The next day, Zhou Paihuai arrived at the "King of Chaos" set on time, accompanied by Tang Xiaole. The other actors also arrived on time. Since it was the first day of filming, the director was not in a hurry to shoot. Instead, he planned to play some games with the main actors to help them get to know each other better so that they could have better chemistry during the subsequent filming.
"..." Zhou Paihuai, who had never actually gone through the proper procedures to join a film crew since arriving in this world, was dumbfounded. Was this a tradition of the crew or the director's personal quirk? Why was it that on the normal start date of filming, she was all ready to act well, but instead, she found herself playing a game of Werewolf with a group of people?
Of course, Zhou Paihuai didn't have a problem with Werewolf. If it were a group of people playing online on their phones, she definitely wouldn't mind; on the contrary, she'd have a lot of fun. But playing face-to-face with a bunch of strangers... God, please take her away!
The more panicked she became, the colder her expression grew. So, after several games, Zhou Paihuai not only failed to build rapport with the rest of the crew, but instead gave them the impression that she was difficult to get along with. Especially the female lead; Zhou Paihuai noticed that the female lead was probably frightened by her, and afterwards, she avoided her during the game, not even daring to look her in the eye.
After playing several rounds of Werewolf, everyone was exhausted, even though they weren't filming. When the director announced a break, assistants from all the artists rushed over, some offering water, others food. Tang Xiaole joined in the fun, offering Zhou Paihuai a cup of milk tea: "Zhou Zhou, want some?"
Zhou Paihuai shook her head. She felt very upset because the director said they would have to come back later. She wondered if she should pretend to be sick and ask for leave to go back and wait until the others had built up their relationship before coming back.
Tang Xiaole, unaware of her thoughts, said with a grin, "Zhouzhou, you're really good at the game, but you're too fierce. You're expressionless the whole time, no wonder they all think you're a wolf."
Zhou Paihuai wished she were a real wolf, so she could roam freely on the grasslands without a care in the world, instead of being stuck in this dilemma. As for her skill at the game, all I can say is that these people are terrible at it, okay? They don't even have the most basic logic to play Werewolf, especially the director, who is the worst player. He's really bad at the game but addicted to it.
"By the way, have you been staying here all day? Isn't it too boring? How about I give you a day off?" Although playing games was torture for him, Zhou Paihuai also knew very well that it was even more torture for Tang Xiaole and the others to stay here all day. They, the assistants and other staff, didn't even have a bench.
"That won't do. What if something happens to you on set? Sister Cheng will eat me alive!" Tang Xiaole knew she meant well, but she couldn't agree to that. "Besides, it's not as boring as you think. It's actually quite interesting!"
This person truly built their happiness on Zhou Paihuai's suffering. Zhou Paihuai angrily retorted, "Fine, watch if you want, but don't take photos and videos secretly, you hear me!"
"Don't worry!" Anyway, Sister Cheng has already seen it, so there's probably no need to film anymore!
Chapter 78 Getting Too Immersed in the Role
After getting through the first day, everyone on set suddenly became normal again. Gone was the carefree and unproductive attitude of yesterday. From the lead actors to the supporting actors, everyone had a thick script in their hands, and they would spend their time memorizing lines when they weren't filming. After all, everyone's lines were quite long, and many of them were very difficult to pronounce.
Although Zhou Paihuai didn't have the most scenes, she was definitely the one who worked the hardest. Besides rehearsing and memorizing lines, she also had to wear that makeup throughout the entire performance. Whether it's winter or summer, having a layer of rubber wrapped around your face is never comfortable. Even standing still for a moment would make you sweat, let alone with so many action scenes.
The director hadn't worked with Zhou Paihuai before, but he'd heard of her reputation and knew she was somewhat famous, but had a bad temper and lacked professionalism. If she hadn't been the actor who best met the director's requirements during the audition, he might not have chosen her. Furthermore, Zhou Paihuai wasn't very enthusiastic when he organized everyone to build rapport on the first day.
So the director was constantly worried that Zhou Paihuai would cause trouble and refuse to film, or at least make some unreasonable demands. After all, there were quite a few stories about Zhou Paihuai acting like a diva. But a day passed, then two... and a week of filming had already gone by, and Zhou Paihuai was still doing the same thing as before, obediently filming on set.
The director had seen Zhou Paihuai's previous performances. To be honest, his acting before his debut was extremely exaggerated. Although he was uninhibited, it wasn't up to par. Later, instead of improving, he lost his strength of being able to let loose once he was in character. He always acted stiffly, with little movement or expression. He himself lacked confidence in his ability to portray the character well. However, after filming began, the director realized he had worried too much. Zhou Paihuai got into character quickly, and while his acting wasn't the best in the crew, it was definitely above average and wouldn't drag the production down.
