Translator: Vian
Editors: celes, namio
"Black Clouds" was a biographical film adapted from real life. Although it wasn't necessary to follow reality to the smallest detail, it's fine as long as the general framework was consistent with reality. For example, every main character was an actual person that existed. And another example, for Ling Xiao, Gu Mingxiu's death was indeed a turning point for him in his life.
Starting from his debut in his teens, to his first Golden Melody Award in his twenties, to his success and recognition in his thirties, Ling Xiao had already long become fully worthy of, without any reservations, his title as China's Music God. But when he was thirty-six and his best partner, the famous lyricist, Gu Mingxiu, died in an accident, Ling Xiao suffered a hard blow.
Ever since then, Ling Xiao only released one album and only held two concerts as well.
Five years later, Ling Xiao died of illness.
This evening's scene was Ling Xiao's arrival at the hospital after being called by the police to go claim the body. Gu Mingxiu's parents had died early, and he didn't have any relatives either. Even at the age of forty-four, he wasn't married so he had no children. His closest and best friend was only Ling Xiao. The police had long recognized Gu Mingxiu's identity but still had to ask the body's relatives and close friends to come claim it. This was a necessary procedure that had to be done.
So, early that morning, Ling Xiao received a call from his manager, Zhao Chuyun, and came to the hospital.
There was silence throughout the whole studio. Everyone was holding their breath and waiting for the scene to start.
The studio had already been arranged into a hospital set. White walls and white corridors, everything was white to the point of chilling people's hearts. Rong Xu and Yu Siyu stood at the other end of the corridor. Both of them had changed into their costumes and done their makeup; they were just waiting for filming to start.
"Act 362, scene 3. Start!"
When the clapper board sounded, all of the crew members' eyes immediately went to the end of the corridor.
The manager played by Yu Siyu had always been calm and rational, but today, she deliberately used some special eye drops to make her eyes appear red and look extremely exhausted. And beside her, that handsome and elegant person was hanging his head and looking at the ground while following behind his manager.
Walking through the corridor and arriving at the room—— this was this scene's first part.
It should be said, Director Liang used this long first part to prepare for the full continuous filming of this one-minute scene.
The camera stayed by Rong Xu's side, following him as he walked forward. The lighting technician's excellent skill made this indoor scene that was filmed at night look like there really was sunlight coming in from the window at the end of the corridor, shining down on Rong Xu's soft hair and reflecting a beautiful golden light.
He kept his head down, quietly looking at the ground. He moved very slowly, but still indeed walked forward step by step.
As he watched this scene on the monitor, Director Liang's face gradually grew heavy. He carefully observed the entire scene's composition, coloring, filming rhythm, and angle, and was especially observant of the two actors' performance.
This scene was one of the most important scenes for "Black Clouds"; it was the turning point of Ling Xiao's life. Therefore, this scene definitely couldn't be done sloppily. As long as there was even one tiny mistake in this minute-long scene, Director Liang would not hesitate to call cut and adamantly re-film it.
Currently, the morning sunlight softly shone, and the inside of the hospital was also peaceful and quiet; it was as if everything in the world was incomparably warm.
However, Gu Mingxiu had died.
Ling Xiao followed Zhao Chuyun with his head down. Since his pace was slow, Zhao Chuyun would stop from time to time to wait for him. It was only a distance of a few dozen meters, but the two walked for almost a minute before they reached the door.
This detailed performance made Director Liang nod his head in satisfaction.
Over there, Yu Siyu and Rong Xu had already rehearsed the scene beforehand.
The elite woman clad in a business suit subconsciously prepared to push open the door at first, but before she had touched the door, she stopped and turned around to look at her artist. After a long time, she quietly said: "Come open the door… Ling Xiao."
Ling Xiao hung his head in silence, not saying a word.
Zhao Chuyun also stayed silent and did not say anything, but after a while, she softly sighed and reached for the door handle. However, this time, she didn't even have time to open the door when it was suddenly opened from the inside.
