"The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China was established today!" On October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao's solemn proclamation resounded throughOut Tiananmen Square, spread throughout the land of China, and was transmitted to all corners of the world through radio waves, the sons and daughters of China smiled and smiled, and hundreds of millions of compatriots rejoiced.
This historical moment has long been written into the textbook and is well known to us. In countless works with the theme of the main theme, this solemn proclamation resounded again and again, reverberating in the hearts of the sons and daughters of China, and becoming an indelible memory of our homeland.
From Tiananmen Square, to the frontier of the motherland, and even to the other side of the ocean, the transmission of radio waves is only a short moment, but in order to successfully complete the task of broadcasting the "live broadcast of the founding ceremony", a team of cute and respectable broadcasters has overcome many difficulties and paid unimaginable efforts and struggles for ordinary people in the midst of rudimentary equipment and dangers.
Two years ago, Tian Qinxin, president of the National Theatre of China, inadvertently learned about this true story, and his creative passion surged in his heart, and the curtain was opened on the creation of the drama "Live Broadcast founding ceremony".
During the National Day, the original drama "Live Broadcast founding ceremony", commissioned by the National Centre for the Performing Arts and produced and performed by the National Drama Theatre of China, premiered at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, and the venue was full, and it was difficult to find a ticket. Many young people after the 80s, 90s and 00s walked into the theater and were moved by this unknown bloody story, and the tidal applause and tears that rose from the corners of their eyes were the best witnesses to the "Live Broadcast Founding Ceremony".
Tian Qinxin, director and screenwriter of "Live Broadcasting of the Founding Ceremony", reveals the behind-the-scenes creations
The first stage to restore major historical moments
Multidimensional exploration of narrative innovation
"Listeners. Today, Peiping was liberated. On the orders of the Beijing Municipal Military Control Commission of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the Kuomintang Beiping Radio Station will soon stop broadcasting..."
This is the opening of the drama "Live Broadcasting the Founding Ceremony", a soft male voice, pulling people back to Beiping, which was just liberated in 1949.
Immediately after, a high-pitched female voice sounded, "Xinhua News Agency Frontline 22: 300,000 people of my heroic People's Liberation Army crossed the Yangtze River..."
The short two-sentence broadcast shows the unpredictable atmosphere of the new China when it was just liberated.
Before the "Live Broadcast of the Founding Ceremony", there were no works on the domestic stage that depicted the "Founding Ceremony" positively. For director and screenwriter Tian Qinxin, "Live Broadcasting of the Founding Ceremony" is a first, but also a difficult challenge.
"The amplifier needs at least 200 watts of power, and at least 10 tweeters to be heard by the whole square. How many devices do we have now? ”
"How to collect the sound on the 'T' square? How to amplify the sound? 110,000 square meters of square, how many speakers to install? What microphone to choose for Chairman Mao? How to hear back the sound of Commander-in-Chief Zhu's military parade? Who is the most suitable announcer in the square? ”
Such lines run through the entire process of "Live Broadcasting the Founding Ceremony", which is like an industry drama that is very profound in the professional field.
However, "Live Broadcasting the Founding Ceremony" is not limited to the industry dimension, when Zhao Yingjie, the former head of the technical section of the Kuomintang Beiping Radio Station played by Wu Pi, one of the male protagonists, stepped on the stage, the dress of the suit and leather shoes formed a stark contrast with the military uniforms of the members of yan'an Xinhua Radio; when Tao Hong, Su Qing, gao Damei, played by Tao Hong and Su Qing, and the announcers of the former Kuomintang Beiping Radio Station were contradictory because of their pronunciation... The multi-dimensional plot promotion allows the audience to feel the multi-level richness of the "Live Broadcast Founding Ceremony", and many genre elements such as industry dramas, spy dramas, love dramas, and inspirational dramas are organically intertwined.
Compared with Tian Qinxin's previous works, the complexity of the "Live Broadcast founding ceremony" is much higher, and it is necessary to take into account and innovate on the basis of historical facts. The equipment and digital display screens piled up on the stage, the historical records that are constantly changing in the red and black interlaced light and shadow, and the rapidly switching installation backgrounds bring about the audiovisual shock of film and television, and also form a grand sense of history on the drama stage.
In order to better create the "Live Broadcast Founding Ceremony", Tian Qinxin also used "instant shooting" in nearly half of the space, the comprehensive effect of sound and light, showing a wonderful chemical reaction on the stage.
