95: An emotional resonance artist like him deserves to be rich!

News reports were read out, one after another.

Yue Qingzhu either smiled faintly, or was filled with righteous indignation, or showed disdain, and occasionally… she would turn red from trying to hold back her laughter.

Fifteen minutes later.

“OK, excellent, Teacher Yue, please change into the next outfit.”

Yue Qingzhu reined in her emotions and gave Chen Fang a profound look.

“Excellent” again?

She walked over to him, holding up her skirt. “Perhaps you could give me some feedback?”

Chen Fang looked up to see her gazing at him seriously.

Feedback? So-called feedback refers to other people’s opinions.

She wanted other people’s opinions… Oh, he understood. She needed emotional validation!

Chen Fang pulled over a chair, extended his hand in a gesture of invitation, and said earnestly, “Teacher Yue, you are incredibly dedicated and cooperative, which is why we were able to film so quickly. This is my first time directing, and to meet such an easy-going and cooperative lead actress like you, I feel that both myself and the entire team are very lucky. Moreover, your expressions are lively and infectious. And even more critically… you are also so humble. Working with you, everyone feels relaxed and happy, and the progress has sped up!”

“Huh? Me?”

Yue Qingzhu was a bit embarrassed by the praise. She turned slightly, gently tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

A fleeting, almost imperceptible smile flickered in her eyes, but it quickly returned to its usual coolness, though the slight upward curve of her lips simply wouldn’t go away.

Eh? Was he talking about her?

Yesterday morning, she was the team’s burden, and today she had become the team’s driving force?

Still, she was indeed very cooperative.

Yue Qingzhu tugged at her skirt, hiding the ripple of emotion in her heart. “No, don’t joke. I was talking about the quality of the footage.”

Chen Fang turned and clicked open the video from earlier, dragging the progress bar. “Look, here, when you smile, your eyes curve like crescent moons, and your smile is very infectious, isn’t it? And look at this shot, the sadness layers upon layers, bringing that suppressed pain to life; this disdain, from the corners of your mouth to your eyes, full immersion…”

Chen Fang praised the footage effusively, focusing only on her strengths.

Sometimes Yue Qingzhu didn’t act well, turning a faint smile into a cold sneer, but… well, then he would just say she acted the cold sneer well. If he was giving her the answers, how could she get it wrong?

This was the attitude of someone who took people’s money! A flatterer like him… cough, an emotional resonance artist like him, if he didn’t get rich, who else deserved to?

Yue Qingzhu’s eyes lit up. It seemed to be true!

But…

“Am I really okay? Other directors, they point out what problems actors have. You… why don’t you just treat it as practice and tell me?”

Chen Fang sighed silently in his heart.

Even if he told her, she wouldn’t be able to change it in a short time, so what was there to say?

“Is that my fault? That’s your problem.”

“Ah?” Yue Qingzhu’s heart skipped a beat.

Chen Fang turned back, his expression sincere. “That’s because their protagonists aren’t as lively as you, nor as good-looking as you. If you don’t believe me, take a look.”

With that, Chen Fang picked up the small mirror from the table and held it in front of her.

“Huh?” Yue Qingzhu couldn’t help but curve her eyes, looking into the mirror. In front of her, her own eyes sparkled with excitement. They appeared lively and vibrant, yet with a hint of doubt.

It certainly had layers.

Could it be that simply listening to the news and genuinely expressing emotions made her acting seem really good?

Yue Qingzhu’s lips curved upward uncontrollably.

Although she felt Chen Fang was somewhat coaxing her, but… never mind, never mind, even if the shoot flopped, the money spent was not in vain.

No wonder treacherous officials always prevailed in ancient times. With this, who could distinguish between loyalty and treachery?

Never mind, he was a loyal official!

“Mm, then I’ll go change outfits.” She stood up and placed the mirror on the table.

“Okay. No rush, take your time, Teacher Yue. Your efficiency is so high, we can barely keep up with your pace.”

“I don’t believe you.” Yue Qingzhu snorted a laugh, holding up her skirt, and walked lightly towards the dressing room. She closed the door, humming a song as she held her skirt, and skipped back to the dressing mirror, spinning around.

Her agent, Liu Lu, handed her the next outfit. “What’s wrong? You’re in such a good mood.”

“Nothing much.” Yue Qingzhu took the black gauze dress, her steps light, and twirled into the changing room.

…

“OK, cut.”

Time flew by, and soon it was seven in the evening.

Outside the back wall of the Opera House.

The team set up equipment around the exterior wall of the building.

Chen Fang sat behind the monitor and spoke into the walkie-talkie:

“Take off the softbox and replace it with a standard reflector. Use hard light directly; the shadow edges must be clear and sharp.”

“Adjust the brightness to 75%, and add another layer of orange gel to give the light a warm tone, but not too soft.”

“Do a test shot.”

“OK, the angle is good. Fix the light stand.”

“Camera 1, give a close-up of the hands. Camera 2, shoot a mid-shot of the full body. Camera 3, shoot the shadow.”

“Action!”

After Chen Fang said “Action,” everyone sprang into action.

Yue Qingzhu, dressed in a black gauze dress, held a white rose and sat on the ground.

A drone ascended. She looked up, her gaze following the drone as she slowly tilted her head back, and a tear drop rolled from the corner of her eye.

One camera gave a close-up of her face at this moment. Another captured the shadow of her profile on the wall.

“That’s enough.”

This scene corresponded to “nothing but tears” from the line “Blame me for being carefree for a hundred years, yet also blame me for having nothing but tears.”

This line means that no matter what state you are in, someone will criticize you. It is an accusation against external oppression and a struggle for self-identity.

Yue Qingzhu, of course, couldn't portray sarcasm, accusation, and struggle.

So Chen Fang chose to —

Shoot the shadow.

Look how well this shadow performs?

Under the light, the shadow on the wall had sharp contours and a warm tone, perfectly conveying the contradiction.

Using a shadow also aptly reflected society's indifference to the person themselves.

The perfect profile and contours could also evoke sympathy and empathy from the audience.

If the footage didn’t turn out right, no problem, wasn’t there still her hand?

Chen Fang nodded in satisfaction and moved the team to another location.

Soon, another hour passed.

The filming wrapped up with Chen Fang’s “cut,” “save this one,” “cut,” “cut, cut, cut.”