EFB Chapter 33, The Blind Girl's Divine Acting Skills on the Track!
Chapter 33, The Blind Girl's Divine Acting Skills on the Track!
December 1st, Beijing, Huairou Film and Television Base.
Filming for "Brotherhood of Blades" has entered its fifth day.
Gao Huan gradually figured out the rhythm of the character Shen Lian.
He wasn't the kind of chivalrous knight who flaunted his prowess; he was more like a knife wrapped in cloth, mostly lying silently in its sheath, occasionally drawn out, flashing with a cold light, before being sheathed again.
This kind of restrained performance is more difficult than letting it out.
At 7:30 a.m., Gao Huan arrived at the photography studio.
Today's scene was filmed in Zhou Miaotong's room, an interior set, set up in a corner of Studio 2.
The props team put a lot of thought into decorating the room.
A carved wooden bed, a window covered with a thin gauze, a black lacquered square table, several round stools, and a copper brazier standing in the corner, the charcoal fire burning brightly and making a soft crackling sound.
The room was dark in tone, mainly ochre and dark brown, with only the light filtering through the curtains casting shadows on the floor, like a light-colored block that had been cut out.
Liu Shishi was already sitting in the dressing room.
Gao Huan glanced inside as he passed by.
She leaned back in the chair with her eyes closed as the makeup artist drew her eyebrows.
Today's makeup is lighter than usual, with almost no trace of foundation. Only the area around her eyes has been slightly darkened, making her face look more bare and pale.
The makeup of a blind woman cannot be too elaborate.
This was a request Gao Huan made to the makeup artist at the dinner party.
Zhou Miaotong was an official courtesan of the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment institution), not a wealthy young lady.
The makeup artist was taken aback for a moment, then looked at director Lu Yang. Lu Yang thought for a moment and said, "Do it the way Gao Huan said."
When Liu Shishi heard this, she opened her eyes, glanced at Gao Huan, and said nothing.
Gao Huan walked into the studio and sat down in the rest area. Yangyang Jin handed him a hot Americano, which he took and drank a sip of. He then took the script out of his bag and flipped to the pages where they were going to shoot that day.
He had already watched it three times last night, but watching it again on the spot is a habit he developed since "The Coffin in the Mountain".
In order to better immerse oneself in that situation.
"Teacher Gao, Director Lu would like to see you." The stagehand jogged over.
Gao Huan stood up, handed the coffee to Yangyang Jin, straightened the collar of his ordinary clothes, and walked into the photography studio.
Lu Yang was standing behind the monitor, adjusting the camera position with the photographer.
When he saw Gao Huan come in, his gaze lingered on Gao Huan's dark circles for a moment, and then he nodded.
"This scene," Lu Yang pointed to the monitor screen, "focuses on Zhou Miaotong's emotional changes. She's woken up by the johns downstairs, hears those words, and then has a conversation with you."
He paused, then looked at Gao Huan.
"Your attitude today is correct."
Gao Huan remained silent.
Lu Yang continued, "Shen Lian didn't want to see her as a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. This detail doesn't need any dialogue; the audience will understand it at a glance."
"Yes," Gao Huan said.
Lu Yang glanced at him, smiled, and said with admiration:
"You're getting too caught up in the drama right now."
Gao Huan did not respond.
"As for Liu Shishi," Lu Yang lowered his voice a little, "she has a much better grasp of the blind girl than I expected."
But she needs your emotional support.
You're also an experiential learner; you know how to lead a team.
Gao Huan understood what Lu Yang meant.
Liu Shishi is an method actor. Such people get into character not through technique, but by putting themselves into the character's situation.
But for the blind girl, all she can rely on is her imagination and the stimulation from her opponents.
And that opponent was him.
"Ready." Lu Yang clapped his hands.
Take your positions.
The lights in the studio dimmed, leaving only a sliver of light filtering through the prop curtains.
Liu Shishi lay on the carved wooden bed, covered with a thin quilt, her hair spread out on the pillow, her eyes closed.
Her breathing was shallow and slow, like that of a truly blind person in their sleep.
But it wasn't relaxed; instead, it carried an instinctive unease, with eyelids trembling slightly, as if even in the dark, one needed to confirm that there was no danger around.
Gao Huan sat at a black lacquered square table on the other side of the room, with a copper brazier in front of him.
He poked at the charcoal with the tongs, sparks flew up and fell into the ashes, quickly extinguishing the embers.
His movements were slow and soft, as if he was deliberately trying not to make a sound.
The camera zoomed in from the side, its lens first landing on Liu Shishi's face.
Her eyelashes trembled.
Blind people have no sight, so their hearing becomes exceptionally sensitive.
The noise, rock-paper-scissors, and lewd laughter of the patrons downstairs buzzed into her ears like flies.
