The creation of historical dramas must deal with the relationship between big and small

Author: Zhao Chang

In recent years, the creation of historical theme TV series has been very hot. Among them, there are excellent works that have won word of mouth, and there are also works that are not satisfactory.

For historical TV dramas, "China's history has a long history and complex historical phenomena, and it is necessary to choose among the vast sea of historical information, historical events, and historical figures." And those historical drama works that have been criticized are precisely in the process of "selecting, combining and reproducing" historical materials: there are problems with personal speculation and inconclusive academic interpretations of the monk's inconclusive theories, replacing the problems of historical conclusions and social public opinions; there are personal, curious, and marginalized excavations of historical hooks, or only from the position of localities and departments, beautifying or degrading someone or something; there are problems that lock their eyes on the emperor and generals, and always flash around the axis of imperial power. The problem of making the creative space of historical dramas smaller and smaller, and even falling into a dead end; there is the problem of using historical space as a fig leaf that lacks artistic standards and artistic logic, and there is a tendency to vulgarize, kitsch, and suspend in the air, and so on.

Do not underestimate these problems. In fact, it is precisely these problems that are intensifying to a certain extent, which not only affects the improvement and sustainable development of the quality of historical drama creation, but also brings certain ideological, aesthetic and emotional deviations to the audience.

In addition to establishing a big historical outlook, accurately grasping the correct direction of creation, and observing reality in a historical context, it is also necessary to properly handle the relationship between the "three big and three small", that is, the relationship between the big theme and the small incision, the big character and the small role, the big event and the small detail, and through the role of "small" to see "big", we must shoot high-quality historical dramas that are both acclaimed and popular.

To determine the theme of historical drama creation, we certainly need to grasp the essence from the whole and through the phenomenon from the connection, and guide the audience to recognize the direction of historical development. "Especially with regard to important issues related to the construction of the Chinese national community, such as nationality, culture, and national reunification, we cannot use personal speculation and conjecture and inconclusive academic interpretation to replace historical conclusions and social theories", and are good at breaking through from the theme of "focusing on the power struggle and harem life of the emperor and general", and determining the theme of creation with a richer historical perspective, cultural perspective and life perspective, and at the same time dealing with the relationship between large themes and small incisions. This is not only because the big theme is sometimes contained in the small incision, but also because the big theme supported and supported by the small incision is often more vivid and more appealing because of the small and solid, small and abundant, small and clever. Moreover, the process of finding small incisions and small perspectives is itself a process of "selecting, combining and reproducing historical data". There is no doubt that using small incisions to reflect history and reproduce history from a small perspective can also effectively avoid some shortcomings in the historical space, and under the premise of grasping the correct historical trend and historical trend, more specifically and in detail show the real historical style, deduce vivid historical facts, refract the grand historical background, and thus enhance the logic and thickness of the theme.

In the creation of many historical dramas, important historical figures are creative objects that cannot be bypassed. According to the needs of the plot, sometimes a lot of space should be spent to shape and portray the big characters, after all, the big people in some major historical events, historical environment, their every move, every word and deed plays a pivotal role, on the one hand, on the one hand, "to avoid only the historical hook sinking personal, hunting, marginalized excavation"; on the other hand, can not be in order to highlight the status, role and significance of the big people and intentionally or unintentionally ignore the narrative of some small people, small roles. "The people, and only the people are the driving force behind the creation of world history." Therefore, in the creation of historical dramas, "it is not only necessary to have the wind and clouds in front of the old Wang XieTang, but also to have the fireworks that fly into the homes of ordinary people", reflecting the people-centered creative stance. This requires the position of big people and small roles and small people, and while expressing and describing big people, we must be good at shaping the image of small roles and small people, especially to excavate, portray and express the qualities and spirits contained in small roles and small people. Such creative thinking and vision can not only enrich the image shaping of big characters, but also promote the interactive development of the plot.

The big environment and big characters in the creation of historical dramas cannot be avoided, and big events are the core of the core. Because without big events as a carrier, the big environment has no meaning, and big people can't appear. To express and narrate major events, we must not only adhere to the principles of objectivity, fairness and truthfulness, but also perform around the requirements of reproducing typical characters in a typical environment, so that the major events can be restored with the greatest abundance. This is not an easy task – it depends not only on how the creator "embodies it through vivid artistic images and novel artistic techniques", but also on how to improve and improve the expression of details. In the expression of major events, if the details are not fully reflected, it will withdraw from the three-dimensional sense of history; if the details are not portrayed completely, it will cause a sense of historical regret; if the details are not accurately expressed, it will lead to a sense of distortion of history. The greatest charm of the details lies in the fact that through seemingly inadvertent details, the character image of the characters is properly enriched, and the in-depth development of the plot is naturally promoted, and the theme expression of the repertoire is sublimated by example. The details are not elsewhere, in the accurate grasp of the essence of history, in the familiar control of the characteristics and laws of historical drama creation, in the conscious pursuit of promoting the spirit of craftsmanship and excellence.

Historical drama is based on today's review and interpretation of history, so it is both historical and contemporary. The relationship of "three big and three small" is precisely a way to deal with the relationship between the two.

The sense of history in any sense does not contain the thinking of reality and the needs of the present, and it is necessary to find a dialogue channel between history and reality, which should be the theme selection ideas and focus of the current new historical theme drama creation.

Promoting the healthy development and creative prosperity of historical-themed TV dramas is not only an inherent requirement for the reform, innovation, development and upgrading of TV dramas themselves, but also an urgent requirement to meet the growing needs of the audience for a better life, and it is also a way to enhance cultural self-confidence and national self-confidence. To this end, the relevant departments should provide service guidance and quality management of the whole process of historical dramas, and through the integration of resources, gather good screenwriters, good directors, and good actors to create more historical dramas that explain the endowments of the Chinese nation, the characteristics of the Chinese nation, and the spirit of the Chinese nation, and "have bones, morality, and temperature". (Zhao Chang)

Source: Liberation Daily