Birth of an actor

The tape started playing shortly after it was put in the player.

The screen was black at first, and then some classical and beautiful background music sounded, and the cursive words "bringing you to know William Bradley" appeared on the screen, froze, and then faded away.

Then the camera quickly passed some magnificent scenes: half of the huge hull, hundreds of staff members, extras walking back and forth in classical costumes, and the white lights in the background made the whole studio look like daytime.

"What is this?" The "nerdy" examiner with thick eyes asked puzzledly: "Movie? TV? Where did you capture some landscape films?"

"Since it is marked as a graduation thesis, it must be an original shot... although the picture is a bit different." The other admissions officers responded.

As one of the top universities in the United States, students who intend to apply to Harvard always have a lot of fantastic ideas every year. Simply attaching self-introduction, transcripts, recommendation letters, honorary certificates, etc. is the most traditional and the least innovative In the application letter, in fact, every year, hundreds of students put in all kinds of things in the application letter, hoping to increase their scores in the minds of the examiners—from poems, novels, plays written by students themselves, to their own creations. songs, paintings, blueprints... almost everything.

With the popularity of home video recorders and players in most families across the United States, more and more students have begun to abandon writing self-introduction letters with pen and paper, but choose to use video to show everything about themselves to college admissions officers. .

Harvard admissions officers sometimes like these videotapes. After all, watching videos with sound and pictures is much faster and more intuitive than reading letters.

But this one is very different from what the admissions officers have seen in the past. In the past, most of the videotapes were shot by the students themselves with DV, and at most one or two family members or friends appeared on the stage. But it looks very much like a real movie blockbuster.

Until a man with a short beard on his chin flashed past, several people in the office exclaimed together: "James Cameron?!"

Well, the appearance of James Cameron, together with the place just swept by the camera, has revealed very important information: this is the "Titanic" that seems to disturb half of Hollywood because of the huge topic. Number" set.

"No wonder the name William Bradley sounded familiar to me from the very beginning." The ginger-haired admissions officer thumped his hands, "Does anyone have any impression of Edward Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility?"

A few younger examiners showed suddenly enlightened expressions, and of course some were puzzled.

If there is a new paper published in a professional journal that can spark controversy in various prestigious schools, then this group of admissions officers who have been immersed in the academic atmosphere for a long time may be the first to know. What new movies came out this year, and which were good and which were bad?Unless the movie is so popular that everyone knows it, the daily life of these Harvard faculty members is really too far away from Hollywood.

"Sense and Sensibility" is okay. After all, it is a masterpiece of Jane Austen. Jane Austen is considered a relatively large project in the study of English literature. If William is making some campus youth films, crime dramas, suspense dramas, science fiction dramas, then probably No one would recognize him until the application letter had been studied by the admissions officers.

On the TV, the picture is still playing.

In the classic and luxurious restaurant, the first-class customers are eating, and the scene of luxury and money makes people almost think that this is the scene of the upper-class nobles enjoying a dinner in the early [-]th century.

A gentleman in a black tuxedo dining is pulled into a close-up shot, his posture and etiquette are standard and elegant.

'The dining manners were impeccable. ’ An admissions officer who had taken a European court etiquette course thought: ‘It must be a professional training. '

A few seconds later, a black tuxedo appeared in the camera: "Hi, I'm William Bradley, and I applied for Harvard's English Literature major because I really love this major." He said, still facing the camera Blinked.

To be honest, a young man who is very nineteenth-century in terms of clothing and behavior, suddenly talked about college applications in the camera. This scene is too shocking in time and space. Many admissions officers in the office They couldn't help but smile, they thought this combination was very interesting, and couldn't help but began to look forward to the next content.

The scene cuts to William Bradley and Kate Winslet talking in the bedroom during the filming of "Titanic", and the accents of both of them sound very noble.

'Cockney accent. ’ thought the “nerdy” admissions officer, ‘Brandley’s accent is pretty standard, this lady’s is authentic, there’s a gap between the two, but not much. '

The narration appeared, and the voice knew that it was recorded by William Bradley himself: "I have filmed "Sense and Sensibility", and now I am filming "Titanic", so I think that I have nothing to do with British literature, or even the country of Britain. It's all fate."

