Abstract Art Award Winner

During the filming of "The Age of Awakening," everyone was very serious, and the overall atmosphere was very solemn.

After all, in this kind of subject matter, veteran actors don't want to look bad in front of younger actors, and younger actors don't want to perform too poorly. In short, whoever has the worst acting skills will be dragged out and criticized.

Whoever can hold their own against a veteran actor is essentially holding their own against a massive influx of viewers.

The project is supported by the Central Cultural Industry Development Special Fund and is among the first batch of key TV drama projects planned by the State Administration of Radio and Television. In addition, it receives support from various other funds.

The co-production partners are an official film and television investment company and a publishing and media company.

The production company and the television station are also closely connected.

The film was co-produced by various municipal party committee propaganda departments and radio and television bureaus.

It can be said that the entire plot of this drama was predetermined from the very beginning.

Filmed by a renowned director, featuring well-known actors, all of whom must be skilled in acting.

After filming, all units worked together to produce the series, which was then broadcast on CCTV.

After the broadcast, you can go and participate in various awards, such as the Magnolia Award, the Flying Apsaras Award, and the Golden Eagle Award.

Since they were aiming for awards, Yu Hewei and Zhou Le were naturally the most serious, and the others dared not fall behind them. One represented veteran actors, and the other represented outstanding young actors.

Everyone else in the crew felt ashamed if they lost to these two in terms of acting skills.

Director Zhang Yongxin gradually noticed this in the crew as well, and everyone seemed to have inexplicably joined in.

The two lead actors are both very dedicated to their acting skills, and while this drama isn't necessarily aiming for high ratings, they absolutely can't afford to perform poorly, given the large number of eyes watching.

This project can only have one outcome: success. If it fails, he can forget about continuing to thrive in the industry.

But the other actors also started rolling around, regardless of age; in short, they never let go of the script.

When they meet, they don't even chat casually; they always talk about their roles.

In comparison, Zhou Le and Yu Hewei seem to have not worked hard enough.

"You know what's going on here? The atmosphere on our set is too good, it feels a bit unfamiliar. Usually, after work, everyone goes home and does their own thing. Why is everyone acting like they're taking the college entrance exam?"

Yu Hewei naturally felt the pressure, which almost made him lose the desire to go out for a meal and chat with Zhou Le after work.

"Isn't it because you acted so well, brother? Everyone felt your dominance on set, so they all started to think about it."

"Come on, what kind of dominance do I have? I think it's because you acted so well and are young that you don't want to be outdone by me, so you started working hard to improve."

"No, no, it's all thanks to your excellent acting, brother."

"What? You acted really well."

"Absolutely not, brother, you are the guiding light on my acting journey."

"Then you are the sun in my heart."

"You acted well."

"You're the one who acted better."

So the two started arguing about who acted better, but the argument was directed at each other, not themselves.

After arguing for a while, Zhou Le rubbed his stomach.

"A little hungry."

Now that you mention it, I think I'm a little hungry too.

"Let's go get something to eat."

"Walk."

Then the two of them headed towards a small restaurant outside.

They also talked about Yu Hewei's recent work on short videos.

"The topics you found for me were really good. They didn't seem to have much content, but those three videos helped me gain over ten million followers."

Zhou Le smiled and said, "That's how the market is now. If you make serious videos, like those featuring handsome people, those with nice transitions, or those for promotional purposes, honestly, not many people will watch them. You have to do some abstract videos to let people know that you're actually a very interesting person in private."

"Of course, it's up to you to decide. Posting videos online is a bit like appearing on a variety show. Some people think that too much exposure will make the audience feel disconnected from the story and will cause the actor to lose their mystique."

"That's true, but I don't see that you've been affected much."

"So, I belong to the second school of thought. I think these are quite beneficial to me, mainly because they can bring me traffic and also deepen my persona. Now I've solidified my image as an abstract person with acting skills."

Then let the audience feel the contrast between these two identities, continuously deepening this feeling, until they can truly separate me from my character.

"I think you've really succeeded, but I'm going down this path."

"Personally, I think it's fine for you to go down this path, because everyone has already seen your acting skills. And now more and more movies are starting to promote themselves on Douyin. With more fans, it will be easier for you to ask for higher prices in the future."

On the other hand, even if you don't use those memes yourself, the audience will spontaneously start using them, so it's no longer under your control.

So instead of doing that, you might as well try using those memes yourself and come up with something interesting.

But Yu Hewei still hesitated when he got to this point.

"Do you think that because I personally participate in these memes, it might cause the mystery to disappear, just like what we were talking about earlier? Like Deng Chao."

When Zhou Le heard Yu Hewei mention Deng Chao, he quickly thought about the changes in Deng Chao over the years.

"I feel that Chao Ge has started to slack off a bit in recent years. He has invested in some industries and it is relatively easy to make money in variety shows. He may also want to make more of a transition to directing. This has led to a problem: he cannot focus on continuing to develop as an actor."

Moreover, in terms of career transition, the projects that Brother Chao chose were not very good. Outsiders say that he filmed too many variety shows, but in reality, there is nothing wrong with his acting skills or image.

The only problem is the works selected over the years.

They weren't particularly explosive or profound. After 15, the only films that really stood out were "The Dead End," "I Belonged to You," and "The Mermaid."

Of those, I think *The Dead End* is the best; the rest were pretty uninteresting. Later, when he directed *The Breakup Guru*, *Devil and Angel*, and *Looking Up*, honestly, those weren't blockbusters. So bro, you absolutely can't follow my path; if you really go down that road, you're doomed.

