blueteamnovel Chapter 87 Remember this spirit you have now
Chapter 87 Remember this spirit you have now
In the last few days of September, it was already getting chilly in the mornings and evenings in Yanjing.
The doors to the performance department's rehearsal hall are usually locked at 9:30 p.m., but the 2005 undergraduate class recently made an exception.
The old man in charge of the keys bumped into the same girl more than once during his patrol. She was not tall, but had bright eyes. She was holding an old copy of Stanislavsky's book and was either practicing her monologue in front of the mirror or doing physical exercises on a mat.
The old man asked Xu Xiaodan, and Teacher Xu said to leave her alone and let her practice.
Yang Mi herself didn't know exactly when this feeling started, but in short, she had been on edge lately.
She woke up 20 minutes earlier than usual today because she fell asleep halfway through memorizing her lines last night, and couldn't find the right emphasis for the last monologue.
The rehearsal hall was empty in the early morning; the floor had been mopped by the students who were on duty the night before. She tossed her bag into the corner, stood in front of the mirror, and took a breath.
"If you truly understood me, you wouldn't ask me why—"
"The stress in the third sentence is still incorrect."
Yang Mi was startled and turned around abruptly. Xu Xiaodan was standing in the doorway at some point.
"Teacher Xu..."
"Let's do it again." Xu Xiaodan didn't come in; she just leaned against the door frame and raised her chin to signal her to continue.
Yang Mi subconsciously bit her lip and stood up straight again.
This time, she deliberately lowered her breath, letting her voice come from her chest rather than being forced out of her throat.
"If you really understood me, you wouldn't ask me why."
This time, thanks to the support of chest resonance, the sound did sound much more solid, no longer floating in mid-air like before.
"The breath has calmed down, but the emphasis has still fallen off." Xu Xiaodan was no longer as stern as before.
"You emphasized 'zhen' and 'dong' just now, pronouncing the words too harshly. It sounded like you were arguing and sulking with someone." Xu Xiaodan stretched out her finger and gently gestured in the air, mimicking Yang Mi's tone.
"The logical emphasis in dialogue isn't about brute forcefully striking the words. If you try to bite down on it that hard, you'll break the flow of your speech. People won't ask me why; it'll just become an explanation. In acting, that's called 'dropping the board.'"
Yang Mi stood there somewhat awkwardly, listening intently, afraid of missing a single word.
"You need to understand the context of this line. It's the despair the female protagonist feels after seeing through the other person. When a person is in despair, they draw their energy inward, not outward."
Try shifting the logical emphasis later, to the questions and the "why." If you truly understand the preceding points, treat them as a smooth setup, handle them lightly, and save the main points for last.
"Save your strength for last..." Yang Mi repeated softly.
She closed her eyes, her mind racing as she dissected the structure of the short sentence. In her acting classes at the Beijing Film Academy, shifts in logical stress could often directly overturn a character's inner world.
If the emphasis is on "understand," it's a feeling of being wronged; if the emphasis is on "ask," it's a powerless self-deprecation.
"Don't rush to speak, think it through first," Xu Xiaodan reminded her from the side.
"Pronounce each word clearly, pronounce the vowel clearly, and finish the word cleanly. Speak with clear and distinct pronunciation. The acoustic equipment on the big screen can even record the sound of your saliva when you breathe. If your pronunciation is inaccurate, the audience will be pulled out of the scene in a second."
Yang Mi took a deep breath, feeling the cool air slide down her trachea and into her lower abdomen.
"If only you truly understood me..."
This time, she handled the first half of the sentence extremely lightly and quickly, with smooth and fluent transitions between words.
Immediately after that, she paused for a very short breath after saying "wouldn't," adding, "...wouldn't ask me why."
"You're in the right spot this time." Xu Xiaodan walked over and patted Yang Mi's tense shoulder.
"Once you find the right emphasis, the feel of the voice will come through. The brilliance of a big-screen actor's delivery lies in its subtle and understated delivery. Go back and practice this pronunciation position more often, and practice according to this standard every time you warm up your voice."
"Thank you, Teacher Xu!" Yang Mi breathed a sigh of relief, and finally showed her first genuine smile in recent days.
