Chapter 623: Chapter 457: Playing the Background
The elevator descended to the first floor, and the elevator doors opened.
Zhou Yun entered the elevator, and Liang Yuanpu stood outside the elevator doors, gave her a slight smile, and made a gesture of invitation.
It meant that he wasn’t coming up.
Zhou Yun was slightly stunned.
The elevator doors slowly closed.
"Okay, Cut!" Wen Bing shouted.
The elevator doors reopened, and Zhou Yun walked out of the elevator.
"Just now, the whole take was passed directly, everyone’s performance was quite good."
Next up was the close-up shot.
Zhou Yun could take a short break, but she still dutifully stood at her position.
Even Ning Xin was surprised and asked her why she wasn’t resting.
Zhou Yun said, "What if a shot captures my position and I’m not there, it would reveal a mistake."
Ning Xin said in surprise, "That can happen? I never thought of that."
Zhou Yun smiled and said, "This is also my own filming habit. I like to stay a bit longer in this situation. The actual filming setting helps me truly enter into the character’s state. Although the script makes my character very simple, just a Female Assassin here on a mission, many veteran actors talk about a sense of belief. This sense of belief isn’t necessarily about creating a lot of background for the character, but about how I, in this state, would react to any new changes. These reactions should match the situation and my character and be traceable."
Ning Xin said, "Wow, I’ve never thought about it that way. I play this secretary, and the script didn’t describe her personality, so I made her a hardworking but easily nervous and shy person. I thought I had done enough."
"You did better than many people already," Zhou Yun said. "I don’t really advocate for creating a thick background for characters when their roles are not very significant, with only one or two appearances. It’s unnecessary, and it’s easy to get trapped in your own thoughts. Supporting roles are meant to serve and highlight the main characters. The focus should still be on making the play more brilliant. If I add a lot of scenes for myself, it would make the play messy and less appealing."
Ning Xin said, "I’ve learned a lot, this is completely different from what I understood before, Sister Xiao Yun, no wonder you perform so well."
"Are you still in school?" Zhou Yun asked curiously.
"Yes," Ning Xin nodded. "I’m in my second year of university, and I got this acting opportunity after five rounds of auditions."
Ning Xin said with a blushing face.
Zhou Yun hadn’t expected that even such a small role, just showing a face, required five rounds of auditions.
Zhou Yun couldn’t help but feel how strict the commercial production was in selecting actors.
Ning Xin looked very naive and young, and the character she set for herself as secretary also matched her own situation, showing she was a clever girl.
"Have you acted before?"
"No, this is my first time acting," Ning Xin said. "Knowing I was going to play your secretary got me really excited."
"Let’s not use formal titles between us, I’m not much older than you," Zhou Yun said with a smile. "It makes me sound so old."
Ning Xin nodded and apologized, saying, "Sorry, Sister Xiao Yun."
Zhou Yun didn’t tell her again not to be so formal.
She herself had been through Ning Xin’s phase and knew that even if she said something, Ning Xin wouldn’t be able to change immediately.
After the two got more familiar with each other, things would naturally get better.
The entire morning, Wen Bing was filming Liang Yuanpu.
Zhou Yun stood at the reception desk for the whole morning.
When it was noon, they stopped for lunch, and Wen Bing came over and hugged Zhou Yun saying, "Hard work."
Zhou Yun pulled Ning Xin over and said, "This young lady had it tough, standing with me the whole time."
Wen Bing looked at Ning Xin and nodded.
Ning Xin was pleasantly surprised and her face turned red.
"It’s not hard, not hard," she quickly said, shaking her head.
Filming "Two Tigers" allowed Zhou Yun to feel the relief of not being a leading role for a long time.
She just needed to complete her part well, and all the pressure wasn’t on her.
Zhou Yun and Ning Xin sat together for lunch.
They happened to talk about what Zhou Yun had mentioned in a live broadcast earlier.
Ning Xin said, "My classmates all say you’re so cool, we all admire you so much."
Zhou Yun smiled and said, "There’s nothing to admire."
"No, you don’t know, when Fan Zhu said those things, how angry we all were, but we didn’t know how to refute! The rebuttals you made were exactly what we wanted to say but didn’t know how to express!" Ning Xin felt indignant for Zhou Yun and said, "My classmates and I really love the drama ’Heart Inquiry’, we haven’t seen such a good domestic drama in a long time."
Zhou Yun laughed, "Thank you for liking it."
The afternoon continued with filming, still focusing on Liang Yuanpu.
Since it was a large scene, each retake required a lot of preparation.
Time dragged slowly, but Wen Bing filmed without any rush, very calm and composed.
Liang Yuanpu was also calm and composed. Wen Bing meticulously shot each scene over and over again, never agitated or complaining.
After each scene, Wen Bing would invite Liang Yuanpu to the monitor to review the just-filmed footage, then consult with him about what effects he wanted, and convey the differences between the two to Liang Yuanpu.
Liang Yuanpu on the set didn’t act like a prima donna at all, very obedient to the plans.
The entire day, Zhou Yun only filmed that big panoramic scene in the morning.
Yao Yuanfeng came to the set in the evening, he came to visit everyone, bringing a lot of food and drinks.
Learning that Zhou Yun was playing a supporting role, staying at the reception the entire day, Yao Yuanfeng was internally shocked again, feeling that Zhou Yun, this actress was truly remarkable.
People can hide their true feelings, but how long can they keep it up?
Zhou Yun stood there the entire day, just to serve as a background for Liang Yuanpu, this dedicated spirit moved Yao Yuanfeng deeply, as an owner of a film production company.
Having seen some people’s lack of dedication, it made him appreciate how rare it is for someone to be dedicated to such an extent.
Even Liang Yuanpu came over and said to Zhou Yun, "You could actually have let the crew arrange a stand-in to be here, just to film the back shot."
Zhou Yun smiled and said, "It’s okay, Teacher Liang, I’m just standing by on the set, ready whenever needed, besides, I have nothing else to do in the hotel."
Zhou Yun’s actions throughout the day had also somewhat changed Liang Yuanpu’s view of her.
Liang Yuanpu nodded and said, "Then it’s hard on you."
Fortunately, it was a large crew, they finished on time in the evening, without working late.
After returning to the hotel, Zhou Yun first went for a massage, then took a bath.
Having stood in high heels for the entire day, although she said it was fine, her feet were still sore.