Chapter 159: Comfort from a Stranger in a Foreign Land
"What are you doing here?"
Lu Yanhe walked closer and looked at Wei Zhuoran and Qu Yousong with a bad look.
The two men were standing outside the rehearsal room, stealthily taking photos inside with their cell phones, when they were caught red-handed by Lu Yanhe who had just returned.
Wei Zhuoran and Qu Yousong turned around and saw Lu Yanhe. They ignored him and said nonchalantly, "Why do you care what we're doing here? Who are you? When did it become your turn to care about us?"
Lu Yanhe said with a straight face, "This is the rehearsal room I reserved. You came here to secretly take pictures, and I can't ask you about it?"
Wei Zhuoran's neck stiffened immediately. "Secretly filming? What are you talking about? Which eye of yours saw me secretly filming? I was filming my teammates, openly and aboveboard."
Lu Yanhe glanced at Chen Jing who was practicing dancing behind the glass wall and said nothing more.
He walked past Wei Zhuoran and Qu Yousong, pushed the door open and went in. "Chen Jing, how's your training going? I need to rest."
Chen Jing immediately stopped and said, "I'm almost done, you should take a rest. Thank you for lending me the rehearsal room."
After he finished speaking, he smiled at Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe saw that he was sweating all over, and his T-shirt was soaked with sweat.
Lu Yanhe shook his head, indicating that there was no need to be so polite.
He looked back and saw that Wei Zhuoran and Qu Yousong, who were outside the door just now, had already left.
"Wei Zhuoran and Qu Yousong were outside just now." Lu Yanhe said to Chen Jing.
"Ah?" Chen Jing's reaction was a little strange. He actually frowned, as if he had some concerns.
"What's wrong?"
"No, it's okay." Chen Jing turned off the sound, thanked Lu Yanhe, and left in a hurry.
Lu Yanhe didn't think much about it. After he left, he locked the door of the rehearsal room and prepared to take a rest.
I was already feeling sleepy and my eyelids were drooping.
-
In the afternoon, He Shuyi took Lu Yanhe to rehearse the play "The Golden Age", starting from the first scene.
"As a new actor, you must first learn to understand the character." He Shuyi practically guided Lu Yanhe through the script. "You're still young and inexperienced. You can't perform every scene with the same masterful precision as those mature actors. So you have to learn to find the key points. For example, what was your first impression of the character you played in 'The Golden Era'?"
"Warm and full of justice." Lu Yanhe said immediately.
"Yes." He Shuyi nodded. "Now close your eyes and follow my voice. Let me ask you first: can you imagine a warm and righteous image in your mind?"
Lu Yanhe followed He Shuyi's instructions and a figure appeared in his mind.
"Um."
"Are you a warm-hearted person with a strong sense of justice?" He Shuyi asked.
Lu Yanhe thought about it seriously and said, "I've always wanted to be this kind of person."
"Very good. Do you think you resemble the character in the script?"
"He's... more mature than me," Lu Yanhe said. "Also, he's more patient than me. I can't be like him, but when I was reading the script, I thought, I hope to be like him."
"Now, put yourself in that person's shoes." He Shuyi's voice continued to instruct Lu Yanhe, "Okay, now open your eyes."
Lu Yanhe opened his eyes again, and there was a moment of confusion in his eyes.
Ho Shu-yi said, "This is the first point I want to teach you. When acting, you have to have a sense of conviction about the character. To put it bluntly, it means you have to believe that you are the character and then find a point of substitution. A person's best acting is substitution and empathy, especially for young characters, who are often more emotional than complex. You need to use this dialogue with yourself to find similarities and differences with the character. The similarities are the incision for you to substitute into the role, and the differences are the areas that you need to use skills to smooth out."
Lu Yanhe was a little dazed.
"The second thing I want to teach you is to put aside all the theories," Ho Shu-yi said. "Acting is a skill that requires constant practice. Third-rate acting is crying at the drop of a hat. First-rate acting is crying naturally when you get to the point. As a newcomer, the worst thing you can do is learn all kinds of tricks and then act with utmost dedication, but still fail to move others. For every scene, you have to think about its key point. For example, in 'The Golden Age,' when you first appear in the classroom, where do you think the key point of your character is?"
Lu Yanhe looked confused and shook his head, "I don't know."
He Shuyi asked, "Then what do you think the screenwriter intended to write this scene for?"
Lu Yanhe thought for a moment and said, "This scene is the first time the heroine, played by Sister Yuqian, sees me. The main purpose of the script is to show that Sister Yuqian fell in love with the character I play at first sight."
"That's right, so the key to this scene is that you have to give the audience the impression that Jiang Yuqian naturally likes you from the moment you appear on screen," said He Shuyi. "Then there will be lighting, editing, music, makeup, and other departments to enhance these, just to achieve the effect I just described. So, as an actor, how can you perform to achieve this effect?"
