In conclusion, I argue that in order to present the fluid time and space of the Beijing stage, the creators of Dream of the Bridal Chamber have employed multiple highly innovative audiovisual and optical techniques to present the cinematic space as both circular and virtual. Just as sound design is more than just sound recording, visual design transcends cinematography (which, relative to theatre, objectively captures the pro-filmic reality in front of it as distinct from constructing it on a stage). With the imaginative merging of mise-enscène and cinematography, foreground and background melt into different fluid forms saturated with the virtuality of cinematic mediation. This fluid cinematic space corresponds to the theatrical space of the stage. Dream of the Bridal Chamber is an instance of "cinematographic theatre" rather than a "filmed theatre," providing the operatic repertoire a new lease of cinematic life. As such, then, this film opens a new direction in the conceptualisation and aesthetics of twenty-first-century Chinese opera films.