Chapter 75

Langley divides Paul Conroy, the hero of "buried alive", into two levels of performance,

The first part is the expression of emotion, fear when fear, panic when panic, despair when despair, this is the typical performance school acting skills; What's more, the same fear is presented in different ways at different stages. When Paul just found out that he was buried alive, when Paul failed to ask for help with his mobile phone, when Paul realized that his death was coming... These delicate and complicated treatments are a severe test of his basic skills.

Real Expressionists pay great attention to control. From muscles to corners of the mouth to eyes, the whole person is a whole. The emotion conveyed by every detail change will be different. Maybe the audience can't describe it in words for a while, but after the combination of the role and the plot, the empathy will be expressed accurately, Make it a pleasure to watch the show.

Alfred hithcock once made it clear that all his works required the use of expressionism, but rejected the use of Methodism. The reason is very simple. For horror, thriller, comedy and other works, the accuracy of emotion is the first factor.

Although this is the field that Langley is familiar with, it is not a simple thing, because Paul's mood in "buried alive" is in chaos and fluctuation. The turbulence in the narrow space will be more and more intense and more repressed with the advance of time, just like a powder keg being constantly compressed. It is not easy to perform.

What's more, although Lan Li has been a man of two generations, most of the time he talks about the performance on paper, and his actual combat experience is not enough.

The second part is the role mining, which tests the actor's understanding of the role and the interpretation of the script. This is no longer limited to the role, but also the relationship between the characters and society, the background of story creation, the source of the core theme, and so on. This requires the actor to get rid of the performance skills themselves and truly understand the role image, the background of the times, and the social significance, Then give the performance its own understanding.

The Iraq war is a big background. The financial crisis that the United States has just experienced the real estate bubble is a backdrop. Paul chose to accept the work of the Iraqi contractor. The decision itself is not only related to him, but also related to society.

For example, when Paul contacted the US Federal Bureau of investigation (FBI), they asked Paul not to tell the media. On the surface, the reason was that he was worried that malicious media speculation would reduce Paul's hope of escape. But in fact, it was because of the turmoil in Iraq, where American civilians were killed one after another. The United States had been constantly condemning the government because of the quagmire in Iraq, At this moment, the last thing they need is the news that "another civilian died".

Therefore, the attitude of the FBI and Paul's anger, anxiety and helplessness are different. As Langley said, whether Paul is a civilian or a rich man, whether he is a man or a woman, whether he is in the United States or in Iraq, will lead to different results. Paul himself knows this, and his reaction is naturally different. The details, methods and contents of his performance will be biased.

If the Expressionists pay attention to control, then the Methodists pay attention to letting go, really putting themselves away, allowing themselves to devote themselves to the role, blurring the boundaries between themselves and the role, between reality and illusion, and putting themselves in the position to feel and show. For the audience, the connection between them and the characters will be closer and more shocking.

This is a brand new field for lanli. In his last life, he spent ten years in hospital bed. Before that, he lived a completely orderly and boring life. It can be said that all his experiences came from film stories, but everyone knows that film is always an art, more or less exaggerated or deductive, After all, it's different from reality.

So, in terms of experience, Langley is really only 20 years old. If we try to develop acting skills in a new way, lanli must start from scratch. Every performance starts from scratch.

Now, lanli is trying to combine the two ways of performance, to explore a new way of performance, to give the role a new touch. If someone knows Lan Li's idea, he will either scold him for being a madman or despise him for overstepping his ability.

Regardless of Lan Li's age, "burying alive" is only his second work and first film. Now even the performance school is far from perfect. It's just a fantasy that he wants to integrate the two performance methods. Even old actors like Meryl Streep and Daniel Day Lewis dare not say they can do it, let alone Langley?

But lanli has no such worry. Now that he has been reborn, has decided to constantly challenge the limits of performance, and has chosen this road, why not go crazy? What's more, the so-called innovation is to jump out of the box and imagine boldly. If we just follow the way of our predecessors, then he will never walk out of his own way, will he?

