Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 184 The Powerpuff Girls

On the evening of September 2003, 9, Changping, Liu Yifei's residence.

"Bang bang bang!"

Liu Yifei changed into sportswear and punched the sandbag in the dance studio.

At the beginning, he was in good shape and had rhythm, but he became more and more crazy and angry as the fight went on, and finally he even resorted to wrestling.

"what happened?"

Liu Xiaoli brought water to her daughter and watched her lying down with a depressed look on her face, her ponytail spread out on the ground, and fine beads of sweat oozing from the tip of her nose.

Then I looked at the sandbag and saw an A4 paper with the two big words "Road Wide" written on it.

Liu Xiaoli wordlessly crumpled up the paper and prepared to take it away.

"Mom, I'm so useless!"

The little girl beat her feet and stamped her chest miserably.

Liu Xiaoli had already heard her describe what happened today, but what else could she do except comfort her?

"Xixi, didn't you perform very well in your audition for 'Kung Fu'? Even though the process was average, Zhou Xingchi really recognized you!"

"Show that spirit! Prove it to him!"

Whenever Liu Yifei hears this name, she wants to bite her back teeth fiercely. It’s so hateful!

This was just a way to vent her anger. She knew that her performance was poor, but this low-level mistake was really unfair!
The reason is that my mentality is not right, and I have been away from the crew for too long, and I haven't found the feeling of being on stage for a while.

Liu Xiaoli suddenly asked doubtfully, "Xixi, could it be that he was targeting you because you refused to sign with Wenjie?"

"No, it's not like you didn't see him on 'The Drummer'. Who wouldn't scold him? Even if I signed with Wenjie, he would still be this stinky!"

Concubine Liu Yi cheered up and suddenly stood up.

"Even though I didn't perform well in my lines today, my English still has some advantages. I also have experience in tomorrow's action scenes and wirework scenes. I must keep working hard!"

At the same time, in a villa at the Huabin Golf Resort in Peking.

"When did you buy a house here? It's so far away."

A Fei picked up Bingbing, who toured the villa curiously.

This is a high-end golf-related villa in Changping. It is not a property for public sale and is usually sold privately, making it extremely confidential.

"A cunning rabbit has three burrows, specially used to hide a beauty like you."

Fan Bingbing smiled sweetly, picked up the red wine glass and squeezed into the man's arms.

"Really? Then give me a key."

She looked at him provocatively again: "What's the matter? Are you afraid?"

"Are you afraid that I'll become like that Xu Xiyuan and slander you?"

Then he sighed leisurely: "Lu Kuan, you men are really cruel."

Fan Bingbing drew circles on his chest with his fingernails.

Boss Lu didn't answer either. It was unnecessary to say anything at this time. He had already established his authority by using Xu and Dong. Any future bed partners would probably be alert.

Don't have too many unrealistic expectations.

Fan Bingbing was a little moved. He took a sip of red wine and came closer with his bright red lips pouting.

"I took your advice. How does my makeup look today?"

Boss Lu savored the lingering taste and looked over at the dim yellow light.

I saw that her eyes were full of spring and her eyebrows were long, and it was obvious that she had listened to my advice.

"Yes, your eyes are full of stars and your cheeks are flushed. Just one look at you is like taking ten pills."

The "drug effect" came as soon as it was supposed to, and the beautiful girl felt a touch from under her body.

Fan Bingbing suddenly moaned and patted Lu Kuan's forearm coquettishly.

"You're going to die! Go take a shower first!"

Boss Lu patted the chair beneath him and said, "See this dragon and phoenix chair? I bought it for over 200,000 yuan. Today, I'll consecrate it with you!"

Fan Bingbing laughed sweetly: "Dragon Throne? Then I have to change into another role and play it for once?"

Lu Kuan has been single for a long time recently, so when he is in the mood, he doesn't care about those things.

The thunder from heaven ignited the fire from earth, and it was out of control.

In the quiet villa manor, only the creaking and swinging sounds of the old items worth two hundred thousand yuan are left, which is a bit heartbreaking to hear.

It was late at night before I rested.

"Bingbing, this chair's value has been reduced by at least 100,000 because of you."

"what does it mean?"

"It's unclear whether insurance companies will cover flooded cars. Look at this chair."

When Fan Bingbing's eyes fell on the puddle of water, no matter how bold and unrestrained he was, he couldn't help but get angry and covered his mouth.

"Stop talking! It's all your fault!"

"You don't have to pay, just come over and help me plate more often!"

Fan Bingbing hit him hard on the chest and said, "Get out!"

