I am a Big Player
Chapter 524 - 518, Master Level Acting (Second Update)_1

Chapter 524: 518, Master Level Acting (Second Update)_1

If before Ren He had been somewhat indifferent, now he felt a bit of pressure.

It wasn’t because he was going to take over the lead role that he valued this opportunity more. Being serious was a must, no matter the role; taking every task seriously was a life principle for him.

But if he were just playing a supporting character, he wouldn’t need to feel so much pressure. Just as Li Shuaizhen was moved by Ren He’s trust in entrusting him with his identity, Ren He suddenly also felt an inexplicable sensation—was Chen Da really going to let him play the lead?

He thought there should be quite a few people on Chen Da’s team who were no worse than him. Advanced level acting skill might seem like the most impressive in class now, but perhaps Chen Da already had people approaching Master Level?

Ren He decided to head to Experimental Theater 117 tonight to check out the situation; if he wasn’t up to the task, he wouldn’t want to hold up the entire team, especially since he couldn’t commit all his energy to theater.

He was at leisure now, yet also very busy. He had his own things he wanted to do—the script wasn’t finished, the storyboards weren’t drawn, the director hadn’t been found, and the proper stage crew and so on were yet to be found.

If he wanted to shoot a few decent films, he still had a long way to go.

Even if he were staging a play, it had to be him who arranged it, found the actors, and produced the script. Only then would it be somewhat interesting.

Merely acting for others, he felt, was not very interesting.

The foundation of theater is not the actors, nor any well-designed stage setting, but language.

The conflicts in theater are much more intense than those in movies or TV dramas because of its fast pace. Thus, actors must perfectly present the conflicts within the plot to provide the audience with a sufficient shock.

However, just having expressive language is not enough. Adequate body language is also needed to complete the dramatic tension of the whole play.

In theater, there’s no place for pointless lines like "Have you eaten?" "Yes, I have," nor for purposeless actions. Every action, every line of dialogue leads the story forward.

Moreover, since the plot in a play is constantly advancing, the main characters’ personalities often undergo continuous changes.

For instance, in White Deer Plain from a past life, the characters’ personalities were always changing within the vast social context, drifting with the current.

To play out these elements, to make the audience understand, and to perform them brilliantly, it all comes down to the actors’ own skill.

The difficulty lies right here—can you say that some of the seniors at Central Academy of Drama lack acting skill? Then why are there so many people who aren’t favored by instructors, who can’t get a single play staged, who don’t even have the chance to face an audience?!

Because the demands of theater are indeed very high, it absolutely isn’t something that can be glossed over like in some shoddy patriotic war dramas.

If one must make a comparison, comparing the difficulty of theater with that of a symphony orchestra should be fitting. In a symphony orchestra, even if a violin is half a beat slow, it is considered a flaw.

When evening arrived at 117, over twenty people had already put on makeup and were ready for rehearsal. The moment Ren He walked in, everyone turned their heads to look at him at the door. Ren He was startled—why are they all looking at me?!

A tall and handsome man came over with a smile and said, "Are you the junior brother who’s going to take over my role? My name is Zheng Yi. I’ll take good care of you for the next six months; after that, I’ll be joining the production team."

Oh, so there’s still half a year before he leaves. That’s good. It turned out this group had already received Chen Da’s notification and knew whose role he was going to take over, so the moment he walked in, he was the center of everyone’s attention.

The looks in their eyes were more evaluative, as they had all been working together for a long time and were very clear about each other’s levels of skill; they were also comfortable working together.

The character Zheng Yi was playing was indeed the most critical one, and now with Zheng Yi leaving, they were also worried whether the new teammate could integrate into the team and whether their acting skills could support the most significant part of the team’s performance.

There were also those who were thinking, after Zheng Yi left, whether they could take over his role, a thought shared by many, since they were the most familiar with the script.

However, today Chen Da informed them that the person set to replace Zheng Yi was a freshman who had just started their first year one month ago, which was a bit inconceivable.

They all knew that Chen Da would never pull strings in such a matter, so who exactly had the extraordinary acting skills to make Chen Da feel they could fit the role?

So when they looked at Ren He, there was a substantial amount of scrutiny: his physique, appearance, and temperament passed muster, even seeming somewhat better than Zheng Yi’s, but his acting skills were unknown.

Ren He thought to himself, no wonder he felt something was strange; the shooting of "Cang Hai" should not have started this soon, he of all people should know.

Last month, Zhang Ming even invited him to participate in the casting process, and at that time, everyone was saying that the shooting of "Cang Hai" would take a while, since the market for physical books was still heating up, and they needed to wait for the market to warm up to justify the investors behind Zhang Ming.

At the time, Ren He jokingly said he also wanted to invest, to which Zhang Ming jokingly replied that as long as the money was right, it wouldn’t matter if Ren He contracted all of his future scripts, working for Ren He would be fine.

Of course, Ren He would never commit to such a thing; jokes are just jokes, after all, he still wanted to retire early as a wealthy idler once his dream was fulfilled. Taking on fewer tasks was better.

As he was thinking, Zheng Yi was also evaluating this freshman set to replace him, still unable to discern what exactly Master Chen Da saw in this newcomer. However, now that he was here, there would be an opportunity to find out.

At this point, Ren He had another thought; had he taken part in the auditions, the scene upon meeting Zheng Yi would have been quite different... Zheng Yi’s jaw would probably have dropped to the floor!

It’s a good thing he didn’t go! Otherwise, Ren He wouldn’t even know how Zheng Yi would face him now; he truly felt a cold sweat on the other’s behalf!

However, these people might still not understand Ren He, nor did Chen Da; so they couldn’t comprehend that such an opportunity at the Central Academy of Drama, sought after by every student, was of little consequence to Ren He.

He was here to do his due diligence and put his all into what he needed to do, and then to absorb all the experience here to prepare for his future plans.

Zheng Yi handed Ren He a stack of papers bound with A4 sheets. "This is the script, and there are notes based on Master Chen Da’s teachings, primarily about the character’s personality changes and the mastery of each conflict point. Take a look first, and then we’ll talk."

When Ren He opened the script and saw the dense notes, he inhaled sharply. Just from these notes, one could see the other’s dedication and passion for his craft. Surely each person chosen by Chen Da, every person present, held the same attitude.

He truly needed to give it his all; it didn’t matter whether he liked it or not. He chose to do his best out of respect for others’ effort.

"Choose targeted reward, acting direction!" Ren He silently said to himself.

"Host has chosen the acting direction targeted reward, awarding Host Master Level Acting Skill," the Divine Punishment System stated calmly in Ren He’s mind.

Unknown if Master Level Acting Skill could shine in this team, perhaps even dazzlingly!