A few days ago, at the fourth Chuxin List Awards Ceremony, the movie "Blood Unknown River" won the "Annual Influential Film", director Yixiang won the Annual Excellent Network Director, and producer, screenwriter and starring Li Dongxue won the Annual Online Film Contribution Award. Winning three awards at once is perhaps the best reward for the film and its production team.
In fact, this result is not surprising.
As a rare network movie with the theme of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, "Blood and Nameless River" can be said to have been born at the right time. This year, there are many theatrical movies with related themes released, and people usually continue to look for similar films on the Internet after watching these movies. Therefore, although a full 7 months have passed since the launch, it is still possible to continue to brush the latest comments in the comment areas of iQiyi and Douban.
Judging from the Douban comments, most netizens did not reduce the rating requirements because "Blood Unknown River" is an online movie. Even so, the film's reputation is still strong.
It can be said that from the platform institutions to the general audience, they still maintain a continuous focus on "Blood and Nameless River". The 7-month-old online movie shows a rare long-tail effect in the field.
To this end, the film and television monologue talked with The film's producer, screenwriter and starring Li Dongxue, and talked to him about the origin, production and subsequent production of the film, the in-depth analysis of the role of Du Chuan, and his taste and industry experience by actors and producers.
A group of people do one thing well
Looking back, the encounter between Li Dongxue and "Blood and Nameless River" coincided with the "70th anniversary of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" and was also the inevitable result of his many years of attention to the field of military service and war themes.
A few years ago, Li Dongxue came across a reportage on the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, which recounted what the author saw and heard when the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was about to cease hostilities.
It is written that although the combat environment is extremely cruel, the equipment supply is seriously insufficient, and the volunteer soldiers have various physical problems, they are all excited about the coming peace and imagine their ideal life after the battle. This simple desire later became the soul that ran through Blood And The Nameless River.
In the film, Du Chuan, the platoon leader played by Li Dongxue, let the soldiers imagine their lives after the end of the war, some people want to open a sales store with their mother-in-law, and count the accounts every day; some people want to open a restaurant to sell lamb steamed buns; some people want to be a teacher and teach the dolls well... In the thick of the emotion, a group of people could not help but sing the "Battle Song of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army", which was really moving.
In a loud singing voice, Li Dongxue found the personal feelings of the warrior.
As an actor, Li Dongxue often participates in the condolence performances of some social groups, and every time he goes to the army, he has a different harvest. "I have been to many outposts and have often been touched by the iron will and patriotism of those soldiers. Once, when I went to a highland border post, I went in with oxygen cylinders, and the soldiers lived there for many years, guarding the motherland. I felt then that our soldiers were too worthy of praise. ”
In those places, Li Dongxue found the ideal of the homeland of the group of warriors.
Growing up in a military family, Li Dongxue was interested in military stories from an early age, and he also knew a lot about the battles and heroes in the fight against the United States and aid to Korea. In the process of creating the film, he and the creative team excavated the commonality of the heroes and the story of the real battles, and finally formed a battle story of an unsung hero.
In "Blood And The Nameless River", the audience can indeed see many familiar and unfamiliar characters and scenes, such as sharpshooters who do not use the scope to aim, such as the flashing Xinxingli Battle (Chosin Lake). What's more, people see a complete good story in a web movie.
It's not enough to have stories, emotions, and ideals, it's not enough to have a pair of eyes to see that era, that is, to let the actors find and believe everything. Therefore, after the actors entered the group, the main creative team deliberately cut a 40-minute interview video of the veterans of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and after watching it, everyone had tears in their eyes and something different. At that moment, Li Dongxue knew that they had found those eyes.
Li Dongxue shared: "The creation of "Blood And Nameless River" actually follows common sense in the general sense. "Although he is not a director, he often stays in the editing room with the creative team, sometimes staying up all night." I'm not the only one in the creative team, everyone has reached a consensus, like-minded, and come together to do a good job. From the screenwriter, director to the actor and even the group performance, they all work hard in the same direction, and the audience will naturally buy what they make. ”
At the beginning, "Blood Unknown River" was created according to the specifications of cinema films, and later due to the epidemic, the cinema closed its doors, and the prospects of cinema films were uncertain, the creative team finally decided to change the plan and switch to online movies, and received strong support from the platform and relevant departments.
Although due to cost and time reasons, "Blood Unknown River" is not perfect, the three characteristics it embodies to tell a good story, convey the spirit of the volunteer army, and express the feelings of home and country provide a reference for the creation of online movies.
One person dresses up a corner
Compared with the identity of producer and screenwriter, when Li Dongxue entered the role of Du Chuan, he did not feel much resistance. Previously, he played the young scientist Lin Jie in "The Melody of Endeavor", a great figure who "took the world first and realized China's dream of power generation".