Kate Winslet, who was wearing a white satin pearl dress, suddenly appeared from the side, rolled up a magazine into a microphone, and asked William: "Recite the surprise test, Shakespeare's sonnet, No. 18?"

William thought for three seconds into the "microphone", and then there was no pause:

"How can I compare you to Xia Tian?

You are not only cuter than it, but also more gentle than it:

The strong wind tramples May's beloved bud..."

"Song 66?"

"Tired of all this, I summon death in peace,

For example, seeing that a genius is doomed to be a beggar,

Seeing that the idiot is dressed magnificently..."

"Song 130?"

"My lover's eyes are not sunny,

Coral was far redder than her lips.

Her breasts can't be described as white and glamorous..."

"I swear on my honor that I didn't help Will cheat." Kate waved William away and said to the camera: "Will is an English hand. I think he can recite more Shakespeare plays than I do."

"I like to read and study. Even when I am the busiest, I read a few pages before going to bed. Reading can make me feel happy and relaxed."

In the hotel room, William opened the two suitcases he took to Mexico. One was full of books, most of which were related to literature, history and drama, and many of the books had yellowed pages and hairy sides. Yes, it can be seen that it is an old book that has been read frequently, not the one just bought.

"Believe me, when I was staying at the hotel, the doorman gave me a look full of resentment as soon as I mentioned the suitcase. If I hadn't given him an extra $[-] tip in time, he would have hated me to death."

In a specialty restaurant in Mexico, dozens of "Titanic" crew members came and went. They were arranging the restaurant into a party scene. A lot of flowers, ribbons, champagne were brought in, and there was a huge three-tiered cake.

The camera wobbled forward, and stopped beside a person who was moving a foam box. The photographer who had never shown his face stretched out his slender fingers and pointed at the staff before the other person turned around. When he came over, he handed over a piece of paper and pointed at the camera.

There's a close-up of that piece of paper: "Describe what you're doing," it says.

"Let me describe what I'm doing? Okay." The crew said with a smile: "The filming made everyone very nervous. Since we came to Mexico, we haven't had a holiday. We work and work every day. To be honest , The atmosphere in the crew has been terrible recently. Everyone wanted to change something. It happened to be someone's birthday. Will volunteered to help organize the birthday party. His idea was great. We dressed it up like a private wedding venue. But it's for a birthday celebration, sounds fun doesn't it?"

The scene transitions, the birthday party scene inserts, are indeed interesting and lively, and in the shots where William appears, he is always surrounded by a large group of people, and they look happy and at ease.

“…So, I’m also pretty good at organizing and getting everyone’s attention.”

When the deep blue sea of ​​Mexico appeared in the picture, William also appeared in the camera. He sat cross-legged on the beach, counting his own advantages with his fingers: "That's about it, do I need to say anything else? "His eyes stared at the camera, but the picture was out of focus. It was obvious that he was looking at the photographer holding the camera.

A lazy male voice sounded: "I think it's enough, but I don't know what the Harvard admissions officers think, whether they like you to be more real, or boast yourself like a rose. You know, man, I didn't apply Ivy League experience."

"Then, let's be real." William shrugged and made a "V" to the camera: "William Bradley's graduation thesis, complete!"

The scene should have ended there and plunged into darkness, but it didn't.

Leonardo DiCaprio's head suddenly squeezed into the frame: "Hi, I'm the director of Will's dissertation short, and he hired me to shoot him for $100." The expression becomes A bit reluctant: "This is my directorial debut, hey, do you think $100 is too cheap? At least four digits are needed, right? Forget it, it's useless to tell you... Back to the topic , I think it is necessary for me to say hello to everyone, the first time I am in charge, I should let the audience know who the director is, right?"

After a pause, Leonardo DiCaprio said with a little awkwardness: "Also, although I don't want to admit it, Will is indeed very smart, and his emotional intelligence is not bad. I think his ability Deserving of any college in America, you should admit him, he's a really, really good guy!"