Lu Yanhe had imagined this scene before, but it seemed a bit contrived no matter how he thought about it.
"I don't know. I've actually thought about it a lot, but I feel like no matter what expression I make or what movements I devise, they all seem contrived and unnecessary."
"You're right," He Shuyi said with a smile. "If a guy makes expressions and gestures with the intention of looking more handsome, the audience will ultimately think he's trying to be cool or artificial. Especially in 'The Golden Era,' where you're a college student, and a girl falls in love with you right in the classroom. So, the key to the key is three words: unawareness."
Lu Yanhe looked at He Shuyi bewilderedly. "Teacher He, according to what you said, there's actually no need to act at all. I can just do whatever feels comfortable to me."
"Yes." He Shuyi nodded. "Since your appearance and personality are very similar to the character, for a scene like this that requires you to be at your most natural, of course you should act however you feel comfortable. This is why it's important to find the key to the play. You need to fully analyze what each scene requires of you. Some scenes require you to be exaggerated, some require you to be more restrained, some require you to be your most authentic self, and some require you to completely abandon yourself and act with an alternate personality. Only when you find the right direction will your efforts be meaningful. Just like the scene we just talked about, if you're obsessed with looking handsome and impressing girls at first sight, then you'll only become uglier and uglier in the performance, and more and more people will dislike you. All your efforts will be in vain."
Lu Yanhe understood what He Shuyi meant.
-
It was already evening when He Shuyi finished teaching him.
The setting sun turned completely orange, painting the deep and light colors of dusk across the vast sky.
After Lu Yanhe saw He Shuyi off, he returned to the rehearsal room to pack up his things.
Li Zhibai sent him a message, asking him if he had finished the class. If he had, he would meet him downstairs at the company later and he would pick him up to eat fried chicken together.
Lu Yanhe replied with an OK.
He put on his schoolbag, turned off the lights, closed the door and left.
At this time, many clerical staff of the company are leaving get off work.
I waited several times for the elevator to be overcrowded and couldn't get in.
He thought about it and decided to go down through the fire escape.
Anyway, the floor he was on wasn't very high.
When I reached the third floor, I suddenly saw a person sitting on the steps below.
Lu Yanhe slowed down his pace.
The man heard footsteps and looked up.
"Chen Jing?" Lu Yanhe looked at the man in surprise.
Chen Jing didn't expect to meet Lu Yanhe and stood up in a hurry.
He subconsciously lowered his head and turned away, which made Lu Yanhe notice that his eyes were a little red, as if he had just cried.
"Aren't you going to record a show? Why are you still here?" Lu Yanhe asked.
"I, I won't record anymore." Chen Jing hurriedly replied, and was about to leave. "I have something else to do, so I'm leaving first."
Without waiting for Lu Yanhe to speak, Chen Jing walked upstairs and brushed past Lu Yanhe, as if afraid that Lu Yanhe would ask him questions.
Only a fool could not see that Chen Jing was in a bad mood right now.
Not recording anymore?
Chen Jing's bad mood was probably related to this incident. Chen Jing had practiced dancing in the middle of the day for this program, but it wasn't recorded. How could his hard work have been in vain?
I don't know what's going on with the recording of this show.
Lu Yanhe went downstairs, walked out of the company gate and came to the roadside.
Li Zhibai's car was parked on the side of the road, waiting for him.
"Why did you suddenly want to eat fried chicken tonight?" Lu Yanhe opened the car door and got in. After getting in, he saw that there were not only Li Zhibai and Yan Liang in the car, but also Li Zhenzhen. "PD Li, you're still here!"
Li Zhenzhen's long hair was tied up. She smiled and asked with a curved eyelid, "What's wrong? Are you not happy to see me?"
"No, I was just surprised. I thought you had already gone back." Lu Yanhe asked, "Have you been with Li Zhibai all day today?"
"Yeah, and he stayed in the house all day and didn't go out." Li Zhenzhen sighed, "So I suggested that we go out for fried chicken tonight, and I'll treat him."
"Oh, so that's how it is." Lu Yanhe thought, no wonder, I never saw Li Zhibai and Yan Liang say they wanted to eat fried chicken, so it turned out to be someone else.
It's the evening rush hour and the road is a bit congested.
Yan Liang flipped through his phone and said, "I don't know what happened to Chen Jing."
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was a little surprised when he heard the name.
"In the afternoon, MX's official account issued a statement saying that Chen Jing would need to be absent from the recording of "Ace Smash" due to health reasons." Yan Liang explained.
"Physical reasons?" Lu Yanhe was even more surprised.
