Bright Era of China Entertainment

Chapter 365 Graduation Star
Beiying, a large office on the top floor of the teaching building.

The invigilator came in and out with the test papers, handed them out to the corresponding marking teachers, laughed a few words and then left.

The examination papers of each department require teachers to cross-check the papers, and each examination paper is also sealed, which can be regarded as a guarantee of fairness to a certain extent.

However, for art schools, the proportion of cultural achievements in the final graduation score is not large. Compared with the cultural examination papers, teachers are more interested in the graduation thesis that accounts for the final score and is counted as a professional assessment category.

With the application and development of computers, in order to keep up with the times, the submission of graduation thesis now requires two forms at the same time, one in paper form and the other in word document form.

The paper form is used to seal into personal paper files, and the word document is sealed into electronic files.

The graduation thesis also needs to be cross-graded by the teachers of the assessment team, and Tian Dazhuang, who was assigned to the graduation thesis review team, happened to see Liu Yifei's graduation thesis on the computer, which aroused his interest for a while.

Tian Dazhuang is one of the ten famous teachers of the acting department of Beijing Film Academy. He has been deeply involved in the academic field of acting since the 70s. He held a very important position in the previous Beijing Film Studio. He is also a filmmaker of the same generation as Han Sanping, Chen Kaige, and Zhang Yimou.

After the restructuring of the Beijing Film Factory, some of the teaching resources created the current Beijing Film Academy, and the other part of the production resources created the current Huaying Group. Han Sanping embarked on an official career in the cultural field like that, but stayed in the school to teach and educate people.

Chu Xuan and Concubine Liu Yi are the influential figures of Beiying, or it can be said that they are the two students of Beiying who are currently the most prosperous after the millennium. military arts.

Compared with Zhao Wei and Xu Jinglei, who were both senior sisters of Beiying in the late 90s, the combined momentum of the two is now even worse.

However, this is just popularity.

As a teacher who has been teaching and educating people for decades, Tian Dazhuang knows a truth deeply. If he does not have knowledge and experience as a foundation, if he does not have foundation as a support for performance progress, he may be able to become a smash hit with some luck, but he will either not go far, or he will continue. Without a good script, the popularity slowly fades away.

Therefore, for Concubine Liu Yi, who became famous at a young age, her graduation thesis aroused Tian Dazhuang's interest.

Tian Dazhuang wanted to see, this young girl who was admitted to Beijing Film Academy at the age of 15 and is now quite accomplished, has her own unique insights into actors and performances.

He looked at the computer, with the mouse in his hand, ready to slide the scroll bar at any time.

[Title: Talking about the actor's sense of belief and the art of acting.

Since the development of the global cultural industry, film and television dramas have penetrated more and more into our lives today. When we talk about some classic scenes in film and television dramas, we often focus on the actors on the screen.

In the eyes of the audience, the emotions conveyed by the actors' performances are either touching, exciting, sad, or calm.

Therefore, we can draw a conclusion that the tension of the actors' performance plays a decisive role in making the audience feel more or less emotional.

This is the performance perception of the actors in the eyes of the audience, so what is the performance perception in the eyes of the actors?

The world-renowned director Antonioni once said: "Without my environment, there would be no characters for me."

It is true that many audiences only pay attention to the actors, but it is undeniable that the strong emotions under the progressive chemical reaction of the actors' performances and the environmental rendering in the screen are also what the audience can feel .

It's just that many viewers subconsciously don't pay attention to things other than actors, which is also a manifestation of lack of awareness of the elements of film and television dramas.

But for us actors, the context of each scene is a crucial factor in performance.

For example, in an aesthetic environment, an emotional drama will naturally be presented in an aesthetic direction.

For example, in a bleak environment, a romantic drama will naturally be performed in a bleak direction.

Therefore, the type and direction of emotions conveyed by actors in their performances are actually determined by the environment in which the scene is located.

