Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 88 Quantitative Change and Qualitative Change

Wu Qihua's acting skills are actually not bad. Cao Yang told him and Gao Yuanyuan so much about the play before filming began, so he is very familiar with the story and core of the movie.

So before filming began, he felt that he would be able to handle it easily and more relaxed than any other role he had ever performed before.

On the first day, he still looked down on Gao Yuanyuan.

This little girl with big eyes has acting skills not even as good as some famous vase actresses in Hong Kong. Even those like Guan Zhilin and Li Jiaxin, after the director's tireless teaching, can perform 40%, 50% or 60% of the director's requirements, right?
Wu Qihua wanted to push Gao Yuanyuan away and demonstrate it to her himself.

However, we have to say that Director Cao was really cruel. He shot one shot from morning to afternoon until Gao Yuanyuan broke down and sat there crying.

Wu Qihua originally thought that even if the situation would be slightly better the next day, there would not be any fundamental changes. After all, this girl's acting skills were not as good as Yu Feihong before she was trained by Director Cao.

However, the situation was beyond his expectations. Gao Yuanyuan seemed like a completely different person. She acted with ease and was completely different from yesterday.

If it were just that it would be fine, but what makes Wu Qihua uneasy is that he is no longer a supporting role. Unlike in "Empty Room", although he has a lot of scenes, the highlight is not him, so the original requirement for him was just to pass.

In "Secret Sunshine", Wu Qihua is the male lead, and even if the main focus is not on him, the requirements are definitely different.

So, whenever he was acting opposite Gao Yuanyuan, if the camera wasn't shot in one take, it would always be him who made mistakes, either because he was overshadowed or because he couldn't keep up with the rhythm.

He couldn't blame Gao Yuanyuan. If she was a very good actress, she would be able to control herself freely during the acting and lead her opponent into the role.

But Gao Yuanyuan is different. It’s like she has practiced the Sword of Exorcism. Her acting skills have improved, but her basic skills are not solid. She can’t control her acting skills freely and bring people into the play.

Wu Qihua is so depressed because his acting skills were completely destroyed by a quick-learning girl.

In the end, I can only sigh that Director Cao is really awesome.

Huh?
Wu Qihua suddenly thought that he was now the leading actor, and asked Director Cao if he could also guide his acting skills. He also wanted to practice "The Sword Manual of Exorcism".

So, after another NG, Wu Qihua apologized to the crew and walked up to Cao Yang.

"Director Cao, I feel like my acting skills still have a lot of room for improvement. Can you give me some more guidance? I always feel like I can't keep up with Yuanyuan's pace, and I feel a little embarrassed."

Cao Yang thought about it and felt that Wu Qihua’s acting skills were fine for a supporting role, but now he was indeed dragging the crew down a bit, so he decided to give him a chance to experience immersion in a role.

"Professor Wu……"

"Director Cao, I've told you many times, just call me Ahua or Huazai." Wu Qihua interrupted Cao Yang and corrected him.

Okay, but calling him Hua Zai seems a bit inappropriate.

"Ahua, through my observation over the past few days, I've discovered that you only need an opportunity to be reborn and be able to control yourself in this play."

"Hmm? Director Cao, I don't quite understand what you mean."

"Before we started filming, I explained so many scenes to you and Yuanyuan. You understood it more thoroughly than Yuanyuan, and your acting skills are better than hers. I thought you could already perform the feeling I wanted."

Wu Qihua felt a little ashamed. It turned out that Director Cao believed in me so much, but I did not meet Director Cao's requirements. Could it be that my talent was not as good as Gao Yuanyuan's?

Cao Yang hit Wu Qihua for a moment, then he began to comfort him: "You already understand the plot, and you know how to play the leading male role, but you just lack the right skills. Just like Yuanyuan, she also understands the plot, and she knows how to play the leading female role, but she just can't act it out. My method for her is to spend a whole day shooting repeatedly to help her find the feeling, and you saw the result."

"What about me, Director Cao? Do I also need to spend a whole day shooting over and over again to get the feeling?" Wu Qihua asked impatiently.

"You are much simpler than Yuanyuan. You just need an opportunity. Go back today and read the character biography I wrote a few days ago carefully three times. Then don't think about anything and go to sleep. Let these insights settle in your mind. Maybe you will have new insights tomorrow."

"Okay, Director Cao, thank you. I'll listen to you. I'll go back and read the biographies after work today."

Seeing Wu Qihua walking back contentedly, Cao Yang secretly said sorry and decided to find a decent excuse.

Otherwise, just let him join the play to experience it, maybe he would think that it was a breakthrough in his acting skills.

When he got home at night, Cao Yang tried to let Wu Qihua join the play experience. The result was good. He succeeded with a direct +1. It can be seen that Wu's acting skills are not bad, which has been certified by the system.

Cao Yang didn't know what Wu Qihua had been through, but from the second day on, Wu Qihua's rivalry with Gao Yuanyuan would no longer be suppressed. Although his performance was still not as outstanding as Gao Yuanyuan's, he was completely qualified to play the rival role.

Cao Yang was also very curious about how the system did it, so he took the time to ask Wu Qihua whether he had gained anything from reading the biographies that day.

When talking about this, Wu Qihua became very excited and talked about it nonstop.

To sum up, he read the biographies three times as Cao Yang requested, then washed up and went to bed.

At night, he felt that all his understanding of the movie over the past few days formed a vivid context, just like a real movie. He experienced everything in the movie from the perspective of the male protagonist.

He kept praising Cao Yang, thinking that Director Cao was simply a god who had helped him grasp the role in a way he had never done before, as if he was completely repeating the experience of the male protagonist.

Wu Qihua has repeatedly stressed that if he fails to play the role well again, he will have no need to stay in the entertainment industry and retiring early is the best option.

Then, he asked Cao Yang somewhat embarrassedly if he could use this method when acting in other people's plays in the future?
Cao Yang waved his hand and said, "No problem, as long as you like it."

Wu Qihua left happily.

Then he wrote down in his notebook very seriously:
1. After receiving the script, read it carefully to understand the director's ideas and requirements.

2. When writing a biography of a character, you must make sure to analyze the character thoroughly.

3. Based on the theme of the script and what you want to express, analyze how the characters should express themselves most appropriately.

4. If you still cannot perform what you want, it must be because you have not fully understood the script and the character.

5. If the final performance still does not meet the director's requirements, it depends on the situation. It may be that you did not fully understand the director's meaning, or you may have encountered a stupid director.

The filming of the crew is going smoothly and the progress is very fast. Now it is basically the other actors who are holding back, and the two main actors have hardly made any major mistakes.

After more than a month of shooting, there was finally one last set of shots left, which was also a very important set of shots. Cao Yang left it for last.

This set of shots is the crying scene in the church, a scene that requires a big emotional outburst and catharsis.

(End of this chapter)