Zhang Songwen + Baike, I hope this film is crazy

The news-themed movie "More Than Ending", released on March 24, tells the growth story of a rookie reporter who tries to show the whole picture of the news and change the fate of a group of people with a report in an era when the Internet has not swept everything and print media is still king. In this movie, sympathy and understanding of people, accurate restoration of the times, and simple pursuit of idealism all make it extremely scarce at the moment.

Does idealism still exist today? How do we see those who are invisible? How is a movie that restores a sense of age 90% refined? On the occasion of the film's release, we chatted with Wang Jing, the director of "More Than End".

The first time young director Wang Jing and Zhang Songwen met was in a conference room in Beijing.

Zhang Songwen played Huang Jiang, the chief reporter of the newspaper, this time. When he appeared in front of the director, he deliberately wore an elegant sweater, which was inspired by 20 years ago:

In 2003, when Zhang Songwen was working as a teaching assistant at the Beijing Film Academy, he and his classmates visited a front-line reporter who had personally experienced the SARS incident.

"More Than Ending" trailer

Not long after the chat, the staff said that Baike (who played the newcomer reporter Han Dong) also came over. Zhang Songwen called him in and told him in advance to enter the role state, "Don't say that you are a white guest" - Baike opened the door and said: "Is Director Huangjiang there?" The two impromptu a newspaper interview, from age, place of origin to past experience, Zhang Songwen saw with afterlight, the screenwriter on the side had a flash of inspiration and began to brush the pen.

The above dresses and dialogues later appeared in a similar form in the finished film "More than Endless" - to a large extent, the film restored the media style of the print media period, and director Wang Jing regarded it as a "young love letter" dedicated to reporters, and media person Li Honggu wrote this comment after watching the movie: "I am a first-hand witness of that era, and the rough ideals, simple sense of morality, and the power to forge ahead are all vividly remembered, as if yesterday." ”

"More than Endless" poster

Journalist, a hunter who fights with pen and paper

Young director Wang Jing feels that it is not so much that he chose to shoot this theme, but that this theme found him.

After graduating from the Beijing Film Academy, he has always wanted to find a suitable angle and story as a carrier for his own expression and creation, "I once considered whether to write a story that happened around me logically, but I would suspect that it does not have universal significance, and sometimes being too close is not a good thing."

Until one day, when Wang Jing sat with producer Jia Zhangke and producer Tang Yan and chatted about a story about a reporter, he suddenly realized that this was the pair of eyes (perspective) he had been looking for - "I think that in many cases, what journalists do is very similar to our filmmaking, they are observing, recording, and considering the stories of these people and emotions that are happening at that time."

The background of the film is set in Beijing in 2003, which was a golden age of paper media before the rise of the Internet and social media, Wang Jing felt that this was particularly suitable for telling a good story of the era, 20 years is actually not long or short, from the technical level of film production, it is not difficult to restore the scene, the real difficulty is how to restore the spiritual outlook of the people of that era.

Therefore, the team interviewed many senior journalists who were crawling in the media industry around 2003 in the early stage, and they told a lot of bizarre and wonderful stories, and 90% of the bridges and details in the movie can find realistic references.

"More Than Ending" trailer

In this process, Wang Jing deeply felt that the operation mode of the media industry has undergone tremendous changes, and he cannot intuitively see the working status of a reporter - he also first asked, can he follow a reporter as an assistant to observe for a period of time? Later, I went to a newspaper to chat, and the other party told him that now reporters are not on duty, and they rarely hold election meetings in newspapers, and many times everyone looks for some effective materials on the Internet and finishes things.

