Beijing premiere (from left: director Xu Lei, actors Xu Chaoying, Zhang Zhanyi, Su Shuhe)
Special feature of 1905 film network "I have never seen so many people."
Facing the dark audience and the flashing camera lights, Zhang Zhanyi sincerely sighed.
The two "grandfathers" around him who are similar to his age also seem to be at a loss. They are all starring in the movie Sherlock on the Plain.
For the first film premiere in their lives, the three uncles put down their farm work and came from their hometown in Shenzhou, Hebei Province, more than 200 kilometers away, wearing suits borrowed by the crew.
However, it is these three little-known uncles, together with a fledgling director, that Sherlock on the Plain won the high scores of Douban 7.8 and Cat’s Eye 9.0, which made it a word-of-mouth champion in Chinese new films of the same period.
Looking through the audience’s comments, it is not difficult to find that the reason for Sherlock’s praise is simple: truthfulness and sincerity.
This "truth" comes from the following aspects:
The story of the film comes from the true story that happened around the director: a relative was hit by a car, and his family chose not to report the case in order to successfully reimburse the medical expenses, but privately formed a "folk detective team" to find the murderer.
The actors are all amateurs, and they are all out-and-out farmers in Shenzhou. The leading actor Xu Chaoying is the father of director Xu Lei, and actors such as Zhang Zhanyi and Su Shuhe are also the neighbors of the director. Needless to say, the naturalness and tacit understanding of the performance.
In addition to the constant laughter brought by the "local detective team", the most touching thing about the film is the kindness and simplicity of the villagers. This brotherhood has long been rooted in the hearts of several leading actors, naturally revealed, without any traces of performance, and of course it is particularly touching.
Not only this Sherlock on the Plain, in recent years, more and more directors began to boldly use amateur actors to play the leading role, and many non-professional actors were recognized for their first electric shock and were shortlisted for major film festivals.
In the just-concluded Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, 79-year-old Yang Taiyi competed with Wang Jingchun, Xú Zhēng, Duan Long and other famous actors on the same stage by being shortlisted as the best actor. Before making this film, he was an ordinary farmer in Zhoukou, Henan.
Yang Taiyi (third from left) and other finalists were commended by the Golden Rooster nominee.
At last year’s Pingyao Film Festival, he also won the Fei Mu for Best Actor. At the awarding ceremony, he said in authentic Henan dialect: "Thank you, thank the judges. I am a farmer. I am 78 years old. I have never acted in a movie. This is the first time."
In the Golden Rooster Award nomination list for Best Actress, Zhao Xiaoli is also a "half" amateur actress. Previously, she was a professional actress of Sichuan Opera Troupe, and this is her first time to appear in a film and television work. She also won the Best Actress Award at the 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival for her role.
Zhao Xiaoli (first from left) accepted the nomination of Golden Rooster Award.
In addition, in recent years, Toshitabe’s well-received "Dark Horse" literary films, such as, etc., have almost all starring amateurs. In the film, they contributed a performance that did not lose professional actors, which made the audience shine.
Why use unprofessional actors?
An unavoidable direct reason is the problem of funds. Most of these films mentioned above are the first two works of new directors, or small and medium-cost literary films, and the money that can be spent on actors is very limited.
It is undoubtedly a shortcut for this kind of film to find amateur actors with low or even zero pay. Many new directors directly "start" with acquaintances, such as director Xu Lei’s parents, relatives and neighbors who collectively starred in Sherlock on the Plain, Chen Yongzhong, the hero of roadside picnic, is the "sister-in-law" of director Bi Gan, and the starring role of August is also the relatives and friends of director Zhang Dalei.
In addition to cost considerations, "realism" is also the natural advantage of amateur actors.
Sherlock on the Plain depicts the story and human feelings of Xu Lei’s hometown in Hebei Province, and it also requires performing in the local dialect. It seems natural to invite "character prototypes" to play. "There are many plots that are not designed by me, but their decades of life experience, which is something that grows in their lives, so it is particularly true."
Huo Meng, the director of Guo Zhao Guan, decided to play with an all-rounder from the very beginning, because professional actors rarely have experience of living in the countryside, and their image, language and even wrinkles on their faces are difficult to meet the requirements. "In the aesthetic system of my film, actors can’t make up, which is fake."
At the same time, Li Fuchang’s personality is also very close to Yang Taiyi himself. It is said that Yang Taiyi specially "reviewed" the script before acting, so as to ensure that "the image of old party member will not be ruined" before deciding to act.
