(It's the weekend, I wish you all a happy weekend! I typing it very late last night, my daughter is so naughty... If you have recommendation tickets in your hand, give me a few more!)

On May 3, 1999, on a very ordinary Monday, after Matthew got off work from Red Penguin, he immediately called a taxi and arrived at the Los Angeles Performing Arts School in North Hollywood on time before 9 a.m. Today is the first day of his performance class he signed up for.

When he arrived at the classroom where he taught, Matthew pushed the door and walked in. Since he arrived after get off work, he came late. More than a dozen students were standing there in the huge classroom.

There are no tables and chairs in the classroom, and a huge mirror is installed on the wall opposite the door.

While walking over there, Matthew quickly looked at the group of people and vaguely saw a few familiar faces, but he couldn't remember where he had seen them. He probably might be an actor in a Hollywood movie he had watched.

If he can feel familiar, he must have acted in a super blockbuster. Matthew is smart. Do you want to do something in this training class? The network of personal connections is built bit by bit.

When he came to the group of people, Matthew stopped. Some people looked at him curiously. When he saw someone he didn't know, he quickly turned his eyes away.

Saying hello to strangers is a knowledgeable thing, and it is not advisable to just get close to each other. Matthew did not speak rashly. At this moment, the classroom door was pushed open from outside, and a man holding a folder walked in.

This is a typical white man with an extremely striking bald head, he should be over 50 years old, and he is calm and looks quite stylish.

"Cough..." The bald man deliberately coughed, attracting the attention of everyone in the classroom, and a smile on his face, "Good morning everyone."

Everyone, including Matthew, looked over and judged by the age of this person, they were definitely not students like them, but teachers.

Sure enough, the bald man then introduced himself, "My name is David Astor, one of your teachers."

"I really want to know you, but now there is no hurry. I have prepared a special link to get to know you." David Astor was not long-winded and went straight to the topic. "You are here to learn acting or improve your acting skills. You only have six months, and I promise not to waste your time on saliva."

He walked a few steps forward and stood four meters away from everyone. "I have never attended professional schools such as the University of Southern California Film Academy or the California School of Art. I am not an academic school. As far as I know, you don't have them, so I am just an ordinary actor who is struggling in the film industry, but I have more than 40 years of practical performance experience than you."

When Matthew heard that the other party was not a college, he felt that it was right. It would be difficult for a person like him to learn from a college. On the contrary, if someone from a wild path was also taught, the effect might be better.

Matthew had a limited understanding of these things, just his own feelings.

David Astor continues, "I am happy to share what I know with you. Most of the skills and experience I have learned come from the training and summary of actual performances. Many senior actors learn not from school. In addition to basic knowledge, if you want to become a successful actor, you need to accumulate and summarize it yourself."

Most people are listening carefully. Those who can enter here are undoubtedly people with dreams of being a celebrity.

"If someone tells you that there are objective evaluation criteria for the quality of acting skills." David Astor seems to have a unique view, "Don't pay attention to them, they are farting. The evaluation of acting skills is just about personal taste. Of course, when we evaluate a person's acting skills, there will be a mainstream judgment. This is why people think that Dustin Hoffman is a good actor. But if you don't like him, you are not wrong, at most you are a little weird."

David Astor suddenly slapped his palm, "Okay, I'm done with my nonsense, let's start teaching on the spot!"

His eyes swept across everyone's faces, "You have fourteen people in total. Now you pair up in pairs. First introduce yourself when you appear, and then perform a free performance according to the script I provided. Let me see your performance level!"

"You have three minutes!"

As soon as the voice fell, Matthew turned around and said very politely to a girl next to him, "Hello, can we partner?"

The girl glanced at Matthew, and Matthew had a sunny smile on his face, which easily gave people a favor.

"Yes." The girl nodded gently.

When they act in a temporary partner, there is no particular concern for those present. Just like Matthew, they basically choose the people around them.

Seeing that the girl did not refuse, Matthew said politely, "I am Matthew Horner, Texan."

The girl also smiled slightly, "Rachel McAdams, Canadian."