When the two male protagonists Zhao Yingjie and Lu Haiyu confronted each other, the "Instant Shooting" team used camera shooting and real-time screen projection, and through the multimedia screens on both sides of the stage, the lights that hit the two actors were transformed to create a tense mood. At this time, in the back area of the stage, the shouting of the cargo man and the noisy noise of pedestrians sounded, and the lively scene of the Chongqing wharf and the memory of Zhao Yingjie sacrificing his life to save seven years ago emerged...
When the pictures of the two time and space overlap together, the interlacing between virtual and real, and the tension of the actor's confrontation form a rich amount of information, bringing audiovisual shock to the audience.
According to Tian Qinxin, "instant shooting" was first used in the youth version of "Wild Ride" in 2017, but this time the "Live Broadcast Founding Ceremony" has a large technical upgrade.
The story of "Live Broadcasting the Founding Ceremony" is more complicated, there are a large number of historical materials interspersed in it, and the use of "instant shooting" can not only ensure the viewing effect of all angles in the theater, but also allow the audience to travel back and forth in the time flow of reality and memory with the performance of the actors.
In addition to technically serving the restoration of history, in terms of plot, Tian Qinxin also made elaborate settings.
In the "Live Broadcast Founding Ceremony", it involves the overcoming of many technical difficulties and the reserve of professional knowledge. This is the need of the plot, and it is also the part that is most likely to make the audience feel bored. To this end, Tian Qinxin immersed himself in consulting a number of experts, and skillfully integrated many professional terms such as broadcasting and communication into the tense plot.
"In the "Live Broadcast Founding Ceremony", the people in the play must strive to complete the live broadcast task within one and a half months, but also to prevent the sabotage of the agents, and the technical research of these two lines is the most challenging part of the creative process. We must not only adhere to artistic innovation, but also fully consider that the audience can understand. In the end, "Live Broadcasting the Founding Ceremony" formed a stage drama with a spy temperament. ”
Shouzheng Innovation tells the story of China well
The mission of the national team of literature and art will be achieved
In the previous rehearsal of "The Great Journey", director Tian Qinxin accidentally fractured his left ankle and has not yet healed. In the process of preparing for the "Live Broadcast of the Founding Ceremony", she has been working in a wheelchair. Even so, she was meticulous and devoted herself to the creation of "Live Broadcast founding ceremony".
It wasn't until the performance was all over and the light of the curtain fell that Tian Qinxin was relieved.
Tian Qinxin introduced that the origin of this story actually comes from his friend Luo Bing, as the host of Beijing People's Radio, when the 70th anniversary of Beijing People's Radio was celebrated, two old friends who rarely met told this story in exchanges, which instantly attracted Tian Qinxin's attention.
"The six words 'live broadcast of the founding ceremony' touched me. It is difficult to imagine that in Beiping in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, in the face of technical bottlenecks, rudimentary equipment, and the sabotage of latent agents, there was such a group of lovely and respectable broadcasters, who did not give up day and night, overcame many difficulties, successfully completed the task of live broadcasting the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China, and sent out the 'founding voice' of new China to the world. ”
"Recording history on radio waves and witnessing the birth of a country" is the main theme of this play.
From the preparation in 2019 to the premiere in 2021, the challenges experienced by "Live Broadcasting the Founding Ceremony" are no less than any challenges that Tian Qinxin has encountered in the past. But compared with the people in the play, Tian Qinxin felt that these difficulties were nothing.
"I would like to dedicate this drama to those who have contributed to the broadcasting cause of New China, to offer my blessings to the 72nd anniversary of the founding of New China and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Cpc, and to the Chinese people who are making unremitting efforts for the development of China in the new era." This is the original intention of Tian Qinxin and all the main creators.
"As a national-level theater group, the National Drama Theatre of China has the responsibility to make the dramas with excellent realism themes and main themes look good, so that more audiences can feel the combination of ideology and artistry, and obtain a more pleasant viewing experience and a more advanced theater experience."
In recent years, Tian Qinxin has successively participated in the creation of large-scale cultural programs such as "China in the Story" and "China in the Classics" of the Central Radio and Television Corporation, leading the young actors of the National Drama Theatre to be trained in the program, and also promoting the drama to set off a boom in China.
In Tian Qinxin's heart, as a "national team of literature and art", the National Theatre of China must be able to shoulder a heavy mission, "We must do the drama with the artistic spirit of exquisite and truth-seeking, be worthy of the audience, and use innovative forms to tell Chinese stories well, which is our cultural responsibility and our mission."
Inside and outside the play is only for the "Tianzi" task
Always give fresh answers to questions
Over the years, Tao Hong has had outstanding performances in television, movies, and variety shows, but Tao Hong, who is agile on the drama stage, has always been missed by the audience.
