China News Service, Jinan, August 5 (Zhao Xiao) Wearing a small top hat, black suit, big fat pants, white shirt, black bow tie, a small moustache on the top of the mouth, walking stick in hand, big head Shoes, Jinan's 60-year-old Wang Hua vividly reproduced the image of comedy master Chaplin in front of the camera. With such outfits and makeup, he has been dressed for most of his life.
Wang Hua, who lives on the bank of the Yellow River in Jinan, appeared on the street as a "Chaplin" every three to five, performing classic moves such as duck steps, and humorously performing self-written and self-directed pantomimes, which brought a lot of happiness after dinner. One by one seemingly simple funny actions, behind him is his 38 consecutive years of hard work in imitating.
The picture shows Wang Hua mimicking Chaplin's makeup in the mirror. Zhao Xiaoshe
Unlike the common performances that imitate Chaplin, Wang Hua absorbed the harlequin elements in Chinese Peking opera, including facial makeup, facial lifting eyes, and facial movements. In his words, it draws the essence from Chinese opera performances and integrates it into Western art, which is "Western pantomime + Chinese harlequin".
"I was a magician a long time ago. I saw the image of Chaplin in an open-air movie by chance. I was immediately attracted by his appearance and actions." Wang Hua said, when he bought a outfit. After putting it on, everyone around him said "extremely like", this evaluation increased his confidence in imitating afterwards.
There was no TV at the time. In order to watch more Chaplin's pantomime films and learn while watching, Wang Hua often shuttled between villages, ran for miles and chased open-air movies. Later, he bought CDs and video tapes and watched and studied repeatedly. In Wang Hua's view, there is no shortcut to imitation. It is to look over and over again and ponder Chaplin's body language and movement details. It is easy to learn, but it is difficult to learn fine.
The picture shows Wang Hua imitating the comedy master Chaplin in front of the camera. Zhao Xiaoshe
"Chaplin's most classic action is the duck step, which is also the most difficult to imitate. It is not only the legs that shake when walking, but also the whole body." Wang Hua introduced, when performing the duck step, the shoes should be worn backwards. Funny and exaggerated, the control and grasp of expressions is also very important.
Wang Hua recalled, “After half a year of practice, I felt that I had mastered the duck step. I practiced for two years and found that I was not good at walking. Then I practiced for a few years and felt like I was just starting. I feel like I really learned it."
Painting, composition, musical instrument performance, reverse performance... Wang Hua keeps learning and mastering other art forms, and integrates these. Zhao Xiaoshe
So far, Wang Hua still remembers the scene when he imitated Chaplin for the first time on stage. The excitement and the uninterrupted applause from the audience seemed to have happened yesterday. However, comedy performances cannot guarantee that the scenes are perfect. Sometimes there are occasions when they are missing, which often tests the actor's skills and adaptability the most.
"One time I dropped a cane during a performance, and I couldn't let the audience see the mistake. I hurriedly jumped a few times, did a few moves, and picked it up naturally." Wang Hua said frankly, sometimes performing too many moves, he I also fell on the stage and heard the audience shouting "It's good". At the critical moment, he calmed down, stood up and applauded warmly and laughed with the audience, making the audience think that the so-called fall was a performance design.
The occasional small mistakes, if handled properly, can also make the on-site effect better. This requires continuous exploration and learning and summing up experience. On the stage, Wang Hua sometimes has to do more than 10 subtle expressions or body movements at the same time within one second. After stepping off the stage, his clothes are often soaked with sweat.
The picture shows Wang Hua painting Chinese painting. Zhao Xiaoshe
For Wang Hua, learning magic and imitating Chaplin in the early days was out of hobbies, in order to earn a living and make money to support his family, but he was not reconciled to just staying at the material level. In the subsequent acting career, he valued more It is the enrichment of the spiritual level and the improvement of artistic quality.
Painting, lyricist composition, musical instrument performance, back-string performance...like a sponge, he constantly learns and masters other art forms, and integrates these.
"I don't want myself to just imitate others from beginning to end, but I want to use what I have learned and accumulated stage experience to innovate on the basis of imitation." Wang Hua said, just like he added the clown element in Peking opera As in pantomime performances, art is interlinked, and traditional content can also be reborn with modern forms.
Wang Hua often went to the banks of the Yellow River to perform short mimes written and directed by himself, which brought the residents to and fro after dinner. Zhao Xiaoshe
What makes Wang Hua quite emotional is that young people now like to chase stars and Korean wave, but are not interested in traditional arts such as Peking Opera and opera. They are relatively unfamiliar with pantomime, and the image of Chaplin has gradually faded out of people’s vision. Forgotten by many people.
Someone once asked him whether he would feel a sense of disappointment in doing this business now? Wang Hua said, “Art never goes out of style. Classics are always classics. Adding new elements can gain new popularity. You must keep doing it.” At the same time, he also suggested that the younger generation watch more classic films and get more exposure to traditional art. New inspirations about life and creation will be gained from the long-lasting art works.