Introduction: Tonight at 10:30 (July 28), "Documentary Newsroom" will return to the Shanghai News Comprehensive Channel, and 26 years of life stories, urban emotions and the tide of the times will turn a new page.
Text | Green mountains, fishing fire
In the early spring of 1993, Shanghai Television Channel 8 launched a prime-time program called "Documentary Editing Room". This point in time is often mentioned in the future, because it is not only the first TV program in China to be named as a documentary, but also the prototype of the Shanghai Documentary Channel, and as scholars have said, it is an important symbol of the establishment of the 'Contemporary China New Record Movement' within the system." ”
The year before, Deng Xiaoping made a speech on his southern tour, and Pudong in Shanghai officially became the forefront of China's reform and opening up.
As a result, Shanghai, one of China's most important cities, began to suffer the pain of great social transformation, and the tidal people in it also shared the fate of the city, full of pain, anxiety and hope. The slogan of "Documentary Editing Room" in that year was "Focus on the great changes of the times and record the small stories of life". A large number of ordinary people in the change have been recorded, which has set a high rating of 36%, and the scenery is unlimited for a time.
More than two months ago, the Shanghai Documentary Channel was revised and received rave reviews. Li Yi, director of the SMG Documentary Center, said, "How to continue the glory of Haipai documentaries, and even how to recreate the glory?" ”
The answer is still in people.
When we took "Documentary Editing Room" as a sample to investigate, Liu Jingzheng, Wang Wenli, Wang Qiushi, Yu Yongjin, Zhang Kunhua, Song Jichang, Jiang Ning, Wang Xiaolong, Liu Jiazhen, Wu Haiying, Tang Jiongming, Feng Qiao, Li Xiao, Zhang Weijie, Gan Chao, Zhou Hongbo, Guo Jing... Their names, languages and works are linked together, which is an important curve in the development of Chinese documentary films.
Recently, some of the producers, directors, cameramen, etc. in the "Documentary Editing Room" column gathered together to hold a seminar around the theme of "inheritance and innovation".
Inheritance and innovation: the "secret" is in the work
In the era of rapid changes in media technology and content, when a variety show can be broadcast to its third year, people will feel its vitality.
But what is this 26 years ahead?
In the year of the launch of the column, a "Mao Mao Complaint" triggered thousands of empty alleys. A "foreign sister" who came to Shanghai from a foreign land dared to take the plaintiff's seat in the courtroom and use legal weapons to safeguard the rights and dignity of herself and her children. At that time, friends and relatives would chat and say, "Did Mao Mao win?" Then every ten years, the program team will visit the Mao Mao family again, the infant at that time has gone to study abroad, and the foreign sister at that time has long been rooted in Shanghai and has become a "new Shanghainese".
Documentary "Mao Mao Complaint", 1993, director: Wang Wenli
If time is cruel, then in front of the documentary, time has become "crossable" and "has temperature".
Documentary "The Great Movement", 1994, directed by Zhang Kunhua
Documentary "A Place Called Home", 2000, director: Wang Xiaolong
Accompanied by the loud scolding of the gymnastics coach, one child after another jumped into the fixed shot, and the big red color on the background made this emotion extremely full, but there was an aftertaste. Born in 2008, Red Run tells the story of a group of gymnastics kids and their families and the environment in which they live.
Documentary "Red Runway", 2008, Director: Gan Chao
Someone commented, "The director seems to be a great master of surgery, he always quietly but selectively presents some seemingly bland and trivial details to you, and then lets the viewer link in his own mind, and then ferment." ”
In 2018, nearly 4 million employees in Shanghai went through retirement procedures. In the timeline of reform and opening up forty years, they have experienced, participated in and benefited. This year, "Documentary Editing Room" observed and recorded the emotional changes of 6 ordinary people before and after retirement, told their life stories in the past 40 years, and produced a three-episode documentary "We Retired". In the film, She Yongxi graduated from the army to join the Air Force strong strike aircraft unit, then retired and assigned to the Shanggang Tenth Factory, and then transferred to China Eastern Airlines to become an Airbus aircraft maintenance worker, and finally the day of retirement came, and he reluctantly left Hongqiao Airport.
Documentary "We Are Retired", 2018, Directed by Zhang Weijie, Zhang Ying, Hua Jiahui
Zhang Weijie, the general director of the documentary, said: "The essence of our column is the exploration of human nature. How far can a person go, whether in good times or bad times, what does human nature look like? ”
It seems that the times are changing and social issues are changing, but what has not changed is the "magnified glimmer" of small people for 26 years.
Why is "Documentary Studio" able to span 26 years and still be spiritually consistent? Perhaps, as huang Yinghao, a previous producer, said, "'Documentary Editing Room' is not a simple column, but a condensation of values." It can bring together all the creators who are curious about the world, patient with the in-depth digging of the subject matter, and very sincere about the creation and expression of the documentary. ”
Cities and Times: Social issues hidden in individuals are the most moving
If you open the "national album" of the documentary in China, you must not miss the column "Documentary Editing Room".
The year "Dexingfang" was broadcast in the "Documentary Editing Room", Shanghai urban residents were anxious about the tension of housing. The documentary follows three families, captures some of the trivialities of life in this alley, and records their joys, sorrows, and living conditions.
Shanghai's human touch, intertwined with the difficulties of the times, has achieved the unique tension of this work.
