Chapter 156: The Legendary Swordsman Yang Lianting
Translator: Lan Editor: Efydatia
Qin Guan wouldn't tell anyone, but thanks to the popularity of "Daming Palace", he had done a back cover for ELLE Clothing. Moving from the inner pages to the back cover was quite a leap. Besides, he had also gotten an invitation to audition for the Capital Fashion Week.
After Qin Guan dealt with all his affairs, he left the capital, blowing a kiss at Cong Nianwei, who saw him off reluctantly.
The play "The Legendary Swordsman" had been struck by bad luck and suffered through many hardships and dangers.
The original leading actor, Shao Wen, had been replaced by Li Jipeng after six episodes had been shot. There were thousands of people participating in the 40-episode TV play, so there were unpredictable changes every day.
That’s when Qin Guan’s good luck stopped. When he arrived at Zhenjiang, he was greeted by the typical intense summer heat of South China. The temperature was as high as 50 degrees, and the Wuxi shooting location was a great test for the actors, who were wearing multiple layers of costumes.
Director Zhang's plan had been to finish the play within 180 days, but despite the favorable beginning, he had experienced various difficulties ever since the play had started in March.
At the beginning, Shao Wen had been irresponsible towards his role, considering CCTV's investment of tens of millions a trifling matter.
The change of the leading actor meant that the crew’s previous work had been in vain.
A heavy rain in June had washed off the decorations of the Medicinal God Temple, and the art designers and prop masters had had to start over again, which had delayed the whole process and been a complete waste of money.
Compared to those difficulties, the heat was nothing for the crew. Plus, the famous author Jin Yong had transferred the rights of the play to CCTV for only one yuan.
Qin Guan had joined the crew like a small river reaching the sea.
He wouldn't miss any opportunity to learn from others, as he knew very little about acting to begin with.
It wasn't until he began to copy from older actors though that accidents started happening one after the other. Qin Guan felt sad about them.
Miao Jiajia, the actor who portrayed Yue Lingshan, twisted his ankle and his foot swelled up like a balloon.
Qin Guan looked at the stunt double for the acrobatic fighting and flying, who used a heavy hanging wire, and estimated that the danger was coefficient with the fighting. Who said that this wasn't a hard job? Just try and fight someone for 200 rounds!
Qin Guan had learned a lot from Miao's accident. At the time, young actors focused on their attitude instead of their acting skills.
They all wore three-layered costumes with long sleeves. Their sweat would drip down when they were standing still, but when the director shouted "Filming!", they would put down their fans and newspapers and devote themselves to the scene.
Nobody cried of exhaustion. They all wanted to get the job done.
Out of all the crew, Qin Guan preferred to spend time with his partner the most.
That was, as you can imagine, the actress who portrayed Dongfang Bubai, Mao Weitao.
The older woman was not a professional actress, but a Yue Opera performer. She was actually famous for portraying a young man. Director Zhang had taken a fancy to her at first glance though and asked her to temporarily join his crew.
As an alumnus of the third generation of Yin School, Mao had been assigned to direct the Zhejiang Hundred-Flower Yue Opera Group. She had gotten the job thanks to her perfect opera skills and neutral stage appearance.
She had arrived on set two days after Qin Guan. As soon as she’d joined the crew, she had stood out.
Sister Mao had immediately liked Qin Guan, who was playing her brother Lian. Qin Guan was a silly, but earnest young boy. In their spare time, she taught him some simple Yue Opera arias, which he absorbed very quickly. If he wasn’t too old and had no intention of engaging in the art, Sister Mao would have recruited him.
Several happy days later, their parts appeared in the play.
As Qin Guan was getting dressed, he couldn't help but make jokes about the costumes. There was a really big difference between male and female directors.
Director Zhang instruct the prop men on how to make a sword or a jade cup gorgeous, but when it came to costumes, his taste was awful.
As the virtual hierarch of the Sun Moon Holy sect, Yang Lianting was wearing a grey rustic gown. There was a lot of lacework and embroidery on the gown, but the colors clashed horribly. Qin Guan also had to wear a high crown on his head. It was ridiculous!
Qin Guan was the No.1 model in the domestic young modelling circle though, so he looked valiant in his thick clothes. If it wasn’t for the high temperature, his outfit would have been outstanding.
Both Yang Lianting and Zhang Changzong were toy boys, but Zhang was gentle and soft, while Yang was a tough guy. People considered him Dongfang Bubai’s toy boy, but he considered Dongfang his wife. He was by nature a chauvinist.
He asked unscrupulous things of Dongfang and reproached her at will. On the other side, he loved her very much. He was a complicated character with a lot of depth.
Yang Lianting’s first scene was a group scene. Tens of figurants and leading actors would have their first fierce collision in a cave of the Sun Moon Holy Sect.
The throne of the hierarch was high on the rock. There were countless cameras around it.
Director Zhang still had a good impression of Qin Guan, his younger fellow townsman. As an upright man, he warned Qin Guan, "Don’t forget your lines. Stupid green hand mistakes will be acceptable, but stupid careless mistakes will be detestable."
Qin Guan sighed slightly in relief. He was the youngest actor if one didn’t count the figurants. That distrustful view did not belong just to the main actors. The figurants were also sweating for him.
Actually, the members of the Sun Moon Holy Sect wore thicker clothes than anyone else. Some of them were even wearing large cloaks.
Everyone was waiting silently in position. "On your marks! Ready? Three, two, camera!"
The cameras started filming. Qin Guan walked out of the cave with his hands clasped behind his back. The camera hanging high above him couldn't capture the details of his outfit. Everyone around could only hear his voice.
Step by step, Qin Guan read his lines carefully. "Elder Shangguan, you succeeded in capturing Linghu Chong. His Excellency is quite happy with you."
"It's thanks all to His Excellency’s blessing." As soon as Shangguan finished his sentence, the camera turned to Qin Guan and panned out. Yang Lianting's full image appeared on Director Zhang’s monitor.