"Alright, stop being so smug. Hurry up and pick up your bag from the ground; the students will be coming to class soon." Xu Xiaodan smiled, shook her head, and turned to walk towards the podium.
"Yang Mi, remember this spirit you have now. The road to becoming an actor is long, and those who can hone their basic skills will ultimately benefit."
"I understand, teacher."
......
As October arrives, Paris, France, is entering its most luxurious and coldest season of the year.
The plane tree leaves lining the Champs-Élysées were blown about by the cold winds of the high latitude. After a short break in September, the crew of "The Devil Wears Prada" finally began the final stage of filming in this fashion capital.
In the 14th arrondissement of Paris, a haute couture costume room temporarily converted from an old Baroque theater is currently operating under a strict, almost militaristic management system.
"Director, these are the first batch of essential personal clothing that were specially airlifted from the main warehouse, as per your previous instructions."
The head of the costume department walked over with a respectful expression.
At the supervisor's signal, two assistants carefully pushed over a separate dustproof cabinet and slowly opened it in front of Lin Ruiyang.
As the dustproof paper was peeled away layer by layer, a touch of emerald green and dark gold, full of classical Eastern charm, slowly unfolded under the modern yet cool soft lighting of the preparation room.
That's a Suzhou embroidery shawl.
Patricia Field stood up from the dressing chair next to her and took off her glasses.
She has been a stylist for over thirty years and has seen countless works from high-end bespoke workshops, but at this moment her expression was not one of scrutiny, but rather one of almost cautious amazement.
"The layering of this distant mountain... was it woven using the varying shades of silk thread itself?"
"When splitting the silk, we used sixteen color levels." Lin Ruiyang's voice softened slightly as he spoke.
"From the dark blue at the foot of the mountain to the gray-white on the mountainside, and then to the blank space at the top, it is all achieved by splitting a single silk thread into sixteenths and gradually transitioning through each layer. There are no prints or embellishments."
Patricia reached out her hand, her fingertips hovering above the shawl for two seconds, but ultimately did not touch the fabric, as if afraid of disrupting some delicate balance.
"It can't be worn outside the coat," Patricia said, withdrawing her hand very quickly.
"That would be too deliberate. Let it fall naturally over Miranda's shoulder, with the light coming from the side and behind, capturing the sheen of the silk threads in the lens. And the photography and lighting? Let them come and see this."
The director of photography and lighting technician were quickly called over.
These seasoned industry veterans, who had spent years in Hollywood, also showed a hint of amazement when they saw the Suzhou embroidery shawl, which was bathed in a subtle, shimmering light under the soft glow of the lamp.
"Director, we've done the camera's light sensitivity test." The director of photography stepped forward and laid out several light and shadow color charts from Paris in front of Lin Ruiyang.
"The natural autumn light in Paris in October tends to be a cool, white light. If we follow Patricia's suggestion and let the shawl drape naturally on Miranda, we can use reflectors and diffuser paper to provide appropriate fill light. By using the refraction of sunlight, we can present an extremely noble, classical Eastern texture."
"very good."
He raised his wrist to check his watch, then waved to the assistant director and director of photography behind him:
"The production team coordinated with the Paris City Hall on a very tight schedule for daytime filming with partial road closures. Let's go, let's go to Place de la Concorde to re-check the camera positions."
In the empty Place de la Concorde, the ancient Egyptian obelisk appears serene and solemn under the bright sunlight.
The famous fountains on both sides were spouting clear water mist, which shattered into a sky full of shimmering rainbows under the golden sunlight.
Due to the terrifying public opinion surrounding "The Devil Wears Prada" in North America and Europe, Fox's outreach team went to great lengths to obtain special permission from the city hall to close some areas of the film for one hour for this major daytime shoot.
"Photography, camera position one is set up directly east of the fountain, lower the camera position." He gestured the famous composition frame as he walked.
After reviewing all the camera positions in the square, Lin Ruiyang walked to the van parked by the roadside. Inside the van, the final rehearsal for the next scene, a dramatic scene performed inside the moving vehicle, was about to begin.
As the car door opened, a wave of warm air rushed out.
Upon seeing Lin Ruiyang approach, Meryl revealed Miranda's signature scrutinizing gaze:
"Oh, our demanding director is finally back. So, how about it? Have you figured out how you're going to torture us with the upcoming car scene?"