Global Film Emperor

Chapter 379, Act One
The camera zoomed in so close that it could only capture the label of a bottle of red wine, immediately revealing the vintage. Slowly, the camera zoomed out, revealing a hand holding the bottle. Then, it slowly zoomed out again, showing the crimson wine being poured into a glass, creating a splash that could be used as an advertisement.

Zooming out further, a bloated man appears in the frame, laughing loudly as he raises his glass to his lips. As he swallows, he maintains this exaggerated smile, his upper lip not touching the glass, causing the liquor to be poured into his mouth without being cushioned. This also causes some of the liquor to spill onto his light blue shirt.

The camera zooms out, bringing all eight people at the table into view. They are all laughing loudly, gulping down drinks in unison, behaving wildly and unrestrainedly in the crimson room, like demons and monsters.

The orange-reddish lamp overhead elongated their shadows at an odd angle. Under the refraction of the light, the shadows gradually distorted, and their arms and wine glasses became deformed, making them look like souls suffering from the torment of fire in purgatory...

The camera zooms out further, revealing the entire restaurant. It's not just their table eating; there are four other tables of guests dining in the same manner. Only one person is different from the others, with a blank expression and a trickle of saliva flowing from the corner of his mouth, accompanied by a thin red thread drawn out from the untouched red wine.

He was drunk. Yes, his tablemates were laughing at him loudly, their exaggerated laughter making their faces look even more grotesque and unbearable.

Off-site, the sound crew waited for Mickey's command. The sound equipment had been raised for a long time. Suddenly, Mickey raised his thumb. The sound crew received the signal and immediately pressed the recording button. At this moment, the noisy sounds in the restaurant were recorded into the computer. The restaurant, which was silent on camera, suddenly came to life.

……

"Parker! Parker! He's drunk, hahaha! Parker, are you alright? Please don't end up in the hospital, hang in there! Waiter! Two more bottles, please!"

Parker's face was flushed. He gently wiped away the stringy saliva with the back of his hand, remaining silent. His stomach churned, and the wine he had just drunk was pushed up to his throat. He was about to vomit, but he gritted his teeth and swallowed the wine back down, letting out a painful groan.

The others didn't notice Parker's condition and continued to drink and laugh loudly until Parker reached for the bottle, at which point he was stopped.

"Parker, stop. You're drunk. Stop drinking and go home to sleep."

"No, I'm fine. Let me have a little more, just a tiny bit. You guys are celebrating for me, right? I'm a dad now! Please, I want to have a little more."

He gripped the bottle again, filled it to the brim—yes, filled it to the brim—and then drank it all in one gulp. His gaze became unfocused, and his eyes glistened with tears. Under the lamplight, it looked as if he was about to shed golden tears.

He refilled the glass, stood up, and just like at the beginning of the scene, with an exaggerated and fake smile, raised his glass, and said something to his friends at the table.

"I'm a father now, I can't believe it, I really can't believe it... Come on, congratulations to me, congratulations to my child, cheers."

The crowd's attitude had reversed from Parker's at the beginning. Instead of giving him face, they looked gloomy, turned their heads away, and dared not look him in the eye. Some stared silently at their wine glasses, while others lowered their heads and cursed.

"Damn system."

"What's wrong? What's wrong with you guys? Come on, cheers!"

“Parker, I understand how you feel, but you really shouldn’t do this anymore. This is life as it is, and we have no choice in it.”

"What? What are you talking about? I don't understand. I'm fine, I'm really fine. I have a child, which means I have subsidies. This has eased the financial burden on Hannah and me. After feeding him, we can still save some money. He won't even need us to pay for his schooling until he's fifteen. Isn't that good?"

Parker smiled, a smile that was clearly fake, which only made them more silent. Seeing that they didn't respond, Parker's smile gradually... gradually disappeared. He toasted again, sat back down, lit a cigarette, and ordered the waiter to bring five more bottles of wine, as if he was determined to drink until he was completely drunk that day.

"Parker, that's enough for today, I have to go."

Some people couldn't stand the atmosphere and were about to get up and leave, but Parker stopped them immediately. Unfortunately, the others who wanted to leave didn't bring up the decision again.

When the new drinks were served, he poured more into his glass. He had just drunk two large glasses and was even more drunk than before. He couldn't even hold the glass steady and accidentally spilled the drinks on his pants.

“I am very grateful that you could come to this party. Let’s have a drink. After all… this is the only thing I can afford to spend money on without feeling bad.”