Because the character was so far away from him, he went through a painful process of doubt. After communicating with the archetypal characters and conducting in-depth industry research, he finally completed empathy and entered the role.
Because he is a soldier's disciple, Li Dongxue is no stranger to the image of a warrior like Du Chuan, and he has a unique set of performance methodologies in understanding characters, grasping characters and entering characters.
First of all, the character's personality and language are set according to the character's identity.
Du Chuan is a sniper, which determines that he is a thoughtful, calm and calm person. Therefore, in the film, even in the battlefield of artillery fire, seeing his teammates fall one by one, Du Chuan is rarely hysterical, which is in line with the instinct of a sniper, and also makes him clearly distinguished from other characters.
Second, play that kind of heroic and unknowing temperament.
This is thanks to Li Dongxue's past performance experience and style. Prior to this, Li Dongxue starred in the movie "Xu Haifeng's Gun", in which he played Xu Haifeng, the "first person to win the Chinese Olympic gold medal". Later, he participated in "The Melody of Endeavor".
Both of these characters have archetypal characters, and when Li Dongxue comes into contact with the real people, he finds that they all have a "heroic and unknowing temperament". For example, Xu Haifeng, when he was training in the early years, he actually did not say that he must win glory for the country, but more of a personal struggle of athletes, but was pushed to that position step by step by the results. Before that, he didn't think he was great. The same was true of the scientist Lin Jie. ”
Li Dongxue remembered this character trait, and when playing Du Chuan, he integrated it and found the contrast of the character, so as not to make Du Chuan a face-making and symbolic hero image, and performed the effect of human warmth and freshness.
Third, it is necessary not only to perform the spirit of the volunteer army who is not afraid of death, but also to show the combat wisdom of circumventing the enemy.
"He has the strength not to be afraid of death, but this alone is not enough for us to win the war, not to mention that he is still a platoon leader, so we must fight with our brains." For the actor, how to show the perception and leadership of this character through various details is the most test. Li Dongxue said.
From the beginning of the "disobedience" to complete the task, to the grief of annihilating the enemy + revenge, and finally to helping the little warriors complete the growth of the magnificent, Li Dongxue performed Du Chuan's character arc.
One genre tells multiple stories
"For the theme of war, there is now the best creative environment." When talking about creation, Li Dongxue said without hesitation. He believes that the theme of war has ushered in an opportunity, and the key lies in how the creators solve the problem.
After participating in the complete creative process of "Blood and Nameless River", Li Dongxue found that although the war theme is difficult to shoot, as long as there is sincerity and reverence, it can be recognized by the audience.
"For example, figuring out how tactics such as 'three flowers' worked can figure out how soldiers should move, and you can also find out the general ordnance of the time through relevant information." These are not too complicated things, as long as you are willing to work hard, you really can't get sure about it, ask military advisers to check it. The audience is recognizable, and you can perceive them when you do it. ”
The success of "Blood and Nameless River" is the greatest reward for the creators' intentions, and it has boosted their confidence.
Next, Blood Unknown River will be built into a series. At present, the fastest progress is "Blood And Nameless Rush", still with Li Dongxue as the producer, screenwriter and starring, the script creation and filing has been completed, and it will be started after the preparation is in place, and it is expected to be released in the second half of next year. He revealed that from the production of the image to the cast, "Bloody And Nameless" will have a major upgrade.
At the same time, Li Dongxue has several other works on military themes in preparation, all of which come from real cases. Li Dongxue said that it was a few stories that were excited at the first thought.
If there is no accident, Li Dongxue will continue to work as a creator in the field of military and war themes in the next few years. Years of acting career have allowed him to feel the temperature of the characters more when writing scripts, and the collection and research of military materials has made him think a little more about this type of film and television creation.
He does not hide his ambitions. In addition to telling good stories, shaping good characters and conveying warm emotions as always, he also wants to work tactical tactics and warrior positions to make the images of war films more colorful.
In addition, Li Dongxue also hopes that he can find more gaps in the subject matter in his studies and take a small step upward for his works.
"For example, in 'Bloody And Nameless Attack,' it will not only continue to show the heroic battles of the Chinese Volunteers, but also express the emotions of Chinese and North Korean fighters, which is what is lacking in the current similar genre works."
In terms of performance, Li Dongxue said that in the future, he will still work hard in the direction of "personality actors" and create different personalities among different characters. Honing his techniques from actual combat, groping for the actor's mental method in daily reading, unconsciously, he has completed the screen transformation of Guo Junwang in "The Biography of Zhen Huan" to Du Chuan and other tough guys with the main theme of "Blood and Nameless River".
Nowadays, Li Dongxue, who is already a producer and screenwriter, has a more profound understanding and shaping of the role. And the past acting experience can make him always keep sharp when creating. Looking forward to the blessing of multiple identities, he can bring more surprises to the audience.
【Text/Xu Xinqiang】