Chapter 35: The Technique of Effort

In a small practice room at the People's Art Theater, Teacher Feng was giving Classmate Fang his first lesson.

"Little Fang, you plan to pursue film and television acting, right?"

Fang Xinghe nodded honestly: "Yes, Teacher Feng, I prefer film and television over theater."

"Normal. I'm also willing to try film and television acting."

Feng Yuanzheng was very open-minded and then brought up the main point.

"Then you must understand the essential difference between film and television acting and theater acting.

Theater acting takes place on a closed stage, under the gaze of the entire audience, completing a continuous full performance with fixed partners.

No NG, no retakes, only nerves that must be taut at every moment, relatively more exaggerated body language, and dialogue that must be clear and abundant.

Whereas film and television acting takes place in an open, chaotic space, delivering the fullest possible segment according to the director's requirements.

So film and television acting can take shortcuts; shoot the same shot 100 times, you contribute one high-quality segment, OK, that's enough.

Why do Wong Kar-wai's films love to produce Best Actors and Best Actresses?

Polished out.

Other directors wish they could get it in one take to save film; he truly shoots aiming for over 100 takes.

Alright, back to the main point—

For an actor, the overall difficulty of theater acting is obviously higher.

But at the same time, the requirements for micro-expressions like the eyes in film and television acting are also higher than in theater acting.

The fundamental purposes of the two differ, leading to the emergence of these differences.

And this is precisely why the Stanislavski system neglects the body—in film and television dramas, subtle facial expressions rank first.

So this raises another question: if your training system isn't even sound, how can there be no cost?

The Stanislavski method can at most give a 90-point answer.

The Grotowski method is different; we value physicality most because we believe only by starting from the body can one excavate the most extreme emotions, which the pure Stanislavski experience method cannot do.

Why do we succeed while they fail?

Come, start warming up now; I'll use a concrete example to tell you why."

Fang Xinghe said nothing, silently following along with the warm-up.

Teacher Feng praised the Grotowski method as the best in the world, which is human nature, but Fang Xinghe would not believe it entirely; he had his own judgment.

After going through a series of relaxation movements to fully awaken the muscles and open the joints, Feng Yuanzheng led him through a set of physical movements named "Dolphin Training."

The movements themselves were not complex—extend both arms and walk in circles rhythmically in the classroom.

Rotate both shoulders and arms, push the elbows back as far as possible, rotate the hands and arms in opposite directions, while simultaneously lifting the shoulders upward and striving to lengthen the neck.

At this moment, imagine you are a dolphin, gradually increasing the rhythm to make the body "rise" bit by bit.

Does that sound somewhat nonsensical?

But if you raise the intensity to the extreme, extend the time, and perform the movements with complete precision, then wonderful things will happen.

Fang Xinghe, following the requirements, imagined leaping out of the water as if a dolphin were cleaving through the waves.

As the movement intensity reached the extreme, blood surged upward, qi rushed up, and it seemed as if the sound of rushing seawater surged by his ears along with the arm movements...

Exhaustion, dizziness, trance, the body overwhelmed.

But at a certain moment, when he strained to leap upward, he suddenly felt incomparable freedom, joy, and exhilaration.

Extreme movements indeed brought extreme emotional experiences.

Body and mind have always been interconnected.

Yes, Dolphin Training is not meant to make actors swim like dolphins, but to activate that deep-down emotional experience of "freedom and exhilaration."

Feng Yuanzheng looked at Fang Xinghe, who was somewhat dazed but still persisting, and smiled with satisfaction.

He began to guide the youth's thinking.

"Have you seen The Shawshank Redemption?

Suppose I am the director, and now I want an actor to perform a segment experiencing long-term imprisonment and finally regaining freedom, requiring accurate release of emotion.

An experience method actor, if he has had an experience of losing freedom, such as being detained and tortured by a pyramid scheme, then good, he goes up and delivers a 90-point performance.

Polish it carefully again, perhaps he can reach 95 points.

But if he has never had a similar experience, then it's troublesome.

How to act it?

Director, wait, I'll go find a prison and experience it for a few days.

