1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Huo Jianqi is not only doing well at Yandian University, but also at the Central Academy of Drama.

Zhou Yan drove the car to the entrance of the Central Academy of Drama. Huo Jianqi got down from the passenger seat and handed a cigarette to the security guard. After a few words, the security guard let them in without even registering.

The National Theatre of China is located in Nanluoguxiang and its area is very small.

People say that the Central Conservatory of Music is small in size, but compared with the Central Academy of Drama, the Central Conservatory of Music is considered large.

The campus is square, about two hundred meters long and sixty to seventy meters wide, with a total area of ​​about twenty acres. The playgrounds of many universities are larger than that of the Chinese Academy of Drama.

If you walk fast, it only takes about five or six minutes to walk around the Central Academy of Drama.

If there wasn't a sign hanging at the school gate, most people would never mistake this place for a university. A slightly larger primary school would be larger than this one.

After entering the school, Zhou Yan found a place to park the car, and the three of them walked towards the teaching building.

Huo Jianqi was familiar with the route and took Zhou Yan and Xiao Can to an office on the second floor.

When he arrived at the office door, Huo Jianqi raised his hand and knocked on the door.

There were three people in the office at the moment, two men and one woman. They all looked up when they heard the knock on the door. Huo Jianqi greeted them one by one, "Teacher Tian, ​​Teacher Huang, Teacher Chang."

"Director Huo, why did you think of coming to our school today?" Tian Youliang, who was sitting outside, asked with a smile.

"I'm just here to visit."

"You have a new movie, right..." Tian Youliang was halfway through his words when he suddenly saw Zhou Yan's face clearly and said in surprise, "This is."

"Oh, this is Director Zhou Yan, and Director Xiao Can." Huo Jianqi helped to introduce them.

When they heard it was Zhou Yan, the three teachers present were a little surprised. They didn't expect that Huo Jianqi would actually bring Zhou Yan.

Although Zhou Yan has been in the film industry for many years, he had little contact with the Central Academy of Drama before. In fact, in Zhou Yan's films, very few actors graduated from the Central Academy of Drama.

At least until now, none of the protagonists in Zhou Yan's four feature films graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, and the role with the most screen time should be the childhood friend of the protagonist played by Li Naiwen.

Of course, Zhou Yan from Yenching Film Academy was used very rarely, and the main role was only played by Yu Feihong.

However, Zhou Yan has a close relationship with the Central Academy of Drama. It can even be said that his acting skills were learned from the Central Academy of Drama.

When Zhou Yan was learning acting on the set of "Raise the Red Lantern", he had two teachers, one was the assistant director and acting coach Gao Jinwen, and the other was Gong Li.

These two people, one is a professor at the Central Academy of Drama, and the other is a student of the Central Academy of Drama.

Later, Gao Jinwen served as the acting coach for several of Zhou Yan's films. Even if he did not play a role in the film himself, he would often take time to consult Gao Jinwen and learn acting.

Zhou Yan greeted with a smile, "Hello, teachers."

"Hello, hello." Chang Li, who was sitting in the back, said with a smile, "Yesterday I praised your acting skills and rapid progress in the new movie to my students, and today I get to meet you in person."

"Please forgive me, Teacher Chang. I am a latecomer and I still need to learn more."

"Don't be too modest. You did a really good job this time. Of course, the more important thing is that the role is suitable for you. You haven't played many roles in total. It's amazing that you can improve so quickly. Many people who study it professionally may not be able to compare with you."

Huang Dingyu on the other side took over the conversation, "But having said that, Wang Zuxian's performance this time really surprised me. I have never seen her play this type of role before, and I didn't expect her to play it so well this time."

"This script is also very suitable for Joey Wong, and I have always said that in a play, the actors themselves can not decide whether their performance is good or bad. A bigger part depends on the level of the entire team, especially the level of the director." Tian Youliang said.

Chang Li narrowed her eyes and said, "The students must not hear this, otherwise they will have an excuse if they don't perform well in the future."

In fact, everyone knows that actors can decide less than ordinary people think.

When a play comes out, the audience always says this actor performs well and that actor performs poorly. Often, it is not the actors’ fault. Even the actors don’t know how they are performing and have to listen to the director.

