America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz-Chapter 796 - 789: The Female Protagonist and the Green Tea Bitch

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In the studio set up as a home, Martin sat in front of the piano, his ten fingers dancing across the black and white keys, as cheerful music tinkled merrily into the air.

Dressed in a flowy dress, Silsa Ronan twirled to the music's rhythm.

The crew was doing a test shoot.

As Silsa finished a line in front of the piano, Director Damien Chazelle called cut.

"That's not the feeling I'm looking for, Silsa, you're playing it too sweet," the director, having a different interpretation of the script than screenwriter Mia, said, "Remember the emphasis we put during our script reading session, the female lead isn't lost in love with the male lead, but is a modern woman with dreams and her own independent thoughts."

Silsa, resting her hands on the piano, responded, "I understand."

Damien then turned to Martin. Although Martin was the Project Manager and also acted as the producer, on set, the director was in charge.

He directly said, "The melody and rhythm you play should sound more retro, it should give off a golden age vibe."

Martin nodded and tried to play a segment.

Still unsatisfied, Damien waved Sebastian over, "You demonstrate."

Martin vacated the seat.

Sebastian sat down at the piano, gathered his emotions, and pressed the black and white keys.

The tune was still that same '60s jazz piece, but the feeling it gave off was completely different.

Martin took his turn again, playing the tune by feel.

Still shaking his head, Damien approached the piano to discuss softly with Martin, "The live playing isn't quite right; how about we try a different filming method?"

Music was more a matter of talent than acting, Martin was very aware. Despite half a year's practice, he had become proficient with the technique, but the tunes he produced were just so-so.

"Sure," Martin promptly replied, "Film me playing, and substitute Sebastian's version for the song."

He asked specifically, "The crew has a deal with Sebastian, right?"

Of course, Sebastian would be paid extra for such a switch in filming.

Things were easier to handle since the crew was willing to pay; the assistant director communicated with Sebastian for a few moments.

Since the details were already settled, the filming mode was switched.

In his performance, Martin paid more attention to the application of finger techniques and expressions of personal behavior without worrying too much about how the tunes came out.

Silsa continued to dance gracefully to the accompaniment.

However, after four or five takes, she was the one calling for cuts.

Left with no choice, Damien pulled Silsa aside and spoke privately, "I don't know what's your relationship with Martin, nor do I care, but in the performance just now, your eyes and facial expressions toward Martin were all wrong!"

He emphasized, "You look like nothing more than an admirer, not the independent-minded woman character."

Silsa realized she had let her real-life situation bleed into her character and said, "I'll adjust it as quickly as I can."

Returning to his seat behind the director's monitor, Damien suddenly raised his hand and slapped his face hard, muttering, "You can do this! You can do this! You must be able to..."

This was only his second feature film as a director, where he felt none of the pressure from his first.

Filming resumed, and after three additional takes, Damien was finally satisfied with Silsa Ronan's performance and called it a good take.

Martin stood up from the piano, stretching his wrists.

Silsa approached, her mood slightly downcast, and murmured, "Coach..."

Martin encouraged, "You've adjusted well, keep it up."

Silsa instantly perked up, clenched her fist, and said, "I will!"

She was a girl with an extraordinary acting talent, far surpassing Blake Lively; after some adjustments, she gradually found the feeling of the leading lady.

By noon, the piano scene had been shot, and the crew moved to another restaurant interior set.

The shoot still focused on the leads' scenes.

This scene took place in a jazz bar where the male and female leads meet.

Before shooting started, Damien took Silsa Ronan aside to discuss the scene, emphasizing the essential core of the character: "This is one of the three pivotal scenes where the female lead meets the male lead. In these scenes, the female lead is proactive; even with a boyfriend, she can't help teasing the male lead!"

Silsa understood, "My character gives off enough signals for the male lead to become interested in me."

Pointing at her, Damien confirmed, "You've got the right idea."

Silsa returned to the set, sitting next to Martin.

Martin said, "Don't feel pressured, just act according to the director's instructions and your understanding."

"Yeah!" Silsa nodded vigorously and asked, "From my understanding, the female lead is like a 'green tea' type, similar to Emma Watson, right?"

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Upon hearing Emma Watson, Martin couldn't help but curiously ask, "How has your arch-nemesis been lately?"

With a happy smile, Silsa replied, "She now walks around me, but I heard from people in the British performing arts circle that Rowling seems to have some opinions about her."

Martin did the math and estimated that Rowling's version and Emma Watson's were still roughly equivalent. In a few years, when Rowling's version was severely outdated, it would be ruthlessly crushed.

The crew began to clear the set, and the two stopped talking to cultivate their characters' emotions.

As the clapperboard was sounded in front of the camera, filming began.

The script Mia wrote drew partly from her own experiences and partly from things she'd seen and heard on the set, some of the scenarios very Hollywood.

