The turmoil of the outside world did not affect the lives of the trainees in the fully enclosed filming base.
Thursday was the day of the official performance, while the trainees’ schedule for group rehearsals at the stage venue was set for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Driven by the “King Of Rolls”, the learning progress of Quentin’s team was incredibly fast.
They were the last group to rehearse on Tuesday. By the time it was their turn, the sky outside the recording studio was completely dark.
This rehearsal involved everyone going on stage without makeup to try on their costumes. While changing in the dressing room, Quentin had a sinking feeling.
When their team and Qi Yang’s team listened to the assistant director explain the plot summary of “Circus Phantom Night” in the conference room, they had briefly seen the stage costume designs provided by the program on a PowerPoint.
The clown costumes and detective costumes were displayed on opposite sides. Both were exquisitely designed in appearance, but it was easy to see that compared to the elegant, fitted suits and trench coats, the clown costumes were extravagant to the point of being flashy.
The puffy sleeves, ruffled rabat collars, and loose jumpsuits practically swallowed all detailed movements. The color-blocked striped legwear and pointed shoes danced all over the line of traditional aesthetics.
Such intricately designed, boldly colored costumes were suitable for stage plays, but not necessarily for boy group performances.
At the very least, in the public’s stereotypical impression, boy group styling should aim for “cool and handsome,” while “clowns” were comical buffoons meant to liven the atmosphere and amuse others, creating an insurmountable gap between them and boy group idols.
Most importantly, the seven actors in the musical group photo presented in the PowerPoint all wore heavy clown makeup that made their faces unrecognizable!
Come on! How were audiences supposed to remember who was who with makeup that might not even distinguish them in close-ups? Were the production team crazy?
The moment the 14 trainees in the conference room saw the PowerPoint photos, they immediately understood which set of costumes was more suitable for their boy group stage.
Quentin wasn’t being deliberately modest when he let the other team choose first. Although Qi Yang’s team’s overall strength was considerably weaker than theirs, he would never let his guard down just because of a perceived gap on paper.
He was confident, not arrogant.
In fact, Quentin simply noticed the nervousness in Yan Wenbing’s eyes and wanted to say something casual to lighten the mood.
However, probably because his usual silent and reserved image was so deeply ingrained… it led everyone present to think he was being serious.
Sigh.
After the rehearsal, the seven boys gathered around the camera to watch the playback, and the more they watched, the more they felt something was off.
“These costumes really swallow the movements. You can’t even see what we’re dancing.”
“True, even the umbrella dance looks silly and clumsy because of these clothes. Plus, this outfit makes my neck look so short, like I have no neck at all! Can we just take off this stupid collar?”
“Is this design supposed to be baroque style? There are so many frills and ruffles on the hem, layer upon layer, it really makes us look shorter. Sigh, I feel insecure.”
“Don’t you think the colors are a bit gaudy? Although the overall tone of the costume is dark, the colors on the collar, lining, and the legwear are too flashy, it makes the skin look dark… Well, maybe it’s just that my skin is dark, since Quentin looks quite good in it…”
“Come on, doesn’t Quentin look good in anything?”
“Looking good isn’t the main point. The key issue is that it swallows the movements. The design is too complex, it doesn’t look sharp enough when dancing. If we really compare, it’s not as effective as the white T-shirts and red pants we wore in the practice room.”
Quentin waited until they finished watching the video before speaking calmly: “The pants are too loose, they don’t match the choreography we learned. They need to be altered.”
Liang Yao hesitated: “But… will the program team allow us to change them?”
“Time-wise, it probably wouldn’t work.”
Fang Xu crossed his arms and said calmly: “But we can try. Let’s ask the program team for their opinion.”
“It’s not just the costume problem, but also the stage setup.” Quentin pointed out further, “Although the plot background in the ‘Black Umbrella’ musical is a rainy alley chase, our costumes are royal court jester costumes. The more ornate and exaggerated the styling, the more it clashes with the simple stage.”
Their group’s stage setup was exactly the same as Qi Yang’s team’s.
A few street lamps stood on the gloomy stage, with withered rose bushes scattered along the roadside. The overall visual tone was eerie and sinister.
Qi Yang’s team’s British detective coats and agent black suits matched such a scene well enough, allowing the audience to associate it with tense and thrilling alleyway chases.
