1905 film network special article "I have never seen so many people."
faced the dark crowded audience and the flashing camera lights, Zhang Zhanyi sincerely sighed.
The two "uncles" around him who were about his age also seemed a little at a loss. They are all starring actors in the movie "Sherlock on the Plain".
For the first movie premiere in his life, the three uncles put down their farm work and came from their hometown in Shenzhou, Hebei, more than 200 kilometers away, wearing suits borrowed by the crew.
However, it is precisely these three unknown uncles, plus a new director who is just emerging, this "Sherlock on the Plains" has scored 7.8 on Douban and 9.0 on Maoyan, which beats "Two Major productions such as "Tiger" and "Ice Peak Storm" have become the champion of word-of-mouth among new Chinese films in the same period.
Looking through the audience's comments, it is not difficult to find that the reason for "Sherlock" is very simple: truthful and sincere. The "truth" of
comes from the following aspects: The story of the
film comes from the real thing that happened next to the director: a relative was hit by a car, and the family chose not to report the incident in order to be able to smoothly reimburse medical expenses, but formed a private detective team in private. "Look for the murderer. The actors and actresses of
are all amateurs, and they are all farmers in the deep state. The actor Xu Chaoying is the father of director Xu Lei, and actors such as Zhang Zhanyi and Su Shuhe are also the director’s neighbors. Needless to say, the naturalness and tacit understanding of the performance.
In addition to the constant laughter brought by the "earth-flavored detectives", the most touching thing in the film is the kind and simple emotions among the villagers. This brotherhood has long been rooted in the hearts of several protagonists, and it is naturally revealed without any trace of performance. Of course, it is particularly touching.
is not just this "Sherlock on the Plain". In recent years, more and more directors have begun to boldly use amateur actors as the protagonists. There are also many non-professional actors who are recognized for their first electric shock and are nominated for major film festivals. .
In the just-concluded Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, the 79-year-old Yang Taiyi was shortlisted for the best actor with "Passing Zhaoguan", competing with famous actors such as Wang Jingchun, Xu Zheng, Duan Yihong, and before making this film, his The identity is still an ordinary farmer in Zhoukou, Henan.
At the Pingyao Film Festival last year, he also won Fei Mu honorary best actor. At the award ceremony, he spoke in an authentic Henan dialect: "Thank you, thank you, the judges. I am a farmer. I am 78 this year. I have never acted in a movie. This is the first time.”
is on the nomination list for Best Actress in the Golden Rooster Awards. Zhao Xiaoli of "Singing Alive" is also a "half" amateur actor. Before that, she was a professional actor of Sichuan Opera Troupe. This is her first film and television work. She also won the best actress award at the 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival Asian Newcomer Award for this role.
In addition, in recent years, many well-received "dark horse" literary films, such as "August", "Roadside Picnic", "Heart Labyrinth", "Kan Rinpoche", "Red Flowers and Green Leaves", etc., have almost all starring roles All amateur lineup. They contributed to the performance of professional actors in the film, which made the audience shine. Why use non-professional actors for
? An unavoidable direct cause of
is funding. Most of the films mentioned above are the first two works of the new director, or small and medium cost literary films, and the money that can be spent on actors is very limited.
Looking for amateur actors with low pay or even zero pay is undoubtedly a shortcut for this kind of film throttling. Many new directors "start with" directly from acquaintances. For example, director Xu Lei mobilized his parents, relatives, and neighbors to star in "Sherlock on the Plain". The actor of "Roadside Picnic" Chen Yongzhong is director Bi Gan's "Little "Aunt", "August" is also starring relatives and friends of director Zhang Dalei.
In addition to cost considerations, "realism" is also a natural advantage of amateur actors.
"Sherlock on the Plain" originally portrays the stories and human sentiments of Xu Lei’s hometown in Hebei. It also requires the performance in local dialects. It seems logical to invite "character prototypes" to appear. "There are many plots that I did not design. It’s their decades of life experience. It’s something that grows in their lives, so it’s very real.” Huo Meng, the director of
"Passing Zhaoguan", decided from the very beginning that he would use a full amateur to star, because professional actors are very Little experience of living in the country, their image, languageEven the pleats on the face are difficult to meet the requirements, "In the aesthetic system of my film, actors cannot make-up. That is fake." At the same time, Li Fuchang's personality is very close to Yang Taiyi himself. It is said that Yang Taiyi specially "reviewed" the script before acting to make sure that he "will not ruin the image of old party members" before deciding to play.