Therefore, in the eyes of the audience, it is said that actors in a play perform well, but the prerequisite is that the actors' performances and the environment match well. 】

Tian Dazhuang narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded.

When many actors in China act, they only care about their own performance and their emotions, and don’t care about anything else, and they don’t care whether the emotions they convey are suitable for the environment they are in.

For example, on a miserable battlefield, it should be tragic, but it conveys love.

For example, in a beautiful scenery, it should be tender, but it conveys sadness.

This may have something to do with the level of the director, but it also has something to do with the actors' incorrect understanding of the performance.

Concubine Liu Yi can have such a cognition, not to mention how high her insights are, but she can also be called a qualified actor, and she is fundamentally different from some stars in their approach to acting.

Tian Dazhuang continued to look down.

[However, in the eyes of the audience, the environment is either bleak, beautiful, grand, or dark... It can always arouse the emotions of the audience before the actors start performing.

But for us actors, the environment in each scene is not all real.

Sometimes it is just a painting, and it is made more beautiful by post-production.

Sometimes it’s just a green cloth, which is replaced by special effects in post-production.

Under such circumstances, we actors can only look at the composition of the scene, understand the text description on the composition, and combine the effects of the plot of the script to perform completely by imagination.

Whether the imagined scene is three-dimensional, complete, and colorful can directly affect whether the emotions expressed by our actors in this scene are correct and in place.

This is something that the screenwriter can't grasp, and it's also something that the director can't control. It can only depend on our actors' own imagination and expression ability combined with imagination.

This is the embodiment of acting. 】

"That's a good summary." Tian Dazhuang agreed in his heart.

Some actors can act, but don't have a set in mind.

And those stars who are not very good at acting have no ink in their minds.

After reading the thesis, he obviously felt that Concubine Liu Yi already had her own set of artistic thoughts and theories, which was her own systematic induction on performance.

That's pretty good.

[When it comes to imagination, we have to mention a word that all our actors know-a sense of belief. 】

"Some questions." Tian Dazhuang slightly nodded his forehead and said silently in his heart.

[Sense of belief, this is a macroscopic vocabulary, there is no truth to describe what these three words are, and there is no systematic way to teach us actors how to 100% improve this ability.

But it cannot be denied that a sense of faith is a must for actors and the core of performance.

The strength of the sense of belief determines whether the character played by an actor is lifelike or mediocre.

Whether the sense of belief is strong or not is also one of the important criteria for judging an actor's performance level.

Art comes from life and is higher than life.

Many times when an actor lacks a sense of faith, he will experience the life of the character to increase his experience and try to shape the character better.

But what about actors who can't experience the life of characters in real life, such as disaster films, science fiction films, and fantasy films?
Can only rely on imagination, can only rely on a sense of faith.

But what exactly is belief?
There is no standard answer, each actor has his own opinion, and my concept of this vocabulary was at a loss and vague at first.

Until February 2006, 2, under the guidance of classmate Chu Xuan, he took me to a mental hospital.

He pointed to the mentally ill and said to me: "Treat the world as a scene, the flowers and plants as props, the eyes as lenses, and them as actors. You see, their every move is so natural, and they act so much more." it is good."

At that time, I realized what a sense of belief is, nothing more than forming an imaginary world in my mind.

One has mountains and water, one has heaven and earth, one has people and animals, one has crying and laughing, and a custom world with rules!

And what kind of life should the characters played by our actors have in this world?
When we can imagine the complete character movement of the character we play in such a world, this is a sense of faith!

Chu Xuan said to me again: "When the performance state of our actors can reach their level of sending and receiving freely, then this is the art of acting!"

...]

Tian Dazhuang's eyes lit up, he clapped his hands and smiled, looked around at the teachers, and said, "Come on, come and see Concubine Liu Yi's graduation thesis, there is a surprise."

Hearing this, Huang Lei took the test paper handed over by the invigilator, and walked over with Xu Jinglei who was just pouring tea. Wang Jinsong and other teachers sat in their seats, turned their heads to look at Tian Dazhuang, and waited for their explanation while correcting the test paper.

