The recent hit "The Age of Awakening" is very popular, there are many comments, most of them are praised, such a high-quality TV series can indeed give the audience a sense of excitement, like to watch, watch like to think, think about a sense of "awakening".
Watching "The Age of Awakening" is easily reminiscent of "Towards the Republic", and these two dramas can be seen as having a certain historical continuity. "Toward the Republic" presents in a panoramic way the magnificent and difficult process of overthrowing the imperial system and moving toward the republic by the people of all nationalities in China; while "The Age of Awakening" presents the era and history of the New Culture Movement and the May Fourth Movement in a panoramic manner, clearly reflects the early spread of Marxism in China and the whole process of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and brilliantly shows the heroic style of the awakened people in that awakening era.
Both of these dramas have become charming historical dramas, because of their profoundness and excitement, let the audience touch a lot and linger.
Sun Yat-sen (stills)
First, the historical period reflected in "Toward the Republic" is about 1894 to 1917, although the time is only 24 years, but it covers almost all the major historical events in this historical period, and it is a microcosm of the history of modern China. It highly restores real characters, objectively evaluates historical events, creates a vivid and full character image, and avoids the one-sided description of the character image in previous historical dramas, which is very exciting.
First, "Towards the Republic" highly restores real people, so that the character image "lives" in the real scene.
"Towards the Republic" restores real history, first of all, to restore real people, and to restore real people, we must choose the right actors. Tv dramas that show modern history have an advantage, that is, it is easier to find real photos of historical figures, but there are real photos for the production team of tv series both advantages and disadvantages, the advantage is that they can truly understand the real appearance of historical figures, and unlike long-term historical figures, only know people do not know the appearance, which is convenient to find very similar actors to play; the disadvantage is that historical figures leave real photos, which gives the crew great restrictions, because the director has to screen actors according to this, actors do not look like it is not OK, And this is a challenge for finding actors.
In the real history, Li Hongzhang, Empress Dowager Cixi, Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen, Ito Hirobumi and many other celebrities have left photos, therefore, the director team must carefully select actors, first of all, to select "similar" actors, director Zhang Li attaches great importance to careful selection of actors, when the actors "audition", must be recognized by all members of the crew. In addition, it is not only necessary to "resemble", but also to act "like a god", so that an actor can play a good role. Director Zhang Li showed a keen eye for discerning the "famous characters", so that the characters in the play can truly restore historical figures.
Li Hongzhang and Wang Bing (image comparison)
For example, Li Hongzhang is a very important character in the play, in order to select the actor who plays Li Hongzhang, the crew selects it nationwide. In the play, Li Hongzhang was 71 years old when he appeared, and it was difficult to choose a relatively old actor who "resembled", and after careful selection, director Zhang Li selected Mr. Wang Bing, who was nearly 70 years old, to play Li Hongzhang, and Mr. Wang Bing not only "resembled" the elderly Li Hongzhang, but also played Li Hongzhang very "god-like". Li Hongzhang, played by Mr. Wang Bing, has become a very brilliant character in "Towards the Republic" and has become a highlight of the play. The image is real, the connotation is rich, the tension is moderate, and the taste is intriguing.
Empress Dowager Cixi and Lü Zhong (image comparison)
For another example, the image of Empress Dowager Cixi in her later years is also a more difficult role to play, Cixi is old, but she is still sensitive and vicious, and it is difficult to perform her true characteristics without deep acting skills. Director Zhang Li invited the retired state-level actor Lü Zhong to play Cixi, although there are slight differences in "shape", but after the excellent performance of the old actors in Lü Zhong, the image of Empress Dowager Cixi in "Towards the Republic" has achieved the effect of both form and god, very close to the true image of the elderly Cixi, steady and calm, vicious and fierce, very sensitive to politics, and the image of a greedy and powerful feminist strategist with great means is vividly displayed.
Yuan Shikai and Sun Chun (image comparison)
Another example, Yuan Shikai is not easy to act, in the past some TV series, always played Yuan Shikai very domineering, faint, in fact, Yuan Shikai is a very wise and resourceful person. "Towards the Republic" unexpectedly let the famous actor Sun Chun play, which shows the keen vision of the director team. Sun Chun is not so "similar", in order to play Yuan Shikai well, Sun Chun deliberately "fattened" and strives to be more like as much as possible, and relying on his excellent acting skills Sun Chun interprets Yuan Shikai very wonderfully, has great ambitions, can bend and stretch, is familiar with power plots, does not keep the bottom line, and is good at drilling camps.
