"Okay! Stop talking! I need to put on makeup!"
Seeing that Niu Yichen was losing his composure, the makeup artist took the initiative to speak up and send all the fairies out.
"Your scenes are about to start! If Director Jiang can't find you later and starts yelling at you, there won't be anyone to plead for you!"
Upon hearing this, the seven fairies no longer bothered to inquire about any health secrets from Niu Yichen. They filed out one by one, heading towards their respective filming locations. Compared to Niu Yichen, filming was more important; he wasn't going to run away anytime soon.
Seven beautiful women with completely different looks jogged along, creating a stunning scene.
After the group of beauties left, the makeup artist applied some more products to Niu Yichen's face and said again, "Your skin is really good. You hardly need any concealer or brightening products. Just a little powder is enough to make it easier for the camera to capture! It's so convenient!"
Niu Yichen treated himself as a tool, silently letting the makeup artist draw on his face.
After a short while, the makeup artist stepped back a bit, carefully examined her masterpiece, and nodded.
After confirming that there were no changes needed, the makeup artist asked Niu Yichen to turn to the mirror and inquired, "Take a look yourself. Do you have any comments?"
Niu Yichen looked at himself in the mirror.
Just like the makeup artist said, they only applied some powder to bring out his own skin tone as much as possible. The only extra touch was the eyeshadow!
If we were to pinpoint the most distinctive feature of the costumes in the drama "Seven Fairies," it would undoubtedly be the eyeshadow.
This drama wasn't the first to use eyeshadow in Chinese period dramas, but it was definitely the most exaggerated. Perhaps it had something to do with the style of the immortals; in any case, the entire Heavenly Court, regardless of gender, from the serious and rigid Barefoot Immortal to the minor immortals who only appeared in a few scenes, all had heavy eyeshadow on their eyes…
Therefore, Niu Yichen's eyes were also not spared, but unlike before, the color on his eyes was light red, with a very distinct gradient.
only...
Niu Yichen couldn't help but frown and said, "Am I being too flamboyant? Not manly enough!"
It is indeed a bit glamorous. In fact, Niu Yichen has some feminine features and fair skin, so when he was a child, his older sister and mother often made him put on makeup and wear very cute clothes, leaving behind many embarrassing dark histories!
That's why, after his debut, Niu Yichen's roles always involved either shaving his head or building muscle, all to make himself look more masculine. But now, with this makeup artist's work, it seems he's reverted to an effeminate image.
"Haha!" The makeup artist couldn't help but laugh and said, "It looks great! The girls will definitely love it when we go out!"
In fact, she drew it entirely according to her own aesthetic, which was even somewhat different from her original definition of a male actor, but she believed that the girls would be satisfied.
Niu Yichen was still struggling with the idea, "I think, maybe we should change the color of the eyeshadow, even if it's gold, it would match the clothes better!"
"But you are the God of Cookery!" the makeup artist explained. "The God of Cookery and Hong'er are a pair, and their similar colors have a deeper meaning."
Seeing that Niu Yichen still seemed somewhat unwilling, the makeup artist said again, "Let's go! Let's show it to the director together. If the director doesn't agree either, I'll change it for you!"
"Okay!" Niu Yichen nodded reluctantly and went out with her.
Today's main filming is of the Seven Fairies' scenes, which take place inside the 'Heavenly Palace' and are primarily performed by Jiang Tian and Hu Beiyi.
However, Chen Yongge also invited them to discuss the script, so they were here as well, which saved the makeup artist the trouble of taking Niu Yichen around looking for people.
In the past, the three directors were looking at the camera together.
In other words, all three directors came from humble backgrounds, knew each other well, and didn't have many disagreements. Moreover, this TV series was related to their future careers; otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to cooperate so easily.
When Niu Yichen arrived at the place where they were performing, he couldn't help but stop. Seven women dressed in their respective fairy costumes were dancing gracefully.
It's okay to watch on TV because there's only one camera angle, and the cameraman assigns you which one to watch; you don't have a choice.
But watching it live is a completely different experience. Seven beautiful women, each with their own unique charm, dance gracefully, dazzling the eye and making it hard to know which one to watch!
After watching for a while, Niu Yichen couldn't help but sigh that they were born in the wrong era. If it were the era of internet traffic, they would be famous for just this one TV series, and it wouldn't be impossible for them to debut as a group!
The seven fairies were dancing perfectly fine, but perhaps because Niu Yichen's gaze was too intense, Yang Rui, the most sensitive of them, couldn't help but glance in his direction. Upon seeing him, her steps became disordered.
