It was necessary to take close-up shots for this climax. Their every expression – his shock and her nervousness – would need to be shown fully through these close-up shots.
Unless the stand-in looked identical to Yun Shishi, how would it be possible to complete this take?!
This was making things difficult for him without a doubt. It was akin to telling him to find two pieces of identical leaves. How was that even possible?
On top of that, a stand-in would remain as only a stand-in. This tactic might work for distant shots, but the audience could easily expose a stand-in close-up.
In the end, Lin Fengtian decided to take a risk. He would secretly complete this segment with the two leads behind Mu Yazhe’s back.
The director’s pursuit of his art had become a kind of obsession.
The backdrop was finally set up.
Yun Shishi sat in front of the piano and tapped lightly on its keys.
Ding ding dong dong… A string of light-hearted piano melody flowed at the tapping of her fingers.
She was only using her right hand to play without the chord charts. Romance was in the air as the beautiful melody complemented the peaceful night.
Gu Xingze, who was standing behind her while drinking his coffee, blurted out, “The way you hit the notes isn’t right.”
She looked up at him with a little smile. “Eh! I only learned to play the piano much later, so I my basic foundation’s incomplete. That’s why I find it difficult to play the keys correctly now.”
When she was younger, her father had sent her to a few enrichment classes, but she was learning the violin then. Afterward, in university, she switched to piano specialty.
Foundation and finger work, which required a head start at a young age, were basics to playing good piano. As such, while her playing skills could fool any layman, to a professional like Gu Xingze, her standard was considered as average.
He sat beside her and demonstrated the finger work again. “You should play the piece this way. The song sounded patchy with the way you played it earlier.”
“Eh—”
He went ahead and corrected the way she held her hand as well. “When you play the piano, you need to curl your hand like you hold an egg in it…”
He then showed her the correct hand shape.
“Er… You seem so skilled.” She chuckled.
He gave her a wry smile. “Shishi, my protégé, I’ve been playing the piano for 24 years now. How can I not be skilled at it?”
“Wow. You’re amazing!” she complimented sincerely. “You are so alike with the male protagonist in the novel. You two are piano princes. I always feel that men who know how to play the piano are elegant.”
He showed a rare warm smile. “Oh, really?”
The two went into character before the actual filming, where the man was patiently imparting his knowledge of the piano to the woman.
The cameraman quickly recorded this loving scene, intending to post it as a movie teaser on Weibo sometime later.
Lin Fengtian, who was reading the script as he kept an eye on the two, heartily commented, “This is exactly the kind of feel I want for this scene!”
He was pleased and relieved with his choice!
Yun Shishi might be a rookie, but since they started filming, her bad takes were few and far between.
It might be due to her being closely attuned to her character or having a flair for acting. Still, her innate inclination to acting was one worthy of praise, even from someone as critical as him!
It was incredible to meet such a newcomer who had talent, presence, looks, and nice temperament!
He took the script and came up to the two. He then went through his requirements, such as the expression, eye contact, and other minute details, with them.
“All right. Everyone, back to your positions and be on standby!”