Generation Z Artists

Chapter 256 Madman, Pervert, Demon King
The next day, as soon as they started filming, Fang Xinghe sensed that something was slightly off.

He was resting with his eyes closed in the director's chair when he felt someone watching him. So he turned his head and glanced over, only to see Xiao Liu suddenly turn his head.

Ok?
Did you notice that Gong Li isn't there?

Fang Gou wasn't guilty at all and told her frankly, "Sister Li had work and went back early. I'll personally do the acting training for you in the next few days."

"it is good."

Liu Yifei nodded in a very Chen Nian-esque introverted manner, with no problem in her body language and facial expressions.

But Fang Xinghe frowned subconsciously—wait, what's wrong with your eyes? Why are they so gentle? Where's the gloom from yesterday?!
With a heartless and cruel gesture, he lifted it up in a flash.

Fortunately, when filming actually began, Liu Yifei's performance was still perfect.

Everyday family life, everyday school life, bullying by a trio—all the scenes are delivered with satisfying performances.

Her performance only began to fluctuate drastically when she started filming her scenes with Zhang Xiaobei.

Well, for now, it looks like a positive fluctuation.

The two met for the second time in an alley next to an internet cafe. It was still a night shoot, and Chen Nian decided to take a different route home, afraid of running into those thugs from yesterday again. As a result, she unexpectedly ran into Zhang Xiaobei once more.

Xiao Bei hid in the shadows, crouched down on one of the three thugs from yesterday, and beat him up. Finally, he picked up a stick, intending to break his right hand that was used to groin the victim.

Just then, he saw Chen Nian standing there timidly. For some reason, Xiao Bei pursed his lips, threw away the stick, and turned to leave.

Fang Xinghe's pursed lips here conveyed a sense of embarrassment and forced effort.

Xiao Bei felt guilty for some reason.

With a clang, the stick flew far away and hit the ground, startling Chen Nian.

But after the initial fear subsided, she quickly followed behind Zhang Xiaobei.

First, he carefully avoided the groin-grabbing figure lying on the ground, then quickened his pace and his steps became lighter.

In the close-up shot of her face, a hint of gentleness flashed in Chen Nian's eyes.

Director Fang Xinghe handled this very cleverly; the two characters didn't have a single line of dialogue, relying solely on audiovisual language to convey their message.

Zhang Xiaobei wanted to break Taodang's right hand. On the surface, it was just to vent his anger, but if you think about it carefully, was it because Taodang once wanted to use this hand to pinch Chen Nian's face?
The emotions in Chen Nian's eyes were a mixture of surprise at the reunion and a touch of emotion at feeling Zhang Xiaobei's care for her.

Two people, one in front of the other, in a narrow alley, remained silent.

A subtle understanding suddenly arose.

Scenes without dialogue are the most difficult to film because the audience can only read the emotions the director wants to express from the details of the performance.

However, this scene was so natural that it perfectly captured the budding feelings between the two young boys and girls, making them both innocent and beautiful.

When they walked out of the alley, Zhao Xiaoding deliberately took a picture of their shadows. The long shadows, which were parallel to each other under the streetlights, eventually overlapped, symbolizing that the bond between the two had finally been established.

The following scenes went very smoothly.

At the fork in the road, Zhang Xiaobei silently turned right, while Chen Nian's house was on the left.

The girl, emboldened by some unknown source, suddenly ran a few steps and caught up with him, asking, "Hey, my name is Chen Nian, what's your name?"

"..."

Fang Xinghe stopped in his tracks, turned his head, and replied in a cocky manner, "Xiao Bei, Zhang Xiao Bei."

Although it looks cool at first glance, in reality, the "Zhang" in Zhang Xiaobei's name has a slightly upward stroke, and the overall pronunciation has a light and cheerful feel.

It's not very lighthearted and requires very careful observation, but the audience can feel the atmosphere of ice breaking without even needing to look closely. Xiao Bei, who seems indifferent, is actually not indifferent at all.

This is a true skill that allows one to hear thunder in silence.

Chen Nian smiled with satisfaction—but she couldn't be too dramatic here, just a slight upturn of the corners of her mouth, the focus being more on the details in her eyes.