Especially in this day and age, when filming, the director cannot see the actors' performance in the camera. The photographer can see some of it, and many times he can only rely on experience.

The same actor may perform completely different roles in the hands of different directors.

No matter how good the actors are, if the director is not good and the script is not good, there is no way to make the movie good.

"I don't need to talk to those bastards in our class now. They all have their own things to do now." Tian Youliang smiled and said to Zhou Yan, "Especially Li Naiwen. Since he came back from Director Zhou's crew, he has a lot of ideas."

Li Naiwen was from the Acting Department class of 93, and Tian Youliang was Li Naiwen's class teacher.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Naiwen's acting is very good and he is a down-to-earth person. It can be seen that Teacher Tian has put a lot of effort into him and has trained him very well."

"Director Zhou, please stop praising me. How can I not understand my own students? This kid is very impetuous. You know, he has a nickname in school, the drama killer. All the dramas he participated in were not successful in the end."

This was the first time Zhou Yan heard of Li Naiwen having this nickname. He joked, "Naiwen has this nickname, but Teacher Gao didn't tell me about it. I'll have to ask Teacher Gao why he didn't tell me earlier. If Time Traveler doesn't do well, I'll have to put the blame on Naiwen."

Of course Tian Youliang could tell that Zhou Yan was joking. He laughed and said, "Then Director Zhou, you don't stand a chance. I heard that the box office performance of Time Traveler was very good. They couldn't buy tickets a few days ago."

"So, Naiwen can stop being called the drama killer. He doesn't deserve the title."

"Well, everyone is just joking. The main reason is that this kid really has bad luck. Every time he participates in a drama, it is stopped for various reasons. The matter has nothing to do with him, but it has happened several times in a row, and he himself is worried."

"That's good now. The knot in my heart is gone." Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"Yeah, his tail has been up in the air lately."

"Time Traveler" is very popular now. Although Li Naiwen's role is not very large, it is an important role after all. It has also brought him considerable fame. He has become a celebrity in school during this period.

Among the three teachers, Tian Youliang was the most proactive, not only because of his relationship with Li Naiwen, but also because he was teaching the graduating class.

The Central Academy of Drama has strict management of students. In principle, students are not allowed to take acting jobs during their first and second years of college. The management is even stricter now than before. Basically, anyone who takes a acting job can only voluntarily drop out or take a leave of absence.

However, in the third and fourth years of college, the school will be much more relaxed in its supervision of students, and even encourage students to get in touch with more good works, because practice is very important at this time.

Therefore, the attitudes of the freshman and sophomore class teachers and the junior and senior class teachers towards directors coming to the school to learn about roles are very different. Huang Dingyu is better, because he is in the class of 94 and is just a junior, so he can already start taking roles.

But Chang Li is teaching the class of 96, freshmen who just enrolled this year. It is impossible to let these students go out to act now.

So when she saw Zhou Yan and the others, Chang Li was even a little wary. She was worried that the students would not be able to resist the temptation.

After all, with such a great director like Zhou Yan around, acting in his movie basically means you'll become famous, and ordinary students simply can't resist it.

Zhou Yan chatted with Tian Youliang for a while, and Huo Jianqi took the opportunity to tell them the purpose of their trip.

Sure enough, after hearing their purpose, the three teachers reacted differently.

Tian Youliang was very enthusiastic and said with a smile: "They are at the Experimental Theater right now. If you want to see it, I'll take you there later."

Huang Dingyu said, "Students in our class are in class right now, so we can go and have a look during the break or after school."

Only Chang Li shook her head and said, "You are not unaware of the rules of our school. In principle, freshmen and sophomores are not allowed to take acting jobs. There are many good talents in the class of 93 and 94. You can go and have a look. The class of 93 includes their class leader Wang Qianyuan, Li Naiwen, and Xin Baiqing. Among the girls, you should all know Zhu Yuanyuan. There is also Liu Mintao, who acted in a play before she entered the school."

Zhou Yan actually knew all the people she mentioned.

There is no need to talk about Zhu Yuanyuan. She became famous early and has always been quite famous.

As for Liu Mintao, Wang Qianyuan and Xin Baiqing, they are all late bloomers... Zhou Yan suddenly remembered that Li Naiwen was also a late bloomer.

