Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

Chapter 31 Audition
"President Tachibana doesn't have to risk his life to recommend a job opportunity... By the way, you mentioned auditions for actors and roles? Isn't that advertising models?"

The man's wording made Xia Fan a little confused.

"Oh, didn't Liangzi explain it to you? That's really his style."

The man seemed to be close friends with Tachibana Ryoko, and he smiled helplessly when he heard this.

"Unlike other advertising companies, SUN Advertising was founded by several famous directors and supervisors in the industry out of interest. The company's mission is to produce the best video ads with the lowest cost, the best creativity, and movie-level production standards."

"In order to prove the 'production level', we only use amateurs in our advertising shoots. The content is not vulgar, borderline, or hype-based. It all depends on the shooting level, the actors' acting skills, the creativity of the script, and the language of the camera."

"In the advertising industry, there is a saying that 'what's produced by SUN is of the highest quality.'"

He explained to Xia Fan proudly and patiently.

[The gods have sent down an oracle: worship the gods with Noh music, and be amazed by the world. After completing it, you will receive the gods' blessing.]

Then, a certain god delivered an oracle at an inopportune time.

"Noh... Does this Tengokami want me to participate in the video commercial?"

Xia Fan pondered for a while before he understood the meaning.

Noh, also known as Noh drama, is an ancient traditional drama of the eleventh district. It originated from performances in religious ceremonies. The content is mainly the performance of mythological stories, and its purpose is to worship gods and comfort the dead.

Perhaps, for this "outdated" evil god, acting and "Noh" are similar things?

"Singing and dancing aren't enough, they also want me to act. This Tian Yu Shen is really willful."

Translated, this oracle seems to be saying "Put on a show to entertain me and surprise those stupid humans at the same time."

"I'm auditioning for a role in a video commercial. I'm very interested. Please let me try."

Although he had never received any training in drama or acting, and his work experience was limited to print advertising shooting, in order to fulfill the oracle, Xia Fan gritted his teeth and asked the man for help.

"Okay, please follow me."

"Ah, now?"

"Yes, the filming location is not far away."

The man stood up swiftly and motioned Xia Fan to follow him.

"Well, when your company shoots commercials, there won't be a rule like 'actors must eat products so they can better concentrate on filming', right?"

Xia Fan asked another question with some concern.

"I have never heard of such a rule in the industry. Occasionally, brands will give some 'samples' to staff for trial, but there is no requirement to use them. Moreover, this advertisement is for women's cosmetics."

"That, that's good."

Although it was a bit strange, the man still answered Xia Fan's questions very patiently.

"This open space is rented by the company and is used as a place for regular interior filming."

The two left the office through the back door, walked along the alley, and soon came to a wide open space.

On one side of the open space, several huge containers were assembled together to cleverly create a studio, dressing room, makeup room and equipment warehouse.

At this moment, a man wearing a sun hat and a mustache was standing in front of the container, directing the on-site work.

"Director Nakano, you're here. This is Xia Jun who was recommended by our partner. Please arrange an audition for him."

"Mr. Xia, this is Director Nakano who is in charge of the filming of this advertising project. He was promoted from assistant director at such a young age because of his rich filming experience."

"The next task will be handed over to you two."

The man greeted them familiarly, introduced the two to each other, and then went back to the office.

"Xia-kun, huh? Please look at the camera... Yes, smile naturally... Hmm, smiling and not smiling, completely contrasting styles..."

Without any intention of greeting, Director Nakano directly took out a handheld camera and started filming Xia Fan from head to toe.

"You have good looks, your face shape and facial features are photogenic from every angle, and your temperament and eyes are very personal. If you shoot content for females, female viewers will be crazy about you!"

After taking a look with the camera, Nakano nodded in admiration, and suddenly sighed.

"Unfortunately, the male character required for my project this time doesn't quite match your style..." He spread his hands behind him.

"Ahhh, it's so tight, I feel like my scalp can't breathe!"

"Damn it, your condoms are obviously too small, but you actually blame me for being too big to put them on..."

"What? You said that I don't need to wear a bald head cap and can just shave it? Do you know how much effort I put into maintaining this 'last bit of fluff'?..."

In a container not far away, a makeup artist was struggling to pull the deformed silicone wigs to dress up three middle-aged men in samurai costumes.

"The role I'm auditioning for is a samurai, it seems very interesting?"

Xia Fan watched with great interest the makeup scene inside the container, which looked like a pig being slaughtered.

"Are you sure you want to try? This kind of samurai character is very likely to ruin your image, right?"

"I will try my best, please let me audition!"

"Okay, then you can try it with them."

Director Nakano arranged a makeup artist for Xia Fan only after repeated confirmation.

……

ten minutes later.

"Audition No. 1."

"To!"

In the container studio that was somewhat stuffy due to the spotlight, Nakano held up the data board and started calling out numbers.

"Audition No. 2."

"To!"

"Audition No. 3."

"To!"

As he shouted, three men with shaved foreheads, hair tied in a bun at the back, dressed in samurai uniforms, loose woven feathers on their shoulders, and long swords on their waists, stood in front of the camera one by one with their heads held high.

"Audition No. 4."

"To!"

Then, Xia Fan, dressed as a warrior like the previous three people and wearing the same "Mediterranean ponytail wig", came on stage upon hearing the sound.

"Lighting engineer, dim it a bit. The four 'Mediterranean' satellites are reflecting light together and the camera can't focus!"

"Makeup artist, don't use such white foundation next time. We want to shoot a real battlefield where there is no place to wash your face..."

Looking through the camera at the four "samurai" standing side by side with dazzling light reflected from their scalps, Director Nakano suppressed his smile and confirmed the details with the lighting and makeup artists.

"Now we will start the final makeup shoot. Please look at the camera..."

Next, the camera began to close-up on the four people one by one.

"With this standing, it feels like the 'protagonist' and the 'minor' have been automatically separated."

"Sure enough, there are no ugly costumes and makeup, only handsome and ugly people."

Looking at the images on the monitor, the staff nearby couldn't help but murmur.

The hairstyle of the four people, in which the forehead to the top of the head is shaved cleanly and the hair on the sides and back of the head is combed into a bun, is called "tsuki-gei". It is an exclusive hairstyle designed for samurai in the Edo period for practical considerations such as not being stuffy when wearing helmets on the battlefield and not blocking the vision when the hair is scattered.

Although these three men are big, muscular, rugged and resolute, they look particularly funny in their samurai uniforms, topknots and faces covered in blood and dust.

On the other hand, Xia Fan, who had the "God-defying Strong Man Hairstyle", had more blood on his face than the others...

But his delicate facial features, cold and arrogant temperament, and eyes that were as bright as stars in the sky were instead highlighted even more clearly, and his overall handsomeness remained undiminished.

Standing together with the other three people, the difference is no longer something that can be described as "worlds apart" or "buyer's show and seller's show", it has completely reached the level of "crossing species".

(End of this chapter)