However, such an experience would definitely be distorted, because he hasn't truly lost freedom; he doesn't know what that emotion of regaining freedom actually feels like.

Truly listen, truly see, truly feel—where is the core of the Stanislavski experience method?

It's gone, right?

Then if it is a representation method actor, he will begin to construct the image of this character in his mind.

What kind of person is the character?

Why was he imprisoned?

What is his personality, how are his family relations, what accent does he speak with?

What kind of reaction should a person possessing all the above characteristics have when facing this situation?

Grip it here, design it there, go up and act, very exaggerated.

A good representation method actor can deliver an 80-point performance; an ordinary one, it's hard even to get 60 points.

Formulaic, superficial, nothing capable of moving the heart.

This is the limitation of representation method actors simply imitating.

If it is a method acting actor, then he must definitely substitute some similar emotion in.

I've never done time in prison, but right after the gaokao ended, the moment I threw my books away with a whoop, the feeling was probably about the same — OK, let's use that.

So the actor delivers a kind of surprise at finally being liberated, carrying a longing for the future, released with great intensity.

There's nothing major wrong with playing it that way, but can the freedom of finishing school really compare to the freedom of being reborn?

Impossible, right?

But here's the problem — if you pile on a little more emotion, it immediately starts to look exaggerated.

If the precision isn't there, trying to make up for it with quantity definitely won't work.

So you see, when it comes to very special performance demands, most people just can't pull them off.

But if you were called onto the stage, and every single day you kept up the highest-intensity dolphin training and flight training, then you wouldn't need to act at all —

Just retrieve the emotion of that moment, lift your head, glance at the camera, and that's enough."

Holy shit, that's badass!

Fang Xinghe understood, and precisely because he understood, he was stunned.

Both Grotowski and Stanislavski stress "starting from experience" at their core, but the Grotowski school goes further — through the principle of "body and emotion in communion," it digs out all kinds of emotions.

Therefore, it's more real, more brutal, more devout, more aggressive.

Fang Xinghe finally understood why Feng Yuanzheng could play An Jiahe so pervertedly — because the related training includes a section specifically for digging out "primal bestiality."

That's not a simple kind of cruelty, but a more naked animality — the most primal, the most profound, the most candid.

Fang Xinghe was finally certain: the Grotowski school was born for special emotions.

You have to understand, not every performance system has concrete actor-training methods. The Stanislavski system does, the Method does, but the two of them combined aren't as extreme as Grotowski.

Uh, put simply: exceptionally good at playing perverts.

Because Grotowski-school actors are themselves fucking perverted toward their own selves too…

That day, Fang Xinghe's training lasted a full eight hours; apart from eating and resting in between, he was almost constantly doing all sorts of high-intensity movements.

After Teacher Feng let him go home, he was so exhausted he could barely move another muscle.

But past nine o'clock, the boy still forced himself up and wrote a reflection.

"An actor's fundamental skills — voice, delivery of lines, bearing, performance — are, in essence, all in pursuit of liberating one's own body and achieving effortless control.

Control is the skill that runs through an actor's entire life, and it's the foundation of everything that gets presented.

Performing in life has no threshold, yet vivid, lifelike screen and stage performance is an art that demands extreme talent and extreme perseverance.

Controlling the tear ducts, controlling the gaze, controlling the facial muscles — even achieving all of this is only just the beginning; there are many more hurdles ahead.

The good news is, the Grotowski school has a very high ceiling — it can sweep past every obstacle.

The bad news is, the Grotowski school really is grueling; the极限 of grinding brings极致 exhaustion and pain. The first day is like this, and every day after will be the same.

What's even harder is, no one can tell me how long I have to persist before the clouds part and the moon shows, before I truly climb that peak of art.

But I am not afraid. I will try my best, and burn myself to the fullest."

He set down his pen, and Fang Xinghe casually added 10 experience points to the 【Grotowski Actor Training Method】 on his panel.

He closed his eyes and felt it — a flood of realizations welled up inside him.

Mm, effort itself needs technique — wonder if you guys get that…