"Actually, I am an actor." Yin Tianchou almost stubbornly repeated. In exchange, it will always be the sentence-"You are a dead walk-on."
In king of comedy, Stephen Chow shows the ups and downs of Yin Tianchou, a walk-on actor, in an absurd way.
Yin Tianchou, a nobody, was treated as cheap, laughed at, looked down upon and greeted with a smile. In reality, how many "Yin Tianchou"?
At 3 am on June 9, a 23-year-old stuntman caught fire while filming "Red Cliff" and was killed.
Previously, the crew of "My Head and My Regiment" had two accidents when filming in Yunnan. First, a pyrotechnician was killed by the explosion, and then several extras were killed by the collapsed brick of the covered bridge.
Walk-on, martial arts master, stunt body double and fireworks master are all out-and-out "little people" compared with the first-line stars who are active in major award ceremonies. Survival behind the camera has nothing to do with scenery and glory. They have their own "helplessness" and "sadness", and they are also optimistic and strive to find their own "little flowers".
Adapt oneself to different environments.
The park at the back door of Beiying Factory. This is Zhao's "home".
I can't start work today. The 29-year-old young man was lying on a bench in Zhang Shitou, looking at the sky with branches and leaves apart, feeling very lost.
"I shoot TV, actor." When talking with strangers, Zhao used to use this sentence as an opening remark.
Zhao, a native of Gaomi, Shandong Province, is a martial arts family. Last year, with the dream of "promising as a king", Zhao came to Beijing alone. "In big cities, there are many people filming and there are many opportunities."
"There are many opportunities, but not many people." Wandering in Beijing for a year, Zhao "has become vicissitudes and mature, and can see through everything."
His skin is fair and his hair is a little messy, but he can see traces of trying to comb it. "You look in your early twenties," someone said to him, but he was unhappy: "What? People in their late thirties are getting old. "
Zhao doesn't want to be young. "What is youth? Very tender, but not sensible. Let people see at a glance that youth is a failure. " He has begun to grow a beard, and the shallow stubble is as neat as a gardener's carefully trimmed nursery. "Men have to have a lot of vicissitudes to have a taste. If they want to be seen by the director, they will have a chance to play and have a chance to play well."
"Mature men have the opportunity to play the leading role." When Zhao spoke, he kept a cigarette in his mouth. He doesn't smoke, let it burn naturally, and the smoke slides down his cheeks.
In fact, he doesn't like smoking.
"This is just a process. I need it when I'm filming. You have to practice on weekdays. The smoke is too thick for your eyes. You must practice and get used to it. " Zhao talked about it. "You should have seen the new edition of Shanghai Beach. Xu Wenqiang, played by Huang Xiaoming, always smokes and has to say his lines. Can't he practice? "
"What plays have you played?"
Zhao Xihui raised his eyebrows one by one, and his face was a little proud: "It's quite a lot." Then he began to dance like a storyteller. "Farmers, bandits, street hooligans, once he played the Eighth Route Army soldier, but unfortunately he only carried a gun and was knocked down by enemy machine guns as soon as he rushed into the camera? That time I followed the Qing soldiers, lying in red water, pretending to be a dead body, someone stepped on my back, and I choked a few mouthfuls of dirty water? "
He is basically in front of the Beijing Film Studio, mixed with dozens of people who are also waiting for the "role". "There will always be someone to pick it, and take it away. It depends on luck. "
Zhao has been unlucky this year. So far, he has only waited for one role. "A refugee, with a broken bamboo basket, crutches and mud on his face, quickly followed the crowd through the lens." In order to make a living, he went to the construction site to move bricks for a while, moved home for a few days to earn some money, and then went to the North Film Factory and other "roles."
"I basically sleep in this park at night, and I feel comfortable when the cool breeze blows." Zhao said that in the evening, the park became lively, and "actors" from all over the world came down from the front of the North Film Factory for the night. "Benches, rockeries, or pavilions are all sleeping."
"I always go to Huairou, where the film and television base is very big." Zhao said that in nearby villages, many farmhouses were rented by "actors". "Conditions are better now, but it turned out to be a mess. Every yard has a head and always beats people, and the money earned is pitiful. "
A walk-on is always satisfied with the status quo. Under the subway aisle, under the internet cafe and under the overpass, they are all temporary homes. "Sometimes they are sloppy and like begging, but as long as there is a play, they must clean themselves up."