Lu Kuan smiled and said, "Are you unusually excited today? Even more sensitive than that time in the car in Cannes?"

Power is a woman's aphrodisiac. As soon as the "Foreign Land" project came out, Fan Bingbing became completely devoted to him and no longer thought about him.

Moreover, with Xu Xiyuan's previous experience as a lesson, she had no doubt that if she had any ulterior motives, she would be immediately subjected to his ruthless attacks.

As for whether these little thoughts and actions can be concealed from him?

She asked herself if she had such confidence. Even if Lu Kuan did not have the title of a little god, his ability to unravel the mysteries of things was astonishing.

Just rest assured and be a koala, just like now, it makes you feel safe.

As I thought about it, I felt some vague itchiness in my body again, like the barbs on the tip of a kitten's tongue licking my hand, making it numb and tingling.

"what happened?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something serious. What do you think of my lines today?"

"It's not even good enough to say it's at a passing level."

"Then can't you...can't you teach me like you taught Concubine Liu Yi?"

Boss Lu glanced at her with amusement and said, "Why are you jealous? I have taught you everything I know."

"She's still in the critical stage of practicing basic skills and has great potential. You've already established yourself. At most, you can find a professional teacher to improve your techniques."

"Just like human development, your bone age has closed, but she still has the potential to grow. Lay a good foundation now, and she will grow up with the various roles she plays in the future."

"If a young tree is not pruned, it will not grow straight. Do you understand?"

After hearing what he said so directly, Fan Bingbing thought about probing further without worrying about getting into trouble.

He just likes his own aggressive attitude.

"I think you did it on purpose. You set up the English test and the action scenes, weren't you just trying to take care of her?"

Boss Lu sneered: "Of course not. Didn't you see how embarrassed she was by what I said today?"

Fan Bingbing kept silent. If a man wants to lie to you, he can come up with thousands of excuses.

She actually hoped that she was the one being scolded today.

"What should I do with Huayi? They want to sign a long-term contract with me, and they want me to seduce you."

Then he covered his mouth and chuckled: "I didn't expect the sheep to fall into the tiger's mouth."

"Isn't your agency contract with Wang Jinhua? You can ask to sign only with Wang Jinhua and not with their joint venture company."

"What if they disagree?"

"Just put it off? I've arranged for you to be on the cover of Harper's Bazaar next month, and after the audition, we'll start working on the release of Thief."

"If nothing unexpected happens, 'The Thief' will do well at the box office. When compared to Zhao Yanzi's 'Green Tea' and Zhang Ziyi's 'Purple Butterfly', won't it really make you stand out?"

"You will only become more and more popular, and they are the ones who are anxious."

Fan Bingbing was overjoyed when he heard this. He was still thinking about me and was not mean to himself, thinking that I was useful and could be dismissed at will.

Lu Kuan felt a little itchy because of her hair.

"Another round?"

Fan Bingbing said coquettishly, "Then be gentle. Don't make me unable to walk. I have an audition for an action scene tomorrow!"

"Oh! That's nothing! Today, here's an extra question. Show me the splits first!"

"Bad guy! You only know how to bully me!"

Bingbing did as he was told reluctantly, and the room was filled with spring, every detail was revealed.

The dragon and phoenix chairs were spared, but Simmons mattresses began to suffer.

I didn't sleep all night. The next day's audition was held at the Beijing Film Studio, mainly to consider the wirework issues.

Lu Kuan contacted the factory in advance and prepared a studio with complete equipment, waiting for the auditionees of "Foreign Land" to try it out.

"Did everyone rest well?"

"Very good, Director.", "Not bad."

Zhao Yanzi and Jia Jingwen are older and went to bed early yesterday after a tiring day.

Zhang Ziyi is naturally full of energy, and her years of audition experience have made her well prepared this time.

Concubine Liu Yi had a cold expression on her face, as if she was still in a bad mood after waking up, but in fact she was angry with someone.

Bingbing stood with his body slightly hunched and his hands on his waist. He had suffered a great deal yesterday.

The more suspicious ones are Zhang Baizhi and Gillian Chung. With his sharp eyes, he can clearly see that they had a fierce battle last night.

He did know that Eagle King artists had gathered in Peiping to prepare for a charity concert, and Mei Yanfang also called him yesterday.

But how did Zhang Baizhi, Gillian Chung, Xie and Chen arrange themselves last night?

Fuck, so dirty!

"Okay, Director Yuan Heping will ask the martial arts instructor to lead everyone in warm-up exercises. The most important thing for today's inspection is to pay attention to safety."

