Pick up the flowers
Author Xue Tianbao
The white colt crosses the gap, the green silk is frosted, through the tunnel of time and space, the two TV dramas I have filmed in my hometown Ofa County are like a wisp of fragrance in the hundred gardens, which makes me intoxicated.
I was the art designer in Shaanxi TV's 1982 film "Magpie Tears" (2 episodes) and "Weihua Uprising" (8 episodes) filmed in 2001. My deep hometown love made me choose the filming location of these two plays in Huaxian County, Dongfu, Shaanxi. Every time I go home, I feel like I am back to the unforgettable years of filming.
Stills from the TV series "Magpie Tears" from Popular Television
"Magpie Tears" depicts the story of a pair of young men and women in rural Guanzhong pursuing marital freedom, and is a flogging of feudal etiquette. It was filmed in the early 1980s, when the TV series was like a flower bud blooming in the literary and art garden, sought after and loved by people, this drama became the experimental field for our station to shoot TV series, and strived to shoot fine products and dedicate themselves to the audience.
In the spring of 1982, the crew went to Huaxian County and kicked off filming in Dongzhao Village. Screenwriters Wang Jicheng and Wang Baocheng, director Gao Yuan, cameras Chu Guangwei and Liu Yukun, leading actors Yin Shiqin (as magpie), Tan Xing, Bi Fusheng and Zhang Muqin. Producer Huang Xiliang. The local fathers and villagers gave great support, they not only bravely competed to be the mass role of running the dragon set, but also vacated the house to let the crew shoot the drama, and the various farm props such as spinning wheels, looms, and ground mouse cars needed for the play were used by the crew, and there was no need for anything.
One night, in the reservoir next to Dongzhao Village, a scene of magpies jumping into the reservoir to find death,
When the "rumbling" of the generator sounded and the spotlight illuminated the surroundings of the reservoir, the crowd of black crows and crows rushed from all directions to see the liveliness. In order to ensure safe shooting, the county transferred more than a dozen armed police, and with the cooperation of local commune cadres, the scene was orderly. This scene is also very difficult to shoot, looking for a stuntman can swim, in the cold night of early spring repeatedly diving many times, the crowd next to the painful exchange of ears: "Good encouragement, it is not easy to be an actor!" In the company of the villagers, the scene was filmed until late at night.
The ruins of the Eastern Zhao Reservoir were photographed at song dynasty peaks
There is a scene of magpies talking about love in the bamboo forest of Ningshan Temple in the south of the county town. When the cast and crew first arrived here and saw a vast bamboo forest, everyone shouted in unison: "This place is grinning!" I didn't expect that there was such a pure wonderland in Guanzhong! In the morning light and smoke, the bamboo sea is verdant; a babbling stream is chanting in the bamboo forest; the crisp chimes of bells are heard from the Ningshan Temple in the northern foothills of the Qinling Mountains; and a group of magpies are playing "chirping" in the bamboo branches. The scenes blended, the actors quickly entered the role, and the shooting was natural and smooth.
The red belly wrap is an important prop throughout the play, a precious love object given by the magpie to the lover, and there are many close-up shots that require hand embroidery, auspicious flower patterns, and local atmosphere. At that time, I was in a hurry, and I couldn't buy it after looking for half a day on the street stall. When I was embarrassed, I met my classmate Yang Ruli in Xianzhong, and I talked to her about the matter, and she immediately promised to make one for me as required. A few days later, she brought her own hand-embroidered finished product, I asked the director to accept it, and director Gao gladly extended his fingers and praised: "Beautiful! After the scene was filmed, everyone competed to collect this exquisite handicraft, but in the end it fell into the hands of Magpie actor Yin Shiqin.
This drama was filmed for a month in Dongzhao Village, Huaxian County, and before leaving, the villagers reluctantly sent us out of the village. This short drama had a strong response after it was broadcast on CCTV, especially by the vast number of farmers. It also won the first National Popular Television Golden Eagle Award that year.
20 years later, I participated in the filming of "Weihua Uprising" as the art designer of the play, responsible for the design and selection of scenes. At my recommendation, the filming base of this drama was set up in my hometown of Huaxian.
Screenshot of the TV series "Weihua Uprising"
The drama is a key drama of the "Five Ones Project" in the province, with a total of eight episodes. On the basis of detailed historical materials, it vividly and profoundly displayed the grand historical picture of the Sensational Spring Thunder-Weihua Uprising in the northwest, and praised the indomitable spirit of struggle of our Party in 1928 leading the workers' and peasants' armed forces to overthrow the Kuomintang's reactionary rule. The successful filming of this difficult-to-give BIRTH TV series is not only a tribute to the unknown martyrs who have been buried for 73 years, but also an affirmation and praise of the people's revolutionary struggle in the old revolutionary areas of Weihua.
The screenwriter of the play, Tan Zhaowen (writer of the Weinan Regional Literary Association), director Wan Shenghua and Long Tu, and the camera is Qiang Tao. Starring: Yin Yuanzhang (as Xue Zishuang), Xu Maomao (as Xu Quanzhong), Zhang Zhijian (as Liu Jizeng), Qu Guoqiang (as Wang Shangde), Ma Ming (as Liu Zhidan).
