Even a Cold Dead Stiff Needs Perky Pizazz

By Wang Wei

More than 300,000 extras are employed by in Hengdian World Studios of Zhejiang each year.

Any background extra can make a death look just as convincing as any star or supporting player, but for performing the same death scene,the pay scale same extras receive is as different as night and day.Low-level extras are given 48 yuan per day. Extras on special contract earn 80 yuan a day, and are classified as minor, mid-level and major. Less than 100 major extras can earn up to 5,000 yuan per day and receive name credit.

Don’t even think that the older they are, the higher the salary they command, because no studio is going to waste even a single dime, and the reason is simple;there is a big difference between just play acting and acting out a realistic death scene. People react on instinct when they are alive,but in death even if a cold cadaver square in the face were hit square in the face by chards of shrapnel from an exploding squib nearby, it wouldn’t move an inch. Being that it’s a stiff, if it were rolled down a hill, its limbs would well… remain stiff. There are many different ways to die. When running full speed ahead, a man would not fall down as soon as he was shot; he would stagger forward a few big steps and fall forward flat on his face. Anyone poisoned would have painful spasms before death; their face would grimace, their eyeballs would pop out and they would involuntarily stick their hands in their mouth.

For a living man to act like a dead man would in real life is easier said than done, which is why a minor extra who is up to the task might earn anywhere from 100 to 300 yuan per day. To act out a death scene realistically,a good background performer would rush to the hospital ICUs and mortuaries wherever they had free time, and closely observe every minute detail of the process of death as it unfolds. Even in the still of night, if they get word of a traffic accident orfight, they would get dressed and rush to the scene, no matter how late or how tired they felt, which is why they are often mistaken for the perpetrator returning to the scene of a crime.

Let’s take a look at what a midlevel extra earning anywhere from 400 to 800 yuan a day does in the craft of acting out a realistic death scene. His or her pupils would slowly dilate and then shrink and keep staring straight ahead completely motionless for a minute or more even when exposed to strong light.

Upon their arrival at the studio,after getting into costume and make-up, some extras just find a cozy place to hide and sleep.When it’s time tofilm their scene,they walk lazily in front of the camera, sometimes even act like a goofball in front of the camera.Would an extra like this even be worth the 48 yuan a day?

As Shakespeare once said, “All the world is a stage.” The one who has a cameo as a cadaver is not much different from you and me.Even with diligence, you may not make it, but if you do get your big break someday, it would definitely be the result of your hard work.

浙江橫店影視城一年需要使用的群眾演員達30余萬人之多。

同樣是群眾演員，同樣是扮演死人，酬勞卻大相徑庭。最底層的群演，一天48元；接著是群眾特約，一天80元；然后就是特約，又分為小特、中特、大特三等之不同。大特不到100人，酬勞最高的一天可以拿到5000元，還能在演員表上露臉。

別以為群眾演員資格越老越值錢，劇組開的酬勞再高，也沒有一元錢是白花的。道理很簡單，扮演一個死人和演好一個死人是不一樣的。人活著，肯定會有本能反應，但死人是沒有的，連鞭炮炸裂的紙屑打在臉上都不為所動。死人從山坡上滾下來，手腳不會打彎，只會僵直地滾。各種死法也不一樣。人在奔跑時，中槍不會立刻倒下，而是會踉蹌著向前沖幾步撲倒在地。中毒的人死前會痛苦地痙攣，面部猙獰，眼球突出，用手卡住嘴巴。

這活兒說起來容易，但讓一個大活人演得惟妙惟肖是不容易的，能做到的就是日薪100元至300元的小特。為了演好一個死人，他們一有空閑就會往醫院重癥病房和太平間跑，近距離觀察人死亡的過程和細節。晚上收工回來，只要聽說哪里發生交通事故或者斗毆案件，再晚、再累也要披衣直奔現場，以至于經常被人誤以為是肇事者。

再看看日薪400元至800元的中特是怎么做的：瞳孔可以慢慢放大，然后慢慢縮小，即便用強光照射，眼睛也是直直的，整個過程可以持續1分鐘。

一些群眾演員，一到片場，穿好戲服，就找地方躲起來睡覺。到拍攝自己的戲份時，才懶洋洋地在鏡頭前走場，不時鬧出鏡頭穿幫的低級笑話。像這樣的群眾演員，48元的日薪不給他們，該給誰呢？

人生如戲，其實，“死跑龍套的”和你我并無多大不同，你用功了，不見得能做到，但哪天做到了，那一定是你用功了。