"Mum," Wang Qianqian interrupted her mother. She said with her head lowered, "I'm about to go to—"
Zhao Ruoyun was not finished with her lines when Gu Jiaer frowned again. He shouted loudly, "Cut!"
He did not seem to be in a good mood. "The camera can't capture your face because you're lowering it too much. I'd be fine with it if you could project emotions through your body language and express the internal dilemma you're feeling. What I want from this scene is for you to portray Wang Qianqian's internal dilemma instead of being there as a decoration," Gu Jiaer spoke in a direct manner.
"This isn't a television drama," he said in an annoyed tone, "Do you know how much film is used for every second you waste?"
Jiang Se stood there for a while and observed the scene. She was beginning to understand this director's personality.
Gu Jiaer had strict requirements on set. If it was not up to his expectations, even a popular young actress such as Zhao Ruoyun would be subject to a torrent of abuse.
Her scene would be filmed as well. Although she learned from her conversation with Dai Jia that it would only be a test run today instead of an official shoot, Jiang Se committed Miss Zhang's lines to memory twice.
Zhao Ruoyun was embarrassed by being yelled at. However, she dared not voice out her anger in Gu Jiaer's face.
"Director Gu." Zhao Ruoyun's assistant was a man of about 30 years old who appeared polite in his spectacles. "I think Ruoyun isn't at her best right now. Why don't we let her rest and go over the script with Brother Tao? We can film the other scenes for now."
He spoke with a smile as he stood beside Gu Jiaer. "I know that you're taking 'Pretense to Reality' very seriously, and I'm sure Ruoyun feels the same way as well. She's been reading the script while sacrificing her sleep these few days. Her nerves might've gotten the best of her today."
From the moment filming began, Zhao Ruoyun indeed did not seem to be at her best, especially after the few NGs.
It was not as if Gu Jiaer did not want to give her face. However, if he insisted on filming her part first, he would be wasting his time.
Therefore, after the assistant's persuasion, Gu Jiaer gave the instruction for the other scenes to be filmed first with a disgruntled tone.
The others finally relaxed. Zhao Ruoyun's assistant helped her up and escorted her to a seat on the side.
Jiang Se gave Zhao Ruoyun a glance. Then, she felt someone moving closer to her from behind.
Jiang Se turned sideways to dodge and saw Dai Jia with her hand raised. It was clear that she wanted to place her hand on her shoulder but did not manage to.
"You're an alert one." Dai Jia retracted her hand.
Jiang Se said, "I didn't notice you come in."
The Feng family had been running its business for many years and had a presence in Hong Kong.
Coming from such a background, Feng Nan had cultivated the habit of being exceptionally aware of anyone closing in on her from the back.
"Are you admiring a celebrity?" Dai Jia looked in the direction where she looked. She saw a bunch of newcomers gathered around Zhao Ruoyun who was talking to the scriptwriter beside her and appearing to be in a better mood compared to before.
"I have a classmate who likes her very much. She's mentioned her name a few times. This is my first time seeing her in person," Jiang Se explained. There were too many people on set while the director was conversing with the crew members. She reckoned that filming would not be resumed for a while, so the two of them went away but not too far away. They stood beside a window about six steps from the set and chatted.
"If you're in this industry, meeting celebrities will be the norm." Dai Jia leaned on the windowsill and brought Zhao Ruoyun up. "Zhao Ruoyun's been in the industry for several years. She used to be doing television dramas and is a newcomer in films. However, she started off big. The first film she was involved in was Zhang Jingan's 'Rescue Mission'. Although she did not have much screen time, many actresses practically fought over her character. Her company went through lots of trouble to procure that role for her.
"I heard that you were in Director Zhang's movie before this as well, weren't you?" When Dai Jia finished talking about Zhao Ruoyun, she turned toward Jiang Se and posed the question to her. She was direct and would ask about anything that she wanted to know.
This was no secret, after all. Moreover, Jiang Se had brought this up herself back when she was trying to be accepted into the cast of "Pretense to Reality".
When she heard Dai Jia's question, she replied, "My classmate and I went to Shen Villa when 'Rescue Mission' was being filmed. We were fortunate to have met Zhang Jingan there and I took up a role."
As Dai Jia looked down at her high heels, her long curls fell and covered part of her face. Her voice was slightly deep as she commented, "You're lucky. Not everything is as it seems in this industry. However, it's rare for someone to get into Zhang Jingan's cast as you did." She ran her fingers through her hair and lifted her head. "By the way, what's your name? I've met you twice, and we've never been properly introduced before."
"I'm Jiang Se." She had barely said her name when someone called for the cast to gather at the set.
