yournovel Chapter 101, Project 2 begins.
Chapter 101, Project 2 begins.
The anniversary celebration wasn't very successful.
But among a group of washed-up middle-aged male actors, Teacher Zhou's experience is already quite enviable.
The movie, which is an hour and a half long, focuses most of the shots on him. The key is that he not only held on, but the movie also grossed more than 600 million yuan. Today is August 28th, and there are only three days left before the movie is taken off the screens. The cumulative box office has reached 694 million yuan. Who knows, in these last three days, it might break 700 million yuan.
Production cost several million.
Box office: 700 million.
These data are astonishing no matter how you look at them.
"it is good"
Hearing Nie Cheng say this, Zhou Bo knew that he needed to take things more seriously from now on. Neither of them mentioned Lin Wan, and no one around them mentioned her either; they were all smart people.
It would be fine to bring it up in a different setting, but now that we're at Lin Wan's ex-husband's company, if we bring it up and it gets over to Huang Min, he might give us face by letting us finish the audition, but if he doesn't, he could kick us out immediately.
An actor is an actor.
Even if someone has reached the top level, they still need to show respect when working with a particular director, let alone to these veteran actors who have been around for ages.
It's 2 o'clock.
Someone came to inform us that the afternoon auditions would begin.
Zhou Bo and Nie Cheng received their number plates. This was when the staff came to call their numbers during the audition. Neither of them had any complaints. They were aware that they were past their prime. If they still thought they were still hotshots, then they should just go cool off somewhere else.
There were quite a few people who came in the afternoon. Zhou Bo silently counted, and there were at least twenty or so. Auditions like this usually take a long time to complete. One of them was number ten, and the other was number fifteen. Zhou Bo was at the back of the line. The first person had already gone in. Even though he had played many roles and had a period of fame, he was still quite nervous.
About ten minutes.
The first person came out, and as the second person went in, the first person was stopped by many people who asked what questions the director had asked and what the performance style was. When they heard that it was a performance without props, many people's expressions became reluctant.
Although everyone here was once an actor, this kind of performance without props is precisely the highest level of difficulty among the basic skills of an actor.
There was nothing in front of the actors.
The entire process relies on imagination and a sense of conviction, and through subtle body language and facial expressions, it can be portrayed as if it were truly happening. This is not difficult for established actors, but for these actors... it is quite challenging.
Because the acting profession also requires improvement, there is no problem if you keep filming. However, Zhou Bo has not filmed for many years, and Nie Cheng is in a similar situation. Several other familiar faces around us but whose names I can't recall are probably in the same situation.
"The idea is to select male actors who consistently deliver solid performances while maintaining reasonable salaries through this method."
Nie Cheng said something in a low voice.
"That should be it."
Zhou Bo nodded.
No wonder they chose these actors. The director probably had this idea in mind, hoping to replicate the success of Teacher Zhou Nian. This means that the production cost of Director Huang's next work will not be too high.
When Nie Cheng asked if he was confident, Zhou Bo shook his head helplessly.
"Neither do I."
Nie Cheng also gave a wry smile.
Another male actor came out after auditioning. Unlike the previous one who only mentioned acting without props, this one honestly stated the director's requirements: "A young woman is murdered."
Upon learning of this topic, Zhou Bo frowned. Clearly, this required a high degree of consistency between facial expressions and body language, with a preceding stage... namely, the stage of anticipating fear and the stage of being controlled and pulled, and finally the stage of losing resistance, suffocating, and collapsing to the ground.
At this time.
Zhou Bo then remembered that the guy from earlier also had a problem.
It only mentions "a young woman being murdered," but doesn't say that the director asked them to act out how the woman was murdered, or their first reaction upon seeing the murdered woman.
The time difference between the two is significant.
The first one requires not only actions but also progressively escalating facial expressions. The second one relies more on micro-expression control to convey emotions such as panic and fear.
"That's fucking dishonest."
Nie Cheng also realized what was going on. He smiled and said to Zhou Bo, "Many people in the entertainment industry are like this now, they like to say half and leave half." Another person came out, but no one asked whether he had passed or not. In similar situations, the director or producer who auditioned, as well as other people who came to audition, would not give an answer on the spot. They would just tell them to go back and wait for notification.
I passed the audition.
You should receive a call around 3:30 PM, but it will take at most three days. If it takes longer, you don't need to wait. Around 3:30 PM, it was Nie Cheng's turn. He waved to Zhou Bo and walked in with a smile.
He was inside for quite a while, almost twenty minutes, before coming out. Zhou Bo asked, "How did it go?!" Nie Cheng smiled and said, "Looks like there's a chance. I'm off now, I need to pick up my son. It's a two-month summer vacation; his mother made him take classes for the next semester in the first month, and he's learning piano and violin in the second month. He's really busy."
Go!
Zhou Bo waved to him.
After Nie Cheng left, Zhou Bo sat back down in the lounge. He didn't stand outside the audition room with the others; there was no need. Around 4:20, his number was finally called. Zhou Bo got up and walked out of the lounge. By then, there weren't many actors left who had come to audition.
Zhou Bo walked into the audition room.
Slightly different from what he expected, he thought there would be at least three to five people auditioning, but there were only two, a man and a woman. Knowing that the person sitting opposite him was Huang Min, Zhou Bo respectfully greeted him: "Director Huang".
"Just call me Su Qing or Manager Su."
Su Qing smiled.
Manager Su
As Zhou Bo called out, Huang Min looked at him and smiled, saying, "Teacher Zhou Bo, I specifically looked through your information. You graduated from a martial arts school. You haven't neglected your martial arts skills all these years, have you?"
"No, I've even opened a martial arts school at home."
Zhou Bo found it strange that Huang Min would ask this question.
"That's good"
Huang Min nodded and didn't continue the discussion. He said seriously, "Teacher Zhou Bo, I'm sure you've already heard the audition questions from others. So let's not waste any more time. There's a young female corpse not far from you. This corpse has not only been tied up but has also been abused. You have three minutes to calm yourself down."
Huang Min deliberately increased the difficulty level.
To test an actor's acting skills, in addition to looking at their micro-expressions, you also need to see if those emotions gradually build up.
There are layers in breathing, shoulders, and eyes.
Three minutes have elapsed.
Teacher Zhou Bo got up from his chair.
Suddenly, his steps froze, his pupils dilated instantly, his body instinctively shrank back, and his lips trembled slightly, showing that he wanted to shout but couldn't.
Then, as if pulled by an invisible force, his body was instantly dragged and staggered a few steps before he collapsed to the ground, bowing his head and gagging painfully.