The first time I put on a robe with wide sleeves and transformed into Wei Jin, the staff of the "Pen in Love" crew was amazed by the costumes of Zhao Jing, an actor of the Shangying Actor Troupe. Today, 40 years later, the ancient, fresh and elegant costumes in this old movie still make the audience cry out. On Douban, "Pen in Love" has a score of 8.5, and many people praise the role selection and costumes and props in the film for having a Wei and Jin demeanor, and also let people appreciate the beauty of traditional culture.
In recent years, costume film and television dramas have often caused controversy due to costume styling. In the fairy world, fairies and gods wear the same yarn, and in the costume idol drama, various dynastic elements are mixed and matched, and the web drama "My name is Liu Jinfeng" is removed from the shelves because the costumes are too Japanese. Recently, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television held a symposium on the creation of television dramas, pointing out that the art of costume dramas should truly restore the basic styles of architecture, clothing, costumes, makeup and other basic styles of the historical period involved, and should not use them arbitrarily and imitate foreign styles. Many viewers can't help but wonder when clapping their hands and saying that they are fast, why can the old films and dramas in the past make simple and elegant, restore the shape of the era, and now what is the difference? The Jiefang Daily Shangguan News reporter dialed the phone of Zhuang Peiling, an costume artist at the Shanghai Film Studio, and listened to her tell her about the persistence and hard work behind this line.
Styling should serve the characters
In addition to CCTV's "Dream of the Red Chamber", the 1982 film "Pen in Love" produced by Shanghai Film Studio has also been regarded as a classic modeling representative by many audiences. It is Zhuang Peiling who makes costume styling for this movie, and she has also done costume styling for the movie "Sunrise", "Six-Fingered Piano Demon", and the TV series "Love Deep rain".
How do costumers work? "First of all, look at the script." Zhuang Peiling introduced that after getting the script, she used to list the main characters one by one, look at the age, age, and identity of their lives, and design costumes according to the characteristics of the characters. Usually, the color of young people's clothing will be a little brighter, and the color of the elderly's clothing will be darker. When the festive scenes and characters are depressed, the color matching of the costumes should be reflected. This is all from the script.
After having a preliminary idea, the costumer will communicate with the director, "To make a play, you have to meet the director many times." ”
Directed by Yan Bili, "Love in the Pen" tells the story of the calligrapher Zhao Xuzhi and Wen Juan, the daughter of Qi Taiwei, who fell in love, and under her encouragement, traveled three times to learn calligraphy, guarded against arrogance and impatience, and finally realized the true meaning of calligraphy. Zhao Xuzhi's prototype is Wang Xizhi, a great calligrapher of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the costume props in the film are also based on that era. In order to restore the ancient atmosphere, Zhuang Peiling and others did a lot of preliminary data collection work, when the information in the film studio was limited, she ran to the film bureau's data room to check, if there is still no search, go to the Xujiahui library to find.
Many viewers feel that the costume shape of "Pen in Love" has the charm of "Roselle Futu", and the costumes worn by the characters during the conversation, long-distance travel and banquet have clear differences. In the scene of Qu Shui liu in the film, Zhao Xuzhi and other characters also wore clogs, which was a popular style in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and now it is almost difficult to see in costume dramas, and it is praised by netizens for "paying attention to details". This is also what Zhuang Peiling found when she checked the information and handed it down to the carpenters in the factory to make.
In the movie, there is also a plot of Zhao Xuzhi and General Huan shu "Bizi" to recruit relatives. Interestingly, Wang Bozhaohe, who played Zhao Xuzhi, played Chi Chongrui of Huanshu, and later played Xiao Bailong and Tang Monk in "Journey to the West", respectively, and Cheng Zhi, an actor of Qi Taiwei, also played Elder Jinchi in "Journey to the West". It is said that Wang Bozhao and Chi Chongrui got the opportunity to star in "Journey to the West" precisely because of their outstanding performances and appearances in "Pen in Love".
