Chapter 49 – Blow Xiao Mo’s face
An Xumo’s whole person directly froze.
And brother, to touch……
He didn’t even dare to say that word completely. An Xumo was knocked unconscious by the gift that fell from the sky. The gift tied with a butterfly knot not only jumped into his arms, but also automatically untied the bow, and shouted “Surprise!” lifting the lid.
When he was eight years old, An Xumo once had a dream. He dreamed that someone remembered his birthday, the housekeeper brought up a cake with candles, his classmates laughed and sang him a birthday song, his uncles and aunts who had always been unsmiling,1不苟言笑: serious in speech and manner; reticent; taciturn (idiom); doesn’t laugh with words, describes a solemn attitude. and the other elders of the family, finally gave him a pleasant face and said happy birthday to him.
That was the deepest wish in An Xumo’s memory, and the drop after waking up also made him slowly learn to stop being delusional. As the mark grew, he knew more and more, and he no longer had such unforgettable2刻骨铭心: lit. carved in bones and engraved in the heart (idiom); fig. etched in one’s memory; unforgettable expectation
However, the words An Xumo heard now is more than the wish buried deep in his heart since childhood……
More like wishful thinking.
But An Xumo knew that he was not dreaming.
—— He had never given birth to such a bold idea even in his subconscious.
When An Xumo froze, Zhou Jinchen had already leaned over and brought the mineral water on the table. He unscrewed the cap of the Evian bottle, took a sip, and put the bottle back.
An Xumo’s vacant sight also moved along with Zhou Jinchen’s movements. After the latter placed the water bottle on the table, he saw the boy staring at the water bottle blankly.
It wasn’t until Zhou Jinchen handed over the orange juice on the table that An Xumo was forced to come back to his senses. He hurriedly took the juice. “Thank, thank you.”
Zhou Jinchen saw him receive the juice before continuing to explain, “You haven’t performed before to be able to endure the risk, and the contrast with Lin Rui in the same frame will be apparent. He will not lower his level because of you, and if he doesn’t cooperate, it’s easy to steal all your shots.”
“So I suggested to Ma Lao to replace the kissing scene. If there’s something you can’t do, I will teach you.”
He still speaks in a straightforward and reasonable tone, and you can’t hear any comforting tone. Yet, for An Xumo it’s very clear, this is already an exception for Zhou Jinchen——for so many days together in the same crew An Xumo has been watching on the set, he naturally understood that. In addition to Ma Lao, his brother has never explained the plot to other actors.
But as a matter of fact, An Xumo is no longer in the mood to consider the exception this time.
If it could be concealed just now, An Xumo’s face could not even be hidden now. His face was completely red that he could only bury his head lower and lower in Zhou Jinchen’s line of sight. Lower and lower.
“Thank you, brother.”
“……”
Zhou Jinchen looked at An Xumo, who almost buried his head in his chest and talked to him, and his sight lingered again in the person’s red-stained ears.
He said faintly, “In front of the camera, this is work.”
“……hmm.” An Xumo answered in a low voice but still did not raise his head.
He repeatedly recited “acting is work, work is work” three times in his heart before he could finally speak in a normal tone, “I understand. I will try my best.”
It was already ten o’clock in the evening. After Zhou Jinchen left, only An Xumo was left alone in the room. He held the unopened bottle of orange juice and repeatedly constructed his mind——
The kissing scene is also work. You should perform well and try your best to play this role.
But……
An Xumo rested his forehead against the juice bottle, a slight coolness passed along his skin.
How is it possible to calm down? The purpose of his work was originally to see his brother……
An Xumo inwardly lamented.
Heavens bless him, don’t let him lose sleep tonight. He can’t start filming tomorrow with dark circles under his eyes ah.
–
Even though he tried to sleep, An Xumo still slept a little less than usual and woke up before the alarm clock rang in the morning.
Fortunately, after staring at himself in the mirror for a while, An Xumo finally breathed a sigh of relief. He’s still smooth at the moment and no dark circles had surfaced yet.
Before the crew started to work, the make-up artists styled An Xumo. What he is going to shoot today is an indoor play at the Ballet Theater, and there are several places in the film where the performance shots will be used. This scene is quite professional, but for An Xumo, it should be considered as the easiest one. It is also to take care of his first time acting that the crew arranged the scene ahead.
After putting on a white vest, gymnastic pants, and soft-soled shoes, An Xumo went to the theater stage with the other extras. The first thing he had to do was to shoot a group training scene so he also wore training clothes.
When the theater scene started, the filming in other studios also continued. Therefore, the person who was here to direct was not Ma Lao, but his son Ma Zechi.
Ma Zechi is thirty-six years old, he grew up with Ma Mingcheng between film and camera. He has filmed a series of excellent works, including 《The Scarecrow》, and had faintly taken the lead among the new generation of young directors.
However, there is one more interesting point about Ma Zechi——apart from his equally excellent directing talent, Ma Zechi and his father, Ma Mingcheng, have almost nothing in common in terms of personality.
