Chapter 581: Chapter 581 Performance
The re-examination occurs on the third day after the preliminary results are announced.
Unlike the lively atmosphere of the initial test, the number of students in the re-examination is fewer, and the overall quality seems significantly higher.
In her previous life, Sheng Tang participated in the re-examination, and she remembered that it involved singing, dancing, and acting. She wondered if it would be any different this time.
To her surprise, the format of the re-examination remained the same.
She drew the third sequence number in the re-examination, which meant she could finish quickly, and the teachers would still be fresh and patient in watching her performance.
Sheng Tang was very familiar with singing; her vocal skills were quite good, even though she hadn’t practiced much lately. Dancing, however, was not her forte. Nevertheless, she was accustomed to exercising, and with her training in martial arts, her body coordination was excellent.
After the preliminary exam, she danced at home every night for more than an hour, practicing a particular dance. It was easy for her to handle the re-examination, and she danced with remarkable proficiency.
Acting was her strongest suit.
"Sing a song of your choice," the main examiner said, "You can sing a cappella."
Sheng Tang sang "Cotton Candy."
This song was quite popular recently. After being sold by Sheng Tang, the management company had packaged it and given it to a rising star, making it a hit that many people had heard.
Her singing was indeed impressive.
The teachers didn’t hold back their satisfaction this time. One of them even asked, "How many years have you studied music? Why didn’t you apply to a music academy?"
"Teacher, it’s just a hobby for me. I haven’t really studied it formally."
That teacher nodded.
Next was dancing.
"If you can’t dance, you can perform something else, anything will do, even just a few jumps," the teacher said.
Students were not expected to be all-rounders; the film academy’s acting department didn’t require students to be both great singers and dancers.
Sheng Tang performed a piece she had practiced for several days.
This time, the teachers could see her awkwardness, indicating that dancing was probably not her strength.
It was just a minor deduction, not particularly significant.
The final segment was acting.
The teacher gave the prompt: "You are a mother at a train station during the Spring Festival travel rush, and you have lost your child. After searching for three hours without success, you have prepared for the worst. Prepare yourself and perform your piece within five minutes."
This was a professional acting course.
Sheng Tang had spent four years in college not just idling away her time; her foundational skills were solid.
In the school’s acting classes, students were required to perform all kinds of acts, some making them appear erratic and disheveled, aimed at breaking down their psychological defenses so they wouldn’t always be themselves but immerse in various roles.
Exaggeration in acting was permissible; crying or laughing hysterically could prove that you were able to let go without being constrained.
Sheng Tang prepared for two minutes.
She imagined how Gu Shiting, who had not yet overcome his social anxiety, would react if he got lost in a crowded train station during the Spring Festival rush and couldn’t be found after three hours of searching.
Sheng Tang knew that at this moment, the chief examiner was testing the students’ ability to transform, to see if they could let go and "make a fool of themselves" for the sake of acting.
It wasn’t necessarily a test of deep acting skills.
Therefore, Sheng Tang adopted a very exaggerated acting style, just as her teacher had required during her freshman year classes.
She messed up her hair, took off one shoe, and frantically moved through the imaginary crowd: "Excuse me, have you seen a little child? He’s seven years old, wearing a blue down jacket, black sneakers, very clean and fair-skinned..."
As she spoke, tears began to fall.
Her performance was rough and exaggerated, but her tears were real.
Her painful voice and the continuous stream of tears showcased her skills.
One minute, two minutes, she changed her expressions repeatedly. Sometimes, upon receiving a vague answer, she would show a mix of joy and even more intense tears.
But the results were disappointing, and deep pain would again appear on her face.
After four minutes, her expression vanished, and the tears dried up. She even showed a surreal sinister smile: "Have you seen my child?"
She wasn’t asking anyone in particular; it was more like talking to herself.
By the look of her, she was on the verge of madness.
