novellhall Chapter 11: Emotional Escalation!
Chapter 11: Emotional Escalation!
It turns out that Lee So-yeon's "Hollywood Assistant Experience Card" was only valid for one day.
The next morning.
As Chen Xun tiptoed out of the room, her door was tightly closed, and the sound of even breathing could be heard from inside.
Clearly, the previous day's zombie-siege-like survival experience and the forced, stiff smiles during the photoshoot on the red carpet had drained her energy.
Chen Xun inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.
Taking a newbie on a day trip to the starting village is fine, but if you really want to team up every day to farm this kind of low-yield dungeon, his meager experience points won't even be enough to go around.
In the days that followed, Chen Xun entered a berserk mode of "Hollywood Bull and Horse".
When there aren't any "good jobs" like those in James Wan's films, he becomes a regular NPC on the corner of Santa Monica.
With the gradually accumulated aura of composure and the performance that is no longer easily intimidated.
Occasionally, he would catch the foreman's eye among the background characters and land a few high-level background roles with simple interactions and more screen time.
Daily wages have also struggled to climb to between forty and sixty dollars.
He has played a doctor's assistant hurrying along a hospital corridor, a diner savoring red wine in a fine restaurant, and a student frowning at a computer in a university library.
He was pestered by Han and had no choice but to experience the full dose of stereotypes.
In a certain teen movie, he wore black-rimmed glasses and an out-of-place plaid shirt, playing an Asian nerd who frantically typed code in front of his computer screen at a party, completely oblivious to the lively party around him.
"It's better than playing a corpse!"
He comforted himself as he absorbed the [Emotional Attribute - Numbness +1] that fell from the character.
For the past month, he has been like a diligent worker bee, shuttling between film sets of all sizes, reliable and unreliable, in Los Angeles.
The only goal is to accumulate attributes!
[Emotional Attribute - Nervousness +1] (From a young actor filming his first kissing scene)
[Emotional Attribute - Joy +1] (From a random passerby who won the lottery)
[Emotional Attribute - Sadness +1] (From an old lady in a funeral scene, her crying was so genuine and heartfelt)
[Physical Attribute - Fatigue +2] (From a stagehand who worked 18 hours straight, Chen Xun desperately needs this attribute!)
[Dialogue Attribute - Complaint +1] (From a lighting technician dissatisfied with the quality of the boxed lunch)
[Aura-type attribute - Sleazy +1] (From a special actor who plays a voyeur; Chen Xun had mixed feelings when he picked it up)
[Rhythm-related attribute - Beat timing +1] (From a focus puller with extremely accurate beat timing)
……
He accepts almost any type of attribute ball, useful or useless.
The numbers on the panel, especially in the "Mood" column, were jumping wildly at an unprecedented speed.
He gradually figured out some patterns.
Gray orbs typically have a base attribute of +1, green ones have +2, and blue ones have +3.
Most of the staff and ordinary extras were covered in gray.
Some experienced supporting actors or skilled behind-the-scenes personnel will drop green.
Only actors of Patrick Wilson's caliber or certain stunt performers with exceptionally outstanding performances will drop the blue rare attribute.
As for the more advanced attribute balls, Chen Xun has never seen them!
Late at night, Chen Xun dragged his aching body back to his apartment.
Lee So-yeon was sitting cross-legged on the living room carpet, frowning and deep in thought as she stared at her laptop, seemingly working on an assignment for USC.
In that month, she was also quickly overwhelmed by Los Angeles and her studies.
She has shed much of the naivety she had when she first arrived and has learned to devour books and analyze films when she has no work.
"You're back? There's leftover pizza in the kitchen, heat it up yourself."
She didn't even look up, her tone already as familiar as an old roommate's.
Chen Xun hummed in agreement, not in a hurry to touch the discounted pizza that looked like cardboard.
He habitually brought up the attribute panel to check his gains for the day.
[Acting Skills Attribute Panel]
Dialogue: Lv0 (18/100)
Limbs: Lv0 (35/100)
Emoticons: Lv0 (22/100)
Eyes: Lv0 (19/100)
Mood: Lv0 (100/100)
Tempo: Lv0 (15/100)
Aura: Lv0 (25/100)
……
Emotional attributes are maxed out!
Chen Xun's heart skipped a beat, and his sleepiness vanished instantly.
It feels like finally accumulating enough experience points in an RPG game to unlock the next talent tree.
The emotion progress bar filled up instantly!
In that instant, he felt as if his brain had been thrown into an emotional blender!
All the joys and sorrows, tension and numbness, sadness and ecstasy absorbed in the past month...
Countless fragments of emotions surged into my heart like a tide, colliding, merging, and refining each other.
A sudden realization dawned on me.
If the previous [Emotion] attribute only allowed him to crudely imitate various emotions.
So now he feels he has a more fundamental understanding of "emotions".
He can perceive the subtle differences and levels between different emotions more precisely, and invoke them more accurately.
You can even vaguely sense how emotions are evoked from the inside out through subtle physiological reactions, rather than just facial expressions.
Quantitative change led to qualitative change!
He has completed the crucial step from resemblance in form to resemblance in spirit!
Chen Xun stood still, closed his eyes, and savored this wonderful feeling.
In the past, when acting required evoking emotions, he had to desperately recall similar experiences or rely on external stimuli.
Now it seems as if I have an emotional palette built into my body.
Various colors can be used at will, and the saturation and brightness can be adjusted at will.
"Hey, are you alright?"
Lee So-yeon's voice pulled him back to reality:
"Standing there looking constipated! Was the pizza so bad?"
Chen Xun opened his eyes, let out a long sigh of relief, and felt like a completely different person.
He went to the kitchen, picked up the cold pizza, took a bite, and it really did feel like cardboard.
But he was in a good mood and didn't mind!
"fine!"
He chewed on his pizza and mumbled, "I just suddenly figured out some things about acting."
Li Suyan glanced at him suspiciously, but didn't ask any more questions and continued to struggle with her homework.
The next day, Chen Xun received an unexpected job!
TV GG of a local burger brand.
The character is simple: a young man who eats a hamburger in the park and shows an expression of extreme satisfaction and happiness.
The requirement can be summed up in one word: authenticity!
It needs to make viewers drool even through the screen.
This kind of GG may seem simple, but it actually requires a very high degree of purity and infectiousness in the expression of emotions.
Many professional actors tend to overact, making their performances seem fake.
The filming location was in a corner of Griffith Park.
The director is a perfectionist, and the actors have already had to do seven or eight takes.
They either complain that their smiles are too professional, or that their sense of satisfaction isn't genuine enough.
"What I want is that pure, animalistic, dopamine-fueled pleasure! You understand?"
"It's not the happiness I feel from receiving my paycheck!"
"This burger is fucking delicious, that's happiness!"
The director roared through a megaphone, like a tyrant in the culinary world.
It was Chen Xun's turn.
He held in his hand the hamburger, which gleamed under the light and looked quite tempting.
But I don't know how long this hamburger has been sitting there.
It's so cold!
And to make the burger look shiny, they even coated it with a layer of oil!