Media Such as News Times Reported on Our Arts Examinations.
From News Times By Mao Zhongyuan Feb.19th, 2013
The annual arts enrolment examinations tide has come. The day before yesterday, Central Academy of Drama (CAD) began its preliminary tests and Beijing Film Academy(BFA) started to accept applications. Today, Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA) will initiate its preliminary tests in Beijing. The journalist spotted a surprising number of stars-resembling faces among the applicants. Though many aspirant applicants dreamed of becoming a star, experts suggested that they should keep a calm mindset and emphasize, apart from a star-like appearance, more on their cultural courses.
The most popular major gets no more than 1 of 342 applicants in.
The preliminary tests of the CAD’s acting faculty started early in the morning the day before yesterday, which marked as the prologue to the annual art college entrance examinations (yikao in Chinese). According to statistics, this year the CAD has accepted over 23,000 confirmed applications, including over 9,700, up 1300 from a year earlier, for the acting faculty which will take in 50 of them, only 1 out of 194. Hao Rong, assistant rector of the CAD and dean of the acting faculty, said that about 500 applicants would pass the preliminary tests to take part in the second-round examinations. Before the Spring Festival, preliminary tests were finished in three testing centers, Chengdu, Shenyang, and Nanjing, outside Beijing with about 100 applicants passed, which means that 400 more applicants from the Beijing testing center will be accepted to the second-round examinations.
BFA also started its on-the-spot confirmation work for the 2013 applicants the day before yesterday. According to an insider in charge of the BFA’s Academic Affairs, the number of applicants applying for the major faculties, such as the departments of acting, literature, directing, and animation, totaled 5305 on the first confirmation day. Among them, the number of application for the departments of literature, acting, and directing totaled 1201, 1500, and 1096 respectively(each applicant can apply for more than one departments or majors) on the first day. According to Mu Deyuan, dean of the BFA’s Academic Affairs, over 21,000 applicants sent their applications online, of which 5,000, almost same as last year, went to the Acting Department, which received the most online applications. According to sources, the BFA’s Acting Department, which has been drawing intensive attention, plans to enroll 75 applicants, down 10 from last year. To guarantee fair treatment for each and every applicant, BFA’s Secretary of Party Member Hou Guangming said that real time monitoring will be provided in each exam to supervise both applicants and the staff engaged in the testing work during the whole process.
The Communication University of China (CUC) has received a striking number of applications. Yesterday morning, the CUC initiated its preliminary tests of art majors for college education. It plans to enroll a total number of 669 students over 20 art majors, including Broadcasting and Hosting, Acting, etc., but Broadcasting and Hosting alone has received 8,900 applications for its 26 places, making its acceptance rate below 1 out of 342.
Experts suggested that the applicants keep a positive mindset. Outside the examination hall, the media present have spotted lots of stars-resembling faces. For example, at the BFA, the media found examinees that looked exactly like Tang Wei and Zhou Dongyu respectively, both of whom are famous actresses in China. Many examinees interviewed adore stars as their idols. Among them, one is from Hong Kong who revealed that she applied for acting examinations because she idolized Fan Bingbing, a renowned actress in China, the other is from Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province who expressed her dream of becoming a celebrated actress like Tang Wei. At the preliminary test spot of the CAD, a young examinee named Jike Wuguo, in a tasseled manteau, form the Yi nationality revealed that he was a remote relative of Jike Junyi’s. The latter is a popular singer emerged in and famous for “the Voice of China”.
STA will first start its acting preliminary tests in Beijing today. According the SAT’s admission brochure, its acting preliminary tests starts in the China Institute of Industrial Relations today and those in Shanghai starts on Mar. 2.
For the large number of examinees dreaming of becoming a star, experts suggested that they should emphasis more on a positive mindset than appearances and artistic skills. Professor Tong Ruimin, former dean of the STA’s Acting Department, gave the suggestion that examinees should not concentrate their efforts on a crash job over artistic performance before the exams, saying that “it’s not necessary to have extra tutoring because just as a blank sheet is the best for drawing, you are here to learn”.
Professor Tong also mentioned that examinees should make greater efforts in enhancing their cultural qualities, giving the remarks that “I value both the artistic performances and the comprehensive qualities of the examinees. We used to emphasize on their artistic talents, but in recent years we began to attach great importance to their comprehensive knowledge, i.e. their cultural courses learning. Art entrance exams should be inseparable with cultural courses. Is it not necessary for one preparing to be an actor or actress to be able to read the script through and know about history? So I suggest that examinees read more books about literature and history and count on their original performances when it comes to artistic abilities”. CCTV celebrated hosts Li Ruiying and Kang Hui also advise the examinees to expose their true side, saying that “there is no need to be perfect and never look for the so-called ‘standard answers’ to the teacher’s questions”.
