Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 69: Unwavering Route Selection
“There are some differences between Grotowski’s acting system and the acting style that is popular in Hollywood that I just mentioned.”

In response to Li Qian's question, Wang Hao pondered for a moment before answering.

“Although both agree that ‘everyone can be an actor’, they both increase the proportion of body movements in their performances.

But the core idea is still different.

The former believes that everyone has potential, but it has not yet been stimulated, so it relies on body movements to activate potential. The system itself is still actor-oriented and focuses on people.

However, the current performance style in Hollywood is to downplay the role of actors. Action is just a tool to enrich the performance. The core is "drama" and people serve the film.

So the former can be considered as the method school of acting, while the latter can only be considered as a style of acting, or even not a style at all, at most it can only be considered as a technique derived from the shooting of commercial films.”

"Just a derived technique?" Tong Liya, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke up.

"Yes," Wang Hao nodded.

"Compared to the commercial films that are just starting out in China, the Hollywood commercial film model is more mature, and naturally they have formed their own commercial film production system.

Of course, I am more accustomed to calling it film industrialization.

What is film industrialization? The core element of industrialization is "division of labor", and film industrialization means that film shooting can be project-based, standardized and process-based.

In this process, we must try our best to eliminate and weaken things that cannot be standardized or streamlined.

For example, the so-called 'acting skills'.

So when it comes to shooting commercial films, Hollywood directors often prefer to use medium shots and panoramic shots.

Why? Because this shooting method can frame the actor's physical performance, and with the rich performance method I just mentioned, it can reduce the proportion of the actor's acting skills in the entire performance, so that a movie does not have to be limited to a specific actor, greatly increasing the choice of actors. "

"Like Chen Long and Zhou Xingchi?" Li Kui reacted quickly and immediately gave two vivid examples.

"That's right," Wang Hao nodded, "In fact, Hong Kong Film has already established a film commercialization system a long time ago."

“If you look at those old Hong Kong movies, every actor’s performance is full of life and looks very natural. They are all using actions to enhance their acting skills and make up for the lack of facial expressions.

At the same time, this is also the reason why many Hong Kong stars and directors have trouble adapting to the new environment in Beijing, because our films are generally introverted, and those extroverted Hong Kong stars will appear too extroverted when compared with our actors, and will appear very unusual.

Our actors also have the problem of not being able to let go when they go to Hong Kong. This is the most obvious conflict between the commercialization and artistry of movies.”

“I’ve been telling you all about the industrialization of film, the industrialization of film.

This kind of industrialization is not just about making some movie special effects, using some high-tech photographic equipment and technology, and shooting those high-end science fiction blockbusters.

Rather, it is an all-round reform from ideological concepts to performance systems, production styles and cognitive awareness.

Take photography for example, many of our domestic directors still retain the habit of shooting art films.

What is being filmed is a close-up, and he particularly likes to focus on the actor's face, using close-ups to show the actor's acting skills and let the audience see the subtle muscle changes on the actor's face.

Or it could be a long shot to show how great your photography skills and scheduling are. I don’t deny that doing so can add brilliance to the film, but the first point of the film industrialization is controllability, and all the processes are planned.

The camera is right in the face, and the actors keep making NGs. What should we do? Should we take ten years to shoot a movie? Or should we change the actors?

Moreover, the requirements for actors have increased. What should we do with new actors? Should we just reuse the same few old actors? How can we develop the film industry in this way?"

Wang Hao's question made Zhang Yang and Li Kui nod their heads repeatedly. Wang Zhi and Tong Liya seemed to be thinking about something. Only Li Qian, who was also a student of the directing department, found it difficult to change her mind at the moment.

"But if we do this, the film industry will also stagnate."

She pointed out the key problems in Wang Hao's theory.

“Lowering the requirements for actors’ acting skills and streamlining, modularizing and standardizing filming methods can indeed improve the efficiency of film production, but in the long run, it will inevitably lead to the film industry focusing only on efficiency and profitability.

By then, the requirements for acting skills and photography skills of actors and directors will be lowered, and the technical level of the entire entertainment industry will definitely decline."

Wang Hao didn't expect that Li Qian was so perceptive. Just by listening to his description, she pointed out the problem of the popularity of commercial films.

It’s a pity that this girl still underestimated the speed of decline of the Chinese entertainment industry, or she still underestimated the infringement of capital on the entertainment industry.

In Wang Hao's previous life, even though the process of film industrialization was slow, chaos in the entertainment industry continued to emerge. Traffic stars and so-called fresh meat still appeared on the big screen, causing damage to the eyes of the majority of moviegoers.

From this we can see that even if Wang Hao did not develop this film industrialization system, China Entertainment would not be much better.

“So in addition to Hollywood, Europe and the United States also have many independent films and art films.

Commercial films are commercial films, and art films are art films. Hollywood makes a clear distinction between the two.”

Wang Hao gave an explanation.

“The reason why I am talking to you all so much today is not to advocate the industrialization of the film industry, but to communicate with you and determine the future direction of our team.

Everything has a good side and naturally a bad side.

If you want to make commercial films and take the film industrialization route, then you should honestly follow this path to the end. You must not spend investors’ money in the name of making commercial films, only to satisfy your own desire for expression and deceive the audience.”

Zhang Yang, Li Kui and Li Qian nodded quickly, feeling somewhat happy at the same time.

Because they know that Wang Hao has a whole set of grand plans for the future.

And now that he is giving me such earnest advice, it means that his arrangement for the three of them is definitely not just ordinary special effects, photography and assistant director. Maybe the three of them will be able to stand on their own in the future.

How could this not make them happy?
After all, every behind-the-scenes worker in a movie has a dream of becoming a director.

As for Wang Zhi and Tong Liya, they naturally benefited a lot.

Although Wang Hao's remarks were a bit too advanced for these two newcomers in the entertainment industry who had just finished their freshman year, at least they understood the performance style and method required by the director of this film, which pointed out the direction for their efforts.

(End of this chapter)