Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 386 A True Performance
Zhu Yilong, playing the nephew, opens the refrigerator door... but nothing happens.

"Crack!"

Cao Yang called out and looked at assistant director Li Mingyi.

According to the script, when the nephew opens the refrigerator, the frozen chicken legs inside should fall out. However, they didn't fall out this time.

Li Mingyi rushed out and first said to Cao Yang, "I'm sorry, Director Cao."

Then he yelled, "Props, props, what's going on?"

Among the staff on the sidelines, not only the prop master came out, but even the art director came out.

The art director is the head of the art department. He is also responsible for set design, coordinating the work of the lighting, cinematography, special effects, costume, props, and editing teams to design the overall visual style.

So when there's a problem with the props, he'll definitely step up.

Cao Yang didn't say anything; he figured the assistant director could handle that.

Some people might think that if a crew member makes a mistake, the director will yell or scold them, but that's not the case.

In most cases, if crew members make mistakes, the director won't get angry at ordinary staff members, because it's not worth it and there's no need to.

Just like in a company, if an ordinary employee makes a mistake, the boss will definitely not make trouble for that employee, or even for the employee's superior. Instead, the boss will make trouble for the department head or the vice president in charge of that department.

Therefore, many times, lower-level employees think that the boss is a very nice person and will basically never get angry at employees, while middle-level leaders, such as department managers, are all idiots!
If a company boss directly loses his temper with ordinary employees, well, that company is unlikely to grow very large.

The boss only needs to manage the managers; let these managers handle the rest of the messy, exploitative, and offensive work.

If things get out of hand, the worst that can happen is to fire the managers and make them take the blame. The boss has the flexibility to back down or move forward, and there's a lot of room for maneuver in the process.

Therefore, in the minds of many slackers, none of the company's middle and senior management are good people; the boss is clearly a decent person, but it's these kinds of people who are causing trouble...

A film crew is actually similar to a company.

When staff make mistakes, the director will usually only scold the heads of the various departments, and will not specifically target ordinary staff members.

After a short delay, filming resumed.

Zhu Yilong opened the refrigerator, and with a "thud," some frozen chicken legs and frozen meat fell out of the refrigerator and onto the floor.

When he bent down to tidy up, there was a noticeable pause, followed by a flustered attempt to throw the items into the refrigerator, as if he didn't want to see them.

I hurriedly went to close the refrigerator door, only to find a box of frozen meat stuck there, making it impossible to close the door.

For a normal person, simply moving the stuck frozen meat around would solve the problem.

However, according to the plot, firstly, the frozen meat reminded the "nephew" of his father, who was still lying in the morgue "frozen," and secondly, his feigned ease over the past few days finally crumbled.

A person's breakdown often happens in an instant.

Although Zhu Yilong is a supporting actor in this movie, he has a lot of screen time. Cao Yang used three immersion experiences to add him to the role, and then added an extra immersion experience for him, for a total of four.

Therefore, Zhu Yilong's performance certainly lived up to the expectations of the four actors who were deeply immersed in their roles.

Zhu Yilong didn't close the refrigerator door properly the first time. He paused for a moment, and then his facial expression began to distort uncontrollably. However, he didn't shout or scream—sometimes when a person is truly heartbroken and on the verge of collapse, they can't even cry.

Zhu Yilong grabbed the refrigerator door and slammed it shut, seemingly wanting to close it as quickly as possible. The refrigerator kept moving backward with a series of "bangs" until it was pressed against the wall.

The refrigerator door was still not closed.

Zhu Yilong gave up.

His mouth was wide open, like a fish out of water, his face contorted in pain, his shoulders twitching, but no sound came out.

No one thinks that Zhu Yilong's failure to cry out loud is a sign of poor acting skills. Sadness is contagious, and his behavior clearly indicates extreme grief and breakdown.

"Crack!"

"very good."

Cao Yang said.

The cameras stopped, the long boom and microphone for live sound recording were put away, and the lighting crew started taking back the reflectors...

However, Zhu Yilong did not stop. He was still there, his shoulders twitching, his mouth agape, his expression contorted with uncontrollable grief.

Anyone who saw his performance in this film on set agrees that Director Cao has once again nurtured a future Best Actor with immense potential and charisma.

The Beijing Film Academy has produced another top-notch acting student.

However, Zhu Yilong is still a student after all, and his actual acting skills are only so-so. He is someone who was forced to "grow up too quickly" by getting into the role.

What's more, it adds an immersive experience.

This resulted in him having excellent acting skills during filming, but in this scene where he was emotionally distraught and on the verge of collapse, he genuinely lost control.

In other words, he is currently in a state where he can give up but not take back.