Ma Heng lived in the big yard of a village in Huairou for a year. I am 35 years old, from Yueyang, Hunan, and have 8 years of experience as a walk-on.
"I ran a lot of places, Wuxi Film and Television City, Hengdian, Zhejiang, Yunnan. As long as there is filming, I will follow. " Ma Heng said that he was like a herding horse, wandering around with aquatic plants.
"Group Leader" and Intermediary
Compared with Zhao, it is much luckier. "He performed many dramas with lines. At most, he said four sentences to the protagonist-'Sir, they are coming',' Yes, I'm leaving',' Give it to me' and' Oh, I can't'."
"It is not easy to do this." Zhao said that generally speaking, the deputy director of the crew who is responsible for finding extras will have many phone numbers of "group leaders". These group leaders are all freelancers, who are responsible for helping the crew find extras and drawing commissions from them. "It's better that our extras won't be detained for long."
"Sometimes the crew will contact the film and television company first, and then the company will come to the team leader, and the team leader will provide familiar people to walk on." Ma Heng said that some so-called companies only have one office and two desks. "Most of the wages paid by the crew will be taken away by these companies, saying that they are agency fees, and some will be deducted by the team leader. It will be pitiful in the hands of our actors."
"You must respect those team leaders from time to time. They are grandfathers. " Ma Heng and other "actors" often meet in series, introduce familiar league leaders to each other, and then come to visit with gifts.
"Play for a day, take a day's money. Prices are high and low. If you are good, you can have 80 days. The crew will also provide lunch boxes, which is very good. " "It is inevitable to encounter wage arrears. Sometimes I shoot for a month and I can't see a' silver'. Who can I talk to? "
"John Woo completely disrupted the market order of extras. In order to perform a good play, he can spend a lot of money on extras, but the production expenses of domestic TV dramas are pitiful compared with movies. At present, extras who don't have lines earn at least 30 yuan every day, and those who have lines cost 100 yuan, and an 8-hour working system has been implemented. At that time, the extras will pick up their bags and make up the money by the hour. " Zhang Jizhong, a TV producer, complained that he was a bit of a walk-on, and the third-line actors were helpless.
Participate in the filming of Nanjing! Nanjing! The extras complained: "It's really hard to fall into the mud pit, and the director's attitude on the spot is also very bad. The final reward is only 25 yuan."
"A walk-on is different from a walk-on." Xiao, our good friend, said that among the waiters in Beiying Park, he graduated from junior college with a high degree. He divided the walk-on into several categories: "some are to support the family;" Some want to be stars with ideals; Some are playing with tickets to gain more life experience; Some are for idolization. The leading role of any movie is his idol, so he will follow the past as an extra actor. "
In the crew, walk-on is the lowest level. It only takes 1 or 2 seconds to shoot, and it always takes 3 or 5 hours to wait for the play. Ma Heng and Xiaoyu both had similar experiences. "Many times, we were asked to get to the set at four or five in the morning to help set the scene, and then sit and wait."
Of course, we actors can't enjoy air conditioning when filming on a hot day. When filming, we can only wait in a simple tent, sweating all over and sometimes feeling dizzy. "But you must make sure that you are energetic and focused when shooting. If you let the protagonist remake it because you are distracted, you will be scolded. If you meet a director with a bad temper, you may kick you. "
Accompanied by danger
He Weitong, a 17-year-old boy from Dazhou, Sichuan, went to various crews with a stunt team last year. They are martial artists.
Martial arts has a heavy task in the crew. "There must be police and bandits, there must be gun battles, and there must be costume martial arts dramas." He Weitong said.
Among martial artists, body double, who plays the leading role, shows dazzling martial arts in front of the mirror, but he can't show his true feelings. "At that time, the martial artist was just a moving prop."
"Sometimes we can appear when we need a lot of thugs, but most of them are far away and vague."
"After shooting the blasting scene, there will always be a lot of dust and gunpowder foam entering the eyes, which is very painful. It is all black and gray." Lao Kai, the personal assistant of a famous actor in Hong Kong, said, "When shooting, the bullet hits the chest, the blasting bag hidden under the clothes will burst open, and then the blood stored in it will gush out. Once, because of too much explosives, when the gun rang, the blasting bag directly exploded the clothes and burned a large piece. I was also smashed with a piece of meat, and I was bleeding at that time. " With that, he lifted his undershirt and exposed the wound.
