The crew provided the female lead Ming Wei with a dedicated nanny car, makeup artist, costume designer, etc., and also arranged an assistant.
The shooting started at nine in the morning. Ming Wei got up at five-thirty and went to the hotel restaurant with her assistant for breakfast at six. When she walked to the door of the restaurant, she ran into Mu Tingzhou and Xiao Zhao coming out side by side.
"Good morning." Xiao Zhao greeted with a smile.
Mingwei smiled back and glanced at Mu Tingzhou obscurely.
Mu Tingzhou was still arrogant as always. He walked past her expressionlessly and treated her as air.
Thinking of the unexpected bet last night, Mingwei felt a little heavy.
"Mu Tingzhou is so dedicated, he went to the set so early." The assistant kept tilting her head and watched the two movie stars really leave the hotel. She couldn't help but whisper in admiration. In the film and television industry, the higher the status, the greater the privileges. Many big names have the habit of being late and leaving early. For a super popular movie star like Mu Tingzhou to come on time to start filming, the director will be very touched.
Mingwei originally thought she got up quite early, but it turned out that she was outdone by Mu Tingzhou after only half an hour.
Perhaps in Mu Tingzhou's mind, she had added another crime of "getting up late"
Mingwei had no appetite and only ate a small piece of bread and a cup of hot milk. When she got in the nanny car, she immediately applied a facial mask as the makeup artist suggested to save time for putting on makeup later.
Even so, because of the special nature of the ancient costume, Ming Wei still sat there for two hours before the makeup artist finished her work with satisfaction.
"Weiwei looks even prettier in ancient costume than in modern clothes!" the assistant covered her face with her hands and praised in amazement.
These words are completely sincere and there is no flattering element in them.
Mingwei's mother comes from a guzheng family. Several of her family members were court musicians. Later, the family declined, but the guzheng craft was passed down from generation to generation. There is a tea ceremony for tea and a guzheng for guzheng. To be a true guzheng artist, in addition to playing the guzheng well, one must also have proper etiquette, and pay attention to the facial features, expressions, gestures and movements. In her childhood, Mingwei experienced her mother's gentle but strict teachings and long-term influence, and grace and elegance were deeply imprinted in her every move.
Although Ming Wei did not choose to be a professional guzheng artist, she perfectly inherited the classical temperament of her grandfather's family. Now, wearing ancient costume, she has fair skin, thin eyebrows and dark eyes, and stands there with a faint smile. She looks like a lady from ancient times who has traveled through time and space to show everyone the charm of classical beauty.
All the staff in the dressing room were stunned.
Mingwei turned around and saw herself in the mirror. Her heart, which had been weighed down by Mu Tingzhou, suddenly became excited again.
She did join the crew to make extra money, but that doesn't mean she wants to fool the audience. Her appearance and temperament are her innate advantages, and she will make good use of them. As for her acting skills, she has just started and has no foundation, but she will work hard to improve herself and strive to give the crew the best results she can give at the moment.
~
On the set, Mu Tingzhou, who had finished his makeup an hour in advance, had already started filming. It was an indoor scene, and in the camera there were only him and a supporting role, surrounded by a bunch of staff. It was a costume drama, and the lines were literary. The supporting role forgot his lines and got stuck a few times, but Mu Tingzhou looked natural and his lines were accurate, just like an ancient person. Moreover, Mu Tingzhou was very patient at work, and did not show any displeasure because of the supporting role's mistakes.
When Mingwei came to watch the play, Mu Tingzhou was confronting the supporting actor. He was dressed in dark ancient costumes, with his long hair fixed with a jade hairpin. His usual aloofness and laxity completely disappeared, and he became the majestic minister of the court. Although they were both scolding people, Mu Tingzhou at this moment could not remind Mingwei of Mu Tingzhou last night. He seemed to be a completely different person. He was no longer the actor Mingwei had dealt with twice, but the chief minister of the cabinet who lived in the plot and the mastermind who planned the strategy.
Mingwei instantly got into the role, into Mu Tingzhou's play.
She became a complete spectator, immersed in Mutingzhou's performance.
Mu Tingzhou is also in the play. A person's life is limited, and he likes to transform into various roles and experience various meaningful lives. He knows that there are many staff members around him, including the camera hanging opposite him. He has long been accustomed to this shooting environment, so accustomed to it that he forgets their existence. But when he finished scolding his political enemy and was about to return to his seat, the moment he turned around, a figure diagonally opposite him unexpectedly broke into his consciousness.
The girl was dressed like a young girl, with only a pink rose pinned on her thick black hair. She had delicate eyebrows and a sweet face. She was wearing a lotus pink palace dress and stood in the crowd looking at him. Her clear and obsessed eyes suddenly awakened the Princess Minghua in his mind. Before this look, Princess Minghua was just a character in his mind, with a vague charm but no clear image. After this look, Princess Minghua came alive. Mingwei, really suitable.
Retracting his gaze, Mu Tingzhou made a "cut" gesture to the director, asking him to reshoot the turning scene.
Director Zhang was confused. The focus of this scene was the confrontation between the two ministers. Mu Tingzhou's performance was perfect as always. What was wrong? Director Zhang rewound the scene and even found nothing wrong with the turn shot that Mu Tingzhou requested. Seeing that others were also puzzled, Director Zhang looked up from behind the monitor and asked why.
