Interview|Lu Chuan, chief director of the opening ceremony of the Asian Games: In my concept, "bridge" is an important element
Chao News Client Reporter Lu Fang Intern Wang Yifei
On September 23, the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou will be officially opened. For Lu Chuan, who is the chief director of the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games, this also means that the opening ceremony "answer sheet" he wrote in the past three years has entered the sprint stage, and is about to usher in the attention and test of the world.
Recently, between busy work, director Lu Chuan squeezed out time and accepted an exclusive interview with Chao News reporter.
Although hurried but still personable, Lu Chuan shared with reporters the story of the Asian Games, Hangzhou, and sports.
Lu Chuan took a group photo with Chao News reporters
[Stand out in the fierce "competition"]
As a famous film director based in Beijing, how did Lu Chuan become the chief director of the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou? Talking about the origin, Lu Chuan still feels that it is the fate of Hangzhou.
He said that he had directed the large-scale live performance "Bird's Nest - Attraction" at the National Stadium, and the magical and gorgeous audio-visual aesthetics and harmonious and unified scene scheduling were fully reflected in the performance, and also won the attention and favor of the Asian Games Organizing Committee.
After receiving the invitation of the organizing committee to direct the opening ceremony, Lu Chuan gladly accepted.
Lu Chuan led his team through 20 days of retreat, 5 days of Hangzhou style collection, three to four rounds of assessment, stood out in the "competition" of many campaign teams, and finally co-directed the opening ceremony of the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games with the team of director Sha Xiaolan.
In the process of running for the chief director of the opening ceremony, Lu Chuan was deeply impressed by the openness, transparency and efficiency of Hangzhou management.
Referring to the process of assessment, Lu Chuan made a vivid analogy: "Just like the exam, round by round, two cooperative teams are screened out in the end." ”
Photo by intern Wang Yifei
According to Cui Wei, president of Hangzhou Opera and Dance Theater and deputy chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Hangzhou Asian Games, who served as the assessment judge at that time, the selection of the joint team at that time was carefully considered by the Asian Games Organizing Committee, among which director Lu Chuan was creative and independent, not only responding to the call of the times but daring to challenge himself, which was in line with the spirit of the opening ceremony of the Asian Games, and was expected to be able to lead and control the overall presentation of the opening ceremony of the Asian Games with pioneering and independent ideas.
【Hangzhou becomes a second hometown】
During the preparation for the opening ceremony, as the contact gradually deepened, Lu Chuan also had a different feeling for the city of Hangzhou.
For Lu Chuan, serving as the chief director of the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games is not only a project, but more importantly, he has made a group of new friends and a new home.
"Hangzhou has become my new spiritual home, I have friends like family in Hangzhou, I can feel the warmth of home, I used to say 'go' to Hangzhou, now I feel 'back' to Hangzhou."
As a director, Lu Chuan often runs around because of creative needs, and looking back on his previous creative career, there has never been a time like the Hangzhou Asian Games, allowing him to stay in a city for most of the three years and deeply feel the charm of the city. "Nanjing! Nanking! " took a long time to create, but it took only one or two months to shoot in the city; "Cocosiri" is not short, I stayed there for almost two years; The project of image art director of the national pavilion of the Shanghai World Expo is also two years. ”
In order to host the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games, Lu Chuan and his team repeatedly pondered and revised the plan, and spent three years in Hangzhou.
"Three years of my life have been placed in Hangzhou, and no matter what I return to Hangzhou in the future, I will feel like home."
Photo by Chao News reporter Du Xuemei
【"Bridge" is an important element】
In the three years of preparing for the opening ceremony, Lu Chuan cooperated with Sha Xiaolan, chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Hangzhou Asian Games, Cui Wei, deputy chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies, and team members of the opening ceremony to successfully host the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games.
In Lu Chuan's view, all directors and staff members have their own strengths, perform their own duties, and gather superior forces to form a perfect team.
At the director level, director Sha Xiaolan participated in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Winter Olympics and is the director of the closing ceremony, with valuable and rich experience in major national projects; Director Cui Wei participated in the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and directed the G20 Hangzhou Summit "The Most Remembered is Hangzhou", and has a full understanding of Hangzhou elements; Lu Chuan's own advantages are reflected in the direction of image design and production.
At the executive level, there is a huge team of executive directors in front of the stage distributed in all corners of the rehearsal, and behind the scenes there are workers who maintain the operation of the venue and the team responsible for broadcasting, etc., it is the efforts and efforts of thousands of people that make the preparations for the opening ceremony of the Asian Games smooth and orderly.
