Next day Xin Mei woke up all fresh. She felt like she had the best sleep of her life. After a long time, she hadn"t slept with nightmares of her future. Instead, she saw the dreams of a particularly rich, handsome hunk.
After freshening up, Xin Mei took a bath. She then got ready for the day. She carried a handbag with her and made her way out of the room, down into the canteen.
"Good morning Fang Lin." Xin Mei greeted her a.s.sistant, the moment she saw her.
"Good morning Xin Mei. Excited for today"s shoot? It"s your first time facing the camera, isn"t it?"
"No, Fang Lin. I had faced the camera when I was thirteen. I had shot for a five-minute role in my uncle"s movie. But as the main character, yes it"s my first time."
"You have already played a role in a movie?" Fan Lin enquired with excitement.
"Yup. As a child artist. I don"t think anyone even remembers me now."
"Ah, I can understand. But now I am sure that you will make a name for yourself with revenge. You will act so good that no one will forget your name. Right?"
"Right Fang Lin."
They both made their way towards the food counter and ordered their food.
"Xin Mei, remember to order something light. You have a dance shoot in the evening."
"I remember it Fang Lin. But thanks for the reminder."
After taking their food, both ladies made their way towards their table. They were well aware of the gossips going on around them.
Many were gossiping about the relations.h.i.+p of Qian Fan and Zhou Mingyu, some about the relations.h.i.+p of Qian Fan and Xin Mei, many were gossiping about the incident of last night and many were gossiping about the luck of Xin Mei who got VIP room.
Director Zhang also arrived in the canteen. He had his food before informing everyone about their schedules.
Today was the first day of the shoot. So, excitement could be seen on the faces of everyone. Every cast member was looking forward to the success of the movie.
The first scene to be shot was the introductory scene of the character of Chunhua who was a well-trained fighter. In this scene, her archery scenes were displayed.
Originally, director Zhang wanted to shoot the scene in between Tang Min and Xin Mei. But his a.s.sistant director and other helper didn"t support him. In their knowledge, the first scene should be given to the experienced actress.
"Everything ready?" director Zhang shouted on the microphone. He looked at the cameraman and other background helpers who give him thumbs up.
"Zhou Mingyu and Tang Min, you ready?"
They both also gave him thumbs up and came into the posture for the introduction of the first scene.
"Action." He yelled. The moment he yelled, the whole set became silent.
Hearing the action word, Zhou Mingyu gave a seductive smile. She lifted up her bow before shooting the arrow towards its target.
"Cut." Director Zhang yelled. "Zhou Mingyu, act with some more elegance. Act like a princess and don"t forget your archery skills. We will reshoot the scene again."
The same scene was shot eight times before it became perfect in the eyes of director Zhang. He was continuously scolding Zhou Mingyu. Hearing him shout, other cast also became afraid.
"If Zhou Mingyu can"t complete a scene within one take then don"t know what will happen to me?"
Everyone was murmuring behind the back of Zhou Mingyu where Zhou Mingyu was ragging with anger. Earlier, Xin Mei used to demonstrate each difficult scene to her but now there was no one to help her. She knew she needed a mentor to give her the needed push.
"Move to the second scene," director Zhang yelled. "This scene is an interaction scene of Emperor Kai (played by Tang Min) and Chunhua (Played by Zhou Mingyu)."
Zhou Mingyu relaxed on hearing the scene. She knew that acting in an interactive scene with the male lead was her efficiency.
But still, she got many retakes. The reason being, the director wasn"t satisfied with her posture, she lifted left hand instead of the right hand, she was getting closer to emperor Kai than intended.
Zhou Mingyu was giving her best but still, the director wasn"t satisfied with her. This made other B and C listed actors/actress afraid.
On the other side, Xin Mei was practicing for her dance. She wasn"t aware about the poor performance of Zhou Mingyu. She was only focused on her own performance.
A special ch.o.r.eographer was arranged to help her in practice dancing. The same ch.o.r.eographer was very much impressed with her skills.
"Xin Mei, you have expertise the dance. I am sure that you can shoot the dance sequel in within one or two shoots. Your expression and steps are accurate."
