Chapter 499 Actors' Current Situation and Teaching
Over the years, as the Galaxy Group has grown stronger, it has made a significant contribution to the development of China's film and television industry.
At least thanks to the efforts of the Galaxy Group, there are now several vocational colleges in China that specialize in providing behind-the-scenes personnel for the film and television industry, which are affiliated with three film and television schools such as Beijing Film Academy.
With the rapid expansion of the film and television culture industry, the improvement and increase in the quality of behind-the-scenes practitioners, and the establishment of a large number of film and television projects, the industry is facing another thorny problem, that is, the lack of actors, especially young and good actors.
Well... to put it in more official terms, the current traditional actor training system in the country cannot keep up with the rapidly developing industry, resulting in the industry facing the risk of a generational gap in outstanding young actors.
This is not an exaggeration. After all, actors are different from those who work behind the scenes.
In order to solve the problem of insufficient behind-the-scenes talent in the domestic film and television industry and to promote the upgrading of the film and television industry, Galaxy Group can open vocational and technical schools with some art schools to teach students lighting, props, makeup, music, photography and other techniques.
But these behind-the-scenes jobs are, after all, technical jobs, and people can quickly get started after systematic training at vocational colleges.
However, actors are different. A truly good actor must have all-round qualities. Brains, spirit, hard work and opportunities are all indispensable.
The three major domestic universities enroll a large number of students every year, but only a few of them can really stand out and become famous in the circle.
And even if they can become famous, there are actually not many star artists who have real talent and acting skills.
At least you can't say that Yang Mi and Liu Yifei are better than their classmates in the profession of acting.
Especially in recent years, on the one hand, the industry is booming and there are more opportunities, and on the other hand, the concept of "traffic" is hotly discussed, and the acting skills of young artists in the circle have plummeted, almost to the point where it is unbearable to watch.
Of course, the Galaxy Group has also noticed this situation. After all, when it comes to starting construction, they undoubtedly have more projects.
So what to do?
The treatment that Zhang Jingyi and Hamabe Minami are currently enjoying is already the best solution that Xinghe Group and many people in the industry could think of after discussions.
"How many of these people can finally stand out?"
Outside the classroom of the "Spark Project" training class, Wang Hao, dressed in casual clothes, stood side by side with teacher Wang Jinsong, looking at the boys and girls inside through the window, his eyes moving back and forth on familiar faces such as Zhang Jingyi.
After listening to Teacher Wang's words which were half emotional and half inquiring, he smiled confidently and gave a surprising number.
"Eighty percent."
"So high?" Wang Jinsong stared at him.
Wang Hao didn't care about Teacher Wang's questioning and his eyes were still on the classroom.
“It’s that high. After all, with the mature film industrialization system in our Galaxy Group, creating stars is a piece of cake.
And these are all good seedlings!"
As he expressed his emotion, Wang Jinsong turned his gaze back to the classroom, watching the fourteen or fifteen-year-old boys and girls completing basic body movement training under the guidance of the teacher.
The "Spark Project" is a project completely led by the Galaxy Group, so when it comes to training students, it does not completely follow the Beijing Film Academy's actor training methods, but instead draws on the strengths of various schools.
In this regard, the work on compiling new actor training courses began as early as last year.
At that time, Galaxy Group not only convened professors of acting classes from Beijing Film Academy, Shanghai Theatre Academy and Central Academy of Drama, but also invited pillars of top domestic drama organizations such as Song Dandan, Feng Yuanzheng, Liang Guanhua, as well as well-known actors such as Wang Zhiwen, Chen Daoming, You Benchang, Zhao Benshan, and well-known directors such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Feng Xiaogang, Tsui Hark and Wong Jing. They gathered together to discuss for a long time.
As for the content of the discussion, it is mainly from various angles of the film and television industry, as well as a higher-level and comprehensive thinking on how to train young actors in the new era, and where the acting industry should go under the impact of the traffic era.
Wang Hao also participated in that performing arts discussion. In his opinion, this could be said to be a landmark industry event, and it also had a far-reaching impact on the development of the film and television industry.