A policeman in uniform seized them up and down. When he saw Ling Xiao, his eyes shone with worship and admiration, but he then quickly hid it and professionally stated: "The body should be Mister Gu. At 8:04 this morning, Mister Gu was driving a black car and collided with a truck on the West Ring Road. The other party was drowsy while driving and is currently being detained at the police station. Today, we will be asking you to recognize the body."
Zhao Chuyun and Ling Xiao were quickly brought inside the room. The room wasn't big. There was a narrow bed in the center, and a long white cloth covered the person on the bed.
Perhaps he had seen too many scenes of the dead and the living parting forever and the fact that Gu Mingxiu did not have any relatives or family members, the policeman did not care for the feelings of the deceased's friend and directly lifted up a corner of the white cloth before turning around to ask: "Is this Mister Gu?"
The moment the white cloth was removed, Ling Xiao suddenly turned his head and looked out the window. And Zhao Chuyun could not help but cover her mouth after seeing the fact with her own eyes. She had no way to suppress the grief in her heart and could only nod: "Yes."
The policeman placed down the white cloth.
"…No." A low, hoarse voice suddenly sounded in the quiet room.
The policeman was startled and looked over at Ling Xiao: "Mister Ling, this person is not Mister Gu?"
Ling Xiao continued to look out the window, but his hoarse voice enunciated each word by word through clenched teeth: "He is not."
The two policemen in the room looked at each other in dismay. At this moment, Zhao Chuyun, no matter how iron-blooded and calm she was, had been covering her mouth and crying the entire time while the other friend of the deceased insisted that this person was not Gu Mingxiu. Then, how should they handle this? This person was clearly Gu Mingxiu ah!
The older policeman stepped forward and consoled: "The deceased has passed away, Mister Ling, please restrain your grief and accept fate."
"He is not!" The suddenly raised voice loudly resonated, echoing in the room for a long time. Ling Xiao abruptly turned around and in an unyielding and resolute tone, said: "He's not! He really isn't, he's not Gu Mingxiu, I don't know him… he's not…"
The moment the youth turned around, the studio suddenly fell into a deathly stillness. Director Liang's eyes widened as he stared at the scene on the monitor screen.
On the screen, the eyes of that beautiful and elegant Ling Xiao were red. Tears continued to well up in his eyes. He tightly bit his lip and was agitated to the extent that his whole body was trembling, but he kept his eyes open, preventing his tears from falling.
Like a person who had reached a dead end and was desperately denying everything.
In the scene, Yu Siyu's main scene was over. She had cried immediately, grasping the transition between the two roles of "successful career woman" and "friend" well. However, Rong Xu's key scene had just begun. He looked at the older policeman in front of him, saying over and over again, "He is not." Stubbornly repeating it, as if, like this, it would then become the truth.
The older policeman sighed, he turned to his side and removed the white cloth once again, asking: "Is he really not, Mister Ling?"
The voice came to an abrupt stop. Ling Xiao was caught off guard and his gaze suddenly fell onto that person's face. Everything was just as vivid as last night. Gu Mingxiu's face was slightly paler, and there was a finger-sized scar on his forehead. His eyes were closed, as if he was asleep.
The older policeman placed down the white cloth and asked again: "This incident was sudden, but please restrain your grief and accept his death."
The bright sunshine came in through the window, scattering fine, golden sand onto the floor. The third monitor screen gave Rong Xu a close-up, showing the tears that accumulated in that pair of clear, clean eyes; his pupils slightly quivered, their gaze fixedly pointed at the white cloth.
After a while, in the second monitor screen, Director Liang saw this: Rong Xu suddenly smiled.
He raised the corners of his lips, gently smiling. This smile did not seem to be any different from his past smiles, but if one looked closely, they would discover that his lips were shaking. His cheeks were also shaking, his whole person was slightly shaking, and then, in an instant, tears flowed from his eyes.
The youth smiled as he looked at the older policeman, and then he looked at the younger policeman next to him too. His face was smiling, but tears continually flowed from his eyes, flowing past the corners of his mouth and trickling into his lips.
