After "Happy Start Again", Daqian has taken "four ounces to move a thousand pounds" to the extreme. This time is a little different. Daqian focuses on a group of people who have never been watched by variety shows: extras. The "208" who are tired of watching and have no

Following "Happy Start Again", Daqian has taken "four ounces to move a thousand pounds" to the extreme.

This time is a little different. Daqian focused on a group of people who have never been watched by variety shows: extras .

The "208" who are tired of watching and have no acting skills are enjoying the top resources in the variety show. "Little Hollywood" will replace the protagonists of the variety show with a group of extras who are "floating" in Hengdian. Watch them fight for a completely useless actor. After auditioning for a low-profile role and grabbing notices, he has embarked on a different variety show track, which is extremely novel and eye-catching.

Especially the "Capture the Horse" audition scene in the first episode of the show even gave Leng Yan the same feeling and joy as watching the auditions of fast men and fast women.

The cold looks from above also went directly to the Daqian headquarters. Before the directing team and actors went live, they chatted with the producer Zhao Linlin, chief director Zhao Hao, and chief screenwriter Wu Yao about the show. Let’s talk about “extras”.

Hengllywood? How to break in?

As you can tell from the name of the program, this is a program filmed in Hengdian, focusing on "horizontal drifting" and the story of the lowest-level extras.

How to tell such a story in a different way? Daqian’s solution is: group image .

The program started with a large-scale audition in Hengdian.

Whether you are a "pure newcomer" who has just arrived in Hengdian for three days and has no acting experience but is full of passion;

or a "jobber" who just came back from another set and didn't even have time to take off his headgear;

Even in Hengdian He is a "veteran drama veteran" who has worked hard and played supporting roles in many popular dramas.

Everyone has to perform in the situation set on the spot and participate in the audition equally.

When there are enough samples, the content will be "varied".

Some actors were "shocked" and stole the show. In the first trial scene of the inn's evacuation, the actress playing the "sister" cried the whole time, and in the end her partner covered her mouth and "manually turned off the mic."

Some actors are like "I am sober when everyone is drunk." No matter how far the plot deviates from the norm, no matter which direction his partners are going, he always has his own beliefs, only sees what he wants to see, and only says what he wants to say.

Some actors are stuck in the "infinite flow" dilemma. They can't figure out the plot logic and can't continue the story. They can only endlessly cycle nonsense one sentence after another...

And if we say, the audition is mainly "interesting" "After the audition, the cruel reality of extras was officially unveiled.

"Little Hollywood" simulates the most primitive ecology of Hengdian and designs an extremely eye-catching link: grabbing notices.

The extras who were promoted in the first phase of the audition will have the opportunity to participate in film and television shooting in the second phase. There are four sets of film and television clips for the contestants to choose from, but the type and number of roles are limited, and the contestants need to come early. I squatted on the set waiting for the opportunity and lined up for interviews.

In order to present a more realistic Hengdian ecology, the order of the interviews of the extras is also particular: the program team first asked all the actors to stand side by side in a row, and the actors who arrived first on the set had the opportunity to advance. Actors who have won performance awards and have obtained special status are eligible to advance one by one.

On the one hand, it was first come, first served; on the other hand, it was the superposition of professionalism, experience, and talent. Soon, there was a clear gap between the starting lines of the 50 actors from the beginning.

What’s even more cruel is that based on the program group settings, not only the contestants at the front of the queue can be interviewed first, but after the interview is successful, they can still line up to participate in the casting interviews of other groups.

As a result, some actors grabbed multiple roles by themselves, while some actors had absolutely no roles to play, which was not "fair" at all. Even when the roles were all decided, no matter whether the people behind them had interviewed or not, they would not be able to play. The announcement has ended.

The first contestant to arrive at the set at around four in the morning was directly eliminated because he failed to grab any role. Of course,

grabbed the role, but it does not mean promotion. Faced with the extremely high elimination rate of 15 out of 50 in the second period, the actors need to be among the top few in the film and television clips they participate in before they can truly pass the level. This requires strength and some luck.

In just two episodes, the "wildness" and "cruelty" of the extras created great tension.

When the protagonists are ready and the story truly begins, they will also receive more professional training and more demanding "theatre assessments."