Liu Yifei performed very well, better than expected.

Her eyes curved slightly, and a faint smile flowed from the depths of her eyes, making her suddenly bright, extremely beautiful, and extremely youthful.

Director Fang was stunned when he saw the footage—wouldn't this drive all those male movie fans crazy?
Casting such a beautiful woman as Chen Nian was definitely the right choice.

After this scene, there were no more difficulties in chatting and dialogue.

After hearing about Chen Nian's ordeal, Xiao Bei decided to protect her.

I accompany her to and from school every day to protect her from harm outside of school, but I am powerless to do anything about what happens on campus.

That day, Chen Nian had a bruise on her lip. Xiao Bei was furious and confronted Wei Lai, warning her not to bully Chen Nian anymore.

Wei Lai fell in love with Xiao Bei at first sight and tried to bribe him to stay with her.

"You? Take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror, pshaw!"

Xiao Bei pushed her away and walked away.

Driven by jealousy and anger, Wei Lai bullied Chen Nian even more severely.

Xiao Bei felt very guilty after learning about this, but Chen Nian comforted him instead: "It's okay, she's always been like this. Anyway, she wouldn't dare to do anything at school, she'll just get through this period."

The affection between the two grew stronger with each passing day.

As is often the case, warmth is inevitably followed by sadness.

Chen Nian's mother ran away.

She took all the cash in the house with her, and also took away the endless arguments between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Chen Nian didn't know whether to feel sad or relieved, but her grandmother's silent gaze, blocking the entrance and staring at her coldly, made her feel the excruciating pain of being utterly homeless.

Xiao Bei took her in.

"My house isn't big either, but it's big enough for me."

Xiao Bei, seemingly carefree but actually evasive, said, "It's hot today, you sleep on the bed, I'll sleep on the floor."

Chen Nian buried her head behind Xiao Bei, who stiffened and dared not move.

After she left, the camera focused on Xiao Bei's back, which was soaked with sweat.

Director Fang didn't film any close-up shots of her crying. Chen Nian won't only cry once in the film, but the less she's shown crying directly, the more impactful it will be.

Therefore, there are only three close-up shots of her crying: one is when she is bullied at school, another is when she breaks down during the scene where she shaves her head, and the last is when she smiles through tears in the climax of the interrogation room, from suppressing her pain to accepting it with relief.

After moving into Xiao Bei's house, Chen Nian gradually emerged from the shadows.

The rhythm has become warm again.

Within two days, Wei Lai, driven mad by love turned to hatred, hired several thugs from the factory area to ambush Chen Nian on her way home from school.

Without saying a word, Xiao Bei drew his dagger and rushed forward.

This is Zhang Xiaobei's third fight scene, and also the most intense one. It is also Fang Xinghe's first climax scene in terms of performance.

He demonstrated the full extent of his physical control, filming back and forth for a whole day, and finally delivered his best performance.

"Damn! Director, you're awesome!"

The staff, who had been busy all day, gave Fang Xinghe a thumbs up, completely impressed by his performance.

However, the script and director clearly play a key role in shaping the film's theme.

The three violent scenes are increasingly intense, but the corresponding emotion is that Xiao Bei's heart becomes "weaker" with each scene.

The first time he acted like a lone wolf, the second time he began to care about Chen Nian's opinion, and the third time he was afraid of failing in his duty, so he showed extreme anger.

Chen Nian was also terrified by Xiao Bei's brutality.

She couldn't understand why Xiao Bei was so cruel, violent, and uncontrollable.

"You don't know anything!"

Xiao Bei was excited and proud after winning a battle, but Chen Nian's questioning made him feel wronged. He hid this feeling and replied impatiently:
"If you don't teach these bullies who pick on the weak and fear the strong a lesson they won't learn, they'll keep bothering you. How much time will you waste on them? I only have one head and two hands, how many times can I protect you?"

He paused, his expression turning forlorn: "Anyway, no one cares if stray dogs like us die. If we really kill someone, we'll just be easing the burden on society."

Chen Nian was speechless: "Then, then..."

"Shut up! Let's go!"