But how could the intricate, exquisite, and brightly colored royal court jester costumes blend with this type of setting?
The reason the musical stage for the “Circus Phantom Night” was designed this way was, firstly, because a complete preceding plot allowed the audience to immerse themselves, and secondly, because the seven different clown personalities were connected and transitioned to the dark, simple rain alley by the detective team.
But who could guarantee that the audience for the first performance would associate the “Black Umbrella” performance with the “Circus Phantom Night” plot?
The audience was there to enjoy the stage performance; they had no obligation to understand the song’s backstory beforehand.
Liao Fei realized belatedly: “Ohh, no wonder the overall feel was weird. So it’s the stage setup.”
They say those involved are baffled, while onlookers see clearly.
The seven of them had rehearsed for several days and also understood the background story of “Circus Phantom Night” clearly. So when reviewing the stage video, they subconsciously superimposed the plot and had a strong feeling that something was off, but never thought to associate it with the stage design.
Liao Fei secretly turned his head and glanced at Quentin, thinking: ‘As expected…being in a group with Quentin really gives a sense of security.’
“I’ll go talk to the production team later. Do you have any other issues? Bring them all up, and I’ll ask about them together.”
Quentin borrowed a pen and a notepad from a staff member nearby, propped his elbow on a cardboard box, leaned over, and carefully wrote down two lines of text.
In his previous life, he had gone to the US at age 10, taught himself English, and had few opportunities to write Chinese characters by hand after that.
Even when he needed to write Chinese song lyrics later, he did it via keyboard.
Fortunately, he had good grades as a child and hadn’t forgotten how to use the 26-key Pinyin input method. Otherwise, a 25-year-old adult using voice input for lyrics…. would be really quite embarrassing.
Quentin had a very good memory, so there was no issue of forgetting characters when writing or making mistakes.
He had practiced regular script calligraphy as a child, so the characters he wrote were standard block shapes, with straight horizontal and vertical strokes, neatly arranged together, like a top student’s exam paper.
The boys crowded around with Quentin at the center and began making suggestions.
Fang Xu: “Actually, the main issues are the clothes and the stage. Maybe the stage can be made more ornate? Like deep red curtains, metal candlesticks, glass lamps, golden cups and dishes… Preparing more props with Western royal court elements might help.”
Cui Yan stared at the moving tip of the pen on paper: “Not just Western royal court elements, we can also add some circus elements, since we’re ‘clowns’ after all.”
Liang Yao interjected: “We have to get them to change the collar! This collar makes my neck itchy, it’s too stuffy, I can’t breathe!”
Liao Fei stood closest to Quentin, almost pressed against him by the squeezing teammates.
He caught that faint scent of shampoo again.
“The style of ‘Black Umbrella’ is quite bizarre and strange, so the setting shouldn’t just aim for flashy. Maybe make it more dark themed? Hmm… we should probably ask the lighting crew teachers to coordinate on this.”
As he spoke, his eyes unconsciously drifted towards the back of Quentin’s neck.
Was it mint, orange blossom…and citrus?
It was like a bottle of ascetic-style perfume, cold with a hint of sweetness, icy cool, and only when close could one detect the hidden sweetness.
Liao Fei lowered his head and rubbed his nose vigorously.
‘Hmm, why does it smell so good?’
“
“I’m sorry, Quentin, I probably can’t help you with the costume issue.” The staff member from the costume and props team was busy hanging the performance costumes the trainees had changed out of onto clothing racks, and casually brushed off the boy’s request.
“If it were minor issues like the size of the clothes, I could still make quick alterations for you. But the kind of comprehensive changes from head to toe you’re talking about….is not much different from redesigning and patterning a whole new set. You’re going on stage the day after tomorrow, there’s no time to make so many changes. We really can’t afford to delay things.”
“Besides, don’t you look quite good in this outfit? The royal court jester costume needs someone tall, slim, and with strong, handsome features like you to wear it. And your calves are so slim and straight, perfect for the calf socks.”
His hands moved deftly, finishing organizing the remaining clothes in the few sentences. His eyes swept over Quentin’s figure a few times, and he reached out to measure around the boy’s waist: “This waist cincher suits you well too. How is your waist so narrow? Is your waist measurement 70cm? At most 65…Tsk tsk, it’s so thin it’s almost like a paper cutout.”