For instance, in the creation of the female protagonist, even though she was always a girl chasing her dreams from start to finish, throughout several scenes, the character always reeked of that Hollywood actress bitchiness.

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This was actually very understandable. The screenwriter herself was a Hollywood actress and had grown accustomed to the people and events surrounding her.

Therefore, what looked like fresh young love turned out to be somewhat off upon closer examination.

Martin's male lead was a down-and-out artistic youth with a dream of saving classical jazz from extinction.

Two people in such straits were likely to spark passionate flames.

It was like in Martin's past life in a certain movie city, where extras waiting for opportunities would pair up temporarily whenever they hit it off.

As for after that? Both sides were pretty much the same.

The entire afternoon was spent filming the jazz bar scenes. A few Black musicians were quite skilled, and Mene even came over to consult about some musical matters during breaks.

Mene would be playing the main singer of a band.

After wrapping up in the afternoon, Martin went back to his resting area to pack up. Silsa followed and, upon seeing other people around, boldly suggested, "The dance scenes are coming up soon; shall we practice a bit more?"

Martin caught her implication and responded, "Sure, you go take off your makeup first; I'll wait for you."

"Wait for me in the cold drink shop," said Silsa, elated as she ran out of the studio.

Martin returned to his makeup trailer to remove his makeup and change back into his clothes, chatted briefly with Mene, who came over, and then headed to the cold drink shop. When he hadn't yet reached the entrance, he saw Mia and Sebastian arguing under the umbrella outside the shop.

The two faced each other with cold expressions. Being rather distant, Martin couldn't hear what they were saying.

But Sebastian had an ugly look on his face as he retorted to Mia a few times.

As a result, Mia raised her voice, argued a couple of points while pointing at his chest, then swung her bag, turned, and walked away.

After a few steps, she looked up and saw Martin, forcing a smile and saying, "Hello, Martin..."

Martin waved it off: "Go take care of your things."

He glanced at Sebastian, who spread his hands helplessly towards Martin.

Martin didn't bother with any of this, not asking a single question, content as long as those two didn't affect the crew's normal work.

It wasn't long before Sebastian left as well.

Martin sat under the umbrella, waiting for less than five minutes before Silsa Ronan hurried over.

She ordered two cold beverages, brought them over to the small round table, and began chatting and enjoying the drinks with Martin.

It was still early, and after a whole day of filming, it was the perfect time for both of them to take a break.

After taking a bite of ice cream, Silsa asked, "The female lead I'm playing is very similar to Emma Watson, a hidden bitch."

After considering, she added, "You're acquainted with Mia, why did she write the character this way?"

Putting down his drink, Martin said, "Mia might have included these things subconsciously, or perhaps she sees them as normal. In light of the fervent pursuit of stardom, all else can be forsaken."

"I can understand the ending." Silsa was thinking about a mid-movie scene: "The female lead is too bitchy before she has confirmed her relationship with the male lead."

Martin gestured for her to continue.

Silsa went on, "The female lead has a tall, rich, and handsome boyfriend. The boyfriend takes her to a fancy restaurant for dinner with his brother. According to the script, this man is somewhat stiff and conservative, so the female lead finds him boring and leaves him on the spot to find the male lead."

Clearing her throat, she continued, "And who is the male lead? An artistic young man involved in the arts."

Martin knew what Silsa was getting at: "He's knowledgeable about the arts, romantic, and has a great sense of fun."

"Doesn't the female lead resemble many bitches? She takes it for granted when her boyfriend is good to her," observed Silsa, who was deeply immersed in her study of the female lead: "But she just finds him dull, without a sense of romance, lacking ceremonial gestures, with no common language between them. Then an artistic young man appears, someone who loves and knows how to have fun, and she is instantly smitten. She feels that if she doesn't get together with him, she'd be doing a disservice to her beautiful youth."

Martin couldn't help but laugh, "Your insight coincides almost exactly with Director Damien Chazelle's." He revealed, "Haven't you noticed? Damien is deliberately shaping the female lead in this direction."

Silsa was puzzled, "Why though? Youth, dreams, love… these are all wrong."

"I'm not sure what the screenwriter is really thinking; I only know the director's opinion," Martin said succinctly, "Nowadays in movies, the female characters advocate for controlling their own lives, and everything the female lead does is a manifestation of that."

After thinking for a moment, Silsa nodded, "Yes, that seems right. The female lead takes the initiative to pursue the male lead, discards her current boyfriend to get together with him, uses a call with her mother to push the male lead into making money so she can comfortably write her script, and then demands the male lead to give up his high-paying job to be as down-and-out as her, opting to chase her dreams in Paris…"

Martin was very aware that while Damien seemed to empower the female lead to control her own life, he subtly labeled her with several bottles of 'green tea' bitchiness.