"Oh……"

Chen Nian pursed her lips and gave a weak reply.

After walking a few steps, she suddenly jogged up to catch up and quietly tugged at Xiao Bei's sleeve.

Back at Xiao Bei's house, Chen Nian tossed and turned, gradually realizing the importance of the struggle.

She was half asleep in the middle of the night when she was suddenly awakened by a noise outside. She got up and peeked out, and saw Xiao Bei struggling to rub safflower oil on her shoulders.

Those thugs injured his shoulder.

"Let me apply the medicine for you..."

The girl remained expressionless, a guilty look flickering in her eyes. She glanced cautiously at Xiao Bei's beautiful chest and abdominal muscles, her ears turning bright red.

This is another scene that is extremely difficult to perform.

Surprisingly, Liu Yifei nailed the scene in one take, without even needing to change her acting style, achieving the 99 points that Director Fang wanted. "Wow! This kid's really figured it out!"

Zhao Xiaoding and Cao Baoping kept expressing their feelings.

But Brother Fang panicked.

Holy crap! You actually fell in love with me because of the drama?!
There was no need to look for evidence. Upon opening the panel, the little girl was surrounded by a bright blue light, with pink bubbles constantly emanating from her body, and she was almost completely turning red.

What other possibility is there?

He's not afraid of being liked. Lots of people like me, who do you think you are?

The problem is, how can Nenxian, in this state, portray the deep sense of despair in the later scenes?

Today's role is that of a girl in love. You don't need to act; just go for it. What will happen to the big scenes later?

Fang Gou immediately distanced himself from her off-screen and became indifferent.

however……

I don't know why, but it just doesn't work!
I swear to God, he has truly become the worst kind of beast.

When she was doing acting practice after filming, she would be ridiculed for the slightest mistake. As a result, she didn't cry or make a fuss when she was scolded, but nodded very seriously and said, "Yes!"

It almost drove Fang Gou to the brink of collapse.

What the hell?!

Fang Gou suddenly straightened his face and harshly reprimanded, "What 'hmm'? I don't want your attitude, I want results! Half an hour of extra practice today!"

"Oh."

Little Fairy nodded obediently, without arguing at all. Her cheeks, which had thinned out, were no longer chubby, and her expression was serious and earnest.

She did indeed add an extra half hour of Gershov training.

When it was over, he collapsed to the ground, his clothes soaked with sweat, but a sudden gleam appeared in his eyes.

"Director Fang... I've found the feeling you were talking about!"

"Snapped!"

Fang Gou slapped his forehead hard, a faint sense of despair rising in his heart.

Girl, if you keep being this obedient, I really don't know what to do with you!

It's not that there's no way to deal with it, but the young fairy's obedience is real.

Fang Xinghe confirmed it again and again, and finally realized that Nenxian had developed an indescribable dependence and trust in him.

No matter how much the dog distanced itself from her, threatened her, or forced her, she treated it all as a gentle spring breeze.

In the end, even Mr. Chen Daoming, who was just watching the commotion, couldn't help but secretly ask her.

Don't you hate Director Fang?

Why hate Director Fang?

Once away from the performance environment, Liu Yifei's face regained its innocence, along with a hint of self-reproach and distress.

"He meant well... but I'm just too stupid to find that feeling."

"Snapped!"

Teacher Chen also slapped his forehead.

First, I felt that the bastard had committed a terrible crime; second, I was moved by the girl's innocence and kindness; and third, I was worried—given Fang's personality, he would not give up until he achieved his goal, so how should the following scenes be performed?
……

The film has been progressing smoothly into its second half; it's time for the main course.

As expected, Liu Yifei, who used to be able to deliver a perfect performance in everything she filmed, started to falter.

Especially the scene where he shaved his head.

The plot involves Wei Lai and two others forcibly shaving Chen Nian's head so that she "can no longer be a slut and seduce Xiao Bei."

Under the arrangement of screenwriter Fang, the motives became more reasonable, realistic and smooth. Wei Lai was extremely jealous of Chen Nian for being able to win Zhang Xiaobei's love, and therefore became more and more perverted.

Because this scene could only be filmed once, it needed to be rehearsed repeatedly beforehand.