However, Zhou Paihuai has a somewhat aloof personality. Now that he has been on set for quite some time, the other actors in the crew, whether they knew each other or not, have become quite close. But Zhou Paihuai always acts alone. Apart from rehearsing scenes in his spare time, Zhou Paihuai always stays with his assistant.
Finally, the director found a break when Zhou Paihuai was acting with someone and approached Tang Xiaole, who was alone, and started gossiping: "Little Tang..." He wanted to get some information out of Zhou Paihuai to see if he was at odds with any of the actors in the crew.
Despite trying to get information out of her, Zhou Paihuai couldn't get any clear answer. She had never worked with any of the current actors, so how could she possibly have a grudge against them? Since her debut, she had almost always played leading roles, and most of the scripts she took on were idol dramas, rarely serious dramas like "The King of Chaos." Her fanbase didn't overlap much with the two main actors, so there was no competition between them.
However, as Tang Xiaole listened, she realized that the director had come to question her because he was worried that Zhou Zhou had a grudge against someone. It made sense; Zhou Zhou's recent behavior was indeed abnormal, and she didn't seem unfamiliar with others. She never took the initiative to get to know people, so how could she possibly be familiar with them? Moreover, sometimes she felt a murderous intent in Zhou's hesitant gaze. If she didn't know Zhou Zhou so well, she probably would have the same thought as the director right now.
Once her curiosity was piqued, Tang Xiaole really wanted to ask Zhou Zhou if she disliked someone. But she couldn't ask these questions during filming, so she could only wait and wait until the crew wrapped up and Zhou Zhou finished work.
Just as Tang Xiaole was about to ask, she noticed that Zhou Paihuai's complexion was worse than usual. In the past, she would have kept it to herself, and outsiders would have thought she was just cold and expressionless. But today, she couldn't hide the look of wanting to kill someone.
"Zhou Zhou, what's wrong? Did someone bully you while filming?" This was a question tinged with genuine concern, not curiosity.
Zhou Paihuai shook her head, indicating that she was fine. She wouldn't admit that she was getting a little too into character, and the character she played in the drama seemed to have a grudge against everyone in the world. After getting into character, these grudges almost materialized, so she really couldn't stand anyone on set every day.
Chen Siku was indeed a very good acting teacher. At least Zhou Paihuai received a lot of praise after joining the cast this time, and she could feel that her acting skills had improved a lot. However, Chen Siku only taught her how to get into character, but not how to get out of character. And it was because she already knew about this problem that she dared not put in the effort to get into character.
"Go back first, I'm fine." She needed to find a quiet place to calm herself down.
Back at the apartment, Tang Xiaole wanted to stay and help Zhou Paihuai prepare dinner, but Zhou Paihuai refused: "I'm really not hungry. You should go back first. We have to rush to work tomorrow and get to the film set very early!"
"Alright then, you should get some rest tonight."
... ...
A proper rest was definitely out of the question. To regulate her emotions, Zhou Paihuai prepared a rather eventful nightlife. Besides watching some very funny videos or reading novels, Zhou Paihuai also arranged to play games with her "little black powder" (a type of online gamer). After all, the "little black powder" was her source of joy; she was currently surviving on it.
Zhou Paihuai joined the crew a week ago, and her haters stayed with her for a whole week. Thinking about it now, it's really touching!
After meeting in the game, Zhou Paihuai couldn't help but ask, "I heard from Sister Cheng that you've joined the crew these past few days. Aren't you tired from staying up so late every day?"
Ji Anxi retorted, "Aren't you the same?"
Actually, there is a slight difference. Zhou Paihuai is good at staying up late, while Xiao Heifen is still quite young. It's better for her not to have to get up during the day, but she can still hold on to staying up day and night like this.
Actually, Xiao Heifan was a bit overwhelmed, but although she hadn't seen Zhou Huaipai recently, she sensed that Zhou wasn't in a particularly good mood. Since Zhou liked playing games, and playing games could improve her mood, she didn't mind staying up late to play with her.
"Your voice sounds hoarse. Let's just finish this game and call it a day?" Zhou Paihuai heard that Xiao Heifen's voice was a little hoarse.
The hater asked her, "So, after you're done, are you going to sleep too?"
“… …” That probably won’t work, so Zhou hesitated and fell silent.
