I’m a Director, I’m Not Bad

In fact, if Yang Mi could give a summary of her children's education...it would be two words.

"rule."

Xu Xin guessed that she was greatly influenced by Brother Qian'er.

Children are never harshly punished for their behavior within the rules, but if they "break" the rules, don't blame the old mother for being so ruthless.

Therefore, when she is at home, both children must behave themselves.

Craving ice cream?

Can.

But each of you can only eat one, and you can never eat more.

Want to go to Naughty Castle?

Okay, grandma and grandpa have other things to do in the afternoon, so you can only play for one hour.

Want to watch TV?

It’s okay, but Nuannuan, you have to finish practicing the piano.

What? Want to practice with your brother?

That's great! Then you supervise your younger brother. If your younger brother is lazy, you beat him.

After you both finish practicing the piano, your mother will take you two to eat delicious food.

This is her educational style.

But when it came to Xu Xin, there was nothing to say.

"Dad, I want to eat a hamburger."

"Walk."

"Dad, I don't want to eat."

"Then leave it there, daddy can eat it."

"I want to eat ice cream."

"Okay, which flavor?"

His dogma to his children is that "all things are false and all things are allowed."

Highlight a freedom.

Of course, his freedom is also based on his wife's "rules".

With his wife on the verge of reining in the situation, he would be fine no matter what with the two children.

Highlight a favor.

No, maybe because of their father's company, although the children still clamor "missing their mother" every day, as long as Xu Xin is here, the children will not lose their backbone.

When they woke up in the morning, the two children clamored that they wanted to eat McDonald's in the evening.

Xu Xin agreed immediately and promised to take them to McDonald's after school in the evening.

Regarding their father's promise, the two children never seemed to worry about such things as "talking but not keeping", and they jumped hand in hand and got into their grandfather's car.

After Xu Xin finished eating, he packed up and drove to school.

Today he has a class in the acting department, which is a big class.

A morning course from 8:00 to 11:50.

He was going to take acting classes.

In fact, this class was supposed to be taught by Hu Xiaoguang, but when I was filming, I heard that Xu Xin was also taking a small course in the basics of film and television directing from the acting department this school year, so I sent out an invitation:

"Director Xu, do you want to give the students an acting class?"

He didn't mean that Xu Xin would teach acting, but that he wanted them to perform in front of Xu Xin.

Speaking more broadly, it should be regarded as an honor for students to be able to act in front of Xu Xin.

After all, it is really difficult to appear in front of Director Xu after leaving school.

On a more minor note...acting is actually a profession that requires "thick skin". Acting in front of an ordinary director and acting in front of a great director are completely different concepts.

Even though this is not a formal shooting, having this kind of experience is particularly important for students’ mental training.

Hu Xiaoguang feels the same way about this.

He has collaborated with many famous directors, but in Director Xu's films, he has his own directorial logic. Every actor will benefit a lot from communication and communication when actors don't grasp certain scenes correctly.

Therefore, he communicated directly with other teachers this time, adjusted the class schedule, and specially put two performance classes together.

I just want to give everyone a chance to exercise.

Xu Xin naturally agreed.

He still needs "mixed class time".

After arriving at school, the time was approaching 8 o'clock.

He took the lesson plan prepared on his mobile phone and walked directly into the teacher's office of the performance department.

Hu Xiaoguang had been waiting there for a long time.

"Director Xu."

"Teacher Hu."

After saying hello, Hu Xiaoguang smiled and handed him a pile of information on the table.

A USB flash drive and a stack of paper.

After taking it and taking a look, he raised his eyebrows:

"Good guy, are these all my movies?"

These materials are all screenshots of scenes, and below are the lines of each character.

The first page is a screenshot of Yi Guchun's interrogation of Xin Xiaofeng in "The Burning Sun".

The second page is the scene in "33 Days" when Huang Xiaoxian broke up with his ex-boyfriend.

The third page is even more difficult... In "The Wind", the last scene between Gu Xiaomeng and Li Ningyu...

There are more or less lines, but almost every page can be said to be quite difficult.

Hu Xiaoguang smiled and said:

"The performance assignments were sent out the day before yesterday, and everyone was asked to read all Director Xu's works. When they heard that Director Xu was coming to class, these children were very excited..."

"Haha~ Then I hope they can pass."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Hu Xiaoguang also laughed.

Pass?

How can it be.

The film and television clips here are all famous scenes in Director Xu's movies.

Even mature actors have to be extremely careful when handling it. Every scene is very difficult. How can they pass the test?

However, as teachers, everyone will lower their requirements. It does not depend on how well they can restore the charm of the original work, as long as they pass the test.

