Abstract Art Award Winner

Zhang Yimou didn't care who Zhou Le's assistant was.

All he wants is for his work to meet his standards, and for the actors to not cause any trouble during filming and before and after the movie's release.

In other words, even if actors mess around on set every day, as long as it doesn't affect the filming schedule and process, they can do whatever they want.

Furthermore, Zhou Le is the lead actor and the male lead.

It's quite common for actors of this caliber to travel with a team of about 10 people; that's all too common.

Zhou Le doesn't even need a makeup artist or stylist, so there's even less to say about him bringing an assistant along this time.

"Okay, just bring it. But we'll be going to Harbin in a couple of days to prepare. We'll rest there for a day after we arrive, and then we'll go to Xuexiang to start filming. We'll be shooting quite a few scenes there, so you probably won't have much free time during this period."

"When you're moving between scenes, or when you don't have many scenes, you can participate in other events if you have other commitments."

"Thank you, Director Zhang. You're so kind to me."

"No need to say that. I'm nice to you because I trust you. This is our first time working together. Although I don't know how you are on other film sets, I will try my best to focus on this film as well."

However, I roughly know your personality, so I'll give you a little time to do other things.

"Thank you, Director Zhang! May you be as evergreen as a pine tree, and as long-lived as the Southern Mountain, enjoying peace and prosperity year after year. May you always cherish the warmth of spring breezes and autumn moons, and the coolness of winter snow and summer sun. May you always have a pure heart, and may the film's start and shooting go smoothly, achieving great box office success. Best wishes to Director Zhang in all his endeavors..."

Zhou Le began to speak eloquently.

Zhang Yi was exasperated: "Okay, okay, that's enough. I know why they all like it when you say these things; you just spout off whatever comes to mind."

"good."

Zhang Yimou: "."

"You're getting all worked up just because I said you're fat? You think this is a compliment?"

"Yeah, isn't that a compliment? I think you're quite talented at speaking eloquently. And Director Zhang, how did you know I've been gaining weight lately?"

"I have no idea. Alright, go back and get ready. I need to talk to He Wei again. I was talking about two male leads, but normally you're still the male lead and he's the second male lead, but his role is quite important too."

"Okay, Director Zhang, go ahead. I'll go back and get my things ready, and then I'll have Xiao Ye get ready too, so we can go to the Northeast together."

Zhou Ye has now arrived in Beijing and is waiting for orders. The apartment he rented here is next to the apartments of the other people.

However, everyone else is currently filming in different cities, so Zhou Ye has been staying alone these past few days. Since he can't go out and about, he just cooks something simple for himself at home each day, and then either plays on the computer or uses his phone for a while.

Zhou Ye was overjoyed when Zhou Le arrived.

"You've finally arrived! You have no idea how bored I've been these past few days. I should have just followed you. You could have taken me with you wherever you went and at least met some people."

Zhou Le smiled and then took the little wild animal off him: "So it was because you were bored. I thought you wanted to learn something from Director Zhang."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ye immediately retorted, "How could that be? I just want to go to the film crew to learn something. Director Zhang is a national treasure, unlike the others!"

"Oh, I thought you wanted to go out because you didn't want to stay home alone."

"Of course not. I'm a very quiet person. I like to read books, listen to music, and exercise when I have free time."

"You? Wenjing? Well, that's definitely true. But you should start preparing now. Remember to bring your warm clothes. We're going to Harbin next, and then we'll be staying in Xuexiang for a while."

"Wow, when do we leave?"

"I'll be leaving in a couple of days."

"Okay, I'll go pack my things now. But should we go straight to the airport on the day of departure, or do we need to meet up with the film crew first?"

"Anything is fine, as long as you're not late."

"Then I'll pack my things today, and we can go tomorrow, okay?"

"sure."

Zhou Le himself is fine; two suitcases are enough for him to travel, mainly to pack some clothes and daily necessities.

It's not that Zhou Le has trouble going out; after all, when you go out alone, you still need to make sure you have all the things you need for daily life, and you should use your own if you can.