"We are looking at your mental qualities, movement style, and muscle strength. There will be two weeks to 20 days of targeted training before the actual filming begins, so we are not judging based on your current level. Please relax."

The actresses began to warm up, and the special effects team of Butian Films also arrived on the scene and began to set up the green screen and prepare the motion capture equipment.

Zhang Ziyi has seen this kind of scene before in Hollywood, but other actresses couldn't help but be amazed. Today's scene seems to be much bigger than yesterday's!
Looking at the special effects team, Yuan Heping sighed, "The level of technology is really high now. In the old days, Hong Kong films could only use thin lines painted with camouflage colors, and then use some dry ice and smoke to cover it up."

"Now with special effects technology, we can just lay down a green screen and then cut out the image from the source material if we want to remove the wirework later on. It's so convenient."

Lu Kuan chuckled and said, "Director Yuan, it's not just green screen these days. I visited their special effects team in Hollywood last month, and they're currently developing a material called greenback."

"Greenback?"

"The green screen has many shortcomings. For example, it must be kept clean and tidy, otherwise it will be very tiring to cut out the image in post-production. From a small hair to a footprint, the post-production staff will increase the color level when cutting out the image, and the pure green will not be able to be brought out at all."

A typical example is the later "Havoc in Heaven", where many viewers complained about the blue circle around the edge of the monkey's hair.

That is because the green cloth is not clean and balanced, and the surface of the cloth is uneven when it is printed, making post-production very difficult.

This is also a microcosm of the fact that the domestic special effects industry has long lagged behind international standards.

Yuan Heping was curious: "What effect does Greenback have?"

"The green back material is smooth, dry, and non-absorbent, making it easy to clean. It's very suitable for special effects. The only drawback is that it's expensive, costing over $100 per square meter."

In later generations, the budgets of many domestic and foreign crews were basically spent on hiring popular stars. They were reluctant to spend this money, and at the same time, they sacrificed the quality of special effects.

The eight actresses changed into their costumes and received one-on-one guidance from the martial arts directors of the Yuan family troupe.

Most of them have filmed action movies, and the most experienced one is Zhang Ziyi. Her action scenes in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hero" are very cool.

Including the first round of dialogue assessment yesterday, she was also the highest-scoring actress.

But now she has a happy worry, that is, "House of Flying Daggers" is about to start shooting, how can she convince the two directors to agree to let her star in two films at the same time?

She doesn't want to give up on either of these two films, so she has to coordinate the roles and schedules. The shooting pace of Hollywood movies is very fast, so it shouldn't be difficult to handle it.

In Zhang Ziyi's mind, after the first day of observation, she didn't think anyone else could pose a threat to her.

It seems that Lu Kuan's attitude towards the girl with whom he had a scandal was also very cold.

Yuan Heping was mainly responsible for today's inspection content. He designed several routine actions for the actors.

For example, the ever-changing dance art forms and aerial flight are similar to Jade Fox’s fighting scene on the bamboo in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

For example, bending or straightening the waist, front and back flips, and most importantly, various aerial movements, the coordination of dance shapes, scenery, and fireworks.

This is less considered due in part to audition location and cost.

Wire-aeronautic scenes appear in almost all costume dramas and action dramas. Some actors enjoy them and even find them fun.

Some of them are hung up by wires and it is almost like slaughtering pigs. No matter how beautiful a fairy is, she can't control her facial expressions well.

This first level tests everyone's psychological quality. Even if you are afraid of heights, it is considered good if you can control yourself and complete the action.

There is no need to say much about Zhang Ziyi.

Fan Bingbing and Zhao Yanzi both have experience in wire-aero dramas, and their performances were satisfactory except that the wire ropes were not very stable due to their slightly heavier weight.

Zhou Xun has acted in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and has a thin body, which is a trait that is most friendly to wire-actuated dramas.

Especially in costume dramas, many female characters wear a layer of gauze. They cannot use cotton pads when doing some backflips and turns on the wire. If they are not careful, the wire will get stuck in their bodies, and heavy actors may even cry out in pain on the scene.

You'll see after a few days when I get home, my body looks like it's been through some SM game, with deep purple marks all over it, which will take more than half a month to disappear.

"This little girl is really good. Her facial expression control and body coordination are very strong!"

Liu Yifei did have some advantages in this aspect. Long-term Grotovkis training gave her very strong control over every part of her body.

This has strong practical significance in wire-aerobic dramas and even ordinary performances.

