1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Zhou Yan looked around at the students in the 93 acting class and sighed inwardly. He didn't expect that Xin Baiqing, Li Naiwen and Wang Qianyuan were the ones with good images in their class.

Especially Wang Qianyuan and Xin Baiqing, these two guys are quite fashionable and at least they have good figures.

There are twenty students in their class, and the male-to-female ratio is exactly one to one. None of the ten girls looks particularly eye-catching, including Zhu Yuanyuan.

However, when Zhou Yan and his team select actors, they don’t look at their appearance, but mainly consider the actors’ professional level.

Xiao Can was explaining the general situation of the character to the students in front, while Zhou Yan was whispering to Tian Youliang in the back.

"Teacher Tian, ​​what are the students lining up for?"

"They are rehearsing an original play of their own."

"Graduation project?"

"That's not the case. They started working on this work when they were freshmen, so it's already quite mature. They just rehearse it when they have nothing to do. Director Zhou, you also know that drama can change a lot over time."

Zhou Yan nodded. Tian Youliang was right. This was also the charm of the drama.

In the same play, even with the same cast, there will be different changes in different performances.

On the one hand, the director and actors may proactively make some adjustments between different performances. This is a common occurrence. After a performance, if the director thinks there is room for improvement, he may do so immediately and the results will be shown on stage in the next performance.

On the other hand, the actor's condition may also be different.

Many actors themselves have said that their moods are very different in different performances and facing different audiences. With different moods, what they perform will definitely be different.

It may be different just after one performance. Their class has been performing the same drama over and over again for three or four years, so there must be a lot of changes.

Zhou Yan estimated that their drama was now completely different from what it was at the beginning.

"What's the name of this play?"

"no name."

Zhou Yan was stunned. "No name? They have been performing this play since freshman year, but there is still no name? How do they communicate with each other?"

"Haha, it's not that the play has no name, but the name of this play is "No Name"."

Tian Youliang laughed. From his expression, one could tell that he must have been misunderstood often in the past.

Just now, Tian Youliang only said the four words "no name", deliberately trying to make Zhou Yan misunderstand.

Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows. "Is this name just a joke, or is it really relevant?"

"It's quite relevant. This play mainly tells the story of a person without a name. It goes something like this..."

Tian Youliang quickly summarized the story of "No Name" to Zhou Yan. The play mainly tells the story of a man who suddenly appeared in a village. Everyone in the village seemed to know him, but no one called out his name.

He lived his life as usual in the village like everyone else, but no one took the initiative to communicate with him.

Even when he went to talk to the villagers, they would just give him simple responses like "hmm" or "ah".

After listening to Tian Youliang's introduction, Zhou Yan was a little confused. He didn't know whether the drama was really that simple or Tian Youliang omitted too many things.

If this play is really that simple, it should be an experimental play.

Experimental works are often so thoughtless.

Of course, you could also say it is not experimental, but a tribute to works like Waiting for Godot.

Its significance lies in how much interpretation the audience will give it.

Many experimental works are like this. If the audience does not interpret them, they are nothing. But once the audience interprets them, the artistry emerges.

The key is that the creators themselves should not actively interpret the content.

Because if the creator interprets it himself, it will directly circle the possibilities of the work and limit it.

Therefore, creators must maintain a sense of mystery so that the audience can interpret more.

Of course, sometimes the audience is quite strong and they will ignore the creators even if they have given their own answers.

Because once a work is created, it no longer belongs to the creator.

There are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people. In other words, the Hamlet in Shakespeare's eyes is just one of the thousand Hamlets. The other nine hundred and ninety-nine Hamlets are not under Shakespeare's control, nor do they have to be the same as that Hamlet.

"How long?" Zhou Yan asked.

"A four-act play, about an hour and forty minutes."

"Oh, it's not easy."

One hour and forty minutes is the normal length for a play. Most plays are between one and a half hours and two hours long. If it is too short, it is not worth watching, and if it is too long, the audience can't stand it. However, most student plays are not that long.

