The first step in filming is not makeup, but fully grasping the script.
Only by thoroughly understanding the script can one fully immerse in the role and portray the most authentic characters.
Huang Jing's performance transitions from cheerful to sorrowful, with a very distinct style.
The more joy in the early stages, the more tragic the sorrow in the later stages.
Jiang Yuyan and Xiao Xiannv, the two characters that left the deepest impression on the audience, perfectly mark the turning point of the shift from comedy to tragedy.
Xiao Xiannv's death signifies the end of the comedy.
Jiang Yuyan's poisoning and darkening marks the beginning of the latter half's tragedy.
Therefore, her role is extremely important.
Jiang Ling lowered her head to read the script, her brow furrowing deeper with each passing line.
The script was somewhat manageable for the first few episodes, but what was this in the later ones?
Where was the promised dominance, the ability to kill so thoroughly that only the title of the show remained?
Why were these pivotal scenes gone?
Jiang Ling put down the script, about to ask Huang Jing why Jiang Yuyan's later scenes had changed so drastically.
Just then, she recalled a report she had accidentally come across in her previous life.
When "The Little Fish and the Flowers Are Still Flowing" was greenlit for production, Jiang Yuyan's character was initially conceived as purely villainous.
Before entering the palace, she and her father, Jiang Biehe, colluded to commit all sorts of evil deeds.
After entering the palace, it was rumored that she was framed, lost favor, and was forced into a clandestine affair with the powerful eunuch Liu Xi, engaging in private "eating" (a term for sexual relations between eunuchs and women in the imperial harem).
With Liu Xi's help, she regained favor, charmed the emperor, usurped power, and turned the court and harem into a cesspool of corruption.
Her character, along with Liu Xi's, was a carbon copy of Ke Yin Yue and Wei Zhong Xian.
Later, during filming, Yang Xue's exceptional acting brought out extraordinary traits in Jiang Yuyan, greatly surprising the director. This led to incremental script revisions.
Due to the director's favoritism, Jiang Yuyan not only replaced the early antagonist Liu Xi as the ultimate boss but also slept with the protagonist Hua Wuque and donned the dragon robes to battle the main cast.
Such treatment was unprecedented for any villainous character thereafter.
It seemed that if she wanted to portray the Jiang Yuyan of her past life, who killed her way to the point where only the show's title remained, she would need to bring out her most exceptional skills and coax Huang Jing into voluntarily revising the script for her.
Demanding the director add scenes or alter the script within a film crew was a major taboo for actors.
Given Jiang Ling's current status and influence, she had the capital to request Huang Jing to specifically modify her scenes.
However, doing so would be too abrupt. Directors, most of all, detested actors who constantly demanded additions or changes to scenes.
Some directors with explosive tempers would even curse, telling them to get lost if they didn't want to act.
It was better to be like a frog boiled in warm water, slowly and steadily delivering an outstanding performance for the character.
This way, without her having to say anything, Huang Jing would proactively revise the script for her.
With this thought, Jiang Ling no longer hesitated. She picked up the script and diligently began memorizing her lines.
After memorizing lines for a while, a makeup artist from the crew came to do Jiang Ling's makeup.
Jiang Yuyan’s transformation from a pure innocent girl in the early stages to a cunning devil in the later stages was a significant contrast, and this difference should ideally be highlighted in her makeup.
However, seeing that Jiang Ling, even without makeup, could embody the character's charm and ruthlessness, Huang Jing specifically instructed the makeup and styling team to keep the makeup unchanged, maintaining the initial look.
A true villain should possess a gentle demeanor with an underlying fierceness!
Upon hearing this, the makeup artist specifically applied a "plain water" makeup look to Jiang Ling.
The plain water makeup is the most peculiar and the most difficult to achieve within makeup artistry.
This style is hailed as the "plain boiled cabbage of the makeup world"; it appears unremarkable but requires the most time and the most profound effort.