I'm not mentally ill, I'm a master of a thousand faces!

Chapter 108, Supervisor Cao

But no matter what, the die is cast.

Just act as you normally would.

"Xiao Li's acting skills are not necessarily worse, and his understanding and expression of the character are obvious to all." At this moment, Deng Yancheng comforted himself, but also felt a little regretful.

Acting skills and understanding of the character are easy to talk about.

But the kind of aura that can only be cultivated with age is something that Li Yun, at his age, probably can't really compete with Liu Songren in terms of aura.

Perhaps Liu Songren will get more screen time then.

However, at this moment, Xu Xiaodong on the other side was unusually silent.

"Old Xu, what are you thinking about?"

At that moment, Xu Xiaodong said something that puzzled Deng Yancheng.

"As for aura... perhaps that's not necessarily true."

Today, the first day of filming, the main characters were getting into character. The first scene was with Duan Tianya, holding a cool katana, blocking Cao Zhengchun's private guards.

The sword-drawing and slashing move wasn't done by a stunt double, but by Li Yapeng himself. He secretly practiced this move for a long time, which is a clever trick. He didn't need to be a really good kung fu master, since it's hard to see how the person being hit is unless you're paying close attention. But by making the close-up shots look cool, the cost-effectiveness is much higher. It's a point that the audience can remember.

Guihai Yidao, who never needs a second strike to kill, delivers powerful and heavy blows, displaying unparalleled skill and domineering power, unmatched in heaven and earth.

The incredibly intelligent and tomboyish Shangguan Haitang leads the No. 1 Manor in the world to recruit extraordinary people from all over the land to help the Divine Marquis.

And among these people, Cheng Shifei, the lowest-born street urchin, had the lowest social standing when he first appeared, having lost a mountain of debt gambling in a casino.

Their performances were all quite good, and it's no wonder that various circles chose them for the leading roles. They all had a good understanding of their respective roles, each with their own interpretation and unique strengths.

The initial filming went quite smoothly; their first appearances and the characteristics of each character were presented in the very first scene.

This is the first scene where the main characters from the previous episodes appear together.

Godfather and his (temporarily) loyal dogs.

"Wouldn't it be better if I just beheaded that eunuch?"

Guihai Yidao's reckless remarks perfectly fit his character: "You haven't even mastered the Avici Hell Blade yet, and you're already so arrogant! You want to chop up Eunuch Cao."

At this moment, Zhu Wushi said calmly, "Cao Zhengchun has been practicing the Boy's Kung Fu for more than 50 years. His appearance has been restored to a youthful state, and his body is so tough that it is impervious to swords and spears. No one knows where his weakness is to this day."

Iron-Blooded Marquis remained calm.

Shangguan Haitang, who was standing next to her, also spoke up.

"But recently, Cao Zhengchun has become increasingly rampant. He has not only taken control of the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but has also created various departments and bureaus under different pretexts. He is expanding his power. His influence will soon spread throughout the entire court, which may be detrimental to the Emperor."

This last line was added by Shangguan Haitang herself to reinforce her image as a loyal subject of the emperor within the Dragon Guard Manor. This was fine in itself, but Deng Yancheng called "cut!"

"Cao Zhengchun will not rebel."

"Why?" Ye Xuan'er asked, confused. "His martial arts are so strong, and his power is so great. Isn't there a possibility he could rebel?"

"He can use the emperor to command the feudal lords, but he will never rebel."

Liu Songren paused and said helplessly, "He is a eunuch. The power of a eunuch is only legitimate when it is attached to the imperial power."

"Feel sorry."

Ye Xuan'er promptly apologized, her face slightly flushed. She realized that if she had forgotten or changed even a few lines, the entire meaning would have been completely misunderstood.

However, Deng Yancheng didn't care about authenticity or historical accuracy, since most viewers wouldn't care about those things; they would only care about whether it was exciting or not.

Here, Deng Yancheng is considering whether to downplay Cao Zhengchun's authority. If he's overhyped, the performance might be less effective and have the opposite effect.

Let's be more conservative in portraying the characters.

Continue shooting.

Zhu Wushi then said calmly.

"Back then, the late emperor bestowed upon me a certificate of merit and an imperial sword, allowing me and the Eastern Depot to check and balance each other. But the current emperor thinks that it is not only I who are checking and balancing Cao Zhengchun, but Cao Zhengchun's existence is also checking and balancing me."

"Father, you said the Emperor used Cao Zhengchun to check you, but you are so loyal, so what?" Duan Tianya asked in confusion.

"Because my surname is Zhu, I am the emperor's uncle."

"Uncle, how could you?"

"Yes, how could I?"

Camera lens and lighting.

The screen deliberately positioned Zhu Wushi's face half in light and half in shadow, making it impossible to discern his expression or what he was thinking.

"That was truly excellent! Our Iron-Blooded Marquis, his acting was absolutely superb!"

At that moment, a voice came from the film crew, a somewhat sleazy voice.

