Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1651 Panoramic Photography
After the foreplay, it's time for the main event.

The two finished reciting their lines inside the room, and filming ended.

"Good!" Yanqiu's voice came from above. "Very good, you got it right in one take! You two have worked hard, have some fried noodles."

Yanqiu turned off the panoramic equipment, and Victoria's room became an empty photography studio once again.

Although there was no external intervention during the filming process, the light bulbs still had to be switched on and off at the end.

"Wait, is that all?" Victoria asked in surprise. "I only said three lines!"

who are you

where u from

where are you going

Just these three sentences.

"I've been memorizing this for so long! This scene has several pages, doesn't it?! I've memorized so much, and you won't even let me finish my lines?"

The script she was given was five pages long. It didn't contain all her lines, but there were still several dozen. The three sentences Yanqiu spoke were less than a tenth of the total dialogue.

She was angry. She was indignant. She was very unhappy.

Suddenly, the lights came on again, and the scene in front of us changed to a breakfast setting. She and I, Shangluo, sat down on either side.

Filming has resumed.

[Ahem, let me relay Yanqiu's words: You just memorized five pages of lines from the script, but only said three sentences, right? Write down your resentment, write down your state of 'having so much to say but no chance to say it,' suppress your overflowing desire to express yourself—good! Maintain this gaze, then look up at him!]

Just as Shangluo across the way was wondering what the food in the panoramic photography studio tasted like, she noticed the terrifying gaze directed at her. It was filled with immense indignation and resentment; at least 49 words were stuck in her throat, perhaps more. But limited by time, place, and opportunity, she could only suppress her emotions. Even this unsatisfied gaze could only convey a tenth of her resentment.

"Okay!" Yanqiu cut the scene again. "This time we're really done. The fried noodles are still hot, everyone come and eat."

It was indeed over. But Victoria, walking into the lounge, was still completely bewildered.

She cast a questioning look at Shangluo—

"Don't look at me, I don't know either. I'm just the producer, she's the director."

"Here it is, the fried noodles are here." Yanqiu brought over two boxes from outside in a lunchbox. "Let me tell you, after work, you have to eat fried noodles to feel good."

Although Victoria was the Empress, her desire for control was much weaker than Zhu Ling's. She was the kind of person who would accept anything given to her. If something was on her schedule, she wouldn't discuss whether she should do it; instead, she would force herself to finish it.

The incident had left her utterly bewildered. The other party had clearly asked her to finish the task, but only made her complete a tenth of it before letting her leave. She was now filled with questions about Yanqiu and didn't know how to explain them. If Yanqiu didn't clarify things with her, she wouldn't have a peaceful day. "Eat first, you eat first, I'll talk to you after you eat," Yanqiu said. She had already eaten outside and was now just drinking tea. She had specifically chosen a large teacup, the kind directors use on set—she'd always seen others use it, and now it was finally her turn. She'd always seen other directors tormenting actors, and now it was her turn.

"Are you very angry? Did you feel like all that memorizing was for nothing? Are you very angry?"

"I'm not so much angry, but mainly confused."

Victoria's confusion hadn't been expressed yet; she still had a lot of lines to say.

"Because here, the role we need to portray is exactly like you—restrained, indignant, and forced to express your views with restraint due to your upbringing and dignity. You and Shangluo are too familiar with each other; I saw your conversation just now was too smooth, as if anything could happen. That's why I decided to cut all your lines and switch directly to the next scene, carrying your bewilderment into the next shot. That's more like it."

“I see.” Victoria nodded.

Thinking about it carefully, that's true. She's not actually a professional actress—although people often say that a good politician must be a good actor, Victoria didn't get enough experience in the "politician" role.

The familiarity between her and Shangluo cannot be concealed by acting skills.

This is where the director comes in.

In reality, many times, the acting skills of amateur, temporary, or child actors on set are far inferior to those of real professional actors. However, if a good director explains the scenes clearly to them on set and presents them in a way that suits them, these actors can deliver performances that surpass their previous experience.

So sometimes, an actor might perform one way under director A, but completely differently under director B, with a drastically different level of skill. This is mainly due to the director; because the actor has always been the same, proper guidance will result in an exceptional performance, while inadequate guidance will result in a normal performance.

Yanqiu immediately realized that the two of them couldn't possibly act out the "pinky promise between them when they first met" look, so she cut the scene directly.

However, this was made possible thanks to the design of the panoramic photography studio.

The panoramic studio greatly simplifies the operation process. What she just did is something that couldn't be done in a regular studio. Because changing sets alone takes a long time, and even if a temporary set is set up next door, the actor's "confusion" will dissipate a lot when changing scenes.

In this panoramic studio, because the scene changes are instantaneous, Yanqiu can carry her fresh and warm emotions directly into the next scene.

[This new panoramic photography studio truly surpasses all the old methods.] Apollonia was seeing this thing in use for the first time. After all, as mentioned before, the Romans only used it to shoot advertisements. It was only after Yanqiu arrived that she innovated the entire photography process based on her experience.

This was the task assigned to her by Master Sa.

Although she had a few words to say at first, she has now fully adapted to the role and is very satisfied with it.

"How's this fried noodle?" Yanqiu asked.

"Mmm, it tastes really good. I've never had this before." Victoria nodded.

(End of this chapter)