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As one of the most famous film and television bases in China, Hengdian has always been a dream place for many young men and women who have dreams of becoming actors.
However, some of these people go to work as extras with the mentality of "getting rich overnight" or "being lazy". They have heard that extras can make a living just by "lying down" Hundreds of people, so they came here, hoping to get rich overnight and live in peace forever.
However, there are so many film and television bases in China, why did they choose Hengdian? How many of them will be able to truly realize their ideals in the future?
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Why are there so many extras in Hengdian Cinemas?
As the largest film and television theme park in China, Hengdian Cinemas covers an area of ??50,000 acres. In terms of scale, it has attracted many young men and women to come here as group performers.
In addition, in 2010, Hengdian Cinemas was upgraded from an AAAA scenic spot to a national AAAAA-level scenic spot by the country, making it even more famous.
At the same time, as actors such as Wang Baoqiang and Zhao Liying stand out here, young men and women are attracted to Hengdian as extras.
Hengdian Cinema is located in Jinhua, Zhejiang. The local group performances in Hengdian, Zhejiang alone have more than 200,000 people entering and exiting every day.
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The least worrying thing for the working group at the Hengdian base is not being able to find extras, because extras come to sign up like ants every day.
These extras are basically people who come from all over the country to realize their dream of becoming actors.
As to why so many people are willing to be extras, the reasons are actually quite complicated. In addition to having a dream of becoming actors, some of them take shortcuts to make money.
However, there are many jobs you can do to make money, so why would you choose to perform as an extra?
Some scholars in my country have conducted relevant surveys and found that the extras in Hengdian generally have very low academic qualifications, and their family backgrounds are very ordinary, or even poor.
Many respondents said that they have been ridiculed and even insulted since they were born. They were bullied after going to school. They also encountered various difficulties after entering society. Due to their low academic qualifications, they were repeatedly interviewed. fail.
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In the end they decided to give up their normal work channels. The biggest advantage of being an extra in Hengdian is that the academic requirements are very low. Many people take Wang Baoqiang as an example and hope to become like him.
And some of them think that working for a month only costs a few thousand yuan, they have to work hard every day, and they have to look at the boss’s face; but as long as they are selected as a star, they will You can earn over 10,000 per day, even hundreds of thousands, or millions.
Of course, the salary in mainland China is indeed very high. This is a fact that has to be admitted, but not everyone can become a big star with just a brain.
Really good actors need superb acting skills and systematic training in professional schools. Our well-known domestic Beijing Film and Television Academy, Shanghai Theater Academy, etc. are world-renowned institutions established to train these first-line actors. .
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Students must go through four or even more years of systematic study and master the art and skills of acting before they can be able to take on various roles.
On the other hand, some of the extras who came to Hengdian by taking shortcuts have very simple inner thoughts and no plans for their careers. They think that as long as they are selected by the director, they can make a lot of money.
But I don’t know that being an actor is also a very difficult road. However, among the more than 200,000 group performers in Hengdian every day, the vast majority of people hold this idea.
In 2021, the State Council released a set of data. According to statistics, there are as many as 600 million people in our country with a monthly income of less than 1,000 yuan, which accounts for almost half of our country's entire population.
Among these 600 million people, a large number of people are eager to take shortcuts to make a comeback, so they choose Hengdian to do group performances. This is also an important reason why there are so many group performances in Hengdian every day.
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There is a big gap between ideal and reality, but some people still insist on it
If someone asks, are there many beauties in Hengdian? The answer is of course "many".
Just imagine, there are more than 200,000 people every day, and all the people who come for interviews are actors who need to go abroad.
Many girls with good looks but average family conditions believe that they should "rely on their natural advantages" to make a living. And even for group performers who don't have high academic requirements, they still have certain requirements for basic qualities.
Although some girls are beautiful, they are relatively introverted, and the basic quality required of actors is a strong ability to "get into the drama". It’s important to be able to adapt to the role quickly and integrate yourself into it.
After getting the director's script, many introverted girls can't read it well. After a few times, some directors are unwilling to choose to use these girls, even if they look good. If you have innate advantages, you will still be eliminated if you are not good enough.
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Although the girls who successfully passed the test were very happy, what they had to face next also shattered their dreams. Why?
It turns out that being an extra in Hengdian is not as wonderful as imagined. Some people do not understand the difference between extras and starring roles, so they rush into this circle and try to make money through extras. This is simply unrealistic. of.
In China's entertainment industry, there is a saying: "For movies and TV series shot in China, 90% of the remuneration is shared with the starring actors, while the remaining 10% of the remuneration is shared equally by 99% of the people. ."
This sentence is very reasonable. The cost of a day's performance in Hengdian Party Group is basically between 100-150. If it involves independent close-up shots, the cost may be 50 yuan higher, but it will never be much higher.
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It will not rise to the level of being noticed by a well-known director. You know, directors basically measure their films in milliseconds, and their concept of time is incomprehensible to us. A scene may pass before you even see it.
And if the group performance involves some special scenes, such as "Japanese soldiers enter the village and assault women", this requires the male actors and female actors playing the Japanese soldiers to co-act in a scene, and it must be very realistic .
This will inevitably involve physical contact between the male and female actors, and for such scenes, Hengdian will only increase the price to 300 yuan per scene, which is already the highest price among group performances.
