This is a series of short articles by the same author which will be a 6 part analysis on Xiao Zhan’s various roles.
- Part 1.1 – Wei Wuxian
- Part 1.2 – Wei Wuxian
- Part 1.3 – Wei Wuxian
- Part 2.1 – Yan Bingyun
- Part 3.1 – Period Dramas
- Part 3.2 – Period Dramas
Original Article: https://www.weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404472999616053295
Original Author: 诗债累累
Using Theatrical Actions to become the Yiling Patriarch
In the previous article, we spoke about how he understood his character’s psychology based on Wei Wuxian’s background as a child and as a teenager.
Here, we will talk about something called “action”. By definition, to act means to incite and to conflict. It is commonly said that drama is the art of action and this happens when you condense incidents and conflicts together. More often than not, when the incidents and the conflicts are not as intense, the work could be categorized as an art film, and most art films tend to have fewer conflicts, but more information, such as art direction, costume design, lighting.
Action displays character, and character is the motivation behind action, and also the purpose of motivation, and this can be seen in the dramatic transformation of Wei Wuxian from the Massacre of Lotus Pier to the Yiling Patriarch. Although there may be different thoughts on which portions were touching, we can agree that a good performance is one that touches your heart.
And while the journey may be long and arduous, and the audience would have empathized with his pain, it boils down to the following questions:
Why would Wei Wuxian become the Yiling Patriarch？ What did he gain and what did he lose as a result?
Using incident and conflict, we can analyze the timeline of his transformation.
- Massacre at Lotus Pier
- Pursuit of the survivors Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli
- Capture of Jiang Cheng and subsequent Gift of the Golden Core
- Continued pursuit of Wei Wuxian and finally being thrown down to the Burial Grounds
Performance Point (1): Return to Lotus Pier (Episode 16, at the 33th Minute)
Incident – Rescue of Jiang Cheng
Conflict – Murderous rage and rational thought
Wei Wuxian returned to the place that he is the most familiar with, but this was the first time Xiao Zhan used the emotion of dread. Dread of the force that was able to destroy everything of his. As such, he stayed close to the walls and made minimal movements despite using all of his strength in his fingers. When he strangled Wen Ning, it was not to kill him regardless of right or wrong. The veins on his hands popped out in rage, his teeth clenched, and as Wen Ning explained he was not a participant, we can see that he visibly took a deep breath. This deep breath was because he managed to control himself and stay rational.
The internal conflict in this scene is very brilliant – the emotions went from murderous rage to regaining his senses, from wild explosive rage to the restoration of his rational mind.
Performance Point (2): Escape to Yiling Supervisory Hold (Episode 17, at the 13th Minute)
Incident – Escape and survival
Conflict – Staying strong despite desperation
At this point, Wei Wuxian was almost hysterical, and in complete distrust of everyone, because at this point, he was desperate and weak, and also possibly facing his last goodwill in the world. Xiao Zhan captured the essence well – Wei Wuxian at this point was out of control, he was hysterical on the outside, but weak on the inside.
I found myself identifying with his portrayal. Wei Wuxian had wisdom beyond his age and had a great deal of self-confidence. After the massacre, he had lost his self-confidence and it was almost as though he had lost faith in himself. In addition, at the 17th minute of the episode, when Wen Qing asked him what he would do, he said, “Those who deserve to die will die.” Although the words were harsh, the expression on his face was fragile.
His emotions in his performance during this period were interlinked and unbroken.
Performance Point (3): Survival in the Burial Grounds (Episode 19, at the 20th Minute)
Incident – Near death and survival
Conflict – Life and Death
This was a classic test of acting skills, and the degree of completion was high.
In this example, we would have to bring in a concept called dramatic actions, and by which we mean the combination of exterior body movements and internal emotional fluctuations.
This was a scene without props, and the difficulty came from having to express himself with only his physical movements, and if not done correctly, the performance would become shallow, and even confuse his audiences. Encircled by countless ghosts, in the den of ghosts, he needed to contort himself to depict the brink of death.
The state of near-death is a state which is difficult to capture, and some of the actors I know of, they would attempt to torture themselves to understand the emotions that comes with this state, such as sinking their heads into a bucket of water, or forcing themselves to face their phobias. We would never know what Xiao Zhan did in order to understand this state as he never spoke of it, but certainly, this would be a painful experience.
Performance Point (4): New Power (Episode 19, at the 22:47 Minute)
Incident – Rebirth
Conflict – An innocent accepting corruption
This was just a brief 2 second scene of Xiao Zhan’s facial expression, but I feel that this is the best scene and the highlight of the entire series.
For a great performance, besides being able to portray the emotion fluctuations and body language, it is also important to portray the personality of the character.
His eyes did not contain any trace of joy of survival, but instead it was a look of pure vengeance, of the thought of being able to regain power. There is no desire in his eyes, they are simply clean and sharp.
After everything of his had been destroyed by the Wen Clan, he realized that he needed power, and as he grasped the sword in his hand, he gained the opportunity of a new power. This, to him, gave him new faith and a way to protect himself.
And from this point onward, he returned to being that youngster.
