1980 My Entertainment Era

Chapter 103 Can you play a monkey?

In the summer, they checked into the guesthouse in Lin'an in the afternoon, and in the evening, some other actors and crew members also arrived.

Including the heroine.

At that time, Xia Tian was still writing her "diary" in her room when someone knocked on the door.

When I opened the door, I saw the screenwriter and the heroine coming.

The screenwriter's surname is Han, she is from Shandong Province, and she is director Lei's wife.

In addition to being a screenwriter, she is more like the producer and housekeeper of this film.

"Sister Han?" Although she is already in her forties, the same age as Xia's mother, Xia Tian still calls her Sister Han! Emotional intelligence~
"Xiaotian, I hope I didn't disturb your rest!" she said.

"No, no." Xia Tian looked at the girl beside him.

"This is the heroine of our play, her name is Wei Huili, and I brought her here for you to meet." Sister Han introduced.

Xia Tian looked at the pretty girl with big eyes - yes, it was her.

Gao Cuilan from Gao Village in "Journey to the West" - the heroine of the story where Zhu Bajie carries his wife on his back, Miss Gao!

She is the heroine of this movie?!

"Hello, I'm Wei Huili, from Qizhou, Shandong Province," she said.

"Hello, my name is Xia Tian, ​​and I'm from Yanjing. Nice to meet you!"

……

Xia Tian's first impression on Wei Huili was that he was tall! A head taller than herself!
The second impression was that he was handsome, very handsome, and fair-skinned, even fairer than me!
In terms of personality, he seems to be easy to approach and very calm.

And Wei Huili's impression on Xia Tian was that the monkey acted very well.
Sorry, sorry, Gao Cuilan’s image is truly deeply rooted in people’s hearts!
At dinner time, the entire crew gathered together. Director Lei gave a brief speech, just to calm people down and boost morale.

But Xia Tian felt that it seemed to be of little use. Except for a few newcomers like himself, the other old crew members seemed a little worried.

What Xia Tian didn’t know was that the filming process was so bumpy that several people even died.

So some people in the crew were secretly wondering if they had offended the fox spirit by not burning incense? !

Well, this person must not be from the inland area.
On the train, Xia Tian had already read the script and found the plot to be simple.

Originally, this drama had some requirements on the male lead's acting skills. After all, it is not easy to play a fool well, but for Xia Tian, ​​this is not a problem.

The next day, Xia Tian had a simple scene with Wei Huili, and it went quite smoothly.

Wei Huili was worried that it would be difficult to adapt because of the change of male lead, but after acting for a morning, she found that it was going very smoothly and she even became a little addicted!

Xia Tian can easily guide her into the state and even lead her in the performance! It feels great!

By noon, she had already started calling him Brother Tian!
Yes, that's right, Xia Tian didn't tell her her real age~
At noon, the crew's production manager brought back a cage containing a fox rented from the zoo.

The crew had rented it before, but lost it!
I still don’t understand how the fox could have disappeared in the cage?

Friends who have made movies know that no matter how good the actors’ acting skills are, there is at least a way.

But if it's a child actor - a kid, then it's a big problem! It's impossible to reason with it!
Even more difficult than children are animal actors.

It’s impossible to reason with children, and animals can’t even understand human language!
This fox is similar, curled up into a ball and refusing to eat, which makes the stage manager very worried.

Don't starve to death before it starts.

In the end, Xia Tian came to the cage, coaxed it for a long time, and finally succeeded in feeding it a few pieces of chicken.

This fox is timid and no one can get close to it. It can only be fed in summer.
Sister Han said very seriously: "Xiaotian, this treasure is now in your hands!"

If this fox gets into trouble again, given the level of superstition in Hong Kong, won't the investors withdraw their investment? !
Wei Huili was very unhappy about this: "Why is it so scared that it hides its head under its tail when I get close to it? Can I be scarier than you?!"

Xia Tian grinned: "There's nothing I can do. Animals are simple and sensitive. They know who the real good people are~"

Soon, when summer officially puts on makeup – everyone stares at it as soon as it comes out!
"Yes, yes, yes! That's the feeling! It's so good!"

Director Lei clapped his hands excitedly on the side!

Xia Tian's costumes are so great! Much better than I imagined!

Director Lei is full of confidence at this time!

The first shot started soon.

Just go through it casually!

On the one hand, Director Lei wanted to have a good start and make everyone feel better, so he chose simple scenes.

On the other hand, it is also to make the "amateur" Xia Tian feel more confident.

And Xia Tian’s acting was really good too!

I don’t feel anything in the summer, it’s just very normal - when I was learning opera, I was used to walking, sitting and lying down in ancient costumes.

Director Lei discovered that during the official filming this summer, his overall state actually improved! He was extremely immersed in the role!
If you don't shout "cut", he will really be like the fool that is the male protagonist.

Hmm, it's hard to tell when it's playing...

Over the next few days, everyone on the crew realized this.

"Where did Director Lei get such a treasure?"

“I heard he’s a professional actor!”

"Nonsense! I heard from screenwriter Han that he took an amateur acting class for four months!"

"Ah? Amateur?"

"Yes, I was a complete newcomer before!"

What should I say?

A good actor can portray the essence of a fool through body shape and expression, but not everyone can act out the look in a fool's eyes.

And summer, enter the role in a second!
You can't even tell if he's acting!

Director Lei: Others don’t act like him, but this guy doesn’t act like him. More than half of the shots involving Xia Tian were done in one take, and the majority of the rest were because of the rivalry.

It's either the scene or the props, and sometimes the director suddenly wants to change or add something to the scene - Xia Tian's condition obviously stimulated Director Lei.