In other words, it doesn’t matter if you are not qualified, the important thing is to get guidance from a director.

This is what gains them the most.

"That's okay..."

Xu Xin glanced at the time:

"Then I went?"

"I'll go with Director Xu. I'm familiar with these students."

"OK."

The two of them left the office together and walked directly to the classroom.

The classrooms in the Performance Department are actually not very big, after all, there are not many people in each class. The 11th-level performance department led by Hu Xiaoguang has a total of 32 people, divided into three classes.

But when the two of them arrived at the small classroom, they suddenly stopped...

There were a lot of people standing at the door of the original Performance 3 classroom.

There were so many people, Xu Xin took a quick glance, there were at least forty or fifty people...

"...?"

He subconsciously looked at Hu Xiaoguang.

Hu Xiaoguang was also speechless.

Looking at these young people, I thought to myself...you even take classes in the acting department?

But it turned out that he was wrong.

Among the crowd, two teachers similar to Hu Xiaoguang walked over.

"Teacher Lu, Teacher Wei."

"Teacher Hu, Director Xu, good morning."

The middle-aged female teacher named Teacher Lu smiled and said:

"There are actually no classes in my class this morning, but when the students in the class heard that Director Xu was coming to class today, the monitor asked me to find me and wondered if they could come with me..."

Teacher Wei next to him also smiled and said:

"My situation is similar. The juniors are about to graduate and are particularly eager for this opportunity to attend classes."

"Well……"

Xu Xin was stunned for a moment, then understood what the two teachers meant, and said with a smile:

"I'm afraid I won't be able to sit down. Then let's change the classroom? Teacher Hu, is that okay?"

"no problem."

As a result, what was originally a small classroom for performances was transformed into a large classroom.

On the podium, Xu Xin looked at a group of bright-eyed students, including Nazha and Yang Zi, and then glanced at the acting teachers sitting next to him... Just as he was about to speak, suddenly, the classroom door was pushed open. .

Cui Xinqin and Yu Zhen walked in together.

"?"

Xu Xin was stunned.

Yu Zhen waved her hand:

"You go to your class, and we will come and observe."

Xu Xinxin asked you two to join in the fun...

This is a performance class, not a public class.

He was speechless.

But looking at the fifty or sixty people in this classroom... these are naturally not all performance students, otherwise the classroom would be larger.

But there are also a lot of people.

If I had to perform them one by one, I might not be able to finish them all in the morning.

But there is nothing we can do, let’s start with the sophomore students.

He inserted the courseware U disk that Hu Xiaoguang made into his computer, and after reading the contents of the files inside, he had an idea.

So after the two directors sat down, he coughed lightly:

"Ahem, let's get started."

Xu Xin was not nervous at all being stared at by so many pairs of eyes.

It was the same last semester. Knowing that he was going to take classes, a group of people flocked to the directing department.

There were a lot of people in the first class, but then the number of people gradually decreased.

Because he teaches courses for junior and senior students, freshmen and sophomores or people without basic theory of directing cannot understand it at all.

Slowly it stopped coming.

But his mentality was tempered at that time.

"Come here, please send these materials. The materials are limited to prepare. You can circulate them among the same row or group. I will also play the content of your performance in a while for everyone's reference."

While he was talking, Yang Zi, who was sitting in the front row like Nazha, happened to be guarding the aisle, took the initiative to come over and took the performance information from Xu Xin's hand.

Xu Xin nodded slightly to her and continued:

"Several other teachers are also here. Let me talk about it first. I am not teaching you acting today. Believe me, when it comes to acting theory, your classmates are even richer than me.

At the same time, I believe that all students are more or less nervous at the moment. After all, I took a look and found that the performance clips Teacher Hu chose today are actually some of the more challenging scenes in my play. "

As he spoke, he turned his head and glanced at the slideshow on the projector, then simply quit and showed everyone the list of clips that needed to be performed.

"For example, the scene between Gu Xiaomeng and Li Ningyu ends in a scene."

He took the infrared pen and drew a circle on the icon on the curtain.

"If I remember correctly, this scene took about a week from preparation to completion of filming. During that week, Yang Mi, Liang Binning, including director of photography Li Pingdong and everyone else, we were there I kept practicing my movements, lines, performance emotions and all the details. I don’t know how many mistakes I made before the filming was finally completed.

What I want to say here is that everything you see has dramatic tension or high points of conflict. Those impressive shots may have been shot more than once during the filming. Even those seniors with profound skills, such as Teacher Li Xuejian, will make mistakes when filming.

