The major realistic theme works organized by the State Administration of Radio and Television, the repertoire of the "Ideal Illuminates China - Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China", and the first TV series "Meritorious Service", which shows the true stories of eight "Medal of the Republic" winners in a panoramic manner, are currently being broadcast, and the series has concluded the golden team in the field of contemporary film and television dramas: With Zheng Xiaolong as the general director, Mao Weining ("Ordinary World"), Shen Yan ("Chinese-style Relations"), Kang Honglei ("Soldier Assault"), Yang Yang ("Heart Technique"), Lin Nan ("Heart Technique") ("Heart Technique") Golden Pupil"), Yang Wenjun ("Divorce Lawyer"), Yan Jiangang ("Zhao Orphan Case"),etc. served as directors of various units. Up to now, the Douban score of "Meritorious Service" has reached 9.1 points, becoming another TV series that has truly entered the masses this year after "Mountains and Seas" and "The Age of Awakening".
A few days ago, the Beijing News reporter interviewed zheng Xiaolong, the general director, and the directors, screenwriters and other creators of various units to unveil the creative story behind "Meritorious Service".
"Meritorious Service" shows the true stories of eight recipients of the Order of the Republic.
Early stage: Zheng Xiaolong's "lack of confidence" at the beginning
Zheng Xiaolong has worked at the Beijing Television Arts Center for 17 years, and has completed a number of "top-down" works and won many "Five One Project Awards". However, in October 2019, in the face of the "Meritorious Service" of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, Zheng Xiaolong lacked confidence - except for Yuan Longping, Shen Jilan, and Tu Youyou, Zheng Xiaolong did not know the deeds of the first batch of meritorious figures. Zheng Xiaolong hopes to look at the information first and think about whether "Meritorious Service" can be made into a drama that the people love to watch.
More than 20 days later, Zheng Xiaolong chose to take on this difficult task. "I was thoroughly moved by the deeds of these characters." He said. For example, Shen Jilan, Zheng Xiaolong only knew that she had been re-elected as a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress, but did not know that it was she who proposed "equal pay for men and women for equal work" and why she proposed this transformative bill. It turned out that after Shen Jilan married into Xigou Village in 1947, he had been actively participating in labor, but when it came time to record work points, the women who worked more got less than half of the men and the elderly, or even low. This has affected the motivation of many women to work in the fields. And in that era, when "good men go to the county and good women go to the hospital", in principle, women are not allowed to work. Shen Jilan's proposal is undoubtedly a decisive step forward for the cause of women's liberation in China.
In Zheng Xiaolong's view, when you begin to understand these people, you will be moved by their stories; similarly, behind the brilliance of their lives, those unknown stories are worth excavating and expressing through artistic means.
How to shoot: adhere to the realist style, the truth is not elevated
After setting the tone in the early stages, Zheng Xiaolong began to choose the remaining seven directors. Each director has a very different personal style, and Zheng Xiaolong gives them great creative space. The script can be told in any way such as flashbacks, flashbacks, and flat direct narration, and the creators of each unit can decide the story style according to their respective character characteristics and interview content. Including the end of the film, the director can also add his own ideas.
But in addition to the differences, it is more about seeking common ground, and the most important thing is the unity of the realist style. "The lens, the language, the content, all have to restore the way it was in that era." For example, the script is about a jeep driving over in 1968 and a colonel officer coming down from above. I don't think this is right, in 1965 the troops were changed into cadre uniforms and soldier uniforms, how did they come up as colonels and officers? Zheng Xiaolong asked every group, from screenwriter to director, to go deep into the life of that era. Some of them found that there were problems with the details after shooting, and Zheng Xiaolong asked for a re-shooting or re-change in the later stage.
"Nengwen Nengwu Li Yannian" tells the glorious deeds of Li Yannian and his comrades-in-arms.
In addition, the selection of real experiences and the short and concise presentation of the "highlight moments" of meritorious characters are also the unified creative direction of "Meritorious Service". For example, Li Yannian participated in more than 20 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 the Self-Defense Counterattack Against Vietnam, but "Nengwen Nengwu Li Yannian" only selected the story of Li Yannian defending the 346.6 heights in three days and two nights. In Zheng Xiaolong's view, the most important experience of Li Yannian's life was the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and he won the title of "First Class Combat Hero". Not only did he fight bravely, but more importantly, as an instructor, he did a good job in the ideological and political work of the troops, telling everyone that it was necessary to bravely charge for the sake of the country and the people, and led those scattered troops to finally hold their positions. "In the past films we talked about the troops, there were almost no people who really talked about the political work of a unit and created the image of the able civilian and armed soldiers. So this story will make more sense. ”
"Obscure Zhang Fuqing" tells a general story of Zhang Fuqing's life. In Zheng Xiaolong's view, compared with Li Yannian's classic campaign to defend the highlands, Shen Jilan proposed "equal pay for men and women for equal work", Sun Jiadong and Yu Min's extraordinary achievements in the field of aerospace lunar exploration engineering and hydrogen bombs, Zhang Fuqing does not seem to have very prominent deeds. But because of this, his award of the "Order of the Republic" is precisely more profound, "He has won many honors in the army, and after retiring from the army, he became a grassroots cadre, diligent and sincere." Zheng Xiaolong believes that dusting off meritorious deeds and silent dedication are the most shining points in him.
"We first need to understand why these meritorious figures were awarded the Order of the Republic, and photograph these things so that the audience knows where they shine." At the same time, it also reveals what our party and country are pursuing, encouraging, and setting what kind of examples they are setting -- it does not mean that it is great to have great achievements, and it can also be a meritorious achievement to be a person who serves the people, the party and the country in a down-to-earth manner. Zheng Xiaolong said.
