nucmednet Chapter 180: Skills and Limitations
Chapter 180: Skills and Limitations
Director Xie's voice sounded serious but also a little playful.
"You look mature, but you act like a baby when you encounter setbacks. Do you think filming a movie is as easy as filming a TV series? How can you not go crazy when filming a movie?"
Qin Xi: “!!!”
Qin Xi was very dissatisfied, "Director, swear to God, how can filming a TV series be so easy?! I just finished dubbing [The Biography of Yan Qing], and it should have been edited by now. It's such a long drama with so many scenes. Have you seen any of my scenes be perfunctory or careless?"
"I can swear to heaven that I have given my all in all the thousands of scenes. The quality of the play is there. Tell me, even if Yue Ying hadn't given up on "The Story of Yan Qing" because of the filming, could she have acted better than me?"
"Look, you came to me to cry and I just said one thing to you and you got excited!"
Director Xie didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "I haven't finished talking yet, do you want to continue listening?"
Qin Xi sniffed and admitted defeat.
"Director, I was wrong. Director, please tell me~"
Director Xie explained, "When I said it was easy, I didn't mean that you didn't work hard enough. When you were shooting [The Story of Yan Qing], your seriousness and hard work were obvious to all. The fine editing has been submitted for review. The results are amazing, both from a professional perspective and from the perspective of the audience's appreciation..."
"The role of Yan Qing is highly suitable for you. The contrast between the characters is large and there is a lot of room for you to play. From the rough cut to the fine cut, I watched [The Story of Yan Qing] many times. Your performance in [The Story of Yan Qing] is definitely a step up from [The Lone Eagle]. It can even be said that it has surpassed all your previous roles and reached a new height."
"Although [The Legend of Yan Qing] is still under review, there are already several TV stations that have worked with you before. The TV stations that have broadcast your dramas are even more enthusiastic. If nothing goes wrong, [The Legend of Yan Qing] will be broadcast during the summer season. By then, the audience will be able to see your efforts and progress."
For Qin Xi, who is now in a gloomy mood, this news is undoubtedly an unexpected surprise. When all is said and done, there is always light in the west. After the blow she suffered in "The Abyss and You", "The Biography of Yan Qing" can at least give her some comfort.
More than half a year has passed, and there is finally news that "The Legend of Yan Qing" will be broadcast. No one is more looking forward to "The Legend of Yan Qing" being judged by the audience than Qin Xi.
"Director, why are you suddenly praising me?"
Qin Xi felt a little embarrassed. It had only been half a year since they last met, and she didn't expect Director Xie to be so comforting.
"What are you thinking? I'm not praising you. I'm using this incident to point out your problem!"
Qin Xi: “…”
Is the foreshadowing a bit too long?
"When I say that you find it easy to film TV dramas, I'm not saying that you don't work hard enough, but that you find it easy to film period dramas. God has blessed you with a unique classical temperament. Some people always say that you are 'the chosen ancient person' because of this..."
"Because of your innate temperament and conditions, you can easily identify the state and feeling of ancient people. Even if the audience has never seen real ancient people, you have the ability to make people believe that your character is real. This is your ability, but it is also your limitation."
Director Xie continued, "Because costume dramas are different from films with realistic themes. Costume dramas are suspended and not grounded. But realistic themes must be grounded. The deeper your attainments in costume dramas, the greater your limitations. Because these two themes are inherently separated..."
"It's like an ancient person who traveled through time to perform in a modern drama. It looks fake at first glance. Do you think the audience can believe it?"
"So, it's impossible to say that an actor can handle any role. To play a role well, the actor must have something in common with the role, and only by magnifying this point and shrinking himself can the role stand out."
"Those so-called "faces who can be played in any role" just have more characteristics, or they try to dig out more characteristics from themselves in order to interpret more roles. Haven't you noticed that the award-winning works of those best actors and actresses are the roles that best fit their current temperament? There are even many big directors who will specifically change the character's personality according to the actor, so that the character and the actor can truly merge into one..."
"You're right. If Yue Ying plays Yan Qing, she won't be as good as you. It's not that your acting skills are better than hers, but your temperament and personality are more suitable for ancient revenge heroines like Yan Qing than Yue Ying. Do you understand?"
The more Qin Xi listened, the colder her heart became. "So, Director, what you mean is that my image and temperament are not suitable, so won't it be out of place no matter how I act?"
Qin Xi broke out in a cold sweat. Now it was not just about money. Was such a masterpiece as "The Abyss and You" going to be ruined in his hands?
Director Xie chuckled, "Since you joined the crew these days, do you feel that you are getting worse at acting? Not only are you not able to use your acting skills that you were so proud of before, but everything you do is wrong?"
Qin Xi nodded repeatedly in shock, and suddenly remembered that Director Xie couldn't see, so he spoke quickly.
"That's right, Director, you are amazing. I am like this now. If this continues, I will develop camera phobia!"
"That's right. Although your director is a newcomer, she has a sharp eye and can see the crux of your problem at a glance. Since the acting skills you have accumulated in the past and are so proud of are not only useless to you in this film, but will also hinder you, then she will simply grind you down bit by bit and break you down completely. Then, based on her understanding, she will reconstruct you into a new you that completely belongs to the role!"
Qin Xi: “!!!”
"Is this...is this okay?"
"Of course it wouldn't work if it was a TV series, but it's different for movies. It takes several months to shoot a two-hour scene. She has plenty of time to work with you slowly."
"Take Yue Ying's first role that won her a Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress as an example. She was tortured by the director to the point of mental breakdown while filming that role. She could only relieve stress by yelling every day. Videos of her going crazy can be found online. Later, with the intervention of a psychologist, it took her a long time to recover. But it was this role that allowed her to defeat many strong competitors and win the Best Actress award by surprise."
"So I say, how can making movies not be crazy? Of course, except for crappy commercial movies. Only you know the pain of rebuilding yourself after collapse and struggle, and everything depends on you. If you can make it, then you may get your first movie role of your life; if you can't make it, there's no need to say more..."
Qin Xi sighed. She had thought too simply. These three months might have been longer for her than the eight months she had spent filming "The Biography of Yan Qing". But no matter how difficult it was, she, Qin Xi, would never admit defeat!
"I'll give you another suggestion, maybe it will make you feel better..."
"That is, don't try to resist, just give yourself to the director without reservation!"