Chapter 390: 389: Experientialist (6)

“The ‘Method School,’ as the name suggests, emphasizes the profound emotional experiences of the actor, merging the actor’s inner self with the character. Stanislavsky’s ‘The Actor’s Self-cultivation’ exemplifies this school. The Method School involves the actor using their body and expressions to convey the character’s inner world, requiring consistency in portrayal both onstage and offstage. Marlon Brando is a famous representative of this approach. The Performance School, on the other hand, is about distinctly separating oneself from the character while still maintaining closeness, fully aware that the character is the character, and oneself is oneself. It emphasizes the expressive form of physical actions, focusing on the external.”

Learning theoretical knowledge is often the most likely to induce sleepiness. However, Bo Yan wasn’t showing off his knowledge; he simply wanted to ask her, “Which category do you fall into?”

After Xia Siyu answered, he could specifically use various schools’ methods to teach her, which would be twice as effective.

Xia Siyu hesitated a moment, “The first one.”

That means she is part of the Method School, integrating her own experiences into the character, using her life experiences to understand the character’s feelings.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

No wonder she usually plays characters in youth films, but because she incorporates herself into the roles, the characters also have a soul. The proprietress in “Storm,” although somewhat coquettish and enchanting, has an inner core that is bold in love and resolute, a personality that matches hers.

Bo Yan said, “There is nothing wrong with the Method School, the problem lies in the fact that when you want to create different characters, some well-rounded characters, without life experience or empathy for them, you cannot get close to these characters’ inner worlds. That’s your deficiency.”

The character she was supposed to play in “Spring Light” was a capitalist’s daughter during a special era, a female college student from a big city, an educated woman who faced persecution at home, and was sent down to the Northwest mountain area. Playing a capitalist’s daughter was not difficult, and she could also portray the arrogance of a female college student, and as for experiencing hard life in the Northwest mountain area, she could accomplish that too. But it was a special era, with ideological conflicts, confusion, and persistence, and a proud backbone hidden within.

Then there was also her feelings for the male lead.

The male lead didn’t know the female lead before—saying he didn’t know her wasn’t quite right either; influenced by others, he had done something many impulsive young people did during that era, leading a group to denounce a professor. And this professor was precisely the female lead’s mother. But before the violence could continue, the male lead suddenly regretted his actions and didn’t follow through, yet his companions went on with it and even injured the female lead’s mother.

This was the spark that ignited the story.

Later, when the university suspended classes, the male lead also went home and met the sent-down female lead.

They shared hatred, yet they became the only people in the area who could have a conversation. The male lead, educated and thus also considered part of the ‘bad five categories’ like the female lead, faced censure together with her. Their similar plights brought them gradually closer. After driving away a thug who was bullying the female lead, the male lead couldn’t restrain himself and also acted like a thug, forcing himself on her.

The female lead’s feelings towards him were a mix of love and hate; they presented a united front against the villagers’ criticisms, but aside from spending the night together, they had no emotional exchanges in private.

In the end, the female lead returned to the city, leaving the child for the male lead to deal with. The male lead stayed with the child and the small house they had lived in together, waiting day and night for the female lead to return. But whether the female lead would come back, only heaven knew.

In fact, after reading the script, Bo Yan felt that it was a portrait of themselves.