Tell good character stories in film creation

"Sniper", released on the first day of the Chinese New Year, is a film I made to resist us and aid Korea. We chose to enter through a small incision, condensing the story into a small team and the individuals in it. The grand war is composed of countless individuals, and the creation should focus on the fate of the individual on the battlefield, the transformation of the individual, the growth of the individual and other aspects. The audience follows the characters to see the story, so when we make movies and tell stories, we must put our efforts on the characters. I'm still honing my ability to tell character stories well in filmmaking.

At the end of the movie, the company commander played by Zhang Yi named the scene that made me shed tears on the shooting scene, which I talked to Zhang Yi for two nights. Because we thought this scene was very good, we remade the opening scene as a response, enlarged the ordinary name, and enlarged a personal character. "Dedicate youth to the motherland" is a big slogan, and it can be implemented in specific characters and details to be more moving.

Some viewers said that the color and emotional expression of this film is not the same as my previous works, and I think that films with this kind of theme need to pay attention to realism. Since the story takes place on a brutal battlefield, the bright colors are certainly not available, so the scheduling of the images is basically close to black and white gray.

We added "Chinese Volunteer Army Battle Song" to the play, and I believe that the volunteer army at that time was most familiar with this song "Majestic, Energetic, Crossing the Yalu River". In the film, several actors are exhausted, even a little out of tune, they are not actually singing, but shouting, the important thing is to highlight a momentum. This detail sublimated the whole story, and many of the staff members cried at the shooting scene.

I was born in 1950, when the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea had just begun. I later read a lot of information, and in that war to defend the country, the most important thing was to Chinese spirit. At that time, the poor and white New China was in ruins, but it dared to face the most powerful army in the world and won victory, which I think is the most remarkable national spirit. Therefore, dedicating youth to the motherland, fighting with flesh and blood, and defending the country are not empty words. The reason why young audiences pay so much attention to films that reflect the war more than 70 years ago is because the feelings of home and country that it shows are still of great practical significance today and can resonate with people.

The box office of a movie looks like a number, but behind the number is the human heart. Today's young people like to watch such movies, which is a gratifying change that has taken place in the Chinese film market in the past two years. This has made the creators feel great encouragement, spurring us to make movies well and tell Chinese stories well.

(The author is the director of the movie "Sniper", interviewed by Liu Yang, a reporter of this newspaper)

Author: Zhang Yimou

Source: People's Daily