"A walk-on who shoots blasting or shots is naturally paid more than a walk-on who shoots literary dramas." According to the lens settlement, a lens of 200 yuan is a lot, with high risk factor, and at most it is 600 yuan. "Old Kay said.
Unfortunately, a stuntman was killed in a fire accident in the cast of Red Cliff. At the time of the incident, he was filming the scene of the fire on an ancient warship. As a result, the fire really lit up and trapped him on the boat and burned him to death. Previously, during the filming of "My Head and My Regiment", a fireman died because of placing gunpowder.
"Since it is a play, then the war is false, and there should be no casualties. Regarding the shooting of fireworks scenes, there are very strict and detailed regulations in the Film Law. Of course, because of human factors, sometimes accidents are inevitable, but if the fireman himself is injured, there is only one possibility, that is, illegal operation. " Li Zhixiang, director of film and television technology production department (former director of fireworks workshop) of Zhujiang Film Production Co., Ltd. said.
Li Zhixiang said: "In order to ensure the safety of actors, five years of pyrotechnics can only be assistants, and ten years of pyrotechnics can operate independently, and they must start from a small scene."
"In order to save costs, some crews only invite one or two professional stuntmen and pyrotechnics, and then find a lot of walk-on players to replace them." Lao Kai said frankly that a professional pyrotechnicist or martial artist led a group of random walk-on actors, and after simple teaching, they entered the working state.
Zhang Gang, the head of a film and television company in Beijing, told New Century Weekly, "Directors usually want the picture to be as perfect as possible, and the requirements are often very high. However, some martial arts players have limited ability and don't want to be scolded by the director. They just bite the bullet and let the walk-on go into battle and do some difficult moves, which is prone to accidents. "
Some amateurs are brave enough to fight, running between the fireworks that keep exploding under the camera, or jumping from a building tens of meters high and falling into the air cushion. "The scene of bullets and explosions is very dangerous. When shooting these shots, every step should be well controlled and closely coordinated with the director. If you don't do it well, you will get hurt. " "Sometimes there will be a lot of fried points. Where do you remember those unprofessional bit players? It is common to hurt your leg and hand. "
"Some inexperienced pyrotechnics, blasting device is not installed correctly. I was injured several times without running a few times. " Lao Kai talked about a gunfight film he participated in and said, "Later, I severely scolded the fireworks artist."
"In" My Head and My Regiment ",in order to create a realistic effect, military explosives are used to represent prop bombs. The former will have a single piece flying around after the explosion, causing human life, while the latter does not. As a result, the fireworks master was killed. " Lao Kai said that although pyrotechnics don't have to appear in the lens, they need the first experimental explosion point, a war scene, such as burying 100 explosion point. At each point, the pyrotechnics have to go through it to test the amount of explosives. If it is too small, it won't work. Too much. No, it'll hurt people. "In the crew, the pyrotechnicist is the worst, either scolded by other actors or injured."
The most dangerous performance of walk-on actor Ma Heng is in Hengdian, Zhejiang. "At that time, the director asked me to play with fire, put on protective clothing and pour gasoline all over my body. As soon as I started shooting, I was covered in fire, shouting and running around in the camera. "
"It was night and it was already dark. The shooting time is less than 3 minutes. I took off my protective clothing and found that my hair was burned a lot. No wonder I felt pain at the time. " Ma Heng said, in fact, the scene was not his job at first. There are professional technicians, but the man refused to shoot because the protective clothing was not safe enough.
"At that time, the pyrotechnic technician specially wore protective clothing, lit a fire and showed it to him, indicating that there was no danger, but the specialized technician suggested paying more for the lens. Finally, the director called me, and I was half cheaper. "
"If it is a remote blasting, then the pyrotechnics are not in any danger and do not need to leave the scene. Actors and even protagonists with a walk-on have high risk factors. "
Xiao Li claimed to have participated in the filming of Assembly. "There is a street fighting, fried a lot. For the sake of truth, the director didn't tell you where the explosion point was, and then pressed it remotely. At that time, my heart was hanging, and the bricks that had been blown up several times hit me. Fortunately, it's a bomb squad from Korea. It is very professional and skilled, and it doesn't hurt us. "
Nowhere to complain
"In many domestic dramas, those walk-ons are too unprofessional, rambling in the camera and drifting out of the play. You see foreign blockbusters, which walk-on is not fully committed? " In Baidu's "extras" column, some netizens complained.