Before this, the study of acting and the training of actors in China were mainly inherited from the Soviet Union in the last century.
Although there have been some progress in performance theory since then, a unified system has not been formed. The "experiential school", "method school" and "expressive school" each have their own audiences, and each college has its own way of doing things, and each teacher has his own way of doing things.
Coupled with the improvement of the market, actors' professionalism has gradually decreased, directors' requirements have gradually been relaxed, and cross-industry has become the norm. As a result, any person can be called an actor, and the word "acting skills" has become more and more common.
As for now, with the arrival of the traffic era, young artists rarely work hard on their acting skills, and "voice, stage performance, and acting" have all become a joke.
The lines were shouted out "1234567" and had to be dubbed in post-production. He walked in a loose manner, with slanted shoulders, hunched back, and a bent neck. His movements were stiff and had to be done by a stand-in. His facial expressions were so messy that they scared the children.
There was a big discussion about the entertainment industry at that time, and it took an hour or so for the seniors in the industry to complain and accuse the newcomers.
The veteran actors said that the newcomers were unprofessional, the director said that anyone could act better than them even with a piece of barbecued pork, and the teachers at art schools also complained bitterly.
It is said that "it is better to become famous early". According to teachers from Beijing Film Academy and other schools, the temptations faced by children nowadays are becoming increasingly greater.
Many children who have just been admitted to the school have agents approaching them in their freshman year. Even if no agents are looking for them, some students are still eager to find a company to sign a contract, for fear of falling behind.
Moreover, after studying, few students can calm down and study seriously. All they think about is how to become famous and how to debut to become a big hit. They don't have the energy, concentration and time to calm down and work hard to improve their acting skills.
Liu Yifei, Yang Mi and others are the best examples of this. Also because of the restrictions on students taking on roles, there was a saying in the circle that "Beijing Film Academy produces stars, and Central Academy of Drama produces actors."
The reason for this is that students at the Central Academy of Drama can only take on acting roles after their sophomore year, which means they have two more years of on-campus study time. However, in today's domestic environment, art school teachers can no longer suppress the students' restless desire to become famous quickly.
And even if there are students who really study acting in school, they will face another problem. That is, during the three or four years when students study hard, they will invisibly lose a lot of opportunities.
The circle is changing rapidly. Sometimes, although strength is important, opportunities do not wait for anyone, especially for young artists and idol stars. After learning for a few years, time passes by in a flash. After a little while, you can directly play middle-aged roles.
In response to the current situation of a lack of talented young actors in the entertainment industry, seniors in the industry who participated in the seminar unanimously agreed that it is no longer feasible to let talented artists follow the traditional academic training route, first taking the college entrance examination and then going to the three major art schools to study.
The past mechanism for cultivating talented artists that followed rules can no longer keep up with the rapidly changing new era.
So what's the best approach?
The seniors in the industry discussed for a long time and finally came up with the "Spark Project".
This plan mainly refers to the trainee system of Japan and South Korea, the training system of British theater troupes and drama academies, and the performing arts atmosphere learning model of the United States.
After all, the entertainment industries in Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea developed earlier than China, and although they took some detours, many of their models and rules are naturally more mature.
In countries like Japan and South Korea, idols are nurtured from a young age and their professional skills are trained. Star artists are all products on an assembly line.
In Europe and the United States, on the other hand, the education industry is well developed and the educational philosophy is advanced. They emphasize not stifling every child's talent and often help cultivate the necessary acting qualities in children during the general education stage.
This is very different from the campus life in China where test scores are the main focus.
At least in the European and American education systems, courses such as physical education, art, and music will not be replaced by mathematics and Chinese.
There are many very good performance opportunities at every stage of education there. Starting from elementary school, European and American schools have drama clubs and art courses, and the atmosphere of drama performance is even more intense. Although it may not be comparable to sports, students there are at least more likely to be exposed to performances than children in China.
Therefore, many people often find that young and talented teenagers or even child actors often appear in Europe and the United States.
