On the spacious shooting location, light pours through the high light fixtures, illuminating everything thoroughly. At this moment, the eyes of the entire crew were focused on Li Yi and Yuan Mei. They sat quietly in their make-up chairs, in front of a large mirror that reflected her changing face.
Wang Fulin, the director of "Dream of Red Mansions", had special instructions - in this version, the makeup artist needed to deliberately fade or even "ugly" the makeup of some of the characters to ensure that the focus of the plot was not distracted by overly prominent beauty.
How will the filming continue, and what unexpected effects will the performances of Li Yi and Yuan Mei bring to this classic play?
Yuan Mei: The original adrift of Huangmei Opera to the shaper of the classics of Red Mansions
Yuan Mei's daily life in the Huangmei opera world is full of hard practice and performances. She often practiced her singing and expression backstage in a mirror, and although there were no significant representative works, she tried to improve each performance. The traditional costumes and delicate makeup process of Huangmei Opera have become the challenges and learning content that she has to face every day.
In the dressing room, she will wear a costume embroidered with exquisite patterns and an intricate hair ornament, every detail of which shows the cultural heritage of Huangmei Opera. On the stage of Huangmei Opera, Yuan Mei is always fully engaged.
When she performs with the other members of the Five Golden Flowers, every interaction on stage is a true reflection of her rivalry, from eye contact to gesture language, every movement reveals her respect and love for art. In the theater, the audience responded enthusiastically to her performance, sending frequent applause and praise, and these positive feedback became the motivation for her to continue to move forward.
Although her roles are often traditional female figures, Yuan Mei demonstrates her ability to transcend conventions in her performances. On one special evening, she played a demanding role that required not only singing skills, but also superb dance and theatrical expressiveness.
Her performance on stage has led even the most demanding theatre critics to praise her for her portrayal of the role. After the show, she would go backstage with the other actors to congratulate each other and discuss their performances and areas for improvement.
In these discussions, Yuan Mei always humbly listened to the suggestions of her teachers and seniors, and carefully recorded every detail that might make her better. She knows that every stage experience is a precious learning opportunity. It is this boundless passion and unremitting efforts for art that has allowed Yuan Mei to gradually accumulate a reputation in the field of Huangmei Opera.
Although her name has not yet been compared to the masters of Huangmei Opera, in the eyes of insiders, she is undoubtedly one of the most promising new stars. Although her artistic journey began with traditional opera, her vision has never been limited to this. Every stage performance, every role building, is accumulating experience and skills for her possible transformation in the future.
The turning point of "Dream of Red Mansions": Yuan Mei's fit with the attacker
When Yuan Mei joined the crew of "Dream of Red Mansions", the entire crew was intensively preparing. Yuan Mei has done a lot of preparation for the attacking role she plays. She began to read the original book, trying to find every nuance in the pages, from clothing to mannerisms, every detail she spared.
Although the character of the attacker is just a maid in the play, her personality is rich in layers, and the complex emotional bond between her and Jia Baoyu adds a lot of highlights to the whole story.
In order to better grasp the role, Yuan Mei always had in-depth exchanges with the actors who played Jia Baoyu during rehearsals, and the two repeatedly pondered each scene under the guidance of the director to ensure the true transmission of emotions. In the process of filming, Yuan Mei also put forward her own views on the appearance of the attacker.
In the original styling design, the striking costumes are gorgeous and the makeup is exquisite. However, Yuan Mei suggested that depending on the identity and personality of the attacker, he should choose more modest clothing and light makeup to more closely match the image described in the original book. The makeup artist and costume artist made adjustments at the suggestion of Yuan Mei to make the image of the raider more in line with the image of a gentle and restrained maid.
When the crew was filming a scene played by Yuan Mei in which the attacker and Jia Baoyu had a late-night dialogue, Yuan Mei's performance was particularly good. In this scene, the attacker needs to express her deep affection for Jia Baoyu and her worries about the future, and Yuan Mei perfectly shows the complex emotions of the attacker through delicate expressions and tones. There was silence on the set, and everyone was moved by her performance.
With the broadcast of the series, the audience responded enthusiastically to Yuan Mei's attacking role. Not only does she visually present a character who is in line with the original book, but her voice and actions also seem to make the character walk out of the pages. Yuan Mei's name was frequently mentioned in audience forums and the media, and her performance was considered a profound interpretation of the role of the attacker.
Makeover makeover: Create an attack that is closer to the original work
During the filming of the "Dream of Red Mansions" series, the director paid special attention to the fit between the characters and the original work. In response to Yuan Mei's attack, the production team decided to make a series of obvious changes to adapt to the detailed description of this character in the original book. Make-up artists work closely with costume designers to create a more authentic and intimate image from every detail.
In terms of makeup, the heavy makeup originally designed for Yuan Mei was obviously too exaggerated, which did not match the gentle and subtle character of the attacker. The director decided to greatly simplify her makeup, eye makeup is usually an important part of the expression in film and television dramas, but in order to make Yuan Mei's performance closer to life, makeup artists sometimes even omitted eye makeup completely.
