Huayu: This producer has no bottom line.

Chapter 125 Filming Completed

"Is there really not a single line in this scene?"

Xiao Ai moved closer to Ren Pingsheng, staring at Xia Yu's back view frozen on the monitor.

"no."

"Then how do we make it understandable for the audience?"

"You don't need to understand it," he gestured to Zhang Yibo to adjust the camera position, "you just need to get a feel for it."

Xiao Ai nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"Actors, take your positions!"

The clapperboard slammed down with a loud crack.

The final scene, Action.

The camera follows Xia Yu from behind; he is running.

But as he ran, his steps began to falter, and his back hunched over, as if something unseen was pressing down on his shoulders.

A young man in his twenties has the back view of a sixty-year-old.

He pushed open a door and went inside.

Artificial rain poured down.

Zhang Yibo lowered his voice, "Cameras one through eight, take your positions."

The camera pans up and stops behind You Benchang's shoulder.

The old man stood in the rain, rainwater streaming down the wrinkles on his face. He squinted as he looked toward the street corner.

In the distance, Naza was walking from the street corner with an umbrella, the hem of her floral dress dampened by the rain.

The camera slowly zooms in, focusing on Nazha's face.

She seemed to sense something and looked up.

Eyes facing each other.

Ren Pingsheng leaned forward from behind the monitor.

This is the most difficult shot for Gulnazar in the entire film: a person who has already experienced the whole process and a person who has just started at the beginning, briefly meet in a time rift.

She doesn't need to overact; she just needs to react normally when facing a stranger.

This is what Ren Pingsheng told her yesterday, because at this time, Wang Qian was still Wang Qian before she met Li Xianji.

Naza's eyes were initially blank, then a hint of confusion appeared.

She looked at the disheveled old man, at the indescribable look in his eyes, and politely curved the corners of her mouth.

Then he looked away and continued walking forward.

You Benchang turned around, and Xia Yu walked over from the other side of the street corner, holding an umbrella.

He held a cup of milk tea in his hand, his eyes fixed on Nazha in front of him, completely ignoring where he was going.

Xia Yu, no, the younger Li Xianji, slowly walked to his older self's side. He didn't notice him at all, his eyes were glued to Nazha, and he even forgot to drink his milk tea.

The elderly Li Xianji looked at his younger self, then glanced at Nazha who was already close by.

He said nothing and did nothing, because some things are destined to happen.

The next second, the young Li Xianji tripped on the curb and fell forward, bumping into Nazha.

The umbrella fell to the ground.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" The young Li Xianji hurriedly picked it up.

But they discovered that the rain had "stopped" in the air.

One drop, two drops, countless raindrops hang in the air.

Naza was stunned. She looked at the water droplets dripping from her hair, then looked up at the still rain curtain around her, opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

The elderly Li Xianji stood in the rain, looking at the two young people in front of him.

In his world, however, the rain was still falling.

"Card!"

Ren Pingsheng called out.

Xiao Ai quickly grabbed a bath towel and rushed over, draping it over You Benchang's shoulders. "Old You, hurry up and dry yourself off."

You Benchang smiled, took the towel and dried his hair. "I'm getting old, my legs ache after standing for a long time." He looked at Ren Pingsheng, "Director Ren, is that all?"

"That's a wrap," Ren Pingsheng stood up, gave him a thumbs up, "Mr. You, that shot you just made is the soul of the whole film."

.

This is no exaggeration. All the absurdity, obsession, and madness in "Li Xianji" ultimately come down to this old figure.

An old man stood on the street, watching his younger self walk towards the grave of love. Nothing had happened, yet it seemed as if everything had already happened.

Ren Pingsheng turned to Zhang Yibo, "Are all the materials okay?"

"It's all recorded, all eight cameras were covered," Zhang Yibo said, giving an OK sign.

This scene used an array of eight cameras to shoot simultaneously from different angles. During post-production editing, these clips were combined to create a surrounding bullet-time effect.

"Alright, that's a wrap," Ren Pingsheng waved to the film set, "The live-action scenes of 'Li Xianji' are finished!"

A burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the film crew.

"Director Ren."

Xia Yu changed back into her own clothes and walked over, just as efficiently as when she first joined the crew.

"Shall we have the wrap party together tonight?" Ren Pingsheng asked.

Xia Yu shook her head. "Next time, the child can't stand the smell of alcohol."

"understand."

"By the way, Sister Hua would like to invite you to dinner."

Ren Pingsheng nodded. "Okay."

Xia Yu didn't say anything more, waved and left without any further pleasantries. She came and went just as quickly.

Wang Jinghua wanted to invite him to dinner, which was not unexpected, but Ren Pingsheng didn't want to think about that right now.

He pulled up the replay of the final scene.

On the screen, the elderly Li Xianji stands in the rain, doing nothing, watching his younger self bump into Wang Qian.

The most likely thing a person who has let go can do is nothing and let the story remain in its original place.

He walked over to You Benchang, who was sitting in a chair resting.

Even an octogenarian's body couldn't withstand being soaked in the rain all night.

"Old You, how are you feeling?"

"I can still hold on," You Benchang said, taking the ginger tea he was offered. "It's just that this rain is really chilly."

"Take a nice hot bath tonight, don't catch a cold."

"Don't worry, my old bones are still sturdy," You Benchang said, taking a sip of tea. "Director Ren, you chose me to play the older Li Xianji not just because of my age, right?"

Ren Pingsheng sat down next to him. "What does Elder You think?"

You Benchang smiled, but instead of answering directly, he recited a poem.

"Sixty years of devastation, from east wall to west wall, now we've cleaned up and returned, and the water and sky are still blue."

Ren Pingsheng was stunned for a moment. This was the last verse written by Zen Master Daoji.

"Twenty-five years ago, I played Ji Gong, a mad monk who played around in the world and didn't care about anything. Twenty-five years later, I played Li Xianji, who is also a madman, but the two madmen are different. Ji Gong can take things in stride, while Li Xianji can't let go but has to."

He looked at Ren Pingsheng and said, "You chose my face so that the audience would think of Ji Gong the moment they see me, and that monk who doesn't care about anything."

Ren Pingsheng fell silent; that was indeed what he thought.

Wang Qian is a symbol of Li Xianji's obsession, and casting a new face like Gulnazar in the role can reduce the audience's immersion in the story.

Choosing You Benchang was actually a deliberate act to distract the audience with his familiar face, making them think of Ji Gong when they see him, and then being moved by his final, relieved expression.

But he didn't expect that You Benchang, who was over eighty years old, could see things so clearly.

"Old You," Ren Pingsheng said, "you really acted it out perfectly."

You Benchang laughed heartily and drank the ginger tea in one gulp.

"It's not that I've figured it out, it's that as people get older, they understand life better. When they pick something up, they feel no burden; when they put it down, they feel no hindrance."

He stood up and patted Ren Pingsheng on the shoulder.

"Alright, Director Ren, this old man is going back to take a bath now."

Ren Pingsheng smiled and got up to help him walk to the rest vehicle.

The old man was light in body, but his steps were steady.

The live-action portion of "Li Xianji" has wrapped filming.

But don't forget this is a science fiction film; the real money-burning, brain-burning, and hair-burning work has only just begun.

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