Of course, this is mainly related to economic conditions. As China's economic conditions are getting better and better, Chinese parents' investment in their children's art, sports and other learning has also increased significantly.
This is also why after 2020, many talented new generation child stars have emerged in China, and those children have embarked on the path of acting earlier and with better planning.
Especially those second-generation stars and rich people, who are all trying to squeeze into this path.
The "Spark Project" jointly discussed by many seniors in the film and television industry is undoubtedly to learn from the strengths of foreign artist training systems and strive to provide more high-quality new forces for China's film and television industry.
But having a plan alone is not enough. How should we cultivate these young talents?
"Okay, then you guys complete another set of exercises with me."
In the classroom, under the guidance of the teacher, the young students stretched their arms, flexed and relaxed their knuckles, and swung their wrists and arms up and down, with their arms flowing from their fingers to their shoulder joints like water.
Not only that, during this process, they also have to pace back and forth and turn in circles, as if they are walking on the waves.
This whole set of movements is not easy. We can see that many of the young students in the classroom lack coordination of their limbs, their movements are very stiff, and their arms swing like a seesaw.
Of course, some students, especially girls with a good dance background, find it easy to learn. Under the teacher's guidance, they can practice well in a short time, and the whole person is like a seagull flying on the waves.
This is a special technique that belongs to Grotowski's actor training method.
The Grotowski actor training method, also known as the "Grotowski" acting method, was created by Polish director and playwright Jerzy Grotowski.
He is a master of 20th century theater. Along with the famous performers Stanislavsky, Brecht and Artaud, he is one of the theorists who has had the most profound influence on contemporary performing arts.
His "Ge Pai" performance system advocates "simplicity" and "poverty", and believes that the use of a large amount of lighting, costumes, makeup, and scenery stifles the communication between theater actors and the audience.
At the same time, in acting training, he also believes that the body is a shackle on the actor's performance. Only by eliminating the resistance of body organs to the actor's performance can it be turned into a boost to the performance.
Therefore, he proposed an extremely strict actor training method, emphasizing the use of rigorous physical training to stimulate the inner spiritual energy of the actors.
For example, the more common physical confrontation exercise is to divide the body into two opposing parts, with the right limb being elegant and agile, while the left limb is clumsy and rigid. This arouses emotions and uses this conflict, confrontation, and pulling to stimulate negative emotions such as anger, irritability, and anxiety in the trainees.
The logic behind it is actually very simple. It’s like when you are concentrating on doing something, but someone keeps chattering and disturbing you. The feeling is the same.
Of course, this training method is simple to say, but the actual practice process undoubtedly requires higher talent from the actors. It not only requires students to have stronger imagination, but also strong physical control.
Especially in the later stages of this training method, the more intense the strain on the students' bodies becomes, such as the so-called "splashing ice water and irradiation with strong light", which is quite extreme.
However, extreme methods can often lead to more explosive performances, such as Mr. Feng Yuanzheng, the current leader of the domestic "format" performance system. Who dares to say that his An Jiahe has no explosiveness?
Therefore, regarding the acting training of these students, Feng Yuanzheng was also invited to participate in the design of the learning courses, and several of his students also became teachers in the training class.
Of course, the "Spark Project" certainly cannot adopt the "format" performance training method entirely. Other training methods such as "S-style", "experiential" and "expressive" methods are also taught by teachers.
However, this is not a hodgepodge of methods, but a new "artist training system" that has been established through the summarization, integration and conclusion of teachers like Feng Yuanzheng who are well versed in acting and teaching, drawing on the strengths of many schools of thought, adding new domestic and foreign performance theories that have emerged in recent years, as well as some of China's own training methods.
The "training system" was finally named "Chinese Performance Training Method" by Wang Hao. After the students of the previous "Spark Program" had practical experience, the results were quite good.
The teachers in charge of teaching also collected a lot of feedback and went through a new round of discussions and improvements. Currently, Zhang Jingyi and her classmates are learning the "Chinese version ", which is more suitable for the shooting and production habits of Chinese films and the physique of Asian actors.
