Chapter 313 – One Take (2)
The current scene was where she was participating in an interview after her divorce but was suppressed by the interviewer. She was asked to go home and wait for an update.
“The 84th scene. Camera A. First shot. Action!” Qi Hang called.
On cue, the actress who played as the interviewer started acting, “Fang Xuewei?” The interviewer was a white-collar worker in her thirties. She had exquisite makeup and sharp eyebrows, but the wrinkles on her forehead were rather obvious.
“Here,” Yu Yaoyao answered softly, her hands tightly clasped together.“Your only work experience was seven years ago?” towards the end of the sentence, the interviewer’s voice became unusually high.
Yu Yaoyao blushed instantly, and after a while, she nodded awkwardly, “Seven years ago. I became the head of the finance department, and I was in charge of-”
“Then what have you been doing these seven years?”
“I… take care of my kid at home.”
“Taking care of your child… Is that related to financial work?”
“No…”
“Then why should I hire you? Hire a supervisor who only knows how to take care of her child? While others are working, you have been at home for seven years. What makes you think you are qualified for an interview? Why do you think you are qualified to snatch away the job opportunity from someone who has been working for the past seven years?”With the lines bouncing between the two, the interviewer’s voice became louder and louder, and the expression on her face became more and more sarcastic. Almost all of the crew at the scene were glancing at each other.
People who were further away from the microphone were whispering, “How many lines has it been? Director Qi hasn’t asked for a ‘cut’?”
“Did he forget to?”
“Let’s wait and not be impatient.”
“Perhaps he will call for it at the last second.”
Everyone waited.
Since the shooting had started, there hadn’t been a scene that was taken in one shot. Before, they were unhappy that the director was always calling for NG, but now that he wasn’t calling for any, they were apprehensive.
As the lines continued, more and more people began to look at Qi Hang.
Why was he not calling for a ‘cut’?
When is the ‘cut’ coming?
The atmosphere amongst the crew was tenser than it had ever been.
The longer it took for him to call out a ‘cut,’ the more fearful the crew became. They were worried that the director would be furious, and that what they were experiencing was only the calm before the storm.
Finally, after the interviewer’s last line, Qi Hang shouted, “Cut!”
It was expected that the director called out a ‘cut,’ and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“Not bad, Little Xia and Little Yu. You both did well. Good, good,” Qi Hang said.
Everyone on-set was surprised, and they couldn’t help but tense up again. They looked incredulously at Qi Hang.
Even the actress who was playing the interviewer couldn’t believe it, “Director, it’s over? No need to retake?”
At her question, Qi Hang pressed his fingers to his eyebrows and looked at the monitor, “Yes, the shot was okay… If you insist, please repeat your last line, Little Xia. Little Yu, you don’t need to move, just stand there. Little Xia, you can do it again, since you are so hard on yourself.”
Xia Li pressed her lips together and remained silent. The crew were silent and tense.
The director’s character had just drastically changed… What had happened?
Even Yu Yaoyao was surprised. She turned her head and gave her assistant and makeup artist a reassuring nod.
Dazed, Xia Li repeated her lines. Afterwards, she was told the scene was complete and that it didn’t need to be retaken.
Everyone’s jaws dropped.
“Alright! Let’s call it a day. Everyone, go have dinner!” Qi Hang waved his hand, took his water bottle, and walked straight to the rest area.
As soon as he entered the empty director’s lounge, he kicked the door closed, and that old face of his that was always strained, finally broke into a smile.
He cheerfully took out his cell phone and made a call, “Hah! Why am I an NG King?” he paused as he waited for a response on the other end of the line. “Old Li, let me tell you what! I filmed the difficult scene without NG today!” again he waited before he said with a chuckle, “Hahaha! If it wasn’t for the perfectionist female supporting actor requesting to have one more shot at the last lines, I would have let it pass in one shot! NG monster my ass!”
Qi Hang listened to the other person talk before he laughed again, “I just called to show-off! That Yu Yaoyao you introduced me to is really a treasure.”
With his hands akimbo on his old waist, Qi Hang struggled to contain his laughter. He quickly found a chair to sit down in, then he continued to show-off. “Let me show you the playback sometime. She really is born to be an actress!” another pause as he listened then, “Tsk! Regardless of when it is and what the scene is, she always gets immersed in her character as soon as the cameras start rolling. She acted like she was the character herself! The expression on her face… Gosh, it’s a shame that you didn’t see it. It’s so exciting, every micro expression from her eyebrows to her eyes, to her mouth is like a drama! They feel alive! ”
Qi Hang relaxed into his chair, listening to the question before he answered, “The female supporting actress wasn’t doing well at all. I was prepared to have at least 30 NGs, I even had my lunch beforehand. But… she also got immersed in the character after she saw Little Yu’s expression. Little Yu looked pitiful, inferior, and fragile, just like a small sapling crumbling in the storm with only a few branches that are barely strong enough. Even I felt bad for her!” as Qi Hang said this, he patted his thigh excitedly, “Then the next thing I knew, the female supporting actor was influenced by her acting, and she just got fiercer and fiercer. Even her tone was getting sharper, which was exactly what I wanted!”
He gave a contented sigh, “Old Li, you were right! I just haven’t met an actress whose soul could fit mine. Otherwise, I, Qi Hang, can let the scene pass in one shot too!” he gave a lighthearted chuckle and carried on speaking, “I only had more NGs at first because I wanted to look for the angle where Little Yu wouldn’t look so beautiful! From today onwards, I will be a one-shot-pass monster!”
