The director of "Qing Yu Nian" responded to the lineup adjustment: It is not easy for the original team to get together, and I hope that the audience will be tolerant
【Text/Observer Network Ruan Jiaqi】
On June 21, the 28th Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Award Jury Meeting was held in Shanghai, the chairman of the jury, Hu Zhifeng, a famous Chinese film and television scholar, together with Duan Yihong (Chinese actor), Mu Deyuan (Chinese photography), Sun Hao (Chinese director), Wang Luodan (Chinese actor), Wang Sanmao (Chinese screenwriter), Zhao Tong (Chinese literary critic), Spanish actor Mar Sodupe, Korean producer Yoon Jae Hyeok and other judges attended.
After the meeting, Sun Hao, the director of the hit TV series "Qing Yu Nian", was interviewed by the observer network as a judge of the TV drama unit to make a wonderful interpretation of the industry phenomenon. Especially for the recent criticism of the cultural level of some actors, who were detained as "desperate illiterate", Sun Hao sternly said that such actors should be eliminated and excluded, "I don't know anything, so how does he interpret this role?" The performances are all fake and unmoving. ”
He believes that the industry should promote "scholarly" actors, "actors are using themselves to interpret others." If he only has the cultivation of a little rascal, how can Hamlet be interpreted? But when he has Hamlet's cultivation, he is capable enough to interpret a little rascal. ”
The selection of the Magnolia Award coincided with the filming of "Qing Yu Nian 2", and Sun Hao's brief absence did not affect the intense filming work. He also responded to the recently announced lineup adjustment of the second part, "The original cast has retained 99.99%, it is not easy to get together this group, we tried our best." After the first film is popular, there will definitely be people who want to play the new characters, and it is painful and happy for multiple actors to fight for the same role. “
In 2021, "Qing Yu Nian" was rated as "Excellent Overseas Communication Work of the Year" by the State Administration of Radio and Television, and the overseas exclusive distribution rights of "Qing Yu Nian 2" were also pre-ordered by Disney. But speaking of Chinese film and television works going overseas, Sun Hao frankly said that "it is too difficult", and the two sides still need a process of communication and mutual acceptance.
He talked about his experience of contact with overseas film and television people, "They have a preset concept of Chinese film and television works, and the Chinese story I want to tell is like that, they say NO, because it is not what they imagined. Does he know what state the current Chinese is? He doesn't know. ”
The following is a transcript of the interview, and the Observer Network has slightly sorted out the wording order of the interviewees.
Q: How is the filming of "Qing Yu Nian 2" going now? When will I be able to meet the audience?
Sun Hao: I hope that the sooner the better, the things that have been shot have entered the special effects in advance, because this part takes a little longer. It is also relatively satisfactory, and some investors and platforms are also satisfied after watching the samples.
Now we are in the process of creating with difficulty. Why is it difficult? Because now that TV series (filming work) has begun to recover, there will be a situation of "scene grabbing", the queuing of (scene) scenes, and the transformation of (scene) scenes.
The biggest difficulty in our play is that the actors used are all men and women from various crews, can they squeeze out time to meet a piece, the coordination of work, the cooperation of the setting... This aspect is a little troublesome, but painful and happy.
Q: What story will "Qing Yu Nian 2" mainly tell?
Sun Hao: In the first season, I named it "Appearance Characters", dozens of characters appeared in parallel, there were not many events, mainly (elaborated) two questions, one is "who wants to kill me (Fan Xian)", the second question is "who killed my mother", in these questions show the charm of dozens of characters.
The second season is really starting to unfold, and there's something topical. Perhaps in terms of breadth, the first season is relatively wide, with frequent characters, and the second season may "drill a deep well", and the discussion of an issue will be a little deeper.
Observer Network: "Qing Yu Nian" tells a story with a heavy core in the form of a comedy, will the second part continue this style, or will it open up new ideas?
Sun Hao: This is something I like and pursue. Not only "Qing Yu Nian", but also other dramas, claiming a slogan called "easy to talk about heavy topics", must be relaxed.
The second season will not be particularly heavy, even if the core of this story is quite heavy, I still have to precipitate in a comedy way, and the audience will have a sense of satisfaction, they always feel that I look down on this gang of people, even if it is the emperor, even if it is a minister, they can feel that this gang of people is quite cute, including some negative characters.
Observer Network: "Qing Yu Nian 2" recently released the entire lineup, in which several characters have changed, and some viewers will make some unsatisfactory voices or criticisms, what do you think?
Sun Hao: I think so, we have tried our best, because 99.99% of us are the original team, it is really not easy to get together these people, if one or two people are changed or how, (I hope the audience) will not be too harsh and tolerant.
Looking at this benignly, (it shows that the viewer) he loves the first season, so he doesn't want you to move, it's normal.