This means you'll have to bring a lot of things.

So two boxes are really not many.

As for Zhou Ye, the amount would have to be doubled.

Firstly, he brought more clothes than Zhou Le, and secondly, he had access to a wider variety of cosmetics and daily necessities.

However, a large portion of these items do not travel with them on the plane, as that would be too cumbersome. Therefore, artists usually find another vehicle to transport their belongings.

Sometimes the production crew will also take on this responsibility.

That evening, Zhou Le also brought his belongings over and put them in the car, but he still needed to eat something. Restaurants were rarely open, and you had to scan a QR code to get in, so staying home was more convenient.

"It's a good opportunity for you to try my cooking. I'll tell you, recently, besides playing games, I've also been studying cooking. I learned a few of my signature dishes online, and after making them myself, I think they taste pretty good."

“Sichuan food?”

"It's not Sichuan cuisine, it's Cantonese cuisine. Sichuan cuisine is too spicy, and it's not very convenient to eat afterward."

Zhou Le: "???"

"Not convenient?"

Zhou Le soon understood why it wasn't very convenient. Sichuan cuisine was indeed very spicy, and it would make you feel hot after eating it, but many of the Cantonese dishes that Zhou Ye made were very nourishing.

I felt completely refreshed after eating it.

Although Zhou Le, who loves to eat, knows that many high-end Sichuan dishes are actually not spicy, how could Zhou Ye possibly make them?
After finishing the meal, Zhou Ye tidied up the outside, putting the dishes and chopsticks into the dishwasher.

"Your skills are really good! Did you learn all of this online?"

"Yes, I learned it all online, and it's all highly nutritious."

“I can see that whether it’s a soup, a cold dish, or a stir-fry, there’s nothing that isn’t nourishing.”

Zhou Le sometimes doesn't like to be too proactive, because that makes it seem like he's asking for it. He prefers to be a little more passive.

Sure enough, as they chatted, Zhou Ye brought up the topic of acting skills.

“I still remember when you first met me, you said I was suitable to play a villain, and I’ve always kept that in mind. After filming ‘Better Days’ last year, I became even more certain of that idea. So lately I’ve been thinking about how to play a villain better. Although I did a great job in ‘Better Days,’ I always felt there was still room for improvement.”

Zhou Le listened with some doubt: "Wait a minute, which of your statements is true? At first you said you were bored at home and didn't know what to do; later you said you would read books, listen to music, and exercise;
The third time it was about playing video games, how come now it's about spending all your time figuring out acting skills?

Zhou Ye: "No, Brother Le, you have such a good memory?"

"Is this what you call good memory? It wasn't even half a day. If this counts, isn't your memory a bit too bad? Do you remember what we just ate?"

"Just now."

When asked to recall something unexpectedly, Zhou Ye's mind went completely blank, and he couldn't come up with anything for a while.

"Oh, none of that matters. What's important is that you could help me see if I've made any progress lately. The last time we worked together was on 'Crackdown'."

“You can take a look. But you did a really good job in ‘Caught in Time’. Come on, let me see how far you can go in playing a villain now.”

"I'll act it myself, so you have to cooperate, right?"

"Then what role should I play? The classmate you bully?"

"can."

At first, Zhou Le was indeed watching the other person act, and Zhou Ye had indeed made great progress in portraying the villainous woman. Before, she looked like a school bully, but now her "evil" had increased significantly.

It's not just their expressions and actions; every gesture they make exudes deep malice, elevating one's understanding of "evil" to a whole new level.

"It really captures that essence. Some yandere girls in anime do seem quite perverted, but that's because the medium is different, so they can be exaggerated to a certain extent."

In reality, I think that kind of exaggerated performance is more suitable for stage plays. If it were put into film and television dramas, some people might think, "Wow, it looks really weird, and the acting is so intense." But in reality, that kind of performance is just the simplest and most opportunistic.

Even if many people think this is a very expressive performance, if someone can't even act like this, I can only say they're not suited for this line of work.