The power of the collective inspires every member of the team. Lu Chuan said frankly that the opening ceremony of the Asian Games was the first time he had participated in such a large-scale national project, and it also made him deeply aware that this was a cooperative project, a collective work: "Without the collective, I don't think we would be able to complete such a major project." Because I was in the team and with everyone's help, in the cooperation of the opening ceremony of the Asian Games, I was generally stressed, but not so anxious. ”
Recalling the first time he saw the rehearsal of the show, and saw the light of the imaginative ideas on the PPT when the original competition became reality, Lu Chuan's heart was full of emotion.
Q: As the chief director of the opening ceremony this time, what aspects must Lu Chuan adhere to and resolutely uncompromising?
Lu Chuan at the scene of preparations for the opening ceremony of the Asian Games
Lu Chuan pondered for a moment and said that in his conceptual design, "bridge" is an important element, which is not only a noun in the physical sense, but also represents communication, represents the openness and inclusiveness of Hangzhou, and represents the openness and inclusiveness of China. In Lu Chuan's view, this is exactly the voice and attitude that China needs to convey to the world, and it is also the Chinese story he wants to express when he came to Hangzhou to express through the stage of the opening ceremony of the Asian Games.
"Other pursuits may be at the level of 'art', but telling Chinese stories well is the 'Tao', and it is also the goal I persistently pursue." I hope that through this warm performance, the openness and inclusiveness of our country, the smile and warmth of our Chinese will be transmitted to the world through the stage of the Asian Games, and Hangzhou is an excellent window to present these spirits. ”
Photo by Chao News reporter Du Xuemei
【Wish after opening, sleep well】
The opening of the Asian Games is getting closer and closer, and the entire creative team is doing the final sprint. Many cast members worked all night from six in the morning to three or four in the morning.
All the staff are grasping the time to polish the details, strive for excellence, and look forward to presenting a high-standard audio-visual feast to the audience on September 23rd.
Q: Lu Chuan, as a film director, did this opening ceremony performance use the expression of the movie?
Lu Chuan said that the ground screen combined with the performance techniques of the dancers tried in "Bird's Nest Attraction" was further strengthened in the opening ceremony of the Asian Games, and it was also a highlight of the opening ceremony.
In addition, the filming of this opening short film has undergone a long cycle of creation and brewing, striving to pursue a unique cinematic style and presentation. On the second day after the reporter's interview, Lu Chuan also had to make up for the short film footage.
On September 23, the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou will usher in the final "big test". For the arrangement after the opening ceremony, Lu Chuan's wish is very simple: "I just want to sleep well, relax, and then devote myself to film work." ”
He said that his wife Hu Die will work in Hangzhou with the CCTV broadcast team, and will be stationed here as a frontline anchor during the Asian Games. His own children were also on the National Day holiday at that time, and they might come to Hangzhou to watch the Asian Games.
After returning to Beijing to work on the new film "749 Bureau", he may return to Hangzhou again to watch a few games.
He said with a smile that he is a sports fan, likes football, basketball and badminton, and wants to watch football matches the most, hoping that the Chinese men's football team can achieve good results.
Photo by intern Wang Yifei
["749 Bureau" completed production this year]
Talking about movies, Lu Chuan's new film "749 Bureau" is still in intensive production due to the impact of the epidemic.
Lu Chuan revealed that although the production of the film has encountered many challenges in the past three years, he has always insisted on promoting it with his own strength. Now that the film industry is recovering, the work on the opening ceremony of the Asian Games is coming to an end, and "749 Bureau" has also passed the most difficult period and is undergoing post-production special effects work.
After the opening ceremony, Lu Chuan plans to return to Beijing to go all out to complete the production of "749 Bureau", hoping to meet the audience at the Spring Festival stall.
Although the focus of work is about to shift back to Beijing and to film, Hangzhou is still indispensable in Lu Chuan's future plans: "I will come to Hangzhou often in the future, it is like my second hometown." ”
Q: Lu Chuan, can you make a movie for Hangzhou?
Lu Chuan said with a smile, "I have always hoped to make a movie in Hangzhou. Movies are in pursuit of strong conflicts, and Hangzhou is peaceful, comfortable and gentle, strong conflicts, turbulent and fierce stories, to find, now it is close. What exactly it is, I will tell you after September 23. ”
In addition, talking about sports movies, Lu Chuan said that he also wrote a feature film script about sports, which is also in the creation plan.
Photo by intern Wang Yifei
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