Looking in the direction of the voice, it was Wang Pangzi's voice. Deng Yancheng and Xu Xiaodong, or the older generation of people in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, were all too familiar with this cheeky fat man, the genius Wang Jing.

If it weren't for the sheer number of complicated details involved in this multi-faceted project, Wang Jing would have preferred to be the director himself.

"Brilliant! No wonder he's a veteran Hong Kong actor." Yao Tang thought to himself as he watched Zhu Wushi, the Iron-Blooded Marquis, perform. Liu Songren's acting skills and dedication definitely earned him the title of a veteran actor.

With three younger people standing nearby, their presence was firmly suppressed.

It refers to superiors and subordinates.

It's a relationship between elders and juniors.

It's about aura.

The complete suppression of their auras, the aura of those in positions of power, when they were within a certain range, Zhu Tiedan's temperament completely exuded a suppressive force.

Li Jianyi, standing nearby, watched Liu Songren's Zhu Wushi.

"How's it going, getting the acting bug?" Yao Tang teased Li Jianyi from the side.

"You noticed too, huh?" At this moment, Li Jianyi was genuinely craving it.

At his level, he pursues not only acting skills but also acting alongside better actors. In other words, pursuing acting skills and acting alongside better actors are not contradictory but unified.

Striving for higher-level acting duels is essential for showcasing acting skills—not only is it more interesting for the actors themselves when masters clash, but it also allows for the best possible performance.

"Now it's my fault?"

"Hey, if it's not your fault, whose fault is it?"

During this break, Liu Songren and the others also gathered around. Besides Wang Jing's status as a producer being important enough, Liu Songren also saw Li Jianyi, the originally planned "Cao Zhengchun".

"It's a pity we couldn't work together this time," Li Jianyi said with a hint of regret.

"Haha, there will be another chance next time." Liu Songren also felt regretful at this moment, but he couldn't say it too clearly, after all, Cao Zhengchun was in this crew.

By the way, what about Cao Zhengchun?

Liu Songren noticed that everyone was watching the main characters act out their scenes, but Cao Zhengchun himself was not there.

Where did he go? His scenes for tonight will be filmed soon.

At this moment, Deng Yancheng and Xu Xiaodong also noticed that Li Yun seemed to be absent, and they were about to film Cao Zhengchun's scene.

"Oh, Mr. Li is putting on makeup," the staff member on the other side said, indicating Li Yun's location.

"Tell the makeup artist to hurry up, we're going to have dinner with President Wang after the shoot," Deng Yancheng said.

"OK."

"No rush, no rush, slow and steady wins the race. Filming is important, filming is important," Wang Jing said with a smile. Overall, he was quite satisfied with the performance of the main cast in their first scene, especially with Zhu Wushi, the Iron-Blooded Marquis. He had high expectations for the veteran actor, and now, seeing his performance, he was even more satisfied.

Liu Songren made the right choice, especially since he's a TVB actor and his salary isn't high.

At this moment, Fatty Wang flashed another bright smile.

In a good mood.

As for Cao Zhengchun, who will be acting later, it doesn't matter if his performance is a little worse. At worst, we can just let Zhu Wushi perform more solo scenes.

In fact, Liu Songren and Deng Yancheng thought the same way: if Cao Zhengchun, who was "opposed" to Zhu Wushi, was too weak in terms of presence, then they should portray him as someone who "highlights" Zhu Wushi, rather than someone who is Zhu Wushi's opponent. There shouldn't be any major problems with that.

Only Xu Xiaodong was still concerned about Li Yun's side at this moment.

They are still concerned about Cao Zhengchun.

Liu Songren's acting skills are undoubtedly excellent. He deserves the role of Iron-Blooded Monkey King and holds an absolute position in the character. He has the aura of an absolute superior.

Li Jianyi even felt a little regretful that he couldn't land the role of Cao Zhengchun and act opposite him in this season of "The World's Number One". But often, these are things he can't control, such as the issue of who gets the role.

After chatting for a while and taking a break from some scattered scenes, it was time to film Cao Zhengchun's first scene.

"After we finish filming this scene, let's go grab a late-night snack and chat about the upcoming characters and plot developments," Wang Jing said with a smile.

"You're the screenwriter, you're the producer, you're in charge." Deng Yancheng shrugged; he was also quite tired from filming today.

At this moment, Deng Yancheng prepared to go and call Li Yun, and also to check on his condition and remind him that the producer had come to visit the set, so he should give him a good performance.

"I'll go with you." Xu Xiaodong also went with Deng Yancheng.

At this moment, Li Yun had already finished her makeup in front of the dressing room and was sitting there quietly.

"Li Yun, come here, we're starting filming. There are a few things I need to tell you." Deng Yancheng wanted to ask Li Yun some questions.

Li Yun did not turn around.

"Li Yun?" Deng Yancheng asked, puzzled. He moved closer and called out again.

There was still no response.

Seriously? This kid's spacing out right now?

However, at this very moment.

Xu Xiaodong, however, had a sudden inspiration and said something.

"Eunuch Cao"

At this moment, Li Yun raised his head.

wrong.