Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 27 Audition

The protagonists of the script "Soul Ferry" adopt the standard "three-person group" form of Wangdaoman——

A newbie who looks harmless but actually carries a huge secret and is inexplicably involved in a series of events;

A boss with a mysterious identity, powerful strength, who seems to know all kinds of conspiracies and calculations, but always acts cool and funny;
A girl with a sweet and pretty appearance, who seems to be detached from the main plot and only provides emotional drama, but brings a big reversal in the end.

Judging from the plot, the first season of "Soul Ferry" is actually closer to a "double male lead" drama.

Most of the character arcs and plot proportions are concentrated on the male protagonist "Xia Dongqing" and "Soul Ferryman Zhao Li".

On the contrary, "Wang Xiaoya" played by Li Qin serves as a clue character most of the time, except for the first and last episodes.

Therefore, Meng Bai still attaches great importance to the acting skills of the two male leading actors.

At least, it can't be worse than Li Qin.

"What do you mean 'at least' not worse than me?"

Li Qin glared at Meng Bai: "Is my acting so bad?"

Meng Bai didn't respond, but gestured to Wu Bai beside him: "Director, please give a fair evaluation of our heroine's acting skills."

Wu Bai, who was standing by, didn't expect that just because he was sitting there quietly, a blame would fall from the sky.

He looked at Meng Bai helplessly and really wanted to tell him loudly not to think of himself as just a part of their play.

However, seeing that Li Qin was also looking at him expectantly, Wu Bai touched his shaved head and said cautiously, "In fact, Xiao Li's acting skills are pretty good among young actors of the same age. It's just that he is limited by his image, temperament and life experience, so sometimes he may feel a little tired, but it's all understandable."

An old hand is just an old hand. His words are mixed with praise and criticism, and they are so flawless that it is as if he had not said anything.

"Let me translate. What the director means is that you have acting skills, but they are not that good. Moreover, they are very childish and out of touch with reality. You can't handle roles with depth." Meng Bai complained, "Fortunately, other actors your age are also pretty bad, so in comparison, you are still okay."

"Hey, hey, hey, I didn't say that. You made it up!" Wu Bai hurriedly stopped Meng Bai, saying that he was not responsible for these remarks: "Don't listen to him, Xiao Li. What does he, a scriptwriter, know about acting?"

"That's right, the director is right. What do you, a scriptwriter, know about acting!" Seeing the director's support, Li Qin immediately followed suit to clear her name.

Meng Bai smiled slightly. He was indeed not studying acting, but he knew many people who did, and he had a very in-depth understanding of some of them... Forget it, it was all old news, so it was better not to mention it.

The three of them were sitting behind a row of tables, with several staff members from the director's group behind them. There were also a lot of props and sundries piled up on both sides of the group.

This is also a room rented by the crew, right next to the "convenience store". It is mainly used as a warehouse for the crew and a temporary lounge for the main creative staff.

But now they are not resting here, but to interview the male lead actor, and temporarily turned it into an audition room.

Although it's called an interview, there are only eight or nine people coming today. After all, the "Pendulum" crew has little funding and heavy tasks, so they don't have the money or time to hold a multi-person audition.

"Producer Meng, Director, there's a young man outside. He said he has an appointment for an audition this afternoon." A staff member walked in and said to the three people.

"You're here quite early." Meng Bai glanced at Wu Bai and saw him nod to show that he was ready, so he said to the reporting staff, "Let him in. Also, you keep an eye on the outside. If there are any more people coming for the audition and they see that we haven't finished yet, let them rest outside for a while."

The staff member said yes and turned to leave. Not long after, a young boy with a childish face walked in.

The boy was stunned when he entered the room, probably because he didn't expect that there were so many people auditioning for the film.

However, he reacted quickly, bowed to everyone and introduced himself: "Dear teachers, my name is Chen Ruoxuan, and I am a sophomore student in the Performance Department of the Central Academy of Drama. I received a notice earlier that I would be here to audition for our crew today."

