I am a Big Player
Chapter 512 - 506, Tragic Li Shuaizhen (First Update)_1

Chapter 512: 506, Tragic Li Shuaizhen (First Update)_1

(Attention, attention, I made a mistake with the order of Chapters 507 and 506, but the content order is correct. I’ve corrected it. Just read it in the normal order! 507 first, then 506!)

Central Academy of Drama is such a place, very small, probably the university with the smallest area in the entire Capital.

Many people feel after graduating from there that it’s just an ordinary arts institution, with nothing particularly legendary about it.

Many students come here not because they excel at performing, but because their college entrance examination scores were not good, yet they have some skill in the arts...

Here, the acting department is just a small part, with most of the school focusing on various drama-related disciplines. It isn’t a school that especially prioritizes commercialization.

Therefore, compared to Beijing Film Academy, Central Academy of Drama produces fewer big names or leaders in film and television, mainly because the Academy puts more emphasis on stage drama.

This school seems rather refined and lofty in the eyes of the students, referring mainly to the atmosphere within the school.

Central Drama Academy, also known as the Central Vacation Academy, practices free-range management, which was why Xia Yuting was eager to take on film offers and leave in her sophomore year.

The youngsters simply bask and brew within. They are even purer and more innocent than many outsiders.

There are no struggles over interests here, and the situation with mistresses, which is rumored to be more common in film and theater institutes, is relatively less here. Children often debate over the schools of drama till dawn, and even the teachers take sides with either the Stanislavski or Brecht system, forming two factions against each other.

The Stanislavski system emphasizes the realism of drama, the emotions the actor immerses in, expressing the drama’s tension truthfully.

The Brechtian system, on the other hand, emphasizes detachment from reality. Its essential idea is to use artistic methods to make ordinary things extraordinary, reveal the cause and effect of things, expose the contradictory nature of things, and make people see the possibilities of changing reality. However, in terms of acting method, the "alienation effect" requires the actor to maintain a certain distance from the character they play, not to merge the two into one; the actor should be above the character, control the character, and perform the character.

The former system requires actors to merge with the character, while the latter requires actors to rise above the character.

The infighting between the two factions can get so intense that it could lead to a physical fight between students in the theater...

This made Ren He puzzled. What was there to argue about? Was Kunlun not fun, or was Dota not fun?!

If you think neither is fun, then I’ll just have to release another "Assassin’s Creed"!

In summary, Central Academy of Drama is actually a relatively innocent place in the big dye vat of the entertainment industry, filled with battles over principles and beliefs, yet devoid of interests and money.

This causes a lot of distress to the students. Although they are fundamentally more solid than those from Beijing Film Academy, they just don’t earn as much money...

Generally speaking, commercial blockbusters tend to cast students from Beijing Film Academy, while arthouse films tend to cast students from Central Academy of Drama...

This is a place of tradition, seriousness, and strong academic atmosphere, filled with rich, handsome men and beautiful women. Some students have strong social resources and influence even at the undergraduate level, and this is reflected when students interact with each other, but the mainstream thinking believes that personal cultivation trumps everything.

They don’t have much regard for non-traditional paths.

The competition here is fierce; it’s purely about acting skill. Instructors arrange for everyone to perform in major productions. If you can act, you’re on; if you can’t, you’re off. If you don’t do well, you won’t even get the chance to face the audience.

The Central Academy of Drama is essentially a very pragmatic and idealistic school.

That was also why Ren He had been determined to come here after learning about the academy.

Zhang Ming wanted Ren He to come here to see if he could lure the helmsman of the online empire off course.

To have the academy’s rich scholarly atmosphere and the collision of ideals among the students lead Ren He onto the path of performing arts...

In fact, Director Zhang hadn’t considered what would happen if Ren He led the other students astray...

For instance, right now, Dorm 313 isn’t discussing drama theories at all; others are debating whether actors should immerse themselves in their roles or rise above them, whether to engage with emotions or discard them.

Yet the other three people in dorm 313 have all been assimilated by Ren He, and all they freaking talk about is Dota!

When Ren He, Yang Runrun, and Zhang Jinglin played Dota, Li Shuaizhen would mutter on the side, "The Central Academy of Drama is a great place; you need to develop solid fundamental skills here, this school wasn’t easy to get into, and you’re all going to be on the big screen one day!"

Yang Runrun suddenly became curious, "Actually, I think you would be more suited for the Beijing Film Academy; why come to the Central Academy of Drama? It seems easier to make movies there."

Li Shuaizhen’s face turned red at the time; it took him a full 2 minutes before he said, "I didn’t get accepted..."

Ren He burst out laughing at that moment, and, putting an arm around Li Shuaizhen’s shoulder, he comforted, "Don’t lose heart; you can still make movies without attending Beijing Film Academy..."

In fact, Ren He had already noticed that although Li Shuaizhen was somewhat vain, it was a normal mentality for a young person, no vanity meant no ambition or drive.

But he was very kind-hearted, and Ren He could tell that Li Shuaizhen was truly kind. Whenever he was holed up in the dorm with Yang Runrun and Zhang Jinglin playing Dota, the fact really weighed on him...

"How about this, you play Dota with us, and we’ll join you for rehearsals and stuff," Ren He thought of a compromise.

Ren He still highly valued the Central Academy of Drama, and now that he was here, if he didn’t do something significant, it would indeed be a waste of these four years.

But if he wanted to realize his own ideas, he could not do without these classmates; first, they had to have amazing acting skills to support the kind of films he wanted to make.

So, Ren He also wanted them to focus more on their studies, and he himself needed to genuinely experience the Central Academy of Drama’s academic life. The compromise was, Li Shuaizhen joining them in playing Dota, and them joining Li Shuaizhen in learning acting...

Speaking of which, Ren He felt sorry for Li Shuaizhen; it was like having his kindness exploited. But Ren He had nothing to feel guilty about, he flipped through the movies and dramas Li Shuaizhen had acted in and found this guy to actually be a potential talent.

Ren He even had ideas for his character roles, and if there was a chance, sending him on the path to fame wasn’t out of the question.

And in Li Shuaizhen’s eyes, he was rescuing wayward classmates, his expression particularly tragic...

In his view, the family backgrounds of these three classmates were just average, and going to university, one had to master a trade to anchor their life; otherwise, how would they stand on their own in society?

So, Li Shuaizhen started playing Dota... and Ren He and the others began to join Li Shuaizhen in learning to act, attending classes peacefully during the day, and after classes, the dorm room became a five-man dark room plus one Yang Xi, just the right number of people...