Tian Dazhuang rewound the document to the beginning, and slid the scroll bar again, trying to let Huang Lei, Xu Jinglei and others see clearly.

"First from the audience to the actors, then from Antonioni's words to extend the relationship between the scene environment and the actors, then throw out the theme of the sense of faith from the scene environment, and explain what the sense of faith is from his own experience, and finally use the artistic point of performance I understand the second theme, and this paper is qualified from a structural point of view, and the cohesion and expression of the theme is very clear and natural." Xu Jinglei commented.

"It's mainly about self-explanation, but it's also a little academic. The theory of finding a sense of belief in a mental hospital is a bit interesting." She added.

"Not only is it interesting, but I think it's also experimental." A teacher had a different opinion.

"Treat the world as a scene, flowers and plants as props, eyes as lenses, and patients as actors..." Huang Lei clasped his hands together and said with a grin, "This is Chu Xuan's language style."

"Concubine Liu Yi said that it was Chu Xuan who guided her, so it was an extension of Chu Xuan's words." A teacher felt amused.

Tian Dazhuang turned to look at them and said, "What Lao Li said is exactly what I thought. I think going to a mental hospital to recognize the sense of belief is really experimental."

Huang Lei and Xu Jinglei looked at him, waiting for him to finish.

Tian Dazhuang continued: "Normal people in our lives have more or less masks and disguises when observed, but every move of those patients is 100% real, just like Liu Yifei's paper said, all actions are immersed It happens naturally in my own world, which is very different from real life."

He also said: "The sense of belief we are talking about is first of all to exist as real as possible, and then add various disguises to let the tonality and multi-facetedness of the characters appear and make them fuller, but the first thing is authenticity. Where? How should I imagine it? I don’t think it’s impossible.”

Teachers such as Huang Lei and Xu Jinglei are thoughtful, they all know that in the eyes of the audience, a character is basically a general but complete image.

But for an actor, when shaping a character, he must first find the most authentic side of the character, and then build on this most authentic side layer by layer to make the character more full and three-dimensional.

Often the most real side is the most difficult to imagine, such as what the aunt who sells buns usually looks like, for example, what does the uncle pulling the truck usually look like, you must be able to imagine and express their most real side, and then perform for example The aunt is a murderer, the uncle is a wanted criminal, and other multiple portrayals, so that the role can surprise everyone.

But if you want to perform the first level of reality of the role, you need the actor to have a strong sense of belief as the basic support.

Only with a sense of belief can we have a real sense of character.

But how do you develop a sense of faith?There is no way to do it other than to experience it for yourself.

However, the method in Concubine Liu's thesis, as Tian Dazhuang said, is experimental to a certain extent. After all, mentally ill patients with natural words and deeds are indeed good objects for observation and reference.

Tian Dazhuang closed Liu Yifei's thesis and said, "I will take my students to try it next semester to see if it works."

"There must be." Huang Lei was a little confident, and said, "Concubine Liu Yi's acting skills have been improved. If there is no effect, Chu Xuan will not take her there."

Xu Jinglei agreed theoretically, nodded and said, "Teacher Tian, ​​read Chu Xuan's thesis."

"Look at Chu Xuan's." A teacher moved a bench over to sit on.

In the hearts of their current Beijing Film Academy teachers, Chu Xuan's performance level is basically highly recognized, otherwise Chu Xuan would not have become a famous figure in the school because of his acting skills in his freshman year.

The standard of Concubine Liu Yi's thesis is relatively high. After all, it is rare for freshmen to have a complete set of theoretical thesis, and it can be seen from the words in the paper that Chu Xuan's influence on Concubine Liu Yi's performance very big.

Under such circumstances, they became even more curious about Chu Xuan's thesis.

Tian Dazhuang searched in the folder, and clicked on Chu Xuan's thesis file.

As the document was opened, everyone looked at it with their heads.

[Title: Analysis of "Multiple Spaces" in Performance.