From the "wild style" on the set to the "academic style" in the theater, during this process, extras need to learn to become professional actors, write character biographies, conceive plot logic, figure out drama conflicts, and interpret the story in a drama way , at the same time, their performance was also scrutinized by the audience representatives generated by the Hengdian crew throughout the entire process, and the players' fate was decided from a professional perspective.

How to break into "Little Hollywood" depends on them.

Extras are not a dream utopia

Before talking to the creators of the show, I cold-eyed and naively thought that I knew the "extras" very well.

I have watched " I am a passerby " directed by Er Dongsheng , and have also seen many short videos of "resigning to pursue a dream to become an extra". In the cold eyes of "extras", they are undoubtedly The best synonym for "grassroots and dreams".

But this description was met with crazy denials from chief director Zhao Hao and chief screenwriter Wu Yao.

"After we decided on the topic of 'extras', we rented a self-built house in Hengdian. Our task was to go out every day and chat with the extras along the street. Many of the actors in our show were actually swept out by 'street sweeping'

In order to better penetrate the inside, one of our screenwriters also applied for an actor certificate and worked on the crew for a while, and even earned a salary.

But he finally told us: 'Brother, in the future Don't let me go, let me do anything, just don't be an extra. '"

The screenwriter who said this is participating in a major costume IP, and his role is a passerby carrying a burden. . The entire filming lasted 20 hours and required handing in your cell phone to completely lose contact with the outside world.After a hard day's work, plus overtime and overweight labor allowances, he received a salary of less than 200 yuan.

But long-term fatigue was not the reason that defeated him at all. What was more unbearable than physical fatigue was the mental pressure.

Wu Yao explained that the screenwriter was responsible for the "field investigation" of the program team. On the set, he had to chat with twenty or thirty extras a day. But he felt more confused than "dream".

"The screenwriter told us that the world of extras seems to be an unwalkable quagmire. Most of the extras live day by day, working when there is work and lying down when there is no work. No one in the crew has time. Tell them what to do and how to improve."

Zhao Hao then added to us that there was a scene that had a great impact on him during the recording: "After the audition, we found that a large number of actors could not even understand basic lines. It's hard to say. We wanted to remind them to learn more, but they told me, 'They don't know where to learn, nor how to learn. The most they can do is listen to some special actors to share their experiences. '"

is even more cruel. However, after investigation, the program team discovered that there are even institutions in Hengdian that pretend to be acting training but deceive people. Some contestants borrowed tens of thousands of yuan to attend acting classes, but in the end learned nothing.

Of course, there are indeed real dream chasers in Hengdian, and their stories even have a strong romantic flavor. Wu Yao told Leng Yan, "Qu Fengguo, the millionaire boss in our audition, is a true story. He practiced the basic skills of an actor for 20 years. After his family and children were stable, he sold his medical beauty company. But there are very few people who give up their original wealthy life and come to Hengdian to pursue their dreams. Acting as an extra is essentially an ordinary profession.” After Wu Yao’s further introduction, we learned that Hengdian itself has a distinct hierarchy. Ecosystem of extras:

The outermost "new actors" are paid 120 RMB;

are promoted to prospect actors or special actors. They have a few lines and can get a salary of 300 to 500 RMB. Only when they get here can they be considered as real actors. The threshold of this industry;

and further up, it is the distinction between grades and remuneration.

However, clear career paths do not mean equal promotion paths.

Regardless of appearance or traffic, actors with advantages can always enjoy better resources, and they can progress faster when learning in a good team, forming a virtuous cycle. But most of the extras don't know how to obtain resources, nor how to hone their acting skills. If they are less talented, even if they have enough dreams, they will most likely become "cannon fodder." And even if they have both strength and dreams, looking back over the years, there are only one or two group performers who have truly become "instantly famous".

This also explains the background of the program of "Little Hollywood": Rather than creating a utopia of "fame", it is better to provide more opportunities and help for the hardworking extras.

An opportunity to appear on the camera is more real than fame

Lengyan likes producer Zhao Linlin’s description of "Little Break in Hollywood": "Rather than telling a story about grassroots pursuit of dreams, "Little Break in Hollywood" hopes to pass the test This show makes the extras' lives a little better than before.From extras to prospects, then to special contracts, you can get more pay, even if you don't become famous, you can still support your family locally and live a good life, making "extras" something you can look forward to. "

It is for this reason that director Zhao Hao repeatedly mentioned in the interview that "presentation" is more important than "creation" .

