Flowers of the Opera Stage

Filming did not go well for several days in a row.

Yin Fenghua is a firm believer in being strict with others and lenient with himself. Whenever it is time to shoot his scenes, he always makes a fuss about this or that. He does not read the script carefully, nor is he keen to learn the opera singing techniques from the professional teachers hired by the crew. Whenever something goes wrong, he refuses to take his own responsibility, always making excuses. He constantly pushes the limits of Yuan Ge's patience, causing what was originally a work with artistic and humanistic aspirations to fall into a dilemma of expression.

Early this morning, the entrance to the Rong Mansion is particularly busy. A middle-aged well-groomed woman leads a large group of young people to the set. When she sees Yuan Ge, a delighted smile appears on her face and she says warmly, "Yuanyuan, is the filming going well? How is Professor Fu doing in Switzerland these days?"

Yuan Ge walks up to greet her, "So good to see you Auntie Wang. My mother is doing very well. She is doing some research and writing a new book on the culture of the Great Roxy Heaven. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come here to help me. I really appreciate it!"

This woman is Professor Wang from the Beijing Opera Department at the NATA. She brings over a group of students to help shoot an important scene in the film - Rong Qiuchen winning the Flowers of the Opera Stage competition. This scene requires a large number of extras with Beijing Opera training.

Professor Wang smiles amiably, "You are welcome. It's my pleasure. Professor Fu is really an energetic person. She is always interested in such strange topics. We are very lucky that she is the Vice President of the Traditional Culture Research Association and has been looking after our department for many years. It's rare that you ask for help this time, so how can I not come to help? Also, the fact that you are making a Beijing Opera film is good for promoting our country's Beijing Opera's artistic tradition, and having my students come over will be good for them to gain some performance experience. They are all very excited about being on camera and hope to make a name for themselves in Director Yuen's film."

Yuan Ge looks at the large group of Beijing Opera students behind Professor Wang, all of them in high spirits and eager to try out, and he thinks to himself that this is what actors should be like. Even if they are only playing supporting roles or extras, they are still more in tune with their roles than his male lead.

When Professor Wang saw the downcast look on Yuan Ge's face, she is very concerned, "Yuanyuan, is the shooting not going well? I heard from your artistic director, Mr. Li, the other day that your lead actor was a bit out of his depth?"

"Oh, don't mention it", Yuan Ge answers depressingly, "Luckily today I have your help for this big scene, otherwise I really be at my wit's end."

At the moment, in the water pavilion of the Rong Mansion, the props team has set up an elaborate opera stage, just like the one Yuan Ge has seen in his dream. The Beijing Opera students led by Professor Wang brought their own costumes, dressed and made up themselves, and were so well trained that they soon formed the various troupes according to the script. Together with the Jinyu Troupe, of which Qiuchen is a member, the scene of the competition for the Flowers of the Opera Stage is finally ready to be filmed.

As the camera rolled, gloriously colourful images appeared on the monitor, brilliantly recreating the scene when the Empress Dowager Cixi personally selected the winner of the competition. On the stage, each of the famous Beijing opera troupes performed their best works, while both Empress Dowagers are seated gracefully, the princes and ministers are looking on solemnly, the capital's dignitaries and celebrities are all present and the opera fans are eagerly waiting for their favourite acts.

Yuan Ge first filmed scenes from classic opera selections such as 'Pitchforking the Battering Chariots', 'The Mulberry Garden Meeting', 'The Peach Party' and 'Silang Visits His Mother' to warm up sufficiently before finally advancing to the filming of the big play that showcases the strength of the Jinyu Troupe - the play 'The Battle of the Red Cliffs'. Although this is a long lost play, Professor Wang has led her NATA students to research and create a new opera play based on the remnants left behind over the years. Yuan Ge feels that it is a win-win situation for both parties to be able to insert this play into the plot of Qingqing. Not only would it help Professor Wang to promote the new play and save Dragon Dreams the expense of finding so many extras today, but it would also be a way to highlight Qiuchen's great skill of being able to play both Sheng (male) and Dan (female) roles.