Zhen Huan said word by word, "Because you are the daughter of the Nian family, the Emperor is already wary of Nian Gengyao. He will not allow you to give birth to a child with the Nian bloodline."
At these words, Jiang Ling, who was playing Hua Fei, laughed.
Her smile was filled with endless sorrow.
The pride, arrogance, bossiness, and fearlessness of a daughter of a military family were all reduced to ashes in this moment.
As she laughed louder, two streams of tears flowed down her cheeks, and her body trembled violently.
Crying is the most challenging performance for an actor; true emotion is revealed through tears.
And the most difficult type of crying is to laugh and then cry.
Using laughter to convey the character's heart-wrenching pain is undoubtedly a supremely skillful acting technique.
Jiang Ling laughed and cried, her eyes transitioning from shock to despair in a progressive manner, like a dam bursting, rapidly pushing the character's emotions to their climax.
In front of the camera, the cinematographer expressed some concern, "Director Zheng, it's been eight minutes!"
In the parallel world's Dragon Country, the longest continuous shot in television dramas is eight minutes.
Movies are condensed essences, requiring higher standards, but the longest is only ten minutes.
In current mainstream television drama filming, continuous shots exceeding five minutes are rare, let alone eight.
Generally speaking, if a continuous shot exceeds three minutes, actors are prone to miss their lines. If it exceeds five minutes, emotional expression tends to break down.
Director Zheng Xiaolong knew Jiang Ling was a good actress and, since Hua Fei's death was the climax, he wanted to test her acting prowess to its limits. Therefore, he specifically chose to shoot it in one continuous take.
He did not expect Jiang Ling's ability to be even stronger than he estimated. She had maintained a high level of emotional intensity for eight continuous minutes in a single take and was still holding up.
Zheng Xiaolong said sternly, "Continue!"
Performing such a scene of emotional explosion not only tests acting skills but also physical stamina.
Female actors generally have less stamina than male actors, and enduring for eight minutes is already pushing the limit.
However, he knew that Hua Fei's scene was nearing completion, with only the final line, "You have made Shilan suffer so much," left to be delivered.
As the most crucial segment of the earlier part of the drama, Zheng Xiaolong naturally wished for Jiang Ling to finish it in one go, presenting the best artistic effect.
At this moment, Jiang Ling was completely immersed in her role, merging with the character of Hua Fei, reaching the highest state of performance where the actor and the character become indistinguishable, a unified whole.
The eight-minute continuous shot did not hinder her performance; instead, it fueled her fervor.
She laughed maniacally, and when she looked up again, there were no more tears in her eyes. It was like a plain scorched by wild fire, devoid of any life, only the endless despair and desolation that followed the collapse of her beliefs.
She rasped, her throat dry, and looking up at the sky, she cried out in anguish, "Your Majesty, you have made Shilan suffer so much!"
As the words fell, Jiang Ling turned and violently slammed her head against the wall.
In this dog-eat-dog imperial harem, Hua Fei feared nothing except the Emperor's lack of love for her.
And the tragedy of her life was also due to this obsessive love.
The cruel truth behind the Huan Yixiang was like a sharp dagger, piercing her final pretense.
She had loved the Emperor her entire life, only to be met with a lifetime of ridicule.
With her heart already dead, what was the point of love?
Desperate suicide was her only option!
With a 'bang,' warm blood splattered out, covering the entire wall.
This red rose that bloomed in the Emperor's heart, the cinnabar mark on the Emperor's chest, had finally transformed into that speck of mosquito blood on the wall.