It was unknown whether it was bitter or salty, but it must have been very astringent.
At this time, the warm and bright sunlight still shone down, reflecting a golden hue on his hair, making it appear soft. But he was smiling, crying, repeating again: "He is not… He really… isn't…"
In the room, there was only the sound of Ling Xiao's faint gasps. He stubbornly suppressed the cries in his throat, but there were some things that couldn't be suppressed no matter what. He looked at every corner of the room with the same smile as the past. The only thing he did not look at was the bed covered by the white cloth, and the one… the one under that white cloth.
"He is not…."
In the studio, the slightly more emotional crew members had already gently shook their heads, infected by this "smiling but crying" feeling.
He was clearly smiling, but he was also crying, repeating the same sentence over and over again. In the quiet room, there was only the sound of his cries amidst his smile. Rong Xu gently smiled, smiling and smiling, then his voice stopped, leaving behind the tears on his face that seemed to be forever frozen in a smile.
___
There was silence in the studio. After a long time, Director Liang loudly shouted: "Cut!"
Quickly, Yu Siyu's assistant went forward to help her wipe her tears. The makeup artist also rushed up, preparing to help Rong Xu and Yu Siyu touch up their makeup in case they had to re-shoot it. But even if "cut" had already been called, tears continued to flow from Rong Xu's eyes, stumping the makeup artist for a moment.
Rong Xu's throat was hoarse, he quietly said: "Don't worry, leave me alone for a while."
The young makeup artist quickly nodded. Rong Xu turned around and covered his face with his hand. His fingers were still slightly trembling, and tears were also flowing down through his fingers.
When the matter of "Rong Xu still crying" reached Director Liang and a certain man's ears, three minutes had already passed.
The makeup artist was helping Qin Cheng fix his makeup when he suddenly heard two other makeup artists whispering to each other: "Even I want to cry just from watching, Rong Xu's performance was so good. Even now, he can't stop, he must have been really acting from his heart and the influence from it was too strong."
A touch of surprise flashed past the pair of dark phoenix eyes. Qin Cheng immediately stood up from the bed and walked over to Rong Xu's side. He softly called out "Rong Xu". The youth immediately turned around, but his tears had already stopped; only, his eyes were still red. His face was also a bit pale and appeared rather haggard.
Qin Cheng was stunned inside.
Seeing that Qin Cheng suddenly came over, Rong Xu gave a small smile, asking: "What's wrong, is there something you need me for?"
Qin Cheng was silent for a moment before saying: "Don't be too upset."
Rong Xu slightly nodded. The two quickly talked about other topics, and not long later, a field service member came to inform Rong Xu: "Director Liang said to re-shoot it."
As soon as they heard this, many of the crew members around him were stupefied.
"No way right? That scene just now was so well done, why do we still need to retake it? I was about to cry."
"I've already cried… Rong Xu's influence is really strong, I also felt heartbroken seeing him cry. If my best friend also… pei pei pei what am I saying."
The opinions of the people around him entered his ears, Rong Xu smiled and told the field service member: "Okay, I understand. After my makeup is touched up, Yu jie and I will continue."
The field service member quickly left, but the crew members' comments did not stop. The crew members spoke vividly and colorfully, it seemed that Rong Xu's performance just now had immersed them in the scene. But they also did not speak any lies because many people's eyes were indeed red, and their voices were also a bit hoarse. They most likely really did cry a moment ago.
Listening to these people's words, Qin Cheng slightly furrowed his brows.
Rong Xu already went to get his makeup fixed, and Qin Cheng circled around, beckoning to his assistant to ask: "How did he perform just now?"
The assistant's voice was also a little choked. He honestly bowed his head and answered: "He was smiling and crying. He performed so well…"
… So to say, everyone here saw Rong Xu's acting skills first hand but only he couldn't see it?!
His face suddenly sunk. For the first time, Qin Cheng regretted that he actually took up the role.
However, regret was useless. This death scene was quickly filmed again a second time. For this second take, Director Liang wasn't satisfied for whatever reason and made Rong Xu redo it a third time. After the third time, Director Liang watched the scene on the monitor screen and finally nodded: "Enough, this scene is done. Let's use the first take."
