Xu Qiao saw Jiang Wen bring a player over, pressed the switch, and the screen played the performance of the two people in the previous scene.
The shots that have been color-adjusted, sound-matched and post-processed are very eye-catching.
First, there is a long shot. The camera sweeps across the plaque of Zuihuan Pavilion, passes through the bustling entertainment hall, passes by the playful guests and prostitutes, and finally stops outside the window of Jin'er's room, focusing on a falling snowflake.
The flirting sounds of men and women came from far and near, making the place seem even quieter.
A thick layer of snow had accumulated on the tree, and the snowflakes finally fell on the branches. The moment they landed, the branches were crushed by the snow, and the crackling sound of the branches breaking and the sound of the snow falling were particularly obvious in the night.
The camera returns to the room. Xu Qiao and Si Cheng are both sitting at the table, one of them is lying on the ground.
After a while, Si Cheng said, "Let me ask you, are you—"
He was about to reveal his identity, but stopped unconsciously when he saw Xu Qiao's pleading look.
Xu Qiao supported herself with her hands at her sides, looked up at him, her black hair scattered behind her: "Stop talking."
"Stop talking..." Xu Qiao's lips moved, and he stood up slowly. His eyes, which seemed to be always tipsy after being exposed to the Zuihuan Pavilion day and night, were calm now. He stood there, looking at Si Cheng quietly.
Si Cheng frowned at his gaze. His eyes were clear and bright, without the mist, which made people feel a little uncomfortable.
Xu Qiao chuckled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes: "Since you've taken care of me for a night, you can't just sit there and do nothing."
"Let me dance for you. My mother taught me this, and I haven't shown it to anyone else."
Si Cheng was naturally not interested in his dance, but he was still alert in his heart. He wanted to see what tricks this man had, so he did not refuse.
Xu Qiao returned to the inner room and took out a dusty wooden box from under the bed. He brushed his fingers over it, leaving fingerprints. He opened the box and found a red dress inside.
The camera cuts to Si Cheng. He sits at the table, pours himself a cup of tea, takes a sip to moisten his throat, and looks up when he hears Xu Qiao's footsteps. When he sees clearly, his pupils shrink.
It was not the light gauze and thin material he was used to wearing. The red dress wrapped around him, the embroidered red robe, the Tianguan lock necklace around his neck, the shawl on his shoulders, the necklace with tassels, and the pleated skirt with flowers underneath, were clearly a wedding dress!
As if she understood what Si Cheng was thinking, Xu Qiao pursed her lips and smiled: "It's just a costume."
The image stops here.
Jiang Wen tapped the screen with the cap of his pen. "We'll start shooting the rest of the scene in a moment. In this scene, Jin'er has very complicated emotions. He is determined to die, and he removes all the shackles on his body. He dances and speaks to Chunyu Yuan with a pure heart."
"As for Chun Yuyuan, he was a chivalrous and brave young man who hated evil and had a simple heart. He was kind-hearted. So when he saw his enemy dead, he was definitely not happy or relieved, but rather felt pity and sadness."
"Let's not shoot this scene over and over again. It will drain too much of our emotions. If we do it too much, it will affect the effect. Xu Qiao's dancing will also consume her energy. So let's try to finish it within three takes. Before you start shooting, you two should build up your emotions and start when you find the right state."
After listening to what Jiang Wen said, Xu Qiao looked up at Si Cheng and saw that he was frowning. He asked, "What's wrong?"
Si Cheng said: "In the script, it says that Jin Er drank three cups of poisoned wine and fell in the snow, and Chun Yu Yuan just walked up to him and stood aside to listen to him finish his words - I think this is weird."
Jiang Wen: "Then how do you think we should deal with it?"
Si Cheng opened his mouth and frowned even more tightly.
"Like this." Seeing that he couldn't say anything, Jiang Wen patted his shoulder and said, "Just follow your feelings, Sicheng. Once you put yourself in that emotion and become that person, you won't need to think, and you'll know how to act."
Si Cheng is a talented actor, a representative of the experiential school in acting. Once a child gets into the mood, he will be extremely involved. Xu Qiao had this feeling when acting with him. Si Cheng still has a lot of potential in acting that can be explored.
After the scenery was set, Xu Qiao changed his clothes and talked with Si Cheng for a while. They felt it was almost ready and signaled to Jiang Wen to start shooting.
Several cameras were in place. Although it was night, the lighting technicians provided soft light and the moonlit night was bright.
In the camera, Xu Qiao took Si Cheng to the corridor of the courtyard. The surrounding area was hung with bright red silk, fluttering in the cold wind. Against the backdrop of the white snow, the red color was frightening.
Xu Qiao glanced at Si Cheng who was standing under the beam, then walked to the open space in the courtyard.
The snow fell heavier and heavier, landing on Xu Qiao's ink-black hair and dotted between his long eyelashes.
There was a small table in the courtyard, with a cup of wine on it. Xu Qiao poured a cup, looked at the cup on his fingertips, and sang the lyrics of the opera: "The ice wheel on the island is turning, and the jade rabbit is seen. The jade rabbit has risen in the east again..."
"The geese fly together, hearing my voice, the flowers fall in the shade, this scenery is so alluring and intoxicating."
Xu Qiao drank the glass of wine in small sips, waved her sleeves, and began to dance in the moonlit snowy night. Her figure was so graceful that she must have been made of spring mountains and autumn waters.
