Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
They had 33 retakes for the second scene. In the end, Xu Xinrou’s face was flushed red and she was breaking out in cold sweat. She looked very unwell.
“Director, I don’t feel so well. I wish to take a break.”
Xu Xinrou could not stand it anymore, and she could not tell anyone that she was addicted to drugs.
She felt extremely tormented at the moment. She felt as though she was being bitten by thousands and thousands of worms. She really could not go on anymore.
The director was about to explode in anger by her performance today. It was a waste of film if they were to continue anyway and he waved her off. “Okay, okay! Just go! Ready the props! We’ll start shooting scenes for the first male lead and the second female lead. We’ll begin from the 107th scene.”
The scenes after the 107th scene were all scenes of Yun Qingge and the emperor.
She began to spread fallacies to deceive the public and create chaos in the palace, turning the emperor into an apathetic, fatuous and self-indulgent ruler.
The actor for the emperor was still the television king, Lin Huaijin. He always had the persona of a proud and cool person and he could simply win the hearts of his audience with his looks.
Since Xu Xiyan had participated in the drama “Red Sleeved Beauty” before and though Lin Huaijin was not really a stranger to her, she had not acted in a scene together with him in that drama before.
Xu Xiyan was now the second female lead actor and she felt a bit nervous, as they were going to shoot a large number of scenes with her and the emperor.
Especially the kissing scene today. According to the director’s request, she had to kiss the emperor for real.
In the script, it was Yun Qingge who had deliberately devised the kiss. At a royal night banquet, she went to the stage with a veil over her face and performed a beautiful dance in a sea of flowers.
But near the end of the dance, she deliberately tripped and fell. The handsome and noble emperor rushed over to catch her and the two spun around in the rain of flowers.
Yes, as long as this was a Chinese historical palace drama, there would always be a scene where the male lead catches the female lead, and they would rotate together in the air slowly with their gazes locked onto each other.
After landing on the ground, the emperor removed her veil. When he realized it was Yun Qingge, he was surprised and delighted and he couldn’t help but kiss her.
It is compulsory for every actor to learn how to perform a kissing scene. After reading the script, Xu Xiyan was not surprised that there would be such a scene for her.
As a professional actor, shooting a kissing scene was just something routine and it was nothing to fuss about. When the time came, she only needed to cooperate with the director and comply with his requests.
The first few scenes went very smoothly. But when it was time for the kissing scene in the 112th scene, something happened.
At the first take of the 112th scene, just when the emperor was about to kiss Yun Qingge, the whole studio suddenly blacked out and all the camera monitors went black.
“Cut! What happened?”
Huang Guoqiang was looking at the screen as it suddenly went black. He was frustrated; he had planned to finish shooting several scenes in the morning. Why was it so difficult to do so?
“It seems to be a blackout, Director.”
The power outage was not a problem as there were emergency power generators at the studio. Soon, the power was restored and they began to shoot a second take of the 112th scene.
However, just after the two actors finished spinning and landed and the emperor removed her veil, a very strong wind blew across the film set. It was so strong that everyone had to squint their eyes.
The wind blew the props and lighting and other equipment all over the place. It was impossible to continue the shoot and they could only temporarily pause it. After the wind had passed, the prop master quickly went to recover the scattered props.
As everyone cleared up the mess, they were thinking: Where did that monster of a wind come from?
When they were starting the third take, another situation came up again. This time, it was not a utility failure or nature’s force, but a commotion outside the studio.
Someone was already shouting, “The big boss is here!”
“The prince charming is so handsome today!”
“Is Mr. Huo here to visit the set?”
“Mr. Huo must be here to visit Jing Xi!”
…
Everyone followed the sound and saw Huo Yunshen appearing at the set, surrounded by his black-suited bodyguards.