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Speaking of male actors here, a set of data shows that in Hengdian, there are also a very large number of male actors, sometimes even at a 50-50 split with female actors. situation.
We mentioned above that the salary for being an extra in Hengdian is not much, and men need to support their families. Why are these people unwilling to find a decent job and come to the party to perform as extras? Most of them are "too delicious to cook".
These men are basically failures or ordinary people in their hometowns, and their ideas are even more extreme than those of actresses.
They believe that after successfully becoming a star here, they can get anything they could not get in the past.
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Since many of them do not have girlfriends, they will even "violate" the actresses in some scenes involving violation. Looking for pleasure all the time can be said to be very dark inside.
But even in such an environment, there are still people who insist on their dreams, which can be said to be a clear stream.
In the huge crowd, there will always be a few shining stars. Among these group performances, there are actually some young people with serious academic backgrounds, but their graduate schools are not very well-known, or My family and personal conditions are average.
They can only start from group performances, but they don’t have those messy ideas. They just want to start from group performances and realize their life ideals step by step.
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Some people often share their daily lives as group actors on social platforms, and even shoot them as vlogs. The number of clicks is also very impressive. Some people have also successfully transformed through these short videos. Self-media blogger, very good.
Group performance is also work and needs to be treated correctly
In Hengdian, there are actually more than a few people who really love it. At the beginning of this year, CCTV media came to Hengdian and conducted a series of interviews with local extras. The reporters saw countless shining points in them.
“A Fei is from Guangxi. His parents make a living by farming, but he has had a dream of being an actor since he was a child, hoping to get out of the mountains by becoming an extra.
”
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In June last year, A Fei came to Hengdian. Looking at the huge city and scenic spots, A Fei was very excited. He looked forward to finding a role that suits him here. , stood out.
After waiting for a long month, he finally got a shot of acting in the Anti-Japanese War.
He was so excited that he was eager to try it. . But when he actually started to perform, he found that it was harder than he thought.
You can't make any mistakes in the posture, route, time, and expression. If you make a mistake, you have to do it again. < /p>
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A Fei told reporters: “I’m very tired. The director said it would only be a ten-second charge shot, but we shot it for a whole afternoon and finally eliminated a group of people. We will continue filming tomorrow. ”
Yes, TV dramas are broadcast to audiences across the country, and the quality must be guaranteed.
In Ah Fei’s group, some people have a dawdling mentality and do not perform seriously. He even laughed during the charge, but was cut off by the director. A Fei himself made several mistakes, which led to repeated reshoots.
In the end, the director personally came over and patted him on the shoulder. Said: "Young man, you have worked hard and are better than others, but I suggest you choose a job that suits you. ”
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Although in the end, the camera passed smoothly and Ah Fei also received a reward of 100 yuan, but from then on he once again fell into despair and waited for more than half a month without a new job. .
However, Ah Fei did not give up. He told reporters: "No matter whether it is a success or a failure, this experience is a valuable experience for me. I will continue to pursue my dreams and work hard in the future." ”
Ali from Hubei is an authentic Tujia girl with beautiful appearance and tall figure.
Like Afei, she is also a child from the mountains and has just arrived. When I was in Hengdian, I was spotted by some young directors because of my outstanding appearance.
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But during the filming process, these unknown young directors were always thinking about how to deal with it. Ali's "hidden rules" led her to quit angrily when the filming was almost over. She couldn't accept such behavior.
However, the result of this was that she worked hard for a long time but got nothing. She couldn't get any money for the film.
Ali thought about giving up many times, but in the end, her persistence in her dream defeated her and she decided to persevere
A week later. , the director of a costume drama spotted Ali waiting in line in the crowd, so he walked over, greeted her politely, and handed over his contact information, hoping that she would join his crew.
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Ali tried to agree. Her first shot was of selling vegetables in a heavy ancient winter coat on a street. Although the scene was winter, it was summer when the filming was taken. , which posed a lot of challenges to Ali.
But Ali seemed to have an innate spirit of refusing to admit defeat. She just screamed for three minutes in the "ice and snow" while wearing heavy cotton clothes. .
It was these three important minutes that won her special attention, so the director decided to let her continue to participate in the crew and play some other roles.
"I am very much. I am grateful that I have such an opportunity, which allows me to realize the value of my life," Ali said with a smile to the reporter.
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The above cases are all performed by Hengdian group performers In Hengdian, there are many young people like A Fei and A Li. Some have dreams like A Fei, but in the end they are eliminated due to lack of ability.
There are also some like A Li. With her tenacity and outstanding appearance, she was successfully scouted by the director to participate in other roles.
However, the chance of being selected as a first-line actor is extremely difficult. Ali is already very lucky.
Being able to treat group acting as a job is the attitude that young people in Hengdian should have.
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End.
Having dreams is a good thing, but you cannot have perverted fantasies, let alone try to take shortcuts to reach the top of your life. These are all unrealistic behaviors.
The Wang Baoqiang, Zhao Liying and others we see are all golden phoenixes flying out of Hengdian, but no one sees the hard work they put in behind the scenes. We can only keep our feet on the ground and regard group acting as a true love. Do not be afraid of hardship or tiredness in your work.
In the end, you may be able to gain something. However, if you don’t work hard, don’t fight hard, and fantasize about reaching the sky in one step, you will definitely not gain anything. Only by finding your correct goal can you gradually succeed in life.