Cesare looked at the results of the filming, made an 'OK' gesture, and shouted:
"Take a break," he raised his wrist and pointed at the watch on his wrist with the index finger of his other hand:
"The next scene will be shot at four o'clock."
Jiang Se went to remove her makeup. She had another scene to be filmed right after Laura, so she had to find some time to sleep.
On the temporary cliff steps in the studio, the prop master of the crew was making preparations. There was nothing above their heads, snowflakes kept falling, and the wind was very strong in the early morning. In front of the green screen, Laura and others were hugging their arms and were almost frozen to death.
After Jiang Se changed her clothes, she didn't even bother to wash her face. After putting on her down jacket, she wrapped herself in a blanket, found a corner and lay down casually. She even left the task of removing her makeup to Xia Chaoqun.
She set the alarm for six o'clock. Laura and others' scenes were not long, so she had to put on makeup and do her hair after getting up. She was afraid that sleeping too long would delay the crew's progress.
The daytime shooting was too tiring, and Jiang Se fell asleep quickly. She didn't sleep for long. The uncomfortable environment and noise on the scene made her stay alert at all times. She opened her eyes before the alarm rang. Mo Anqi and others also crowded around her. As soon as she moved, Xia Chaoqun turned his head and asked:
"Cold?"
Jiang Se pulled the blanket around his body tighter, yawned with his hand covering his lips, and asked in a low voice:
"What time is it?"
The staff in the distance were still busy and noisy. The sounds of the machines running, talking, and walking were intertwined. Xia Chaoqun checked the time. "Five forty."
There were still about twenty minutes before the six o'clock she had set. Xia Chaoqun pulled the blanket for her and told her:
"Sleep a little longer."
Jiang Se looked at her expression and felt something was wrong, so he asked:
"The filming wasn't going well?"
Xia Chaoqun nodded. It was too cold here. Several cameras had problems during the filming. Some actors couldn't stand the cold and their performances were not very good. After frequent NGs, Cesare was about to lose control of his temper. Even the beautiful Laura Brown was scolded several times. She was hiding in a corner crying.
"At this rate, your part will probably be delayed. Go get some more sleep."
Jiang Se propped herself up and took a look. In front of the green screen in the distance, Laura and others had been hung up. She was still begging desperately. In the cold weather, she was wearing a tattered gray dress, her long hair fluttering in the wind, a pair of bare feet dangling in the air, and she was crying hoarsely.
To be honest, apart from the bad character that left a bad impression on Jiang Se when they first met her, Laura was indeed very beautiful. When she was hung in the air, her tearful eyes really acted out the helpless and weak appearance of Lanny in the early part of the script of "God's Redemption".
But it was obvious that the weather affected her performance. After she finished her lines, Cesare's brows were tightly knitted, his expression was very stern, and he even looked at his watch impatiently several times and gestured to ask for a repeat.
This has greatly slowed down the crew's progress. The shots that were originally thought to be completed in three hours have not made any progress at all.
It was getting late, Laura and the others were released, and Cesare crossed his arms over his chest:
"I think if your ears are fine, I've said it many times, you can be more excited when you recite your lines instead of shrinking like a quail and trembling."
The delay in time has made Cesare on the verge of anger, and he speaks particularly harshly. Cesare at work is not as humorous and elegant as he is in life. Instead, he seems a little harsh.
"I didn't ask you to come here to play a ridiculous, motionless statue."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Cesare, it's because the weather is too cold..." Laura explained in a low voice. The cold weather and her thin clothes made her distracted when she was reciting the lines. "I have tried my best to overcome it, but..."
She explained with an effort of calmness, but because of the repeated 'NGs', she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed, especially after not sleeping all night and the cold weather which had greatly consumed her physical strength. Naturally, her performance made Cesare even more dissatisfied.
It would have been fine if Laura didn't explain. As soon as she did, Cesare frowned even more and interrupted her conversation:
"This isn't the set for your fashion show. Do you want me to tell you that I'm really sorry there's no warm, comfortable bed here?"
As soon as he said this, Laura's face turned red. Mo Anqi watched this scene with interest. Laura's agent came out to smooth things over, hoping that Cesare could give Laura another chance to start over.
