Editor's note: On October 25, the symposium on the creation of the major theme TV series "Meritorious Service" was held in Beijing. Based on the first eight recipients of the Order of the Republic, the play uses the unit drama form to show the "highlight moments" of the characters' lives.
At the forum, Zheng Xiaolong, the general director of "Meritorious Service," reviewed the creative process and summed up four creative experiences: First, the success of the work is first attributed to the meritorious people with their own light; second, it is necessary to do a good job in solving and solving problems; third, adhere to the creative principles and creative attitude of realism in creation; and fourth, the help and support given by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television is effective and effective.
The following is the original text of Zheng Xiaolong's speech, with deletions.
On October 21, 2021, the first round of broadcast of the TV series "Meritorious Service" ended. It has been exactly two years since I received the creative task from the head of the General Administration in October 2019.
Thinking back to two years ago, the first time I faced this "propositional composition" or "theme creation" from the leader, I was completely unconfident. At that time, I asked the leader why he let me shoot, and the leader said, "Because of the films you have made in the past, the people love to watch, and they all have high ratings." The leader's answer made me understand one thing, this task is not only to finish the shooting, but also to shoot well.
In my past experience, usually "bottom-up" creation is easy to succeed, and this kind of "top-down" creation is extremely difficult to succeed: "success" is not to win awards, but to spread, remember, speak well, and receive high ratings.
The two-year creative experience of "Meritorious Service" can be summarized as follows:
First, the success of the work is first and foremost due to the heroes who bring their own light. The spiritual realm of merit, personality charm, and extraordinary feats created in ordinary life provide rich creative materials for this work. First of all, they are the meritorious figures who moved China, and secondly, we have the story that moved the audience.
Second, do a good job in solving and solving problems. Every meritorious person has done a lot of things in his life, what to write? What not to write? Based on what footage extraction? We go back to the source and try to understand the deep meaning behind the awards of medals by the party and the government. The consensus we have reached is that to commend meritorious service is to set an example for the masses and to establish a spirit for the country. Understanding this, we will find the idea of understanding the problem and the entry point of breaking the problem - the "highlight moment" of writing the merit.
Some meritorious highlight moments are easy to identify, such as Tu Youyou, Yuan Longping, Yu Min, Huang Xuhua, Sun Jiadong; but there are also some meritorious "highlight moments" that are not so easy to identify.
Shen Jilan became a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress but few people know, but she was the first person in New China to advocate and practice equal pay for men and women for equal work, and made significant contributions to women's liberation and equality between men and women, which was her "highlight moment".
Li Yannian participated in more than 20 large and small battles, such as the War of Liberation, the Suppression of Bandits in Western Hunan Province, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and border defense operations. Leading the troops to hold on to the 346.6 heights in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was the most tragic battle Li Yannian experienced, and was also evaluated by him as "the most unforgettable battle of his life", which was a decisive battle won for the armistice negotiations and a "highlight moment" that belonged to him.
For Zhang Fuqing, who has made great military achievements, he has hidden his meritorious name for more than 60 years, but he does not extend his hands to the organization for his military achievements and ask for treatment, which is his real "highlight".
In addition, we must also create personalized, flesh-and-blood, and distinctive image of meritorious characters with distinctive characteristics of the times. On this basis, their "loyal, persistent, simple" life character and the lofty realm of dedication to the people of the motherland are run through the entire work.
Third, adhere to the creative principles and creative attitudes of realism in creation. The core requirement of creation is two words: truth. When it comes to the truth, in addition to the details that have always been emphasized, such as costumes, props, scenes, etc., we must try our best to restore, but also have a sense of reality of the times, including the way the characters speak, behave, think and mental state must strive to restore, and some fictional plots must also conform to the spirit of the meritorious characters and their own characteristics.
Do not deliberately elevate, do not shout empty slogans, do not engage in pseudo-passion, not only to write the ordinary of extraordinary people, but also to write about the extraordinary of ordinary people. The production should also be exquisite, and the storytelling and visual presentation should make the audience feel that it is a high-quality work.
In addition, the presentation of the unit drama under the theme project of "Meritorious Service" must have both integrity and its own style - the so-called integrity is the realist creative content and unified title design mentioned above; the so-called different styles and styles are to give play to the enthusiasm of each group of creators and leave enough independent creative space for each group of creators.
When the groups participating in the filming of "Meritorious Service" go to in-depth interviews, research, and conceive stories, they all have their own feelings and creative impulses, so that the film will increase the audience's viewing interest. I've been a director for some years, but it's the first time I've created a work in this way, it's a challenge, it's a rewarding attempt.
Fourth, the help and support given by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has been effective and effective. I remember that when the crew was just established, the leaders of the General Bureau held a symposium to make demands, talk about significance, and encourage enthusiasm, and invited the leaders of the Meritorious Service Office to explain the spirit and deeds of the meritorious deeds to the directors and screenwriters of our eight groups.
The Television Drama Division made suggestions and suggestions at the stage of script creation, and specially organized experts to review the script and put forward opinions, which played a positive role in improving the level of drama. It can be said that in all stages of filming, post-production, and even the broadcast of the series, the General Administration has given specific support and arrangements.
It should be said that this work is the result of everyone's joint efforts, the whole shooting process, everyone tirelessly, do not consider gains and losses, excellence, even after the completion of the initial cut, found that the costumes, props, scenes, or lines, storyline unreasonableness, have been repeatedly modified in time, and even remade.
Looking back on the days and nights of creation in the past two years, our eight units of directors, screenwriters, producers, chief screenwriter Li Xiaoming, chief producers Cao Ping and Dun Yong, and more than 2,600 cast members who participated in the shooting, united and persevered - now it can be said that everyone's hard work has not been in vain, and the success of "Meritorious Service" belongs to everyone. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere respect and gratitude to them as well, thank you all!
Editor-in-Chief: Yi Wu
EDIT: Whales
(Some of the pictures come from the Internet)