This director needs to apologize

Chapter 398 Perfect fit
After entering May, the filming progress of "Looking for the Heart" has been greatly accelerated.

On the one hand, it benefited from Liu Haoran getting more and more into the role, and on the other hand, it was due to the basic completion of the outdoor scenes.

With the increasingly smooth filming, on the 13th, the thick production schedule finally turned to the last page, which was still the rivalry between Shen Ming and Liu Haoran, and it was the dramatic scene when the master and apprentice first met.

The plot of this scene is simple and the lines are not many, but the emotions are tortuous and the performance logic is complex, so it was scheduled to be filmed last.

After being "taken care of" in all aspects for nearly two months, Xiao Liu is now a completely different person. From the rehearsal before the official shooting, it can be seen that he can completely keep up with Master Shen's rhythm, and the difference lies only in the handling of individual details.

As the filming is about to be wrapped up, the atmosphere of the entire crew is very light-hearted, filled with a bit of restlessness.

Chen Yiming still adhered to the general principle of decentralization and handed over the dominant power to Shen Ming. He moved a chair to the sidelines, ready to watch Actor Shen's rage from a close distance.

The production staff cleared the set, confirmed the process, the script supervisor clapped the clapboard, and the filming of the last scene began.

This is a very ordinary single-room office, located at the east side of the first floor. It is not very large and is filled with clutter.

If there is anything special, it is probably the various physical education equipment piled up in one corner of the room, which looks a bit out of place compared to the wall of books on the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf on the other side.

Shen Ming leaned against the edge of the desk, hugged his shoulders, and looked at Liu Haoran wandering around the room with a smile.

He looked nonchalant and seemed to be looking around aimlessly, but in fact he was looking for an opportunity to make trouble.

Although this scene in the finished film was designed to be shot in sequence by a single actor, it was a complete two-act scene during filming.

Camera No. 3 operating the Steadicam needs to follow Liu Haoran throughout the entire process, capturing the latter's several changes in eyes just right, and clearly conveying the various attempts to find new things to the audience.

In the narrow and cramped space, the movement trajectories of Liu Haoran and the Steadicam photographer must be very precise. The former's stride, direction, and angle must be accurate in order to achieve the designed effect.

In order to avoid mistakes, the set design department came in early and repeatedly debugged the placement of props on site. They placed them, arranged them, and filmed them once. It took several days before Chen Yiming finally got it right.

This was not the end yet. After officially moving to this office, Shen Ming and Liu Haoran personally rehearsed for most of the day. After adjusting a few minor details, the preparation work was finally completed.

After all, the people who had previously replaced the master and apprentice were just stuntmen. The most they could do was to have a similar height and body shape, but they couldn't completely simulate Liu Haoran's personal habits. Only by wearing the shoes yourself can you know whether they fit.

Shen Ming spoke his first line towards the fixed camera in front of him, "Good afternoon, are you a local?"

This greeting was responded to by a long, awkward silence. Shen Ming's eyes did not change at all, as if the person who was left there was not him at all, and the faint smile on his face was motionless.

Seeing that Chen Yiming did not say anything, the assistant director called for a stop at the right time, and the guy from the camera crew quickly moved the fixed camera in front of Shen Ming out of the scene.

After the script supervisor took photos to confirm, Liu Haoran came in and sat on the chair diagonally opposite Shen Ming, but the camera responsible for filming him was not a fixed one, but a moving Steadicam.

Liu Haoran took out a cigarette from his pocket, first held it in his hand, then fumbled around on his body for a lighter, his eyes frivolous and his expression lazy.

The status is good!
Shen Ming opened his mouth again and said the same greeting, but Liu Haoran acted as if he didn't hear it. He stood up and looked around.

His movements were casual and slow, matching the atmosphere and mood of the moment, as well as the movements of the Steadicam cameraman.

Shen Ming spoke again gently after a delay of more than ten seconds, "I don't smoke, and there's no fire here."

The next moment, Liu Haoran took out a lighter from his inner pocket, lit it with a click, and put the cigarette in his hand to it to light it. After taking a deep breath, he said, "I like your place. It's the same style as my home, with garbage and waste everywhere."

He picked up a skipping rope tied into short ropes from the top of a cardboard box filled with sports teaching aids, swung it a few times like a nunchaku, turned his head and asked, "Have you tried all the things here? How many of these can you jump in one go?"

Shen Mingping replied calmly, "My best result is 1 times in 329 minute. Do you like skipping rope too?"

The Steadicam photographer, who was crouching and bending over, used a rather awkward posture to accurately capture the stiffness and pause of Liu Haoran's body. Then he and Liu Haoran slowly turned at the same speed and in opposite directions until they were facing each other.

Liu Haoran raised his eyebrows and smiled, a look of slight surprise followed by an interested look, very accurate!
Apparently, the rebellious genius found some pleasure in the fact that his hidden attack was resolved by the other party.

Liu Haoran ignored Shen Ming's question and pointed to the bookshelf on the other side of the room. "Have you read all those big books?"