Zhou Yan has seen many plays performed by students themselves. They are basically completed within ten minutes or so, and many of them are not divided into several acts.

"It wasn't this long at the beginning. At first it was a one-act play, less than 15 minutes long, and then it slowly expanded to this length."

"It seems they still have ambitions."

Now that the time has been extended to such a long time, there is hope that we can perform on a formal stage.

"Would you like to watch their performance later?" Tian Youliang asked.

"I want to watch the performance, but I also want to go see the students from the classes of 94 and 96."

"It's okay. After you've seen them, it won't be too late to come back. They have to go through a complete journey today."

"That's fine." Zhou Yan nodded.

While the two of them were chatting here, Xiao Can had already explained the general situation of the character to the students.

After listening to Xiao Can, the students were also very excited, because according to Xiao Can, he wanted quite a few actors this time, maybe seven or eight, and their chances of being selected were much greater.

"Is anyone interested?" Tian Youliang asked.

After he asked the question, all twenty students in the class raised their hands.

Xiao Can glanced at Li Naiwen and said, "Let me remind you that these characters are not the protagonists, and some of them have relatively few roles."

He said this not only to Li Naiwen, but also to other students in the class who had acted in plays, such as Zhu Yuanyuan.

Li Naiwen played the "male number four" in a "big production" like "Time Traveler". He will probably be noticed by other producers and will no longer be short of roles to play.

Not to mention Zhu Yuanyuan, she has already acted in several TV series and movies.

In their situation, there was no need for them to participate in Xiao Can's new movie and play a supporting role. However, after Xiao Can reminded them, no one put their hands down.

Tian Youliang said to the squad leader Wang Qianyuan, "Since everyone is interested, Qianyuan, you can exchange contact information with Director Xiao later. You can be the middleman for the audition."

"Okay, Teacher Tian." Wang Qianyuan nodded.

Because of Wang Qianyuan and the others, Xiao Can no longer had to ask the students to fill out the application forms one by one. He nodded to Wang Qianyuan and said, "The specific time for the filming of the movie has not been determined yet, but it will probably be determined when you go for the audition. At that time, you can also determine whether you can participate based on the time."

Next summer, the students in this class will graduate and go their separate ways, and many of them may not be able to stay in Yenching.

If you are far away, you may encounter all kinds of troubles if you want to participate.

Moreover, even if the individual is willing, the company may not be willing to release him.

Tian Youliang then said, "You must work hard today. We will take Director Zhou and the others to see your junior brothers and sisters first, and then come back to watch your rehearsal. It is a rare opportunity to have three great directors here today, so you must let the three directors guide you."

Zhou Yan narrowed his eyes slightly. Tian Youliang was worried that they might not come back for a while, so he just said it here.

They will have to come back even if they don’t want to.

"Teacher Tian is joking. We are learning from each other."

"Director Zhou, you are joking. You are a famous director who has made it to the international stage."

"At least I have to learn acting from you guys."

"You are too modest." Tian Youliang smiled and said, "Then let's go and see the other two classes of students without further delay."

Instead, he was anxious to take Zhou Yan and the others to see the students from the other two classes, to finish it quickly, and to come back to watch the rehearsal of their class.

……

The 94th acting class had just finished class, and Huang Dingyu took them there once, and the process was similar to before.

Zhou Yan looked around and first saw Duan Yihong, then Yin Xiaotian, and also Gao Hu and Ji Chenmu.

As for the girls, only Wang Ning and Zhou Yan looked familiar.

Tian Youliang said beside Zhou Yan, "In their class, there are two girls, Gong Beibi and Tao Hong, who are doing well. They are both filming outside recently. But even if they were there, I'm afraid they wouldn't participate in Director Xiao's project, because Gong Beibi has already signed with a company."

These days, it's relatively rare to sign with an agency before graduation. Most students still hope to get a job after graduation, as they can still act after joining the company. But if they sign with a company on their own, their future development may not be stable.

The reason why he was able to sign with the company was naturally because of his good development and the agency offered him better conditions.