(End of this chapter)
Over the years, as the Galaxy Group has grown stronger, it has made a significant contribution to the development of China's film and television industry.
At least thanks to the efforts of the Galaxy Group, there are now several vocational colleges in China that specialize in providing behind-the-scenes personnel for the film and television industry, which are affiliated with three film and television schools such as Beijing Film Academy.
With the rapid expansion of the film and television culture industry, the improvement and increase in the quality of behind-the-scenes practitioners, and the establishment of a large number of film and television projects, the industry is facing another thorny problem, that is, the lack of actors, especially young and good actors.
Well... to put it in more official terms, the current traditional actor training system in the country cannot keep up with the rapidly developing industry, resulting in the industry facing the risk of a generational gap in outstanding young actors.
This is not an exaggeration. After all, actors are different from those who work behind the scenes.
In order to solve the problem of insufficient behind-the-scenes talent in the domestic film and television industry and to promote the upgrading of the film and television industry, Galaxy Group can open vocational and technical schools with some art schools to teach students lighting, props, makeup, music, photography and other techniques.
But these behind-the-scenes jobs are, after all, technical jobs, and people can quickly get started after systematic training at vocational colleges.
However, actors are different. A truly good actor must have all-round qualities. Brains, spirit, hard work and opportunities are all indispensable.
The three major domestic universities enroll a large number of students every year, but only a few of them can really stand out and become famous in the circle.
And even if they can become famous, there are actually not many star artists who have real talent and acting skills.
At least you can't say that Yang Mi and Liu Yifei are better than their classmates in the profession of acting.
Especially in recent years, on the one hand, the industry is booming and there are more opportunities, and on the other hand, the concept of "traffic" is hotly discussed, and the acting skills of young artists in the circle have plummeted, almost to the point where it is unbearable to watch.
Of course, the Galaxy Group has also noticed this situation. After all, when it comes to starting construction, they undoubtedly have more projects.
So what to do?
The treatment that Zhang Jingyi and Hamabe Minami are currently enjoying is already the best solution that Xinghe Group and many people in the industry could think of after discussions.
"How many of these people can finally stand out?"
Outside the classroom of the "Spark Project" training class, Wang Hao, dressed in casual clothes, stood side by side with teacher Wang Jinsong, looking at the boys and girls inside through the window, his eyes moving back and forth on familiar faces such as Zhang Jingyi.
After listening to Teacher Wang's words which were half emotional and half inquiring, he smiled confidently and gave a surprising number.
"Eighty percent."
"So high?" Wang Jinsong stared at him.
Wang Hao didn't care about Teacher Wang's questioning and his eyes were still on the classroom.
“It’s that high. After all, with the mature film industrialization system in our Galaxy Group, creating stars is a piece of cake.
And these are all good seedlings!"
As he expressed his emotion, Wang Jinsong turned his gaze back to the classroom, watching the fourteen or fifteen-year-old boys and girls completing basic body movement training under the guidance of the teacher.
The "Spark Project" is a project completely led by the Galaxy Group, so when it comes to training students, it does not completely follow the Beijing Film Academy's actor training methods, but instead draws on the strengths of various schools.
In this regard, the work on compiling new actor training courses began as early as last year.
At that time, Galaxy Group not only convened professors of acting classes from Beijing Film Academy, Shanghai Theatre Academy and Central Academy of Drama, but also invited pillars of top domestic drama organizations such as Song Dandan, Feng Yuanzheng, Liang Guanhua, as well as well-known actors such as Wang Zhiwen, Chen Daoming, You Benchang, Zhao Benshan, and well-known directors such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Feng Xiaogang, Tsui Hark and Wong Jing. They gathered together to discuss for a long time.
As for the content of the discussion, it is mainly from various angles of the film and television industry, as well as a higher-level and comprehensive thinking on how to train young actors in the new era, and where the acting industry should go under the impact of the traffic era.
Wang Hao also participated in that performing arts discussion. In his opinion, this could be said to be a landmark industry event, and it also had a far-reaching impact on the development of the film and television industry.
