Chapter 46

At a shout, three cameras and seven or eight shots began rolling at once. Chen Mo, playing Sun Ce, and Chen Yuxiu, playing Zhou Yu, rode white horses slowly down the street.

Seeing that, after a period of recovery, the city was no longer like it had been when they first entered, with every door shut tight and no one daring to venture outside, but had returned to its former bustle, with taverns and shops on both sides of the street finally reopening and common folk setting up stalls along the roadside, Sun Ce could not help smiling in satisfaction. "That's more like it. Under my rule, the people should live in peace and prosperity should flourish. If it were like it was a few days ago, so silent you couldn't even hear dogs or chickens, without a soul in sight on the streets, then there'd be no point in conquering the world."

Hearing Sun Ce's words, Zhou Yu smiled as well. "My lord's ambition lies in the world, but his heart is with the people. You will surely accomplish great things."

As they spoke, the sound of a zither suddenly drifted out from behind the high walls of a household ahead. Zhou Yu could not help listening closely, then smiled. "The springtime sentiment is tender, but unfortunately, the melody is wrong."

Sun Ce became interested at once and laughed. "Stealing a moment of leisure to listen to a little tune—I wonder which household's master is in such high spirits."

After saying that, he casually asked a peddler nearby about the owner of the residence. When he learned that the renowned Qiao Xuan lived there, Sun Ce's lips curled up. He leaned close to Zhou Yu with a mischievous grin. "I've long heard that Lord Qiao has two daughters of unparalleled beauty. Since you and I have happened upon this place today, we ought to pay them a visit."

Seeing Sun Ce's expression, Zhou Yu immediately understood. He could not help smiling. "Since it is my lord's wish, Gongjin will obey without hesitation."

"Cut!"

After the director called cut, Zhou Yu and Sun Ce turned around at the same time. They saw Wang Chusheng staring at the monitor with a deep frown for a long while, then raising his head to study Chen Mo thoughtfully for quite some time. Chen Mo was thoroughly baffled and could not help asking Director Wang whether his performance had been poor. Yet Wang Chusheng did not say a word. He merely stood there in a daze for a while before waving his hand and calling out, "Continue."

Even Chen Yuxiu, who played Zhou Yu, sensed that something was off. Given Wang Chusheng's usual habits, even if a shot had no obvious problems, he would routinely film two extra takes so he could choose the better footage during post-production. It was practically unheard of for him to move on immediately after filming without getting additional takes.

Chen Yuxiu and Chen Mo exchanged looks, both completely at a loss.

However, the director was the boss on set. Since Wang Chusheng had told them to keep filming, they could only proceed without question.

Lu Xiaonong and Zhao Lan, who played Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao, along with the veteran actor playing Lord Qiao and the extras playing Madam Qiao, the Qiao Residence steward, and other roles, were all in position. Chen Mo and Chen Yuxiu then acted from knocking on the door and entering the residence through their first meeting with Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao. Wang Chusheng only called "Cut" a few times while switching camera angles; otherwise, he remained silent.

It was not until the entire sequence had been filmed that Wang Chusheng finally called Chen Mo over with a frown. Pointing at the monitor, he asked, "Watch it yourself. Tell me what you feel."

Chen Mo had been left muddleheaded by Wang Chusheng. He could only sit before the monitor and watch everything from beginning to end with a serious expression. Aside from noticing that his face really did look good on camera and that he had acted well, he found nothing unusual.

Chen Mo could only stare at Wang Chusheng with an innocent, pleading look.

When Wang Chusheng motioned for Chen Mo to sit down and watch the monitor, Chen Yuxiu, Lu Xiaonong, Zhao Lan, and the veteran actor playing Lord Qiao also gathered behind him. They watched the footage from beginning to end with Chen Mo. Without exception, faint looks of understanding appeared on their faces, followed by thoughtful frowns.