How to write: Dig up the real story to the extreme
Yuan Longping may be the most well-known of the eight meritorious figures, and there are many public information. However, in the creation of "Meritorious Service" this time, Song Fangjin is more based on "remote" materials. Including flipping through his precious alumni records, many of whose real names were included in the play; interviews with Yuan Longping's students, old colleagues, secretaries, sons... In the meantime, Song Fangjin inadvertently learned an unknown detail from his secretary: Yuan Longping did not stay overnight for a day except Hunan and Hainan before his death. Including the day the "Order of the Republic" was awarded, Yuan Longping did not stay in Beijing, but returned on the same day. His secretary explained that because he had been in the field for many years and had been steamed out of dermatitis by rice, he had to use a cork similar to a warm water bottle filled with heat every night to "cover" all the dermatitis on his body before he could fall asleep. Song Fangjin and Yan Jiangang were "like treasures" in this regard. There is such a very precious moment in the play - Yuan Longping's wife gave him a full body anti-scalding. "This detail is a very real expression of the hardships and hardships of scientists."
Huang Zhizhong plays Yuan Longping.
If "Meritorious Service" is different from the creation method of other realistic plays, most of the characters it wants to show do not have the so-called "dramatic tension", and the screenwriter is more about "real excavation" to the extreme. For example, the creators of almost every unit have visited meritorious people. In 2019, Mao Weining went to the Third Retired Cadre Recuperation Center in Nanning, Guangxi Military Region, and met Li Yannian, who was 91 years old. The old hero's waist was very straight, and he didn't feel tired after talking with Mao Weining for three or four hours. Although his memories of the past are somewhat vague, his nostalgia for his fallen comrades makes Mao Weining remember them deeply. This also made Mao Weining and Liu Gejian firmly believe that "Nengwen Nengwu Li Yannian" can not only write about Li Yannian's exploits on the battlefield, but also write about Li Yannian and his comrades-in-arms. "Later, I understood a truth: Comrade Li Yannian was the smallest of the combat heroes, and he (who was awarded the 'Order of the Republic') was actually the representative of many ordinary soldiers who gave their lives for the war. He actually did what every hero does. Therefore, in the end, the play presents the cowardly but sentient "deserter" Xiao Anton, Luo Houcai, who seems to be greedy for life and afraid of death, but enters the enemy tank alone at a critical moment, and Li Yuan, who mistakenly stepped on the loose thunder and heroically sacrificed... These are the image interpretations of the comrades-in-arms that Li Yannian misses.
In the same year, Kang Honglei and Chen Yu met Zhang Fuqing, 95 years old. Every time he saw Chen Yu and Kang Honglei, the old man always asked with concern, "Is it cold or not?" "Then put a cotton curtain over two people." The old man was particularly kind and kind. Chen Yu said. Just as he has dusted his exploits for more than sixty years, for "Obscure Zhang Fuqing", the old man does not have any instructions, and only shares his own story between words; every time they are separated, the old man always says, "Thank you, hard work", and never asks for anything. Then the play presented such a story: in 2012, Zhang Fuqing amputated his left leg due to illness. In order not to affect his children's "work for the party and the people", the 88-year-old put on a prosthesis and continued to stand up tenaciously. This is based on Zhang Fuqing's real experience. Chen Yu said that when he wrote this story, he did not deliberately raise the height, but when the pen fell, he would be emotional.
Zhang Fu's list of elements reproduces the harsh living conditions of that year.
Post-production: The opening of the film should be re-made and re-modeled
The most impressive thing about "Meritorious Service" is the opening of the film: under the background of the huge "Order of the Republic", the main actors of each unit slowly walk in the image of the play, smiling. But with the pace, everyone gradually became the real life appearance of the meritorious person. Although this video is only 1 minute and 30 seconds, it is enough to shock people's hearts.
This idea was Zheng Xiaolong's whim, but the process of realizing it was difficult. Most of these eight meritorious figures are old, and some of them are no longer alive, and it is impossible to ask them to shoot or do facial scans. "(Many people have asked) in the end can not do it, I am afraid that in the end can not do it." But I still insisted on doing it, and I said at least we had to try. Zheng Xiaolong said.
The opening credits of the film have changed from the image in the play to the image of reality.
In the end, Zheng Xiaolong got a high-definition photo of the meritorious person winning the award from Xinhua News Agency, and asked the special effects company to remodel everyone from the skeleton frame, eyebrows, eyes and other parts according to the photo and restore it to a complete character image. The difficulty of this process is enormous. Zheng Xiaolong has lost count of how many versions of the modeling renderings he has seen, either because the lines of the eyes are too few and the luster is not enough; or the hair is not made one by one, or it is black and thick, which is inconsistent with the real image of the old man.
From actors to meritorious figures, how the hair changes, how the military uniforms and other wearing changes, are all "cut" out little by little. From the beginning of production in December 2020, until the beginning of the show, the title was still being repeatedly revised; when the time came to the end, Zheng Xiaolong and the team lived in the office, changed it when they received feedback, and then gave feedback after the change.
Music included. In 2020, when the ceremony of Zhong Nanshan being awarded the "Order of the Republic" was broadcast on TELEVISION, a magnificent piece of music was played, and Zheng Xiaolong immediately chose it as the background music for the opening of the film. However, the rhythm of this melody is slow, and it is difficult to match the pace of the eight meritorious figures, so Zheng Xiaolong and the team re-edit the music and speed up the rhythm re-recording.
"It took a lot of effort, but the opening effect was not bad." In Zheng Xiaolong's view, according to the traditional way of opening the film, editing the picture in the play, or re-animating, is not impossible, but "Meritorious" deserves to be different, and it is worth spending more effort.
Zhang He, a senior reporter of the Beijing News
Senior Editor Tong Na Proofreader Zhai Yongjun