Someone immediately gave the answer: "The protection of walk-on in other countries is very comprehensive and the treatment is good. They naturally work hard on acting. Unlike in China, many walk-ons are constantly cheated, blackmailed or unpaid, and their injuries are not treated as necessary. "
Walk-on actors lack protection and organization, which attracts more and more attention.
Qiu Jie, Ph.D., School of Labor and Personnel, Renmin University of China, and a member of the labor contract legislation research group of the State Council Legislative Affairs Office, has made a special study on this. She believes: "The employment method is not standardized, and once there is an unexpected difficulty in safeguarding rights, the lack of specialized trade union organizations is an urgent problem to be solved."
Zhang Gang established an artist self-help center in 2006. He has directed many TV dramas and is familiar with various problems in the film and television circle.
He told New Century Weekly that according to the statistics of the Ministry of Culture, there are currently more than 300,000 actors in China. Except for regular units or well-known artists in China, the others are around 200,000. What hangs over this "majority" is not the gorgeous aura of actors, but the fraud of film and television intermediaries, the harsh living environment and the inner loneliness.
"Migrant workers are owed wages, others are in charge, actors who run a walk-on, or walk-on, who don't get paid, but there is no way to complain." The self-help center mainly helps people who are injured in filming, deceived by groups or individuals, unwilling to continue to engage in the film and television industry and want to find other jobs. Anyone can come to the self-help center for free.
The self-help center used to have a 24-hour hotline and an office not far from Beijing Film Academy. In the first year, Zhang Gang and his self-help center helped 30 artists and solved their troubles through legal channels.
"Actors are a special industry. Basically, everyone in China goes their own way. It's hard to organize. It is not easy to form a trade union because of the high mobility of the crew. The determination of some walk-on candidates is quite arbitrary in itself. If you use it today, you may not need it tomorrow. It is impossible to sign a labor contract. " Zhang Gang said frankly.
"We have no permanent establishment in this center. Usually immediate assistance. If anyone comes to ask for help, we will help. Actually, it's very difficult. We have to do our own work, with limited energy and limited funds. Many things are not something we can solve. " Zhang Gang said that an individual's ability is limited. In this case, they recently began to contact some government departments, hoping to get some help. But they were "surprised" to find that no government department in Beijing can really help actors.
"We have contacted the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the General Office of the Beijing Municipal Government and other departments. The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture told us that the actors' problems were not their responsibility, and let's find the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. Officials from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television told us that they are only government functional departments. They are only responsible for the examination and approval of movies. Actors, especially those who come to Beijing from other places, have no units and belong to the foreign population, so they should be managed by the local government. "
"In desperation, I went to the city government again. The other party told me that at present, there is no relevant policy in the country, and the government is separated from the enterprise, so the government cannot interfere with the operation of the actor company-which is good news for those deceptive actor companies. Who wants to get rich quickly and start an actor company with an annual profit of 200,000? I have been an actor company for 7 years, and I know this business too well-I also suggest that I can set up one.
"Later, I called the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and asked if it was possible to set up an actors' union in China. The eldest sister of an office said that China's trade union organizations are mainly responsible for the welfare of employees. Trade unions have no precedent. Zhang Gang said, "Fortunately, my sister gave me an idea to apply for a trade union in the name of my company. There are six people in my company. I'll hire another union director. Forget it. "
Zhang Gang once planned to set up an "actor supermarket" near Beiying to attract film and television companies with good reputation and good service to provide all-round services for actors. "More importantly, there should be legal advisers and similar supervisory bodies to supervise the operation of these companies. I hope that this will drive the actor market to standardize. " However, these beautiful ideals have not been realized so far.
"A walk-on actor can consider the way of' dispatching workers'." Qiu Jie, an expert, put forward his own solution to the problem.
She explained: "Many people classify walk-on actors as' temporary workers', but in the new labor law, there is no concept of' temporary workers' at all, and all employment methods protected by law should be contract workers. The most basic problem of extras is that their employment methods are not standardized, because most of them are convened by' group heads' similar to' contractors'. They have not established a contractual relationship with the crew, and the' group heads' play an intermediary role. " However, according to the regulations, the employer should be a public institution to be effective, and natural persons cannot employ people. "Dispatching workers" means that extras establish a contractual relationship with a qualified unit, and the unit dispatches employees to major production crews to protect the rights and interests of employees and pay wages.
"This' employer' is a walk-on actor company or trade union. Hengdian has such a union of extras, which is more organized and legally standardized. "