Chen Mo's heart jolted. Then he saw Wang Chusheng ask Chen Yuxiu and the others with a grave expression, "You felt it too, didn't you?"

Chen Yuxiu nodded at the question. After pondering for a moment, he said thoughtfully, "I vaguely sensed it while acting opposite him just now. I didn't expect it to be this serious."

Zhao Lan, who played Da Qiao and had many scenes opposite Chen Mo, said, "I thought I was the only one who felt that way. Looks like everyone felt it..."

After saying that, Zhao Lan glanced at Chen Mo, who was still out of the loop, and could not help patting him on the shoulder as she explained, "Xiao Mo, look at yourself—"

"Wait." Wang Chusheng raised a hand to stop Zhao Lan. He gave an instruction to the assistant director, then said to Chen Mo, "Come with me to the break room."

As an ace director who had won countless awards at film festivals both domestically and abroad, Wang Chusheng had even installed a large screen for showing films in his temporary on-set break room. It allowed him to watch movies during breaks and revisit old material for fresh insights.

However, this time, what Wang Chusheng intended to play was a segment of raw footage he had just filmed and had not yet sent through post-production.

On the large screen played every shot of Chen Mo's Sun Ce and Chen Yuxiu's Zhou Yu, from riding through the streets to visiting the Qiao Residence and then meeting Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao for the first time. The screen, several times larger than the monitor, clearly captured every movement the actors made—and highlighted the problem that had not been so obvious on the monitor.

As Chen Mo watched his own performance, his heart gradually sank.

Seeing Chen Mo's thoughtful expression, Wang Chusheng said, "You understand now, right? Chen Mo, you're too immersed in the role."

After saying that, Wang Chusheng felt a headache coming on as well.

For directors, the most frustrating thing had always been actors failing to get into character, dragging down the quality of the entire film until audiences cursed the actors' terrible performances after its release.

Wang Chusheng had never imagined that an actor becoming too immersed in a role could also affect a film's overall quality.

Take Chen Mo's performance just now, for example. There had been no major problems with his blocking, dialogue, reactions, or emotions. Looking at Chen Mo's scenes alone, the Sun Ce he portrayed seemed to have stepped straight out of the script. It was exactly what the film needed.

But once Chen Mo's scenes were placed together with those of the other actors, the problem emerged.

How should he put it...? The other actors' performances were excellent and on point. Chen Mo's performance was good too. With such a strong cast working together, they should have created a chemical reaction that sparked even more brilliantly. But now, not only was that chemistry gone, there was instead an inexplicable sense of separation. It was as though the acting within the same shot had been forcibly split into two parts—Chen Mo on one side, everyone else on the other.

Wang Chusheng, who had spent many years filming and possessed abundant experience, had never encountered such a situation before. For a moment, he was at a loss for words, completely unable to describe the feeling.

In the end, Zhao Lan, who had more experience with romance and had many emotional scenes with Chen Mo's Sun Ce in the film, hit the nail on the head. She described her feeling this way: "...It's like Sun Ce is in love with me, but his gaze is looking through me at someone else. None of his reactions or emotions are directed at me. They're all being conveyed through me to another person..."

The moment they heard that, everyone understood. They clapped their hands and said, "Yes, yes, yes, that's exactly it."

During the audition, Chen Mo had acted alone, with no one acting opposite him. In the ensemble scenes filmed yesterday, they had needed to create the effect of everyone revolving around him. Moreover, they had needed to portray Sun Jian's sudden death, with Sun Ce grieving the loss of his father while also shouldering Jiangdong's banner as its young lord. Thus, even if there had been that sense of lonely separation, it had only made Sun Ce's emotions fuller. As a result, no one had noticed the problem.

It was only today, when Chen Mo began acting with the others, that the issue became apparent.

But why had this happened?

Even if, as Zhao Lan had said, Chen Mo had thought of his first love while acting opposite Zhao Lan due to emotional transference, surely he could not have thought of another person he associated with every time he acted with anyone?