The ch.o.r.eographer couldn"t stop herself from praising Xin Mei. She could see that Xin Mei was a natural dancer. She had seen many good dancers and Xin Mei was one of them. She would love to ch.o.r.eograph another song with Xin Mei in it.
"Thank you for your praise senior. I am sure that with your guidance I can perform the dance within one shoot."
Ch.o.r.eographer was again impressed with the politeness of Xin Mei. Otherwise, she had seen many who didn"t give any importance to the ch.o.r.eographers.
"Xin Mei, I think that your scene isn"t going to be shot today." Fang Lin rushed towards her and gave her the piece of information which she had received not only a minute ago.
"Why so?"
"Apparently, Zhou Mingyu is giving a lot of retakes. Today will be spent in shooting her scenes. Though the news isn"t confirmed yet, but from my experience, I can say that your scene is postponed to tomorrow."
Xin Mei with Fang Lin walked towards the set where shooting was taking place. A scoff appeared on the lips of Xin Mei when she saw the poor acting of Zhou Mingyu.
Zhou Mingyu wasn"t performing poorly but it was acting of Tang Min which was overshadowing hers. Moreover, Zhou Mingyu was acting like a girl of the modern world instead of the historical world.
"Her inexperience in the historical acting is going to be her weak point in the filming of Revenge." Xin Mei thought.
"Cut, we will continue to shoot after a lunch break." Director Zhang yelled. "And you Zhou Mingyu, reread your lines again before the scene. Your expressions aren"t matching with your lines. Focus on it."
Everyone then statured towards the canteen to have their lunch. This time, everyone was gossiping about Zhou Mingyu. Some were afraid of the strict direction of director Zhang while some were mocking Zhou Mingyu.
Zhou Mingyu fisted her fists tight due to anger. It was the first time that she was feeling so embarra.s.sed on a set.
After taking a long deep breath, Zhou Mingyu approached Tang Min.
"Senior, can I ask for a favor from you?"
"Yes Zhou Mingyu," Tang Min pointed towards an empty chair beside him. Zhou Mingyu took her seat.
"Senior, can you give me some pointers? It"s just that I haven"t acted in any historical drama before. So can you?" Zhou Mingyu made an expression as if she was embarra.s.sed to ask the said favor.
"I will help you. I remember that you have helped me a lot in the last movie and as a return, I will help you in this movie."
"Thank you so much, senior."
"No need. Meet me in the garden tonight. There I can give you some pointers. Ok?"
"Ok senior. Now I will go and have my lunch. I also have to prepare for the next scene."
Zhou Mingyu was about to stand up when Tang Min stopped her.
"Zhou Mingyu, you don"t need to feel embarra.s.sed about your retakes. I had given fifteen retakes for the first scene of my last drama. Historical dramas are tough to act. Everyone understands it."
After talking with Tang Min, Zhou Mingyu made her way towards the food counter. So what if she didn"t have Xin Mei by her side? She could always approach others for some help.
On the Other side, Xin Mei approached director Zhang. He wasn"t in a good mood so he gave a lecture to Xin Mei.
"Xin Mei, I have a lot of expectations from you. Please don"t disappoint me like Zhou Mingyu."
Director also informed her that her scenes were s.h.i.+fted to the next day. He didn"t think that Zhou Mingyu could complete her scenes on time.
After lunch, everyone again reached the sets. The main cast was prepared for the scene. Zhou Mingyu reread her script before making her way towards the sets.
Xin Mei relaxed and took her seat behind director Zhang. She was feeling much relaxed that she had no scene that day.
Again Zhou Mingyu had a lot of retakes. Xin Mei wanted to laugh upon seeing her funny face whenever director Zhang shouted retake. Shooting acted like a funny drama for Xin Mei.
During the evening, Xin Mei decided to retire early in her room. She was bored of watching retakes of Zhou Mingyu.
She was making her way to the exit of the sets when she heard someone gossiping, "If senior Zhou can"t act her scene with perfection then what will happen with the new actress. I have heard that she doesn"t have any experience."
A smile left from the lips of Xin Mei, the next day she was going to shut every mouth. Tomorrow she was going to show off her acting skill.
Everyone watch me next day!