Liu Shishi frowned slightly, her expression a mixture of irritation and a growing sense of numbness and accustomed restraint.
She had been working at the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment institution) for several years, and she heard these kinds of sounds every day.
But today is different.
There was a particularly shrill voice downstairs today, howling like a pig being slaughtered:
"You wretched woman, I'm doing you a favor by coming here today! Hurry up and tell that little girl surnamed Zhou to wash herself clean before seeing me."
Zhou Miaotong's fingers silently clenched the corner of the blanket.
When Liu Shishi made this movement, she used a very small range of motion, so much so that it was almost unnoticeable unless you looked closely.
But when the camera zoomed in on her face, and that finger tightened slightly, her entire aura changed.
The phrase "from being asleep" has changed to "being trapped in a dream and unable to wake up."
Lu Yang held his breath behind the monitor.
He knew Liu Shishi was a good actress, but he didn't know she could portray a blind woman to this extent.
Those subtle, almost imperceptible movements.
The trembling of eyelashes, the tightening of fingers, the imperceptible downward turn of the corners of the mouth.
It's as if she's truly perceiving the world in a way that's common to the blind.
Liu Shishi sat up in bed.
She moved slowly, first supporting herself on the edge of the bed with her hands to determine her position, and then slowly straightening her back.
She tilted her head slightly, her ears facing the direction from which the sound came, as if trying to determine how far away the sound was.
"Shen Lian".
Her voice was a little hoarse, as if she had just woken up, or as if she had been in the dark for too long and forgotten how to speak loudly.
Gao Huan looked up from in front of the brazier and looked at her.
"Um."
His voice was very soft, as if he were answering someone who didn't need to say much.
Liu Shishi listened intently to his direction, then turned her head, her expression shifting from bewilderment to certainty.
This shift is subtle.
Her eyes were unfocused, her pupils were dilated, like a truly blind person who didn't know where to look.
But her entire facial expression was changing, from "I'm listening" to "I know it's you" to "I feel at ease with you here," progressing layer by layer, each layer clear and distinct.
Lu Yang unconsciously leaned forward from behind the monitor.
He has worked with many actresses, but Liu Shishi is the first to portray a blind person with such subtlety.
"Come to bed and sleep."
Liu Shishi's tone was very soft, with a strange intimacy.
That intimacy is less ambiguous and more like the dependence of someone who has been in the dark for too long on having another person by their side.
Gao Huan shook his head.
"No," he said, "I have to go to the government office later."
The voice wasn't loud, but every word sounded like it had been carefully chosen before being spoken.
Shen Lian always speaks like this in front of Zhou Miaotong.
I was careful, afraid of saying too much or too little, afraid she would overthink it or underthink it.
But today, when Gao Huan said this line, he subconsciously glanced at the commoner clothes he was wearing.
That look was brief, lasting less than half a second.
But Lu Yang caught it on the monitor.
That wasn't Shen Lian looking at his own clothes; it was Shen Lian reminding himself.
I am not wearing my flying fish robe today, I am not here as a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and I should not mention "government office".
But he brought it up anyway.
Because the name "Jinyiwei" (Imperial Guard) was etched into his very bones.
No matter what clothes you wear, it can't be covered up.
Liu Shishi got out of bed.
Her actions of looking for her shoes felt very real.
Instead of reaching out and touching randomly, you first use your toes to feel the ground, and only after touching the shoes do you bend down to put them on.
She didn't look at anything the whole time because she's blind, and it wouldn't have mattered.
This detail was added by her; it wasn't in the script, and Lu Yang didn't mention it during rehearsals.
But she did it anyway, and it was as natural as breathing, without any trace of acting.
After putting on her shoes, she stood up, holding onto the edge of the bed with one hand and reaching out with the other to explore the space in front of her.
He ran his fingertips through the air a few times before touching the back of the chair, and only then did he feel reassured enough to walk over and sit down.
Throughout the entire process, the expression on her face was one of composure born from accustoming to the darkness.
Calm and unhurried, without any surprises, like someone who has lived in darkness for many years.
Gao Huan watched her movements, a complex look in his eyes.
Impulsive, powerless.
He clenched his hands on his knees for a moment, then released them.
Liu Shishi sat down.
She sat in a chair with her hands folded on her knees, her posture so upright it was almost stiff.
That's the way women in the brothel sat, an instinctive preparation to be called upon to serve others at any time.
"You're the most interesting person."
The corners of her mouth curved slightly, but it wasn't a smile; it was a complex expression that was hard to define—whether it was self-deprecation or teasing.
"You're the only one who comes to Nuanxiang Pavilion, pays money but doesn't get to sleep with anyone."