What is acting?
In my opinion, getting up in the morning and stretching, getting out of bed to brush your teeth and wash your face, going downstairs to have breakfast... can all be performances. 】

This simple sentence at the beginning made Tian Dazhuang and Huang Lei's eyes light up, and they suddenly thought of the words "life is like a play". This simple sentence gave this paper a layer of artistic value at the beginning.

[1.1- Look at the performance from the screenwriter's space. 】

This subtitle made Tian Dazhuang and Huang Lei raise their eyebrows. As an actor, Chu Xuan didn't tell the story from the usual perspective of an actor, but from the perspective of a screenwriter?

This idea is a bit novel, which makes their interest even higher.

[It seems that there is no such thing as stratification of actors in the market, only the difference between academic and non-academic.

No matter what faction it is, most of the actors start from a side role, and then go through the process of foreground, special appointment, minor supporting role, major supporting role, and hero and heroine.

Different people may take different paths due to different opportunities, but most actors follow such a process.

Regardless of the actor's process, deep down in every actor's heart, he must have the idea of ​​performing every scene well and interpreting every role well.

In today's actor industry, not to mention most non-academic actors who have not experienced systematic learning, even the so-called academic actors who have experienced systematic learning have not found any actors since their debut in the first play, or even for many years. His own acting method, so that he can only linger in the comfort zone of the same type of roles for many years, standing still.

Maybe it's due to talent, or maybe it's external factors, I won't say a word here.

Students privately think that when an actor is at a loss for his own way of acting, there is a general set of "basic laws" that can be used. 】

Universal Basic Law? ...Tian Dazhuang, Huang Lei and Xu Jinglei became interested.

[The three-act structure is the basic composition method of a script, and it is also the script composition logic commonly used by most film and television dramas in the current market.

From the beginning, through the process, to the end.The so-called three-act form is such a simple structure.

So if we look at an actor's performance with this structure, what if an actor uses this structure to form his own set of performance theories?

Take a simple game as an example.

Start: Xiao Zhang met the girl he had a crush on, he was secretly happy, but stopped and dared not go forward to communicate.

Process: The girl hugged another boy, and Xiao Zhang froze on the spot, clenched his hands involuntarily.

End: The girl and the boy walked away hand in hand, Xiao Zhang lost his mind, turned around and walked away quickly to hide the pain in his heart.

In this three-act plot, Xiao Zhang, as an actor, also has a three-act performance: ecstasy and stopping are the matching emotions and actions at the beginning; sluggishness and fisting are the matching emotions and actions during the process; It is a set of emotions and movements of the end.

With the matching combination of three simple emotions and actions in a scene, the image and character of a character can also be basically established.

Taking this as an example, students believe that all film and television dramas on the market can be performed according to the three-act structure.

If an actor has not found his own acting method, then such a "three-act basic acting method" may help similar actors.

This is the student's shallow view of performance in the space of screenwriting. 】

Tian Dazhuang let out a hiss and said, "What do you think?"

Chu Xuan's theory made him a little bit shocked.

The three-act basic performance method?

Was this created by Chu Xuan himself?
Anyway, he had never heard of it, but what he said seemed to be very reasonable and practical.

"My dear, this is amazing." A teacher looked at Huang Lei and Xu Jinglei, and said, "I think this theory can be added to the teaching curriculum, which is very useful."

"What's wrong?" Wang Jinsong and other teachers stood up and moved closer after hearing this.

"Your students have created a set of acting theories, which are still supported by the basic professional knowledge of screenwriters." Huang Lei said to Wang Jinsong.

Wang Jinsong and others were a little surprised, and looked at the paper with their heads.

After reading this set of theories, one stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the teachers scrambled to discuss it.

"Okay, this Chu Xuan is amazing, this is completely practical." One of the teachers said.

"Different from Liu Yifei's thesis of going to a psychiatric hospital to find a sense of faith, this basic method of Chu Xuan is very practical and can be used directly, and the effect can be seen immediately." A teacher commented.