He suddenly and quickly walked towards the bookshelf, and the photographer in front of him stepped back synchronously, holding the Steadicam steady and moving it back into the special groove under the bookshelf.

Without Chen Yiming saying anything, the assistant director had already called "cut".

Just now there was a problem in the cooperation between Liu Haoran and the photographer. The distance was not maintained properly, so they had to start over.

In fact, this scene could have been shot using a simple method of multiple cuts, which would have saved Liu Haoran and the photographer from having to go through the trouble of performing a duet.

However, after repeated considerations, Chen Yiming still chose a long shot with few edits to try to make the emotions more coherent. After all, the general direction of the whole scene is a confrontation between two people, each acting their own part, and the two parts of the play are already a foregone conclusion. Therefore, for the sake of balance and viewing experience, the single-person shot cannot be frequently switched.

It doesn't matter if it's a little bit harder, because it's worth it.

After a quarter of an hour's break, the second shoot began with taking out cigarettes. This time, the coordination between Liu Haoran and the Steadicam was perfect.

He stood in front of the bookshelf and slowly read out the name of one of the books, "Wow, a 90% new copy of Psychoanalytic Treatment, which is in better condition than the one I have at home. Unfortunately, it has been neglected and has yellow spots on the spine.

A north-facing room is not suitable for bookshelves. You should change it to an office."

Shen Ming was not touched by this hidden thorn. He replied with a smile, "That was left by the predecessor who ran away. Williams' foreign logic does not match the brain grooves of Chinese people. When I copy homework, I prefer to use the book "Abnormal Psychology". It is full of the unevenness of life. You only need to memorize half a page and you will be cured without treatment."

The answer of "exposing one's own shortcomings" made Liu Haoran's academic pretense sink into his stomach, but he did not seem discouraged, but became more interested.

Putting the book "Psychoanalytic Treatment" back on the bookshelf, he raised his voice slightly and said, "Well done. Some people are good at making simple things very complicated to show off their intelligence. In fact, they are so stupid that they make me cry."

He ran his fingers along the bookshelf, over the spines of the books. "These are real garbage, not worth recycling at all. You were smart not to waste an afternoon of your life like I did."

His fingers suddenly paused and he pulled out a book. "Appreciation of the Three Kingdoms", is this also left by your predecessor?"

"No, I bought it."

"I think teachers in the university town should at least read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

"I'm just a physical education teacher. You have too high expectations of me."

"stop!"

A small paragraph was successfully completed at this point, and Liu Haoran's performance was worthy of Shen Ming's efforts.

However, Chen Yiming remained unmoved. He still ruthlessly signaled the set design team to reset the scene and save one line first.

It is obviously not as easy as it sounds to keep one long shot. When the second "backup" material was completed, it was almost 11 o'clock.

I took two photos in the morning, and the speed was average.

Before lunch, the set design team came in to re-adjust the bookshelf to give the Steadicam photographer a wider camera angle. Liu Haoran came out again to reshoot the subsequent close-up shots.

His gaze paused at a photo frame on the second shelf of the bookshelf. It was a group photo in military uniforms. The bald man in the lower left corner was Shen Ming, who looked 20 years younger.

After forty minutes, this shot was completed smoothly, and the progress of the whole scene was about to reach one third.

After lunch and a nap, the filming resumed. Xiao Liu's performance was relatively stable, while Shen Ming continued to perform like a robot. The materials were advanced one by one at a steady pace, and the last shot of the film was finally shot before 4 o'clock.

After repeatedly and unsuccessfully teasing the psychological counselor, the protagonist Xun Xin turned his attention to a watercolor painting in front of the window.

The blue sky, white clouds, beach, graceful figure, leisurely style and fresh brushstrokes seem somewhat out of place in this extremely messy office.

The rebellious genius found another catnip. He stood in front of the painting and used art terms to appreciate and comment on it, showing his professionalism. He analyzed the composition, lines, colors, light and shade in detail.

Shen Ming, who had always been very patient, was now irritated beyond words. He left the table and walked to the door, hinting at his true intention of wanting to see the guests off as soon as possible.

This was exactly what the genius wanted, and he realized that he had finally touched the snake's weak spot.

The camera position changes again, from the door to the window. The out-of-focus Shen Ming takes off his glasses and wipes the lenses with his head down, symbolizing his inner avoidance.

Liu Haoran, who was in real focus from a distance, was extremely excited and continued to chatter on and on.

"Is the woman in the painting your wife? I sensed your depression and frustration when you were painting. The brush cannot deceive people. Did she abandon you?"

Shen Ming said in a low voice, "Shut up now, I can treat you like a fart."

Liu Haoran looked excited, as if he had predicted it. "Tell me, how did she leave you? Did she run away or did she cheat on you?"

The next moment, Liu Haoran and the painting were suddenly covered by a rapidly approaching figure. Shen Ming directly covered him under his body, fitting him tightly.

(End of this chapter)