It’s okay to be wrong and it’s okay to be nervous. The content of my course today is to let everyone feel that as a director, in my eyes, when filming a certain scene, the director’s requirements for the actors, and what should we do when the actor’s ideas conflict with the director’s understanding? Looking for a "right" solution and giving some acting advice to today's performers, all of you, from the director.

This was our original intention for the morning. You don't have to worry about whether your performance is good or bad, or whether it will satisfy me... Frankly, it doesn't matter. Every director has our own views on every play, and everyone just needs to perform to their own standards. Understand? "

"Understood!!!"

"Ah, very good."

Xu Xin nodded slightly, glanced at the time, and said:

"Then, I will come by lottery. Today was originally a class for sophomores, but since other students are here, we will treat them equally. After a while, I will choose the clips. For example, I chose Yi Guchun and Xin Xiaofeng. Students who want to perform Yi Guchun can just raise their hands. Next is Xin Xiaofeng. These roles are not limited to men and women. I will give you ten minutes to read these clips. Everyone chooses the role you want to play and remember to write down your lines. Write it down... Of course, if you have a favorite partner, you can also form a team. Okay, let's take a look."

With that said, he directly played the first scene in the courseware.

It happened to be the scene in "The Hawthorn Tree" where the two of them were in the same room when Jingqiu went to the hospital to see her third child.

Then, Xu Xin stepped aside and came to Yu Zhen and Cui Xinqin.

"Why are you two here?"

"Come and join in the fun."

Yu Zhen's words made Xu Xin's mouth twitch.

Fine.

Cui Xinqin smiled and said:

"Always come and take a look. In fact, the performance level of these students may not meet Teacher Xu's requirements..."

"Well, the most important thing is to let them gain some experience. Don't worry, Director Cui, I understand."

Soon, ten minutes flew by.

Xu Xin stepped onto the podium again.

After looking at the documents in the courseware, he said:

"Then let's pick an easy one first. Xin Xiaofeng and Yi Guchun will interrogate this section."

"..."

"..."

"..."

All the students looked like "Brother, are you serious?"

That's a famous scene in your movie.

Are you sure this is simple?

Seeing everyone's surprised expressions, Xu Xin shrugged:

"You don't think this scene is difficult, do you?"

No one responded, but the emotion in their eyes changed to "Isn't it difficult???"

Xu Xin was delighted:

"Ha~ This scene is actually not difficult. First of all, regarding Yi Guchun's request, the expression on his face actually doesn't matter. The difficulty is just our basic skills - lines. Lao Duan used his lines to show a kind of calmness. The complex emotions contained below.

Is it heartbroken? Or is it that you are a little shaken by what you are doing? Or... it's like this paragraph that was dismantled online. In the composition of the picture, I just gave everyone a doubt.

Will the balance of the rule of law be tilted in favor of people? It's tilted, right? Still wrong?

I asked questions, but that was my shooting method. As an actor, Haru Igani just revealed the lines I needed. It was not difficult for Xin Xiaofeng. All his emotions in the first half were peace of mind and a hint of guilt. And what follows is relief. These are all very basic acting techniques, what’s so difficult about it? "

"..."

"..."

"..."

Seeing that no one responded, Xu Xin smiled and said:

"Okay, come on, the two classmates will come on stage in a moment. Just remember to express your expression in front of the audience. Who is coming to Iguchun?"

Several students raised their hands.

The ones sitting in the middle today were the sophomore class he was supposed to lead.

So, Xu Xin picked a boy in the middle:

"Classmate, it's you, come on."

"Hello, Teacher Xu, my name is Qiao Junda."

"Well, classmate Qiao, come to Yi Guchun. Where is Xin Xiaofeng? Which classmate is coming?"

At this time, Xu Xin saw a surprising hand.

"Then it's up to you, classmate Zhou Ruanyu."

He just said that there is no distinction between men and women.

Since he was the only girl in the sophomore class with a hand raised, let her try.

"Thank you, Teacher Xu."

"Well, come on, two students. You have... 1 minute to prepare. The countdown begins."

Xu Xin said to the watch.

Then he changed positions.

After looking around, he walked up to Yang Zi:

"Move over. Squeeze."

Yang Zi stuck her butt out, and Nazha "flyed" out.

The girl immediately rolled her eyes.

You Yang Dayun!

Soon, in a minute.

Zhou Ruanyu's wrists met together, and his limbs were a little stiff as he moved to the stool step by step.

Opposite her, classmate Qiao Junda, who was facing her sideways, opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but remained silent, staring at Zhou Ruanyu's movements.