Ji Anxi instantly understood what she meant and said, "Then I won't sleep. If you can stay up all night, so can I!" If she really went offline, Zhou Paihuai might stay up all night. She didn't want to see news reports one day about a famous female star dying from playing games all night.
"This is really tough, these little haters are so hard to deal with!" Zhou Huai sighed, and could only say, "Alright, I'll go to sleep after I finish this game. I'm not kidding you, let's get off after this game, you can sleep and I can sleep too."
As the enemy's crystal exploded, Zhou Paihuai heard Xiao Heifen say "Goodnight," and then saw her game avatar go black. She logged off quite quickly, and Zhou Paihuai didn't even have time to reply with a goodnight.
Chapter 79 People Must Have Dreams
Having promised the hater, Zhou Paihuai naturally wouldn't break her promise. So after turning off her phone, she went straight to bed to sleep. She thought she would have insomnia like before, but to her surprise, she fell asleep very quickly.
Sufficient sleep stimulated the secretion of hormones in Zhou's body, which made her feel much better when she went to the film set the next day, and she even had a smile on her face. Although no one could see the smile on her face through the thick makeup.
However, her assistant, who had been spending a lot of time with her recently, noticed something was off about her today. Or rather, she noticed that she had finally returned to normal.
"Are you in a good mood today?" Tang Xiaole asked her while preparing lunch for her.
"You can tell that?" Zhou hesitated, chewing the torn chicken breast with difficulty, but gave an affirmative answer.
Tang Xiaole thought to herself, "Isn't that obvious? Before, she ate with such a bitter expression, as if she were chewing on someone else's bones and drinking someone else's blood. Today, she's humming a song while eating. Even a fool could tell she's in a good mood." But she couldn't say that directly, so Tang Xiaole countered by asking her, "What exactly happened to you the other day?"
"You know, people, especially women, always have a few days when they're irritable and easily agitated!" Zhou Huaihuai certainly wouldn't admit that he had gotten too caught up in the role before, otherwise Tang Xiaole would definitely tell others about it, and he would be laughed at by them again.
"I don't believe you!" Tang Xiaole stuck out her tongue; she didn't believe a single word Zhou Paihuai said.
Zhou Huai smiled again and said, "From an outsider's perspective, how was my performance today?" She had finally managed to get away from being so immersed in the role, and it would be embarrassing if it affected the filming.
"I think it's great. Many scenes were completed in one take, and I think the director is quite satisfied."
As long as it didn't affect the filming, Zhou Paihuai felt there was no problem. The little hater was truly her lucky star; because of one sentence from the little hater, she went to bed early once, and unexpectedly, the tension she had been holding back suddenly eased, making her feel much more relaxed.
"Filming has started!"
Zhou had barely eaten a few bites of her food when the director yelled that filming was about to begin. Without a word, she put down her chopsticks, quickly wiped her mouth, and headed towards the director.
"No, you haven't even finished your food..." Tang Xiaole grabbed at the air, but couldn't stop the person. Seriously, this is too dedicated! And the director, he doesn't even let anyone eat a few bites.
Actually, not only Zhou Paihuai hadn't finished eating, but the female lead Wu Fei and the male lead Tan Xue hadn't finished either. When the director saw them coming over, he said, "The light is at its best right now. It's the perfect time to shoot a scene. Do you have any questions?"
“No problem!” Zhou Paihuai, Wu Fei, and Tan Xue said in unison.
This scene is a solo performance by each of the three characters. Wu Fei plays Xu Qing'an, who is to be married off to the Liao Kingdom as a princess. Tan Xue plays Chu Xing, a general of the Liao Kingdom, but in this scene, Tan Xue is just a minor general reviewing troops on the battlefield. As for Sheng Huanyan, played by Zhou Paihuai, she kills someone under the blazing sun and calmly disposes of the body.
It can be said that the scene filmed today completely changed the fate of the three people. Each of them entered the gears of destiny and walked firmly and at all costs toward the path they had to take.
Therefore, this scene not only needs to be timed well, but the actors also need to be in good condition and their emotional transitions need to be very full.
There were three filming locations, and the director and several assistant directors moved back and forth between them to film the scenes of the three actors. Wu Fei and Chu Xing's scenes were filmed quickly, but Zhou Paihuai's scenes encountered a problem during filming.
The main issue was Zhou Paihuai's acting skills. Since many films nowadays rely heavily on special effects rather than real objects, especially when dealing with corpses, the actors have to rely entirely on their imagination. While Zhou Paihuai had a good imagination, she never actually considered handling a corpse, resulting in a lack of realism. The director wasn't satisfied, leading to numerous takes.
