However, the female lead was not someone who could be replaced casually. It involved many aspects, and issues with numerous investors alone could not be easily resolved.
Therefore, Wang Daoyuan could only watch with envy and finally, with a heavy heart, let her be the stunt double for the female protagonist.
Qi Yu worked diligently as a stunt double. After passing the interview, she found a hotel to sleep in and arrived early the next morning at 5:00 AM to help.
At this very moment, many film crews were still shooting through the night.
Some people, exhausted and weary, had fallen asleep by their luggage.
Qi Yu looked around with curiosity.
She noticed many people were practicing their dance skills, so she casually did a split and dozed off.
Others were doing it to improve their flexibility and warm up their bodies before the stunt filming began.
But Qi Yu was genuinely sleeping.
If Si Qing hadn't woken her up in time, she probably would have rolled over and slept through it.
Si Qing patted Qi Yu's shoulder, "Sister, stop sleeping. Wake up."
Qi Yu groggily opened her eyes and found everyone else looking at her. They had all changed into their performance costumes.
These should be the costumes for the stunt doubles, identical in style to those worn by the main actors who were currently filming.
"Sister, hurry up and go change," Si Qing urged.
Qi Yu acknowledged with a "good" and went inside to find the makeup artist to change.
The clothes she needed to change into were already hanging on a rack nearby, along with hair accessories and jewelry.
Of course, to distinguish her from the main actress, the jewelry Qi Yu wore was entirely made of plastic, fake.
Qi Yu glanced down.
Holding the clothes and hair accessories, she walked into the changing room. With a wave of her hand, she transformed herself with a casual gesture, then slowly walked out.
When Qi Yu emerged, she was still holding the hair accessories, but her clothes were completely changed.
The makeup artist looked at Qi Yu and quickly pulled her over to sit down. Then, she picked up the makeup products on the table and applied them liberally to her face, fussing over her.
Qi Yu frowned tightly, feeling an indescribable scent from the makeup applied to her face. Although it smelled pleasant, it actually gave off a very cheap impression.
While the makeup effect was much stronger than the rouge and powders from their world, the quality of these cosmetics was truly poor. It felt like applying them made her skin appear a shade darker.
In fact, the makeup artist felt the same way looking at Qi Yu's flawless and delicate face. After finishing, she felt like she had actually made the person look uglier.
The makeup artist, holding her makeup brush, looked at Qi Yu with a troubled expression.
Qi Yu, as if casually styling her hair after waking up, simply tied it up. The hairstyle the makeup artist had intended to help with was already done.
The makeup artist snapped back to attention and was about to tell Qi Yu to wash her face and start over when she looked up and realized Qi Yu had already finished her hair and even put on the hair accessories herself.
She looked at Qi Yu with some surprise.
Qi Yu stood up, "How about I wash my face and then skip the makeup for now? I actually think I can manage without makeup, I just need to emphasize my eyes a bit more."
If this were anyone else, daring to be so presumptuous in front of a makeup artist, the makeup artist would have already started scolding.
She wasn't some big star, yet she dared to criticize her work.
But now, looking at Qi Yu's face, which she felt she had made progressively uglier, the makeup artist's heart was filled with mixed emotions. She couldn't think of any other solution for a moment and could only nod in agreement. Then, she went to prepare to pack up and do the next person.
Looking at the men and women lined up behind her, the makeup artist fell silent again, holding the powder puff.
Every single one of these male and female stunt actors was incredibly handsome and beautiful.
Having worked as a makeup artist for so many years, this was the first time she had ever seen such a collection of handsome men and beautiful women.
Si Qing looked at his own attire in the mirror.
It wasn't bragging; he truly felt he didn't need makeup. The male lead actor wasn't even half as good-looking as him.
In fact, the female makeup artist thought the same.
She hesitated for a long time, feeling conflicted, and finally threw her hands up in resignation, deciding to let everyone go on stage as they were.
Qi Yu and Si Qing walked out slowly.
Outside, the entire area was filled with film crew staff and the director, who was shouting loudly through a megaphone.
Director Wang was busy directing the staff to take their positions and ensuring all actors were in place.
But even though Director Wang was swamped, some of the main actors still refused to film due to various trivial matters.
For example, one might say their hair wasn't done properly, another might feel their lipstick color was wrong that day.
Some would claim they hadn't found their rhythm, or they were eating nearby and hadn't heard.
Director Wang frowned deeply, almost tearing his throat.
Finally, through his persistent efforts, all actors were in position, and filming officially began.
They were currently filming the final scene where the female protagonist falls off a cliff.
After the actress playing the female lead passed the shot in one take, she was immediately replaced by Qi Yu to film the scene of falling from the cliff.
This cliff was entirely constructed with props. The rocks were fake, the background was a green screen, and the camera followed the action. Although it looked like a simple fall, it actually required skill and technique.
The posture had to be graceful.
Qi Yu was impatient. The director had said so much, but it all boiled down to one sentence: don't show your face, and fall beautifully. At the end, as soon as she landed on the mat, the female lead would immediately take over.
So, she was just a supporting player in the middle.
After accurately positioning herself, Qi Yu, as if nothing was wrong, leisurely walked to the top of the cliff and, following the cues, jumped down without looking back.
Director Wang initially thought her jump was too casual. But then, observing through the camera, he realized that when Qi Yu jumped, even just focusing on her feet, it conveyed the panic of falling. However, at the moment of the fall, her skirt fluttered gracefully.
Moreover, she cleverly used a flip to obscure her face, preventing it from being shown, which saved post-production editing and modifications.
Director Wang became more and more satisfied as he watched.
Qi Yu's jump looked ordinary, but he never expected it to have such a refined effect during filming.
Director Wang couldn't help but think that if only Qi Yu were the female lead, he would definitely film a new drama and elevate her to stardom. This was a cash cow!