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, a friend could only force a smile and say, "The alcohol may be cheap, but everyone likes it, and that's enough. Everyone is trying to live a good life, so it's good that they're willing to treat others to drinks. I'll have a drink with you." "Yes, because we like it, the alcohol is cheap. After all, we need cheap alcohol, and the country needs cheap alcohol too..."

……

This sentence highlights what Mickey wanted to express in this scene. Even the production assistants who hadn't read the script turned to look at Mickey, their expressions gradually becoming somewhat strange.

For those who can grasp its meaning, this line is worth pondering. Coupled with Lu Ze's vivid performance, the written interpretation is inevitably less intuitive than the visual one. This impact makes everyone involuntarily start to reflect on some things.

This scene is the simplest in terms of the entire script. After all, it's the first scene, and everyone needs to get a feel for it. Arranging more difficult scenes might cause today's progress to stall. But being simple doesn't mean it can't be performed brilliantly. Here, I have to mention Lu Ze's performance just now.

At some point, an interesting saying began to circulate in the Chinese entertainment industry: "When it comes to acting skills, go ahead and try. We have four amazing skills waiting for you. Pick just one and we'll crush you."

It means that newly popular actors can boast about their acting skills, they can brag as much as they want, but they shouldn't compare themselves to the "Four Great Skills," otherwise they'll be asking for trouble. The "Four Great Skills" refer to Stephen Chow's comedy, Tang Juan's crying scenes, Ge Yunzheng's seriousness, and Lu Ze's tragicomic acting.

These four individuals have achieved a level of mastery over these four types of plays that is currently unmatched, making them the undisputed number one in the industry. Lu Ze is the youngest among them.

First, let's leave aside Stephen Chow, everyone knows that. Then let's talk about Tang Juan. Her crying isn't just about shedding tears and then going through the cliché of crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide. Instead, it's about the sadness that emanates from within through her eyes and subtle body movements. You could say that as soon as Tang Juan sheds her first tear, everyone watching the show is guaranteed to shed one too.

Ge Yunzheng's success is purely due to his temperament. If Lu Ze's approach to method acting makes him embody any role he plays, then Ge Yunzheng is a master of performance acting, where the actor transcends the character, making him seem like himself in every role he plays.

His inherent righteousness and official authority make him a natural fit for serious dramas, often overwhelming his co-stars and allowing the audience to directly experience his aura.

As for Lu Ze, what people talk about most is his eyes that seem to be about to cry, which is considered a unique skill. Apart from him, no one in the world can control their tears to such an extreme.

People could clearly see the tears glistening in Lu Ze's eyes, but he just wouldn't let them fall. They were filled with a deep sadness and despair, and his micro-expressions were perfectly controlled, which directly brought the audience to their breaking point, making them feel depressed in one fell swoop.

Many actors have tried to imitate Lu Ze's killer gaze, but either they couldn't control the tears from falling, or there was too little water, which was then reabsorbed by the eyeballs, resulting in no visible effect other than bloodshot eyes.

Usually, after practicing in front of the mirror for half an hour, I can't figure out anything except for dry, itchy, and tired eyes. So I can only reluctantly do a set of eye exercises for myself, and I can't help but sigh that Lu Ze's trick is really unbelievable.

This time, Lu Ze once again used his killer move, leaving the group of "naive" crew members speechless and bewildered, unable to comprehend how he had pulled off such a feat.

Even Kamiya, upon seeing this, gaped in disbelief. She wanted to imitate it, but felt tears welling up and ruining her eye makeup, so she quickly stopped, shaking her head in admiration. When she looked at Kesha sitting with Mickey, she truly realized just how talented the four employees of this small company, Universal Brothers, were.

In the end, Parker couldn't stop his friends from leaving. After they all left, he drank a glass of wine alone, and that was the end of the scene.

"Click, passed."

"Okay, I'll take a look."

After Mickey called "cut," the sadness instantly vanished from Lu Ze's mind. He didn't seem like a typical method actor at all. He picked up the yogurt he had half-finished before filming, sat down next to Mickey, bit the straw, and watched while drinking. Lucas, the cinematographer, also joined them. The four of them talked incessantly around the monitor, leaving all the staff and actors, including Kamiya, holding up their hands, somewhat at a loss.

"Shouldn't we applaud and celebrate if we get the first scene, act one, right? Don't you guys even know the rules?!"

"..."

This script is a bit absurd. To avoid spoilers, I'll just write a few snippets to give you a hint. You can try to guess what it is.

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(End of this chapter)