Text / Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Li Li
Photo/stills
The online movie "Special Hero Huang Jiguang" has recently been popular on online video platforms such as Tencent Video, iQiyi, and Youku. According to Maoyan Professional Edition data, as of 15:00 on October 23, the film's cumulative share has exceeded 9.5 million yuan, the cumulative number of viewers has exceeded 2.74 million, and it has won the online movie Maoyan Internet popularity championship for many consecutive days.
"Special Hero Huang Jiguang" tells the story of Huang Jiguang and his comrades-in-arms braving a rain of bullets to establish front-line communications, joining a brutal battle in order to hold their positions, and finally "blocking the gun's eye with their bodies". The film does not have big-name stars as starring actors, but it has infected many audiences with its inspiring stories and touching feelings.
In addition to "Special Hero Huang Jiguang", there are also a number of main theme online movies with diverse themes and styles this year. These works surpass past online movies from character creation to industrial standards, and are popular with young audiences.
The plot can be real
Let the audience familiar Huang Jiguang "real and credible"
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the martyr Huang Jiguang. In the past years, Huang Jiguang's heroic deeds have long been deeply rooted in the minds of every generation. Making a brand new online movie, how else can his story be told? Zhou Runze, the director and first screenwriter of the film, said in his creative experience to the audience: "Difficult, too difficult. "History and creation, business and art, big stories and small budgets, these all need to be balanced.
After experiencing various failures in the early creation, Zhou Runze was encouraged by the spirit of Huang Jiguang. He said: "This film is really difficult. But no matter how hard you are, how hard can it be? Can there be a group of young people with backward weapons to face strong enemies? In the end, he found his creative direction and tried his best to restore the truth in a calm and restrained way, allowing Huang Jiguang to come out of the familiar concept of words in the past and "become a believable person again."
He said: "Huang Jiguang is a communicator, not a combatant, so we will describe the growth and training of correspondents; Huang Jiguang and his mother have letters that survive, so use them as much as possible and integrate them into the story; In the process of battle, you need a lot of bridges and details to fill, then find it from the memoirs of veterans, talk to military guides, and do not write without evidence; Female soldiers are not mentioned in the records of the Shangganling front, then female soldiers are not written, other films are written, and we do not write ... In short, it can be true. Among them, Huang Jiguang's relationship with his mother moved many audiences after the filming was completed. For example, at the beginning of the film, after Huang Jiguang, who successfully crossed the bombing of enemy aircraft, returned to the trench, he replied to his mother with the help of his comrades-in-arms, and in the face of his mother's previous letter asking him "when will he go home", he replied without hesitation: "Tell my mother, I will go back after making meritorious deeds!" The image of Huang Jiguang, a recruit who is not afraid of tigers, jumped in front of him.
The actor Liu Jiayi, who played Huang Jiguang, was a raw face to many audiences, but his performance moved people to tears. Director Zhou Runze recalled that Liu Jiayi had just entered college at the time of filming, which was younger than when Huang Jiguang died. "When I first chose him, there were actually objections, thinking that he was too young. But when he shaved his hair, put on his military uniform, and cast that immature, clear but determined look at the camera, everyone was convinced. Zhou Runze said, "He is young, but he carried the film with talent and attitude." He is worthy of Huang Jiguang. ”
Expenses are on the "cutting edge"
Plan the details carefully and focus on local battles
The budget of online movies is usually not as good as that of theater movies. "Special Hero Huang Jiguang" can still give people a sense of "big production". This largely stems from Zhou Runze's requirement for realism. He recalled that at that time, the main creators of various departments "complained" behind his back: "Obviously there is a ready-made battlefield in the film and television city, why do you have to find a mountain to dig?" The light crane has to drive to the mountain, and the photographer has to run on the ridge with the machine at night. Why do you even have to make body armor and helmet covers? Anti-Japanese guns are also guns, why look for the right type of gun? In total, I will shoot for more than twenty days, and I actually have military training before starting the machine..."
