Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 302 313 [Director Li teaches acting, tip of tongue progresses halfway]

After a while, several crew members came back from outside carrying several large boxes.

This time, Li Yishu brought a lot of drinks, most of which were Arctic Ocean produced in Yanjing, and some Coca-Cola. There were not many popsicles. After all, considering that there was no refrigerator in this place, even if there was a refrigerated box, it might not last long.

Seeing so many iced drinks and popsicles, the creative team of the crew all ran over to get soda and popsicles.

It was too hot that day. Although there was a convenience store at the Zhuozhou Film and Television Base, the goods were not very complete, and these were all free. All crew members, whether they were the leading actors, supporting actors or extras, could come and get them, and naturally they were all distributed quickly.

"Director Li, I'm sorry to have cost you so much."

Chen Jialin took a sip of the iced Arctic Ocean. He was also feeling dizzy from the heat of the dog days of summer.

"It's just a small amount of money. It's not a big deal."

Li Yishu glanced at the people around him and said, "I'll tell the company later to send a few dozen boxes of iced drinks and popsicles every day to help everyone cool down. It's too hot today, don't let people get heatstroke just to save a little money, that's not worth it."

"Then I'll have to trouble Director Li. Although there is a small shop in the film and television city, many people are still reluctant to buy."

Chen Jialin nodded. It took him 17 months to shoot "Tang Minghuang". When filming in the summer, many people suffered from heatstroke. Now that he has the conditions, it is better to spend a few hundred yuan more every day to buy soda and popsicles than to send people to the hospital for heatstroke.

"Okay, I'll tell the company now."

As she spoke, Li Yishu took out her cell phone and called Yongmei. In addition to asking her to deliver a batch of soda and popsicles to Zhuozhou Film and Television Base every day, she also asked her to record the matter. In the future, when the company invests in a film crew, soda and popsicles will be a must in summer, and ginger soup and hot water will be a must in winter.

The previous two crews filmed in early spring, when the weather was neither cold nor hot, so there was no need for these things.

The company needs to strengthen management in this area in the future.

Try to arrange the daily life of the crew as properly as possible. This will not only increase the sense of belonging of the actors and extras, but also avoid many unnecessary colds and heat strokes.

After chatting with Chen Jialin for a few words, Li Yishu came to Jia Jingwen and Xu Jinglei with a bottle of iced Beibingyang soda and asked, "How are you? Are you used to being on the set?"

Jia Jingwen didn't expect Li Yishu to come to see her, and immediately said happily: "It's a good boss. The feeling of being on the crew is completely different from being in school."

Although Jia Jingwen had acted in Taiwan in the past, that was several years ago. It feels very different to be acting again on the crew now.

"Yes, Director Li, what we learn in school is completely different from what we learn on the set."

Xu Jinglei agreed with what Jia Jingwen said. Teacher Yu at the school taught them professional acting skills, in other words, the academic style, which was completely different from the actual filming feeling of the crew.

Li Yishu smiled and said, "You are learning the expressionist style, which is enough for acting in TV dramas. If you want to achieve something on the big screen in the future, you still have to work harder."

"Boss, isn't it better to be an experiential person?"

At this time, Zhou Xun appeared out of nowhere. She was also a member of the crew and played Ban Jieyu, the concubine of Emperor Cheng of Han and a famous talented woman in the Western Han Dynasty.

Seeing that it was her who asked the question, Li Yishu thought for a moment and said, "There is actually no difference between the experiential school and the expressionist school. The expressionist school emphasizes emotional control and focuses on character design and control. It opposes actors from bringing in too much of their own emotions and requires them to be calm and self-controlled in their performances. The experiential school emphasizes complete immersion in the role and requires actors to inject emotion, even to the point of selflessness and becoming one with the role."

"Isn't it better to be an experiential person?"

Zhou Xun tilted his head and said, "Don't they say that actors should fully immerse themselves in the role and inject emotion into it, so that they can play a better role? If an expressionist can't immerse himself in the role, how can he play the role well?"

Xu Jinglei and Jia Jingwen couldn't help but frown when they heard this. They had just finished their freshman year and both majored in performance. After hearing what Zhou Xun said, they felt that experience was better.

After all, those who study acting all desire to play a role well and integrate into it.

"That's what I said, but it can't be analyzed that way."

