The Road to Superstardom: Starting as a Singer

After the Teen Choice Awards ceremony, Huang Weijie's work schedule was quite simple, mainly consisting of post-production work on the album, learning acting, and... filming the music video.

On August 5th, Huang Weijie arrived at the recording studio early.

Popularity is fleeting, but the work itself is eternal!

Last night's glory is behind him; now he needs to work even harder.

then…

Looking forward to the next moment of brilliance!

Time always flies when you're busy.

In the blink of an eye, the rising sun has turned into the setting sun.

Before leaving, Huang Weijie patted his head and finally remembered what he still hadn't done that day.

"Jesse, where did Madeline go? Never mind, it doesn't matter. Tell her I want the lead actress in the 'Just the Way You Are' music video, and everything else is on track."

After saying that, Huang Weijie waved and left the recording studio.

Last night, Christine worked so hard to teach him acting skills, even insisting on demonstrating them herself despite being physically exhausted. Her dedication deeply moved him.

In the dead of night, Huang Weijie would also experience inexplicable emo.

Having lived in this world for so many years, I've made quite a few friends, but I always feel like they're all just casual acquaintances, not the kind who would lend a helping hand when I'm down on my luck.

That makes sense; it's the norm in this circle to belittle the weak and flatter the strong. You're lucky if you don't take the opportunity to kick someone when they're down.

Looking back now, I realize that having a girlfriend is better; at least she can help me out.

February 6th, 9:00 AM.

An unassuming art studio in downtown Los Angeles.

Huang Weijie met his acting teacher here.

Ethan Hawke was a bit thinner than he had imagined, wearing a simple gray shirt and jeans, his brown hair casually swaying.

Her face had many wrinkles, but her blue eyes were exceptionally bright and sharp.

"Jace, welcome." Ethan Hawke smiled gently. "I'm sure Madeline has already introduced me, so I won't go into introductions. Shall we begin?"

Huang Weijie nodded.

Kind of looking forward to it.

Ethan Hawke's teaching methods were indeed as Madeleine had said: flexible and not dogmatic.

He didn't start by talking about any performance system or methodology, nor did he have Huang Weijie practice various expressions in front of a mirror, and there was no so-called liberation of his natural instincts.

He first had Huang Weijie sit casually on an old chair in the center of the room, while he himself took a handheld DV camera and filmed casually from a distance.

"Jace, relax, you can do whatever you want."

"Do something casually?" Huang Weijie asked, puzzled, glancing subconsciously at the DV camera in Ethan's hand.

"Yes, there are books nearby. You can choose to read, or if you don't want to, you can play on your phone or something. In short... do as you please, but remember to relax."

Huang Weijie was a little confused, but he did as instructed.

After a while, Ethan stopped filming, connected the DV camera to a small monitor, and showed the playback to Huang Weijie.

In the video, he appears relaxed, but his eyes always involuntarily and extremely quickly glance in the direction of the camera, even if it's just a fleeting glance lasting a fraction of a second.

"Did you see that?"

Ethan pointed to the screen, "Your problem, or rather, the first habit you need to adjust, is this. As a singer, you need the camera, you need to interact with the camera. But as an actor, in most performance situations, you need to 'forget' the existence of the camera. You need to believe that the world you live in is real, that the people and things around you are real. The camera is just a recorder, not the object of your performance."

Huang Weijie looked at his own uncontrollable glances on the screen and suddenly realized what was going on.

This was indeed a problem he had never realized.

On stage, he needs to find the camera and present his best self in front of it.

But this doesn't apply to actors. Except in a few cases, the thing actors should avoid most is deliberately seeking out the camera, because this can easily break the audience's immersion in the story.

"Then how should I solve it?" Huang Weijie humbly asked for advice.

Ethan smiled slightly and pointed to Huang Weijie's empty hand, "Now you have a phone in your hand..."

He set up various simple impromptu scenarios for Huang Weijie, always focusing on "conviction" and "authentic reflection".

In fact, these two aspects are really considered when filming.

Many people think that during filming, the cinematographer holds the camera and points it at the actors, while the director sits behind and watches how the actors perform.

But in reality, the crew on set consisted not only of photographers and directors, but also lighting technicians, sound engineers, script supervisors, producers, and so on.

With so many people involved, the actors' "sense of conviction" becomes very important.

In addition, "realistic reflection" can also be understood as acting skills.

For example, as Ethan and Huang Weijie emphasized: "Don't 'act' anxious, 'act' happy, or 'act' sad. You have to truly 'become' the person in that situation, 'think' what the character is thinking, and 'be anxious' what the character is anxious about. In this way, you will naturally show the appropriate reaction."

Huang Weijie discovered that when he truly immersed himself in the scenario set by Ethan and focused on the "task" or "opponent," his instinct to look for the camera did indeed diminish.

Therefore, his adaptability and focus earned Ethan's praise.

"You're very talented, Jace."

During the break, Ethan smiled and praised him, "I'm not referring to technique, techniques can be learned. It's your sensitivity, your focus, and that...desire to express yourself."

This is important, and you're learning very quickly! Of course, you're still a newbie, but there's a lot of room for improvement!

Take it one step at a time. As long as you persist in training, and the directors you work with are patient and can guide you, you'll be able to handle most commercial and genre films, except for art films that demand extremely deep emotional depth from the actor and feature numerous close-ups and long takes. With more experience and more acting experience, you might even be able to break through and reach an even higher level.

"Haha, thank you, Ethan."