The dance steps of the seven people are coordinated; if one person goes astray, the rest will also be affected, and the whole thing will turn into a complete mess.
"What's going on! We've practiced for so many days, and this is the result you give me?" Director Jiang Tian cursed. He was mainly in charge of this part, and he had been performing perfectly just now, without any problems. How could everything fall apart as soon as he relaxed? Wasn't this a slap in his face?
The fairies didn't dare say a word and just let him curse them.
The director is a tyrant on set, that's for sure. And there are three of them on set. What if one of them causes a triple mess?
However, the makeup artist who came with Niu Yichen knew what was going on. A smug look appeared on her face as she led Niu Yichen over, saying, "Director! Yichen's makeup is done! Take a look at the results!"
Leaving aside Jiang Tian, who was cursing, Chen Yongge and Hu Beiyi came over to take a look and nodded in satisfaction.
Now, Niu Yichen had no reason to object.
Niu Yichen said, "Should I try out the shooting experience first?"
"Of course we want it!" Chen Yongge shouted to the person next to him, "Director Jiang, stop scolding, come here for a moment, let's discuss how to shoot Yichen's outfit!"
Jiang Tian, who was cursing, reluctantly stopped, told the fairies to step aside, and directed Niu Yichen to walk into the camera for a test.
The result was excellent; Niu Yichen was even more photogenic than they had imagined.
With all three directors confirming that everything was fine, Niu Yichen was completely handed over to Chen Yongge.
Chen Yongge left with a team of cameramen, intending to go to the newly prepared 'Heavenly Kitchen' to film a few clips of Niu Yichen to see the results.
...
Once out of the sight of the other two directors, Chen Yongge relaxed, glanced at Niu Yichen, and laughed, "I knew it, no one but you could pull off these clothes!"
"Still trying to put on a brave face?" Niu Yichen said with a wry smile, "I just think it's too effeminate! I was even saying that if you guys didn't agree, I'd redo my look!"
"That's great!" Chen Yongge said. "You have no idea what young girls' tastes are like. I saw it just now. The moment you appeared, they lost their footing. So your look is definitely eye-catching!"
"Exactly!" the female makeup artist chimed in, "A male god like you shouldn't be the one secretly in love with Hong'er, but rather the one being secretly in love with by Hong'er!"
Niu Yichen laughed and said, "That's a good thing! The God of Cookery and Hong'er like each other! That makes sense!"
Actually, at Niu Yichen's current age, the most suitable role for him is that of a 'pretty boy'.
If I debut as an idol 10 years from now, I'll definitely be the kind of idol who can empty the wallets of all the young ladies and girls.
It's a pity... no! It's fortunate that she didn't debut at that time, otherwise, she would definitely have a lot more embarrassing history, and her flamboyant makeup would probably have become the norm!
Before long, Niu Yichen followed Chen Yongge into a simple house.
This is what is known as the 'Heavenly Kitchen'.
This scene wasn't originally in the TV series. It was probably added by Chen Yongge, or it might have been there but was abandoned because the effect wasn't good after filming.
It's obvious that this kitchen was hastily built; it's basically a white show flat. The kitchen is fully equipped with all sorts of tools, but some labels are still attached...
There was also a stove, which looked very big and fancy, but when Niu Yichen touched it, he found that it was made of cardboard and was hollow inside, with only one part that could be used normally.
However, they prepared quite a lot of ingredients such as scallions, cabbage, and radishes, which should have been just bought.
While Niu Yichen was familiarizing himself with the tools, Chen Yongge also directed the lighting crew to get ready, and said to him, "Come on, Yichen! Let these country bumpkins see what's what! Let's start by showing them how to chop scallions!"
Niu Yichen nodded and placed the scallions and cleaver in their usual positions.
The clapperboard was slammed shut in front of the camera with a "snap!" and Chen Yongge shouted, "Action!"
Niu Yichen took a deep breath, tossed the scallion in his hand into the air, grabbed a porcelain plate with his left hand, picked up a cleaver with his right, and with his boning skill, "swish! swish!" he made several cuts in quick succession. The long scallion flew up and down in mid-air, and in no time, it was all turned into scallion flowers, which landed neatly on the plate.
The speed of her hands was so fast that even the camera couldn't keep up, resulting in images with afterimages, as if they had special effects, which was truly amazing.
After finishing chopping, Niu Yichen put away the knife and placed the plate in front of the camera—the scallions in the plate were arranged in a spiral shape, perfectly neat.
"Cut!" Chen Yongge shouted, ending the take. He looked at the footage on camera and exclaimed, "Yichen, Yichen! I was worried you might mess up, but you actually did even better than you did before!"
