He Went Crazy, and He Got Stronger

In his previous life, Bai Youlou had loved using the "lead by example" method when training actors on set.

Because it really worked.

After all, there was an old saying: those who understand the times are wise—cough, cough. No, it was more like: if you can do it, you do it.

Usually, that phrase was used to mock keyboard warriors and trash-talkers. But with Bai Youlou, it became: I did it. Now it's your turn.

It almost never failed.

It was the first day of filming, so they had to start things off with a good omen.

If they could avoid NGs, they had better avoid them.

That was why there were no scenes for Long Ziqiang that morning. The entire shoot consisted of Bai Youlou's solo performance.

There was nothing particularly special about it. He was just playing the drums.

There were many drumming scenes throughout the film. They seemed to feature the same piece, but the drumming at each stage reflected the protagonist's different state of mind.

That required support from other aspects.

For example, his eyes, body language, and muscles.

The simplest method was, of course, to go straight in and immerse himself in the protagonist's situation during that scene.

The protagonist's only solo drumming scene, one that required no accompaniment from the band, was this scene: after being crazily humiliated and psychologically manipulated by the devilish instructor, he practiced like a madman.

He drummed until he was exhausted, until the skin between his thumb and index finger split and bled.

The best acting was not acting.

However, this method of acting had its limitations. After all, they couldn't really kill an actor just because they were filming a murder scene.

But Whiplash was a film where it could be used extensively.

That was because Bai Youlou had been something of a paranoid in his previous life to begin with. There was a reason he had wanted to make this film so badly.

In this life, though, he could choose another way to live.

He could also use this film as his final farewell.

--

This scene took over an hour to film.

There was only a brief pause in the middle, purely to adjust the camera positions and lighting. Bai Youlou, meanwhile, had barely put down the drumsticks in his hands for the entire shoot.

The audience gradually grew from the crew members.

Most of them were the students playing band members in the film.

They had all been contacted through Central Conservatory of Music and were unquestionably professionals.

But after silently watching Bai Youlou's filming during the latter half, most of these students fell silent.

These students had been found through Director He's connections, and they had already had plenty of complaints before coming.

They were young people, and musicians at that. They were very tuned in to trends, so how could they not know about Bai Youlou's scandal?

An infamous fallen idol making some strange film naturally left them displeased and puzzled.

They had even discussed it before coming: if Bai Youlou messed around or acted recklessly, they would refuse to cooperate.

Some had even planned to see whether Bai Youlou had suffered another breakdown, and were ready to return home and share the whole thing on Weibo.

But everything had seemed fine when they set out. Then, as soon as they arrived, they were inexplicably hit by an indiscriminate "area attack" and became completely emo.

Which student capable of entering Central Conservatory of Music had not been "fighting for their life" with an instrument since childhood?

They were actually the kind of people most capable of empathizing with Bai Youlou's crazed, self-abusive approach.

The calluses formed by different instruments appeared in different places, yet were fundamentally the same. They spoke of all the effort that had been invested.

It was easy for them to imagine themselves in his place.

Then Bai Youlou suddenly erupted, violently hammering the drum kit in front of him. His bloodstained fists smashed through the drumhead, nearly beating the entire kit apart. Only then did the atmosphere at the scene finally ease somewhat.

A great many people let out heavy breaths at the same time.

Damn, he'd finally let it all out!

To be honest, more than one person at the scene had wanted to applaud.

On many film sets, it was quite common for applause to break out when an actor delivered a brilliant and moving performance.

Good acting could infect people and make them applaud involuntarily.

But after Bai Youlou took several heavy breaths and raised his head to look at everyone with bloodshot eyes, the hands of those who had wanted to applaud froze halfway up.

A completely unfamiliar Bai Youlou.

He had utterly overturned the image he had created before the public as an idol.

At that moment, quite a few people reached the same conclusion as Old Zhou.

Bai Youlou's mental state was definitely somewhat problematic now!

Summary: He had gone crazy, and he had grown stronger.

However, when Bai Youlou soon put on a relaxed smile and mingled with the students from Central Conservatory of Music, he once again seemed perfectly normal.

Oh, right. Because filming had begun, Bai Youlou had shaved his beard and cut his hair as well, more or less returning to his former idol-like appearance.

He had to look neat and fresh. He was playing a student.

Now that he wore a smile and spoke gently, there was no trace of his earlier hysteria. He came out of character incredibly quickly.

Several of the young women from Central Conservatory of Music even blushed slightly as they watched him.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming to appear in my film."

"Director Bai, you're amazing at the drums! How long have you been playing?" one female student asked somewhat nervously.

But Bai Youlou's expression and demeanor were exceptionally relaxed at that moment, and his tone was warm and approachable.

"A few years, I guess. Learning an instrument is hard. I can't compare with professionals like you."

"Not at all, you're amazing! There probably aren't many people at our school who can play jazz drums as well as you."

"I only practiced specially for the film's theme. I'm really just fast. Pursuing speed and flashy technique too much can actually put the cart before the horse, so it can't really be called artistic." Bai Youlou smiled.

Old Zhou and Long Ziqiang both twitched at the corners of their mouths when they heard that. Practiced specially?

Before the crew started filming, they had barely seen Bai Youlou practice. He had merely idly played for a dozen minutes or so.

He was even fooling the students. What a lack of integrity.

But in the eyes of these students, Bai Youlou's image as the man who had "seduced his sister-in-law" quickly faded, replaced by that of a handsome guy who shared their interests and played the drums incredibly well.

Oh, right! He was also especially humble!

Young students were easy to fool. Besides, they had received an education and possessed at least a little "independent thinking."

At least, they believed they did.

To put it nicely, they were not so stubborn. They did not blindly believe whatever the internet said about Bai Youlou. They placed some value on "seeing was believing."

Now that they had seen him, he was completely different from what the internet had said~

People like that were actually easy to win over. If Bai Youlou put in a little more effort, he might even start "gaining fans" again.

They were much easier to deal with than the old hands on the crew.

However, after Bai Youlou pulled off this little performance, the crew basically settled down.

No one thought much of his harshness toward Long Ziqiang, but seeing how harsh he was toward himself was frightening.

They were genuinely beginning to fear Bai Youlou a little.

Who would want to provoke a "madman"?

This once again raised his control over the crew by another level. They were basically usable now, and he no longer had to worry about anyone opposing him or causing trouble.

But Long Ziqiang was suffering a little at this point. Damn, why didn't he get that kind of treatment?

Compared with the gentleness Bai Youlou showed when explaining scenes and chatting with the students, he was practically the real-life version of the devilish instructor from the script.

He kept squeezing him dry, piling on the pressure, and forcing him relentlessly.

If Long Ziqiang had not already been bald, he felt that by the time filming ended, he would have lost all his hair too.

He was grumbling inwardly when he saw Bai Youlou's smile disappear and watched him walk over.

Shit! The ghost is coming!

Don't come over here!