Chapter 119 Eating Coriander

In the afternoon, the filming of "Love Apartment" officially started.

On the busy set, the camera has been adjusted and the lights are ready...

The staff members were shuttling around in various corners, making final preparations for the upcoming filming...

Zhang Zijie sat on a mat, holding the script, and silently rehearsing the lines in his mind.

In the first episode, he had a two-and-a-half-minute monologue that was required to be shot in one take.

This is a big challenge for any actor. It not only requires the actor to have solid dialogue skills, but also excellent emotional expression ability.

His girlfriend He Xiu accompanied him carefully and helped him wipe the sweat from his forehead from time to time.

In addition to him, other actors were also very nervous, such as Wang Hong who played Chen Meijia, and Lin Yin who played Lin Wanyu. In the first episode, they had significant roles, and at this moment, they were racing against time to figure out the mentality of their characters.

On the contrary, Jiang Jun was not nervous at all, but was very much looking forward to it.

Because the character he plays, Lu Zhanbo, and the character Lin Wanyu, played by Lin Yin, are a perfect match, he will soon be able to play opposite Lin Yin in the drama.

-

Everything is ready and the first scene begins.

The first scene was an outdoor scene. Lu Zhanbo returned to China and happened to meet Lin Wanyu who ran away from home. The two met on the bus.

-

Cheng Cheng sat in front of the monitor and said to Xiaoyi, Xiaoer, Xiaosan and Xiaosi:

"Watch carefully, I will only demonstrate it once."

There aren’t many opportunities to observe top directors’ guidance up close!
Little One, Little Two, Little Three, and Little Four immediately perked up!
The man in the beret stood behind, opened his notebook, and picked up a pen. When Xiao Si looked at him, he glared at him:

Why are you looking at me? Don’t I need to study?!
Xiao Si was so scared that he turned his head back immediately.

Cheng Cheng held a loud speaker and said, "Love Apartment, bus, first scene, first shot, first line, start!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire crew started running quickly like a machine.

The camera follows Jiang Jun as he gets on the bus. When he sees a beautiful woman in front of him swiping the bus card in her butt pocket, he thinks it is some kind of payment method, so he imitates the beautiful woman and rubs the card machine with his butt. When it doesn't work, he rubs it with his front, which results in him being scolded by the driver:

"Are you a pervert? Either swipe your card, insert coins, or get lost. Why are you twisting your body?!"

Jiang Jun: “Oh~”

After the first shot was taken, Jiang Jun ran to Cheng Cheng, laughed three times, and then asked:
"Hahaha, brother-in-law, how's my photo? Not bad, right?"

Cheng Cheng frowned: "How many times have I told you to refer to your job title when you are working!"

Jiang Nan said weakly, "Oh, Director Cheng."

Cheng Cheng nodded and said, "It's a good shot, keep it up."

Letting Jiang Jun play Lu Zhanbo is a genius idea. This guy plays the role of a fool so well!

On this track, he couldn't see his opponent at all!
When Jiang Jun heard Cheng Cheng say this, he immediately smiled.

After the first shot, Lin Wanyu, played by Lin Yin, appeared on the scene.

She ran onto the bus, lay on Jiang Jun's legs, hid, and stretched out a finger, whispering: "Shh, don't make a sound!"

Three men in black followed and got on the bus, looking for Lin Wanyu. After being chased away by the bus driver, Lin Yin breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, it's okay, thank you~"

Jiang Jun said with difficulty: "It's okay."

Here, he has a good grasp of emotions. Although it is exaggerated and reveals a bit of silliness, it is very consistent with the image of Lu Zhanbo. But this is mainly because Cheng Cheng once used the "disposable magic acting patch" on him.

Although the 'One-time Magic Acting Post' is a one-time thing, some insights and experiences have been preserved, allowing Jiang Jun to know what real acting is.

Young actors nowadays don’t even know how to act. Jiang Jun is already far better than them.

Lin Yin acted with him: "Hey, are you okay? I'll let you hide here for a while, right?"

Jiang Jun pointed down and said, "You stepped on my foot~"

Lin Yin: “I’m sorry!”