There were no problems with Yang Xiaomi; her performance was spot-on.

She truly hated Liu Yifei because Fang Fang hadn't spoken a single word to her off-screen for seven whole days. At most, he'd nod when he saw her, but most of the time he acted as if he hadn't seen her at all.

The evil master had his fans completely under his thumb, so the trio pushed themselves to their limits, becoming frighteningly abnormal during rehearsals.

Yang Xiaomi's excitement would make anyone who didn't know the situation think she was born a bad person.

However, Liu Yifei's response was consistently inadequate.

Logically speaking, a pretty little girl would cherish her hair, so who would want to shave her head into an ugly buzz cut?

Gong Li, Cao Baoping, Zhao Xiaoding, and others were never worried about this scene. They felt that any normal girl would cry her eyes out if she went up there to perform it.

However, this scene just happened to encounter Liu Yifei, a freak.

She was extremely happy. She felt no pain at losing her beautiful hair; in fact, she was even a little excited and elated.

You can tell her mood just by looking into her eyes—"Great! Great! I can finally get a buzz cut and experience it! How fun!"
"Director, this scene can't be filmed!"

Cao Baoping was so angry that he threw the notebook onto the table next to him.

"Think of a way to get her back into the right mindset!"

"it is good."

Fang Xinghe nodded with remarkable composure, giving the impression that he was fully confident.

However, after two days of rehearsals, he tried everything he could, but he still couldn't resolve Liu Yifei's deep-seated emotional issues.

She can act, and she can control that excitement, but the details are off, and she can't get the emotions down.

Therefore, crying loudly does not move people.

By the end, she was completely exhausted and became increasingly hesitant and timid during the performance.

Fang Xinghe scratched his head in frustration, feeling like his brain was about to explode.

Unreasonable!

How exactly did my emotional manipulation techniques fail?!

He used the harshest tone to berate Liu Yifei in front of everyone.

"Mental imagery, mental imagery, mental imagery! You can't immerse yourself in the situation, so you construct mental images to experience despair! You've been practicing such a simple basic skill for almost three months and you're still like this! Did your brain get filled with water by that Korean girl who bullied you when you were playing a sweet little princess in America?!"

As he continued cursing, he suddenly looked amused and slammed the tube hard onto the ground.

"How could someone be so stupid as to not be able to construct a mental image after three months?"

The entire film set was eerily silent.

None of the staff dared to look directly at Fang Xinghe, the tyrant, but they all looked at Liu Yifei with strange eyes.

Xiao Xian'er felt extremely wronged, with tears constantly welling up in her eyes, but she felt no despair, only guilt and self-blame for being too stupid.

Although Fang Xinghe's brother scolds people fiercely, it's all for my own good!
The little girl was very innocent, her heart filled with the warmth of unwavering trust.

"Director Fang... I really am stupid, please give me a little more time,"

Fang Xinghe was thinking of finding a few allies to help "toughen" her up.

When he turned to look at Chen Daoming, Old Chen immediately waved his hand and said, "Don't look at me. I've been trying to figure that thing out for more than three years and I still can't understand it."

Good grief, are you an idiot too?

It had gotten to this point that even Gong Li, who had already returned to filming, couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted.

"Stop messing around with your acting theories. What kind of acting can a normal person learn in a few years? Hurry up and think of some tricks, come up with some unconventional methods!"

Fang Xinghe glanced at Gong Li, then suddenly turned to look at Liu Yifei, his expression turning fierce.

"There are indeed folk remedies, but the question is, do you dare to try them and can you stick to them?"

"can!"

Without a second thought, the little girl nodded vigorously.

"I'm prepared for anything, I'm not afraid of anything!"

Fang Xinghe tilted his head back for a moment, then suddenly exhaled a heavy breath.

"Alright, let's get started! This time, I'll experience it with you!"

No one understood why Fang Xinghe was so cautious, solemn, and heavy-hearted, and they were also curious about what his ultimate ruthless move was.

The next day, when they saw the venue, they were all stunned by their director's madness.

Is this something a human being could do?!
Damn, madman, pervert, demon king!

(End of this chapter)