Documentary "Dexingfang", 1992, director: Jiang Ning
Also in that year, Taiwan and the mainland had not yet opened up for the first time, and relatives on both sides of the strait were separated. "I believe that one day you will cross this shallow strait." In the documentary "The Day of Reunion", a couple who have been separated for 45 years reunite under the barrier of the times and need to make new choices.
Documentary "The Day of Reunion", 1993, director: Wang Wei
The time was pushed back 10 years, and directors Gan Chao and Liang Zi filmed a "Landlord Mr. Jiang". In the process of violent urbanization, Mr. Jiang sang and danced in front of the old bungalows that were about to be demolished.
In the dust, a generation is gone, a generation is coming again, but time never stops.
Documentary "Landlord Mr. Jiang", 2004, director: Gan Chao Liangzi
If "Documentary Editing Room" is a cross-section of the "big tree" of national and social development, when we count the annual cycles, we can see the urban picture and poetic individuals under a series of social issues such as migrant workers entering the city, municipal construction, cross-strait relations, and state-owned enterprise reform.
Documentary "Mother-in-law", 2004, director: Wu Haiying
In 2017, "Documentary Editing Room" also set up a long-form documentary series on different topics such as the China series on the fingertips, the human world series, the Shanghai memory series, the emergency room series, the walking battlefield series, the Shenye canteen series and other different topics. They not only have a remarkable viewing effect, but more importantly, these are embedded in each other and closely linked with the current social changes through the exploration of images, becoming the business card of the city and the epitome of the country.
Documentary "Our Forty Years", 2018, Directed by Wang Qiushi, Yu Yongjin, Zhang Qiwu
From the observation of individuals, the close attention to a group of people and an industry, the pulse of the times is felt from this tracking, and the dilemmas and hopes of the country and society are reflected from the changes of the times - this is the narrative logic of "Documentary Editing Room" for 26 years.
It can be seen that in the past 26 years, "Documentary Editing Room" has the presentness of the city, no matter which documentary, it can find deep traces of regional creation in it; at the same time, it has the imagination of the times, on the one hand, it is a reflection on the historical road, and on the other hand, it is a look at the future road.
When the joys and sorrows of everyday life shine in the colorful cityscape, how can this not be moving?
Influence and initial intention: "A good documentary is easy to watch, and it is heavy after watching"
"Documentaries can create miracles and can affect a generation." When Feng Qiao, the past director of the documentary, said this sentence, he was still a little excited.
Since entering Shanghai Television in 1983, he has edited more than 400 feature films and documentaries in more than 30 years. It is precisely because he always maintains the sense of responsibility of "influencing a generation" that when working in the "Documentary Editing Room" column, he took the lead in launching three films in the form of a documentary: "Xu Hu's Network Witness", "General Duan's Two and Three Events", and "Liu Jinghai and Successful Education". His works have won many awards such as the China Journalism Award, the China Radio and Television Award, and the Changjiang Taofen Award.
Wang Wenyu, a former producer of the column, said: "A good documentary is actually very relaxed when watching, and it is very heavy after watching it. It is very important to cause a lot of reverie after reading it, and to have the popularization of values or the input of values. ”
Not only record the story, but also convey the spirit. In 26 years of creative practice, "Documentary Editing Room" has promoted the transformation of individual memory into collective memory, and through wonderful works, it has shown a rich, lasting and continuous human social process.
Jiang Ning, a previous producer, recalled her own behind-the-scenes creation of "Dexingfang", "The Last Tricycle on the Beach" and "Little Reading Lang", and she felt that the two most important words were: "Initial Heart". She also especially reminded the younger generation of directors to discover and think about it in the new era.
For the content, the documentary should pay attention to the "beauty" of the truth; for the creator, the documentary should also maintain the original intention of the change.
How to maintain the original intention? In the current impetuous creative environment, many people need to consider the maximum commercial return rate, a large number of posing, the director wrote a good interview answer to make the documentary into a "mask" of sloppy flowers. Jiang Ning, a former producer in the "Documentary Editing Room" column, was filming "Dexingfang" for half a year. They spend a lot of time polishing, and in the relationship and communication with the residents, the subject and the photographer become friends who talk about everything.
Zhang Kunhua, the former editor and director of the column who participated in the creation of the "Documentary Editing Room", also talked about the importance of the atmosphere of the whole team, "At that time, when we filmed back and looked at the material, as long as we had time, everyone would watch it together, resulting in various discussions. These comments can be spoken openly, and the whole atmosphere is very good, allowing us to brainstorm ideas. ”
As Liu Jingkui, former director of the Shanghai Television Station and former producer of the "Documentary Editing Room" column, said, "One of the responsibilities of the documentary itself is to leave archives for history and footprints for the times."
"A country without a documentary is like a family without a photo album." This is a quote from Chilean documentary filmmaker Patricico Guzman. What documentaries need is value construction, and through the correct value construction to spread the city and national culture, shaping the image of the city and the country - this also requires documentary creators to maintain their original intentions, down-to-earth at the same time, but also to see thousands of scenes.
"Haipai documentary has her glorious history We have the responsibility to continue to carry the instructions of the older generation of documentarians, how can we waste it in our hands when we laid a great river and mountain? ”
When Li Yi was asked, the 26-year-old "Documentary Editing Room" was actually writing a new answer.