Huayu: This director is so eager to improve.

Chapter 84: Outstanding Effect

Just as Jing Tian was getting into the swing of things and even performing beyond her usual level, Qi Yue suddenly raised his hand and called for a stop.

The rehearsal was interrupted. All the staff on site looked over.

Jing Tian was stunned, her emotions still choked in her chest, and looked at Qi Yue with some surprise:

"What's wrong?"

She felt she had done quite well just now, with a build-up of emotion and powerful delivery of lines.

Qi Yue turned around and looked at her directly, his face expressionless.

"The meaning is right, and the lines flow smoothly. But," he paused,

"You only focus on raising your voice and 'speaking' the lines, but you don't infuse them with emotion. Emotions and feelings don't just erupt out of thin air; they have steps, build-up, and layers."

"Only when 'emotion, breath, and voice' are combined can it be called acting, and only then can the audience be moved; otherwise, it's just reciting lines."

Jing Tian felt her face flush from his words, and she subconsciously looked at Guo Fan behind the monitor.

But Guo Fan simply picked up the walkie-talkie and directed the staff beside him:

"Hey you, play some background music that matches the mood of this scene, so the actors can get used to the atmosphere."

Clearly, he fully agreed with Qi Yue's judgment.

Jing Tian pursed her lips, took a deep breath, and nodded:

"Okay, I'll try again."

The music began softly, carrying a sense of desolation and sorrow.

Second rehearsal.

Jing Tian tried hard to recall Qi Yue's words, attempting to evoke her emotions more deeply.

Do you know Lin Shu?

"……know."

"Was he really killed in battle?"

"……yes."

"Where did you die in battle?"

Meiling.

"Where will the remains be buried?"

"Heaven and earth are my tomb."

"No one has claimed his remains; not a single bone has been found?!"

"stop!"

Qi Yue called for a halt again, this time his brows furrowed slightly, and his voice was more stern than before.

"The emotions have stalled again! After 'Heaven and Earth as a Tomb,' your grief and questioning should have been built up more strongly, instead of just shouting them out out of habit. Start from the beginning and build up the emotional foundation."

Having been stopped twice in a row, Jing Tian was a little embarrassed.

She glanced at Guo Fan again, but he remained focused on the monitor, offering no response.

A wave of grievance and panic washed over her, and her eyes involuntarily began to redden. She forced herself to nod, her voice low, "...Okay."

The third rehearsal.

Perhaps due to increased psychological pressure, or perhaps because his emotions hadn't found the right outlet, Qi Yue felt that the problems persisted in his third performance.

When Jing Tian said again, "No one has claimed his remains, not a single bone has been found?!" Qi Yue shouted "Stop!" for the third time without hesitation.

This time, his tone was noticeably stern, even somewhat forceful:

"How can you be so stupid?! You still don't understand after all that talking?!"

He walked a few steps to Jing Tian, ​​very close, and his aura instantly enveloped her, looking directly into Jing Tian's eyes, which were beginning to mist.

"Tell me yourself, are you stupid or not?" His voice was low, yet all the more powerful. "Tell me, are you stupid or not? Look at me and say it."

Under this sudden, almost reprimanding interrogation, Jing Tian panicked.

The proud shell that had long been protected by the team and supported by resources began to crack under Qi Yue's merciless scrutiny.

Feelings of grievance, shame, resentment, and a hint of fear that he might actually be "stupid" intertwined, and tears instantly filled his eyes.

She instinctively lowered her head, avoiding Qi Yue's gaze, her voice choked with sobs, barely audible:

"……fool."

"What's wrong with you?" Qi Yue pressed on relentlessly.

Jing Tian's lips trembled. She wanted to say something, but couldn't. She felt incredibly embarrassed, and tears finally streamed down her face.

"You tell me yourself, what an idiot."

Qi Yue's tone remained firm, but a glint of triumph flashed in the depths of his eyes.

Just as Jing Tian's emotions were pushed to the breaking point, and she was about to completely break down and cry.

Qi Yue immediately gave Guo Fan a clear look from behind the monitor.

Guo Fan, who had been closely monitoring the situation, understood immediately and almost simultaneously spoke in a very low voice into the channel connected to the filming crew:

"Power on, record."

The main camera, which had been turned off because it was a rehearsal, suddenly lit up with a red light, and the lens steadily focused on the two people under the pavilion.

The moment Qi Yue gave him that look, his tone and expression changed abruptly.

"Yes, that's it, keep that feeling..."

His voice possessed a strange magic, steadily supporting Jing Tian's emotions on the verge of collapse and guiding her back to the proper state of Princess Nihuang in the play.

"It's this feeling of grievance and resentment that you're now conveying by looking me in the eye..."

Jing Tian was completely led by this force. She raised her tear-filled face and looked at Qi Yue.

At this moment, Qi Yue was no longer the stern director or actor he had been just moments before, but rather seemed to have truly become Mei Changsu, who was hiding a shocking secret and had to conceal it from his childhood sweetheart.

Her emotions were seamlessly integrated into the performance...

Nihuang: "If you are a former member of the Crimson Flame Army, why did you address Lin Shu by his given name instead of calling him 'Young Marshal' when I mentioned him earlier?"

Mei Changsu: "It's just a title. Whether it's Young Marshal, Lin Shu, or anything else... it doesn't matter..."

As if she had discovered something, Princess Nihuang suddenly reached out and pulled open Mei Changsu's collar, her voice trembling even more violently:

"There's definitely... there's definitely a mole here! I remember there's a mole here!"

The next second, at the peak of her emotions, she could no longer control herself, or rather, she no longer needed to control herself.

Driven entirely by instinct, she lunged forward, embraced Mei Changsu tightly, buried her face in his shoulder, and burst into tears.

"I know it's you... I know you're my brother Lin Shu! I know! I know!!"

This hug and this cry were full of emotion, without any trace of acting; they seemed to burst forth from the depths of their souls.

Even the photographer secretly filming nearby couldn't help but hold his breath.

Mei Changsu's body stiffened almost imperceptibly the moment he was embraced. Then, slowly and with extreme restraint, he raised one hand, as if he wanted to embrace back.

But in the end, he simply patted Nihuang's back very gently.

His face showed little expression, but the pain and restraint in his eyes were more heartbreaking than any loud crying.

Time seemed to stand still for a few seconds.

"Card!"

Guo Fan's voice broke the silence.

"Excellent! That take...very good! The emotion is spot on! Rehearsal over!"

Upon hearing "the end," Jing Tian was still immersed in a huge emotional upheaval, leaning on Qi Yue's shoulder and sobbing softly.

Qi Yue quickly detached himself from the role, gently took her shoulder, and pulled her slightly away.

"Alright, Miss Jing, that's enough acting. Relax."

The staff started moving, and someone handed out tissues.

Jing Tian took the tissue and wiped her tears. Her mind was still a little dazed, but when she recalled her uncontrollable emotional outburst just now, and Qi Yue's subtle yet precise response when she hugged him at the end,

She suddenly understood some things that she had never been able to understand before.

Jing Tian looked up at Qi Yue, who had already turned around to watch the playback with Guo Fan, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

The grievances and embarrassment I felt earlier had long been replaced by a sense of shock and belated realization.

So... this is what he meant by "bring someone along"?

That's quite a unique approach.

But the results seem to be quite astonishing.

For a moment just now, she barely felt that she was "acting".

Jing Tian clenched the tissue in her hand, her heart still beating a little fast.

She suddenly realized that the upcoming scenes with her co-stars would probably not be as "easy and smooth" as they had been a few days ago.