1978: Female educated youth, don’t want an illiterate husband

"Whatever your thoughts, I support you!"

Xie Jin patted Cheng Xuemin on the shoulder one last time, leaving it to the two of them to make the decision.

Cheng Xuemin nodded and replied, "I'll talk to Gong Xue first!"

He then stood up from in front of the camera. He had just watched the video several times, and the shooting effect was excellent!

Gong Xue's boldness brought the character of Zhou Yun to life.

If Gong Xue had played Zhou Yun very well before, this kiss that sealed their love brought Zhou Yun to life.

After that kiss, Gong Xue became Zhou Yun, and Zhou Yun became Gong Xue.

So tell the truth!

Xie Jin wanted to delete this scene, fearing it would have a negative impact on Cheng Xuemin and the other man after the film's release.

After all, Cheng Xuemin was someone he had invited to provide guidance and who had also stepped in to save the day.

I don't want this to affect other people.

It's important to understand that Cheng Xuemin is no longer an ordinary writer or professional actor.

If someone with ulterior motives were to seize upon this point to attack him, Xie Jin wouldn't even dare to think about it, after all, he came from that era.

Knowing the extent of this influence, one can understand just how powerful it is for educated youth like Cheng Xuemin.

But Cheng Xuemin wanted to preserve this shot.

This kiss elevated the filming quality of "Romance on Lushan Mountain" by several levels, and also sublimated the central theme of the entire film.

Therefore, Cheng Xuemin definitely wanted to preserve this shot.

There's absolutely no need to reshoot; why bother with any misalignment?

As for Xie Jin's concern for them, worrying about the potential for too much impact, Cheng Xuemin could only say that Xie Jin was overthinking it.

Because of the movie "Romance on Lushan Mountain" in my previous life, which also had this kissing scene, although it was filmed using a camera trick and there was no real kiss.

However, after the film's release, while some criticized the kissing scene, it received widespread acclaim from audiences across the country, especially from young, educated people who had just returned to the cities. Having been suppressed for over a decade, they desperately needed this kind of genuine intellectual liberation.

Therefore, after the release of the movie "Romance on Lushan Mountain", the male and female leads won the adoration of countless movie fans across the country because of the groundbreaking kissing scene.

They won the Best Actor and Best Actress awards at the first Hundred Flowers Awards the following spring.

This single act propelled her from a film newcomer to a household name as a Best Actor and Best Actress.

Therefore, Xie Jin's concerns are almost negligible.

What Cheng Xuemin was really worried about was whether his wife would feel guilty if she saw him kissing her.
His wife trusted him so much, almost to the point of worship, but he came to Lushan to make a movie and caused such a mess. How do you explain that?

Even worse, Cheng Xuemin wasn't an actor in "Romance on Lushan Mountain" at all; he didn't even have a cameo role.

But then suddenly this huge one appeared!
How am I supposed to explain this to my wife?

Really!

Cheng Xuemin didn't want his wife to be heartbroken, and he didn't want to do anything to betray her.

Besides his wife, Gong Xue's situation is also quite troublesome.

Cheng Xuemin really didn't expect that Gong Xue would be so bold this time. She had already said that she would use shooting techniques and perspective distortion.

She suddenly kissed him, catching Cheng Xuemin completely off guard.

So, what exactly is Gong Xue thinking now?
If Gong Xueyi were to go all the way and confess her feelings to Cheng Xuemin directly, it would mean that they would no longer be able to be friends.

"Xuemin, I...I...I..." Upon seeing Cheng Xuemin approach, Gong Xue, who was already flustered and confused, became even more flustered, unable to utter a word of explanation.

"This is your first time acting, and once you get into character, it's easy to immerse yourself in the role. Zhou Yun really likes Geng Hua, and you were so into your performance that you practically became Zhou Yun, weren't you?"

Regardless of what Gong Xue was thinking, Cheng Xuemin had to emphasize this point to Gong Xue.

She then gave another example: "Actually, Gong Xue, you and Zhu Lin are in the same situation; you were both too immersed in your first acting role!"

"Sister Zhu Lin played Li Xiuzhi in The Herdsman before, and her situation was the same as yours!"

"Because it was my first time making a movie, and also my first time playing the female lead, I worked very hard and was very dedicated!"

"With such effort and dedication, I became completely immersed in the role, identifying with Li Xiuzhi. It took me a long time to come out of that state!"