Everyone was unable to make sense of it.

Only Chen Mo himself suddenly realized something after hearing Zhao Lan's explanation. However, he had no idea how to solve the problem either.

Seeing Chen Mo sitting in the break room with his head lowered, looking dejected and thoughtful, the others grew somewhat worried as well.

Wang Chusheng scratched his head in frustration, his eyes fixed tightly on Chen Mo's performance on the large screen as he tried to find a solution.

Chapter 46

Lin Yongning, who played Sun Quan, originally had no scenes scheduled for today. Director Wang had called him to the set.

Only after arriving did he learn that there had been a problem with the day's filming, making it impossible to continue as planned. Director Wang had therefore decided at the last minute to move Sun Quan's scenes forward.

The director was the boss on set. Besides, when acting in Director Wang's production, there was no need to worry about scheduling conflicts. When they had no scenes, the other actors either rested at the hotel or watched others act on set. Whenever they were needed, one phone call could bring them over, with no need to consider whether their schedules could be rearranged. Of course, in the country, Director Wang was probably the only one with that kind of clout.

After changing into costume and having his makeup done, Lin Yongning strolled out of the dressing room and onto the set. To his astonishment, he found Chen Mo, who played Sun Ce, wearing Da Qiao's costume and rehearsing with Zhao Lan off to the side. Zhao Lan, who originally played Da Qiao, was now dressed in Sun Ce's costume. Lin Yongning nearly burst out laughing. He walked up to the actor playing Lord Qiao and asked quietly, "What's going on?"

Lord Qiao glanced sideways at Lin Yongning and quietly told him what had happened during the morning shoot. At the end, he could not help laughing. "Director Wang wants Chen Mo to step out of the role a little, get used to the filming atmosphere, and then shoot Sun Ce's scenes again."

Lin Yongning was stunned and could not help looking at Chen Mo. After so many years in the industry, this was the first time he had heard of someone being so immersed in a role that it caused the footage to feel disconnected.

It seemed Chen Mo was another oddball Director Wang had discovered.

Chen Mo, who was rehearsing with Zhao Lan, had no idea what the other actors on the production thought of him. He understood his own situation. He had spent too long in the System Space. While filming, he could regard himself as Sun Ce, but he could not treat the other actors as the historical figures they portrayed. So whenever he acted opposite someone, he would unconsciously think about how those characters had behaved in the System Space, then react differently based on his memories.

Chen Mo had performed the same way while filming Emperor Wu of Han: The Young Emperor. However, the standards for acting in an idol drama were naturally different from the requirements of an arthouse film. Director Zhang also did not possess Wang Chusheng's sharp eye for footage. Furthermore, Chen Mo had been acting on screen for the first time then, and the role he played had not been important, so no one had paid close attention to just how good his acting was.

But the moment he joined Wang Chusheng's production, things no longer worked. To put it another way, it was as though every single movement he made before the camera was being examined by Wang Chusheng through a magnifying glass. Even the tiniest flaw could be spotted, let alone a problem serious enough to affect the film's overall effect.

"You have enough sense of drama, but your acting skills aren't there yet." After thinking it over, Wang Chusheng summed up Chen Mo's current condition this way. "The language of the camera differs from everyday language. Your interpretation of Sun Ce is very much on point. The problem is that you have too little acting experience and you're holding your emotions too tightly. The most urgent thing is for you to relax first, interact more with the other actors, and understand how they express themselves in front of the camera..."

As for training his acting skills, Director Wang would have to give him private coaching off set. Fortunately, though Chen Mo's acting was still inexperienced, his grasp of the role was exceptionally accurate. He was hardworking and talented. Although there were still some issues with communication, Wang Chusheng believed that as long as Chen Mo was given some time and the people around him cooperated a little more, overcoming this problem would only be a matter of time. However—

What Wang Chusheng had not expected was that this approach was naturally good for Chen Mo. But for those acting opposite him, it was not quite so good.