With Zhao Ruoyun not being at her best, Gu Jiaer decided to start with the male lead and his ex-girlfriend. Someone was calling for Dai Jia, so she did not even have time to say anything to Jiang Se before rushing toward the set.
Although Gu Jiaer changed his mind at the last minute, the set had already been prepared beforehand.
When Jiang Se went in a few minutes later, she saw that Dai Jia and Hang Yuyi were already in their places.
She had heard of Hang Yuyi's name from the makeup artist just now. Jiang Se also knew that he was one of the more famous young actors in the current entertainment industry.
Hang Yuyi looked young as he sported a layered hairstyle. Perhaps because it was the requirement of his character, his hair was not dyed. His bearing was gentle and he was a handsome, melancholic man.
He had a slender build, yet his height suited Dai Jia who was nearly 170 centimeters tall.
When they stood there together, one of them seemed quiet while the other was charming. Hang Yuyi's costume was black whereas Dai Jia wore a bright red dress, creating a bright contrast.
The director shouted, "Action!" When the script supervisor then raised the clapperboard and clapped it loudly, Hang Yuyi swiftly adjusted his expression.
Currently, he was portraying a man who was almost 30 years old and whose sole focus was his career. He did not seem to care about anything else around him.
Compared to Zhao Ruoyun's scene, Hang Yuyi's scene seemed more relaxed. All he needed to be was a man who devoted his time and energy to his career and neglected everything else.
His desk was full of books. The exterior of the set was covered up. A scenery was put up outside the windows so that it looked like nighttime.
The study lamp was switched on and Zhou Rongshen was writing in his notebook.
There were sounds of keys clicking. The ex-girlfriend, portrayed by Dai Jia, was holding a rose. She bent down to change her shoes.
"I'm back," she said listlessly. However, Zhou Rongshen, who was seated at his desk, did not seem to have heard her. She paused halfway through changing her shoes. At this moment, the camera zoomed in to her.
The director gave an "okay" sign. It was clear that this take had passed.
After experiencing Zhao Ruoyun's repeated NGs, the others clearly had lingering fears. When Dai Jia and Hang Yuyi's joint performance passed on the first take, many of the others sighed with relief.
Gu Jiaer replayed the recording and felt that it was okay. He told the stylist to adjust the angle of Dai Jia's fallen hair. When it was finally adjusted to his ideal angle, he gave the instruction for the filming to continue.
The girlfriend was changing her shoes with half of her face obscured by her hair. Her expression could barely be seen. There was a feeling as if this was the calm before a storm.
"I said, I'm back." She raised her head and directed her voice toward Zhou Rongshen. There was a slight tremor in her voice.
"Mm-hmm." The man seated at the desk did not turn to look at her. His pen was still streaking across the paper. All he did was give an absent-minded grunt.
His reaction made his girlfriend's body tense up.
Here, Jiang Se noticed Dai Jia's performance. As her shoulders drooped, she looked slightly exhausted and rigid. Jiang Se could even feel that she was suppressing her anger which would erupt in the next moment.
"Zhou Rongshen! I'm telling you that I'm back!" The girlfriend could not take it anymore. She took a deep breath and her body was shaking slightly.
She changed her shoes and entered the house while holding her rose. She threw the hardworking man seated before the computer a glance. Her gaze was filled with despair and hope.
"The guy from my company, Duke, has given me a rose."
She glanced at the vase on the table that contained a rose. She took it out, replaced the rose, and added some water.
However, her actions did not make Zhou Rongshen look up from his work. He merely posed a half-hearted question, "Who's Duke?"
Although she chuckled, tears fell from her eyes.
Under the hazy lighting of the set, her expressions were captured by the camera. Her tears twinkled in her eyes. It was clear for the audience to tell that her emotions were raging.
"Duke is the new Human Resources Director in my company. I've told you about him before. He's been pursuing me for a long time."
Gu Jiaer gave another "okay" sign. It was clear that this take had passed as well.
The lighting of the set brightened. Dai Jia was still in her character and took some time to extract herself from it.
It was clear that she had worked hard to portray this character as Zhou Rongshen's ex-girlfriend. Her acting was easily convincing. Even Gu Jiaer, who had been shouting at Zhao Ruoyun before this, offered her some praise, "That was good."
With the director's praise, the attitude of the crew members changed slightly when they talked to Dai Jia after the filming.
At the edge of the crowd, Zhao Ruoyun managed to maintain her smile. However, the mineral water bottle in her hand was twisted out of shape.
After some rest, the camera zoomed in on Hang Yuyi's face. When he heard the news about someone in his girlfriend's company pursuing her, he merely frowned. There was an annoyed expression on his face.