"So Gong Xue, you don't need to be too nervous or scared. What I want to tell you is that everyone has a first time. It's inevitable to get too immersed in the role and not be able to get out of it, and you will involuntarily deviate from the script."

"These things are actually perfectly normal for you new actors!"

"So Gong Xue, you're in great shape right now. I hope you can keep it up and strive to make this movie a complete success!"

"Of course, after the movie wraps up, I hope you can get out of character as soon as possible. Otherwise, if you take a month or two to get over it like Sister Zhu Lin, I'll be in big trouble because of you. My Jiayou won't let me off the hook!"

"Pfft!"

Gong Xue, who was initially flustered, had been nodding and agreeing with Cheng Xuemin's lecture on the surface, and that was the situation.

But deep down, I don't agree with that.

She did put in a lot of effort and dedication to the film, but she didn't tell Cheng Xuemin that because she was so immersed in the role that she identified herself as Zhou Yun.

Because Guo Kaimin, whom she didn't know very well, wasn't her classmate from Huangtu, no matter how much she invested, she couldn't possibly treat Guo Kaimin as her Geng Hua.

In Gong Xue's heart, Geng Hua will only ever be her classmate from the yellow earth.

At first, Gong Xue was extremely reluctant to film the kissing scene. Even though Director Xie and the others suggested using a camera angle to avoid any negative impact, she would use that as an excuse to refuse to film it, as instructed by her superiors before they left.

But to Gong Xue's utter surprise, substitutions were made at halftime.

They just replaced her with her yellow-clad classmate, so there's no point in filming with misaligned angles anymore. How many times had she dreamed of that kiss?
So, given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Gong Xue had to muster up his courage and seize the chance to make the charade real.

Don't let Gong Xuerou's obedient, shy, and timid appearance fool you; she's incredibly stubborn, and when she gets really brave, even she's afraid of herself. So, Gong Xuerou originally planned to wait until Cheng Xuemin finished his lecture before she mustered up the courage to confess to him directly, saying that she was just overcome with emotion and couldn't help herself.

For example, she liked Cheng Xuemin, her classmate Huang Tu, not Zhou Yungeng Hua at all.

But it was Huang Tu's last sentence, "He's afraid his wife and family won't let him off the hook," that made Gong Xue break down and laugh instantly.

Yes, he's no longer the same classmate from the yellow earth!
Instead, they were pioneers of reform and opening up who already had families.

Gong Xue's face instantly broke into a smile, but inside she was already in tears, a tide of grievance welling up inside her. She really wanted to blurt it out, to reveal her true feelings, and say, "I'm not Zhou Yun, and the person I like isn't Geng Hua!"

"Cheng Xuemin, I like you, I like my classmate Huang Tu!"

Unfortunately, reason told Gong Xue that if she blurted it out, she would lose her classmate Huang Tu forever, and they might not even be able to be friends anymore.

In the end, she could only keep her head down, not daring to look her in the eye, and softly hummed in a voice so soft that even she could not hear it.

"Don't worry too much, I'll fix the footage from earlier, it won't affect you!"

After reassuring Gong Xue with a few more words, Cheng Xuemin already had a plan in mind.

Originally, according to the plan, if we had used the perspective-shifting shooting technique directly, this shot would have been fine.

But then Gong Xue gave him a real kiss...

Cheng Xuemin certainly didn't care. They kissed, so what? It didn't matter if it was shown on the big screen. Everyone knew it wouldn't have any impact anyway.

However, in the original version, both the male and female leads were professional actors from the Shanghai Film Studio; this was their profession.

They were sacrificing themselves and giving kisses for art.

But Cheng Xuemin is different from Gong Xue. One is a pioneering flag raised in the lake, while the other is an active-duty soldier in the General Political Department's Cultural Troupe.

On the big screen, we still need to be mindful of the impact.

Although Cheng Xuemin is a vanguard whose job is to be the first in the world, we still need to protect Comrade Gong Xue.

So after calming Gong Xue down, he turned around and found Xie Jin, and said to him:
"Old Xie, the footage can be kept, but it needs to be processed!"

"In this way, we retain the shot of Gong Xue standing on tiptoe, and combine it with the long shot of me looking to the side, interspersed with close-ups of the sea of ​​clouds at Pankou."