But Wang Jing feels that the film itself is not only about the operation of this industry, but more importantly, it is more important to find the people in this industry, their spiritual characteristics, their behavioral logic, and what their judgment of the world is? "There was a journalist senior at the time who taught me something called the spirit of 'skepticism.' As a journalist trying to find the truth, trying to get a more objective picture of what happened, this skepticism is important —

"More Than Endless" may not have particularly big ups and downs in its narrative, but it is practical for a long time to talk about "doubt". For example, the scene of the mining disaster: Huang Jiang, a reporter played by Mr. Songwen, got a clue about the mining disaster and took Baike to the scene to follow up the report, but the scene he saw was completely different from what he imagined:

"In front of me is a mine that is as calm as a pool of stagnant water, and there are not many people in a hurry. At this time, you will see that his first reaction is not to go home, but to quickly think about what happened, and are there any other possibilities? ”

"More Than Ending" trailer

In this process, Wang Jing is also thinking about how to create the image of a reporter. In past film and television works, there were old media figures such as "The Story of the Editorial Office", "We are also discussing whether we can find a new fulcrum, such as being an image of a hunter or knight, some settings that seem to be contrary to intellectuals"?

In the eyes of the main creative team, journalists are a group of warriors, but their weapons are not knives and swords, but a pen in their hands. Someone with a heart may notice such details in the movie:

For example, there is a pair of boxing gloves on the balcony of Huangjiang's house; After Han Dong was fired by the newspaper, he took the suspender of his work card and wrapped it around his hands like a boxer - Huang Jiang even wore a leather jacket when he first appeared, and the styling director later told Wang Jing that it was a hunting suit.

"More Than Ending" trailer

The main line of "More Than Ending" is to tell the story of a young man's growth, a rookie journalist Han Dong, as an idealist growth process. After writing the script, Wang Jing's imagination of Han Dong was an ordinary face: "I hope that this actor can make the audience believe that the protagonist of this story, standing in the crowd, can be you and me, so that I can believe that I can also do something different like him." ”

Later, he happened to see a 45-degree side face photo of a dust servant in "After the Meeting", and felt that Baike was very suitable for the image of Han Dong. Wang Jing and Bai Ke are basically the same age, and when they first talked about the script, they quickly established a sense of identity.

Bai Ke shared with him his similar experience to Han Dong: when he graduated from university broadcasting major, when he first came to Beijing, he felt that the ideal situation was to enter a good TV station and become a host, but for a long time, he has been doing miscellaneous dubbing work with teachers in various recording studios in Beijing.

Like Han Dong, Baike also experienced a process of self-doubt and hesitated to give up, but he eventually recognized this (idealism). We now summarize a word called 'North Drift', but before that word, young people yearned for a big city, in fact, they were determined about 'what kind of me I want to be'. ”

"More Than Ending" trailer

And Zhang Songwen's reporter Huang Jiang is a popular figure in the newspaper, and in Wang Jing's view, this role is a mirror in the process of young people growing up. The main creative team's imagination of him is a hunter, with a lot of deviant working methods, basically not sitting at the table, always going out with the goal to "hunt".

"At this point, we have always hoped to find an accurate character, and Songwen has just two characteristics: one is a strong intellectual atmosphere, and the other is a keen and sophisticated temperament."

The team did a lot of research on the art furnishings, and although it was difficult to find a traditional newspaper, it still captured a lot of interesting details when collecting the style - for example, some reporters would put a sculpture of a bird on the table, and some reporters would hang a cervical spine therapy device on the chair although they were not there, after all, they would sit at the table for a long time to write.

Zhang Songwen also mentioned that the scene of the newspaper office is his favorite scene, and behind each table there is a story: the pile of documents on the table is all from the 2003 stage, as if there are really live reporters working here, including in places out of sight of the audience, drawers are opened, and there are warm water bags and white rabbit milk candy.

"I think [the set] is working as a behind-the-scenes crew, hoping to give the actors in front of the camera more security and confidence enough to believe in it."

"More than endless" Weibo

"Which thing in this world has nothing to do with us?"

Returning to the matter of "what kind of reporter is a good reporter", Wang Jing and the team also discussed in the film, such as the importance of rationality and sensibility, "From my point of view, I think a person should have the most basic emotional ability before having the ability to think rationally, called empathy."

There is a line in the film: "Which thing in this world has nothing to do with us?" The main creative team also tried to strengthen the preciousness of Han Dong as an ordinary person (empathy) through a series of conflicts:

For example, when reporting the news of hepatitis B testing, Han Dong wanted to retract the article out of empathy for the hepatitis B group, while Huang Jiang believed that the interviewee should not be examined with sympathy. "We are not saying that there is anything wrong with Huangjiang's logic, everyone has his own growth trajectory and world view, but I also want to discuss that people are social animals, what kind of attitude should we adopt in this society?" Is it to participate and feel, or to reject and be silent? ”

"More Than Ending" trailer

In fact, when he went to Guangzhou to do research in the early stage, looking for public welfare organizations related to the hepatitis B group and communicating with his hepatitis B comrades-in-arms, Wang Jing felt this point the most: he felt that his understanding of things was still too simplistic, and it was difficult for people to truly empathize with the plight of others——

"For young people today, hepatitis B may be a very distant topic. I was born in the 80s of the last century, and when I was a child, I would always hear relevant discussions, the elderly would tell you to pay attention to hygiene when you went out to eat, and there would always be one or two friends with hepatitis B around you.

"So, at the beginning, I took it for granted that when the public has incorrect perceptions and misconceptions about the hepatitis B community, they should have a voice (justification). But in fact, when I sat down and chatted with these comrades-in-arms, what I felt the most was that many people chose not to make their voices heard when faced with a seemingly unchangeable status quo. ”

In fact, the truth is simple: I may be a hepatitis B carrier, but I am not that scary. But as Director Yao said in the film, when everyone chooses to believe a fallacy, it becomes extremely complicated to break the fallacy. Wang Jing found in the process of communication that many hepatitis B virus carriers choose not to argue this matter, but to look at themselves in a way that the public understands, just like many choices made by Zhang Bo in the movie, he will use disposable paper cups when he goes to the bar, trying to "not affect others".

This is another theme that the team tries to discuss in the film: what choices should people make when faced with a status quo that seems impossible to change? Why do people choose silence, and is silence the best solution? "I think the topic of hepatitis B may have its timeliness, but this dilemma is not outdated. In the face of this dilemma, this discussion of what choices we should make will not go out of style. ”

"More Than Ending" trailer

When "More Than End" was filmed, it was basically filmed in the order in which the story took place, which is a more comfortable and helpful way for creators and actors. There is only one part of the play, and Wang Jing deliberately put it at the end:

That scene is about the story of reporter Han Dong going to interview the hepatitis B group, and the actors who appeared on the scene were all real hepatitis B virus carriers. At that time, Wang Jing and director of photography Yu Liwei quickly reached a consensus that they would use documentary techniques to shoot this content.

"Because when I came into contact with my hepatitis B comrades in the early stage, every story and inner feeling they shared was the most valuable part of the film, and I think this part should be led by themselves, rather than arranged and directed by the director standing in front."

"Very luckily, by the time of the final shooting, Baike was really Han Dong, and I could give my trust to him 100%. That day, we just invited the hepatitis B virus carrier to the scene to provide an environment where they could chat, and I said to Baike: I can't give you clear arrangements and instructions for this scene, I want to ask you, the first is to believe that each of their stories is very exciting, and the second is to dig these stories so that they can tell the most real experience with peace of mind. ”

"More Than Ending" trailer

Wang Jing believes that this part of the content is the most valuable thing in the movie. At the premiere of "More Than End" two days ago, one thing touched him very much: there was a girl wearing a hat and a mask and wrapping herself tightly. In the post-screening communication session, she picked up the microphone and said that her experience is the experience of the (little girl) "Seven Joys" in the film -

Because she was a hepatitis B virus carrier, there was no way to go to kindergarten when she was a child, and as a child at that time, she may not have felt much impact, but her father was burdened with great pressure and guilt, feeling that he infected his daughter, and became gloomy throughout her childhood because of this incident, and there was no way to get out of her inner predicament.