As the "culprit" who caused Mu Tingzhou to lose focus, Ming Wei was completely unaware of it and stared at Mu Tingzhou, waiting for an answer. Although she was disgusted by Mu Tingzhou's arrogance, Ming Wei truly admired the actor's acting skills.
"It doesn't feel right." Mu Tingzhou said ambiguously.
Director Zhang was speechless and silently attributed it to the fact that the actor was too demanding of himself.
During the second shoot, Mu Tingzhou devoted himself to the film. Afterwards, Director Zhang compared the two clips and replayed them several times. Finally, he found a difference. The reshoot actually saved half a second compared to the first shoot. However, he racked his brains but could not guess what Mu Tingzhou used the half second he wasted for.
After Mu Tingzhou finished shooting the indoor scenes in his free time, it was Mingwei's turn for her first shoot, which was also her first scene against Mu Tingzhou.
Mingwei is a newcomer, and Director Zhang was very considerate. He chose a relatively simple role for Mingwei's debut to help Mingwei build confidence.
The sun was shining brightly in the south of the Yangtze River in April. The Imperial Garden was full of flowers and the scenery was picturesque. Suddenly, a sweet voice came from behind the lush flowers: "Is it beautiful?"
"It's beautiful. The princess is more beautiful than the fairies in the sky."
Along with the maid's praise, a beautiful girl of fifteen or sixteen walked out from the cobblestone path shaded by trees. She was wearing a lotus pink dress, with fair skin and red lips, smiling, a rose on her head, and a willow branch in her hand, shaking it gently, looking back and forth at the flowers on the road with her smart eyes, carefree.
As they walked, a butterfly suddenly flew out from the flowers. Princess Minghua's eyes lit up, she turned around and said "hush" to the two palace maids, then tiptoed forward to follow the butterfly. The butterfly flew and flew, slowly landing on a Yaohuang peony. Princess Minghua smiled with relief and moved closer more carefully. Just as her delicate hands were about to touch the butterfly, someone suddenly spoke from the corner: "Master, please come this way."
Princess Minghua pretended not to hear and continued to stare at the butterfly, but the butterfly was frightened and flew away and she could no longer reach it.
Princess Minghua, who had been pampered since childhood and had never suffered any grievances, finally became unhappy and looked forward with a stern face.
"Hey, Princess, come out to enjoy the flowers." The eunuch leading the way was a favorite of the emperor. When he saw the princess, he was not so restrained. He bent down and greeted her with a smile.
Princess Minghua was still pouting until she saw the tall man next to the eunuch. He was wearing a dark purple official robe and was calm and reserved. Although he bowed his head as a gesture of greeting, his straight brows did not show any servility, and his handsome facial features were better than anyone Princess Minghua had ever seen.
A handsome and elegant man successfully diverted the attention of the young girl.
Princess Mingwei unconsciously flicked the willow branch in her hand, staring at the purple-robed man, and used an unhappy voice to hide her strong interest: "Who are you?"
The man in purple robe stepped forward and lowered his head and replied, "Your humble servant Mu Yun, greetings to the princess." His voice was calm and low.
Taking advantage of the fact that the other party didn't dare to look at her, Princess Minghua looked at him unscrupulously.
The silence lasted too long. Mu Yun did not move his head, but raised his eyes and saw the princess' skirt embroidered with peach blossoms. The eunuch leading the way realized something was wrong, bent forward, and reminded her with a smile: "Princess, the tutor has come here by imperial decree, and the emperor is still waiting in the pavilion."
Princess Minghua was obviously reluctant to let go of this man who brought freshness to her boring life. She waved the willow branch with her right hand and said delicately, "You scared away my butterfly. Pay me one immediately, or I won't let you go."
“This…” The eunuch was in a dilemma. The emperor was waiting, but Princess Minghua was spoiled, so he didn’t dare to offend her.
Looking at the Grand Tutor who was standing motionless and expressionless beside him, the eunuch sighed, smiled and told the princess to wait a moment while he went to catch the butterfly.
"Why don't you go?" Princess Minghua asked in a commanding tone, but because they were alone, she began to get nervous and didn't dare look the tutor in the eye.
Mu Yun stood up, lowered his eyes and explained, "The butterfly was scared away by Eunuch Li. I admit my innocence."
Princess Minghua snorted and glared at him with her chin raised: "I said you are guilty, you are guilty, go catch butterflies for me."
Mu Yun finally looked up, his eyes swept across Princess Minghua's bright face and unexpectedly fell on her head.
Princess Minghua misunderstood that the man was looking at her. Her eyes were like water and she shyly wanted to turn her head away. But when she moved, he suddenly raised his hand.
Princess Minghua stepped back in fear and was about to scold him, but she saw that the man who was standing still had a goose yellow butterfly in his hand.
"You left too early."
While Mingwei was waiting for Mu Tingzhou to say his next line, Mu Tingzhou walked out of the play, put down his empty hands that needed to have butterflies added to them by post-production special effects, and ruthlessly pointed out Mingwei's mistake.
Mingwei's face flushed, and her hands trembled nervously in her wide sleeves.
She made a mistake. Would Mu Tingzhou use this as an excuse to kick her out of the group