Stills of the "Live Broadcast founding ceremony" detective class. Niu Xiaobei photo
Following the 2017 youth version of "Wild Ride", director Tian Qinxin in the "Live Broadcast Founding Ceremony", nearly half of the space once again adopted the method of instant shooting, projecting the live image onto multiple screens, so that the performers can become the subject of the film at any time, not only to ensure the viewing effect of all angles in the theater, but also to let reality and memory shuttle on the stage, reflecting each other. The Beijing News reporter interviewed Tian Qinxin, president of the National Theatre of China, screenwriter and director of the "Live Broadcast founding ceremony", to reveal the origin of the creation of the work, and she talked about some of her ideas around real-time shooting and the theater's insistence on innovation.
Tian Qinxin, director of "Live Broadcasting of the Founding Ceremony". Photo by Tian Yufeng
Story Revealed: A stage play with a spy temperament
"Live Broadcast of the Founding Ceremony" mainly tells the story of a group of technicians from the former Yan'an Xinhua Radio Station and the former Kuomintang Beiping Radio Station, although they belonged to two camps, under the premise that the task was not very clear, they worked together to successfully complete the task of "live broadcasting the founding ceremony" for a lofty goal. The origin of the creation of the behind-the-scenes radio story that was first broadcast live on the stage of the "Founding Ceremony" actually originated from Luo Bing, the former host of the Beijing Radio Program and the drama construct of the "Live Broadcasting Of the Founding Ceremony", who had worked on the radio station for more than 20 years.
In 2019, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of Beijing People's Radio, during a casual conversation with Tian Qinxin, Luo Bing revealed that Ding Yilan, the first director of Beijing People's Radio, stood on the tower of Tiananmen Square with Qi Yue, the first male announcer of the Chinese people's broadcasting industry and one of the founders of the new Chinese broadcasting industry, and broadcast the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China. Although it was only a few short sentences at that time, it instantly aroused Tian Qinxin's great interest. After learning that the time was tight, relying on the reception conditions at that time, and that it was a very difficult thing to complete the live broadcast of the founding ceremony in Tiananmen Square, Tian Qinxin specially entrusted Luo Bing to start looking for relevant materials together with Liu Jinni, screenwriter of the National Drama Theatre, and asked for advice and guidance from radio expert Bi Lianzhu, broadcast history expert Shi Bohua, and party history expert Wang Junwei throughout the process.
Tian Qinxin recalled that due to the need for confidentiality, only 6 technicians received this special task at that time, but no one knew that the founding ceremony was to be broadcast live, only that the task code name was "Tianzi Mission". They didn't get more complete information about the location and content of the event until the last two to three days before the start of the founding ceremony. In order to complete the freehand communication of the stage, Tian Qinxin especially pointed out the task of receiving the "live broadcast of the founding ceremony" in the first scene of the "live broadcast of the founding ceremony", and the subsequent plot was referred to as the "Tianzi task".
Tian Qinxin believes that in the process of screenwriting, the most difficult thing is to overcome technical difficulties and reserve relevant knowledge. She recalled that many of the professional terms in broadcasting, communication and other aspects of the play were learned through several experts. According to the instructions of these terms, the screenwriter wrote the tension into it according to the needs of the situation at the time. "While we adhere to artistic innovation and breakthroughs, we must also create a work that the audience can understand, and the story composition of the "Live Broadcast Founding Ceremony" must consider how to complete the live broadcast task within one and a half months, and prevent the sabotage of agents, and the technical research of these two lines is the most challenging part of the creation process." From the overall structure of the script, "Live Broadcast founding ceremony" is a stage drama with the temperament of espionage. ”
Instant Shooting: Similar to film and television installation art
"Live Founding Ceremony" uses real-time shooting. Ling Feng photographed
In the "Live Broadcast of the Founding Ceremony", director Tian Qinxin used real-time shooting in nearly half of the space, projected onto multiple screens, so that the performers could become the subjects of filming at any time, which not only ensured the viewing effect from all angles in the theater, but also allowed reality and memories to shuttle on the stage. The use of instant shooting on stage is not a new means for Tian Qinxin. As early as 2017, when "commemorating the 110th anniversary of Chinese drama", she put real-time filming on the drama stage in the youth version of "Wild Ride". "In 2001, at the beginning of the turn of the century, we wanted to look back at what Chinese dramatists did when they started a hundred years ago, so we had the first version of "Wild Ride". The novelty of this play at that time was that there were many plays-within-a-play techniques on the stage, which belonged to the dramatic expression of the biographical body. In 2017, when commemorating the 110th anniversary of Chinese drama, we also wanted to see what the current Chinese dramatists could do, so we once again did the youth version of "Wild Ride". At that time, the combination of technology and art had already begun to take off, and we used 8 machines to complete the instant shooting. ”
In this year's literary and artistic performance "The Great Journey" celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Tian Qinxin, as deputy director, put forward the innovative concept of large-scale stage drama "real-time photography, instantaneous guidance, and real-time screen projection". In the drama and dance "Breaking Dawn", the song "Zunyi Conference Shines" and other program scenes, the sceneual drama performance shooting screen is transmitted to the guide console in real time through 8 channels of 5G + 4K ultra-high-definition video, and real-time lens editing, real-time color grading and other processing are carried out, and the delicate film texture picture is presented in real time on the main screen of the scene. Tian Qinxin said that he is a director who loves innovation: "If my original innovation stems from the expression of individual artists, then the current innovation is the embodiment of the 'Shouzheng Innovation' of the National Theatre of China, but the root of all this is to tell the Chinese story well." ”
Stills of the "Live Broadcast founding ceremony" detective class. Photo by Tian Yufeng
Tian Qinxin said bluntly that the instant shooting of "Live Broadcasting of the Founding Ceremony" will achieve more artistic expression, similar to the form of film and television installation art. She introduced that some of the technicians shown in the play are the old departments of the radio stations left over from the Kuomintang period, and most of them have returned from overseas and have strong technical ability. Communist Party technicians are also very good, and when the two sides study together, the technical temperament on the stage is relatively strong, so many radio devices become particularly important. "The Founding Ceremony of live broadcasting attaches great importance to props, and when some installations appear on stage and are difficult for the audience to see, they are presented through live shooting." Tian Qinxin believes that the intervention of any installation and video means will eventually be used as an aid to stage performance, and the creator's original intention will eventually return to the stage. "In this work, the drama performance is far more important than the technical embodiment inside, and the audience does not have to worry about not understanding it."