Zhou Paihuai was already drenched in sweat, and the makeup artist had come up to touch up her makeup several times, but she still couldn't achieve the performance the director wanted. The optimal shooting time was almost over, and if she missed today, who knew when it would be postponed? Thinking that she alone was slowing down the entire crew's progress, Zhou Paihuai became agitated again, unable to calm down.
The director probably noticed that Zhou was acting strangely. The filming had been going smoothly so far, so he thought she might not be in good shape. He reassured her, "Zhou Zhou, don't be nervous. I'll give you a few minutes to rest and think about how to film this scene."
"Zhou Zhou!" Tang Xiaole looked at her little darling with a nervous expression. She had just started to feel better recently, and she didn't want this incident to cause her to fall back into that low mood.
But Zhou Paihuai didn't notice what she said. Instead, he stared intently at her and suddenly said, "Do me a favor!"
"What?"
Zhou Paihuai gestured with his hands over her body and said, "Lie down and play the role of a corpse. Let me see how much force I need!"
"Huh?" Tang Xiaole was both amused and exasperated. It seemed she had worried about Zhou Paihuai's feelings for nothing. At this moment, she couldn't think about anything else; she just wanted to play her part well. "Of course, no problem!"
Although Tang Xiaole wasn't a celebrity, she was a young girl, not particularly tall, so her weight wasn't particularly heavy either, but it was still better than Zhou Paihuai huffing and puffing as he moved air. After feeling the weight of the "corpse" with the help of his assistant, Zhou Paihuai finally regained some of his senses.
"Director, I think I'm ready!" Zhou Paihuai took the initiative to stand on the filming location.
The director gave her an "OK" sign, signaling Zhou Paihuai to begin her performance. This time, when Zhou Paihuai handled the corpse, it was clear from her subtle expressions and movements that she exuded strength, rather than the previous light and airy feeling.
"Cut!" the director finally yelled. "Okay, that was good. We can take a break now!"
Zhou Huai let out a long sigh of relief; they had finally gotten through this scene.
"Zhouzhou, you're amazing!" Tang Xiaole always had to praise her. "Your acting skills are getting better and better!"
Zhou Paihuai wondered if the original owner's former assistant had always praised her like that, which was why the original owner's acting skills were only so-so after so many years in the entertainment industry. She only realized how natural other people's acting was after recently acting with Wu Fei and Tan Xue. She herself hadn't had any acting work for almost a year, and after spending so much time learning from renowned performing artists, she was barely able to avoid putting too much pressure on herself during scenes. She really didn't deserve the title of "good actress."
"Don't say that!" Zhou Paihuai stopped Tang Xiaole's flattery. "If you say that, I'll definitely be ridiculed by everyone. Wait until my acting is really good enough to win an award before you praise me!"
"Pfft—" Tang Xiaole couldn't help but laugh.
"... ...is that funny?" Zhou Paihuai rolled his eyes at her. What she said was funny? Being in the entertainment industry, as a female artist, isn't it normal to want to be a movie queen? Besides, this isn't her ultimate dream, but the original owner's ultimate dream.
"Zhou Zhou, that's not what I meant!" Tang Xiaole hurriedly explained, "I just... I just..." Well, she simply couldn't explain why she suddenly burst out laughing.
Zhou Paihuai wasn't really angry. She said, "It's okay, I was just saying it casually, but people always need to have dreams."
Chapter 80 Another trespasser arrives.
Although there was a minor hiccup during filming at noon, the entire day's shooting was still very relaxed. Plus, Zhou Huaihuai was in a good mood today, so after Tang Xiaole saw her downstairs, she didn't insist on going upstairs with her.
"I'll pick you up on time tomorrow. Hope you're in a good mood today!"
"Don't worry!" Zhou Huai smiled at her. "I'm going up first. Be careful on your way!"
Upon reaching the top floor, Zhou opened the door without any suspicion, only to find an old woman sitting on his precious sofa.
"Ah!" Zhou Huaihuai screamed.
"What's all the fuss about? I thought you were a calm kid, but I didn't expect you to be so prone to making a fuss."
Zhou Huaihuai's eyes widened in surprise. How could she be so surprised? It was only because she was in good health and reacted quickly that she was surprised. If someone with a heart condition were here, they would probably have fainted.
"Does your Zhou family really enjoy trespassing? Actually, your Zhou family amassed your wealth through robbery, didn't you?"
"Sharp-tongued, but not as afraid of me as last time!" Old Madam Zhou's emotions were never revealed, and even after she said this, Zhou Huipai couldn't tell whether she was happy or unhappy.