"We need to shoot this part slowly, making the clouds and mist look like flowing gauze, capturing that indescribable feeling."

"Anyway, this kissing scene needs to be toned down a bit; it can't be too explicit!"

As Cheng Xuemin fiddled with the camera and recorded the video, he explained things to Xie Jin. Xie Jin's eyes lit up as he listened, and he clapped his hands and cheered, saying, "Great job, great job, it has to be you, Xuemin!"

"By handling it this way, you've captured that hazy feeling perfectly. You've really got some skills, haven't you?"

"This is so much better than the forced perspective shooting we talked about before!"

Xie Jin clapped and cheered, because Cheng Xuemin's approach was truly effective, no doubt about it.

"So, Lao Xie, do you think this will work?" Cheng Xuemin asked again.

"Great, this is fantastic!"

"Alright, let's handle it that way then!" Cheng Xuemin nodded and didn't say anything more, then asked, "How many scenes are left?"

The male lead, Guo Kaimin, suddenly quit the role, and Cheng Xuemin stepped in at the last minute. The most important thing was this kissing scene.

Now kissing scenes can be filmed in one take, eliminating this major source of conflict.

Cheng Xuemin definitely hoped that Lao Xie could do some more ideological work with that Guo guy and go through all the remaining scenes.

After all, Cheng Xuemin was too busy to be in two places at once; his main job was still filming "Tai Chi" in Chenjiagou.

That was a pledge made under orders, a commitment of ten million US dollars in foreign exchange.

We can't let Xie Jin save the day and delay the important business over there.

"There aren't many scenes left, actually. If you're not too busy, Xuemin..."

"Old Xie, you know I'm very busy!" Cheng Xuemin stopped Xie Jin abruptly, telling him not to continue.

Just because of saving a scene, such a big incident has occurred. If this continues, Cheng Xuemin is really afraid that Gong Xue will do a few more outrageous and uncontrollable things.

Therefore, it's best to keep some distance.

But things didn't go as planned!
Although Xie Jin had given a gag order, everyone in the crew had witnessed what just happened and was completely dumbfounded.

Afterwards, they often gathered together to whisper and discuss it.

In particular, Guo Kaimin realized that something big was about to happen to their entire Lushan Romance crew, and he didn't want to take the fall.

He immediately turned around and rushed back to the guesthouse, without even packing anything, and then ran down the mountain and disappeared without a trace.

Obviously, he rushed back to Shanghai to report the situation to his superiors, embellishing the details, in any way he could exonerate himself.

Now that the male lead has really run away, if Cheng Xuemin doesn't help with the remaining scenes, the entire crew might really have to shut down and wrap up filming prematurely.

"Fortunately, he didn't have too many scenes later on!"

"Old Xie, I'll help with the rest of the scenes, but to minimize the flaws of changing male actors at the beginning and end, it would be best if I didn't appear on camera directly!"

With all the male actors having left, Cheng Xuemin was bound to step in and save the day. Otherwise, if production had really stopped like this, the classic film "Romance on Lushan Mountain" would have been aborted and died out.

"Okay, okay, Xuemin, I'll do whatever you say! As long as you agree to continue acting, I'll film it however you want!"

Old Xie seemed to have aged considerably in an instant, but hearing Cheng Xuemin help him continue the performance brought him some relief.

But what worried him was no longer that; rather, that Guo Kaimin had run away, probably to the factory to complain about them.

Xie Jin was genuinely afraid that the factory would take his false accusations at face value and interfere with the filming of "Romance on Lushan Mountain," which would cause trouble.

Therefore, we must hurry up with the next filming work. It would be best to finish all the outdoor filming work in Lushan before the factory reacts.

Once Xie Jin returns to Shanghai and the factory, given his influence there and the support of Factory Director Xu, things shouldn't be too difficult.

The most important thing now is to hurry up and reshoot!

Fortunately, as Cheng Xuemin himself said, the later scenes were not many. They had been filming on Lushan Mountain for almost two months.

All other major filming work has been completed. The remaining scenes are those of the male and female leads, which were delayed because of waiting for Gong Xue to join the crew.

Fortunately, Gong Xue worked very hard after joining the crew, and was determined to make up for the filming schedule that was delayed because of her.

So it's true that the filming is almost done. The remaining scenes are mostly Gong Xue alone, with only the ending left, along with the scenes with the male lead Geng Hua.

……

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