Chapter 326 – Raw Talent (1)
Cai Fang herself had once acted as a rural girl quite different from her own image. At that time, she was in her early 20s, and the director had walked her through everything step by step as her acting skills had been immature, and her personality very shy.
Today, the director gave Yu Yaoyao only a few directions. Without a teacher, Yu Yaoyao was self-taught. Such a transformation made her look incredible.
“We’ll do makeup while you guys prepare! Shooting will start in an hour!” Director Qi Hang’s words sobered Cai Fang up.
Instead of feeling excited, she fell into a deeper state of shock.Yu Yaoyao didn’t even have makeup on yet. She was able to make herself look 10 years older in an instant with just her acting skills by behaving so naturally and appropriately for her role. All without even the slightest mistake. How many actresses in the group could do that? She would even go as far as to say that there were very few actresses like Yu Yaoyao under the age of 30 years old.
Cai Fang hadn’t worked in a few years. When she’d been at home, she had paid no attention to the lives and situations of the film and television actors.
In the beginning, she thought that Director Qi Hang was looking for a beautiful girl like Yu Yaoyao to play a woman whose family was broken and whose husband had cheated on and abandoned her. He’d been attracted by the flow she brought and the resources behind her, as her appearance had been visually unconvincing for the role. But today, Cai Fang realized that she had been wrong.
Once she’d shaken off the shock, Cai Fang went to makeup with Yu Yaoyao.
“Sister Cai, my performance just now for the close-up shot described in the script, right. I did it according to the script that you explained to me yesterday,” Yu Yaoyao had once again become a curious baby. “’Close-up shots are taken mainly above the chest and rely on the subtle reactions of the face and eyes. Be very careful, because your entire face will be magnified under the lens, and your expressions should not be too withdrawn or too open,’” she repeated Cai Fang’s advice and then said with a blink, said, “Was I okay just now? It wasn’t too open, right?”
Cai Fang smiled bitterly, “You did a good job.”
If she was too open, her expressions would look exaggerated, and the acting would look artificial on-screen. If she was too withdrawn, her character would become expressionless and make the dialogue seem empty. It was easy to say, but many people couldn’t do it.Cai Fang felt slightly crushed, and slowly, that feeling filled her whole chest.
When Qi Hang had asked her to play the heroine before, her first instinct was to refuse. The roles she had played in the past were highly successful and had been affirmed by many industry experts. She had never had difficulty with acting. She’d continued to devote herself to the performance. Now that she had put in the hard work, she felt she had reached a plateau where it was difficult to keep moving forward. But Director Qi Hang had persuaded her that there were mountains beyond the mountains, and only by taking a risk, could she see the wider, bigger picture. Now, she really saw it, and she was a little depressed.
Yu Yaoyao had just learned about close-up filming. She hadn’t gone to a school for acting and she had no theoretical knowledge. But here she was, casually able to control her natural expression between relaxation and concentration.
“You are very good at using the proper actions,” Cai Fang praised Yu Yaoyao as she felt it was due.
As soon as Yu Yaoyao heard this, she thanked her graciously and continued to study the script while her makeup was being done. She was no different than her son. If someone praised her, it motivated her. She even wanted to finish reading the whole script in a single day.
When it came time for the actual filming, Director Qi Hang discovered this.
Today, Cai Fang changed her usual temperament and introverted performance. In front of the camera, she gave it all she had, which almost matched Yu Yaoyao’s acting. There were two characters, one open and one relaxed, that begged to be gazed upon until the heart was content.
If they hadn’t looked at him at the end, Qi Hang would have forgotten to stop them.
In a climactic scene shot that afternoon, Yu Yaoyao’s character hit a wall while looking for a job. Her son was seriously ill and there was no money to pay the medical expenses. She was standing outside, soaked through with rain and at the end of her tether. She asked a stranger on the corner for a cigarette and then ran into her friend, Cai Fang, who dragged her into her house. From being reprimanded in the beginning to the final recount of their experiences, they cried in each other’s arms.
The scene almost made Qi Hang jump up and shout in excitement.
The styles of the two actresses were very different. Cai Fang was a traditional woman with a soft, oval face. She had a firm and introverted personality, the type to hide her wounds and suffer alone. Yu Yaoyao was pretty and had a sharper personality. When her pain, hatred, and injuries were released, they were like a sharp sword that could cut through any defense. They were simply the perfect match for each other when they collided in their scene, and it made people’s eyes shine!
“Okay! Today was okay! Let’s call it a day!” Director Qi Hang said with a laugh that echoed from the bottom of his heart. He had completed another scene today!
Cai Fang was relieved when she heard him say this. “Thank you, Director,” she said, sweating through her costume.
In character, she had scolded her friend for being ungrateful, and when the two of them had hugged and cried, she had almost been heartbroken as she’d squeezed all the emotions out of her body.
As soon as she relaxed, she felt the mental exhaustion rush through her. She hadn’t acted like that in a long time. She was super tired, but that kind of extreme outpouring of emotions felt really good.
“Little Yu,” Cai Fang said as she took the towel from the assistant, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and turned around and went to go find Yu Yaoyao. As soon as she’d turned, she smiled.
The moment the cameras had stopped rolling, Yu Yaoyao had gone to drink some juice. In the other hand she had a piece of cake and was now happily eating it. When she heard Cai Fang call her, she raised the hand with the cake in it, “Sister Cai, you can have some too.” Even as she spoke her red lips were turned up in a beautiful smile. She hadn’t yet wiped the tears off her face after her crying scene and there were still two black eyeliner smudge marks on her cheeks.