In addition to hard work, shooting skills can also make up for the natural limitations of online movies. For example, at the beginning of the film, it is a long shot of Huang Jiguang running in the forest under the crazy bombing of enemy planes. This scene quickly made the audience feel his breathing and heartbeat, and also explained two important backgrounds: first, the time background, when the Battle of Shangganling had not yet begun, the US military carried out a pre-fire raid on the Shangganling area, dropping no less than 180 bombs; Although Huang Jiguang, a signal soldier, had only been in the army for a year and a half, he was bold and meticulous, and in order to send the orders of the headquarters to the front line as soon as possible, he dared to pass through the artillery fire in the blockade area in a straight line. In the first few minutes, the film has used a small and large technique to pave the way for the cruelty of the war and the growth of the characters that will be shown later. In addition, the film focuses the war lens on local battles and spends all the funds on the "blade".
The crew's careful planning makes the film present a satisfactory texture. Douban netizens "Sean_C" evaluated the film with the title "Such a war film, let us wait too long": "Its goodness does not depend on how big the scene is, how famous the actors are, how big the director is, and how sufficient funds are." The original attribute of war movies is: as long as you do your best to restore the truth, you will definitely be able to pull the audience into the world you construct; If you sink your heart and shoot and delve into the details, there must be nothing wrong. The texture of war is reflected in every detail: gun troubleshooting, realistic tracer trajectory, explosions stir up dust instead of fireballs... All of the above is part of the texture, and ordinary audiences can feel it even if they don't understand it, and knowledgeable audiences will clap their hands when they see it. ”
【Industry Watch】
The quantity and quality of the main theme of online movies have reached a new level
In recent years, new mainstream blockbusters have shone in theaters. Taking the National Day file as an example, "Changjin Lake" and "My Fathers and I" led the box office with the posture of the main theme blockbuster in the National Day file last year. Especially "Changjin Lake", with a total box office of 5.775 billion yuan, the film is still ranked first in the overall box office list of Chinese films. This year, the three main theme films "Ten Thousand Miles Home", "Ordinary Heroes" and "Iron Will" are all adapted from real events, and continue to deepen the attempt of typology on the basis of realistic themes, which is called "the breakthrough of new mainstream movies" by the industry. From the perspective of word of mouth and box office, "The Way Home", which combines the theme of evacuation and war scenes, is particularly prominent. As of 16:00 on October 23, the box office of the film has exceeded 1.4 billion yuan. In addition, there have been "Operation Mekong", "Operation Red Sea", "Climber", "My Motherland and Me", "Captain China", "King Kong River", "Win the Championship" and other masterpieces favored by the market.
Online and offline echo, the main theme of online movies in recent years has also gradually increased in quantity.
According to the "China Radio and Television All-Media Development Report (2022)", a total of 58 online movies with the main theme will be launched in 2021. In May this year, the first domestic online movie "Leaves on the Golden Mountain" that obtained the "online drama film distribution license" was launched. Compared with theatrical movies that can only be released with a "dragon mark", online movies have since had their own "network logo". With the support of government departments, the attention of broadcast platforms and the efforts of production agencies, the production of online film and television content with uneven quality has begun to reach a new level, and the level of content innovation and production has been improved. In this context, online movies with the main theme have also begun to show a trend of high-quality creation, moving towards a new stage of "new mainstream online movies".
In addition to "Special Hero Huang Jiguang", there have been a number of main theme online movies that have attracted the attention of the audience in recent years. Since June this year, many works such as "Jedi Defense" based on the Sucun Blockade Battle in the Anti-Japanese War, "Explosive Disposal Hand" focusing on the heroes of the armed police explosive evacuation, and "Company of Warriors" that tells the story of the flying capture of Luding Bridge have been launched.
The themes, genres, and styles of these online movies are relatively diverse, breaking through the strange circle of excessive pursuit of strange feelings in past online movies. They freeze historical moments, show the spirit of the times, and are welcomed by the younger generation of online audiences.
Editor: Nie Qing