275: Chapter 275 You're really good at making things up

After filming this scene, the main cast rested for a while and took the opportunity to discuss the plot and the recent shoot.

"Xiao Sheng acted well." The segment just now was actually quite simple, but Director Chen still singled out Lin Chuyan. Seeming afraid that others wouldn't believe it, he emphasized again, "It was very good."

Zhang Wentang knew his junior had good acting skills, but since there were no Lines, he was quite surprised to see the director praising him so much. He wasn't sure in his heart—would the director just flatter someone because they were a top celebrity?

He glanced at Lin Chuyan and then at Director Chen: "Is that for real?"

Lin Chuyan shrugged and said nothing, while Director Chen nodded: "Real!"

He then explained the action that was in sync with his older brother.

Zhang Wentang had his back to Lin Chuyan during that segment and had no idea how the latter had performed. Hearing the director's explanation, he realized there had been such a thing.

Zhang Wentang's eyes grew brighter as he listened. He was very good at designing such inadvertent little details himself and then using them to flesh out characters.

"This is indeed good. We can do it a few more times when we get the chance, but don't be too deliberate. Too much is as bad as too little. Today's performance was just right. It's best if these are small, irrelevant actions that the audience wouldn't normally notice."

The group continued to discuss.

The next scene involved a plot where Gao Qisheng and Tang Xiaohu each kick Zhang Daqing once. So, Lin Chuyan called over the actor playing Zhang Daqing. Everyone took turns giving their opinions, discussing and rehearsing how to deliver this kick several times. Finally, they decided that Tang Xiaohu would step on him first, and then Gao Qisheng, still with his hands in his pockets, would go up and kick him with the top of his foot to highlight the difference. Also, Zhang Daqing's reaction needed to be bigger than the first kick to make it look more painful...

That's how a good drama is. All the details you think you see hidden in it are, in most cases, not "sudden flashes of inspiration" but are truly carefully designed by the actors.

Some say that a director has it much easier when encountering good actors, but that's actually not the case; often, everyone has their own troubles.

For example, this group of people in front of him really didn't stick to the Lines. They were all improvising. Every take was different, and every take was very good. How was Director Chen supposed to choose?

Or, when encountering such serious actors, it was impossible to cut corners. Every point mentioned in the script, no matter how casually, would be brought up by the actors for discussion. Besides, if it wasn't mentioned in the script, couldn't they add it? After all, if they didn't... "Director, this part doesn't seem to make sense."

"Fine, fine, fine, add it, add it."

Director Chen had long since given up on insisting on his own opinions, especially after witnessing the improvisations of Zhang Wentang—he didn't know how Zhang's brain worked, but the improvised Lines had an effect much better than the script.

Last month, before Lin Chuyan arrived, that line, "The bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish," had truly shocked Director Chen: "Bro, are you really improvising like this? You can just say Lines that get more interesting the more you think about them?"

Director Chen was from Hong Kong and this was his first time working with Zhang Wentang. He knew the popular artists in the Mainland, but for someone like Zhang Wentang who popped out of nowhere to be so damn good? It really was a case of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.

Zhang Wentang's junior also spoke up.

"Director Chen, for the next scene with Zhang Daqing, I have another idea." Fearing he would shout "Cut," Lin Chuyan communicated his thoughts to him in advance. "Under my brother's interrogation, Zhang Daqing gives up Cheng Cheng, but besides that, he also reveals the process of killing his own younger brother..."

Lin Chuyan emphasized again: "His own brother, killed, his own younger brother."

He continued: "I think Gao Qisheng could enter a state of communicating with himself here. He seems to be listening to Zhang Daqing, but in reality, he's relating it to himself. He will project himself into the brotherly bond he has with his older brother. Therefore, when he hears that the brothers Zhang Daqing and Zhang Xiaoqing would actually kill each other, he should feel uncomfortable, angry, and even a bit disgusted—this also sets the stage for his eventual sacrifice for his older brother. 'Killing one's own brother' and 'sacrificing oneself for one's own brother' are two completely opposite behaviors. Similarly, when he sees his older brother say to Zhang Daqing, 'You even killed your own brother, are you even human?' and beats him up, Gao Qisheng will compare Zhang Daqing's attitude toward Zhang Xiaoqing with his own brother's attitude toward him. He might even be unable to help but smile a bit happily..."

What else could Director Chen say?

He gave Lin Chuyan a thumbs up and nodded in agreement: "Let's go, everyone, let's go shoot our next scene."

As filming progressed, and with Lin Chuyan's official joining, this drama felt like it had the final piece of the puzzle completed.

Director Chen had a premonition that, following the other actors, Lin Chuyan would also contribute new iconic scenes belonging to Gao Qisheng.

He was becoming more and more confident in this drama.

Over the next few days, Lin Chuyan completely threw himself into the filming of the knockout.

Because his scenes had been moved to be shot intensively this month, his daily busyness could be imagined. Running Lines, blocking, filming, NG, studying the script...

Occasionally, when he had rare leisure time, it was all contributed to his senior...

However, while Zhang Wentang was all smiles with him in daily life, he always wanted to increase the intensity for his junior on set.

"Brother, what book are you reading?"

Zhang Wentang held the book upright, revealing the title—the art of war.

"Almost forgot about this. But, are you really reading it?"

Zhang Wentang was concise: "Gao Qiqiang reads it, so I read it."

The implication was simple: I am Gao Qiqiang.

"How is it? Is it useful?"

"Yes." Zhang Wentang closed the book and opened the conversation: "The script doesn't elaborate on it in detail, but Gao Qiqiang did indeed use quite a few strategies from the art of war. By the way, I'm almost done reading it. Do you want to read it after I finish?"

"... Sure." Lin Chuyan was a bit speechless. Aside from criminal psychology, he had received another book.

However, Zhang Wentang didn't let his junior off the hook just like that.

He just chatted casually with Lin Chuyan while reading the book.

"Xiao Yan, what major do you think Gao Qisheng studied?"

Fortunately, fortunately, Lin Chuyan had already researched this when writing the character biography.

"Science and engineering, Mechanical Engineering major."

Lin Chuyan wasn't just making it up, because Gao Qisheng had made a homemade shotgun in the show, and he didn't think that was something a Finance and Trade major could do.

Zhang Wentang nodded and asked again: "Then how far do you think Gao Qisheng's university was from home?"

... Sweating buckets, brother.

Is it that detailed?

But on second thought, it was fine. Isn't it just making things up? It wasn't like he couldn't make it up on the spot.

At first, he stuttered a bit, but then he got smoother as he spoke.

"Gao Qisheng's university was very close to home. When filling out his college preferences, he only had his eyes on two universities; he didn't consider the others. His grades were very good, so he wasn't afraid of not getting in. One was the local Jinghai University, and the other was the Provincial Institute of Technology in the neighboring city, about as far as Beijing is from Tianjin, the kind of distance where you can go back whenever you have something to do or just want to go home. The three siblings were very close, and he always felt that his eldest brother couldn't do without him. Yes, it wasn't that he couldn't do without his eldest brother, but that his eldest brother needed him, so he was also trying to reduce his eldest brother's financial burden as much as possible. But the problem arose: his frugality during college, his shabbiness, also aroused the contempt of certain classmates—like the wealthy Cao Bin. Yeah, his college life was not satisfactory at all. He had a typical 'low self-esteem' personality, which also led to his personality becoming increasingly extreme. Later, he found an opportunity and finally beat Cao Bin up severely. All these things eventually made him the Gao Qisheng he is today."

Zhang Wentang: "..."

I only asked you one question, you can really make things up.