Everyone: "..."
Rong Xu: "..."
Qin Cheng: "..."
Is there anyone who messes around with people so much like you?!
In any case, after going through this long crying scene again and again, even if it was Rong Xu, feeling a bit mentally and physically exhausted was unavoidable.
Crying scenes are a hard test for actors. If one just wanted to act and thought that letting out some tears would be enough for a crying scene, then you are just pretending to cry and not actually crying.
When one really becomes the character, you would feel as if it had happened to yourself and cry along with the character. Some actors would become depressed, not because of any real life reasons but due to a film they acted in. They truly became the character and were unable to walk out, completely submerged in it.
Of course, it only took three minutes for Rong Xu to walk out of it, but in that one minute when filming, he seemed to have genuinely become Ling Xiao. No one on set knew what kind of reaction Ling Xiao had when he saw Gu Mingxiu's body eight years ago, but they all felt that Rong Xu's reaction was already the closest and the best, what other reaction could there be?
The greatest grief was one so sorrowful that it could affect the people around you and make them cry with you.
After this scene ended, all of today's filming was finished. This was the second male lead's death scene, according to the rules of the crew, how could they not have a farewell party for this death scene? But because the other party was Qin Cheng, even Director Liang didn't know how to bring up this matter so he could only ask Yu Siyu if she could ask him.
Director Liang rubbed his hands together: "Xiao Yu, I remember you once worked together with Qin Cheng on a movie?"
Yu Siyu quietly replied: "… That was five years ago. Director Liang, I was only a minor supporting character then, I never had any scenes with Qin Cheng."
Director Liang turned mute.
However, the matter was still resolved nicely. Yu Siyu muttered to herself for a while then went to find Rong Xu. Not long after, Rong Xu directly went up to Qin Cheng, smiling: "Tonight, do you want to hold a farewell party? It's just for everyone to celebrate a bit, and it can be considered as a party to send you off."
In this crew, only Director Liang and the screenwriter were considered Qin Cheng's seniors. So today, only the two of them had given Qin Cheng yajing red envelopes. Everyone wanted to celebrate the completion of Qin Cheng's scenes so they could only take advantage of the farewell party.
Looking at the youth's warm and gentle smile, Qin Cheng slightly raised a brow and did not refuse.
Thus, amidst the sound of the crew's cheers, after work, Director Liang led everyone to the restaurant next to S-City's Film City. And at the same time online, Han Yanghao who had been silent for the entire day without saying a single word finally appeared.
[Han Yanghao: Published a statement: "Justice is in People's Heart"]
Translator's Corner:
Vian: ….QAQ wu wu wu .....[crying but also laughing @ ] …..Don't ruin the moment HAn YAngHap(#`皿´)
celes: Wait… did you mistype Han Yanghao's name on purpose? *laughing in some corner* You turned a former typo into an insult.
On another note, having to read Rong Xu's crying scene over and over again makes one really depressed. If I were more emotional, I'd be crying like those crew members. Rongrong's fans are going to get a huge surprise when the movie comes out.
Vian: They have some immunity after two death scenes XD I think the ones that will be hit the hardest is Ling Xiao's fans actually…
celes: Oh right, the author really likes giving Rongrong tragic death roles. Wanqi Yao, Hou Xi, and now Ling Xiao. They all have somewhat tragic endings and die. And this probably isn't going to be the last one.
Vian: hur hur hur
namio: leave me to perish along with Ling Xiao's heart after Gu Mingxiu's death QAQ I'm never gonna recover from this pain !!!
A bit earlier for this release because I'll be busy tomorrow ^^
Farewell party – It's the same phrase [殺青 – shāqīng] no matter if it's someone's death scene, someone leaving the crew, or the entire movie/drama finishing the filming, so:
Farewell Party = Party for when a character���s dead.
Sending off Party = Party for when actor is leaving the crew
Wrap up Party = Party for when filming is done