Zhang Yang's initial idea of "Kang Rinpoche" was only the story direction and character setting, and there was no specific script. He hopes to follow a group of real pilgrims to shoot and dig out stories from their lives. The last eleven people in the group are all real pilgrims he found in the local village. Tsering Quzhen is also a real pregnant woman. During the filming, her son Dingzi Dengda was born smoothly.
and some movies due to the particularity of the themes, choosing amateur actors who are familiar with these themes becomes the optimal solution.
"Singing Alive" tells the story of a folk Sichuan opera troupe who has tossed and wandered in the countryside of Chengdu for more than ten years. At the beginning of
, someone suggested that Deng Jie act as the heroine, but Deng Jie said that she couldn't "act so vividly", so she retreated and started as a producer, choosing to star directly from the Sichuan Opera Troupe in the original story. The heroine Zhao Xiaoli said that 90% of the plot is her own personal experience, "Cry once in a performance".
will also have a major production of "Chinese Women's Volleyball" for the Spring Festival next year. The 12-member "Old Women's Volleyball" lineup that has been announced is all professional volleyball players who have never played in movies. Even Lang Ping's daughter Bailang who played the young Lang Ping is also a professional volleyball player. According to director Chen Kexin, the crew tried to find actors over 1.8 meters tall and taught them to test volleyball, but the feeling of the shot was completely wrong. In the end, they decided to select from tens of thousands of volleyball players across the country. It took half a year. After several rounds of elimination and performance training, the twelve actors to play the old women's volleyball team were finally determined.
Non-professional actors are a "double-edged sword"
"If you make a blockbuster like "The Great Wall", you must use professional actors, because they want to shape others, not themselves, and need methods and inertia, but everyone in "August" What I did did not exceed daily life, so I also hope to use ordinary actors.” Director Zhang Dalei stated the difference in applicability between professional and non-professional actors.
For subjects that require life-like performances, amateur actors have their own advantages. To a large extent, they do not need to perform. They are acting as themselves, even directly using their real names, such as the three starring uncles in "Sherlock on the Plain". The director explained that this is to get them into the play faster.
During the filming of "Sherlock on the Plain", the director generally only needs to introduce the general plot of the scene, and the uncles will discuss together based on their own life experience. Many dialogues and performances are improvised. Decades of life experience made them familiar enough with the scenes and the relationship between the characters in the play, which is a "realm" that professional actors cannot reach in a short time. Huo Meng, the director of
"Passing Zhaoguan", recalled that when he was filming a scene where his grandfather told his grandson about Wu Zixu's story, the child suddenly asked a question that was not on the script. He couldn't help panicking, but he didn't expect Yang Taiyi to naturally. The ground took it down, just like grandpa tells a story to his grandson in life. There are many similar "strokes from the gods" that made Huo Meng delighted. In
"Roadside Picnic", "Auntie" Chen Yongzhong's performance is also very slack, thanks to the fact that the character prototype is originally himself, and he has life pictures in his mind when he reads the script, and he often asks the director what is not enough Meet the truth. In the filming process of the movie "Baby", in addition to the main actors such as Yang Mi, Li Hongqi and Guo Jingfei, director Liu Jie used a large number of amateur actors to play their real professions in life.
Yang Mi said in interviews that he often observes the performances of amateur actors, lamenting why they perform so well, and it is also a test of confrontation with amateur actors. "The lines of the police are different every time, if you don’t really listen to them and watch them. If you really feel it, you won't be able to connect."
However, amateur actors also have their own obvious limitations. Lack of performance experience, no concept of camera and position, very test the director's ability to adjust and control. Chen Yongzhong summed up the disadvantages of non-professional actors from his own experience: "I can't remember the lines, and the performance is a little stiff, and it is easy to get nervous." Zhang Chen, who played the role of his father in "August", also expressedIt shows that the film performance is completely different from what he imagined. Professional actors can know their expressions, states, and eyes without feedback, but non-professional actors may perform completely different from what they imagined. .
As Zhang Dalei said, the advantages and disadvantages of amateur actors are "they can only play themselves, not others", which not only brings incomparable authenticity, but also limits their "drama." The three uncles in "Sherlock" can't escape the native North China Plain. "Auntie" will inevitably lose their edges and corners when they leave Kaili's land.
The "first time" of many amateur actors on the big screen is often the "last time". Most of them will choose to return to their original jobs and social identities after a short actor experience. Of course, like Chen Yongzhong, he gradually explored the transition to "semi-professional" and became a contracted actor, honing his acting skills in more and richer works.
has also started to use amateur actors in large-scale commercial productions like "Chinese Women's Volleyball". It is not difficult to see that non-professional actors are no longer exclusive to small and medium-cost literary films. As long as they fit the roles, they can be recognized by the director and audience.
After all, movies are a life, so why bother to ask where the actors come from.
