At the end of September, the capital in early autumn was still hot and dry.

On the east side of the square in front of the Jingcheng Railway Station, three young men sitting on a stone pier under the overpass, each with a sketchbook on their knees, pretending to be sketching people.

These three people are Xu Zhen, Shen Tang and their homeroom teacher Liu Yucheng.

They came here today to do character observation exercises.

More than half of the plot of "Old Boy" takes place in the middle-aged stage of the two protagonists, and Liu Yucheng is afraid that they will not act well, so he specially brought them over to "recharge".

Since last weekend, the crew of the micro-film "Old Boy" has officially started.

Since the whole film was only 40 minutes long, they only shot two days a weekend, a few minutes at a time, and expected to be completed within two months.

Liu Yucheng was afraid that he wouldn't be able to take care of himself, so he deliberately pulled a young acting teacher to join the group.

As a result, there was a strange phenomenon in the crew: normal actors were NG because the performance was not in place, and then the director would come over and tell him what kind of effect he wanted.

However, the crew of "Old Boy" is different.

When an actor is stopped, one or two teachers will often come up and take turns to explain to him or her the basic principles of acting or the basic techniques of the lines.

Xu Zhen wanted to say that I have never seen such an inefficient crew.

But there are some benefits to shooting like this.

As the saying goes, "When books are used, you hate less", and when the actors of the "Old Boy" crew are using their acting skills, two big "books" are standing next to them at any time.

The students' curiosity at this time must be much stronger than in the classroom, and the shooting of this micro-film does serve the purpose of "practical teaching".

"Xu Zhen, look at the tall man under the tree over there," Liu Yucheng gestured with his chin to the direction of three o'clock in front of him, and said, "This person's state is very close to the 'barber' in the play." ”

"You look at him closely, and try to imitate him in three minutes."

Xu Zhen looked over there and found that Liu Yucheng was talking about a middle-aged man in his 40s.

Compared with those uncles who carried "urea" bags on their backs, this person's clothes were decent, at least generally clean.

But this person, both physically and mentally, showed a state of extreme exhaustion, bent over, head bowed, brows slightly wrinkled, and his eyes cloudy and numb.

Xu Zhen looked at it for a while, then got up and adjusted his state, and put his posture and demeanor into the appearance of that uncle.

Liu Yucheng touched his chin, looked at Xu Zhen's imitation, and said, "It's generally not bad, it's similar, but it's almost meaningless in terms of looks." ”

He thought for a moment and asked heuristically, "Do you know what is the reason for his tired state?" ”

Xu Zhen replied: "Because I am very busy at work every day, I can't rest, and my physical fatigue accumulates? ”

Liu Yucheng said again: "Why is he very busy every day, but he doesn't rest? ”

Xu Zhen thought for a while and hesitated: "Because of lack of money? ”

"Hahaha......" Liu Yucheng said with a smile, "Lack of money is indeed lack of money, 80% of the embarrassment of middle-aged people comes from the pressure of lack of money." ”

"When I am old, I am afraid that I will lose my job, I am afraid that my income will decline, I am afraid of getting sick, I am afraid that something will happen to my family, and I am afraid that I will not be able to pay off my mortgage...... There are too many tangible, invisible pressures on our backs, and we are on the verge of collapse every day. ”

"And the most important thing is that the road ahead can be seen at a glance, there is only a downhill road to go, and there is no chance to dream."

"A life without expectations is boring."

When Xu Zhen heard these words, he suddenly realized.

A sense of anticipation for life......

This may be the essential difference between middle-aged and young people.

And the theme of the micro-film "Old Boy" is actually how middle-aged people regain their dreams and look forward to life again.

Liu Yucheng looked at Xu Zhen's thoughtful expression and said, "You ponder slowly, don't worry." ”

"When we were students, we had to shoot for at least three weeks, and then there was time for you to adjust your state."

"In terms of appearance, there are makeup skills that can make up for it, but you have to control the temperament yourself."

"The age characteristics of middle-aged people are not too obvious, if you want to play well, it is more difficult than playing an old man, you must not take it lightly."

He looked at the time and said, "Now you can continue to look at that uncle first, and look at the meaning I just told you." ”

As he spoke, Liu Yucheng turned his head to look at Shen Tang on the side and said, "I just said that you should observe the aunt who sells health care products, what do you think?" Imitate it? ”

Shen Tang was stunned when he heard this, and flipped through the sketchbook in his hand in a panic.

Liu Yucheng's face sank, and he pulled the sketchbook out of his arms, and turned to the page he had just now, but saw that there was a beautiful woman drawn on the notebook.

The beauty in the painting is wearing the same clothes and hairstyle as the aunt of health care products, but she has been changed to the appearance of an angel face and a devil's body.

Liu Yucheng: ......

How dare you draw this kind of picture in front of me! I don't want it at the end of the semester at the end of the year!

……

At the end of October, the firefly photography base in the southeast of the capital.

Outside a lounge, Liu Jiyue, a freshman in the Beijing Film Performance Department, wore a costume, and excitedly pushed open the hidden door, and just called "Senior Brother Zhang", she suddenly heard a roar in front of her:

"I've been a widow for forty years!"

Liu Jiyue: "......"

As an elegant woman, should I come back in after a while as if nothing had happened?

Unfortunately, the people in the house had already seen her.

The young man known as "Senior Brother Zhang" accepted his supernatural powers as if nothing had happened, and said, "Oh, Jiyue, is there something wrong?" ”

This person's name is Zhang Shan, a senior in Beijing Film this year, and he is filming the entries of the college students' micro film festival here at the Firefly Photography Base.

Liu Jiyue smiled awkwardly and said, "Senior Brother Zhang, I just heard from the big brother outside that someone from the Chinese opera also came over to film, just over on East Street, I heard that there is a crew called "Old Boy". ”

Zhang Shan said: "There is a class and a micro-film in the Chinese opera, how big is this "Old Boy"? Who are the main actors? ”

Liu Jiyue said: "Freshman, our current year, starring Xu Zhen and Shen Tang. ”

She was a little excited when she said this.

He didn't know Xu Zhen, but he had admired his name for a long time.

In particular, Liu Jiyue just got the contract for the crew of "Three Kingdoms" a while ago, and the role played by Xiao Qiao is Xiao Qiao, and the actor of Zhou Yu in the play is Xu Zhen.

"Three Kingdoms" was launched in early September, but neither of them has yet entered the group.

I heard that the plot on the Jiangdong side will be filmed at the end of this year, and Liu Jiyue is inexplicably looking forward to it.

"Oh, Xu Zhen's class......"

Zhang Shan grinned and picked up his phone.

I saw a video playing on the screen, Xu Zhen standing on the stage of the small theater, performing Mrs. He in "Lights of Ten Thousand Homes" with exaggerated body language and movements.

Zhang Shan rubbed his chin and said, "This junior is a bit powerful, I imitated it for a long time just now, and I can't play him like this." ”

He looked up at Liu Jiyue and asked, "Where are they, have they already arrived at the base?" ”

Liu Jiyue nodded and said, "Well, I heard that I just came here this morning, and I'm setting up on the East Street side at this time." ”

"Their school doesn't give them leave, so they come over every weekend to shoot for two days."

Zhang Shan looked down at the time and said, "It just so happens that you are free at this time, let's go over and visit the door?" ”