At the beginning, JASON ZHANG’s conception of Gang Rinpoche was only the story direction and character setting, but there was no specific script. He hopes to follow a group of real pilgrimage teams to shoot and dig stories from their lives. In the end, the eleven people in the line were all real pilgrims he found in the local village. Tsering Quzhen is also a real pregnant woman. During the filming, her son Ding Zidengda was born smoothly.
There are also some films that are familiar with these themes because of their particularity, so choosing amateur actors is the optimal solution.
"Singing Alive" tells the story of a folk Sichuan Opera class that has been wandering for more than ten years and insisted on performing in the countryside of Chengdu.
At first, it was suggested that Deng Jie should play the heroine, but Deng Jie said that he could not "play it so vividly", so he retired as a producer and chose the actors of Sichuan Opera Troupe in the prototype of the story to play it directly. Zhao Xiaoli, the heroine, said that 90% of the story is her own personal experience, "acting once and crying once".
There will also be a big production of the Spring Festival next year. The announced 12-member lineup of the "Old Women’s Volleyball Team" is all professional volleyball players who have never played in a movie. Even Bai Lang, the daughter of Lang Ping who plays the young Lang Ping, is also a professional volleyball player.
The amateur actor of China Women’s Volleyball Team took a photo during the Golden Rooster Award.
According to director Chen Kexin, the crew also tried to find actors over 1.8 meters to teach them volleyball Shoot, but the feeling was totally wrong. Finally, they simply decided to audition from tens of thousands of volleyball players across the country. After several rounds of elimination and performance training for half a year, they finally decided on these twelve actors who played the old women’s volleyball team.
Non-professional actors are a "double-edged sword"
"If you shoot this kind of blockbuster, you must use professional actors, because they need methods and inertia to shape others, not themselves, but what everyone does in August is not beyond daily life, so I also hope to use actors who are very ordinary." Director Zhang Dalei stated the difference in applicability between professional and non-professional actors.
Amateur actors have their own advantages in the subject matter that requires life-oriented performances. To a large extent, they don’t need to perform, they just play themselves, and even directly use their real names, such as the three leading uncles in Sherlock on the Plain. The director explained that this was to get them into the play faster.
In the filming process of Sherlock on the Plain, the director usually only needs to introduce the general plot of the play, and the uncles will discuss it together according to their own life experiences. Many dialogues and performances are impromptu. Decades of life experience make them familiar with the situation and the relationship between characters in the play, which is a "realm" that professional actors can’t reach in a short time.
Zhang Zhanyi’s "provocative action" of being fined for refusing to spit everywhere is his improvisation, which is very brilliant.
Huo Meng, the director of Guo Zhao Guan, recalled that while filming a scene where grandpa told his grandson a story about Wu Zixu, the child suddenly asked a question that was not in the script, and he couldn’t help but panic, but he didn’t expect Yang Taiyi to take it naturally, just like grandpa telling his grandson a story in life. There are many similar "ingenious pens" that make Huo Meng happy.
In "Picnic by the Road", Chen Yongzhong, the "sister-in-law’s father", is also very relaxed. Thanks to the fact that the prototype of the character is himself, he has a picture of life in his mind when he sees the script, and he often asks the director what is not true enough.
In the filming process, in addition to Yang Mi, Hong Chi Lee, Guo Jingfei and other major actors, director Liu Jie used a large number of amateur actors to play their real careers.
Yang Mi said in an interview that he often observes the performances of amateur actors and laments why they perform so well. It is also full of tests against amateur actors. "The lines of the police are different every time. If you don’t really listen to what you really feel, you will not be able to catch up."
However, amateur actors also have their own obvious limitations. Lack of performance experience, no concept of lens and position, which tests 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 my lines, and my performance is a little stiff and easy to get nervous."
Zhang Chen, who plays the role of his father in August, also said that the film performance is completely different from his imagination. Professional actors can know what their expression, state and eyes look like without feedback, but non-professional actors may perform completely differently from their imagination.
As Zhang Dalei said, the advantages and disadvantages of amateur actors are "they can only play themselves, but not others", which not only brings incomparable authenticity, but also limits their "playing road". The three grandfathers in Sherlock can’t leave the native North China Plain, and the "sister-in-law" will inevitably lose its edges and corners when leaving 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 experience as actors. Of course, like Chen Yongzhong, he gradually groped for a "semi-professional" change, became a contract actor, and polished his acting skills in more and richer works.
Chen Yongzhong’s performance in the film became more natural.
It is not difficult to see that amateur actors are no longer exclusive to small and medium-cost literary films, as long as they fit the role, they can be recognized by directors and audiences.
After all, movies are a life, so why do actors ask about it?
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