In his second life, lanli didn't come to be conservative.

In lanli's view, the basic skill of expressionism is undoubtedly an advantage, just like the foundation of a tall building. It is solid, steady and accurate. But on the whole, the constraints of expressionism are too strong, too crafty and lack of aura. Eddie Redmayne is a typical representative. It doesn't mean that his performance is not good enough, but the routine is too obvious and the framework is also obvious.

On the other hand, the Methodists are too casual, not only prone to force too much, but also lead to the collapse of the whole role due to misunderstanding; From another point of view, actors can perform according to their own style and understanding without restraint. The Madness on the verge of madness will give the characters a sense of uncertainty and mystery. Leonardo DiCaprio is the representative. In fact, his performance is often too fierce, too much is still not enough, But the viewing experience is vivid and lifelike.

It can be simply understood that all performances of the Expressionists are rehearsed in advance, and the actors have a clear idea of what they are doing, and then they can offer the right performance in the right way at the right time and in the right position. Their solid basic skills make the performance a kind of enjoyment and constantly polish their skills. That kind of craftsmanship spirit is enough to move every audience.

However, all the performances of the Methodists are unpredictable. After the actors really integrate themselves into the roles, they put aside all the constraints and put into the performance. However, before watching the monitors, no one can know what the effects are. They are easy to lose control and even get lost. Once the actor enters the role, it will be difficult to control, not necessarily completely accurate, may be too exaggerated, may be slightly inadequate, but the fusion of reality and fantasy can bring the soul shocked viewing experience.

Therefore, it is lanli's goal to integrate the two ways of performance, learn from each other and develop a way of performance of his own.

Rodriguez is a director, his research on performance is not so deep and thorough, but he also knows that it is not an easy thing to show both levels according to Langley's words - more accurately, it is a very difficult thing, even those first-line actors who are famous for their acting skills dare not boast so much; However, once successful, not only the depth and thickness of the character will change, but also the whole work will be reborn.

It's a good thing to have a big goal, but the premise is to be down-to-earth; The result of ambition can only be broken to pieces.

Rodriguez looked at the confident and calm blue Li in front of him. His eyes wavered slightly for a moment. Then he stood up abruptly and said, "give me a minute." Without losing his voice, he ran wildly and disappeared into the crowd. However, in a short time, Rodriguez appeared in sight again. He rushed back with a full face and sat down in front of blue Li again. "Here you are."

Rodriguez handed lanli a small book, but before lanli could pick it up, Rodriguez took it back, "wait a minute." He bowed his head and began to look through the book. While turning it over, he thought deeply. After two hesitations, he nodded his head to express his affirmation. Then he showed the book to Lan Li, "you read the script, and then we'll have a try."

In front of Lan Li's eyes, it was the script of "buried alive".

Lan Li took over the script, showing a smile, "so, is the audition finally going to get to the point now?" That calm manner, let Rodriguez more and more look forward to curiosity.

In the formal audition, the casting director will test the actors in different ways, which may be just chatting, allowing the actors to perform a performance prepared in advance, or talking about a specific topic... However, the most common is a scene in which the script is selected on the spot, which tests the actors' on-the-spot reaction ability and their ability to read the script, Of course, it also tests the actor's lines.

That's what Rodriguez is doing now.

He watched Lan Li's action attentively, with some apprehension, expectation, curiosity and excitement in his heart. No matter what medicine is sold in lanli gourd, for him, a live performance is the best test method to see how much weight lanli has, whether it's a mule or a horse.

Instead of reading the lines in a hurry, Lan Li scanned the two pages of the script to understand the cause and effect; After that, he determined a part of the play and read it seriously; The third time I read all the lines in a low voice. The whole process is very fast, but the rhythm is not slow, well controlled, professional posture immediately appeared.

All of a sudden, Rodriguez remembered the incident that Langley had just mentioned when he met. Fortunately, he didn't watch the "Pacific War", so he didn't have a fixed impression. This is a good thing.

Is that true?