In "Live Broadcast of the Founding Ceremony", the young announcer Gao Damei, played by Tao Hong, has a sense of age from herself, but she holds it freely, and with a smile, she interprets Gao Damei's delicate and upright, free and cheerful personality into three points.
On October 6, Tao Hong, who ended her premiere task, said in an interview with "Guanghua Rui Review" that when she first saw the role of "Tall Mei", she did not think of classifying "she", but treated "Tall Mei" as a new friend she knew.
"Actors shouldn't categorize their roles, and they can't solve your current problems with old experience. Always give fresh answers to questions, and the characters will only look alive. I wanted to make her look alive no matter what role I played. ”
In the "Live Broadcast of the Founding Ceremony", "Beiping Xinhua Radio Station received the task of live broadcasting the founding ceremony in mid-August 1949, which was called the 'Tianzi' task at that time. As for how to collect the sound in the square, how to expand the sound of Chairman Mao's microphone, how to play the loudspeaker in the square, how to receive the parade of Commander-in-Chief Zhu, and where the host's seat is placed... Many problems have to be overcome in a month and a half. On the stage, Tao Hong and the crew also spent more than 30 days to complete such a major play.
Tao Hong said that on the day of the performance, she felt that she had undergone a baptism, and the mood of all the actors and the team was almost the same as that of the broadcasters of that year, "Really in a state of not eating, drinking or sleeping, it is to use a lot of energy to stand up." It's very hard, but that spirit will make you feel full of strength."
Tao Hong also specially brought her daughter to see this play, and her twelve-year-old daughter was very excited after watching it, which made Tao Hong very pleased. Tao Hong believes that in the future, the "Live Broadcast Founding Ceremony" will continue to improve, "for example, technical things can be made more interesting, and deepen the overall interest of each character."
With the main theme of creation to promote the truth, goodness and beauty
Acting well must have a sense of family and country
From the film for many years, Zhang Tong relied on a positive drama to catch fire. Li Dazhao in "The Age of Awakening" has let more people know this powerful actor and gained a large number of fans.
This time, Zhang Tong played the role of lu Haiyu, a military engineer in the "Live Broadcast of the Founding Ceremony", which is a role with both culture and martial arts, which is still very challenging for Zhang Tong, who has always been tough, "He has a literary side, and also has the enthusiasm of a soldier, which is very fresh to me."
Although there are not many stage plays, Zhang Tong's performance this time is by no means immature. Lu Haiyu's role is very rich, in addition to the temperament of both culture and martial arts, loyalty to the party and friendship with old friends, but also let him have more inner drama. Zhang Tong mastered the role well, and there was no tension between the eyebrows, only the focus of the role.
Zhang Tong admitted that this time he participated in the "Live Broadcast founding ceremony" to learn from director Tian Qinxin. Before that, there were three cooperations in "China in the Story", "China in the Classics" and "The Great Journey", forming a tacit understanding of cooperation between him and director Tian Qinxin.
Rooted in the main theme for many years, Zhang Tong has his own feelings. Especially this time, "Live Broadcasting the Founding Ceremony" is a history that is not well known to everyone, which makes him have more sense of mission.
"Every excellent main theme work, the value of promotion must be true, good and beautiful, and it is full of family and country feelings." If I have children in the future, I hope that he or she can see these works, understand the history of our struggle, and do not forget the roots", through literary and artistic creation, the feelings of the family and the country and the national spirit will be passed on from generation to generation.
Seven years ago, on October 15, 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a symposium on literary and artistic work and delivered an important speech.
In the past seven years, the vast number of literary and art workers have deeply studied and implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the symposium on literary and art work, have the courage to undertake the new mission entrusted by the new era, always adhere to the people-centered creative orientation, and strive to create excellent works that tell Chinese stories and spread Chinese voices well, so as to unite the hearts and souls of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and cast the soul of Bacon.
It is precisely under the guidance of this spirit of literary and artistic creation that the National Drama Theatre of China has always been committed to the deep cultivation and meticulous work in the field of literature and art, and has continuously launched stage drama works that are deeply loved by the people and have achieved circle-breaking dissemination. As another work of heart, affection and hard work, "Live Broadcasting of the Founding Ceremony" once again reflects the mission and innovation pace of the National Drama Theatre of China, as Tian Qinxin, president of the National Drama Theatre of China, said, "All our innovations are the embodiment of the 'Shouzheng Innovation' of the National Drama Theatre of China, and the root of all this is to tell the Chinese story well."