Huayu: Reborn in 97, transferring to the Central Academy of Drama's star-studded class

"Hello, Sister Dandan." Jiang Lai greeted her with a smile.

"Hello, kid." Song Dandan greeted him with a smile, then said half-jokingly, "Oh dear, kid, you've really gotten me into trouble. I didn't like cooperating with Lao Zhao to begin with, and now I've offended someone."

After saying that, he smiled and glanced at Zhao Bishan.

"Then why aren't you willing to come to the Spring Festival Gala, a grand stage that brings joy to people all over the country?" Uncle Banshan teased in his signature sullen tone.

Jiang Lai smiled silently without interrupting. He later realized what Song Dandan meant and understood why she said it offended people. Changing the script and the actors meant that the original Sister Gao couldn't be on the show anymore.

However, if he were to ask Sister Gao to play Baiyun, he simply couldn't imagine how her plump figure could portray a skinny, gossipy old woman.

After all, the classic image is too deeply ingrained in people's minds.

"Alright, enough talk. Let's see how the original kids performed it, and learn from them, okay?"

Song Dandan smiled and waved her hand, saying that she definitely still wanted to be on the Spring Festival Gala, as it would be a huge boost to her fame and other aspects.

"Alright, I'll put it down for you two."

Jiang Lai ran excitedly to the VCD player next to the TV, put the disc in, and the three of them sat on the sofa to watch.

He Qingkui wasn't there; he said he went to find Cui Yongyuan to discuss having someone perform in a skit.

The video finished playing quickly, and it only contained the work of the bottom three groups.

"Hey, that was a great performance! No wonder you're a student from the Central Academy of Drama."

Song Dandan gave a thumbs up. At this time, she was not as straightforward as she would be after she achieved success in her later life, and she would always flatter people when she spoke.

"Indeed, this young man...is not bad!" Uncle Banshan swayed back and forth, hugging his knees, and echoed.

Jiang Lai knew immediately that he wasn't being sincere. After all, they had just met, and he was young, so they were giving him some face. Besides, Jiang Lai knew in his heart that his skills were still far inferior to those of people who had been working on stage for years.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang said, "I don't know if what we're doing will be of any help to you two."

Uncle Banshan scratched his forehead and hugged his knees, saying, "Of course there is. The Spring Festival Gala is about to start rehearsals. Having a ready-made one is better than us having to figure things out by trial and error."

Song Dandan nodded in agreement. Generally, rehearsals for the Spring Festival Gala start at the end of December or the beginning of January. Before that, the program must be finalized, leaving them with little time for rehearsals and practice.

"That's good. I was just afraid I wouldn't be of much help to you two," Jiang Lai said with a smile, then changed the subject, "Could you two teachers please give me some pointers on my acting?"

"Hey! No, no, don't call me teacher." Uncle Banshan hurriedly sat up straight. "I'm just a folk singer, you guys are all professionals, I can't do that."

Jiang Lai said earnestly, "Uncle Panshan, I'm serious. You two are definitely better than me at acting. I'm truly eager to learn from you."

Uncle Bishan didn't know how to respond for a moment, and glanced at Song Dandan.

Seeing that Jiang Lai didn't seem to be faking it, Song Dandan said, "Well then, I studied acting with your Central Academy of Drama teacher Su Min, so we're practically related. I'll say a few words, and you can listen if you find it useful, or we can just treat it as a discussion, okay?"

Jiang Lai nodded excitedly.

There's no need to say much about Uncle Panshan. Let's talk about one of his works from 1984 called "Shuai Sanxian" (摔三弦). He played a blind old man, and his portrayal of blindness and old age was so vivid that he was known as "the world's number one blind man." However, Uncle Panshan was only 27 years old at that time.

As for Song Dandan, some people may question her character and personality, but her acting ability cannot be denied. Putting aside her title as a national first-class drama actress, the many characters she has portrayed are so real and natural that they seem like people around us, which is something that many actors cannot do.

Song Dandan lowered her head and thought for a moment before saying, "Then let me say something. I think your voice is very distinctive, but in this skit, you were trying hard to imitate Lao Zhao's accent, and it even had a kind of bel canto-like quality. I don't think that's good. You can speak in dialect, but you can't lose your own voice."

"Sorry, Sister Dandan, I don't quite understand," Jiang Lai said apologetically.

"Hmm... let me put it this way." Song Dandan organized her thoughts and began again: "For example, you can tell it's Zhao Benshan just by hearing Lao Zhao's voice, and you can tell it's Zhao Zhongxiang just by hearing his voice. The basic skills we practice, like breath control and resonance, are just to make your voice more penetrating and your lines clearer. The techniques you learn in school are to enhance your voice, making it magnetic and charming, not to make you lose your voice."

Jiang Lai listened with a vague understanding, but there was one thing he had to admit: after various lessons in voice acting, he would subconsciously follow what his teacher had said when reciting lines, such as opening his throat and adding various so-called resonances that he understood himself, which would make his voice sound muddy.

"So what exactly should I do?" Jiang Lai asked.

"First of all, you can't lose your basic skills, such as vocal techniques. As for the rest, just listen and watch more. A good performance definitely starts from the character, and the lines should be natural and lifelike, flowing naturally from the character, rather than being read out stiffly."

After the two finished speaking, Uncle Banshan grinned and said, "Wow! What Teacher Dandan said has really benefited me!"

"Go to hell!" Song Dandan glared at him blankly.

Jiang Lai carefully wrote down what Song Dandan had taught him, even if he only half understood it now. He could think about it more later. He looked at Uncle Bishan expectantly and said, "Uncle Bishan, you...?"

Uncle Bishan got serious. Since he had decided to teach others, he couldn't just do it half-heartedly. He already had apprentices and knew this was a very serious matter.

He stood up, scratched his head, and said, "I'm not good with words, so I'll demonstrate for you."

As he was speaking, he started walking, but suddenly his leg bent and he was about to fall to the ground. Jiang Lai was startled and instinctively stood up to help him, but the uncle stood up steadily again.

"It's me, isn't it? I saw you tug at the beginning, and it was a good tug, but I think it's not accurate enough. You need to be more natural, like Dandan just said."

As he spoke, Uncle Banshan demonstrated it again, and Jiang Lai felt a chill run down his spine because he couldn't tell whether the other party was really going to fall or doing it on purpose.

"If you ask me, even though the action is designed, you have to really believe that your character is going to fall, and your whole body movement has to be realistic."

The "falling stool" joke is a common comedic device, and this kind of leg tug is similar. Most actors will use exaggerated expressions and gestures to perform it, which can achieve a certain effect, but it is far less natural than Zhao Bishan's performance.

Although Uncle Tsuyama often uses this technique, he does it so naturally that the audience doesn't feel it's intentional; it's as if the character is just supposed to do it.

To give a classic example, in "The Legend of the Magpie Blade Sect," there's a move where someone steps on a stool and misses. Uncle Panshan demonstrates it, and his apprentice does the move. Comparing the two, you can only marvel at how natural and precise Uncle Panshan's movements are, leaving others far behind.

Jiang Lai's eyes were practically sparkling. This was too powerful; it was like a grandmaster utterly crushing an elementary school student.

"Then, uncle, how do I do this?" Jiang Lai asked.

Uncle Banshan scratched his head and said, "It's all about watching and learning more. To borrow a phrase from a great man, 'From the masses, to the masses,' and the same applies to acting."

Jiang Lai pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement.