"Love Only" is so explosive, many people did not expect it.
5.69 billion views of a single topic and 18.11 billion views of a Weibo topic; 4.97 billion TikTok video views; Tencent Video ranked first in the hot list for 17 consecutive days, with a single-day popularity of 28,712, setting the first popularity on the site in 2023.
Even if these data, which only industry insiders and fans will pay attention to, which looks a little scary, in Douban, which is watched by more people, this work has also achieved de facto "success".
More than 80,000 people gave it a high score of 8.2 points, which is definitely one of the most popular and well-known Chinese dramas in the first half of 2023.
From the hot search on Weibo, the comment area of Douban can be glimpsed. Attractive real love scenes, as well as various subtle elements that can impress netizens - women, marriage and childbirth, workplace, social animals, blood, sports themes... Even the appearance of the actor, the figure.
It shows that in the domestic urban love genre, "Love Only" not only did not fold like most of its peers, but it still completed a breakthrough in 2023, a year when the quality of national dramas was surprisingly inflated.
In order to find out the reason behind this, @第一导演 specially contacted its director, Chen Chang, who was often called "a male classmate with a story" in past media reports, and talked about the drama in person and himself.
Director Chen Chang
It is not gossip to say that he "has a story", compared to most directors from science classes, his experience is a bit of a sword, and even legendary-
Grew up in Suzhou, came to Beijing to learn dance, and worked as a dancer for several years after graduating from Northern Dance. After that, he went to the Chinese opera examination, became a drama actor after graduation, and tinkered with stage plays with He Jiong and Xie Na in 03 years, participated in Happy Twist's work "Want to Eat Twist to Help You Screw", and later did the drama "Cuihua, Sauerkraut" and "Breakup Master" with Yu Baimei; During this period, he also changed careers to be a variety show and evening director, did a talent show on Hunan TV, and also worked as a director of various evening language programs; After that, he turned into film and television dramas, specializing in modern urban themes, and filmed works such as "Accompanying Reading Mother", "I, Like You", "Reverse Life", "Brilliant Turn" and other works... Until this "Love Only".
Always crossed the line, but every transition was able to stand firm, and he also managed his career into a cool article to fight monsters and upgrade. The more we chat, the easier it is to find the commonality in many domestic creators from the body of this very peculiar, Virgo director.
Detail control, persistence, change, innovation... and introspection. Of course, there are also these complicated life experiences in him, and the power slowly released after many years of precipitation in the creative field is also the reason why this hit drama can finally complete a breakthrough.
01
The novelty starts from the moment you get the script
"Love Only" is good, needless to say, from the comments of many audiences, as well as more industry reviews can find the reason: the lineup is good enough, the actor's temperament fits, the story is delicately written, the feelings are sincere and not bloody, the performance of key scenes is moving enough, and the grasp of various elements in the play can poke the audience at a certain moment.
Especially the resonance of female audiences, such as the most liked one in Douban comments, is full of female care and respect, and it is easy to win recognition in this era.
This scene appeared in the play between the heroine Liang Youan, played by Zhou Yutong, and the male protagonist Song Sanchuan, played by Wu Lei, who just met, and was persuaded by his mother who had an unhappy marriage, so that this line is both reasonable and contains a certain attitude towards mainstream values.
And this kind of things that the audience likes, there are many more in the play, such as the sense of proportion shown in the way men and women get along, which makes many audiences agree.
An iconic scene is that after Liang Youan is forced to resign from her boss who has served as a special assistant for many years, in the underground garage, because she feels defeated and wronged, she can't help but hold Song Sanchuan, who accompanied her, and cry.
At this time, they were only acquaintances, but Song Sanchuan, who had a good impression of the heroine, gladly offered his heart to hug and comfort her. But soon, Liang Youan took the initiative to separate and take a step back, showing the sense of boundaries with actions, and also limited this embrace to friendship, without mixing other ambiguous emotions.
does not give people the opportunity to expect or misunderstand, which has a rare refreshing feeling in a number of love-themed Chinese dramas.
And at the beginning of their communication, it was not the common love at first sight fate, or joyful and unhappy entanglement, although this is the most commonly used way in the same genre, but "Love Only" holds such a popular actor, or restrains this impulse.
Just grab a little, human empathy.