He displayed the irritation Zhou Rongshen felt deep within his heart, which blamed his girlfriend for being incapable of sorting her own matters, without resolve. Jiang Se could see that clearly. Her impression of Hang Yuyi changed.
She had heard of Zhao Ruoyun's name several times when Lu Baobao mentioned her. She knew that Zhao Ruoyun had starred in several television dramas and was experienced in acting.
However, Zhao Ruoyun's performance during the filming surprised Jiang Se. Her acting was awkward and there was no charm about her. This was disproportionate to her popularity.
She initially thought that Hang Yuyi would be of similar standards with Zhao Ruoyun. When the filming began, the focus of these takes was on Dai Jia. Hang Yuyi merely appeared on the scenes because the director wanted to introduce him to the audience.
However, when the filming began, Hang Yuyi's performance seemed much more illustrative with the internal drama going on. He did not seem to bother talking to his girlfriend. It was clear that he found it a waste of his time.
Naturally, the lack of attention enraged his girlfriend who then erupted.
Dai Jia did a good job of portraying the character of a hysterical woman who had a big fight with Zhou Rongshen.
On the set, the woman was shaking as she insisted on a breakup. The man, on the other hand, was calm and silent. He said nothing even when the woman stormed into her room to pack her things up and leave.
The scene of their breakup was only retaken twice before being passed.
Gu Jiaer replayed the recordings, clearly satisfied with their performance. He then announced a short break.
Hang Yuyi unbuttoned the top of his shirt and walked over to the camera,
The lighting on set brightened again. As the stage manager instructed the crew members to remove the external backdrop, Jiang Se looked at the people crowding around the crew members, the lead actor, and the lead actress. She did not join them.
Instead, Dai Jia, who had earned Gu Jiaer's praise, noticed her and moved closer to her. "How did I do?"
If Gu Jiaer had praised her, naturally she did well.
Her eyes were still wet from the tears she had produced while acting out the scene. She had not extracted herself completely from the character of the script. She ran her fingers through her fringe as she asked, "Do you have some tissue paper?"
Jiang Se was wearing her costume, so her personal belongings were inside her locker. There was no way that she would be carrying tissue paper. She shook her head. "Your acting was great."
When Dai Jia heard this, she wiped the tears from her eyes with her fingers. "It's nothing. I just managed to remember something."
The two of them conversed for a short while. Then, they heard someone's footsteps coming in their direction. Jiang Se turned to see a middle-aged man in a blue blazer with one hand in his pocket. He gave Dai Jia a round of appraisal with his eyes before looking at Jiang Se. He did not conceal the look of admiration in his eyes.
Jiang Se frowned. This man's gaze made her uncomfortable as it was slightly invasive. He smelled like a mixture of cologne and cigarette smoke that was slightly overpowering.
When Dai Jia turned to look, she smiled and called out sweetly, "Brother Yao."
Her voice pulled the man's gaze back to herself. The man produced a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulling two cigarette sticks out and placing one between his lips. He lit it, drew it deeply, and passed it to Jiang Se.
"You did well. Director Gu is skilled in discovering new talent. Looks like we have two beautiful girls this year. Things are going to look much nicer now."
When Jiang Se accepted the cigarette, the man's smile thickened. Instead, when Dai Jia saw this scene from the side, she gave a slight frown, appearing slightly hesitant. When the man passed her a cigarette, she hesitated slightly before waving her hand and retreating instinctively. "I'm sorry. I don't smoke."
As she said this, the man smiled. He looked at Jiang Se with the cigarette in her hand. He pointed at her and said, "I think that you'll do well."
His voice had barely faded when someone called for "Brother Yao" from afar. The man curled the edge of his lips in a slightly mocking smile. He swept his gaze across Dai Jia's body slowly, turned around, and left.
When he left, Dai Jia glanced at Jiang Se and snorted, "Don't think that I'm jealous of you. The waters in this industry are deep. How could you accept everything that another person has given you?" She glanced at the cigarette in Jiang Se's hand and said with contempt, "Who knows what's inside?"
Jiang Se was still holding the lit cigarette. The smoke rose slowly and stung her nostrils. "All I did was accept it. It's not like I'd actually smoke it."
Dai Jia seemed to be well-versed in the workings of society, but she was not very experienced. They had met twice now. Jiang Se remembered the reminder Dai Jia gave her the other day. Although her tone was not friendly now, she meant well, so she wanted to repay her as well.
"Sometimes, even if you're guarded against another person, you shouldn't let them know that you've got your guard up against them. That's how you'll be able to protect yourself."
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