The boy looks a little nervous and confused, which is quite similar to the state of the male protagonist "Xia Dongqing".

He had just received a notice from his teacher not long ago, saying that there was an opportunity to audition for a web drama, and if he was interested, he could give it a try. Chen Ruoxuan naturally agreed without hesitation. For students like them who were in a junior college class and had no resources, every audition opportunity was hard-won.

The only thing that puzzled him was that he hadn't joined any group recently, so why was he chosen?
What Chen Ruoxuan didn't know was that he had to thank his professional director Lin for the list that gave him the opportunity to audition.

Because there are no open auditions to the public, the actors who come to audition today are basically divided into two categories.

One way is to ask for an audition opportunity through connections, such as being recommended by Leshi, or someone like Wubai who they had worked with before and thought was good.

The other type was selected by Meng Bai from the list given by Director Lin before. He felt that the image was more suitable for the role, so he also asked them to come and try it out.

People like Chen Ruoxuan in front of him obviously belong to the latter category.

However, although they were selected, it was only based on their appearance. If they were not good enough in acting or temperament, they would be eliminated.

"From the Central Academy of Drama?" Wu Bai glanced at Meng Bai, and seeing that he didn't say anything, he continued to ask, "I remember that the Central Academy of Drama generally doesn't allow freshmen and sophomores to take on other dramas, right?"

"Ah, yes." Chen Ruoxuan said, "There is such a tradition, but it is generally for undergraduate classes. I am in a junior college class, so the requirements in this regard are not very strict."

Behind the table, Li Qin gently nudged Meng Bai and asked in a low voice, "Does your Central Academy of Drama have a college class?"

"Yes, every film and television school generally has a special college class, mainly for students whose academic scores are not high enough." Meng Bai raised his eyebrows: "You have it too at Shanghai Theatre Academy, don't you know?"

Li Qin shook her head. Although their Kunqu Opera Department also belongs to Shanghai Theatre Academy, it is an independent branch.

She was specially recruited and was selected by Li Shaohong to film the new "Dream of Red Mansions" only two years after she started studying. So she didn't know much about the school's situation.

Generally speaking, the level of students in junior college classes is lower than that in undergraduate classes of the same major. After all, the test scores are there.

However, there are some exceptions. Strictly speaking, acting is actually a technical job. Compared with undergraduate classes, college classes have fewer courses on acting concepts and acting systems, and more professional courses, so in terms of acting, they are not necessarily worse than undergraduate classes.

Just like Chen Ruoxuan, although he is in a junior college class, he is also among the group of outstanding students assigned by Director Lin.

"This is the clip you're auditioning for. You have five minutes to prepare. If you can't remember the lines, it's okay as long as you get the general meaning right. If you need a rehearsal, just tell us and we'll find someone to rehearse with you."

Wu Bai handed over a sheet of audition script. Chen Ruoxuan took it, thanked him, and then hurriedly began to prepare by reciting it aloud.

It would take a while for the official start, so Wu Bai took this opportunity to ask Meng Bai, "Which unit is this audition clip from? Why don't I have any impression of it?"

"That's right, you have no impression of it. This is the plot for the next season." Meng Bai smiled smugly.

"Next, next season?" Wu Bai was obviously shocked by Meng Bai's amazing move.

"Yes, this way everyone is on the same level, it's fair and just."

Although in most cases the clips used for actors' audition are from the main drama, occasionally some crews will be creative and use some abandoned plots or plots written specifically for auditions as "test questions".

The biggest advantage of doing this is naturally fairness. After all, actors who can use their connections to get audition opportunities can basically understand the script and the role in advance and prepare in advance.

One is prepared in advance, the other performs on the spot, the difference in advantage between them is still very large.

Of course, many crews don’t really care about this. As long as the final result meets the requirements, it doesn’t matter whether you worked hard in advance or just relied on your talent.

Meng Bai actually didn't care too much, but since it was something that came easily, why not provide everyone with a relatively fair competitive environment?

(End of this chapter)