The Forbidden City was the "heart" of the Qing Dynasty and was also an extremely popular documentary film subject.
Filming of the documentary "The Forbidden City" began in 2003 and reached a total length of 600 minutes. A director who can make historical and humanistic documentaries is a talented person, in other words, a person who puts himself in the river of history to go up against the current and trace his roots. Therefore, it is inevitable that Zhou Bing will make some influential cultural documentaries.
From the perspective of the director, re-appreciate the documentary "Forbidden City" and interpret the truth behind history.
Sunrise over the Forbidden City
The first part of the film, "Zhaojian Forbidden City", starts from the cause of the construction of the palace and lasts only 50 minutes from the completion of the Forbidden City.
From information fishing to narrative techniques, from picture shooting to the use of stunt animation, from commentary writing to time and space jumping ancient and modern connections, the atmosphere is magnificent, and the individual life in the background of major events is dazzling like a meteor, pushing the audience to the scene 600 years ago, facing a picture of history and art dancing together, ambition and stars shining.
Director Zhou Bing said that he and the film crew were filmed in the way the staff of the Forbidden City worked, and no one except the researchers in the palace could approach the Forbidden City with such a quiet attitude.
In the landscape with aura, in the light and shadow of the city wall at sunset, feeling the alternation of time and looking at cultural relics is actually close to the hearts of the rulers in the history of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Through the transmission of images, the audience slowly enters the corridor of historical time from the visual presentation.
The beginning of the film is very enjoyable, a shot point, is the imagination and the means of the most matching image presentation.
In the sonorous drum beat, the orange-black old film, the camera is pulled out of the throne of the imperial power symbol, retreating from the palace to the outside of the palace, moving down from the Plaque of the Renhe Hall, the tour guide guides visitors into the palace, the picture continues to move, and the Forbidden City stands on the axis of complete symmetry, fading out of the title.
Who made history?
With a thick explanation begins: "Who made history?" Who created the great civilization in history? ”
It is said that director Zhou Bing said that he thought about it for a long time before he thought of this rather proud opening.
The picture goes down in turn, the huge moon is accompanied by stars, a meteor crosses, through the clouds into the earth, and then to the land of China, the lens constantly changes the geographical location of Beijing City from the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, and then the historical changes of Beijing City in the Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
As the camera crosses the streets of Beijing across the Zhengyang Gate, a new 21st-century Forbidden City appears in front of the audience, bustling with traffic and bustling scenery in the world. When the lens passes through the door in a straight line, it brings the audience into the Ming Dynasty more than 600 years ago. This is a set of complete bird's-eye shots synthesized with 3D technology, and the choreographer wants to express the view that "the cultural relics of the Six Dynasties are in the air, and the sky is light and cloudy is idle in the past and the present".
Interpret the truth of history
"Forbidden City" gives people a huge imagination space, the Forbidden City has experienced the tragic and joyful lives of 24 emperors and many concubines, and staged many wonderful stories in Chinese history.
How was the Forbidden City built? There are only a few words on the "Ming History Record", which year and year, the palace was completed. The film crew spent two years looking for a needle like a detective, from folk styles, official notes, and contemporary scholars' research results, to collage and restore, and piece together information bones and blood.
Zhou Bing said that his interest is to interpret the truth of history in the historical materials that are only a few words, to feel the thoughts and emotions hidden in history in the wordless buildings and cultural relics, and to display them creatively within the scope of control. The most important contribution of historical documentary directors is actually the originality of opinion information, which is omitted by directors who are naturally reticent.
Director Zhou Bing uses the method of storytelling to enlarge the details of the construction of the Forbidden City, which is quite similar to the writing method of Huang Renzi's "Fifteen Years of Wanli", with the meticulous experience of individual characters in major events. Audiences like to listen to stories, like to listen to interesting and vivid narration, rather than superficial and blunt introductions; like to listen to the deep revelations behind the phenomenon, rather than just being satisfied with superficial displays.
The description of historical events in history books still depends on written narratives, and narratives can show the coherence and integrity of historical events. Imagery is a kind of image restoration, which is imagination. In historical events, human behavior is full of various details and interludes, and each small interlude may brew and create future dramatic events. And the behavior hidden behind people is full of various motives.
Documentary filmmakers should be in the "historical scene", speculate on the hearts of historical figures, embroider their hearts, peel off the cocoon, and then sew and mend the skills of historical clothes. Zhou Bing and his choreography team restored one "historical scene" after another for the audience, so that the audience seemed to directly witness the difficult process of the construction of the Forbidden City, and they were able to glimpse the inner world of the historical figures at that time.
A huge breakthrough in artistic creation
The breakthrough in artistic creation is another manifestation of the success of "Forbidden City".
The quality of the picture and the quality of the sound have reached the international standard. At present, the difference between Chinese documentaries and excellent foreign programs lies in this. "Forbidden City" brings us an extraordinary visual experience, which is shocking and admirable in various elements of the picture such as color, tone, light, and the trajectory of the lens.
The Forbidden City spans 600 years of history, and many historical scenes have long since ceased to exist. Scene reproduction is a technique commonly used in documentaries, especially in reproducing historical themes.
"Forbidden City" uses a large number of scene reproductions to restore characters and historical scenes, so as to achieve the scene of historical figures looming in the historical scene or alternating from history to reality. For example, in the opening part, tens of thousands of people transport boulders and nanmu from Chuangui'e, which adopts the method of character playing and computer animation synthesis, the effect is realistic and the performance is in place.
Epilogue:
The ancient locust tree in the shot is recorded by the camera from the dead branches in winter, the germination and flowering in spring, the luxuriantity of summer, and the depression of autumn. Plants seem to have life with the passage of time, and they constitute the vicissitudes of the Forbidden City. Behind the glitz are vicissitudes. Every place of rubble and brick has witnessed the vicissitudes of the Forbidden City for more than 600 years.
Documentary filmmakers shoot history, fight and move from star to star, things are not people, one day, they themselves will become history.