Yangchun March, our main creative staff began to collect scenery, in the scenery on the way, there was a shocking scene, one day after breakfast, I and the main creator took a big car to Weibei Gushi Middle School to collect scenery, the car just drove out of the Weihe River Bridge for a few minutes, the front car a revolver flew out, smashed down a small smoke stall on the side of the road, the car lost its balance, tilted out of the road, everyone was instantly frightened, and when they turned around and got off the car to see, the accident was nothing serious, which was relieved. At this time, I couldn't help but comfort everyone and said, "Thanks to the blessing of the Weihua martyrs, I have broken through this ghost gate!" "Everyone talked about it with some fear: if the accident happened on the bridge, the people and cars would not be completely finished. The next day, we changed into a new car to choose the exterior scenes of Da li feng tu yi cang in Weibei, cangjie temple in Baishui, and dangjia village in Hancheng. All the way non-stop, sometimes missed meals, sometimes hiked dozens of miles, very hard. Subsequently, we ran to Weihua Eryuan and finally established a shooting plan with Hua County as the center to radiate the surrounding scenic spots.
The three churches in the center of the village (integrating the three religions of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Confucianism) are the important revolutionary sites where the Huaxian County Party Committee and the Shaanxi Eastern Special Committee were stationed and held meetings, which is not only the birthplace of the underground party branch of the village, but also the place of the early revolutionary activities of the Weihua martyr Xue Zishuang, who established the peasant Red Guards, created the Soviet regime, and carried out the struggle against hegemony and taxation. Xue Zishuang was the deputy commander of the Red Guards in eastern Shaanxi and died in a bloody battle in the Weihua Rebellion. After the failure of the uprising, his old mother begged along the street, and his wife fled with her young son. At the risk of killing his head, my father adopted the martyr's mother and sent her to her death, and moved the martyr's bones back from Jianyu and buried them in his family's ancestral grave on the same day as his mother. After liberation, the martyrs' tomb was unfortunately leveled, and it was restored and rebuilt by my father. Before and after the liberation of the three churches in my village, it was a village primary school, and I also attended school here, and then the primary school moved out, and after the three churches were rebuilt, they were managed by the Weihua Uprising Memorial Hall and became a key national cultural relics protection unit. Baozidi Village is located in the center of Weihua and Liangyuan, which is the landform of the northern foothills of qinling Mountains, where mountains and rivers are intertwined, and the scenery is beautiful, which has always been a place where soldiers and families must compete. The old castle in the north of the village is abrupt, and there is a row of old mansions and earthen caves along the slope of the earth, and the ruins and broken walls are scattered. Since the villagers have moved to the lower part of the castle, it seems very desolate, which is very suitable for the background of the old era in the plot. In the play, Xue Zishuang's home was chosen in a lonely poor courtyard on the top of the cliff.
Three churches front door Photographed by Qin Dongtan
The crew filmed here, warmly welcomed and supported by the village, who competed to become extras and helped meet all the manpower and material resources needed for the set. Elder Wang Bangwen, who served as a correspondent for the riot at that time, not only told the cast members the story of Xue Zishuang's revolution in those years, but also led the members of the Dongyang Township CPPCC group to come to the crew with a letter of condolence to visit everyone. Teachers and students of Baozidi Village Primary School performed wonderful literary and artistic programs. Xu Quanzhong's son Xu Gonghe also led his family to visit the scene to comfort everyone. With the warm support and care of the people in the old area, we successfully completed many heavy scenes here.
The former site of the Weihua Uprising (formerly Gaotang Primary School) is also one of the heavy drama attractions. Many of the main leaders in the play are done here.
Beibao Village is also a major scene, it is located in the northeast of Gaotang Town, the ancient village is located on the half mound, there is an earthen city gate in the west, through the city gate cave along the stone slope is a typical quaint Guanzhong old mansion. There are no modern buildings or telephone poles here, and the original local atmosphere is very strong. Many villagers in the village are also descendants of the martyrs of the Weihua Uprising, and they and the villagers cooperated with the crew to successfully complete the filming of many heavy scenes.
Huaxian Xianlin Middle School is my alma mater, knowing that we are going to shoot dramas near the old school gate and the Justice Building, teachers and students cleaned these places in advance, and with the support of the school, the drama was very smooth and successful.
The scenery photographed in Hua County also includes Ningshan Temple, Shaohua Middle School, Shidiyu, Dongjianyu and other places.
In order to ensure the shooting and solve the thorny problems in the coordination work, the county has also set up a special team to work with the crew.
The drama was filmed in Huaxian County for more than three months and completed in mid-July. It was broadcast on CCTV on April 3, 2002, and won the 20th China Volkswagen Television Golden Eagle Award in December of that year.
The successful broadcast of these two TV series not only publicized Huaxian County, encouraged the enthusiasm of the fathers and villagers in the old revolutionary areas to get rid of poverty and become well-off, but also promoted the development of local tourism and economy.
May these two screen flowers bloom more and more fragrantly in the hot soil of their hometown!
Original source: Huazhou Literature and Art
Original author: Xue Tianbao
Finishing editor: Huazhou literature and art, Huazhou literature and history