The filming of this scene did not go smoothly. Jiang Se watched for a while and felt that his next scene would probably be delayed for a while, so he asked Mo Anqi to wake him up at seven o'clock and then fell asleep again.
Before seven o'clock, Mo Anqi had already woken Jiang Se up. "Miss Brown's role has been put on hold for the time being. The director said that we should finish the next scene first."
After filming all night, Laura finally ran out of energy. At around six o'clock, she said she couldn't hold on any longer and went back to the hotel to rest.
Jiang Se slept for a few hours and then got back into shooting mode.
Shireen was rescued by Andre. Out of trust in her like-minded companion and the fact that Andre was her savior, during the few days of getting along, Shireen also revealed to Andre some of the stories about her mission.
At the same time, she also learned that in this small town, Andre was the only member of the Vatican in this church. He had entered the Vatican when he was young, and it has been nearly twenty years since then. He has been waiting here, silently, preaching the morality of believing in God.
This made Shilin admire him greatly and she was willing to tell him more about his deeds.
The church where Andre lived was already very dilapidated, and he had big problems in his life. Even his bishop's robe was very worn out, revealing an air of shabbyness.
The church has almost taken control of the empire, and the powerful archbishops live a rather extravagant life. Shireen has joined the Church since she was a child. She is the most loyal knight of the Church and has risked her life for it many times in the process of eradicating heresy.
She frequented the largest cathedral in the empire, and her frequent visitors were nobles and knights, so she never worried about her life. She also didn't know that under the control of the Imperial Church, there were still believers who would fall into poverty.
In front of the fireplace, two devout believers were guarding the only warmth in this winter night. Andre brought two roasted sweet potatoes, which were food sent by kind-hearted residents nearby.
He was very thin, with sunken cheeks and almost lost eyebrows. The hardships of life had left deep marks on his face. He was wearing an old bishop's robe, which looked a little empty, but he still washed it very cleanly.
"Eat." His tone was gentle, but there was some reluctance in his eyes. Such kindness and generosity naturally made Xilin like him even more.
The two of them sat by the fire and chatted. The atmosphere in the room was warm and comfortable. Andre's temples were already gray. Under the dim light, he sighed:
"I have been in the temple for many years, dedicating my life to the Holy See and becoming a faithful believer of the gods."
He had no family, no life of his own, no wife or children, and even abandoned his parents. He rushed around every day to help others and spread the word about God. "But in fact, I don't know if it's because I'm not devout enough, but God has never favored me once."
When he said this, Shireen only noticed his shabby appearance. He had no fancy clothes, no well-fed life, and even the place he lived was incredibly shabby.
Andre didn't know where his next meal would come from, but he generously saved himself and shared his only food. He was truly a very good believer.
She "saw" his piety and "heard" his gratitude to God, but she did not hear the doubt and unwillingness in his words.
In fact, the Puritan lifestyle for many years has made Andre feel uneasy. His long-standing beliefs have turned into doubts as time goes by. He began to doubt whether there are gods in the world, and he began to doubt the meaning of the existence of the church.
"It's not your fault, Andre."
Shirin comforted him, her expression full of yearning, hiding her excitement:
"It's not because you are not pious enough, it's just that you haven't found a way to pray to God."
The camera was aimed at Jiang Se's face. The fire in the stove was burning fiercely. For a moment, Andre's eyes were as bright as stars. His hands slowly clenched, and his cheek muscles even twitched unconsciously. His chest heaved, and his eyes showed hidden ecstasy and suppressed ambition. The young girl did not notice all this.
"Method?" he murmured to himself, his subtle facial expressions and body language infecting the people in front of the camera.
The staff in the distance were watching this scene. Cesare put one hand on his chest and supported his chin with the other hand, watching the two people acting in front of the camera.
"Yes!" Xilin nodded slowly. She didn't understand that her nod meant that she had lost something. So she told him what she had gained from this trip without reservation:
"... In the process of eradicating heretics, Andre, I got a spell to pray to God. When you recite it," Jiang Se narrowed his eyes, leaned towards Donald, stretched out his hand, and pointed at his heart, from where the sound of his heart beating rapidly came.