Dialogue with Tian Qinxin: The combination of science and technology and art is what theaters of the future should do
Beijing News: From the instant shooting of the "Live Broadcast founding ceremony" to the recently unveiled "5G Wisdom Theater Joint Laboratory", does it also indicate that the "National Dialect" will firmly walk on the road of combining science and technology and art?
Tian Qinxin: The combination of science and technology and art is universal, and has been widely used in various industries and art categories. Like Henan Satellite TV's "Tang Palace Night Banquet" and "Roselle Water Endowment", these are the communication effects achieved after the combination of science and technology and art breaks the circle. As the general director of the drama of "China in the Story", I also use multiple camera positions in the program, use the immersive expression of "drama + film and television" that does not stop shouting, and at the same time broaden the boundaries of drama, I also use technology to create a program form of "shouzheng innovation" in the TV program, which is a good example. As the National Theatre of China, we have also recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Unicom and Huawei to do a "5G smart theater", and are now preparing for the iterative upgrading of the theater and striving to launch a digital theater as soon as possible. If technology and art can be accessed, I think it can create a new literary and artistic format in the Internet era, which is something that our theater must do in the future.
Beijing News: While telling Chinese stories well, how can the "national dialect" do a good job in expressing the main theme of the work?
Tian Qinxin: I think that "becoming a weathered person, moisturizing things silently", which also represents our attitude towards culture. Expressing the main theme well, the inner enthusiasm is necessary, but the most important thing is how to express the characters more realistically and sincerely express the story.
Beijing News: As the dean, what is the mission of the theater in your eyes?
Tian Qinxin: As a dean, I always adhere to the principle of "integrity and innovation". The National Drama Theatre is responsible for the creation of outstanding realistic works and the promotion of traditional Chinese culture and art. While striving to tell Chinese stories well, there are also drama works with realistic themes, reinterpretations of Chinese literary masterpieces, autonomous and experimental exploration of repertoire, and adaptations of excellent foreign themes. This time, the performance of the "Live Broadcast of the Founding Ceremony" will more strongly confirm that the National Drama Theatre is a national theater with an innovative spirit and keeping up with the pace of the times.
Beijing News: In the Internet era, do you have any new ideas about the current theater ecology?
Tian Qinxin: In the era of the Internet, although short videos can grab the audience instantly, we can't blindly pursue these "short and fast", there are still many people who like various types of art works such as film and television, drama and so on. At present, the "Live Broadcast founding ceremony" has been jointly publicized by the two national academies and groups, and has received the support and expectations of many audiences. In terms of theme, lineup, and innovation, it certainly does not show that the National Drama Theatre of China is a brand new theater that is advancing with the times, and we are doing so.
Beijing News: After nearly a year as president of the National Drama Theatre, what are your personal special feelings?
Tian Qinxin: As a leader who has transformed from an artist to a state-level academy, after I took office, I still need to study more in the administrative aspect and strive for greater progress. Artistically, I still hope that whether it is in the face of young screenwriters in the creative department of the theater or the students of the directing department of the Central Academy of Drama, I always hope that Chinese creators pay more attention to the expression of the theatrical structure space. This does not need to learn from Western drama, Chinese theater art synthesizes the Confucian "beauty of neutrality", the Taoist "transcendent void", the Chusao culture "exaggeration of the strange", zen Buddhism "theory of artistic conception", as a big country with five thousand years of civilization, as long as everyone returns to their own culture, there will soon be a particularly wonderful artistic leadership, and the so-called cultural self-confidence will be born.
Beijing News: As the president of the National Drama Theatre today, what is the artistry you are pursuing?
Tian Qinxin: At any time, I have always believed that drama is one of the most advanced artistic disciplines. These people who want to see the drama, I think they all have a special heart. When the audience enters the theater, what they want to get will also be a enjoyment that meets the standards of "high art". As the creators of "high art", we are also working on it. Therefore, this kind of theater art with human temperament will never die. On this basis, every time we combine with technology, we are actually exploring a new touch point, and once we find it, we can express our aesthetics more fluently, leaving the viewer with a kind of spiritual pleasure, which is the artistry we have been pursuing.
Beijing News: There are many star actors in the National Drama Theatre, and "Yifeng Yide" has also attracted attention recently, what are your own ideas on this aspect of management?
Tian Qinxin: While strengthening the study and discussion of the issue of "art style and morality", we also hope that the actors of the National Drama Theatre should not only achieve self-discipline in their own moral code, but also have higher standards in the pursuit of art. Actors are one of the important carriers of artistic creation and performance, even if a theater has strong creative ability, it is impossible to perform without actors. I asked the star actors to be serious when they returned to the theater to create. At the same time, for young actors, we must pay more attention to the cultivation of their basic skills.
Liu Zhen, a senior reporter of the Beijing News
Senior Editor Tian Kaini Proofreader Li Lijun