“What are you all sighing about?” Wang Jinsong was furious, his fingers drumming in the air like a war drum. “Can you honestly say your acting is worthy of these camera shots?”
“It’s the photographer who’s excellent, not your acting. Look at your performance in front of the camera, I’m ashamed!”
After Wang Jinsong finished speaking, he patted his old face, and under his gaze, everyone in the Performance Department lowered their heads.
“Wu Chen, later, focus on catching their flaws. Don’t hold back for my sake!” Wang Jinsong turned his head and said to Wu Chen with a serious expression.
Wu Chen was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.
This old fox!
“Understood, Teacher Wang!” Wu Chen nodded in response.
“Yifei, you come practice Sifeng’s lines and scene. Everyone else, take a break for a bit. Hmm, Qi Kui, you help with Zhou Ping’s lines from below the stage!”
Wang Jinsong waved his hand, signaling.
“Is this special tutoring?” Jiang Yiyan muttered in a sour tone.
Zhou Yang, with sharp ears, vaguely heard something, frowned, and directly retorted, “What do you mean?”
“What could I mean? I didn’t say anything.” Jiang Yiyan spread her hands, her gaze directly on Liu Yifei in the center of the stage.
At this moment, Liu Yifei held a crumpled script in her hand, her brows slightly furrowed, seemingly pondering the character’s state of mind.
Her dark, long hair was casually draped over her shoulders. The winter sunlight streamed down, making her look like porcelain just retrieved from ice and snow.
Especially her large eyes, clear as a lake, when slightly narrowed, her eyelashes trembled lightly, as if water could drip from them, like a clear spring in a mountain stream.
“Chen Ge, do we still need to film?” Pu Songri asked in a low voice, his chubby face filled with exhaustion.
Evidently, the more than hour-long filming task had already tired him out. Now, being able to enjoy the performance, it would be too hard if he still had to work.
“Film. We can’t play favorites!” Wu Chen said indifferently, “Get ready!”
“Okay, Chen Ge!” Pu Songri, hearing Wu Chen say this, immediately began to prepare.
Wang Jinsong hadn’t expected Wu Chen and Pu Songri to be so dedicated, so he didn’t say much, then shouted, “Action!”
“Sifeng, let’s go, we can’t stay in this house anymore!” Qi Kui, playing Zhou Ping, yelled his lines from below the stage, his voice slightly cracking.
“No, Dahai is still there, I can’t abandon him!” Liu Yifei’s eyes welled up with tears, her voice trembling but firm.
“Hmm?”
Wu Chen hadn’t expected Liu Yifei, who still seemed a bit green, to have such full emotional delivery for this scene. However, his hands didn’t stop, quickly adjusting the angle to capture Liu Yifei’s fluctuating expressions.
Then, his finger lightly pressed the shutter, calmly adjusting the aperture and shutter speed.
The images in the lens were clearly layered, with light and shadow intertwined, every detail perfectly captured by him.
Especially that tear that slid down Liu Yifei’s cheek, Wu Chen decisively switched to a close-up shot again, precisely locking onto the crystal clear tear at the corner of her eye, even the halo of light refracted by the tear was clearly visible.
......
“Not bad. Looks like you didn’t waste your time in the crew!” Wang Jinsong nodded, “Go look at the playback on the camera, see if there’s anything else that can be improved!”
“Okay, Teacher!” Liu Yifei nodded joyfully, taking small quick steps towards Wu Chen.
Zhou Yang immediately stood up, and seeing that Wang Jinsong had no reaction, she also jogged over to follow.
“Senior Brother!” Liu Yifei and Zhou Yang softly called out to Wu Chen and Pu Songri.
Pu Songri was stunned for a moment and was about to speak, but Wu Chen responded with an unequivocal “Hmm,” “The playback is ready, come over and watch.”
Wu Chen skillfully pressed the play button and took a step back with Pu Songri.
“Thank you, Senior Brother!”
Liu Yifei and Zhou Yang huddled in front of the camera, intently watching each frame appear on the screen.
“Xixi, your crying scene was filmed exceptionally well, so beautiful it takes one’s breath away!” Zhou Yang exclaimed, then looked at Wu Chen, “Senior Brother, amazing, you even captured this ‘sense of brokenness’.”
“It’s my fault. If only I had acted better, I wouldn’t have wasted such a beautiful shot.” Liu Yifei looked at the footage and immediately felt a bit self-reproachful.
“Just improve next time.” Wu Chen said indifferently when he saw this.
“Thank you, Senior Brother!”
Upon hearing this, Liu Yifei immediately looked up, her gaze meeting Wu Chen’s. Their eyes locked, and Liu Yifei grinned, revealing a row of neat white teeth.
After the two walked away, Pu Songri finally let out a sigh of relief, whispering worriedly, “Chen Ge, won’t this be bad for us? What if they find out later that we’re first-year students…”
“Did we ever say we were third or fourth years?”
“No!”
“Then there you go, it’s not our mistake!” Wu Chen shrugged, looking nonchalant.
“Alright, but being called Senior Brother feels pretty good.” Pu Songri, seeing Wu Chen so calm, immediately relaxed and changed his demeanor.
Wu Chen smiled and didn’t say much.
......
After two rehearsals, it was time for lunch. With Wu Chen professionally capturing the flaws of everyone in the Performance Department, Wang Jinsong now stood on the stage, thoroughly scolding everyone.
“Phew!”
Wang Jinsong patted his chest, “You’ll be the death of me sooner or later!”
Then he changed his expression, a smile on his face, “Wu Chen, Songri, thank you for your trouble. We start at 2:30 PM, so rest more during lunch.”
Pu Songri was stunned, but Wu Chen was used to it. After all, he was an expert in performance, changing his expression faster than flipping a book.
“Okay, Teacher Wang.”
Wu Chen and Pu Songri were about to pack up their equipment when Wang Jinsong unexpectedly added, “Oh, by the way, calling you over, it won’t delay your first-year studies, will it? If you have any difficulties, tell me, and I’ll coordinate with Director Mu…”
“It’s over!” Pu Songri lowered his head and whispered.
Wu Chen already felt two “fierce” gazes, but at this moment, he could only respond to Wang Jinsong with a faint smile.
“No delay, thank you, Teacher!”
“Hmm!” Wang Jinsong still didn’t know what was going on, quietly nodding, and then didn’t forget to lecture his students, “Look at other departments, then look at yourselves. Wu Chen and Songri, they’ve only been in their first year for a few months, isn’t their professional ability much stronger than yours?”
“You’ve studied for an extra year, where did you learn? Where did it go?”
“No way, is the Photography Department that good now?”
“I thought they were senior brothers!”
“Turns out they’re junior brothers, that’s amazing!”
Everyone in the Performance Department whispered amongst themselves, their curious gazes all turning towards Wu Chen.
Wang Jinsong finished his scolding and left, and the venue became noisy.
And just as Wu Chen and Pu Songri were quietly packing up their equipment, two shadows suddenly appeared on the ground.
“Senior Brother, do you need our help?” A clear voice, like a yellow oriole, rang in Wu Chen’s ear.
“......”