In this respect, Zhu Yilong still needs to hone his skills. Broadly speaking, the ability to control one's emotions is one of the essential skills for a top-notch actor.

Of course, many actors are capable of letting go but not being able to hold back.

Actresses with good acting skills, like Zhou Xun, often find it difficult to revert to their leading roles after "letting go" on screen, and end up dating off-screen as well, until they discover that their partners are not the male leads they imagined, and then they break up...

Acting is not good... well, acting is just average, like Sister Xia, who is also a typical example of someone who "let go" and can't take it back. Not only did she fall in love with her male lead, but she also got married.

This is actually what is known as developing feelings for someone while filming.

Those who can let go and then rein themselves in might become legendary couples on set due to their emotional investment in the film, but once filming is over, they can "rein in" and go their separate ways.

Qin Peiling, a teacher at the Beijing Film Academy who specializes in emotional guidance after getting into character, was on set. Seeing Zhu Yilong like this, she quickly went over and began to guide him with words.

The gist of it is to make him cry.

As long as you cry it out and release the pent-up emotions inside, it won't cause too much impact or harm.

Teacher Qin, being a professional, soon heard Zhu Yilong begin to sob softly, then gradually his voice grew louder, and he cried for nearly ten minutes.

Cao Yang sighed, "Indeed, having Teacher Qin join the group was the right choice."

Teacher Qin sighed with relief, "Indeed, working with Director Cao's crew was the right choice. Now we have research subjects and papers, haven't we?"
The filming of Zhu Yilong's "outburst" took place smoothly in one morning.

In the afternoon, the scene being filmed was the male protagonist's chance encounter with his ex-wife on a street corner.

This scene, without exaggeration, is the most important part of the entire film, bar none, and is the finishing touch that brings the movie to life.

The filming of this scene not only featured the emotional outbursts of the two characters, but also utilized a great deal of cinematic language.

For example, when the two are talking, there is a wall behind the ex-wife and a vast "sky and earth" behind the male protagonist. The composition here is very interesting. The corner of the wall divides the two of them.

After the two finished talking, the ex-wife walked forward and stepped through the wall behind her into the vast "world" on the male protagonist's side, indicating that she had come out.

The male protagonist also walked forward and entered the wall on his ex-wife's side, indicating that he himself was unwilling to come out and had been trapped inside, unable to get out.

In addition, the camera angles, with the ex-wife facing the sun and the male protagonist facing away from the sun, also use visual language to suggest that the ex-wife has moved on, while the male protagonist has not.

This cinematic language also tells the audience that the male protagonist could move on if he wanted to, but he simply refuses. In this scene, the ex-wife knows that the male protagonist has not moved on, and she tries to persuade him, saying that she has long since forgiven him, but the male protagonist keeps avoiding the topic.

So, his ex-wife couldn't hold back anymore, lost control of her emotions, and burst into tears.

The experience of immersing oneself in a role is not a one-time event. Even after the movie is over, the added immersion will still improve one's acting skills.

The premise is that you need to "consolidate" that experience by continuously taking on other films to solidify the immersive feeling you gained from your previous roles.

Yu Feihong was inspired by the role she played while filming "Empty Room," but after winning the Venice Film Festival Best Actress award, she became complacent, lost her ambition, and took on very few film roles.

Therefore, she did not "consolidate" or deepen her understanding of the role. Her immersion in the role did improve her acting skills significantly, but this was all based on her previous, passable acting skills.

Of the four actresses who have won the three major European Film Awards under Cao Yang's guidance, Yu Feihong's acting skills have improved the least.

Li Xiaoran and Dong Xuan improved their acting skills the most because they took on the most film roles, thus solidifying their acting skills through immersive experiences.

Li Xiaoran, in particular, is now recognized as one of the most talented actresses in China.

When Yu Feihong was filming this scene that caused her to break down emotionally, unsurprisingly, she didn't hold back.

However, unlike Zhu Yilong's silent breakdown and grief, she cried uncontrollably.

According to the plot, the ex-wife had already moved on by this point. Her crying was triggered by the scene, because she felt that she had said too harshly to the male protagonist during the accident, and also because she felt guilty for "ruining" the male protagonist's life.

Yu Feihong acted very well, thanks to her immersion in the role. She cried very hard, and even with Teacher Qin's comfort, she still cried for almost half an hour.

That evening, Cao Yang broke his vow once again. He went to Yu Feihong's house and gave her both emotional and physical comfort.

Then, to his surprise, Teacher Yu actually cried despite his best efforts to comfort her!
Yu Feihong's crying was not a cry of sadness, but rather tears of joy when one is extremely excited.