Seeing that many actors from the crew had come around, Li Yishu decided to be a teacher and patiently explained:

"Expressionism is about emotional control, focusing on character design and control. To put it simply, before performing, one will first simulate the character in one's mind, and then present the character according to one's inner thoughts."

"Because the character performed is what the actor imagines, the expressionists will bring part of their own personality into the role. Expressionists do not require the actor to become that character from the heart. So if the expressionists want to perform well, they must understand the role. If they succeed in understanding it, they can play the role well."

"The opposite is true for the experientialists, who completely immerse themselves in the role. This has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that they can integrate into the role as quickly as possible, but the disadvantage is that they are not easily out of the role and cannot quickly gain a deep understanding of the next role."

"Zhou Xun, you haven't attended a professional school, so you don't know the difference between the two. There are three major schools of acting: experiential, expressive, and method. These three schools of acting are all about serving the role well."

Having been a director for so many years, Li Yishu has seen many experiential, expressionist and even method directors. But no matter which one it is, it is all to serve the role well. As long as you use the method well, the character can be brought to life.

On the other hand, if you don’t have the determination to play the role well, then no matter what acting method you use, the final result will be a mess.

To give a simple example, doesn’t Huang Xiaoming have any acting skills?
He definitely has some qualities. His acting in “The Whistleblower” was very good, but some of the roles he played were hard to describe. Ultimately, it’s because Huang Xiaoming himself was not putting enough effort into it.

These words made the three women think deeply. Zhou Xun couldn't help but say, "Boss, do you think I should find a professional theater to learn from?"

Li Yishu shook her head. "Didn't the company hire an acting teacher for you? Just follow the acting teacher and learn. Although colleges and universities are more professional, they may not be suitable for everyone. Point-to-point teaching can bring out your greatest strengths."

The reason why Zhou Xun became a master of acting in the future was largely due to her own efforts. Her performances were full of spirit, which was very rare. If she had gone to a professional school for systematic study, it might have dulled her spirit in acting.

So it would be better to find an acting teacher to teach Zhou Xun only the most basic acting methods, and let him hone the rest through practice.

Practice is the best training for an actor. Not to mention the group of actors in Hong Kong, even among the domestic actors who will become famous for their acting skills in the future, many are not from professional theaters.

The most typical one among them is Wang Baoqiang, his acting skills are really amazing.

"Mr. Tree", "Octagon Cage", "Detective Chinatown", "Lost in Thailand", "One Man's Martial Arts",
Five movies, five characters, each character gives people a different feeling.

Feng Yuxiu, who determines the winner and the loser, the honest and foolish baby, the cunning detective Tang Ren... These characters are both Wang Baoqiang and not Wang Baoqiang.

His acting style varies a lot, from simple and honest, to idiot, to vicious and even cunning, and he is proficient in both literary and martial arts. I dare not say that he is a thousand-faced actor, but Wang Baoqiang will definitely be one of the rare top-level powerful actors in China in the future.

So far, Li Yishu has never seen any actor with such a wide range of acting styles as Wang Baoqiang, and he can be considered a first-class actor in both civil and martial arts.

Li Yishu is more or less aware of the reasons why she failed to become famous with her acting skills. It is unlikely that a grassroots person with no background would be praised to the sky.

The actors and actresses around, both professional and non-professional, couldn't help but nod their heads. Regardless of whether it was useful or not, they could learn something from the great director Lee Yi-su's personal explanation of acting.

It was almost time for lunch and someone had already brought the lunch boxes. After Li Yishu had a quick meal, he chatted with Chen Hong in the afternoon and watched the filming for a while. Then he left in a hurry.

Teacher Situ called me yesterday afternoon and said that he had returned from the Northeast today and would arrive at school around three or four o'clock in the afternoon, so he had to go over to see him.

The documentary "A Bite of China" directed by Situ Zhaodun took nearly half a year and shot a total of more than 10,000 minutes of material. According to his own estimation, it can be edited into six episodes.

Then in the second half of the year, I went back to the south and shot tens of thousands of minutes of material, cut it into six episodes, a total of 12 episodes, to complete the filming of the documentary.

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

Inside the screening room of Nortel.

Situ Zhaodun took out a 20-minute cut and had it screened.

Situ Zhaodun introduced: "Yishu, this is a famous dish from Northeast China, stewed chicken with hazel mushrooms."