"Haha, I definitely won't go down those paths. At least right now, I have absolutely no intention of becoming a director. I'll look for interesting scripts. Anyway, I've made enough money. I just want to win more awards before I retire."

On the one hand, I want more people to know about me; on the other hand, I want to increase my fame. To put it bluntly, at least eight out of ten actors can't accept becoming mediocre.

"That's true. I do this job for no other reason than to become famous and make money."

"the same."

"I may have liked it at first, but I became a bit numb as I did it. It's only now that I'm older that I've started to think about those dreams again."

“I’m different. I’ve always been consistent. My dream is simply to make money, but to achieve that goal, I might have to make some sacrifices.”

Although Zhou Le spent most of the conversation advising Yu Hewei, he also gained some new insights as they talked.

Indeed, from beginning to end, his only goal was to make money.

He initially worked as an extra to earn some living expenses, but after actually entering the entertainment industry, he wanted to earn money to buy a car and a house. It was from that time that he began to want a better life.

But after starting his own company, Zhou Le realized that he had simply become someone who made money just for the sake of making money.

He didn't know why he wanted to earn money. He could have avoided taking on many projects and investing in some companies. Even just being an actor could earn him a sum that most people could only dream of in several lifetimes.

But Zhou Le felt that he just wanted to do some investing and try something new.

But the purpose of investing is to make money, and the purpose of trying new things is also to make money.

However, you need to make money to do these two things.

Zhou Le pondered for a long time in his room.

"Doesn't this logic make sense? I make money because I want to make money, my goal is to make money, my desired result is to make money, and the process also needs to be achieved through making money."

"Brother Le, so after all that agonizing, you finally came to the conclusion that you still need to make money?"

Zhou Ye was completely bewildered. Although Zhou Le's main point was to make money from beginning to end, he was still a little dizzy from all the roundabout talk.

"Yes."

"I want to promote my new movie, so I need to keep it in the public eye. The movie might be released around the same time as my movie."

Anyway, one is a TV series and the other is a movie, so there isn't much competition between them.

However, to achieve exponential exposure, one must deliver an outstanding performance in the play, and to deliver an outstanding performance, one must become the character themselves.

"So, Brother Le, how do you plan to become the character himself?" Zhou Ye asked curiously. Although Zhou Le often shared with them how to play a role well, after filming "Better Days," Zhou Ye came to a new conclusion: simply doing what Zhou Le said was not enough.

While that knowledge might be somewhat useful for many recent student actors, it's really of little use for an actor like myself.

Zhou Ye smiled.

"That means delving deeper into the character. I'm currently playing Li Dazhao, and the difficulty in portraying this character isn't about the appearance or bringing out the character's spirit."

The so-called spirit and energy is actually a very broad term. I think the difficulty in portraying Li Dazhao lies in balancing divinity and humanity. I have read a lot of historical materials about him. He was a martyr who died a martyr, a poor professor who gave all his salary to the revolution, and a husband who would tie his wife's hair with a ribbon.

If I were to simply portray a character as virtuous, glorious, and righteous, it would pose no challenge for me at all, and in fact, if I were to do so, it would be a waste of the role.

Therefore, I had to completely immerse myself in the character and follow his own joys and sorrows.

Zhou Ye understood what Zhou Le had said, but she didn't quite grasp the concepts of divinity and humanity that Zhou Le had mentioned earlier, until Zhou Le gave her a few examples later.

"So, Brother Le, do you always research your characters this thoroughly?"

"Pretty much. If you take someone's money, you have to do good things for them. Even if you don't lack money now, the purpose of every role you play in life is to become famous."

"Then I guess I can also study these things. When I was playing the girl who bullied her classmate, I often looked at materials on this topic and also talked to some people who were involved in school bullying."

That's why I was able to play that role so well. To this day, I still think my performance in that role was absolutely fantastic.

"That's right, that's the role that belongs to you in your life. Putting everything else aside, when people talk about school bullying online now, the first person they probably think of is you."

After chatting for a while, I suddenly received a call from Su Yingxia.

It is said that although the movie "Making a Name for Oneself" which was filmed before can be released this year, there are too many movies being released during the Spring Festival next year.

Some of these films were prepared two years ago, some were withdrawn from last year's Spring Festival release, and some were newly filmed this year.

The reason she called was because it was now possible to apply for film releases at the end of the year and the beginning of the new year, but she was worried that Zhou Le might impulsively submit the application and insist on competing with these films.

"It's okay, let's put this movie on hold for a year or two. The situation is quite strict lately, and even if some cinemas reopen, the scale will be far smaller than before."

We can only wait until the pandemic subsides a little before people's spending enthusiasm picks up again.

"Okay, in that case I won't be involved in the release of this movie this year. We can send it over for review first, and then we can set a specific date ourselves."

"Okay, but have any of the movies this year asked me to promote them?"

"No, they seem to be less willing to contact you now, because they feel that your words are somewhat accurate, but not in a serious sense."

You wished them box office success, but then they were all pulled from theaters one by one.

"Sigh, these people really aren't bold enough."

"That's too feudal and superstitious. It's just a few words of praise, how can you blame it on me? It's not like I was the only one praising you."

Zhou Le felt somewhat innocent, but there was nothing he could do.

Since Zhou Le also has a position at the short drama company, he can see the filming progress they post in the group every day.

And what kind of results have those short dramas that have already been approved for broadcast achieved?

After browsing the group chat for a while, Zhou Le finally saw the message that Guo Qiling had just sent him.

"Brother Le, how about we hold some kind of award within our company? We couldn't hold the annual meeting last year, but I reckon we can this year. We could encourage these people, or find them some resources to appear on some acting-related variety shows, and see if they can break into the mainstream." (End of Chapter)