Jiang Wen clenched his fists and stared at the monitor without blinking.
This verse comes from "The Drunken Concubine". Jiang Wen originally planned to find an opera teacher to sing it, but Xu Qiao said it was not necessary and directly performed a passage for him on the spot, which immediately made Jiang Wen give up the idea of finding a teacher to sing it.
With that voice and that singing style, why would she need to find another singer
The dance was also Xu Qiao's own. When Xu Qiao danced in a sweater before, she already impressed everyone. Now she changed her clothes, put on a wig, danced with her sleeves waving and her long hair flying, which made people unable to take their eyes off her.
It is rare to see such a person with such a pure aura when he stands there quietly, but his skin, flesh and bones are all in good shape, how can the audience not be impressed.
The lyrics gradually turned to loss and depression. Xu Qiao's smile was still charming, but his eyes became more silent. He turned around and came to the table and poured himself another glass of wine.
The second glass of wine is not as good as the first one, which is drunk slowly and slowly.
The dancing posture also began to reveal a sense of drunkenness, with a bit of naivety.
With the third glass of wine, Xu Qiao turned his eyes to Si Cheng. His eyes were supposed to be charming, but they were half dead. He leaned over and picked up the wine glass on the table. He seemed to be sad and relieved. A lot of emotions were steaming up. A tear slipped from the corner of Xu Qiao's eyes and disappeared into his temples. Without any hesitation, he drank the glass of wine.
He opened his lips and the wine glass fell to the ground with a clanging sound.
The last line of the lyrics came out of Xu Qiao's mouth: "Life is like a spring dream, so let's drink a few cups happily..."
Three cups of wine.
Fate has issued an ultimatum.
Xu Qiao suddenly stopped where she was, her body swaying, as if she was very drunk, and she said in an operatic voice: "Husband, we will meet in the next life."
He swung his sleeves at Si Cheng, spun around a few times, and was about to fall into the snow.
From here on, the script went astray. Si Cheng's mind flashed with the director's words "follow your feeling", and he discarded all distractions, threw the script behind him, and grabbed Xu Qiao into his arms before he fell.
The assistant director watched, pacing his feet, getting a little anxious. Jiang Wen raised his hand to signal him to be quiet and continue filming.
The embrace was so warm that it was burning. In his arms, Xu Qiao bit the blood in his mouth and raised his head. Si Cheng saw the blood oozing from the corner of his mouth and froze in place.
"You..." He realized something instantly and looked at the wine cup on the small table: "Is it that wine-"
"I am the son of a prostitute." Xu Qiao spoke softly, causing Si Cheng to stop talking.
"My mother told me that the day I was born was just like today, with a cold wind and heavy snow all over the sky... The son of a prostitute should also serve men. I have known this since I can remember."
"I have never thought that there is anything wrong with being a prostitute. I was born to stay in this Zuihuan Pavilion, watching people smiling at the door, welcoming and seeing off guests, everyone spending money like water, and prostitutes calling servants and maids..."
Xu Qiao put powder on her face and red lip balm on her lips, but she was still pale, and the bloodline at the corner of her lips was shocking.
"Who told me to meet you that day? You put a piece of clothing on me. So many people took off my clothes, but you were the only one who put clothes on me."
"But you don't care about what I can give you, you don't care about it..."
Xu Qiao looked at Si Cheng, his eyes lost focus, but he tried hard to see his appearance clearly. Those eyes were like the sparkling lake in summer, which became dead silent in early winter after the passage of time, and only the occasional falling of a dead leaf could stir up some silent ripples.
The cold wind was howling, and the weather was nice today, with heavy snow falling layer after layer.
Si Cheng held Xu Qiao in his arms and knelt in the falling snow.
He looked at Xu Qiao's eyes which were beginning to become empty, opened his mouth, and unconsciously made a "ho ho" sound, heavy and breathless. A tear that did not belong to Chunyu Yuan fell and hit Xu Qiao's face.
Jiang Wen stared at the monitor and felt that Si Cheng's tears were inappropriate. When Chun Yuyuan saw Jin Er's death, he should have just sighed, said it was fate, and showed some pity and sympathy.
The tear that falls right now is...
After hesitating for a while, Jiang Wen stared at the monitor and felt that this tear had more thought-provoking meaning, so he collected his thoughts and let Si Cheng continue acting.
Xu Qiao raised her hand and wanted to touch the face of the man in front of her. As soon as she raised it, her blood-stained fingers moved, and then slowly put it down.
"Never mind, you never liked me touching you..."
"Yuan, it hurts so much."
After saying this, Xu Qiao smiled faintly, closed his eyes, and fell silent.
Si Cheng looked at Xu Qiao in a daze, his heart in a panic. He opened his mouth, showing an expression as if he wanted to cry but had no tears, and his eyes were red.
The wind suddenly picked up, snow got into his eyes, and Si Cheng couldn't help but close his eyes. He didn't open them for a long time.
"Click!" Jiang Wen took off his headphones, stood up and applauded the two of them.
The scenery was set up last night. The dim light, the iron chains hanging from high up, and the water level above the legs made it look quite eerie.
The makeup artist added several bruises and bloody marks on Si Cheng's face. In order to show the effect of being whipped, many cuts were made on his clothes, and the red marks inside could be vaguely seen.