(Is it said on the Internet, because the first season is popular, so many actors want to act, all kinds of relationships?) ）
Maybe, but normally a thing is good, someone must raise their hand and say, I will also have one. The capital, myself, and the production team will encounter this situation, but it will also hurt and be happy. It is a pit, maybe seven or eight radishes will come in, this will also bring some interesting things, or there must be comprehensive consideration of all aspects.
Our crew is very benign, and it is a discussion drama together. The new (actors) will feel that they don't hold everyone back, and the original (actors) are more mature after more than three years of precipitation, and it will be quite interesting for everyone to rub together the life perceptions and performance insights of the past three years.
Observer Network: In addition to TV series adapted from novels such as "Qing Yu Nian", we still have some domestic dramas adapted or remade from foreign TV series, which is more prone to the problem of "water and soil disobedience" and "plot suspension", what do you think?
Sun Hao: I think a good play can be refined and put in Chinese soil to grow into a tree. Don't transplant, transplantation will definitely fail, imitation will definitely fail, you must not accept the soil and water, you must pick a seed and let it grow slowly.
At the very least, try it, although it may not be successful. There are also many foreign countries, such as dramas that are very popular in the West, and other Asian countries (creators) have been successful after imitating one according to their own national conditions.
Observer Network: Gao Mantang, the screenwriter of "Crossing the Guandong", said in a recent interview that today's screenwriters, directors, and producers have become very careful when they see a certain drama being scolded by public opinion and bloody, and their creation has changed from "writing like a god" to "writing a thousand times". Do you feel the same way in your creations?
Sun Hao: The situation is different. I followed the barrage to see my work, I first watched the barrage N years ago, I think why is (the audience) so anxious? Don't they understand me? We gave so much and he scolded me so much that I didn't quite understand it at the time.
But these barrage audiences are directly felt, directly involved, and cute. He may scold you in the first sentence, and after half the scene, he feels "Oh, so it is", and he will immediately send "Oh, this character is still quite cute".
This has to be analyzed and seen, I now think this interaction is very good, for the creator is a correction, of course, the creator must also insist on their own playing style, if the audience guessed, then what is the novelty? I think that in the attributes of the film and television industry, the most critical and prominent word is called "new".
Observer.com: Since it is "new", are there any works or types of works shortlisted for this year's Magnolia Award that make you feel very "new"?
Sun Hao: I am more happy, for example, "The Beginning" can be shortlisted, this is a previously unimaginable because it is a pure online drama. What surprised me this time (TV Festival) was mainly diversity, there are science fiction, there are "The Beginning", there are "Armageddon", and the modern drama "The World", the diversity will be much richer than previous sessions.
(This year, Magnolia is compressing two years of excellent works into one session to choose, the competition is so fierce, will you struggle with who to choose?) ）
I don't know what the other judges think, but I do have some thoughts in my mind. Because I watched every play.
I will tell my team that Chinese TV dramas are a must-watch, not just some advanced works from abroad. There are indeed some gaps between our domestic dramas and some excellent works in other countries, but we can't help but watch the plays of our peers, and we don't know why the audience likes these dramas without watching them, and we must study why the audience likes them. So every time there is a slightly word-of-mouth scene, I will ask the team to watch it, at least 4-6 episodes.
Q: In this year's Magnolia Awards, works such as "County Party Committee Compound", "The World" and "Crazy" were all shortlisted for "Best Chinese TV Series", "Best Director" and "Best Actor".
Sun Hao: I feel that it is indeed a mutual achievement, and it is a process of mutual cooperation. Especially this time, I concentrated on studying the 20 films (shortlisted). I used to think that the director was only the actor's crutch and the actor's mirror, but now I feel that the cooperation between the director and the actor is a bit like flying a kite.
The actor is a kite, and he takes off with the wind, which is the requirement of this work, but the take-off height must be controlled by the director. Some may fly high, actors may lose control if they overplay, some will be just right, and some will be too restrictive for actors. It is indeed such a cooperation of mutual achievement and mutual fulfillment.
Observer Network: The Shanghai TV Festival "Magnolia Dialogue" TV Forum has discussed the issue of Chinese film and television works going overseas many times, and now some overseas streaming media platforms may even start to emerge from Spanish dramas and Thai dramas, but Chinese dramas are still difficult to have a place, is this dilemma difficult to break?
Sun Hao: It's really difficult, mainly because of the context, I've had contact with them, and there are big barriers to communication. They have a preconceived concept of Chinese film and television works, and he imagines it like this, but the Chinese story I want to tell is like that, the Chinese I want to tell is like that, and they say NO, not what they think.
How can there be a hit when the context is not clear? Does he know what state the current Chinese is? He doesn't (know), he thinks of something else. So there is a process of communication, a process of communication, and a process of mutual acceptance.