Jiang Jun: "It's okay, it's okay. Who were those bad guys just now?"

Lin Yin said: "They are bad people, very bad people." Then, she stretched out her hand to Jiang Jun: "Call me Wanyu!"

Jiang Jun: "My name is Zhanbo!"

Lin Yin: "Oh~ Then we know each other."

Soon, the scene on the bus was finished. Jiang Jun's performance was acceptable and he played himself well. Lin Yin worked hard and her acting skills improved significantly. She portrayed Lin Wanyu's innocence, naivety and ignorance of the world.

Jiang Jun followed behind Lin Yin, with a flattering smile on his face. He praised:

"Yinyin, you acted so well! Every line and every action was just right. You really brought the character of Lin Wanyu to life. How did you manage to be so beautiful and so good?!"

Lin Yin didn't even look at him and snorted coldly, obviously not wanting to give Jiang Jun a good face.

She walked straight to Cheng Cheng and asked nervously, "Director Cheng, is my acting okay? Is there anything that needs improvement?"

"Considering the requirements of this drama, your acting skills are already good enough, but if you want to improve, you are not without shortcomings..." Cheng Cheng pointed out several problems. Lin Yin listened attentively and nodded repeatedly.

Jiang Jun was rejected and stood aside with a sad face.

Lin Yin has changed so fast! She is totally different in the drama and outside the drama!
In the play, she was always smiling and talking to him; outside the play, she didn't even say a word to him.

Should we say that she has high professional qualities or that she is inhumane?
After Cheng Cheng finished explaining the play to Lin Yin, Jiang Nan walked towards Cheng Cheng and asked, "Brother-in-law, how can I get Lin Yin to talk to me? He is ignoring me now."

"Do you want her to pay attention to you?" Cheng Cheng thought for a moment and said, "I'll teach you a simple sentence pattern, 'Let me test you...'"

——At three o'clock in the afternoon, all the exterior shots of the first episode were completed.

This scene, which originally took up 10 to 20 minutes in the drama, was filmed in less than two hours under Cheng Cheng's coordination.

Xiaoyi, Xiaoer, Xiaosan and Xiaosi were watching in amazement, their eyes popped out of their heads!
Isn’t this too efficient?

Moreover, Cheng Cheng's ability to coordinate the set and control the actors is simply amazing!
Beret felt a slight sense of superiority:
Hum, what do you think? Are you shocked? This is just the beginning! If you knew that Director Cheng could edit a movie in three days, wouldn’t you go crazy? !
-

The camera came into the room and started filming Hu Yifei preparing for the wedding.

The first season of "Love Apartment" was filmed in 2008. In terms of style, the makeup and styling of "Love Apartment" is still at the forefront of fashion. The clothes and hairstyles of the male and female protagonists all look very beautiful.

But now it is 2022. If you look back at "Love Apartment", you will find that the male and female protagonists are really unfashionable.

Therefore, Cheng Cheng hired a professional stylist, who combined the fashion concepts from his previous life in 2024, which were two years ahead, to redesign the image of the character in the play.

Wen Lian's look is still her standard flaming red lips, but not as overly ostentatious and eye-catching as when she walks on the red carpet. Instead, it has a daily attribute and can be worn in daily life.

As soon as Wen Lian appeared on the stage, she showed her charm and portrayed Hu Yifei's dominance, decisiveness and beauty to the fullest, winning applause from the whole audience.

This made Zhang Zijie even more stressed, and his palms were sweating.

His girlfriend He Xiu said, "Zi Jie, don't be nervous. Sister Wen Lian's acting is indeed good, but you are not bad either. Just perform at your normal level. You can play Zeng Xiaoxian well!"

During the month of preparation, Zhang Zijie underwent intensive training and his acting skills improved a lot, especially his performance level. However, he still felt a little scared when facing the filming.

Zhang Zijie took a sip of water and said, "Yeah, Xiu, thank you!"

It was Zhang Zijie's turn to appear on stage. All the lighting and photography were ready. He gestured to Cheng Cheng, who said, "Begin!"