Xu Jinglei nodded, and said: "Many actors often have an expression, and they do what they do when they perform. They don't know what they want to do, or they don't have a framework for acting in their minds."

Huang Lei hurriedly said: "Chu Xuan's theory is to allow all actors who don't know how to act to form a basic performance framework. Just like what Chu Xuan said in his thesis, this is the basic acting method."

"Yes." Xu Jinglei looked at Huang Lei, and then said: "The framework of this performance is to remind those actors what to do at the beginning, what to do in the process, and what to do at the end, and Chu Xuan also mentioned Now, one emotion corresponds to one action, and I think lines can be added to this theory for practice.”

"Yes, we need to add lines." Wang Jinsong agreed, and then said: "During the regular meeting, we can bring up this theory and study it together."

All the teachers nodded, obviously accepting the theory in Chu Xuan's thesis.

Huang Lei shook his head contemptuously, and said, "Chu Xuan, if this paper is released, those schools will grab him to go to graduate school."

"That's right, let Chu Xuan stay in Beiying to study in graduate school." Tian Dazhuang turned his head to look at Wang Jinsong, and said, "At this level, it is more than enough for him to be a lecturer now."

"If he was willing to go to graduate school, he would have done so." Wang Jinsong shook his head.

"He has a big company, and he can make a lot of contributions to the industry. Being a teacher is not as fun as being a boss." Huang Lei teased Chu Xuan in the air.

After being reminded by Huang Lei, Tian Dazhuang also thought of Chu Xuan's background, with a look of pity.

The theory of belief in Concubine Liu Yi was obviously proposed by Chu Xuan, and the theory of the basic acting method was also proposed by Chu Xuan.

There are two sets of theoretical methods that he has never heard of in a row, and one is experimental and the other is very practical.

In his opinion, as a student, Chu Xuan is so professional and pioneering, and if Chu Xuan grows up slowly, his future is boundless. It would be a pity not to be a teacher to study these theories in depth.

But having said that, Chu Xuan, as the boss of Brilliant Times, can also make contributions to the industry as Huang Lei said.

"Keep watching." Huang Lei said.

Tian Dazhuang held the mouse and slid the scroll bar.

[1.2-Look at the performance from the perspective of the director's lens.

As we all know, many scenes in film and television dramas are false. Although the progress of special effects and strict requirements for setting make the final presentation look more real, we all know that such scenes are impossible in real life.

Students refer to such scenes as "impossible camera scenes".

With the development and progress of the film and television industry, this kind of lens scene often uses the scene matte technology.

In short, it is to let the original artist or artist screenwriter of the special effects team to paint the scene according to the requirements of the scene, that is, to draw.

Draw a picture as the background of the scene, and use the mirror technique and post-processing special effects to make the picture look like it is real.

And under such a lens, how should actors perform?

This not only requires the actor to have a sense of belief, but also requires the actor to have a sense of space.

Because with the development of the market and the advancement of film and television drama genres, camera matte scenes are no longer satisfied with normal matte scenes in normal spaces.

Borrowing students and Concubine Liu's "Hope" micro-movie, one of the clips is: the ground is the wall, the wall is the ground, the actors stand on the ground, but they are actually standing on the wall, which requires the actors to have a sense of space and spatial imagination Force, in order to achieve the deductive effect of spatial split.

The same spatial split-level effect also appeared in the classic film "Taking Tiger Mountain Outsmart".

Among them, there is a shot of the actor climbing the snow-capped mountain full of dangers. In fact, the snow-capped mountain is a painting, and this painting is on the ground, and the camera is shot vertically.

With the development of the film and television industry, such performance methods will gradually increase, and this is also different from the conventional performance methods of actors.

And this way through the scene of the scene, and it is a shot that needs to achieve the effect of spatial split, the actors often need to train and simulate in advance, and will be constantly NG during the performance, which often seriously delays the shooting process.