In the first episode, Song Sanchuan came to help the sponsor run a marathon in order to earn extra money, as a straight man with a hot blood Fang Gang did not like the bow on the pink head, and argued with Party A, Liang Youan as the staff member helped him take it off and encouraged him to continue to play.
Liang Youan was tired of handling the company's public relations work back and forth for the marathon, and Song Sanchuan, who ran the marathon, thought of receiving her well, saw her chapped lips, and took the initiative to hand over water and help her unscrew the bottle cap.
As a brand side, Liang Youan went to the club to see the players, saw Song Sanchuan, who was still bullied, and found an opportunity to hand over the band-aid to return the favor...
These scenes, if you think about it, replace the protagonist with an ordinary person, and most people will do the same thing, be kind, and then give back to each other. This kind of warm and real way of advancing is also where "Love Only" can poke the audience and let people substitute, not levitated, not bloody.
To do this, of course, first of all, the script itself is good enough, but outside of the script, director Chen Chang still wants to do something new.
When I took this book, I saw that it was written by Zhang Yingji, and I had seen all the plays she had made before, and then Ning Meng came to produce. These two high-spec configurations are very confident for me. When I received this book, I was very loving and very happy.
I think the novelty is the moment I see the script. And I personally think that I have a standard for myself, if I have seen something too many times in previous film and television dramas, we will not use it again. Although everything is always changing, you also have to learn to draw inferences from each other. Many of our stories have similarities, they will describe the love between men and women, but as long as you find your own angle, or you give him a stylistic change, you will still tell a different story.
For example, the grasp and adjustment of the actor's temperament.
Liang Youan has a sense of fatigue in the workplace that can be seen with the naked eye, and it is easy to resonate.
This is the actor's own advantage, and the director has a clear understanding of this.
Zhou Yutong has also been to an investment company to experience life, so for me, in the process of shooting, it must be required that her performance can experience the word "real".
Because Zhou Yutong is a relatively casual actor, she is experiential and an actor to perceive... There is a strong sense of brokenness in her... You need to build yourself.
The actor himself also said in other interviews about his feelings about the role, the same as the director.
I experienced a period of anxiety and confusion when I was filming Liang Youan... A period of time to become Liang Youan... The idea that I belong to Zhou Yutong is getting less and less. Sometimes I think she doesn't want to be a proper adult, she just wants to be herself.
But the problem is that her temperament is placed in a love story, which can easily make the relationship cold, so it requires the other half to provide enough energy. And Wu Lei is an actor with full acting experience, and it is easy to be limited by skills, so the director's approach is to let them collide.
Since he was a child star, he has the shadow of a dramatist on his body and has accepted many experiments and challenges in dramas. So the acting methods of the two people are sometimes different. As a director, you must have to find a way to make the acting of two people compatible.
I think he has a very uniform integrity and he needs to break himself.
Let Zhou Yutong "act", let Wu Lei "not act". Therefore, there is often a kind in the play, Liang Youan seems to be pressed in his heart and always "tightened", but Song Sanchuan will have some feeling of laughing because he is too real.
It is precisely because of this that their scenes after drunkenness have obvious sexual tension, which is a perception of repressed desires being released.
In addition to targeted tuning of actors, director Chen Chang is still a detail control, although he denies that he is a traditional Virgo, but many places still stuff enough sincerity to show truth.
Just say one, dog.
Liang Youan likes dogs, and this detail runs through the whole play, and the replacement bow on Song Sanchuan's head is the little dog head on her mobile phone. I often go to pet stores, I have always wanted to get a dog but I have never had time to raise it, and I have failed to apply for adoption because of time problems. But there is a detail that is very true, when Liang Youan accepted the cake painted by Jiang Jie and gave up the transfer, she secretly put away the prepared dog mat, suggesting that she had made a determination to change her life, but once again chose to give in. So you can imagine how happy Song Sanchuan was when she found Ilsa to give her at the end.
And this kind of detail is still in all aspects of this play.
For example, another Easter egg nature, Liang Youan writes the resume of the transfer application, if you look closely, you can actually find Liang Youan's phone number (although it is missing one digit), but if you try to complete it, there is a chance to find it...
The director's handling and control of the details of this drama make all aspects of this drama have a down-to-earth sense of reality.
