After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety
Chapter 169: Reading Together

Chapter 169: Chapter 169: Reading Together

Jiang Lingxi and Wei Minmin walked into the conference room arm in arm.

They were neither too early nor too late, and nearly half of the seats at the long rectangular conference table were already occupied.

The main seat was naturally occupied by Wei Xiao.

Hearing his niece’s voice, he looked up and waved, "You’re here, sit here." As he spoke, he patted the seat next to him.

The other actors, who were either looking at their phones or flipping through scripts, all looked up upon hearing this, curious to see who received the special acknowledgment from the famous director.

When they saw who it was, they immediately understood.

However, when they saw Jiang Lingxi take the seat to the left of Director Wei, a few couldn’t help but purse their lips.

Before this, they had never imagined that such a significant leading female role would fall to Jiang Lingxi, who barely made it to the second tier in the industry.

She even outcompeted Xu Qingmei.

But even if they found it hard to believe, after seeing Jiang Lingxi’s leading role photoshoot and now again sitting beside Director Wei, they had to convince themselves to accept it.

With people still arriving, Wei Xiao noticed the script placed on the table by Jiang Lingxi. It was clear it had been carefully read over the last few days, so he asked with satisfaction, "How’s the script reading coming along?"

"I’ve read through it thoroughly once."

Wei Minmin, putting down her phone just in time to hear this, couldn’t help but twitch her lips.

If this is just a thorough read-through, then her reading was barely skimming over it.

"So you should have seen that your lines and scenes are the most, more than double that of the male lead. Try to memorize them as much as possible before filming starts, and it would be best to have a general sense of them."

Jiang Lingxi nodded her head just as her arm closer to Wei Minmin was nudged. She turned to see Wei Minmin typing in her phone’s memo, "Uncle likes long takes without cuts."

As the name suggests, a long take means shooting a scene without any interruptions, forgetting lines, or missing emotional responses or actions.

Forgetting lines is the most common issue, and the only solution is to memorize your lines ahead of time, preferably knowing the dialogues of those you’re acting with too.

Thinking of the daunting amount of lines for the female lead, Wei Minmin silently felt a bit sympathetic toward Jiang Lingxi.

Other directors might be more lenient, but not her uncle.

Before long, all the main actors arrived.

The male and female actors sat across from each other at the table.

Although there were no marked seats on the table or chairs, everyone tacitly chose seats based on their ranking in the drama.

Only, the seat opposite Jiang Lingxi was empty.

Wei Xiao glanced at the empty seat and then at the composed Jiang Lingxi, raising his hand to instruct the assistant nearby, "Go close the conference room door."

This command left more than ninety percent of those present stunned for a moment.

After exchanging looks, She Man voiced everyone’s confusion, "Isn’t the male lead coming for the script reading?"

"You’ll see him when we officially start filming. During the script reading, we’ll record the entire process, and he will watch it later. If he has any comments, he’ll communicate with me."

She Man hesitated.

How could someone have more clout than Xu Qingmei?

Reflecting on renowned male actors in the circle, none fit Shen Moqing’s role despite being more prestigious than Xu Qingmei, and most were over forty.

"Alright, since everyone is here, let’s begin. Share your insights on your characters."

Everyone could only temporarily suppress their curiosity, sit up straight, and clear their throats, ready to speak when it was their turn.

This segment not only allowed the director to understand their grasp of the characters but also let the other actors know whose role each played.

About an hour passed as they went around the table.

Jiang Lingxi silently raised her hand.

Wei Xiao was about to introduce the next part when he noticed her movement and paused, "Does Teacher Jiang have anything to add?"

This drew everyone’s attention back to her.

Jiang Lingxi indeed had a question, "Isn’t Qing Yuan in the main cast?"

"She’s in the supporting actor group," Wei Xiao replied without thinking, then saw Jiang Lingxi frown, "Do you think Qing Yuan could be considered a main character?"

"Although she’s just a palace maid," Jiang Lingxi met Wei Xiao’s gaze seriously, "in Emperor Yuan Zhao’s heart, she’s different from the other maids."

A light laugh suddenly echoed in the conference room.

Jiang Lingxi looked at Lin Xuefei, sitting in the fourth seat, "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, just didn’t expect Teacher Jiang to get into character as Emperor Yuan Zhao so quickly. The division between main and supporting actors was definitely a decision Director Wei made after careful consideration, right? Does the actor playing Qing Yuan have a previous connection with Teacher Jiang?"

"I don’t know who the actor playing Qing Yuan is."

"Then why are you..." questioning this oddly?

However, Wei Xiao didn’t let Lin Xuefei finish, interrupting with a light cough, "Alright, Lingxi’s opinion will be kept for now. Next is the comprehensive script analysis." Glancing at Jiang Lingxi, who was following instructions to open the script, he added, "Qing Yuan does have significant scenes, so we’ll discuss it further during the upcoming analysis."

What he didn’t say was that he had also hesitated about whether to categorize Qing Yuan as a main character.

But after considering it, Qing Yuan was, in essence, just a palace maid, even if Emperor Yuan Zhao’s maid, with no hidden identity or special skills, so he ultimately placed her in the supporting actor group.

Jiang Lingxi was the first to ask him this question, pointing out a crucial, overlooked distinction: Qing Yuan’s unique place in Emperor Yuan Zhao’s heart.

This made him waver a bit.

But soon, he couldn’t dwell on that hesitation.

Because as they began the meticulous script analysis, other actors responded with perfunctory agreements, but when it came to Jiang Lingxi, it was, "Director Wei, my suggestion is..."

At first, hearing this repeated phrase, Wei Xiao was delighted, not to mention that Jiang Lingxi’s suggestions were enlightening, and he enjoyed making those changes.

However, as time passed and he heard, "Director Wei, I have a suggestion for this part...", he couldn’t help raising his head and silently wiping his face in exasperation.

Despite having edited the script multiple times himself, it was still subject to so many suggestions.

The key was that these suggestions, when implemented, truly improved the script.

Everyone else remained silent.

After all, this script review process, in their minds, was just the director walking them through the plot twists, to be further dissected during official filming.

This was the first time they encountered an actor leading the director through the script.

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