Hearing Tao Hong's name, Zhou Yan nodded. Tao Hong should be the first to become famous in this session.

Earlier, she participated in "Sunny Days" and received much attention. That movie was the Chinese box office champion that year.

If Zhou Yan remembers correctly, Tao Hong won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress right after graduation, which was a very good start.

According to the time, the movie "Black Eyes" for which Tao Hong won the Best Actress award was probably filmed this year. I don't know if Tao Hong is filming "Black Eyes" now.

Tian Youliang is right. Given the circumstances of Gong Beibi and Tao Hong, it is highly unlikely that they will be able to star in Xiao Can's movie.

"Tao Hong hasn't signed with any company, right?" Zhou Yan asked.

"That shouldn't be the case. If nothing unexpected happens, she will work at the Experimental Theater after graduation. She is different from other students. She was already in the system before."

Tao Hong is indeed different from ordinary students. She was a member of the national synchronized swimming team, won the national championship, and also won places in world competitions.

Zhou Yan was not surprised at all to hear that Tao Hong was going to the Experimental Theater after graduation. After all, with Tao Hong's fame, she would definitely be someone that all units would try to grab in advance.

Although Tao Hong will not graduate until the year after next, it is normal for her to be booked by her unit in advance.

The reason why Zhou Yan asked Tian Youliang this was because he wanted to sign Tao Hong. However, under the current circumstances, Tao Hong might not be willing to sign him.

After a moment's silence, Zhou Yan looked towards Duan Yihong again, "What's the name of the boy sitting in the innermost part of the second row?"

"His name is Duan Long. He should be the best professional in this class. He is from the countryside and is quite introverted."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Teacher Tian, ​​you know the students in other classes quite well."

"There are only so many students in the acting department, and the school is so small, I basically know all of them. Duan Long is a guy who looks average and doesn't like to talk, but he is very intelligent and down-to-earth. He is a natural actor."

Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows. He didn't expect Tian Youliang to give such a high evaluation to Duan Yihong.

He had just praised several students in their class, but none of them gave such a high evaluation.

This is actually different from what Zhou Yan had in mind. Although Duan Yihong is not a late bloomer, he actually became famous quite late, and he is completely incomparable to other actors of his time who became famous earlier.

It was ten years later when "Soldier Assault" became a hit.

There is one thing Zhou Yan didn't expect, that is, Duan Yihong is now called Duan Long.

I have to say that the name Duan Long is indeed not as good as Duan Yihong.

It is said that changing one's name is like changing one's fortune. Maybe after Duan Yihong changed his name, his fate also changed.

"What plays has this Duan Long acted in?"

"I haven't acted in a film or TV series yet... maybe this is the first time."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "That depends on whether he and Director Xiao have a good relationship."

Apart from Duan Yihong, Zhou Yan didn't pay much attention to the others, such as Yin Xiaotian, Ji Chenmu and others.

After Xiao Can finished the process here, the next class was about to start, so Zhou Yan and the others rushed to the classroom where the 96th acting class was having their class.

Just now when Zhou Yan and the others were looking for the Class of 94, Chang Li had already gone to the classroom where the Class of 96's acting class was taking classes. She went over and explained the situation to the students first.

When Zhou Yan and his friends arrived at the classroom door, they happened to meet Gao Jinwen who was rushing to class.

Seeing Zhou Yan and the others, Gao Jinwen was also confused, "Director Zhou, Director Xiao, Director Huo, why are you here?"

Zhou Yan joked, "Of course I came here to listen to Teacher Gao's lecture."

Gao Jinwen didn't believe it at all. "What nonsense! You guys are just here to teach me a lesson."

Tian Youliang smiled and said, "Teacher Gao, Director Zhou and the others are here to select the cast."

"Casting?" Gao Jinwen was even more confused. "Director Zhou, are you going to shoot a new movie again?"

"No, this time it's Director Xiao's movie."

"Oh, it's Director Xiao's movie. Congratulations, congratulations, Director Xiao." (End of this chapter)