From satin to georgette
In order to make clothing, Zhuang Peiling often went to various cloth stores in Shanghai to buy materials, and was also a regular customer of Dongjiadu Wholesale Market. When filming "Love Deep and Rainy", due to the need for more fabrics, they all drove a van to purchase.
In costume dramas, cloth has the function of distinguishing the identity of the characters. For example, the three ladies of the Qi family in "Pen in Love" use silk and satin for cloth, and ordinary people use ordinary cotton cloth, which must not be mixed. At that time, the price of satin was not expensive, and the clothing artist would try to save as much as possible according to the cost budget, "sometimes the general fabric can also make a good visual effect." Zhuang Peiling feels that it is a pity that the fabric shops in Shanghai are becoming increasingly difficult to find, and the crew is more accustomed to buying ready-to-wear clothes.
In the 1990s, the Hong Kong film industry ushered in new opportunities in the mainland market, and Shanghai Film Studio and Hong Kong film companies created a number of co-production films, including "Six Finger Piano Demon", "Green Snake", "New Tianlong Eight Parts of Tianshan Tongyao", "Nine Pin Sesame Officer", etc., and the costumes, props and other working teams of Shangying also participated in the production of these films.
Zhuang Peiling worked as a costumer in the crew of "Six Finger Piano Demon", and the art and styling design of the film were served by Hong Kong costume designer Zhang Shuping.
Based on Ni Kuang's novel of the same name, Directed by Wu Mianqin, "Six Finger Piano Demon" is co-produced by Shanghai Film Studio and Hong Kong Ace Production Co., Ltd., and starring Lin Qingxia, Yuan Biao and Liu Jialing. Among them, Huang Dong, the "six-fingered piano demon" played by Lin Qingxia, wears exaggerated hairpins on his head, and the heavy gauze clothes flutter with the wind, and the evil and domineering style captures the hearts of many fans, but some viewers complain that such costumes do not conform to history.
"The main costumes of the actors of 'Six Finger piano demon' are all shipped from Hong Kong, and the costumes of the extras are selected from the Shangying costume warehouse." On the set, Zhuang Peiling sorted out the costumes according to the director's requirements and helped the main actors get dressed. "Lin Qingxia was very easy-going, and when she left, she gave me several sets of her husband's brand clothes, and we kept talking and laughing on the set."
There will be several sets of costumes of a style, some for the stand-in, some to prevent the hanging Wea from being damaged. When preparing clothing for martial arts films, Zhuang Peiling usually prepares more than three sets of styles for a model, and the style and quality of the stand-in and spare clothes should also be consistent. "Experienced costumers have read the script and can estimate how many sets need to be prepared for each scene."
When lin Qingxia was dressed as a "six-fingered piano demon", Zhuang Peiling noticed that the fabric used in these costumes was very thin gauze, with qiaoqi yarn, polyester, etc., layered on top of each other. "Georgette is much cheaper than satin, pretty is pretty, but it's out of touch with the age."
The opera of costume modeling has also been criticized by many audiences. Zhuang Peiling had done costume styling for the 1980 opera film "The Legend of the White Snake" starring Lee Byung-sook, and in her opinion, feature films and opera films are completely different, and the shape must not be confused. "We pay attention to the consideration of life when making movies, and the shape should go towards the road of life, if you use opera to shape it will be out of life."
"Hong Kong designers don't have so many concepts of historical era. If I did it, I would still design the costume according to the age. Zhuang Peiling said.
It's tiring to do this
"It's tiring to do this." Zhuang Peiling said.
After more than two decades of retirement, she likes to travel around the world and play games with her mobile phone, as if to make up for the leisure and entertainment she lost when she used to work. "Costumes, props, makeup are hard. Makeup is earlier than we get up, especially costumes are more time-consuming, and we spend more energy. The costumes had to be moved to the site, changed, adjusted, and cared for. After finishing work in the evening, it is also necessary to sort out the costumes of the main actors needed the next day, including the group performance. ”
Shooting a drama, often half a year away from home. "Pen in Love" was filmed on Mount Taishan, and Zhuang Peiling also followed her to the mountain. For the sunrise shooting, the crew waited for several consecutive mornings. Filming "Love Deep rain" is the summer, the actor sweats badly, Zhuang Peiling sprayed alcohol on the actor to remove the sweat smell. There are about a dozen people in the clothing department, and two people are responsible for washing clothes.