Every night after going home to check the shooting results, I would discuss the plot with my wife.

But if it continues to be changed, "The Transformation" will be changed from a female-centered drama to a male-centered drama!
Director Lei put a lot of effort into this drama, and basically all of it was shot on location, including all the gardens around Lin'an!
The few films he made before were all opera films, and this one is clearly a transitional work.

At this time, Xia Tian was also immersed in the performance and felt an extraordinary sense of pleasure!
It's the same refreshing feeling I had when I was creating and "releasing" the things that accumulated in my mind. Even stronger!
Acting gives you the feeling of playing someone else, so you don’t have to play yourself.

The repressed nature and cautiousness were released, and I felt refreshed after each scene!
It's like taking a hot bath after a snowy day!
An incomparable feeling!
It’s so comfortable in the summer: It’s such a good feeling. I’ve always felt so depressed…

In the early years, people used to vent their anger through fighting, but it was not a long-term solution.

It's already 81, just two years away from the crackdown.

I didn’t expect that besides creative work, there is also this great way to do it: acting!

When acting, you must act with all your heart!
After two weeks, Xia's true age was revealed.

Everyone had an expression like “How the hell is this 16 years old?!”

Who has ever seen a handsome, fair-skinned boy of 16 meters tall? !

Only 16 years old, what the hell is 16 years old? Isn't 16 years old a young man?
You say he is in his twenties and people still believe him.

No, that's normal!
This kid looks like he has joined the workforce, and even his conversation makes people feel that he is an adult in his twenties. Many people in the crew call him Brother Tian!
Director Lei agreed with this: It's normal. I heard from his class teacher that this kid often pretends to be a teacher in school to deceive new students!
Among everyone, the one who was most shocked was undoubtedly Wei Huili.

Wei Huili: You lied to me!!!
Xia Tian: What's wrong, Huili? Are you mad at Tian?!

……

Wei Huili's acting is very good. She was born as a Peking Opera actress. She is very suitable for playing this kind of costume drama.

At this time, costume dramas had very high requirements and most of them liked to find drama actors to perform.

Because he has that style whether walking, sitting or lying down.

For example, in the costume dramas starring those young actors later on, whenever there was any movement, the crown and hairpins on the women’s heads would get tangled together.

The men swayed as they walked, and the jade pendants tied around their waists were about to hit their faces. They all looked very frivolous.

Later on, they even came up with a "simple mourning style" to fool the audience.

However, traditional drama actors are required to make every frown, smile, gesture or look very dramatic.

The drama of the body lies in the face, and the drama of the face lies in the eyes. Traditional drama has a special program for training eyes.

There is a reason why Wei Huili played the monkey well in the future.

In the plot, Xia Tian plays a handsome fool who plays crazy with the "vixen wife" Xiao Cui every day.

Wei Huili is able to show that kind of natural liveliness and cheerfulness without any trace of acting, which is already very good.

Well, Xiao Cui is the daughter of the fox that the protagonist’s father rescued when he went to Beijing for the imperial examination. She’s here to repay her gratitude.

At the end of the story, Xiao Cui cures the male protagonist's "stupidity", but after the two of them have spent some time together, Xiao Cui is taken away by her mother because "humans and demons have different paths".

Xia Tian not only has to play a fool, but also a normal person who is no longer stupid.

Well, it's still a true-to-life performance~
Oh, by the way, Xia Tian’s appetite also surprised everyone.

It's really scary that one person eats three people's meals, and every meal is like this!

He doesn't look like a big eater, where did all the food go? !
……

Xia Tian’s scenes went so smoothly; even the fox’s scenes went smoothly because of Xia Tian’s “conduct”.

So much so that the progress of the film actually exceeded the plan!

So he even got a day off to visit West Lake!
What is there to do in West Lake? Broken Bridge? Leifeng Pagoda? Or vinegar fish?

How about filling a bottle with West Lake water and taking it back as a gift for Dachun?

The water of West Lake is the tears of White Snake.
Everything is going well here, and the letter from Milan has also arrived.

Look at the date, it was six days ago. And now it's almost mid-May.

Milan said some trivial things in his heart, and what he said was "I miss you, do you miss me~"

The letter also included a poem by Shu Ting, "To the Oak Tree".

If I love you——

It’s definitely not like a climbing flower in the sky,
Use your high branches to show off yourself;

If I love you——

Never learn from the infatuated bird,

Repeating monotonous songs for the green shade;

……

Xia Tian replied: "Yes, yes, you just want my body!"

A few days after Xia Tian wrote back, a grand event took place in Lin’an, Zhejiang Province—the first Golden Rooster Awards ceremony was held here!
The Golden Rooster Awards for Films are co-organized by the China Film Association and Culture Union. Because this year is the Year of the Rooster, it is named the Golden Rooster Awards for Films.

The Golden Rooster Awards is composed of a jury composed of experts in the film industry, and the awards are decided by expert voting, so it is also called the "Expert Award."

This is in contrast to the Hundred Flowers Awards, which was restored last year and is known as the "Audience Award" - its full name is the Popular Film Hundred Flowers Awards.

Because the crew of "Transformation" is filming here, and the progress is very fast.

In addition, with the invitation from a friend, Director Lei gave the crew a day off and took his wife to attend the event.

Xia Tian also wanted to join in the fun of this kind of thing, so he said that he wanted to "admire the glory of his predecessors and motivate himself to work harder in his acting career."

Wei Huili nodded repeatedly: Me too!
So Director Lei brought the male and female protagonists along as well.

(End of this chapter)