”
Zhao Dong said, “If I really have to go back to when I was first interested… It was probably when I was two or three years old/ Hahaha, I don’t remember it myself, but my mother said at that time that I watched TV very seriously. In particular, when there were characters like emperors and generals on TV, I would follow what they said even though I couldn’t speak clearly…”
Gu Ling said, “When I was in middle school, I watched ‘Love in Sunset City.’ The character of the male protagonist attracted me very much. That is when I started wanting to act.”
Jin Xiaochen said, “I actually didn’t realize it until I was in high school. I always liked imitating characters in dramas since I was a child, especially police officers and soldiers. People around me said that my acting was quite decent. Later, my high school deskmate said I was so handsome that I could become an actor… Is my deskmate a girl? You really like gossip… I won’t tell you, haha!”
Dou Mingjian said, “I was in elementary school. Hey, thinking about it, how many years have passed? The one who impressed me the most was Mr Cao’s Soldier Road Battles. The acting was so good that I wanted to act at that time…”
Guan Ruoying wondered, “The mentor also has to answer this question? Hahaha, I really haven’t paid attention to this. If I really have to say it, it might be the student drama organized by the school when I was in elementary school. I was very lucky at that time and was selected. I played the leading role and stood on the stage for the first time. That feeling… I have never forgotten it.”
Shen Tingyan said, “I don’t remember. As long as I can remember, my parents have often taken me to the set to watch them act. I have never considered anything other than acting.”
Xue Xiao said, “…The first time I had the idea was when I was six years old. Yes, it was the movie that Teacher Shen acted in when he was nine years old. At that time, I thought it was amazing. This brother was only three years older than me, but he was already acting and doing well? Could I do it? I really wanted to try it.”
“Then I kept this idea hidden in my heart, and I never faced it. It wasn’t until Teacher Shen starred in ‘From Dawn to Dusk’ that I…”
The young man was distracted for a moment.
He opened his mouth and said slowly, “I might never forget that movie for the rest of my life. It was also that movie that made me realize very clearly that I can’t escape my desire to be an actor.”
…
“So what are your goals for the future?”
Chang Yun clenched his fists and said, “Of course, I want to be the leading actor!”
Jiang Lianlian said happily, “Is it too arrogant for me to say that I want to be a Best Actress?”
Zhao Dong thought for a while before saying with a smile, “My goal is that when I am 70 or 80 years old, I can still stand on the set.”
Gu Ling said calmly, “If there are still suitable roles, I will continue to act.”
Jin Xiaochen’s face turned red. “If I say that I hope to have the opportunity to act with my goddess Jin Yining in the future, will you delete my part?”
Dou Mingjian laughed. “Of course, the goal is to cooperate with all the directors I like!”
Xue Xiao was stunned. “Me?”
Outside the camera, among the staff members, a tall and slender man was standing there.
He had just finished recording and didn’t leave. He crossed his arms and watched the whole thing.
At this moment, Xue Xiao met his gaze.
Xue Xiao’s cheeks were quietly dyed red.
After thinking for a moment, he stared directly at the camera. His eyes shone with the brightest light.
“I want to be the best version of myself.”
It was no longer about chasing someone’s back.
He wanted to be unique, the best version of himself.
In the corner, Shen Tingyan’s lips curved up.
Where the light was focused was the brightest star in the sky.
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