At present, there are no such performance teaching courses in various colleges and universities.

Students think that rock climbing, crawling and even tree climbing courses can be added and included in physical training subjects.

This is the student's shallow view of the performance in the space of the director's lens. 】

"Hey, I even made comments to the school." Huang Lei grinned.

"But don't say it, it's on the point." A teacher was amused.

Xu Jinglei clinked cups with both hands and took a sip of tea, showing her face and said: "In terms of movies, scene painting is also called movie scene painting. , the way of painting scenery is often used as the background requirement of shooting.”

Huang Lei nodded and said, ""Zhu Xian" used this method, and Chu Xuan and Liu Yifei's "Hope" also used it, in order to meet various needs. Like Chu Xuan and Liu Yifei's "Hope", the scene Several walls and floors were painted and then pasted up, in order to present a three-dimensional sense of space and a sense of spatial dislocation.”

Tian Dazhuang raised his forehead and said, "I would like to see "Hope". Chu Xuan and Concubine Liu Yi are the producers? Given the quality of their two papers, this movie should not be bad."

Huang Lei smiled and said, "You will be pleasantly surprised."

Huang Lei has a good relationship with Chu Xuan and Concubine Liu Yi, and all the teachers know that they have basically been together for more than half a year since last year. Huang Lei knows a lot about "Hope", and all the teachers also know it.

But after hearing what Huang Lei said, all the teachers became more curious about "Hope", but the graduation performance was still a few days away, so they could only suppress their curiosity temporarily.

[1.3-Look at the performance from the producer's space.

In the eyes of the producer, the script is a separate and complete world, and the movement of each character affects each other's behavior.

The main character is an extension of the core of the world, and the supporting role is a continuation of the core of the world. They complement each other and develop multi-threaded behaviors, and finally form a world view that is as complete as possible...]

"This is a bit complicated." Xu Jinglei said.

"It has risen to a higher level. Talking about the relationship between an actor's performance and world view is a difficult theory to apply. Few actors pay attention to this." Tian Dazhuang shook his head.

"It's fine for Chu Xuan to understand." Huang Lei said: "He and Concubine Liu Yi have only been producers for less than a year. Such a theory has not yet formed, and needs to be further studied."

"Even so, the level of Chu Xuan's thesis is not average." A teacher commented.

"Few students can write it." A teacher commented.

"More than that." Xu Jinglei shook her head slowly, and said while twisting the lid of the thermos cup tightly: "Let's not talk about students, few people can write it if the teacher writes it. This kind of thinking is so clear, and it is also a summary of Chu Xuan's own experience. To be able to write a paper of this level is far beyond what his age should have."

All the teachers nodded in approval. The two papers by Concubine Liu Yi and Chu Xuan really surprised them, and Chu Xuan's paper surprised them even more.

"As discussed earlier, the outstanding graduates of Chu Xuan and Concubine Liu Yi will definitely not be able to escape. According to the previous discussion, the graduation star will be given to Chu Xuan." Tian Dazhuang turned to look at the teachers.

"I have no objection." Wang Jinsong said.

"Of course you have no objection, they are all your students." Xu Jinglei teased.

Wang Jinsong raised the corners of his mouth, but did not answer.

All the teachers didn't speak, obviously they had no opinion.

In addition to outstanding graduates graduating every year, one of the most outstanding graduates is also selected as a graduation star, which can be regarded as a representative of this year's graduates.

Even without this thesis, Chu Xuan is also the graduation star they proposed, and the leaders of the school have no objection, after all, Chu Xuan's achievements in the past few years are here.

And with this high-level thesis, all the teachers have nothing to say, Chu Xuan's graduation star is gone.

"That's it." Huang Lei said: "The graduation star is going to give a speech, and I happen to be going to the Brilliant Times Film and Television Company, and Chu Xuan is also there, so I will tell him so that he can make preparations in advance. "

With that said, Huang Lei cleaned up the test papers on his desk, and immediately walked out of the office.

(End of this chapter)