With the memory of last year’s scorching hot Chinese movie market serving as motivation, over 20,000 students have already applied to the Beijing Film Academy this year, the majority of whom plan to major in performing arts. Some people feel, however, that only the handsomest boys and most beautiful girls are selected to become performers, and that those whose appearance may not be quite so spectacular have a very low chance of being admitted.

“This opinion is absolutely incorrect,” says Chen Yi (陈浥), president of the Performing Arts Department at the Beijing Film Academy. Movies are an expression of life, he continued, and in life there are all kinds of people. Although the examiners have definite standards regarding the students they select, these are all based on the needs of the movies being made. Even more important are the students’ sense of conviction, powers of imagination, passion, talent for expression, and the overall quality of their artistic skills and personal behavior. “If students from all levels of society are not considered, then how would we be able to perform scripts with roles for characters from every sort of background? So we are absolutely not simply choosing the best-looking boys and girls, nor are we selecting a “production crew.”

Procedure for admittance

According to Wang Jinsong (王劲松), vice-president of the Performing Arts Department at the Beijing Film Academy, the admissions process for the performing arts major is divided into three tests. The first test is comprised of two components: a speech and an acting demonstration. Students may select a particular piece of poetry, prose, novel excerpt or story to speak aloud for the examiners. Then students will collectively take part in a short performance to help demonstrate their confidence, imagination and acting prowess. The second test is divided into four segments: “singing, speaking, performing and acting.” First, students must sing a song, then recite a speech, then perform a dance or acrobatic segment, and finally act out a small dramatic piece, and for each of these, the degree of difficulty has increased significantly since that of the first test. Finally, in the third test, prospective students sit in on a first-year acting course to determine “whether or not they truly have what it takes.”

Talent and diligence are the golden ticket

Some students worry that, lacking any sort of acting experience, they have no chance in being admitted. Regarding these worries, Cui Xinqin (崔新琴), a professor at the Performing Arts Department at the Beijing Film Academy, had this to say: “Acting is a kind of imaginative representation, of giving life to what you see in your head. In the eyes of the examiners, there is no difference between having previously studied acting or not, the most important thing is seeing whether or not you have the potential to become an actor.”

Cui Xinqin went on to say that an applicant’s chance of success depends first of all on their natural acting talent. After that, a student’s capacity for practice and hard work are taken into account, as are their existing foundations and acting opportunities. Next, a student’s attitude is considered, for the study of acting is also a form of self-cultivation –actors  must persist through great ups and downs and periods of lonely struggle. “You won’t be able to stand in the spotlight forever, nor should you expect to become famous overnight. Prospective students that are here simply to chase fame and money have not only lost themselves, but they are also very unlikely to succeed.”

The curtain will be lifted this week for this once-a-year event, and “beautiful girls and handsome boys” from all across the country have assembled in Beijing, each carrying with them a dream of artistic success. They hope that just by knocking at the entrances to schools like Beijing Film Academy and the Central Academy of Drama, the doors will be opened to them. With 2,799 applicants for the School of Performing Art at the Beijing Film Academy alone, prospective students must now face the cruel reality that only thirty of them will be selected, creating an atmosphere of intense competition that is impossible to avoid.

Source: edu.ifeng.com

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