Of course, there is also the director's relatively good comedy talent.
For example, the rock director played by Zhang Tao, compared to young people, the director can empathize with this middle-aged man more.
On the surface, he actually has a greasy side, posing qualifications, not close to people, and alcoholic. But these designs, gradually explained from the back, stem from his knots and frustrations in both career and family. And in the presentation of the play, after he met Luo Nian played by Jiang Peiyao, even if he had a good impression, he only dared to be cautious to tempt, such as driving someone home and flattering Luo Nian's daughter to get closer.
More importantly, the character was also designed with comedic elements.
For example, he drank heavily, but the way he drank was to lie to himself in a mineral water bottle.
For example, he often holds two tennis balls in his hand.
Another example is when eating noodles together, they are burned.
This is undoubtedly actively weakening the greasy side of middle-aged people that may be annoying.
Even like Liang Youan's boss Jiang Jie, because after the divorce, he still maintained that arrogant and arrogant greasy male mentality, and as a result, when he was ridiculed by Xiao Gao's family breakdown, he couldn't help but want to beat people, which was funny to watch.
At this point, director Chen Chang relied on his grasp of actors, requirements for details, and some comedy designs to easily avoid the pits often encountered in domestic urban love works.
And all this is actually closely related to the creator's own pursuit.
02
Use humor to neutralize the anger of reality
Although he has been a film and television director for almost ten years and has already had several works, Chen Chang still has a full understanding of himself and is very modest.
But one point, he specifically emphasized, is to define his works more as urban love with realistic themes, rather than purely feminine themes.
I don't think I'm in a position to talk about my style. At present, every drama I have received, we can't say that it is female, but it can be said to be an urban romance drama with a realistic theme.
This is surprising because more than one actor he has worked with has praised his talent and attitude in his past works, and the women in his works often show the side that impresses the audience.
Rather than obsessed with the expression of women's subject areas, he prefers to define himself as a creator who can provide them with bonuses.
This is actually related to his own initial career change, in the early days of entering the film and television drama industry did not have many opportunities to choose, even if he has made achievements, he often has confusion, especially when women's works find him.
When I was shooting these works, I was surrounded by female workers, and I remember the first time I went to "Splendid Turn", the first time I read that there were all women around, the actors were women, the producers were women, the screenwriters were women, and the chief producer was women.
I was a little uncomfortable instantly, and you couldn't even plug in when they were discussing some femininity. I feel like I'm marginalized... At that time, I felt such a (feminine) subject, why did you come to me?
But only later did he gradually discover that his value was not only to be able to provide a male perspective in the love story, but more importantly, to be able to use his own experience to add more valuable things to the presentation of the story.
Like a sense of humor.
Because of many years of doing comedy, whether it is stage comedy or evening language programs, Chen Chang has full accumulation and sensitivity to this:
Because I also do language in variety shows. That is the understanding of comedy, including drama, is also the understanding of comedy, the understanding of lines. These things will melt into the creation of film and television dramas now... When I was doing variety shows before, I was at my craziest when I arranged more than seventy sketches in two months. If more than seventy sketches are all written by me, of course you have to write them, and you have to force yourself to write them ...
I've always believed that a good plot has to be fun, because life itself is quite boring. We hope that the film and television dramas filmed are not dreams, but to make life vivid and interesting, so there will be some baggage and some fun things in it.
This addition of humorous content is reflected in all aspects of his creation.
For example, in 2020, "I, Like You" starring Zhao Lusi and Lin Yushen has a movie version of Zhuyu in front, how to fill in the details in a longer length of the remake TV series, so that the audience can accept this routine is a more liberating love story, director Chen Chang added a lot of comedy pondering.
For example, in order to help his girlfriend take revenge on the scumbag, Gu Shengnan rowed the wrong car. This scene was directly filmed in the movie, as an opportunity for the pair of happy wrongdoers to get to know each other, and Lu Jin's treatment of her in the film has a bit of a sense of love bridge, which is interesting but not real.
And the treatment in the play is more landed and more in line with common sense.
Gu Shengnan, played by Zhao Lusi, took a hammer and was ready to smash the scumbag's car, but she hesitated before starting, because the first thing she thought of was the unbearable identification scene brought by the police, and the possibility that her girlfriend was not responsible for her behavior afterwards, and stopped her behavior in time.
