"Extras, extras, quickly take your places." The director yelled through a loudspeaker.
Four maids immediately stood behind Xue Xue.
The scene today is about the heroine being tricked and sold to a brothel where she meets the courtesan of the brothel.
She shares her own experiences with the courtesan, striking a chord with her as she too, was sold into the brothel.
Seeing the heroine, she sees herself from back then, and decides to help the heroine escape.
But here’s the problem, the specially invited actress couldn’t make it due to health issues.
"Should we shoot the next scene instead?" suggested the assistant director.
The director frowned, "But we’ve got the venue booked, the crew is ready, it’s a huge waste just because she can’t shoot."
Their budget wouldn’t last if this were to continue.
"Find a courtesan onsite." the director decided firmly.
Luo Qi immediately pushed Ye Ranran forward, "Director, what do you think of Ranran?"
The director judged Ye Ranran, evaluating her feasibility.
Ye Ranran declined insistently, "No, no, no, I can’t, I don’t have acting skills."
She really couldn’t act at all.
"Who needs acting skills? As long as you have good looks, right director?" Luo Qi fervently encouraged the director.
The director thought for a moment, then said to Ye Ranran, "Alright, you it is."
"May I play her maid? Director?" Luo Qi volunteered enthusiastically.
"Sure, but there’s no extra pay."
"That’s a money-saving move, director. Well, no money it is." She accepted heartily.
In this way, Ye Ranran found herself coerced into the role.
When Jun Mochan arrived, Ye Ranran had just finished changing her clothes and putting on makeup.
She donned a turquoise silk dress with a white waistband, her hair twisted into a bun with a jade hairpin loosely stuck through, flanked with a few pieces of Zhu Hua on the side.
Her brows were naturally dark, her skin like fat congealed, pure white with a touch of pink, looking as if water could be wrung out.
Looking at Ye Ranran , awe was hard to conceal in Jun Mochan’s eyes.
The director constantly nodded, signaling someone to give the script to Ye Ranran.
The lines were not many, just more than twenty in total, but there was a long passage that took some time to memorize.
"Memorize the easy ones first, and for the longer one, just memorize some parts, if you forget, use numbers as placeholders for now for dubbing later." said the director.
"Alright, let’s shoot the beginning and the end first. All actors, get ready." the director yelled through the loudspeaker.
Ye Ranran was standing a bit further away, holding the script, seriously memorizing the lines.
After watching her for a moment, Jun Mochan went to communicate with the producer.
After memorizing for half an hour, Ye Ranran was pushed on set.
Except for the slight mishap in the first take where she wasn’t paying attention and got knocked over, there were no major issues.
"Cut, well done, well done." The director gave Ye Ranran a thumbs up.
Ye Ranran finally smiled a little, and she fiddled with her clothes, uncomfortably saying, "Can I go change out of this dress now?"
"Hold on. We have another scene later." said the director.
Ye Ranran stopped: "Another one? But didn’t I finish all my lines?"
Adding a scene at short notice, was this alright?
"You can improvise your lines in this scene, you’re just an extra, don’t worry." Said the director, which slightly eased Ye Ranran’s nerves.
Luo Qi couldn’t help but laugh at her nervousness: "Look at how tense you are."
"Of course, acting with Xue Xue and screwing it up, I’d end up ruined, wouldn’t I? And no matter how well I do, it couldn’t get any better." So Ranran braced herself for the inevitable criticism.