This is a novel experience I've never had before.

Well, not really. It's more like Dong Xuan's different personalities during the day and night.

This……

It's incredibly motivating!

Cao Yang found it strange. Why hadn't she cried before? Yu Feihong had been very sad recently and liked to cry, but she hadn't cried about this kind of thing.

Perhaps it was Teacher Qin's guidance that worked? Or perhaps today's filming allowed me to release my emotions, leaving me only able to cry involuntarily when I couldn't control them anymore?
After a long silence, Teacher Yu wiped away her tears, cupped Cao Yang's face in her hands, and sobbed, "Cao Yang, I've thought it through. No matter what you do, I will forgive you. I don't want to see you so sad..."

Cao Yang was momentarily confused. What did that mean?
Where do these words come from?
After thinking about it for a while, I understood. It was probably because the ex-wife she played in the movie said some hurtful things, and she felt guilty because she thought it was her fault that the male lead acted that way.

Cao Yang added an extra layer of immersion to Yu Feihong's role, which is why she often cries even when she's not filming.

That's why she said those words.

Looking at Yu Fei's still flushed face, Cao Yang almost blurted out: I've found you a few good girlfriends. If I have to separate from them, I will be extremely sad. So, you will accept it, right?

Of course, reason prevailed in the end, and Cao Yang forcefully suppressed this impulsive thought.

Regardless of whether everyone knows about each other's existence behind their backs, there's a high probability that some of them do know. However, making it clear and pretending not to know are two different things, so don't be reckless.

So, let's try again and see if we can get Teacher Yu to stop crying.
It's very challenging.

Of course, the second day of filming was even more challenging.

Cao Yang thought it best to start with the difficult challenge and then move on to the easier one, so he decided to challenge Da Tian Tian first.

Despite having acted in so many movies, Jing Tian has developed some acting skills over time. At least in "Rattan," her performance was quite good.

Of course, since "Rattan" is a TV series or a web series, the requirements for the actors are not that high.

Furthermore, if an actress keeps appearing in "bad" films and her acting skills are constantly criticized, people will be less demanding when her acting suddenly improves, and they will praise the actress more.

Jing Tian, ​​who hasn't yet honed her skills through numerous films, has... almost no acting ability.

She plays the "nephew's" first girlfriend, and her role is very simple, but it still makes people feel out of place.

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

……

"Take a half-hour break."

Cao Yang sat in the director's chair, resting his chin on his hand, his eyes glazed over, looking somewhat lost.

Da Tiantian was also a little at a loss, but she had a very good attitude. Every time the camera stopped, she kept apologizing to the staff, to Cao Yang, and to Zhu Yilong, who was acting opposite her.

Cao Yang kept clicking away, and she kept saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

She was very humble, her eyes were red and brimming with tears; she was actually on the verge of a breakdown.

Cao Yang knew that this couldn't continue; he estimated that if he "cracked" a few more times, Da Tian Tian would break down.

Or, how about we let her experience the role?

Is it a waste to add so much drama to a few simple scenes?

Forget it, forget it. If all else fails, let's just immerse ourselves in the role. But is one person enough? Even if the role isn't big, immersing yourself in the role might not be enough.

Just as Cao Yang was lost in thought, Big Mimi walked over, hesitated for a moment, and cautiously said, "Director, how about letting Sweetie switch roles with me?"

"Ok?"

Cao Yang looked up, and Da Mimi quickly whispered, "The role I play is the lead singer of the band. Tian Tian graduated from the Affiliated High School of Beijing Dance Academy. She has released EPs and sung songs. She is definitely better at singing and dancing."

"is it?"

Cao Yang didn't know that Da Tiantian was actually from the Affiliated High School of Beijing Dance Academy. Wasn't she an alumna of Li Xiaoran's school? She had even released an EP and sung songs.
Then give it a try?

Let Da Tiantian familiarize herself with the character's lines first. In the meantime, let's just film the scenes with big breasts first.

Even though the role has changed, to be fair, Big Mimi is still very talented. She only needed three takes to meet Cao Yang's requirements.

This made Cao Yang look at Big Mimi in a new light.

His impression of Da Mimi was based on her "fixed" acting style from his previous life. He never expected that Da Mimi's acting skills at this time were actually among the best of her peers at the Beijing Film Academy.

When Da Tian Tian was given a new role, Cao Yang told her not to think of it as acting, but to just play a "singer" naturally.

As a result, Da Tiantian's performance met Cao Yang's requirements in just one take!

Playing oneself naturally is indeed very suitable for actors with "amazing" acting skills.

With this, filming for "Love in the Seaside City" has wrapped up.

(End of this chapter)