"After I listened to it, I had mixed feelings. Because like I said, we still want to be infinitely close to the real thing when I face a real person and are willing to stand up and tell me about her plight, and when she, as a five or six-year-old child, couldn't go to school in those days, I felt that our film was at least doing something worthwhile. ”

"More Than Ending" trailer

The industry may die, but the spiritual core it refers to will not

In the past 20 years, not only the news industry, but also the film industry has ushered in very big changes. As a film practitioner, Wang Jing feels that changes exist objectively:

"In fact, everyone will have personal feelings, the movie itself is changing, the way we watch movies is also changing, this change is not because of a person or specific thing, but the countless developments of the times converged to become what it is today."

"As a person who feels personally in the industry, you may have some helplessness and thinking, but I still want to believe that an industry may die, but the spiritual core it refers to will not die." It's not that movies will die, but it's changing in a direction we didn't expect, everyone's way of watching movies, and the way movies look in cognition are changing, which is something we can't influence and block.

But as said at the beginning, a person's spiritual core will not change, when the external difficulties and challenges become infinite, in fact, it can help us find a starting point from the heart: Why do we make movies? Why do we do journalism? These kernels do not change. ”

Stills from "More Than Stopping"

For Wang Jing, the most difficult part of making a movie is actually the relationship between people, is the cost of communication, a person to complete a relatively concentrated and efficient work in forty or fifty days, if you can have a trustworthy partner, you can eliminate the most uncertain factors or hidden dangers, which is the most valuable wealth for creators.

This time the filming of "More than Endless", the behind-the-scenes team are stable partners who have cooperated for more than 10 years, and they have a very tacit understanding of each other and understand what kind of content the other party wants to do.

The team provided him with a lot of help, including a lot of inspiration when restoring the story of 2003, director Jia Zhangke contributed a lot of inspiration, and later made a cameo appearance.

"In fact, I joked with him at the earliest time, you don't just supervise, but also help me play a role, but what to play, everyone has not decided. Later, there was a role of coal mine security officer, and I couldn't find a more suitable person, and he very readily agreed to this matter. I think that in Director Jia's past life experience, he should be very familiar with this type of people, and finally interpreted his understanding of this group of people in the movie in two or three minutes. ”

"More Than Ending" trailer

Many viewers feel after watching "More than Endless" that this seems to be a field that no one has ever touched, and some people compare it with excellent foreign investigative works, and in Wang Jing's view, in fact, each movie has its own unique style, the style of "Focus" or the style of "Blackwater", they are different.

Wang Jing feels that if it is only borrowed from the level of film style, it is not very desirable. On the contrary, under the professional cloak of a journalist, whether it is people's curiosity about a thing, or the "skeptical spirit" that people have, or the belief and firmness of a thing, it is actually common-

If this thing can be told and told in other contexts, he believes that it can also be told and established in the current context. In a way, he feels that he also has an idealist living in his heart, and he also has such commonality. He hopes that "More Than Endless" can play a certain social effect in this regard:

"I've been thinking about this lately, which is that a lot of things that we thought were natural at the time are not so obvious now:

"No matter where we lived at that time, people always wanted to stay on a bigger platform, whether it was to change their own destiny or to make some changes to the social things they could participate in, which was quite natural, but now young people seem to feel less taken for granted."

"After watching the movie, some audience friends asked me why Han Dong is so stubborn, why is he so tendonous, and why is he so idealistic? Of course, this can be discussed from the perspective of the script, but I am also reflecting on what went wrong with this matter: do we still need to find a reason for idealism? ”

Stills from "More Than Stopping"

Author | Zhu Kai

Edit | Zhong Yi

Proofreading | Yang Chao

Typesetting | Ono