Ma Mingcheng has an eccentric character and a hot temper. In his early years, he dared to challenge the producer directly. Due to his personality, he seldom makes detours. Ma Zechi, on the other hand, is just the opposite, it’s difficult for others to see slowness in him. Unless it touches his bottom line, Ma Zechi usually smiles and can get along with the crew. The father and son are together, but Ma Zechi takes care of his father a little more.
If it were not for Ma Zechi’s temper, as a well-known director who has developed a reputation, he would not have followed the crew of 《Different Roads》. It’s not uncommon for fathers and sons in the industry to travel together, but compared with other juniors who always wants to escape the influence of their elders, Ma Zechi’s choice is really rare.
However, when discussing the second generation of stars, the industry has long been unanimously recognized. Over time, Ma Zechi’s achievement will never be less than those of his father.
Therefore, even if Ma Lao did not personally come for the same shooting at different locations, the quality of the filming process will not be reduced.
When he was delivering papaya rib soup to Ma Lao, An Xumo had once talked with Ma Zechi before. After that, he kept getting along with the crew, and Ma Zechi had a good impression of An Xumo. Before the filming of the stage scenes, he explained several main points in advance.
“The first thing you have to shoot this time is your dance practice shots. You are responsible for making the ballet dance well.” Ma Zechi said. “The camera position has been adjusted but in order to enrich the footage, I may stop at any time and let you start over. You pay attention, keep dancing well, and don’t get interrupted.”
An Xumo: “Okay.”
“Then again, you can’t just dance, you should pay attention to where the camera is. It will actively chase you, but you also have to think about showing yourself at the most appropriate angle for the camera.”
Ma Zechi finished speaking, then the conversation changed, “But you have to remember that you must not look at the camera. In today’s scene, there’s no need for you to look at the camera part.”
Showing it to the camera without making the audience aware of the existence of the camera is a problem that new actors often have trouble with, that is why Ma Zechi specifically reminded him.
He knew that An Xumo had previous stage experience, but idols only have to do the first half, and if An Xumo really behaved like in an MV, today’s progress would definitely become difficult.
However, after the cameras were in place after the clapperboard sounded to start the shooting, Ma Zechi found that his worries seemed……a little superfluous.
There are two rows of dancers on the stage, and there are three ballet pairs of man and a woman in front. An Xumo and his partner are arranged in the middle position, which is convenient for the camera, but Ma Zechi watched from the stage. Nonetheless, it gave birth to an idea that even without his arrangement, An Xumo would be able to stand out from the crowd.
For the sake of the shot’s quality, today’s accompanying dancers are all ballet dancers borrowed from City S Ballet, and their professional quality is absolutely excellent. Ma Zechi knows that An Xumo is not a professional ballet so he had specially reserved some time to give the boy who performs for the first time more opportunities to adjust.
But now it seems that he is worrying too much.
The infectious music reverberated through the scene, and although the tracks of these scenes would be replaced later, the crew carefully chose the live radio. The bright beams of light are concentrated on the center stage. The graceful and dynamic dance performed by the handsome and young dancer is pleasing to the eyes. The light rendered a hazy silhouette for his lean, slender body, and his elegant movements allowed the audience, who knew nothing about dance, to appreciate the leaping, vibrant beauty.
As the camera zoomed in, the young dancer’s face was handsome and beautiful with impeccable eyes and eyebrows. The extremely pixelated camera will magnify the face several times, and there’s no place to hide any flaws and defects, but what is magnified in An Xumo’s face is an incomparable delicate beauty.
His light brown eyes are clear and transparent, like an expensive diamond flowing in brilliance, but also like a rare amber that is dynamic and clear. The curved outlines of his eyes make them appear a bit large, giving rise to a rare and innocent childishness. An Xumo’s nose is exceedingly beautiful and small, and the overall appearance of his facial features are extraordinarily exquisite.
The most unforgettable thing that makes people unable to move their eyes is the slightly visible beads on his upper lip which are sweet and stunning with a seductive and sexy atmosphere. These two kinds of temperament are perfectly blended, which is the ultimate beauty that is tempting to pick up but difficult to touch.
There are always some people who are born with looks alone, which is enough to attract the attention of the public.
Ma Zechi suddenly understood why his father would shoot An Xumo to play Bai Qingchi on the spot.
The boy’s usual performance previously was quite introverted and shy. Ma Zechi could not even believe that he was an astonishingly hot rising star some time ago if he had not been introduced. Yet now that the camera is on, Ma Zechi can come to a conclusion on the spot——he can definitely play this important supporting role.
The biggest difficulty with Bai Qingchi’s role is not vulnerability, but to arouse the audience’s sympathy——he must be beautiful enough to make everyone who sees him feel good about him. Only in this way, when Bai Qingchi is hurt, the viewer will feel sorry, heartache, and sorrow.
There is no doubt that An Xumo meets this standard a hundred percent.
Thanx