Drama Camp Comprehensive Report: Restore the real me and embark on the path of drama ministry
【2006 Cultural Practice Camp】
▲At the Drama Camp Achievements Exhibition, the life sketches written, directed and performed by teachers and students won warm applause and cheers from the audience.
"Performing art is different from other arts; actors use themselves as a means of creation. Face, facial features, body, thoughts, and feelings are the tools. Actors master these, just like musicians master musical instruments, and writers master pen and ink."
Teacher Shen Guanglan of the Drama Camp graduated from the "Beijing Theater Academy". Not only does he have many years of experience on stage and screen, but he also performs well and directs. He will integrate the concepts after mastering them in the drama camp from August 17th to 21st last year. Give everything you have:
"All creations come from life. Actors must pay attention to the details of life to figure out the actions of the performance, but the stage is not exactly equal to life. Actors need to reveal the complex inner thoughts of the characters through a series of "life-like" actions and expressions , depicting the character’s character.”
▲Teacher Shen Guanglan (fifth from right), who loves the Lord devoutly and has first-class professional standards, leads the students to happily take the first step in drama ministry.
The art of acting─theory, observation, practice
At the beginning of the course, the teacher first introduced some selected movie and TV series clips and guided us to observe the actors' delicate body language. Then the students were asked to write and perform a pantomime without props on the theme of "Entering the Door and Exiting the Door".
As a result, just the action of "entering the door" caused everyone to fail! When someone opens the door, the doorknob is as high as his or her chest; someone has five-finger magic and can push the door directly in without a handle or key; someone even walks in through the door and becomes an "invisible man"! As soon as the teacher pointed out all kinds of "cross-dressing shots", everyone burst into laughter!
The actor's movements must be realistic, and no detail can be missed. For example, picking up a pot filled with water has weight, and the actor's movements and muscles need to show changes. Although the drama itself is fiction, the actor's task is to make the audience believe it to be true.
Teacher Shen reminded me again and again, "Restore the real me." Don't be formal or artificial. How to restore? If the tool for drama creation is "self", then it must first be gained by God - the "true self" originally created by God must be liberated from the bondage of sin. Only then can the performed drama bring out the power of God!
Graduation Performance─"Life Sketches"
On the last day of the drama camp, twelve students prepared five independent "life sketches" as the "Achievements Exhibition".
In just two and a half days, the five groups wrote and performed by themselves. Under the guidance of Teacher Shen, the sections were naturally coherent, leaving no traces and no interruptions. This shows how important the director’s skill is! Although the last thing that was put on the stage was not a full banquet of Manchu and Chinese, it was nothing like the pantomime two and a half days ago!
In fact, until the afternoon of the performance, all the actors were still feeling uneasy. However, before the performance, they all held hands in prayer and surrendered to God, the Father who loves us. From the moment they said "Amen", everyone was like After taking the reassurance, he looked completely different from the one in rehearsal, and even improvised some innovative and funny lines!
The audience also laughed heartily and applauded heartily in the audience! At the end, all the performers individually and in chorus recited the poem "Beloved, let us love", which brought a beautiful conclusion to the stage play.
The road to drama ministry has an appointment with you
Teacher Shen once talked about the difference between acting in a stage play and making a movie: If an actor in a movie does not meet the director's standards, he can keep re-acting (NG. It just consumes film); this is not the case in a stage play. Once the actor goes on stage, there is no way to recover the good or bad performance. There's room!
"Since acting is so hard, what motivates these actors to persevere in acting?" The students were curious.
The answer is "fame" and "profit". "Becoming famous" is always the desire of human nature, not to mention that becoming a star can also bring superhuman wealth! But our group of students participating in the drama camp all have a common wish; not to have fun on the stage, not to be a "star", but to shoulder a long-term mission: to "restore" the art of drama and use it for God. !
We are all resources in God’s kingdom, and the theater is the field God assigns us to serve. Once appointed, there is no turning back. Therefore, the students made an appointment with each other: to record the episodes of God in our lives (devotees) in the coming year. When we meet again next year, the performance themes will be even richer.
Author profile
Cheng Yaozeng, a new recruit of the Cultural Practice Camp, even though he has passed his age, he is still excited about the new door of writing opened by God! I currently work as a computer worker in a bank in Ohio, but I like to watch historical TV series, visit historical sites, talk, act, and play ball. Recently I have fallen in love with theology classes and received "re-education" from my heavenly father.