It's not just about showing off skills.
Throughout the footage, the God of Cookery wore a smile, as if cooking was an extremely enjoyable experience for him.
His acting and knife skills were both flawless.
Niu Yichen laughed and said, "How was it? Did you pass?"
"Of course it's done!" Chen Yongge said. "Can you make anything else? I need to film the cooking methods for several other dishes; they'll definitely come in handy later!"
"Of course! Just you wait and see!"
The film crew is in position.
Niu Yichen saw a grass carp nearby and immediately used his finger to grab it. Just like last night, he easily scaled, gilled, and gutted it with a fish knife.
With a single chop off the fish's head, a quick cut down the middle of the fish's body revealed the entire hard spine, without damaging the outer skin at all.
What he's going to do this time is create the most visually striking squirrel fish, and a glamorous, upgraded version at that.
With each cut, Niu Yichen would remove a few fish bones from the fish and casually toss them into the paper stove next to him. After the squirrel fish was cut, he actually used the fish bones to form a distinct carp shape on the stove next to him.
After all the fish bones were removed, Niu Yichen took out the fish head that he had just chopped off, placed it in front of the fish meat, and finally arranged it side by side with the fish bones.
The cameraman gave a close-up shot, and the shape of the fish bones and the shape of the fish meat were exactly the same. The pale red fish meat, even without any processing, exuded a strange beauty.
The God of Cookery's plating skills are no joke.
"Great!" Chen Yongge exclaimed again, excitedly saying, "One more take! Use other dishes, I refuse to believe those two bastards would be willing to cut such great footage!"
Niu Yichen smiled slightly, put the squirrel fish aside, took out the white flour, moistened it with some water, and began kneading the dough...
After another one.
Looking at the steamed buns that Niu Yichen had shaped into delicate flower rolls, Chen Yongge couldn't help but say, "Making steamed buns with Tai Chi skills! Yichen! You're really something now! In Stephen Chow's movies, they even added special effects! You made them with just your hands!"
"Adding special effects just means their skills aren't up to par yet!" Niu Yichen laughed. "And it also proves one thing! Stephen Chow isn't just making things up!"
"That's true! But if I hadn't seen you make it yourself, I really wouldn't have believed that there are chefs in the world who can do this."
"Cooking! One way is practice makes perfect, and the other is genius! Obviously, I'm a genius!" Niu Yichen offered this casual explanation, not wanting to dwell on the topic, and changed the subject: "Do we have enough ingredients now? Should we move to another place?"
"No! That's not enough!" Chen Yongge said, "You're just too cool! I'm planning to add a few more scenes! To make the relationship between you and Hong'er even more profound! Sometimes you'll sneak peeks at Hong'er, and sometimes Hong'er can sneak peeks at you too! That way, we can show more scenes of you cooking!"
Niu Yichen smiled, neither confirming nor denying. Just like before, he didn't say another word.
Chen Yongge has made his statement, but whether it will actually happen depends on discussions with several directors and screenwriters. After all, the number of episodes in a TV series is fixed; if someone's screen time increases, it means someone else's screen time will decrease.
Don't ask why some scenes should be cut instead of the rest should be increased, because the number of episodes was determined before filming began and cannot be changed arbitrarily.
Therefore, even for this small part of the scene, Chen Yongge alone did not have the right to make changes. He had to take these shots and discuss them with the other two directors and the screenwriters involved before deciding how to proceed.
Directors also need to be restrained. This principle has been around for a long time. Even an emperor, if not restrained, can only be a tyrant and cannot achieve anything. Otherwise, if a director comes up with an idea every day, how can we make a proper film?
However, there are always exceptions, and the decisive factor was Niu Yichen's performance.
If his performance is flawless, and no one can even bear to delete those scenes, then things will naturally proceed as planned.
And so, Niu Yichen spent the whole day filming cooking scenes, which can be described as him showing off and being cool all day long.
Chen Yongge also came up with some creative ideas, clearly distinguishing between wide shots, close-ups, and medium shots. Some actions were not captured clearly, so he asked Niu Yichen to slow them down and start over.
Although I was a little tired after the day, the photos turned out really well.
Moreover, Chen Yongge ultimately had Niu Yichen completely prepare all the dishes.
Although each dish was just for show because I didn't know how to season it, the effect of displaying it was so good that it would shine in an anime.
Taking this opportunity, the directors had the group of 'deities' film the Peach Banquet scene again, and all the dishes they prepared were served to make the food look less shabby.