In 1964, in response to the plight of the lack of talents in Shanghai film technology, the Shanghai Film Bureau opened a film vocational school, including makeup, clothing, props, lighting, screening, and printing.
Zhuang Peiling remembered that there were a total of 108 students in that group, and the makeup, costumes, and props classes were all 10 people. The school is located on Damuqiao Road, and the Shanghai Film Studio Stunt Workshop is also nearby. After entering the school, everyone first takes basic courses, including chemistry, Chinese, etc., and after one year, they are divided into majors. Zhuang Peiling was assigned to the costume group, "I am interested in clothing myself, and when I was in middle school, I won an award for painting. Later, all these trainees stayed in Shanghai, most of them entered the Shanghai Film Studio, and later became the backbone of Shanghai film.
After entering the Shanghai Film Studio, Zhuang Peiling's first play as an costumer was "Our Little Flower Cat" directed by the famous director Wu Yigong in 1980. Because it is a modern play, the costumes are relatively simple, mainly according to the requirements of the characters and the age of the matching, buy materials, and then hand over to the tailor workshop to make. "Our Little Flower Cat" is also the first work independently directed by Wu Yigong.
In the Shanghai Film Studio, the division of makeup, costumes and props is clear. "Hats, clothes, gloves, socks, shoes, etc. are all in our hands; Worn on the head, including jewelry, under makeup tubes; Take in the hand, such as the bag, to the prop management. When filming "Six-Fingered Piano Demon", Zhuang Peiling found that the division of labor in the Hong Kong and Taiwan crews was not the same, and the character modeling included jewelry, bags, etc. She believes that this approach helps to coordinate design, but the Shangying tradition also has the advantage of leaving professional things to professional people to do, each performing their own duties.
Shanghai Film Studio also has a variety of costume design work, but most of them are done by the costume designers themselves, and the specific costume production is done by the tailoring workshop. Zhuang Peiling has not learned to sew, but sometimes she encounters unexpected situations, and some small clothing changes can also be completed. Once on the set, the performance artist Qin Yi's costume belt bag was slightly larger, and Zhuang Peiling took matters into her own hands and put the belt in a little.
In 2001, the TV series "Love Deep rain and rain" was adapted from Qiong Yao's original novel "Smoke and Rain", the two sides of the strait co-produced, Zhuang Peiling served as the costume styling, most of the crew came from the film studio, and several rooms in the factory were used to store the costumes.
The play uses the Shanghai costumes of the 1930s and 1940s, which Zhuang Peiling is handy for. "There are also clothes brought by the Taiwanese side, but most of them are prepared by me. Some dresses are ready-made in the warehouse, and the qipao is made of selected materials and asked the retired old tailors who specialize in making qipao outside. "The design of the cheongsam should also be adjusted according to the script and characters, such as Aunt Xue's clothing will be a little more elaborate, and the color will jump a little, reflecting her character.
Zhuang Peiling also considered the details of the length of the cheongsam. "Clothes follow the financial resources, and when there is money, the cheongsam will naturally be longer, and the buttons will be larger and more beautiful."
When making the costume of "Love Deep rain", Zhuang Peiling has clearly felt that film and television drama shooting is becoming more and more anxious. "We used to make movies, and the actors had to live their lives, and it was more realistic to shoot them. Later, as soon as the film crew was established, filming began immediately, and some TV series even shot 10 episodes a month. ”
To respect history, it takes time to check information, and it takes time to sink your heart to complete your work. Zhuang Peiling hopes that the current TV series can give the costumer a little more time.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Shi Chenlu Text Editor: Shi Chenlu
图片来源：影视截图 Source: Author: Zhong Han