For example, why Chen Daoming can play the roles of nobles, especially high-ranking officials and emperors so vividly? From the details, his walking posture can explain this problem.

Refer to the square steps he took when playing the Eight Wise Kings.

This step requires landing in the order of heel first and then sole of the foot. At the same time, the center of gravity of the body moves forward, the upper body is upright and slightly leaning forward, the fingers are clenched with the thumb placed on the second joint of the index finger, and the arms swing naturally back and forth.

When swinging forward, bend your elbows, naturally close your forearms inward, turn your palms slightly inward and downward, and align the base of your thumbs with the button line.

The slightest non-standardization will lead to a discrepancy in the overall appearance.

In order to reach this standard, in addition to diligent and hard training, the most important thing is to improve the actor's ability to control his own muscles.

There is a special "gait training" movement for this in Grotowski.

It allows you to walk barefoot on soft, smooth, bumpy surfaces, even hot sand, roads near water, etc., in order to tame and cultivate muscle memory.

Specifically speaking about Liu Yifei's current wire-fighting movements, it is easy for the audience to tell the quality of wire-fighting dramas when watching movies and TV series.

For example, Zhang Baizhi and Gillian Chung were dismantling the wire rope at this time. One of them looked like he was hanging himself when he was rising, and the other looked like he was taking an elevator when he was falling.

Zhang Baizhi's expression control is not good enough, and his eyebrows and eyes are flying around when he is in the sky;
Gillian Chung did not cooperate with the wirework movements well, her body was stiff, and it looked like she was walking down an escalator in the air.

And the wire-acting performance of Liu Yifei, which even amazed Yuan Heping, was almost impeccable.

"Xiao Liu, try again. I'll design a move for you."

Yuan Heping suddenly spoke.

"Seventh and Eighth, give me a spinning landing Ending later."

"Yes, master!"

Liu Yifei was a little confused, but she cooperated with the staff to put on her equipment.

Everyone was looking at her. Was Yuan Heping obviously optimistic about her? He even designed a special move for her to try.

"Xiao Liu, imagine a scene from 'Alien Land'. You're fighting a monster in a tree, and it throws you off. Then you do a head-back waist spin in the air, and then land with a spinning finish."

"Okay director, I'll try."

Lu Kuan nodded silently in his heart. This was a bit more difficult than the simple test just now.

In many Hong Kong films and older martial arts dramas, we often see scenes of falling from the air.

The one-shot gives a close-up of the actor's expression and movements after landing, which is very cool.

But in the later era of traffic stars, this kind of shots are seen less and less, because when they land on the ground, their eyebrows and eyes are all messy and chaotic, and it is impossible to shoot!
So most of them end with a stumbling vision.

The directors are too lazy to tinker with this. Anyway, everyone is here to make quick money and reap fans' wallets, so why bother?
After going through so much trouble to make a popular actor anger the investors, the fans circle caught you and scolded you. I feel sorry for you, brother!
Everyone looked at Concubine Liu Yi in the air, and it seemed that she was flying very beautifully!
Yuan Heping kept nodding his head. It was actually not difficult to fly beautifully. All he had to do was keep his torso stable and move his limbs in rhythm with the plot and the costume.

But it is not easy to achieve this. In addition to having good psychological qualities, it is still very important for an actor to have the ability to control his muscles and torso.

This is the result of her unremitting morning exercises.

Zhang Baizhi stuck out her tongue. She had just seen her performance on the monitor. She stretched out her limbs in the air, like a "big" character, walking around the world, like a wooden stake.

Lu Kuan asked the special effects artist of Butian Film to make a motion capture silhouette. To be fair, Liu Yifei's fighting scenes are even better than Zhang Ziyi's.

Zhang Ziyi is less than 165cm tall and has a slender figure. She has a natural sense of lightness when she moves.

Liu Yifei is nearly 5 cm taller than her, but she doesn't look bulky at all.

The little girl landed on the ground gracefully, her stability better than many male actors Yuan Heping had seen.

Lu Kuan in front of the monitor saw a bit of Xiaolongnu's shadow.

The Little Dragon Girl is also the pinnacle of her wire-aerobic performances, with many classic shots including the Tomb Raider wire hammock.

"Good! Xiao Liu's part is good."

“Thank you, Director Yuan!”

Concubine Liu Yi was overjoyed, finally able to let out the bad breath she had breathed yesterday.

He glanced secretly at Lu Kuan, who was standing calmly in front of the monitor.

You bastard, let’s see how you can scold me this time!

(End of this chapter)