Before this, the study of acting and the training of actors in China were mainly inherited from the Soviet Union in the last century.
Although there have been some progress in performance theory since then, a unified system has not been formed. The "experiential school", "method school" and "expressive school" each have their own audiences, and each college has its own way of doing things, and each teacher has his own way of doing things.
Coupled with the improvement of the market, actors' professionalism has gradually decreased, directors' requirements have gradually been relaxed, and cross-industry has become the norm. As a result, any person can be called an actor, and the word "acting skills" has become more and more common.
As for now, with the arrival of the traffic era, young artists rarely work hard on their acting skills, and "voice, stage performance, and acting" have all become a joke.
The lines were shouted out "1234567" and had to be dubbed in post-production. He walked in a loose manner, with slanted shoulders, hunched back, and a bent neck. His movements were stiff and had to be done by a stand-in. His facial expressions were so messy that they scared the children.
There was a big discussion about the entertainment industry at that time, and it took an hour or so for the seniors in the industry to complain and accuse the newcomers.
The veteran actors said that the newcomers were unprofessional, the director said that anyone could act better than them even with a piece of barbecued pork, and the teachers at art schools also complained bitterly.
It is said that "it is better to become famous early". According to teachers from Beijing Film Academy and other schools, the temptations faced by children nowadays are becoming increasingly greater.
Many children who have just been admitted to the school have agents approaching them in their freshman year. Even if no agents are looking for them, some students are still eager to find a company to sign a contract, for fear of falling behind.
Moreover, after studying, few students can calm down and study seriously. All they think about is how to become famous and how to debut to become a big hit. They don't have the energy, concentration and time to calm down and work hard to improve their acting skills.
Liu Yifei, Yang Mi and others are the best examples of this. Also because of the restrictions on students taking on roles, there was a saying in the circle that "Beijing Film Academy produces stars, and Central Academy of Drama produces actors."
The reason for this is that students at the Central Academy of Drama can only take on acting roles after their sophomore year, which means they have two more years of on-campus study time. However, in today's domestic environment, art school teachers can no longer suppress the students' restless desire to become famous quickly.
And even if there are students who really study acting in school, they will face another problem. That is, during the three or four years when students study hard, they will invisibly lose a lot of opportunities.
The circle is changing rapidly. Sometimes, although strength is important, opportunities do not wait for anyone, especially for young artists and idol stars. After learning for a few years, time passes by in a flash. After a little while, you can directly play middle-aged roles.
In response to the current situation of a lack of talented young actors in the entertainment industry, seniors in the industry who participated in the seminar unanimously agreed that it is no longer feasible to let talented artists follow the traditional academic training route, first taking the college entrance examination and then going to the three major art schools to study.
The past mechanism for cultivating talented artists that followed rules can no longer keep up with the rapidly changing new era.
So what's the best approach?
The seniors in the industry discussed for a long time and finally came up with the "Spark Project".
This plan mainly refers to the trainee system of Japan and South Korea, the training system of British theater troupes and drama academies, and the performing arts atmosphere learning model of the United States.
After all, the entertainment industries in Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea developed earlier than China, and although they took some detours, many of their models and rules are naturally more mature.
In countries like Japan and South Korea, idols are nurtured from a young age and their professional skills are trained. Star artists are all products on an assembly line.
In Europe and the United States, on the other hand, the education industry is well developed and the educational philosophy is advanced. They emphasize not stifling every child's talent and often help cultivate the necessary acting qualities in children during the general education stage.
This is very different from the campus life in China where test scores are the main focus.
At least in the European and American education systems, courses such as physical education, art, and music will not be replaced by mathematics and Chinese.
There are many very good performance opportunities at every stage of education there. Starting from elementary school, European and American schools have drama clubs and art courses, and the atmosphere of drama performance is even more intense. Although it may not be comparable to sports, students there are at least more likely to be exposed to performances than children in China.
Therefore, many people often find that young and talented teenagers or even child actors often appear in Europe and the United States.
