When it comes to China's "godfather of TV dramas", it must be Zheng Xiaolong. Maybe many people don't know him, but few people haven't watched his TV series.
Zheng Xiaolong
From "Longing", "The Story of the Editorial Office", "Beijingers in New York" to "Golden Marriage", "The Biography of Zhen Huan", "Red Sorghum", "The Biography of Mi Yue", for more than 20 years, every TV series he has planned, supervised and directed has been a classic. With these excellent works, he won the Best Director Award of the Feitian, Golden Eagle and Magnolia Awards, becoming a Grand Slam winner of the Director's Award in the TV drama industry.
Poster of "The Biography of Zhen Huan"
Zheng Xiaolong had a dream: one day, he could drive a military jeep with a dusty servant on Wanshou Road, and was suddenly stopped by the traffic police to check his documents; at this time, he dressed in an ordinary soldier's uniform came to the traffic police, took off his white gloves without hesitation, patted off the thick dust on the front of the car, and the five gold stars representing the five-star general appeared suddenly; the traffic police panicked, hurriedly stood upright, saluted and apologized.
Not long after, Zheng Xiaolong's dream was filmed by Feng Xiaogang in the movie "Party A and Party B", and Yingda had a general Patton addiction in the film.
Feng Xiaogang described Zheng Xiaolong in his autobiography "I Dedicate Youth to You": "Xiaolong is a person who can write and fight, comes from a military family, and has also been a soldier, and in his bones he feels that he is the reincarnation of the Erlang God. ”
"Party A and Party B" board grandfather
Zheng Xiaolong was born on November 30, 1952, to a military family in Beijing. What impressed him most when he was a child was the books in his home full of large bookcases, which not only satisfied his thirst for knowledge, but also became the capital he showed off in front of his classmates.
The arrival of the special period disrupted the normal life of the family, and 16-year-old Zheng Xiaolong was forced to join the Beidahuang Construction Corps. On the way to the queue, in order to help his comrades get back food stamps, his shoulder blades were pierced by a knife into 7 centimeters. Because of this incident, Zheng Xiaolong was assigned to the most arduous and tired infrastructure construction class, working day and night with the labor reform prisoners. Under such harsh conditions, he relied on a copy of "Ci Hai" every day to comfort himself.
Zheng Xiaolong's old photo
In 1970, Zheng Xiaolong, like many children in the compound at that time, became a "backdoor soldier" and served in Henan. In the army, Zheng Xiaolong began to write. Only more than half a year, because he admired Zheng Xiaolong's literary talent, the instructor asked him to write a year-end summary of quanlian, and Zheng Xiaolong also lived up to high expectations and handed over an answer sheet that satisfied the leader.
Later, Zheng Xiaolong was transferred to the organ as a propaganda officer, full-time news reporting work in the army. At the same time, this job also provides convenience for Zheng Xiaolong's reading, and he can enter and exit the library at will.
In 1975, Zheng Xiaolong ended his military career and was assigned to the Rural Department of Beijing People's Radio as a reporter.
In 1978, the second year of the resumption of the college entrance examination, Zheng Xiaolong took the college entrance examination with his colleagues.
Due to years of reading accumulation and work experience, the college entrance examination is not difficult for Zheng Xiaolong, except for mathematics. "I didn't go to Peking University, because I didn't take the math test, I didn't do it at all, and when I went to college, I wanted to test what level I was." The other four courses, Language, History, Geography, and Politics, scored more than 330 points in total, and the total score of these four subjects was enough to score the score line, so (I) was admitted to the Chinese Department of Peking University. ”
Stills from "The Story of the Editorial Office"
In 1982, Zheng Xiaolong, who had just graduated from university, came to the Beijing Television Art Center (formerly Beijing Television Studio). Due to his outstanding business skills, he was promoted from editor all the way to deputy director of the Beijing Television Arts Center.
At the Beijing Television Art Center, Zheng Xiaolong has planned and organized a number of TV dramas that have aroused strong repercussions in China, such as "Longing", "The Story of the Editorial Department", "Beijingers in New York" and so on.
"Beijingers in New York" Wang Qiming and Ah Chun
Among them, "Longing" ignited China in the winter of 1990. Once the drama was broadcast, the ratings were as high as 90%, and its popularity can be described as "ten thousand empty alleys, the world argues". At that time, the garbage truck would also play the theme song of "Longing", and the kindergarten teacher did not teach children's songs, but taught children to sing "Longing". Even thieves have to go home to watch the "Longing" live broadcast. According to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security, during the broadcast of "Desire", the crime rate plummeted by 30%, and the Ministry of Public Security also awarded a "Maintenance of Social Order Award" to the crew of "Desire".
"Longing" Wang Husheng and Liu Huifang
Throughout Zheng Xiaolong's works, his themes are mostly based on reality, and the reason why his works are so successful is that in addition to putting the people first, there is no sacrifice for the quality of the works.
"Longing" poster
For the sake of the quality of the work, Zheng Xiaolong's drama, there is no cheap.
The TV series "Beijingers in New York" tells the story of Beijingers in New York, and in order to ensure authenticity, the tv series must be filmed in New York. And all of them going to New York to shoot will undoubtedly greatly increase the cost. It was suggested that Zheng Xiaolong could finish filming all the locations in the United States and then return to China to shoot indoor scenes, which would save a lot of money. Zheng Xiaolong immediately rejected the proposal.
Poster of "Beijingers in New York"
At that time, the budget cost of "Beijingers in New York" was 1.5 million US dollars, and in order to raise enough money, Zheng Xiaolong ran a number of banks, begged for people everywhere, used his own assets as collateral, and finally got a loan for this money.
In the end, the work not only received super high ratings, but also won multiple awards for the Golden Eagle Award and the Feitian Award. During the broadcast, Liu Huan's "Ten thousand miles, I am pursuing you..." spread throughout the streets.
In addition, the cost of service in TV series such as "Golden Wedding", "The Biography of Zhen Huan", and "Red Sorghum" is higher. Among them, the post-production of "The Biography of Zhen Huan" lasted nearly ten months, and Zheng Xiaolong had people erase the distant mountains behind the Hengdian Palace Complex frame by frame, because the real Forbidden City is not surrounded by mountains.
"Golden Marriage" Tong Zhi and Wen Li
Zheng Xiaolong once said frankly: "Quality is much more important than quantity, because high quality has an advantage, after you shoot, (works) become an asset of your company, and you earn money every year." In his heart, as long as the final scene is good, it doesn't matter how it is "done".
"Meritorious Service" poster
Not long ago, the main theme of the film and television drama "Meritorious Service" directed by Zheng Xiaolong ushered in the finale, with 8 characters, 8 units, each paragraph of 6 episodes, and each episode made people cry. No matter what the theme of the film and television drama, it seems that with Zheng Xiaolong, there is a guarantee.