……

After playing, Robert paused the TV screen with the remote control.

The room was silent for a few seconds.

"Wow," said a gray-haired admissions officer. "Very novel approach to essays."

Another laughed: "Convincing and convincing."

"I thought William Bradley was a nerd who loves to learn. I was wrong. This tape really subverted my impression."

"There's also a DVD of Sense and Sensibility in the kit, does anyone want to see it?"

As a result, half of the admissions officers in the conference room shook their heads and said, "Oh, Sense and Sensibility, we've already seen it in the theater."

"After reading William Bradley's report card and his impressive graduation thesis, I think everyone has a certain understanding of him." Robert said: "Before raising your hands to vote, I would like to ask, Anyone else have any questions?"

An admissions officer wearing round glasses asked, "How is his family background, can he afford the tuition?"

Someone sneered: "Brandley is a single-parent family, and his mother is an illustrator with a variable income, but he is an actor and is now filming "Titanic", so of course he can afford more than 2 US dollars a year. Tuition, and about [-] board and lodging."

"Bradley's father, Edwin Bradley, also graduated from Harvard, the business school, so he is a descendant of alumni."

After waiting for no one to speak, Robert looked around the conference room and asked, "The voting is now on. Those who agree to admit William Bradley, please raise your hand."

Except for the admissions officer with round glasses, all the admissions officers including Robert raised their hands.

"Are we really going to admit him?" Round Glasses' admissions officer asked, "I don't know if an actor will have a positive or negative impact on Harvard."

"Besides being an actor, I don't see any negative points on Bradley." The ginger-haired admissions officer said: "And he has a wide range of interests, literature, history, drama, football - he was the captain of the football team, He has acted in stage plays, won the collective honor award in the California high school drama competition, and the recommendation letter from the high school teacher said that he is, ha, a typical high school prince charming."

"Excellent intelligence, excellent communication interests, from these application materials, I bet he will definitely receive an invitation to the ultimate club in the second year." Another admissions officer said: "He looks like the type that Phoenix would like .”

The Final Clubs (TheFinalClubs) is the name of the eight secret student organizations at Harvard. Clubs with ordinary names such as Persian, Phoenix, Flying, Bee, and Owl have amazing energy behind them. They are set in the history of Harvard campus. In the long-standing mansion, the property is not owned by the school, but owned by private individuals, so even if these clubs insist on not accepting female members for hundreds of years, and ignore the prohibition of alcohol and drink and party all night in the club, the school can't do anything about them.

Among them, the Persleng Club is not only Harvard, but also the oldest and most famous student club in the United States. Persleng only recruits 10 members each year, and does not accept non-"blue blood". The standards are staggering. President Theodore Roosevelt was once a member of Persilian. His nephew, Franklin Roosevelt, the 26nd President of the United States, was rejected by Persilian when he was studying at Harvard. John Roosevelt was treated the same as Roosevelt Jr. Kennedy, he didn't even dare to apply for Persian, and instead went to the second-rate SPEE club.

Compared with Persleng, the Phoenix Club is more civilians. Phoenix does not overemphasize the status and background. As long as you have a skill and can pass the very difficult test, you are eligible to join the club.

"Don't we want diversity?" said a younger admissions officer. "I think Bradley is very qualified, an actor, and he may bring new changes to Harvard."

"Harvard is not the first time to recruit Hollywood actors, Mi Lee Jones, Terrence Malick, Edward Zwick, John Lithgow, Elizabeth Shue, Rashida Jones, Mira So Vino, they are all our outstanding graduates."

"To evaluate whether a student is suitable for Harvard, we should not only look at their background, but focus on their character and ability."

"Gentlemen, I have something else here." Robert, the chief admissions officer, said, "A letter of recommendation from James Cameron."

Admissions officers circulated the letter.

Robert finally asked: "Please raise your hand if you agree to recruit William Bradley."

Everyone in the conference room raised their arms.

"Well, William Bradley—" Robert said, smiling, stamping the repacked kit with a passing stamp.

"Welcome to Harvard."