◎ Liang Kun
On December 28, 1895, in the Café at 14 Rue Capucin in Paris, France, the Lumiere brothers officially released a number of documentary short films they had produced to the public, including "The Train Enters the Station", "The Watering Gardener", "Baby's Lunch", and "Factory Gate", and the film was born.
These two "fathers of cinema" could not imagine what kind of great changes would take place in film and the world over the next 100 years or so, and it was even more difficult to predict that the moving video clips they recorded frame by frame on film would develop into a film industry that swept the world, and then the recording of the clips could be played by everyone on a small screen in the palm of their hands.
With the development of film and television and communication technology, everything can be entertained, and the creation process of the film is displayed in the form of variety shows, which seems to be an inevitable product of the pan-entertainment era, and "Start Shooting" produced by iQiyi is one of them. But are movies in variety shows the same thing as movies that date back more than a hundred years?
Miniature bonsai of Chinese film ecology
"Let's Shoot" is composed of 5 camps, as the main body of the director camp by Desert, Yi Xiaoxing, Hao Jie, Hu Guohan, Peng Youlun, Wang Luodan 6 young directors composed, as the investment decision-maker of the Green Lantern Will be composed of director Chen Kaige, writer Liu Zhenyun, actor Shu Qi, producer Chen Sicheng, as well as the professional jury team represented by film critics and theater operators, as well as a certain number of audience groups representing the box office.
The 6 directors need to strive for investment, strive for actors, go all the way through the barriers, complete the short film works within the specified time, and then undergo multi-dimensional judgments of professional review, box office and word of mouth, accumulate funds, and create a creative ecology that is conducive to themselves. Through 3 rounds of competition, it was finally decided that one person would ascend to the only dream seat in the audience and get the opportunity to shoot a feature film, which was also the biggest suspense of the show.
"Let's Shoot" simulates the general process of film industry production in a "practical" way, measured by variety standards, and for ordinary audiences, this is a "decryption" journey behind the scenes of film creation.
In the promotion information of "Let's Shoot", it can be seen that this program is to support new young directors, help Chinese films "Houlang", and provide a platform for young directors to "only speak with works" to show their talents.
Gong Yu, founder and CEO of iQIYI, talked about the original intention of the program, "We must wave the flag and shout, we must be worthy of the previous generations of filmmakers, worthy of the next generation", hoping to invest in movies at the key nodes of the epidemic and expand the space for the entire industry.
In the above information, the key words I see are: young directors, only speaking with works, industry space. For a show, to achieve care for these keywords, at least complete its main function. The choice of 6 directors in the program is in place, taking into account the academic school and the "jianghu faction", and Wang Luodan, who has just directed the tube, has joined, and this configuration is obviously better than the "next door" variety show - tencent's "Director Please Advise" in the sea of people tactics of more than a dozen directors. The personality and style of the 6 directors will leave a deep impression on the audience, rather than a flash, and the vigor of young directors is unobstructed.
But when it comes to the keywords of "just speaking about the work" and "industry space", I think it reflects a beautiful vision, or a grand blueprint for the audience. If you want to start from variety shows and create a direct train for the film industry, "star-making" is feasible, and the relationship with "speaking with works" is not too big, and "industry space" is not a problem that the stars of a variety show can solve.
"Let's Shoot" is more like a miniature bonsai of Chinese film ecology, but how to describe its degree of restoration? Probably like the kind that Lego built. This does not mean the fault of the program, but it can only be said that the complexity of the film format is difficult to completely restore in the variety show. "Let's Shoot" can introduce the capital operation of the Green Lantern Club, considering investment and box office returns, and this degree of simulation is worth encouraging.
It's the people who look good, not the movies
"Let's Shoot" is defined as a young director creating a reality show, the essence of which is still a competitive reality show, but even if there is a competition, the entertainment of the reality show ultimately determines that the best thing about this show is not the movie, but the people.
Hao Jie, who hopes to find himself and hopes to break through himself, has repeatedly made films that "Bergman does not dare to shoot like this", challenging the aesthetics of professional film critics, and also testing the patience of ordinary audiences, and seems to be waiting for a miracle; the first round of creation is out of control because of the problem of actor schedules, peng Youlun, who cannot complete the work, harvests full of goodwill and encouragement at the second round of green light, and the world is instantly full of love; the confident Yi Xiaoxing becomes an idol because of the story of the caterpillar and the film critic "positive gang", and the smoke is everywhere. Trigger people to think about phenomenal problems in the film industry; "three noes" director Wang Luodan has achieved box office success in the case of film critics' miserliness; Desert and Hu Guohan's two academic schools have shown off in the second round, and the skill contest in the open and in the dark has opened up the audience's expectations for the final king.
Whether it is a short film that the director spent 20 days or 38 days polishing, its display is only a formal climax, but it is not the soul of the show. Around the various links of creation, more time is assigned, and they are the focus of the show's ratings. It is in these links that the personality of each director, investor, film critic and their understanding of the film are displayed layer by layer, and the work is not only the director's concept, but the synergy of these people's ideas, and the final result of their struggle. The fierce collision of views, the contrast between ideals and reality, is the part that can be called wonderful.
In the second round of creation, the joining of heavyweight director Xu Anhua introduced more diversified perspectives to the program, and also enriched the connotation of the word "youth" with her works. As of the end of this second round, as a competitive variety show, its overall control is still fully online, although there is a problem of slow rhythm in individual links, but it is still flawed, because the directors, investors, and film critics on the field have highlighted their unique personalities and contributed positive strength to the narrative direction of the program.
At present, "Let's Shoot" has completed two rounds of competition, the most exciting part is about to be presented, and the final winner may be like the early years of "Happy Girl" and "Happy Boy", good wind with strength, send me to Qingyun. But there is only one winner, and there is only one final feature film, and the significance of this show has been realized before this.
For each round of short films, investors, film critics, and moviegoers have their own opinions, and the audience in front of each screen also has their own preferences, and all the ratings are only part of the game according to the rules of the program. The filmmaker's obsession with creation, even if frustrated, is the insistence on climbing upwards, which are valuable qualities conveyed from the program.
This variety show for making movies may not be the same thing as the movie that was born more than a hundred years ago, and it cannot avoid the common and vulgar variety law, but it is higher than the level of "art", and its "walking heart" I received.