Under the camera, Zhang Zijie, wearing headphones, immediately revealed a smile that was three parts greasy, three parts confident, and four parts shameless, and said: "Listeners, I am a good man, I am Zeng Xiaoxian, welcome to continue listening to Your Moon My Heart——"

As he spoke, he reached out and pushed up the radio control button.

".Many times, we live in urban fairy tales without knowing it. Xiaoxian has such a roommate. He and a girl live in two suites in the same apartment building. Unfortunately, one always walks to the left, and the other always - takes the elevator!"

"Card!"

Cheng Cheng looked up from the monitor and said, "The rhythm of the lines is not good!"

Zhang Zijie hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, Director Cheng, I'm a little nervous."

Cheng Cheng stretched out his hand to stop him and said, "Continue!"

"Scene 18, first shot, second take, start."

Zhang Zijie took a deep breath and started again:
".It's a pity that one always goes left, and the other always - takes the elevator!"

Cheng Cheng: "Cut! The mood is not right. I don't want you to be funny on purpose. I want Zeng Xiaoxian's sense of belief!"

Article .

Zhang Zijie: "Pushing aside that wall, I found out that they have already - wow, so romantic, isn't it? Today he will join hands with - sorry, Director Cheng, I read the wrong line."

Article 4.

Zhang Zijie: "Today, they will work together to achieve the fruition of their love. Don't doubt it, you can also--"

Cheng Cheng: "Cut, it's a bit awkward and not natural enough."

Cheng Cheng stood up and said, "Come on, Zijie, come with me."

Under the gaze of the entire audience, Zhang Zijie stood up tremblingly, followed Cheng Cheng, and walked to the sidelines.

He Xiu was filled with worry. The entire set fell silent and no one dared to breathe.

Although Cheng Cheng is easy-going and seems to care about nothing, everyone knows that he is the tyrant on the set and a domineering person who even dares to provoke Lu Zhuofeng, let alone others.

Once he gets serious, things will definitely be serious!
Zhang Zijie lowered his head and said, "Director Cheng, I'm sorry, I was wrong! I delayed everyone's time and the progress of the filming, I'm sorry"

Cheng Cheng looked at him for a while and asked, "Do you like coriander?"

Zhang Zijie uttered an "ah", not knowing what this question had to do with, but he still answered:
"do not like to eat."

Cheng Cheng sighed and said:

"I can tell from the looks of it that you don't eat cilantro. The reason you can't act well is that you don't eat enough cilantro!"

He casually called over a field assistant and said, "Wash me a piece of coriander."

The assistant came back quickly, and in less than five minutes he brought back a stalk of coriander that was still wet with water. Cheng Cheng took it and handed it to Zhang Zijie, saying:

"Eat it!"

No, bad acting has something to do with coriander?
Zhang Zijie looked at the coriander in his hand with a painful expression, but under Cheng Cheng's merciless gaze, he still endured the physical discomfort, stuffed the coriander into his mouth, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it raw.

Cheng Cheng patted his shoulder and used a "one-time magic acting sticker" casually.

This "One-time Magic Acting Sticker" was drawn by Jiang Nan during the song draw during the Chinese New Year. It is also the only "One-time Magic Acting Sticker" he has left.

Cheng Cheng said: "Okay, go back, it's ok."

that's it?

Zhang Zijie didn't believe it in his heart, but in the subsequent filming, he seemed to be assisted by God, as if his acting skills had increased by 20% to 30% out of thin air. He was not inferior to Wen Lian in the acting, and there was no NG. All the scenes were done in one take.

Little One, Little Two, Little Three, and Little Four all looked at Cheng Cheng in disbelief. Even Beret was surprised. Although Cheng Cheng had done similar things before, he still couldn't figure out how Cheng Cheng did it!
Xiao Si bravely asked, "Director Cheng, what did you tell him? Why is he suddenly not nervous anymore? And why did he act so well all of a sudden?"

Cheng Cheng: "Eat it with coriander!"

On the other hand, Zhang Zijie finished his performance and began to doubt his life:
I didn’t have a fever before. Is it really because I didn’t eat enough coriander?

(End of this chapter)