"That's quite a shame. 'Ace of Smash' is quite popular. I heard that it took a long time for MX to agree on this episode," Li Zhenzhen said. "Originally, all the MX members could have participated in the recording."
Lu Yanhe thought about Chen Jing whom he had just met. He didn't look like he had any health problems.
I practiced dancing all afternoon.
Li Zhibai tutted his words and said, "What's wrong with you controlling them? Maybe they just don't want to record anymore and made up this excuse. Anyway, you know those MX guys. After they become famous, they can quit at any time. Even if they quit, it's okay. They're famous. Even if they're not professional, there are still a lot of shows begging them to be on them."
Yan Liang: "That's right."
Lu Yanhe thought about it and said, "It doesn't seem like Chen Jing is just giving up."
"Hmm?" Yan Liang was a little surprised that Lu Yanhe would speak up for Chen Jing at this time. "Do you know what's going on?"
Lu Yanhe said, "He practiced dancing all afternoon today in the rehearsal room I booked. If he takes his performance on this show so seriously, he wouldn't quit for no reason."
Yan Liang: "Then why did he suddenly stop recording the show?"
"I don't know." Lu Yanhe also shook his head, and the image of Chen Jing he had just seen when he went downstairs emerged in his mind. "Maybe something unexpected happened."
"Is there really something wrong with my body?" Yan Liang asked in surprise.
"What could go wrong? At most, you just sprained your ankle." Li Zhibai said immediately.
The two people did not have a good impression of MX, and as a result, they also had a bad impression of Chen Jing.
Even though Lu Yanhe spoke up for Chen Jing, it didn't affect the two of them from still speculating negatively about Chen Jing.
Li Zhenzhen said, "You are from the same company. If you really want to know what's going on, why don't you just ask someone who knows?"
"What are you asking? What's there to ask? Their MX affairs have nothing to do with me." Li Zhibai said immediately.
Li Zhenzhen showed a somewhat speechless expression.
After observing for a whole day, Li Zhenzhen finally discovered that this handsome and popular male idol was actually a child who had not grown up yet. He had been spoiled by his family since he was a child, had a bad temper, and always said one thing and meant another.
But human nature is good.
After observing for a day, Li Zhenzhen hoped even more that Li Zhibai would join her show.
There are very few artists in the entertainment industry who have such a strong self-personality.
Today's idol artists are too perfect and distorted.
Among Lu Yanhe, Li Zhibai and Yan Zhen, it can be seen that Li Zhibai has the most distinct personality and rarely restrains himself. No matter who he is in front of, he always looks energetic.
-
There are quite a lot of people in the fried chicken shop.
Fortunately, Li Zhibai booked a seat in advance.
There was a line of people waiting in line in front of the store.
Several of them walked straight into the store, which caused a lot of dissatisfaction and they asked why they were allowed to go in first.
The waiter explained that they had made a reservation in advance.
Someone recognized Li Zhibai.
“That’s a star, right?”
"Celebrities can skip the queues, do they have any special privileges?"
"Uh, didn't you say you reserved a seat in advance?"
“Why didn’t I know I could reserve a table in advance?”
…
Li Zhibai was about to step into the restaurant when he heard everyone's discussion, so he pulled back and turned around and said, "Call and order the dishes and pay the bill in advance, then you can reserve a table. Aren't there guides all over the internet? Next time you come to one of these internet-famous restaurants, take a look at the guides. It's obvious that you'll have to wait for a table at this kind of restaurant. If you don't want to wait, you can find a way to do it."
The people waiting for a table were confused and looked at Li Zhibai at a loss.
After Li Zhibai finished speaking, the corners of his mouth curled up, and he walked in calmly under their gaze.
Yan Liang looked at him speechlessly and said, "You too, why are you explaining so much?"
Li Zhibai said, "What if this gets spread online and it becomes like I have celebrity privileges? People will recognize me."
He took off his mask and sighed, "I'm so famous that you can still recognize me even with a mask on."
Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang both rolled their eyes.
Because they had ordered food in advance, fried chicken, drinks and fruits were served to them shortly after they sat down.
Worried that one portion of fried chicken would not be enough for four people, Li Zhibai also ordered a pork chop.
Li Zhenzhen asked curiously, "Do you guys often go out to eat together?"
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"You have to come out a few times a week."
"Aren't you worried about being recognized by fans and causing trouble?" Li Zhenzhen asked again.
Lu Yanhe pondered for a moment, glanced at the two of them, and said, "You overestimate us. Aside from Li Zhibai, Yan Liang and I don't actually know many people. We seem to have a few fans online, but in reality, we're scattered all over the place, and the number of people who know us is just a few, not enough to affect our travels. We're not that famous."
Yan Liang nodded in agreement, "Even if they occasionally recognize us, they just want to take a photo with us. It's not a big deal."