Hearing this, Li Yishu looked at the screen. The clip currently being played had no subtitles, dubbing, or narration. It was just a normal cooking video with a little bit of family chat mixed in.

After reading it, Situ Zhaodun asked, "Yishu, do you have any good suggestions for post-production?"

Without narration, no matter how tempting the food on the screen is, it will lack some artistic conception.

Li Yishu thought for a moment and said, "Teacher, I think when we do the post-production, we should present the history of this dish, the process of making each dish, and the local customs and culture in the form of narration, as well as the sounds of cooking. Finally, we should re-dub it in the post-production. For example, the gurgling sound of steaming food should be amplified and the colors should be brighter, so that it will be more tempting."

Situ Zhaodun thought about it secretly, nodded and said, "You make sense. I will work out a plan with the production team later. Since it is a documentary about food and humanities, it is inevitable that people will drool at the sight of these delicacies. And with the history and process of this dish, it can better reflect the formation of local food culture."

"A Bite of China" can be said to be the second best documentary in China after "Animal World" that leaves the audience wanting more.

Whenever "A Bite of China" is broadcast on TV, the audience will basically stop to drool at the delicious food. These delicacies come from all over the world, and few people can eat and understand them all unless they are professional gourmets.

In addition to enriching the audience's understanding of the various types of food in the motherland, this program also indirectly reflects the formation of the local cultural ecology and food culture, and deepens the Chinese people's understanding and identity of different regions.

Why do people in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan like spicy food? Why do people in Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian like light food?

Most passers-by in later generations can give some answers to these questions, but in the era when information and knowledge are not well developed, many people have never left their city in their entire lives, have no way to learn about things, and have no desire to learn about them.

Li Yishu asked, "Teacher, I just heard you say that you want to finish filming in the second half of the year before airing it on TV?"

Situ Zhaodun nodded: "Yes, in the past six months, I have shot a lot of material in Yanjing, the three northeastern provinces, Hebei, Shandong and other places. In the second half of the year, I will go to the south to shoot some more, and then broadcast it cross-border in the south and the north."

"Then, teacher, when do you estimate that this documentary will be completed?"

"Counting the filming and production in the second half of the year, I estimate it will take until March or April next year to complete it."

Next, Situ Zhaodun only needs to set the general tone for post-production, and then he can continue to lead the team to various parts of the south to shoot local food and culture.

Southern cuisine is very rich and you can basically get it all by visiting a few provinces.

"When we finish filming this documentary, I, your teacher, will be happy." Situ Zhaodun said with a smile, "There has been no food documentary in China so far. Ours is the first. We will finish it this year, so we won't have to travel around next year."

Li Yishu said with a smile: "Teacher, you are looking for delicious food everywhere, aren't you happy? I see that your face has become a lot rounder. You must have eaten a lot of delicious food from all over the place during the filming, right?"

"Ha ha!"

Situ Zhaodun laughed heartily and said, "You're right, I've gained 8 kilograms compared to before. There's nothing I can do. Although I've controlled it, it's not okay to shoot a food documentary without you tasting it yourself. But once I tasted it, I couldn't control myself."

"What about Northeast China's wild game stew, Shandong's scallion-fried sea cucumber, Hebei's donkey meat hotpot..."

Hearing the teacher say this, Li Yishu couldn't help swallowing.

Although he was reborn from the future, when material things were very abundant, he did not go directly to the local area to taste the various delicacies like Situ Zhaodun did.

Nowadays, anyone who can open a restaurant or cook these dishes has some real skills. There is not too much technology and hard work, and the taste of the food is naturally self-evident.

"Teacher, please stop talking. The more you talk, the more I can't control my saliva."

Li Yishu interrupted quickly, saying that he would be hungry if she continued talking.

At noon, we had boxed lunches at the film and television base. Although there were both meat and vegetarian dishes, they were nothing compared to the local specialties that Situ Zhaodun mentioned.

"Haha, if you want to eat, come with me to the south for a month in the second half of the year. I guarantee you'll have enough to eat."

"Forget it. Don't come back and gain twenty pounds."

Li Yishu kept shaking his head. He didn't want to enjoy his meal and then feel uncomfortable after losing weight.

If you live your life again, you can't be the same as in your previous life, eating and drinking without restraint, not only being overweight, but also suffering from problems such as high blood pressure and high blood sugar.

(End of this chapter)