Gao Huan stood up from the brazier, walked back to the coffee table, and sat down on the bench.
He first touched the armrest of the bench to confirm the distance before sitting down.
This action is what Shen Lian needs.
Shen Lian always maintained a distance from Zhou Miaotong, deliberately keeping a certain distance between them.
"I'll just sit there," he said.
His tone was as calm as a stagnant pool.
But Liu Shishi understood the meaning behind those words.
She tilted her head slightly, her ear facing him, as if trying to discern the emotion behind his words through hearing.
This is Liu Shishi's biggest breakthrough in this role.
She learned to act with her ears.
Blind people hear people speak differently than sighted people.
Normal people hear the content, while blind people hear things outside of the content.
The length of the pause, the changes in breath, and the rise or fall of the final sound.
When Gao Huan said, "I'll just sit there," the last syllable of his voice dropped. This shows that he wasn't just being polite; he was saying, "I'm restraining myself."
Liu Shishi caught this information.
Her expression didn't change much, but her breathing rhythm changed.
It slowed down, as if it was digesting something.
Lu Yang gripped the walkie-talkie tightly behind the monitor.
In the past few days, he has also filmed scenes with Liu Shishi and other male actors, most of which are the kind of formulaic and routine performances.
She says her lines, he says his lines, and there's an invisible wall between them—a wall that's not thick, but the audience can see it.
But today is different.
That wall is gone today.
The reason wasn't that Liu Shishi suddenly had an epiphany, but that Gao Huan was helping her.
Every line he uttered, every pause, every breath he took was a hook being offered to Liu Shishi.
Emotions hang on the hook; she can grasp them with just a reach.
Liu Shishi caught it.
He caught it steadily and effortlessly.
Just then, that shrill voice came from downstairs again:
"You wretched woman, I'm doing you a favor by coming here today. Go and have that little girl surnamed Zhou wash herself clean before seeing me!"
Then came the sounds of pushing and shoving, the sound of overturned cups and saucers, and the dull thud of someone falling to the ground.
The microphones in the studio accurately picked up the voices of the supporting actors.
Liu Shishi's expression shattered at that moment.
Her eyes remained unfocused, but her face looked as if it had been shattered from the inside, with all her emotions pouring out from the cracks:
Humiliation, numbness, disgust, and an anger she had forgotten how to express.
Those emotions didn't appear all at once, but rather piled up layer by layer.
First came humiliation, then numbness, then disgust, and finally anger.
Each layer is clearly distinguishable, yet the transitions are as natural as watercolor, without any abrupt changes.
Gao Huan looked at her.
His expression didn't change, but his eyes did.
The change was subtle; it was like adding another layer to the same base color.
Distressed.
It's not pity.
He felt sorry for this person, sorry for her fate, sorry that she was sitting in an ordinary chair but it felt like she was sitting on a rack.
"Once I've saved up enough silver..."
Gao Huan paused for a moment after delivering his lines.
This pause wasn't in the script; he added it on the spot.
Hearing the pause, Liu Shishi tilted her head slightly, as if waiting for him to finish speaking, or perhaps trying to omit something for him. She knew what he wanted to say, but she didn't want to hear it.
"Once we've saved enough money, we'll redeem you."
Gao Huan still spoke up.
He said the line very softly, as if afraid of scaring her, or as if he was confirming it with himself.
I'm going to do this, and I definitely will.
Liu Shishi did not respond.
She sat there, her hands still folded on her knees, her posture still upright and stiff.
But a subtle change occurred on her face; the mockery turned into numbness.
It's a conditioned numbness that comes from hearing too many promises.
Then she smiled.
The smile was faint; the corners of her mouth twitched slightly, but there was nothing in her eyes.
There was no smile, no emotion, not even a hint of sarcasm, like someone who no longer had the strength to hate using their last bit of energy to say a truth.
"My lord."
Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear.
"With your meager salary, you think you can redeem me?"
Gao Huan's expression changed, and he remained silent.
Liu Shishi tilted her head slightly, her ear facing his direction.
"Besides," she slowed her speech, as if teaching Shen Lian to face reality, "this is the Jiaofangsi, the official brothel. Without a document from the Ministry of Justice, no one can leave."
Gao Huan did not respond.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and the muscles in his jaw tightened slightly, as if he were clenching his molars.
At that moment, Gao Huan truly put himself in Shen Lian's shoes.
He begged a superior who worked in the Ministry of Justice, and with great difficulty, he managed to add a name to the list of those granted amnesty to the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment institution).
The name Zhou Miaotong.
He wanted to say, "I've already taken care of it," but he swallowed the words back.
Gao Huan lowered his head, his gaze falling on the charcoal in the brazier.
The orange-red light reflected in his pupils, flickering uncertainly.