Waiting until she sat down, he waved his hand, as if to the two prison guards who were taking him into custody, and motioned for them to leave.

Xu Xin's mouth twitched when he saw it.

But he said nothing.

I just watched this guy take out a box of Liqun worth 13 yuan from his pocket...

Xu Xin glanced at the teachers subconsciously.

I said to myself, buddy, you are really brave.

But...it's a prop.

He's not serious either.

There was just one cigarette in his mouth, and the other was handed to Zhou Ruanyu.

This is when you can actually see the difference.

He is very close to Zhou Ruanyu.

Zhou Ruanyu could actually reach it with his hand.

But she carefully propped herself up with her arms, leaned forward, and took the cigarette with great difficulty.

"What a pity, you are indeed made to be a police officer..."

In fact, everyone heard his voice when he introduced himself just now.

But when he spoke now, it was in a hoarse voice that was pretending to be deep.

And Xu Xin could also feel that he was actually trying very hard to express his "mature" complex meaning.

But...it's too contrived.

But he didn't stop him, but waited for Zhou Ruanyu...

Zhou Ruanyu is obviously more suitable for the role of Xin Xiaofeng.

And, she should have reached the point where she is pondering the in-depth details.

Visibly, she began to let her eyes lose focus.

When he raised his head, the focus of his eyes was not on Qiao Junda at all.

And there is also a very detailed squinting.

Because of the scene setting, when Xin Xiaofeng looked at Yi Guchun, he could also see the sunshine outside the window.

Squinting is the natural reaction of human eyes when facing a light source.

Looking at this small detail, Xu Xin nodded secretly.

Not to mention... the old man is really awesome.

This girl does have some talent.

but……

Just like what Igichun said.

Pity.

You are indeed made to be an actor.

But similarly, as an actor, appearance conditions are also one of his own conditions.

Her thin and young character means her acting career will not be too broad. Although she has a childlike appearance,... once she reaches a certain age, it becomes more and more difficult to take on roles.

Unless the person is extremely popular, so popular that others only consider fame and nothing else.

otherwise……

Her golden period is much shorter than others.

It is also easier to be stereotyped.

well.

Pity.

In the end, acting leads to the same goal despite different paths.

And this girl's acting skills can be regarded as her first glimpse of the skills, and she has already started.

But with this physical condition, God really doesn’t count it as a reward.

…

The two people's performance lasted less than 2 minutes when they were stopped by Xu Xin:

"Okay, stop."

He said, stood up and walked to the two of them.

Seeing him approaching, the two people suddenly looked nervous. Even though Zhou Ruanyu had worked under the old man, he was inevitably a little uneasy at this moment.

Because... Xu Xin called them "CUT" before they finished their performance.

When Xu Xin saw this, he smiled and said:

"It's okay. The performance was not bad. Let's go back first."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Junda reacted first:

"Thank you, Teacher Xu."

"Well, go ahead."

When the two of them returned to their seats, he looked at the students in front of him and said:

"I know that when the two classmates were performing, many people were comparing and criticizing in their hearts. For example, did they make mistakes? How was their performance? Or comparing themselves, did they feel that they were stronger or weaker than the two of them... "

Although no one responded, everyone knew that what Teacher Xu said was not wrong.

And they are.

"It's actually not necessary."

Xu Xin shook his head:

"Don't forget, I just told you that today I am here to give you an acting class. I want to tell you how I view the actors' performances from the perspective of a director. It has nothing to do with your acting skills. The good or bad of it is not actually the most important, but I hope to tell you through this class some misunderstandings that can be actively avoided, and how to take advantage of it.

Okay, let’s first talk about why I stopped this show.

The reason is also very simple, that is, I have figured out the background of these two people. First of all, classmate Qiao Junda who plays Yi Guchun. In my eyes, his appearance is sunny and handsome, and his face is actually very tender. how old are you? "

Upon hearing this, Qiao Junda quickly said:

"Teacher Xu, I was born in 1992."

Xu Xin nodded slightly:

"Well, what I said is right. Now you have no problem playing a high school student. Pay attention, here comes the point. Why do I say he can play a high school student? Because this is determined by his appearance. We often Hey, this person has a childlike face. This person is a bit young and mature. These are actually the first impression of a person by our naked eyes. You know, during the audition, actors are allowed to make up, but it should not be too thick, but should be Show your own advantages. This is the advantage of student Qiao. Now, everyone is looking at him."

Swish, swish, swish...

Everyone's eyes unconsciously fell on his face.

"I'm going to say a few words now, and you can see if they fit him. One, the senior in high school. Two, the older brother of the female character's childhood sweetheart. Three, the captain of the basketball school team, a sunny boy."