The girl's facial lines are a little hard, but when she smiles, she has a pair of charming dimples. She doesn't have very outstanding beauty, but her smile makes people feel extremely comfortable.

Fourteen people were quickly divided into seven groups. David Astor distributed two scripts to each group, leaving only five minutes to read the script and communicate. Then a pair of male actors in their early twenties were invited to perform first by him.

"Let's get started."

At the command of David Astor, two male actors introduced themselves and started a very simple dialogue.

"What were you doing last night?" The actor with short hair spoke first, standing there motionless, "Why don't you answer the call?"

The long-haired male actor opposite spread his hands and looked embarrassed, "My wife doesn't let me answer the phone, I can't get out!"

The short-haired male actor still did not move, and his expression on his face did not change much, "I've been waiting for you in the bar for the whole night!"

"I don't want to do it either." The person opposite was quite depressed, "My wife said, if I drink with you again, she will break my legs..."

The simple dialogue performance ended soon, Matthew looked at the two people and whispered to the girl next to him, "Which one do you think performs better?"

"The one with long hair." Rachel McAdams replied casually.

Matthew nodded slightly, "Well, I think so too."

Although he is not very good at acting, he can still clearly tell it. A male actor with long hair performs better than a short hair. He can't tell what's the specific advantage.

"You give me a very stiff feeling!" David Astor walked to the two men, "It's also very dull!"

He first said to the short-haired male actor, "Dialogue is not just about mouth! There is also body language." At this point, he made an exaggerated expression, "Where are you, you are almost motionless, without even small movements, staring at other people's conversations, making you look very dull!"

After hearing David Astor say this, Matthew suddenly realized that this is the case. The short-haired male actor stood still from beginning to end, and his expression seemed to have not changed!

David Astor has turned to the long-haired actor, "You are more energetic than him, and I see a sense of display in you, a desire to express yourself, which is a good thing, keep it up."

Matthew also figured out why a male actor with long hair gives him a better feeling than a male actor with short hair.

This kind of thing is only separated by a layer of window paper. If no one points it out, I don’t know how long it will take to figure it out.

"There are many open dialogue scenes like this in movies or other types of performances. They seem simple, but they are not easy to act well!"

David Astor instead said to everyone, "When you are open-ended conversation, you can practice trying to walk slightly, look up, frown, whine, raise your mouth, raise your hands and other body language. Do not be serious and serious. From the protagonist to the character who is small, you can use body language to show the atmosphere in a line or two."

Matthew kept these words in his mind.

After watching a performance, he understood that David Astor was not from the academy and paid more attention to practical performance practice. He did not release his nature, as well as theories such as the Expressionist, Experimentalist and Methodist school, like the books he had read, and he did not bring out long-term discussions.

This is a performance crash course, with limited class hours. For those who have not been systematically studied, especially those who have a low level of education like him, those profound theories are far less effective than learning this way.

If you come up and talk about performance theory, others don’t know it, and Matthew probably will soon faint.

Then a male actor and an actress appeared on the scene. There were no lines in their scenes. David Astor asked them to act as a brother and sister to perform the scene after learning that their sister was killed.

As soon as David Ast shouted, the actress stayed there, always shouting for God with a "hard face" while crying...

She cried very sadly, as if her sister had really died.

The male actors are different. First, they have a slightly angry and disbelief expression, and then they have a bitter face, and then their faces and mouths are twitching slightly. The head movements are so sad that they can't describe...

David Astor came forward to comment again, "The two performed well, exceeding my expectations, but I appreciate the latter one more."

Matthew couldn't help scratching his head. According to common sense, actresses are more in line with the reality.

"First of all, I want to remind you that this is a performance. The performance should serve the repertoire, series or movie." David Astor explained in detail. "When encountering such a scene, if it is not a special request, don't cry too early to show your sadness. This will not bring the audience the feeling of "sweeping". You must do something to exaggerate the audience's mood."

He looked at the actor and said, "For example, first show sadness, then use verbal sadness, or make some helpless and unbelievable expressions, and finally reveal your sadness, but you should show different levels of sadness according to the plot. Others are not dead yet... you cried to death first."

"Okay!" He waved his hand, "Let's go ahead."
Chapter completed!