Observer Network: Some TV series will have the problem of high opening and low walking, and the audience comments in the first 10 episodes are particularly good, and the further back they go, the more they collapse and even "fill the water". Is it because many episodes are now premiering on online platforms, and it needs to grab the audience's eye in the first few episodes?
Sun Hao: There are many reasons. For example, if a project is passed, it is likely to start the (investment) meeting after writing the first few episodes, once it is down-to-earth, with the intervention of the director and actors, it may be casual, he feels that anyway, my play has already made money, then the degree of intention behind will be weaker.
And some, it's really 10 episodes later, or after 20 episodes is a difficult point, whether it is reasonable to attribute.
It stands to reason that a play, such as a suspense drama, should be pushed forward from the root, but now some processes it must read the script first, it has to look from the front to the back, then it is possible that the front beginning is very exciting, and the back has not been thought out, there are various reasons.
Observer: You were a drama actor and then turned directing. Now there is also a more common "career change" is to draft idols to become actors, they may not have acting experience themselves, nor have they studied systematically. What do you think of this "career change", will you exclude actors with such a background in your own plays?
Sun Hao: I am a child who grew up in the side curtain strip (on the side), my parents are in this line of work, I have loved (drama) since I was a child, and I have no other hobbies, I quit smoking a few years ago, I can't drink alcohol, I don't like to socialize, I like to read scripts and read things.
I don't reject (enable idols), but I will choose. For these young people who are now in the industry, if they think or are really interested (in acting), then insist on acting and studying for a while. But this line is about talent, if it is not the material for this line, hurry up and change careers, and don't be so persistent.
Some middle-aged actors who have suddenly exploded in the past two years, he just insisted, he also happens to be doing this material, then there will be a day when his labor and efforts will be seen by the audience. If you don't do this business, you can quickly change careers, at least to make a living, this line of work is very cruel.
Now there are also some misunderstandings in the film and television industry, it feels as if anyone can be an actor, but this is not the case, and we will not shoot some scenes, because the ruler in my hand does not seem to be able to measure these. [Those] male characters are all cool faces, female faces are all screaming, I think this is too non-three-dimensional, not a way of expressing human emotions.
I am very repulsive to this kind of drama, and this kind of drama is quite ruinous, and some actors can't adapt to it here after coming down from this kind of drama. I said play a person, won't you? As a result, there will be nothing to express, and you will know that one expression eats the whole drama, and there are N many such scenes. I think this [play] is entertainment, strictly speaking, it's not a play.
Observer Network: Some actors don't know when asked about their feelings about their works and characters, and some actors don't understand the basic historical background related to the play, and are criticized by CCTV as "desperate illiteracy", this topic later caused extensive discussion among members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference of the two sessions, have you heard of this term?
Sun Hao: So how does he interpret this role? This is absolutely to be excluded, to be eliminated. Now it is also very convenient to check the information, you can check it online is very simple! These homework must be done, you have to know what the heart of the person at that moment was thinking, what was the spiritual source? What are you playing? What you went to act must be fake.
Why did you cry at that time? Crying, not mechanical crying, not saying that a liquid comes down from here (eyes) is OK, tears and tears are very different. You cry messily, the audience says that you don't move people to double the speed, if you master and eat through the soul of this person, you read the person to be played, even if you sit there quietly, your acting skills will make the audience feel so sad, can think of similar feelings they feel at some point, that is a moving performance.
(So for actors, the level of education is also very important.) ）
Very important, I think what is an actor, the actor is the person at the tip of the pyramid, what is his weapon? It is his whole soul and his body, to be fit, to learn to ride a horse, to enrich himself, he is using himself to interpret others.
For example, your cultivation is just the cultivation of a little rascal, how do you interpret Hamlet? But I have Hamlet's upbringing, and I can also interpret a little rascal. To be a "scholar-type" actor, you should be a top person to be an actor.
Observer.com: Do you pay attention to AI artificial intelligence? Industry insiders such as Zhang Songwen and Guo Fan have recently spoken out intensively, anxious that AI may replace them or bring some technological changes. Are you worried about being replaced by AI?
Sun Hao: (Answer) No. Because he involves the question of performance and semiotics. What is acting? Performance has a soul, so what is semiotics? It mimics the outward presentation of your joys, angers and sorrows, which is different. If you study performance thoroughly, you know that it is two states.
For example, if I want to get excited, then my hands will tremble, my face will be red, and I may be bloodshot. AI is imitating these, it is a symbol, but no matter how delicate the performance, you just think it is quite similar, but it is never him. You can feel that the AI interprets the sad person, but specifically, the mother of the popsicle seller of the Xialiba people for seven years, it can never be imitated.
Don't be so anxious, living things are always alive, and artificial intelligence is always artificial intelligence. Of course, if an actor plays averagely, it may be exceeded by artificial intelligence by minute. (Just kidding) Don't be anxious like Zhang Songwen.
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