Jiang Se maintained the posture of supporting his body with his legs crossed, and Cesare called a timeout.
"Jiang, you should look up." The lighting angle was wrong, and it couldn't illuminate the ecstasy in her eyes when she mentioned 'God'.
Jiang Se maintained this posture and recited the lines seven or eight times, until his legs were numb and trembling and he could hardly support himself, and Cesare was finally satisfied.
Donald seemed to be infected by her and also lowered his head. Jiang Se raised her face and looked into his eyes. At this moment, both of them had passion in their eyes.
But in Andre's eyes, besides worship of God, there was something else mixed in.
The camera keenly captured this moment, and Jiang Se slowly spoke the lines:
"As long as your heart is sincere enough, God will fulfill your wishes!"
When she said this, Andre's body shook slightly.
"very good!"
Jiang Se was still half-standing up, and only sat back down after Cesare indicated that this part was over.
Ever since Andre learned the spell to pray to God, he was half-believing and half-doubting. He wondered if Shireen's words were true. At the same time, Shireen's words, "God will fulfill your wish," kept ringing in his mind, making him unable to sleep all night.
There was no role for Jiang Se during the day. After Andre coaxed a spell out of Shilin's mouth, his inner greed became uncontrollable and he finally gave rise to the sin of desire. He recited the spell and sacrificed Shilin as a sacrifice to God, getting the fame and status he wanted, but in return his life was in danger.
Jiang Se didn't have many scenes, but it took nearly half a month to shoot. The reason was that she was not an important character in the crew, and most of the time she was waiting.
Unfortunately, Laura caught a cold due to the cold weather, forcing the crew to delay the progress while waiting for her, which made Cesare very dissatisfied. It was after Christmas when Laura returned to the crew.
Jiang Se has one last scene to film, and she can leave the crew and return home after finishing it. Her last scene is when Shireen is sacrificed. This scene is very important and is also one of the important turning points in Andre's life in the early stage. In order to achieve realism, Cesare asked for real people to take part in the scene instead of post-production special effects.
Jiang Se's status is not yet high enough to use a substitute at such a moment, so she has to do everything herself.
Xia Chaoqun was obviously very concerned about this. The scene of a body on fire was no joke and could easily lead to danger if one was not careful. She and Mo Anqi personally communicated with the crew again and again, and checked everything from body protection to facial protection, as well as the fire extinguishers needed to put out the fire.
The pyrotechnicians in charge of this scene were all certified and experienced. They explained to Jiang Se several times that as long as the filming went smoothly and she rehearsed a few more times, although the fire during the filming might seem dangerous, it would not actually harm her body.
The excitement of this scene was different from the scenes Jiang Se had filmed before, and it was obviously more dangerous. However, after working with the crew for such a long time, she had a general understanding of Cesare's team. The pyrotechnicians had dealt with such shooting scenes countless times, so after giving some psychological advice, Jiang Se faced this scene calmer than Mo Anqi.
Because the fire spread upwards, her face was also coated with thick fire-retardant oil. There was plenty of light during the day, and even with post-production retouching, flaws would easily appear, so the shooting was scheduled for the evening. Therefore, Jiang Se practiced positioning on the set all morning to reduce the chance of accidents during the formal shooting.
When she arrived at the crew, Laura's scene had just finished filming. Wearing a thick down jacket, she looked at Jiang Se and asked her agent beside her:
"Is she the last show of the afternoon?"
Her agent is a gray-haired man in his fifties, slightly plump with a small belly. He has seen the feud between Laura and Jiang Se.
It is also known that the two of them had a grudge on the first day of joining the crew.
Although in his opinion, Jiang Se was not qualified to be compared with Laura, there was no need for Laura to argue with this Chinese girl. After all, no matter how much Cesare appreciated her, she did not have many roles in the movie and would have to leave after the filming was over.
However, because Laura was embarrassed by Jiang Se in front of the heir of the Borgia family on the first day, she was particularly resentful of this Chinese girl and said several times that she would teach her a lesson. If Laura had not caught a cold in the middle of the play and her scenes were mostly with Donald, and she had no intersection with Jiang Se, the conflict between the two would have erupted long ago. (To be continued)