Huang Weijie did not bask in the praise, but continued to work hard.

Time flew by during the intensive training.

After finishing the previous lesson, Huang Weijie quickly ate lunch and then plunged back into the recording studio in the afternoon to continue the post-production work on the album.

It is said that one minute on stage requires ten years of practice off stage.

If Huang Weijie wants to shine on stage again, then the requirements for his albums must become increasingly strict, even demanding!

Therefore, when faced with seven or eight audio tracks that he recorded at different times, displayed side by side on the screen, he and producer Mark need to listen to and compare them repeatedly, and then select the most perfect "moment" from these seven or eight versions!

Fluency is the most basic requirement; what Huang Weijie aims to achieve is emotional coherence and seamlessness!

This requires a great deal of time and patience.

Normally, when you're busy, it's easy to get into a phase where you "forget about time".

But amidst this non-stop busyness, there was one thing that Huang Weijie always kept in mind.

At 7 p.m. on August 7, it should have been close to noon on the other side of the ocean.

Huang Weijie posted a video on his social media account that he recorded in the recording studio this afternoon.

In the video, he was wearing a simple black T-shirt, without makeup, but his smile was clean and his eyes were clear and bright.

The background is a typical soundproofing panel and equipment rack found in recording studios. Huang Weijie first spoke to the camera in clear Chinese:

"Hello everyone, I'm Huang Weijie. Tomorrow, the highly anticipated Beijing Olympics will open! As a Chinese citizen, I feel incredibly proud and excited! I wish all the athletes the best of luck in surpassing their limits and achieving great results! I wish the Beijing Olympics a complete success! Let's cheer for the Olympics and support China!"

Then, he switched to English and said it again.

The video is short, but it is full of genuine emotion, and its bilingual format caters to different audiences.

It immediately caused a great stir after it was posted.

Among those who saw his updates were his fans, but more often it was his team that collaborated with some media partners to promote and distribute his content.

Besides entertainment media, some sports media and general media also reprinted and reported on Huang Weijie's blessing video.

Rising star Jace Huang sends his blessings to Beijing for the Olympics.

Jace Huang's heartwarming gesture: cheering for China's Olympics during a recording break

A Blessing Across the Pacific: American Teen Idol Jace Huang Cheers for the Beijing Olympics

"A 'Chinese Whirlwind' in the Pop Music Scene: Jace Huang Wants to Show the World the Host's Passion"

Although the Olympics are well-known, they are not universally recognized.

For many young fans abroad, the "Olympics" is actually a distant concept, but seeing their favorite idols mention and send their blessings so solemnly and enthusiastically immediately sparked the interest of many.

This also served as a form of "soft publicity" for the Beijing Olympics among some young people in Europe and America.

In China, Huang Weijie's videos were immediately reposted by fans and media on various online communities, forums, and video platforms.

Because it was just before the opening of the Olympics, and patriotic fervor was high across the country, Huang Weijie's heartfelt and fluent bilingual blessing instantly touched the hearts of countless Chinese people.

From the curiosity surrounding his return to China in mid-last month, to his eye-catching performance at the end of the month during the Olympic Games live cultural gala, to his recent acceptance speech in Chinese after winning an award in the US, and today's video blessing.

One by one, one by one.

In less than a month, Huang Weijie became a hot topic in the country.

In 2008, the Chinese public had not yet completely demystified celebrities; most people still felt that celebrities were mysterious and had a high level of prestige.

(If it weren't for Mr. Chan's incident, the high-class image of Hong Kong artists could have been maintained for much longer.)

Therefore, celebrities like Huang Weijie who frequently appear in the news and trending topics do not arouse the public's resentment; on the contrary, they arouse their curiosity.

CCTV, Xinhua News Agency, Yangcheng News, and other official media outlets also keenly seized this opportunity for publicity.

A Chinese idol with a huge influence among teenagers in Europe and America and a healthy and positive image actively and enthusiastically promotes the Beijing Olympics, which is undoubtedly excellent material for "Chinese stories".

Therefore, although it wasn't widely reported as a headline, the content was cleverly incorporated into a compilation of reports titled "The World Blesses the Beijing Olympics," giving it positive recognition.

Some passersby who saw the news immediately developed a good impression of this patriotic young man.

The fans, needless to say, were bursting with pride.

"Tears welling up! Jace didn't forget to send his best wishes to his motherland for the Olympics even while recording in a Los Angeles studio!"

"This is a true international icon! Never forgetting their roots, and with a sense of responsibility!"

"Your English is so fluent, but your Chinese is even more moving! Hearing the words 'sons and daughters of China' really stirred my blood!"

"Compared to some celebrities who make a fortune domestically but avoid discussing their background or even deliberately distance themselves from it internationally, the difference is stark!"

"He's already so internationally renowned, yet he still cares so much about cheering for the Olympics—that's truly remarkable! He's a real gem!"

……

In this industry, riding the wave of trending topics is ingrained in the bones of every artist and professional.

Normally it's one thing, but with the Olympics generating so much buzz and attention, it would be an absolute crime not to capitalize on it!

Despite trying to piggyback on the goodwill, Huang Weijie's blessings in the video were sincere: the better, stronger, and more prosperous the country becomes! This will greatly benefit him and give him confidence when he's out there doing business.

At least, there are some parties and invitations he can decline.

Even if I can't refuse...

At worst, they can make a comeback in the domestic entertainment industry.

To put it in a more juvenile, modern way:

She's back and still a top star!