So in the play, she changed the smashing of the car to the use of flour, which is very in line with her identity as a chef, and what is more interesting is that after she grabbed the bag, the first thing she thought of was not to admit her mistake, but to use a mouthful of plastic-smelled Korean to disguise her identity and want to evade responsibility.
As a result, I didn't expect that the other party would also speak Korean, instantly broke the defense, failed in disguise, and surrendered the gun.
Also because of these, Zhao Xiaolei, the screenwriter of "I, Like You", specifically mentioned the director in an interview:
If the audience is particularly interested in emotional lines and characters, it is the credit of the screenwriter, and if it is particularly funny, it is the credit of the director.
The same bridge also includes in "Reverse Life", to Ma Sichao's male protagonist Qiao Nan, who loves to clean and shave his armpits after exchanging identities, but gives a sparkling design.
It's obviously unreal, but it's full of joy.
This kind of design and adaptation is what director Chen Chang often does in the filming of the crew. Among the various crews that have experienced, what has been praised the most is the director's "sense of faith".
What does that mean?
Because different ideas often pop up on the scene, sometimes when the actor can't get the director's idea, he will personally demonstrate. On the one hand, of course, it gives the actors a sense of security, but on the other hand, when encountering some unbearable comedy bridges, the director can also handle it freely.
Many actors who work with him feel that he should even add a role to himself.
This obsession with adding humor to his work is something that directors have always been doing.
Because whether it is a family theme or a love theme, if you want to shoot well, it must be based on realistic logic, especially in the eyes of this generation of audiences, it is very important. But under realistic logic, many elements are inevitably annoying, so humor is needed to neutralize.
I think humor is recognized by the public, and humor itself can neutralize some of the discomfort or anger brought by life. It can make the plot that is more greasy, or some dog blood, vivid, and it will play a neutralizing role. So having humor and comedy elements would be a good weapon in the creative process. I'm sure female audiences will also love humorous things.
For me, I think that the films I want to make in the future are to express their true feelings logically and reasonably under the condition of respecting the facts.
The pressure of escapism, finding emotional comfort and spiritual sustenance in film and television dramas, is the reason why most audiences watch dramas.
Chen Chang, as a director, has a clear understanding of this.
03
No part of life is for nothing
From dancers, to drama actors, from stage play directors, to variety shows, evening program directors, and finally into the field of film and television dramas. From the earliest happy twist, to the later Yu Baimei, and now he is in charge of the hot works. It is already difficult to guess whether if it had been deeply engaged in an industry back then, it would have had today's achievements.
The third from the right in "Noah's Ark Kidnapping" is director Chen Chang
In this regard, the director did not shy away from the reason for changing careers in the first place.
Dance doesn't seem to be a particularly long road... After taking on a few plays, I found that the actors at that time were very passive
...... Drama is more bitter and the pay is not very much, but you need to support your family.
Fortunately, as a multi-field and cross-border creator, he has accumulated various experiences in the past, which has become an advantage in the process of film and television drama creation.
For example, narrative ability, ability to understand words, ability to coordinate the overall situation, ability to select talents, and even editing ability and artistic aesthetics, all aspects of the requirements of film and television directors, Chen Chang has his own accumulation in the past, and it is also the key to his gradual foothold in this industry.
I think it's the same for all art practitioners. Whether you are engaged in music, whether you are engaged in dance, whether you are still a film and television actor, or you are doing anything related to literature and art, or an architect. I think they all need to have an understanding and sensitivity to art. Later, I became the director of dramas, and then the director of variety shows, and I think that every experience will bring a lot of convenient things to your final path to becoming a film and television director.
After all, no step in life is taken in vain... Every one of the experiences I think I've had is helpful for good directors of film and television.
For example, a secondary creation on the set of the shoot mentioned above.
In domestic film and television dramas, many directors mainly present the wonderful in the script in the shooting. But on Chen Chang's side, Erchuang is actually a normal situation, which comes from his past experience of filming dramas.
In the creation of stage plays, there is often a lot of discussion, actors, screenwriters, directors brainstorming is easy to produce good results, but film and television shooting is limited by time and energy, relatively few, Chen Chang's ideas on the set are more flexible and open, so there are often some different ideas.