This simplification not only reduces the viewer's attention to the appearance, but also enhances their perception of the emotional flow of the characters. In addition, there is a very prominent feature in Yuan Mei's facial contour - a pointed chin, which is slightly different from the traditional image of attacking people.
In order to make her appearance more in line with the impression of ordinary people, the makeup artist used special makeup techniques, through the clever use of shadows and contours, to make Yuan Mei's chin appear more flatter and softer visually. In terms of costumes, Yuan Mei's costumes have also been adjusted.
Although the traditional Yahuan costume is simple, the texture and color of each piece of clothing need to be carefully selected to reflect the inner temperament and social status of the character. The designer chose soft fabrics and simple colors to make Yuan Mei's image on the screen more down-to-earth, which not only conforms to the identity of the attacker, but also shows her gentleness and simplicity.
During the filming process, when these changes were first presented in front of the camera, everyone could feel that there was a clear difference from the previous Yuan Mei. The adjustment of makeup and clothing makes her whole person look more in line with the image of a low-key, gentle maid, and her every movement and expression is more natural and engaging because of this external adjustment.
Character influence: Li Yi plays Xing Xiuyan
Xing Xiuyan, played by Li Yi in the play, is a more complex character, although her appearance in "Dream of Red Mansions" is late and there are not many scenes, but every appearance is extremely influential. The character of Xing Xiuyan is set in the setting of the niece of Mrs. Xing of Jiafu, who has to rely on wealthy relatives to survive due to her poor family.
Such an identity background adds many layers and depth to her character. In the preparation stage of the series, the director and screenwriter team discussed and revised Xing Xiuyan's role positioning many times. Through this role, they hope to show the delicate depiction of different social classes in Dream of Red Mansions, while reflecting the dilemmas and challenges faced by women in that era.
Li Yi was chosen to play this role because her performance has a natural simplicity and freshness, which fits well with Xing Xiuyan's character characteristics. Although Li Yi's natural beauty allows her to attract the audience's attention without too much decoration, the director specifically instructed the makeup artist to design an extremely simplified makeup look for her in order to make the character more consistent with the description of Xing Xiuyan in the script.
The make-up artist used a very light base makeup, emphasizing the shape of the eyebrows with only a light eyebrow pencil and almost no eyeshadow and blush, striving to show the natural state of a poor woman with a minimum of makeup. This makeup technique not only highlights Li Yi's natural beauty, but also profoundly expresses Xing Xiuyan's social status and personal predicament.
Serendipity: Li Yi, who is still very beautiful
At the filming site of "Dream of Red Mansions", in order to emphasize Xing Xiuyan's poor background, the director specially instructed makeup artist Yang Shuyun to make Li Yi look more simple and even slightly depressed in appearance. His idea was to highlight the wealth of Jiafu and the poverty of Xing Xiuyan through a sharp contrast, thus emphasizing the social differences in the plot even more.
Makeup artist Yang Shuyun designed a special makeup plan for Li Yi according to the director's requirements. He used darker undertones to make his skin look less healthy, and deliberately drew dark circles underneath to create the appearance of chronic exertion and malnutrition.
In addition, he deliberately did not use any color-enhancing blush or eye-catching lip gloss, making the whole makeup look so bland that Li Yi's facial features could hardly be seen under the light.
In terms of clothing, the costumer has also adjusted accordingly. They picked out some old clothes for Lee, which were not only dull in color, but also heavily worn, and even deliberately left some holes and unstitched edges, creating a worn-out effect and wearing for years.
Such a costume design contrasts sharply with the gorgeous costumes of other female characters in Jiafu, making Xing Xiuyan's image of poverty even more prominent. However, on an important filming day, Yang Shuyun needed to leave the crew temporarily due to sudden personal affairs, and he could only temporarily hand over the makeup task to his assistant Lan Lan.
Although Lan Lan has certain makeup skills, she does not fully understand the director's specific requirements for the role of Xing Xiuyan. When preparing for Lee's makeup, Lan Lan mistakenly thought that the actor should be given a more delicate and prominent makeup, and she used a lighter base and added layers of eye makeup in an attempt to emphasize Lee's facial features through makeup.
When Lee Yi reappears in front of the camera, her face is bright, the shadows under her eyes are covered in delicate eye makeup, and the overall makeup has a glamorous feel that is not suitable for her role.
Her clothes are shabby, but because of the makeup, this shabby clothing forms a strange contrast to the beauty of her face, making her look more like she is experimenting with a fashionable style of dressing.
After the shoot was completed, when the director looked at the day's footage replays, he immediately realized that the makeup had deviated significantly from his expectations. Despite this, Li Yi's performance in front of the camera still won high praise from people inside and outside the crew.
Resources:
- Li Huiqun.Forty years of "Red Mansion" drama - "Dream of Red Mansions" TV drama adaptation[J].Cao Xueqin Research,2018(1):135-144