This means that many of the students in Class 93 are late bloomers.

In fact, those who achieve success late in life are generally not very good-looking, which also shows that the overall appearance of Class 93 of the Central Academy of Drama is not very good.

Even Zhu Yuanyuan, who became famous earlier, is not a great beauty.

Compared with students from other classes, the image of this class of students is indeed inferior.

Zhou Yan came here mainly to see the students of Class 96. After hearing what Chang Li said, he said, "Teacher Chang, although students can't take acting jobs during their freshman and sophomore years, it shouldn't affect filming during the holidays, right?"

"That doesn't affect it, but normally, I can't finish filming during the holidays."

The Central Academy of Drama requires students not to take acting roles in their freshman and sophomore years, mainly because it does not want students to waste time on classes and affect their studies.

If students can complete the filming during the holidays, the school will naturally not care.

Moreover, if students can really find a job to complete during the summer vacation, the school will be very happy because this way the students can also get practice.

"Director Xiao has just started preparations for this film, and it is expected to start shooting next year. The specific time has not been determined, but if we really like you, the students of Class of 96, we can adjust the time so that the students can finish shooting the film during the summer vacation."

Hearing Zhou Yan say this, Chang Li was also a little shaken. Just now when Huo Jianqi explained their purpose, he had already said that the character they were looking for would not be the protagonist.

Since he is not the protagonist, Zhou Yan’s words are more credible. The shooting time of ordinary characters is indeed not very long.

If students can have a short-term practice next summer, it will be a good thing for them.

The key is that opportunities are rare.

Although the director of the new film is not Zhou Yan, Xiao Can is a director of Yanjing Film Studio and has collaborated with Zhou Yan on "The Chorus", so he is definitely trustworthy.

For Chang Li and others, "The Chorus" is of extremely high value.

Being able to star in a movie like "The Chorus" is an actor's dream.

Seeing Chang Li's expression relax, Huo Jianqi struck while the iron was hot and said, "We are just taking a look today. It won't take too long."

Chang Li hesitated for a moment and nodded, "Okay, the next class happens to be Mr. Gao's class, Director Zhou will go over and take up some of his time, he shouldn't mind."

Gao Jinwen and Zhou Yan have a good relationship, and Chang Li naturally knows it.

After dealing with the three class teachers, Zhou Yan and his team did not waste any time and went straight to find the students.

Their first stop was the Experimental Theater, where they met students from Class 93.

The students of Class 93 were gathering together to discuss the performance, when they suddenly saw three class teachers coming in with three people, and they all stopped discussing.

Li Naiwen was the first to recognize Zhou Yan and others.

"Director Zhou, Director Xiao." He shouted in surprise.

When they heard Li Naiwen calling Director Zhou and Director Xiao, some students had already reacted and realized that Zhou Yan had arrived.

The students, who had originally quieted down, began to murmur again.

Tian Youliang stepped forward and clapped his hands. "Everyone, stop for a moment. Let me say a few words. Next to me are Director Zhou, Director Huo, and Director Xiao. They are here to select the cast for Director Xiao's new movie. Director Xiao will tell you about the general requirements of the role in a while. If you are interested, you can communicate with Director Xiao and others on the spot."

When the students heard that Zhou Yan and his team were there for casting, they were very excited. They were about to graduate and were confused about their future.

Many students in this class have never acted in a serious movie. Now it depends on whether they can be assigned to a good unit and then persevere for a few years to succeed.

If they were chosen by Zhou Yan and others to act in a movie at this time, they would have another possibility.

Many students set their sights on Zhou Yan. They were all quite curious about Zhou Yan. After all, Zhou Yan was already a legend in the film industry at such a young age.

Although it is generally believed that Zhou Yan's achievements and influence in music far exceed those in film.

But in the eyes of these students at the Central Academy of Drama, Zhou Yan's achievements in film are even more shocking.

Because they studied acting and have a deeper understanding of movies than most people, they are able to better understand the value of Zhou Yan's films.

When many students saw Zhou Yan's film "The Chorus", they exclaimed that it was outrageous. They simply couldn't believe that this was shot by a director in his twenties. (End of this chapter)