▲ Sun Yat-sen and Ma Shaohua (image comparison)
In addition, It is not easy for Dr. Sun Yat-sen to be well-shaped, and it is necessary to perform the glorious image of a great man, but also to act as a revolutionary with flesh and blood and personality characteristics; if the performance is not good, it is easy to act into the image of "false big space", and if the restoration of real people does not grasp the good measure, it will damage the image of the great man. The director team invited Ma Shaohua to play Mr. Sun Yat-sen, and Ma Shaohua's face was very "similar" to Sun Yat-sen, and in "Toward the Republic", because Ma Shaohua acted very carefully, he performed Mr. Sun Yat-sen's brilliance, which was very "god-like". Ma Shaohua is known as "drama maniac", acting is very engaged, he himself said that he "interpreted Sun Yat-sen with enthusiasm and sincerity", he admired Sun Yat-sen's concept of "the world is just", he used his heart to feel the heart of the great man, understand the words and deeds of the great man, and acted very successfully.
Second, the main creative team of "Towards the Republic" pursues high-quality TV series production, and the production of scenes, costumes and music is very exquisite.
After more than 3 years of planning and filming of "Towards the Republic", its main creative team is mainly the people and horses of the TV series "Yongzheng Dynasty", the screenwriter is composed of writers Sheng Heyu and Zhang Jianwei, the director is Zhang Li, the camera is Chi Xiaoning, and the composer is Xu Peidong.
The production team pursues high quality and focuses on refining.
First of all, "Towards the Republic" explores the combination of high-definition technology of film lenses and television, and the combination of film shooting methods into the shooting of TV series, which is a major breakthrough in TV series shooting techniques.
The drama team specially built the largest indoor panoramic photo studio in China at that time, covering an area of 16,000 square meters and a construction area of more than 4,000 square meters, in The Daxing District of Beijing. In accordance with the axis arrangement of the traditional palace, seven scenes were arranged in the shed, including the parliament hall, the weeping flower gate, the Li Hongzhang residence, the Chuxiu Palace, the Chunyou Gate, the Yangxin Hall, and the Yulan Hall. Moreover, the natural transition between the scenes with steps and doorways is not only separate and independent, but also echoes unity.
In order to make the scene more realistic, the scene in the field is set realistically in a 1:1 ratio, from the largest eaves of the gate to the smallest carving, which completely reproduces the royal style and specification style of the forbidden city in the old times. At the same time, in order to make the scenes in the play not repeat, but also for the convenience of shooting, the studio is designed with many activity backgrounds, and each scenic spot can be moved and spliced, so that the background can meet the needs of shooting and change accordingly.
Also, for the costumes in the play, it is also very particular. Its costumes are carefully designed from the color, style, and style, not only paying attention to the coordination of the costumes and scenes, but also paying attention to the unity of the costumes and characters in style, and from the court clothes, leather clothes, and even horse coats, hats, etc., they also pay attention to the plot and characters.
In the play, even the palace banquet, royal meals, etc. are very exquisite and realistic.
Cixi is very particular about eating
Finally, in terms of music, "Towards the Republic" is composed by Xu Peidong, and its theme songs "Towards the Republic" and "Young Yearning" are sung by Xu Peidong and Song Zuying, showing a magnificent momentum, adding a lot of color to the TV series and rendering the plot more fascinating.
Second, "The Age of Awakening" is one of the excellent exhibition dramas celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the PARTY, and its excellence really makes the audience fully feel it. "The Age of Awakening" depicts the outstanding awakeners of the awakening era, focuses on the people who founded the party, and highlights the lofty ideals and outstanding contributions of the pioneers of the Chinese Communist Party revolution. The drama creates a vivid and full character image with a very outstanding performance, expresses the texture of the times with very real details, summons contemporary youth to depict the exploration of a group of fearless awakeners, and ensures the excellent quality of the TV series with sophisticated production.
First of all, in the era of awakening, it can be said that the stars are brilliant, and the TV series has made Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Mao Zedong, Cai Yuanpei, Lu Xun, Chen Yannian, etc., many historical figures on the TV screen become vivid and vivid, and their arduous exploration, forge ahead, heroism and fearless spirit are awe-inspiring.
The TV series reflects the story of a group of enthusiastic young people who searched up and down for national rejuvenation a hundred years ago and threw their blood. They are a group of wise awakeners, a group of brave explorers, a group of cultural icons, a group of growing thinkers. One of the most successful highlights of "The Age of Awakening" is that the image of this group of outstanding people is very realistic, and it is shocking because of the reality.