At the beginning of the program, the director team spent a lot of time, energy and space to show the auditions. link, in order to allow these extras to show their faces and have the opportunity to "appear" in front of the camera.

This original intention also made Zhao Hao a "soft-hearted god" in the eyes of the audience. Actors, the program team broke the rules and added opportunities for substitutes;

Even if they waited two days behind the camera and failed to realize the substitutes, the director team was willing to work overtime for a few hours after the work was over to provide these "eliminated" actors They specially filmed a complete video segment.

However, no matter how much the program team hopes to give the actors enough opportunities, due to cost constraints, only a dozen people can enter the program recording. Even if there were more actors who performed well enough, it would be difficult for the show to tell their stories.

With such regret, Wu Yao told Leng Yan that the night after filming 50 into 15, she finished work at 3 or 4 in the morning. Neither Zhao Hao nor I fell asleep. was waiting in the hotel lobby at seven or eight in the morning, apologizing to the contestants who checked out one by one, and explaining the haste and restrictions of the program team.

However, faced with extremely harsh cost restrictions, " "Little Hollywood" still did not skimp on the expenses that the actors needed most. The program team gave the actors as much as possible with the few resources they had, and invited well-known directors Wang Jing and major professional actors for them. , teachers systematically train lines and postures, and learn ancient etiquette, character creation and modern performances.

Perhaps as viewers, compared to acting variety shows involving big directors and big stars, such acting classes can be said to be very basic and ordinary, but compared to extras who have no resources and no promotion channels For me, this is extremely precious.

"This is the most uncomfortable point for us during the audition. We do not guarantee that the program will be popular, nor do we guarantee that the contestants will be popular, but as creators, we still have to stick to our original aspirations. Let the extras come for a visit. We have a few professional teachers who can allow these extras to participate and learn something through a reasonable competition system. We can only give so much.”

Fortunately, these actors finally It lived up to the intentions of the program team.

Cao Yixin in the second period of the first film and television shooting followed the original idea, with exaggerated expressions and suspended characters. However, after the guidance of director Wang Jing, she changed completely the next day and wrote the characters by herself. Biographies, thinking about the character's behavioral logic, and adding more details, finally got the precious promotion spot;

Liu Min , in the past, always played the "harlequin" with a comedic color, but in "Little Hollywood" , whether it is film and television shooting or theater assessment, we have seen her shaping and grasping of more diverse characters in addition to comedy roles, especially her control and sense of rhythm to play a leading role in the team. She has basically become a professional The level of actors;

Huang Jian, his performance during the initial interview was still superficial, with obvious traces, almost "little transparent", but after several master classes, his performance was visibly accurate and restrained, and in the latest theater assessment In the film, Huang Jian attracted enough attention from the audience with his monologue alone, and was evaluated by his instructor Sun Qian as a "greatly improved actor."

In a cold eye, this is what "Little Hollywood" wants to present most:

It has never been a "dream-making" story, it is more like a realistic record of "extras", telling people who the extras are. , what kind of life they live, and tell people who they want to strive to be.

Speaking of this, Zhao Linlin also revealed more good news to Leng Yan. Currently, some actors in the show have been spotted by other program groups or platforms and have received job offers. Maybe it won’t be long before we can see these people. More moments for the cast to shine.

At the end of the conversation, the director team also opened up their imaginations with Leng Yan. If there is a next season and a larger budget, Daqian would like to present the story of the "extras" in a more extreme and scene-based way. Or a weekly "actor audition" that everyone can participate in.

Of course, no matter what mode it is, the theme of "extras" obviously has more room for "presentation".

Standing one week after the final draft, looking back at the entire interview, I was still moved by Daqian’s “extreme sincerity”.

Compared with the meticulous pattern design, what is more impressive is the 100% attention and cherishing of the extras by the director team. This makes "Little Hollywood" not only exist as a variety show, but also It has become a window for the audience and the market to truly understand the extras.

Although in the minds of the director team, the work may not be perfect enough, they honestly believe that this is the most real, sincere and warmest program this year. After watching too many catchy and speechless variety shows, and high-concept variety shows that quarreled over artistic concepts, "Little Hollywood" made Leng Yan put down some serious scrutiny, and gained more empathy, understanding, and peace. happy.

After all, sincerity and passion never go out of style, and they can always hit the audience directly. Whether it's a show, an actor or a director, Leng Yan wants to send better and better wishes.