Just like Wang Baoqiang smoking, many people use all sorts of smoking methods and postures, but Wang Baoqiang only used that one smoking method to portray that feeling.

Even if you think about it carefully, his method is very ordinary, but he takes the ordinary to the extreme and that makes it extraordinary.

Let's go back to the point. Among all the actors who have played psychopaths in the past, who do you think played the most psychopathic role?

Zhou Ye thought for a moment and said, "I think Teacher Feng Yuanzheng's image is the most terrifying. His tension really makes me feel scared after seeing him."

"He did act well, but what else is there besides that? His performance was pure evil, the kind of hysteria."

Zhou Ye thought for a moment and said, "I don't think I could have come up with that question so easily."

Zhou Le said, "I don't know what you think, but let me give you an example. Wang Baoqiang's behavior in 'Kung Fu Jungle' is actually quite perverted, because it's pure evil."

He doesn't care what others think; he only puts his own ideas into practice.

And then there's Louis Koo's portrayal of "I Don't Eat Beef," whose unpredictable and volatile nature sends chills down your spine.

In short, there are many kinds of evil, but true evil is the kind that makes people shudder when they see it, and may even cause nausea and physical discomfort.

That's why some South Korean movies, after watching them, make you feel that their portrayal of human nature is just so damn good.

On the one hand, it's because they have a lot of leeway in their performances and can fully express themselves. In other words, their lines and performances can have corresponding mediums, but our censorship system can't support that, so they can only perform within the existing framework.

This makes actors who can portray this feeling even more precious.

Zhou Ye thought for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully.

"Shall we do it again?"

"Okay."

This time, the two of them really went all out in their performance.

Zhou Le was willing to cooperate, but he spoke frankly about the things he couldn't accept, since he felt his hobbies were quite normal.

"How about it?"

"I feel like it's still lacking something. How about I act it out for you?"

"Okay, I'll learn."

Afterwards, Zhou Le demonstrated to the other party what contrast meant and what it meant to be a hypocrite.

Zhou Ye approached the experience with a learning attitude, and although he felt a little dizzy at times, he still managed to remember the feeling.

"Sigh, that's what good students are like. Sometimes it's not so easy to deal with them. If it were Sister Meng, she would definitely be completely focused and wouldn't even think about studying."

After the rehearsal, Zhou Ye began to review the exercise. As a good student in Zhou Le's eyes, he was very capable of taking action. After reviewing the exercise, he immediately began to demonstrate to Zhou Le.

In this way, the two of them went back and forth, demonstrating and communicating with each other, and Zhou Le felt that his teaching ability had improved to a certain extent.

Zhou Ye, on the other hand, felt that his acting skills had indeed improved, and he benefited greatly from Zhou Le's method of putting teaching into practice.

But teaching can't go on too late. The so-called balance between work and rest is the right way, so after taking a shower, they hurriedly went to sleep, since they had to go to the film crew early the next morning.

Zhou Le himself really likes this kind of subject matter for the movie he is about to shoot, but if you just take out the various shooting locations of this movie separately, it gives Zhou Le a headache.

The vast majority of the shots are taken on snowy days.

At least 90% of the scenes are set against a snowy backdrop, and even indoor scenes must be set in snowy conditions.

It's not that Zhou Le has become spoiled and started to reject this harsh filming environment now that he's made money; it's mainly because the efficiency of filming is greatly reduced in such an environment.

At the same time, every scene depends on the weather, which means the filming time will be extended indefinitely.

This is something Zhou Le doesn't like.

Aside from matters related to education and training that he prefers to be able to explain in detail, Zhou Le prefers high efficiency and a high degree of completion when it comes to any work-related matters.

But how to say it.

This was in Zhang Yimou's film crew. He came from a photography background, and he had very high requirements for art direction, color, and various shots.

Therefore, even if Zhou Le felt that only filming snow scenes would affect the schedule.

However, we have to acknowledge their shooting philosophy.

"Hopefully, this movie will bring me at least a few decent awards." (End of Chapter)