“It’s not about whether it looks good or not.”
Quentin explained: “The collar design of this costume is too complex, the sleeves and pant legs are too loose, and the pant legs are all puffed out, it really affects the visual of the dance.”
“Complex is a good thing! Your team’s clown costumes are the most expensive of all the performance outfits. A lot of money was spent on the design and custom tailoring.”
The man shrugged: “As for the pant legs…Quentin, believe me, this kind of pumpkin pants has the most bizarre clown feel. Our initial draft was actually gray striped suit pants, which were passable, but far less distinctive than the pumpkin pants.”
“And I remember the choreography for ‘Black Umbrella’ doesn’t have many complex moves, right? I specifically asked the director; your dance is the simplest apart from the vocal groups.” He stroked his chin and suggested, “How about… you just delete the dance parts?”
Quentin: “…”
Quentin was speechless. He fell silent for a moment, then nodded: “Hmm, I understand. Sorry to disturb you.”
The man watched the boy’s tall, slender back recede into the distance, shaking his head and muttering to himself: “It’s not that I’m deliberately targeting you. Who told you not to obediently listen to the director…”
“Sigh, kids these days are so confused. Why would you refuse to sign a personal contract with Galaxy Entertainment for no good reason? So young and already so arrogant, just causing trouble for the production team.”
“Why does an amateur without a company have so many opinions?”
Among the hundred-plus trainees in “NS”, apart from the three actors from Wanming Media, Quentin was the only one who did not agree to sign his personal contract under Galaxy Entertainment upon debut with the boy group.
Qi Yang and the others didn’t sign because they were backed by a big company like Wanming Media, and their film/TV resources didn’t compete or overlap with boy group resources, which was why they could keep their personal contracts with their original company.
But Quentin was different. This kid had just graduated high school, a pure amateur. What could he compare to the actors from Wanming Media?
A few days ago, when he was called by the director to sign supplementary contracts, he suddenly said he wanted to retain his personal contract…Ha! Simply wishful thinking!
The producers and lawyers on site were all bewildered. Director Wang was amused at first, thinking he was joking, but the more they talked, the more they realized the kid was determined and absolutely unwilling to sign the personal contract no matter what.
Huh, wasn’t he afraid the production team would kick him out of the show? The first episode hadn’t even aired yet.
So a group of people went back and forth in negotiations with a 17-year-old for quite a long time.
Unexpectedly, the ones who ended up compromising were the production team!
Staff who heard about this news all guessed that Director Wang was wary of Quentin’s background, which was why he didn’t firmly refuse.
Everyone knew Quentin was a mysterious last-minute addition that was parachuted in just a week before filming started.
The man couldn’t figure out what was going on in this kid’s mind.
Even if he stubbornly kept his personal contract, he still had to sign an agreement stating that group activities took priority over personal ones. What was he trying to achieve? Did he want to go solo after riding the popularity of “NS”? He couldn’t be that stupid, right……
Or perhaps……he wanted to save his personal contract for Xinda Media?
But no one had heard of him actively contacting Chen Shiyu or Lin Qifeng.
Whatever Quentin was planning, the other program staff all held a bit of a grudge against him because of this incident.
Although they weren’t present during the contract negotiations and didn’t know how Quentin managed to persuade the production team and the heads of Galaxy Entertainment single-handedly, just using their toes to think they knew this kid was no simple character.
The man genuinely felt Quentin was young and impulsive, and aiming too high.
He could tell at a glance that this kid must have come from a wealthy family and grew up sheltered by his parents, never having experienced hardship or setbacks, which was why he didn’t know his limits and blindly wanted to charge into the entertainment industry alone.
This kind of naive, even stubborn, artist was always the most troublesome to work with.
Look, after the first round of rehearsals, only Quentin came to demand costume changes. Trainees from other groups just wore whatever the program provided. He was the only one who wanted to cause trouble for others.
The man muttered under his breath: “I’m not going to indulge him. And it’s not like I was making excuses… Everything I said was true, okay? He looks great in that outfit, what’s there to be dissatisfied with…”
These petty thoughts weren’t heard by Quentin, but Quentin still guessed the reason for his unwillingness to help.
So subsequently running into walls multiple times with the teachers from the stage props team responsible for the stage setup was also within Quentin’s expectations.