After he finished speaking, he saw the students nodding unconsciously and clapped his hands to return everyone's attention.

"Dear students, as directors."

He pointed at himself and said:

"Do you know how we cast actors for some...not-so-important roles? For example, I have a play now about youth love on campus. There is a second male lead and a third male lead, which I just mentioned. A big sunshine boy. Do you know what I would choose?"

Looking at those curious eyes, he made a gesture.

"About this thick."

His index finger and thumb were spread as far as they could go.

"Every time, I can grab such thick photos. Then, I will look at them one by one very quickly like dealing cards. I will not look at your resume or see how much information you have. Excellent, I will only pick up your artistic photos to see if this person will meet my requirements... Even this kind of work does not require me to be responsible.

The assistant director and casting director themselves will help me select a large number of people who meet the requirements of "Sunshine Boys". And my job is just to screen some of them and let them come over for auditions. Even if I think the role is very important and it is necessary for me to audition in person, in most cases... your photos may not be delivered to me. Most of them will remain in the hands of the casting director and finally go to me. There are no more than thirty or fifty cards in front of me. "

Speaking of this, he thought for a while and said:

"If I remember correctly... in "33 Days of Love", those supporting actors whose names I may have forgotten now are people from Huang Xiaoxian's company. The resumes submitted by these actors during the audition period were about three thousand to Four thousand copies.”

"..."

"..."

"..."

Some students opened their mouths in surprise.

so much?

Then Xu Xin shrugged casually:

"When the information about these actors was sent to me, there were probably less than a hundred photos. In the end, those five or six people were selected."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Xu Xin could see that the mentality of these children had undergone some changes.

But...that's just the way showbiz is.

As a director, in today's class, he wants to use this method to tell these students some knowledge... that they may not or cannot learn in school. Help them avoid some misunderstandings.

And the way is to tell them the most real... corner of this circle.

"Students, as a director and a teacher, I will teach you the first knowledge point in this class, which is to combine your own advantages and carry out targeted film specialization in the early stage.

It is true that submitting a resume and working on a set is like looking for a needle in a haystack. But when you are performing, before you gain any fame, you must understand one thing. That's finding your comfort zone.

Sunshine boy, don't try to play a mature role. You need to make full use of your appearance to win more opportunities for you to be exposed in the camera.

Note, there is a difference here. I'm not saying that you can only play this type of role, but I'm telling you through my casting experience how you can get more opportunities to appear on camera. Because your acting skills are not yet mature, the first thing you need to do is find your comfort zone.

Even my wife, your senior sister, she took this route at the beginning.

So, position yourself first. Appearance is also an important part of acting, it determines your innate advantages. Once you find your comfort zone and understand your own conditions first, you can survive in this circle instead of being lost in the crowd.

Here, please allow me to quote Mr. Guo Degang’s words: Before you succeed, talent is equal to shit.

Although this statement is a bit biased, the general idea is not bad. In my eyes as a director, if a picture of a sunny boy appears in an audition for a very sunny role in my crew, I will take it for granted. But if you appear in characters like Xin Xiaofeng and Yi Guchun, I'm sorry, but you are not even qualified to be looked at by me.

As actors, you must understand that after we put aside the so-called capital, company operations, personal relationships, etc., the fact that your photos are handed to me through the hands of the casting director is enough to prove your excellence.

Because there has never been a shortage of actors of all types in this industry, being recognized by the casting director means that you have... or at least found the right path for you in my play. "

Speaking of this, he shook his head slightly:

"I am not proud, thinking that I am great, etc., but I hope that in class today, as a Chinese film director, I can tell you, future actors, some heartfelt words. In school, I am the teacher, and you are Students, I will give you all my tolerance. But outside of school, I am the director and you are the actors. All actors are trying their best to star in movies. Even all the students here are potential competitors in the future... ...Sorry, it's cruel. But these are the real rules of the film and television industry. Please keep it in mind."

"..."

"..."

"..."

No one responded.

The room is full of words.

Everyone, including actors like Yang Zi and Nazha who have already achieved a certain degree of fame.

Everyone felt in their hearts that they had learned something... very important.

But...these important things coming out of Teacher Xu's mouth made them unhappy no matter what.

I can even vaguely smell the smoke filled with cruel competition...

Extremely true.

But they never doubted the authenticity of what Teacher Xu said.

Just like what Teacher Xu said.

He didn't have to hide it at all.

Because... maybe after leaving campus, I wouldn't even be qualified to be looked at by Director Xu.

Is this... the real entertainment industry?