#ju jingyi

[xiaolanhua]

In Blossom 花间令 (2024) Dir. Zhong Qing – Ep. 18

[ladynamie]

In Blossom 花间令 (2024) | Episode 3

[dramagifs]

In Blossom | 2024

[dangermousie]

This was !!!! He's blind, he thinks she might be dead, and he loses it utterly and starts screaming her real name.

And she comes to his hollering her real name.

Awwwww, finally!!!

This is DELICIOUSNESS!!!

SCREAMING SCREAMING SCREAMING FOREVER!!!!

And then I had to stop because RL but this will sustain me until evening because EXQUISITE EXQUISITE EXQUISITE!

[romchat]

In Blossom visual analysis (ep. 1-7): How to film a gothic romance

Although I'm not completely convinced about some of the writing choices of In Blossom, I absolutely LOVE the show's production design and cinematography. @mademoiselle-red wrote a great post about how main character Pan Yue fits the gothic romantic lead archetype, and those gothic elements are not only present in the script but also in the show's visual storytelling.

Lighting

A key element of gothic romance is its atmosphere of mystery and suspense.

Something I really like about In Blossom is that despite its dark subject matter, many of its scenes take place during the day. One of the show's main themes is that appearances can be misleading and the cinematography often plays with that notion by linking light to deception and darkness to truth. Note how many of the emotionally honest beats of Yang Caiwei and Pan Yue's relationship happen at night (e.g., their couple escapades at the Li Residence, Ghost Market, and Life and Death gambling house) while fakery, corruption, and evildoing happen in the day. It's with this subversion of our expectations for light that the show creates an unsettling atmosphere.

And these lighting choices also help set up Pan Yue as a classic gothic romance anti-hero, someone the female lead, Yang Caiwei, fears but still finds herself drawn to.

Look at how Pan Yue is lit when shot through Yang Caiwei's subjective point of view. The strong use of light creates a lot of contrast--through her eyes, he is a mixture of light and dark, his morality as inscrutable as his shadowy figure.

Camera Angles and Shot Sizes

The show's use of low angles and close-ups further reinforces the idea that Pan Yue is unpredictable and even dangerous.

In cinematography, low-angle shots tend to make the subject look more powerful and menacing, and the show uses this technique to great effect.

Even in the intimacy of close-up shots, we can sense the threat emanating from Pan Yue. He’s always shot just a smidgeon too close for comfort.

For example, look at how much Liu Xueyi's face fills the frame in an early "romantic" scene. The shot feels almost claustrophobic as if he's so single-minded about his goals that he has no choice but to dominate the frame (and Yang Caiwei). It's an unnerving moment despite the soft words coming out of his mouth.

Side Note: I live for Pan Yue's (vampiric) long shots. The production design team was smart for dressing the character in dark clothes with such a sleek cut and drape--he looks like a sexy bat.

The Nosferatu references in Yang Caiwei's tomb are also perfect.

Composition and Framing

And finally, like any good gothic romance, In Blossom illustrates how love can drive one to despair and even madness.

Because of this, my FAVORITE scene of the show has to be the introduction of Shangguan Zhi. Her obsessive pursuit of beauty in hopes of seducing Pan Yue has left her a shell of a human being, and the scene's composition perfectly encapsulates this with how it focuses on the elegant lines of her body--not her face or personhood.

Shangguan Zhi is trapped by her delusional fantasy of a life with Pan Yue--see how she's boxed in by the vertical lines of the screen panel she admires--and the show regularly uses architectural lines to show how her desperation has trapped Yang Caiwei as well.

[hlcyxnfilms]

IN BLOSSOM ( 2024 ) ─ DO YOU WANT TO KNOW ?

[bittergloss]

JU JINGYI as SHANGGUAN ZHI IN BLOSSOM (2024) - 1x02 Dir. Zhong Qing

[cnladies]

JU JINGYI 鞠婧祎 in hanfu photoshoot 『 LOOK1 』 | 2024 Spring Festival Gala - Dragon Satellite TV

Ju Jingyi: more photos here 2024 Spring Festival Gala: more photos here hanfu photoshoot: more photos here

[ella-felicityqueen]

— Do you think I should take the opportunity to get my kiss back?

watch it on youtube!

[mademoiselle-red]

I see youku is choosing violence today.

The newest marketing video for In Blossom / 花间令 starring Liu Xueyi and Ju Jingyi is blatant thirst trap. And I am so here for it 😍

[heymeowmao]

仙剑四 | Sword and Fairy 4 - E7 ° when food is your love language 😊

[xiaolanhua]

In Blossom 花间令 (2024) Dir. Zhong Qing – Ep. 21

[ladynamie]

In Blossom 花间令 (2024) | Episode 12

[dramagifs]

Pan Yue ending sexism

[dangermousie]

This scene is straight out of a fanfic or a romance novel and I am feasting.

Ahahahahah his reaction on finding out it's her and not his manservant is the most VICTORIAN MAIDEN PROTECTING HER VIRTUE FROM RAKISH NOBLEMAN thing I've seen in ages.

This was amazing and points for not doing the cliche of and they fall on each other's lips.

PS You have no idea how much I love that she was actually going to tell him she is Caiwei the moment she realized he wasn't the murderer but loved her genuinely and mourned for her and then when she didn't, it was for a good reason - because he gets to marry the princess, be restored in the family etc etc and basically get his life on track.

[movielosophy]

Sword and Fairy 4 | My brain doesn’t work when I’m hungry.