Of course, this is mainly related to economic conditions. As China's economic conditions are getting better and better, Chinese parents' investment in their children's art, sports and other learning has also increased significantly.
This is also why after 2020, many talented new generation child stars have emerged in China, and those children have embarked on the path of acting earlier and with better planning.
Especially those second-generation stars and rich people, who are all trying to squeeze into this path.
The "Spark Project" jointly discussed by many seniors in the film and television industry is undoubtedly to learn from the strengths of foreign artist training systems and strive to provide more high-quality new forces for China's film and television industry.
But having a plan alone is not enough. How should we cultivate these young talents?
"Okay, then you guys complete another set of exercises with me."
In the classroom, under the guidance of the teacher, the young students stretched their arms, flexed and relaxed their knuckles, and swung their wrists and arms up and down, with their arms flowing from their fingers to their shoulder joints like water.
Not only that, during this process, they also have to pace back and forth and turn in circles, as if they are walking on the waves.
This whole set of movements is not easy. We can see that many of the young students in the classroom lack coordination of their limbs, their movements are very stiff, and their arms swing like a seesaw.
Of course, some students, especially girls with a good dance background, find it easy to learn. Under the teacher's guidance, they can practice well in a short time, and the whole person is like a seagull flying on the waves.
This is a special technique that belongs to Grotowski's actor training method.
The Grotowski actor training method, also known as the "Grotowski" acting method, was created by Polish director and playwright Jerzy Grotowski.
He is a master of 20th century theater. Along with the famous performers Stanislavsky, Brecht and Artaud, he is one of the theorists who has had the most profound influence on contemporary performing arts.
His "Ge Pai" performance system advocates "simplicity" and "poverty", and believes that the use of a large amount of lighting, costumes, makeup, and scenery stifles the communication between theater actors and the audience.
At the same time, in acting training, he also believes that the body is a shackle on the actor's performance. Only by eliminating the resistance of body organs to the actor's performance can it be turned into a boost to the performance.
Therefore, he proposed an extremely strict actor training method, emphasizing the use of rigorous physical training to stimulate the inner spiritual energy of the actors.
For example, the more common physical confrontation exercise is to divide the body into two opposing parts, with the right limb being elegant and agile, while the left limb is clumsy and rigid. This arouses emotions and uses this conflict, confrontation, and pulling to stimulate negative emotions such as anger, irritability, and anxiety in the trainees.
The logic behind it is actually very simple. It’s like when you are concentrating on doing something, but someone keeps chattering and disturbing you. The feeling is the same.
Of course, this training method is simple to say, but the actual practice process undoubtedly requires higher talent from the actors. It not only requires students to have stronger imagination, but also strong physical control.
Especially in the later stages of this training method, the more intense the strain on the students' bodies becomes, such as the so-called "splashing ice water and irradiation with strong light", which is quite extreme.
However, extreme methods can often lead to more explosive performances, such as Mr. Feng Yuanzheng, the current leader of the domestic "format" performance system. Who dares to say that his An Jiahe has no explosiveness?
Therefore, regarding the acting training of these students, Feng Yuanzheng was also invited to participate in the design of the learning courses, and several of his students also became teachers in the training class.
Of course, the "Spark Project" certainly cannot adopt the "format" performance training method entirely. Other training methods such as "S-style", "experiential" and "expressive" methods are also taught by teachers.
However, this is not a hodgepodge of methods, but a new "artist training system" that has been established through the summarization, integration and conclusion of teachers like Feng Yuanzheng who are well versed in acting and teaching, drawing on the strengths of many schools of thought, adding new domestic and foreign performance theories that have emerged in recent years, as well as some of China's own training methods.
The "training system" was finally named "Chinese Performance Training Method" by Wang Hao. After the students of the previous "Spark Program" had practical experience, the results were quite good.
The teachers in charge of teaching also collected a lot of feedback and went through a new round of discussions and improvements. Currently, Zhang Jingyi and her classmates are learning the "Chinese version ", which is more suitable for the shooting and production habits of Chinese films and the physique of Asian actors.
(End of this chapter)