Li Zhenzhen smiled awkwardly.
Faced with this kind of artist who tramples himself into the dust, Li Zhenzhen really doesn't know how to respond.
The artists of this age that she usually met were a bit proud.
It’s not that everyone thinks highly of themselves, but they are certainly not like Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang, who are so clear-headed that they even make people feel a little self-deprecating.
At this time, Li Zhibai said: "Actually, even if a few people know me, it's nothing. I'm not as famous as a national superstar. How can I be unable to leave the house? At most, I'll just get stared at a few more times."
Li Zhenzhen felt that the three of them were quite real, and were rare artists who didn't really consider themselves stars.
Maybe it has something to do with their experience of going downhill right after their debut?
When they were on that talent show, they were also very popular.
Indeed, few people can experience both the peak and the trough at the age of seventeen or eighteen.
"What are you learning every day?" Li Zhibai asked.
Lu Yanhe: "In the morning, I learn what constitutes a good performance, and in the afternoon, I learn how to perform well. One is theory, the other is practice."
Li Zhibai sighed.
"Chen Ziyan really cares about you."
"She arranged a lot of classes for me, Wen Minglan, and Tu Song. Everyone is attending." Lu Yanhe said with a smile, "They are all helping us lay the foundation."
"She is quite responsible. Zhou Ping'an arranged another commercial performance for me this afternoon. Guess what it is?" Li Zhibai asked.
Lu Yanhe shook his head.
Unimaginable.
Li Zhibai said: "A real estate project was launched and they asked me to warm up the market."
Lu Yanhe: "...Will he still accept this kind of commercial performance for you?"
"Yeah, you didn't expect that, did you?" Li Zhibai said with a rage, "What he meant was that they paid more, and I have nothing to do anyway."
Lu Yanhe: "Are you going then?"
Li Zhibai said, "You can't always refuse. He's already rejected seven or eight of them. If he keeps rejecting me, I think he'll explode. He accepts all these low-brow performances."
Lu Yanhe sighed.
Zhou Ping'an is like this. In order to make money, he doesn't consider that this kind of work will have a bad impact on Li Zhibai's image.
The business opening of this kind of real estate is a purely commercial performance, and the stage is usually very low-quality, with no so-called stage design at all.
Li Zhibai was previously criticized by many fans online for taking such a job, saying that he seemed too low.
The three people complained that Zhou Ping'an didn't avoid Li Zhenzhen at all.
Li Zhenzhen previously worked as an assistant director under Chen Bijiu, and often came into contact with artist management teams and dealt with many management teams.
Although Li Zhenzhen also felt that Zhou Ping'an was a bit too much in the matter that Li Zhibai complained about, it was still nothing compared to other things she knew.
All I can say is that different people do different things, and the relationships between different artists and different management teams are all kinds of weird, with all sorts of things going on.
Li Zhibai is an artist with a certain degree of autonomy and will not be led by the nose by the management team. However, some artists are more miserable and have become complete tools of the management team and have to listen to the team in everything.
"PD Li, why did you go to Korea before?" Yan Liang asked.
Li Zhenzhen said, "Korean variety shows are very successful, and I wanted to learn from their experience. I've always wanted to make my own show, but if I don't improve myself, it will probably take seven or eight years to get the experience I need to produce my own show. This time, after returning from my studies, Director Chen supported me and helped me become the producer, so I got the green light for this show."
“Are Korean variety shows successful?”
"Well, their environment is different from ours in China. They are small, the market is relatively small, there are many artists, and several TV stations compete with each other fiercely. However, the production budget of a program is actually limited. They can't spend money to recruit big-name artists like some of our programs. In order to stand out, they can only constantly innovate and come up with new ideas." Li Zhenzhen said, "In fact, making variety shows is to follow the trend of the times and find points that can poke common ground. Many programs are completely aimed at being funny because this is the most popular and audiences of all ages like it, but at the same time The quality of life is too serious, which has also caused a huge surge in comedy shows. I was also staying in Korea by myself, unfamiliar with the place, and felt a sense of loneliness. Suddenly, I thought of the concept of young people living together. I hope to create a program like this, bringing together some young artists, and ideally, making it an evergreen program. Find a time every year to get together and film this program. The artists will grow with the program, and the program can also grow with the artists. Just like the three of you living together for three years, if someone records it, it will definitely be a very warm memory for you ten or twenty years later.
Lu Yanhe nodded.
He actually understood Li Zhenzhen's thoughts.
As soon as Li Zhenzhen said the four words "a stranger in a foreign land", he suddenly understood.
People need friends, but not everyone is lucky enough to meet true friends.
If a program is done well, it can become a comfort.
The kind of friendship that cannot be experienced in real life can be felt through the show, which is also a kind of comfort.