I also add some new ideas in time when shooting, the script is one thing, and when you get deeper into that story, you will expand a lot of other ideas. Sometimes I prefer the second creation, which is also related to my experience in drama, because drama relies very much on the second creation, and relies very much on the things that the actors rehearse together.
For example, like the bridge in "Brilliant Turn" in which Yang Kai appeared to help Sophie's ex-husband and mistress, a mouthful of "ex-husband brother" and a mouthful of "upper sister", which can be called the heroine's mouth replacement, suppressed throughout the process.
And this actor, because of the previous performance of the wicked in "Black Storm", formed a strong sense of contrast.
A character with a "previous history" can not only come out of the script, but also gain a dissemination effect in the field of short videos after broadcasting, which is inseparable from the repeated polishing of the shooting scene.
This experience of "collective creation" allows him to show it when he makes these women's works.
He will ask the opinions of female colleagues in the director's team, constantly figure out how a certain scene is presented, whether it is male thinking or female thinking, which is better, and even adjust the content of the shooting for this purpose.
Sometimes, even the opinions of the "first batch" audience, such as makeup artists, prop artists, and costumers of the crew, are also his references.
These are his habits when shooting.
In addition to the use of comedy elements, Chen Chang also believes that creation should have more pursuits.
Compared with family relations and the relationship between men and women, he prefers to summarize these works he handles as "exploring the relationship between people", which is also what attracts him to modern urban themes.
I think that human communication is ever-changing. The more you shoot modern dramas, the more you will feel that there are actually endless themes here. The understanding of the same sentence, exactly who said what kind of events, what kind of characters, to say this sentence, is completely ever-changing. So there's a lot to dig into, and maybe that's one of the charms of modern genre that appeals to me.
Especially back to "Love Only", and then look at the relationship between Liang Youan and Song Sanchuan, burying a lot of buttons, which is also an experimental that the director himself recognizes very much.
Compared with other love works, this drama is very special, and try not to choose a way to create conflicts and resolve contradictions. What's more, it is the peaceful relationship between the two, the fine water flows for a long time, and there are no restrictions and requirements for both sides.
I personally think that this one is somewhat experimental, and there will be a trace of challenge to the audience's inertia when watching idol dramas and urban love movies.
In the concept of love, I think one thing that particularly touches me is that unlike many dramas, love should change each other, change itself, and make concessions and consider each other for the sake of getting along with two people. I think what touched me the most about this show was that two people who didn't intersect with each other at the beginning came together, and when they intersected, they also achieved each other.
In other words, "Love Only" follows this line of thought, and you will find that their ending can actually have a hidden version.
Being a husband and wife is not the only result of the intimate relationship between men and women, just like the relationship and ending between some characters in the play, it is also open.
This more mature concept is actually the director's continuous thinking during filming.
Sometimes I think that even if they don't end up together, they won't have any regrets. Because they both realized the true meaning of life and love on their own paths. Ten years later, Liang Youan and Song Sanchuan, when they are not together, they can become each other's soul mates. Because they have truly achieved themselves through love and reached a new height. This is also what I think is more different from other dramas.
However, limited by the creative environment and market expectations, it is difficult to make a bolder choice, but "Love Only" is undoubtedly an attempt, and it is a successful attempt.
But in this regard, director Chen Chang still has strong confidence in the future:
Just like he himself rarely watched domestic dramas in the past, but now he has become a film and television director, many of the future is unpredictable. The aesthetics of the audience are also constantly improving, and this environment will eventually become more and more inclusive for creators.
Under the premise that the network is spreading so fast now, everyone can say a little opinion, say a little advice, right? Including those barrages, I would also watch the barrage, which I didn't watch before, and then I felt that you have to understand what your audience thinks. In fact, those barrages also give you a lot of inspiration, for example, those barrages will capture some details.
When you really have details, they will praise you. When you really lose logic, they will also scold you, so the aesthetic of the audience is also improving.
At the end of the chat, we also asked director Chen Chang what he thought about the future after the two dramas "Love Only" and "Gorgeous Turn".
There was stress, there was panic, but there was no reluctance.
But he also said that he hopes that everyone will continue to pay attention to his new works.