Mao Zedong (stills)
Tv dramas that tell the main theme story can make the post-95s and post-00s contemporary young people interested in it, and have a high degree of recognition and praise for the characters in the play, which is due to the successful shaping of the TV series for the group of awakened people in the awakening era. Some people say that this TV series is "worthy of the liver and guts of the first generation of modern Chinese intellectuals who faced the great changes of three thousand years." (Tsinghua Professor Yin Hongyu) This is very reasonable.
Chen Duxiu, as the leader of the New Culture Movement, as the ideological guide of the May Fourth Movement, as the founder and editor-in-chief of "New Youth," the fearless spirit of exploration, the persistence and firm conviction of breaking through old ideas and spreading new ideas, felt many people; Li Dazhao actively explored the road of saving the country and the people, persistently searched for and disseminated Marxism, and explored the road of the October Revolution in Soviet Russia in China. Giving speeches to poor workers and training young people such as Mao Zedong are all very real and vivid. Mao Zedong followed Li Dazhao in exploring Marxism, founded the Xinmin Society, and edited the Xiangjiang Review, allowing the audience to see how a young awakened person grew into an outstanding communist through exploration and practice.
Chen Duxiu (stills)
Through the interpretation of the story of the awakening era, "The Age of Awakening" has created a group of very real, very deep, and very warm revolutionary characters, who are obsessed with revolutionizing the past and saving the country and the people, but they are also very "grounded" and have the characteristics of ordinary people's ordinary life.
Zhang Yongxin, director of "The Age of Awakening", summed up the characteristics of the character shaping of the play: "First of all, the core of film and television art is also the art of people, and living people and three-dimensional people can make the audience accept. Secondly, the actor's god seems to be greater than the shape, but several of the main actors in the play have achieved the effect of both form and god, and when shaping the characters, they must not only show the highlight moments of the characters, but also show the multi-faceted nature of historical figures, which is also one of the considerations for truly restoring historical figures. ”
Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao (like)
Secondly, "The Age of Awakening" shows the texture of the times in very real details, so that the characters and events in the play have distinct characteristics of the times.
The TV series "The Age of Awakening" presents a magnificent historical picture from 1915 to 1921, starting from the founding of Youth Magazine and culminating in the plot of the founding of the Communist Party of China. The director and creative team pay great attention to the production and creation of details in the play, and very realistically show the real background and object details of that era. According to producer Liu Guohua, the large buildings in the play, from the metal buttons on the uniform; to the jujube trees in the courtyard, to the paper of the magazine; to the furnishings of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the toothbrush and tooth powder used by the characters in the play, whether it is the size, shape or material, they all strive to reproduce it realistically.
Director Zhang Yongxin said: "Realism is the primary factor for us to build trust with the audience, and we can be precise in every way we can. He said that the details in the play are in line with historical logic, such as the aluminum lunch box where Mr. Cai Yuanpei eats, the pencils, warm water bottles, and female Dan who sings Beijing opera in the play, although it is only a picture of seconds, but it strives for excellence.
The truth and accuracy of this detail presents the texture of the age, giving this work the characteristics of the times and aesthetic realism, and the characters and events in the play are so real and shocking precisely because there are real details.
Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi (stills)
Third, "The Age of Awakening" summons contemporary youth by depicting the exploration of a group of fearless awakeners, so that contemporary youth have a high sense of identification with the awakened people in the play.
Director Zhang Yongxin said: "How to face the ruts that have not changed for 2,500 years to face the ship's strong guns, there is only one way - awakening. "The TV series focuses on showing how a group of young people with great ambitions, courage to explore, and unswerving determination in the face of the Western ship and cannon advantage, along with the innovation and revolution of neighboring countries, have awakened. The TV series depicts how awakened people take new paths in the "rutted traces" of old social forms.
In the play, there are often muddy roads in front of Chen Duxiu's homes, and the fan editors of "New Youth" have wried through the mud again and again, which means that the awakened people are persistently exploring on the tortuous and difficult road.
The play brilliantly shows the awakened people's dedication to "establishing a heart for heaven and earth and establishing a destiny for the people" and the revolutionary character of daring to be the first, depicts the determination and persistent exploration spirit of Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Mao Zedong and others who are determined to save the country, and their thinking, speech, and actions embody the revolutionary style of the awakened people at that time, reflecting the feelings of the young people of that generation, who are enthusiastic, fearless, courageous, unswerving, and embody positive energy, thus triggering the emotional resonance and upward resonance of contemporary young audiences.
In short, the exquisite choreography and excellent production of the TV series "The Age of Awakening" ensure the quality of the drama and make it a charming historical drama.