How to show the highlight moments of a meritorious person? Director Zheng Xiaolong said so

How to show the highlight moments of a meritorious person? Recently, Zheng Xiaolong, the general director of "Meritorious Service", was a guest of the People's Network "Literary and Art Star Lecture", telling the story of creation in front of the stage and behind the scenes. "In the creation, we will strive to grasp the spiritual core of each meritorious character, focus on shaping good characters, and write good character growth." Zheng Xiaolong talked about the principle of creation, "Do not deliberately raise high, do not shout empty slogans, write both the ordinary of ordinary people and the extraordinary of ordinary people." ”

Talk about shooting: go deep into the times and life, and capture the highlight moments of the characters

People's Daily News: The life experience of meritorious people is very rich, how to choose materials when creating?

Zheng Xiaolong: In fact, when I first started to create, I was not very confident, and it was quite difficult to tell the story of meritorious characters. Generally speaking, it is not easy for film and television dramas with grand narratives to be filmed well and spread; coupled with the limited creative space of real people and real events, nuclear physics, nuclear submarines, and aerospace are relatively unpopular, and it is not easy for the audience to understand, and the challenges we face in creation are even greater.

Later, I looked through the relevant information of the 8 meritorious figures, and gradually developed empathy with these meritorious figures, was touched by their deeds, and their images became vivid in my mind. When extracting footage, considering the limited capacity of each unit, we chose to shoot only the highlight moments of the meritorious people. This became our entry point.

People's Daily News: Do you have your own unique understanding of the highlight moments of the characters?

Zheng Xiaolong: We need to go deep into that era and life and find the real highlight moments in the characters. Dig into the differences in each character and don't have to stick to a completely unified form.

Some of the highlight moments of meritorious figures are easy to identify, but some of the highlight moments are not necessarily very clear to the audience. We need to create a personalized character image according to the professional characteristics, personality characteristics and era of the characters, and then integrate their loyal, persistent, simple life character and noble spirit of dedication to the people of the motherland throughout the work. For example, Tu Youyou, everyone knows that she discovered artemisinin and won the Nobel Prize, but many people do not know why the "obscure" Zhang Fuqing was able to obtain the medal, and do not understand the important role of political work cadre Li Yannian in the army.

People's Daily News: How to balance the relationship between realistic stories and artistic expression?

Zheng Xiaolong: First of all, we adhere to the creative principles and creative attitudes of realism. Authenticity is a core requirement of creation. Realistic themes are not the same as realism, and they must truly conform to real life and the real ideas of the characters.

In the creation, we will strive to grasp the spiritual core of each meritorious character, focus on shaping good characters, and write good character growth. To achieve the real details, try to restore the costumes, props and scenes, reflect the realism of the times, in line with the characteristics of the characters themselves, do not deliberately elevate, do not shout empty slogans, both to write the ordinary of ordinary people, but also to write the extraordinary of ordinary people.

In terms of artistic expression, we will never show weakness. It must be exquisite in production to present high-quality works to the audience. Each unit will have its own style, and each group of creators will also have their own independent creative space, they have their own thinking on storytelling and visual presentation, play their respective advantages, and make each story look good.

Talk about the role: Tu Youyou is different, and Zhou Xun's performance is accurate and vivid

People's Daily Online: Many viewers say that the opening of "Meritorious Service" is shocking, how was it originally conceived? How did the idea land?

Zheng Xiaolong: The actor came out of the badge in the distance and then changed into a real meritorious figure, which I conceived when I was filming "Tu Youyou's Gift". I think that in this way, the relationship between the TV series and the real people can be closer, and it has a sense of solemnity.

The process of realizing an idea is difficult. We first filmed the actors walking over, and then we did a facial scan of them, but the problem was that we couldn't get the hero to go all over again. Later, we got their award-winning HD photos and remodeled them, putting everyone in place, from eyebrows to eyes to facial textures. We did this work alone for half a year.

People's Daily News: You and the screenwriter Wang Xiaoping cooperated in the unit of "Tu Youyou's Gift", what are your feelings?

Zheng Xiaolong: In the year she received the task of shooting "Meritorious Service", her mother died, but she always had a wish, that is, she could write about scientists. She grew up in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, her mother is one of the founders of the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, her classmates and neighbors are doing scientific research work, she is familiar with the living conditions of scientists, and the scientific research laboratory.

There is a passage in "Tu Youyou's Gift", Tu Youyou forgot the child in the kindergarten, this plot is very real and touching, scientists are busy with research, leaving the child in the kindergarten and forgetting to pick up, it is also their common encounter. This is the state of researchers with children, who are so focused that they often feel that they are not good mothers or wives.

People's Daily Online: Compared with the female characters you created before, what are the differences between Tu Youyou and Tu Youyou?

Zheng Xiaolong: The character of Tu Youyou is very personal, and she is different from any female character I have ever filmed before. Tu Youyou is very persistent, does not like to communicate, and the focus is entirely on work, which makes her look different.

Specifically in terms of details, Tu Youyou talks to people without looking at each other's faces, there is one to say, because scientists believe in science, believe in experiments, data; her life is simple, simple, do not care about eating and wearing; she is very loyal to the tasks entrusted to her by the state, she is not a woman in the traditional sense, but she is a person with memory points.

People's Daily News: Are you satisfied with Tu Youyou, played by Zhou Xun?

Zheng Xiaolong: In "Tu Youyou's Gift", Zhou Xun integrated a simple, persistent, dedicated and devoted Tu Youyou into the role, accurately and vividly interpreting this meritorious character. At first, many viewers worried that Zhou Xun's star aura was too dazzling, but after watching it, everyone recognized it.

In fact, Zhou Xun and Tu Youyou are somewhat similar, neither of them loves to communicate, and only focuses on their own field. Tu Youyou was full of experiments, and Zhou Xun's enthusiasm gave the performance. In order to create the image of Tu Youyou, Zhou Xun not only tried his best to get close from the appearance, a short hair, wide glasses, brown pants, earth gray pants, one hand arm in the handbag, slightly hunched over, striding meteors. More importantly, in the process of interpretation, Zhou Xun went deep into Tu Youyou's inner world and found commonalities between them, making the role more full and moving.

epilogue:

"A nation with hope cannot do without heroes, and a country with a future cannot do without pioneers." Identify with heroes, remember history, mainstream values bloom dazzling light; follow heroes, build the future together, truth, goodness and beauty bring the strength of the people to move forward. Classics of the times, tribute to the creation! The "Literary star opening lecture • "Meritorious" series of interviews" broadcast exclusively by Luzhou Laojiao in 1952 will reveal the story behind the "meritorious figures" for everyone.