A while ago, the film circle quarreled because of an old film.
The cause is the re-screening of the classic old film "The Eternal Wave".
It would have been a good thing.
And this re-screening is also quite interesting:
Black and white to color, 4K restoration.
A new poster that fits the aesthetics of the moment was also introduced.
But the problem is that on this poster —
The signature of "Screenwriter Lin Jin" was deleted.
From the old poster, we can see:
The signature of screenwriter Lin Jin is not only eye-catching, but also ranks first in the credits, which shows the importance of his status.
Why, after 63 years, screenwriters have become negligible?
This can cause the anger of many people.
The Chinese Film Literature Society soon published a long article denouncing it, saying that "the right of writers to sign is inviolable."
Under the pressure of doubt, the filmmakers made changes to the poster.
Added the signature of "Screenwriter Lin Jin".
And replaced the old poster from before.
But things didn't settle down.
New questions come again —
The order of the screenwriter's signature is incorrect, and it is placed after the director's signature.
The China Film Literature Society once again issued an article questioning it.
It was pointed out that tampering with the order without authorization violated the "right to rank" stipulated by law.
Until now, the re-screening party has not responded.
Whether there will be a lawsuit in court in the future is unknown.
However, the problem of "screenwriter signature" is difficult for us to ignore.
"The Eternal Wave" became the "Screenwriter Who Disappeared Forever".
Behind it, it reflects a major chaos in the Chinese film and television circle.
"The Eternal Electric Wave" is an important work in the history of Chinese film.
Younger generations may be strangers.
But among our fathers, almost everyone knows.
It is based on real deeds and is the first spy film to tell the story of an underground party organization.
Since its first release in 1958, it has been remade many times in the form of movies, TV series, and stage plays.
The classic re-screening, which is worth supporting.
And this time it is still after 4K repair + black and white to color.
Older viewers can relive the past, and younger viewers can look back at the classics.
Unfortunately, this good thing has triggered a storm and exposed the long-standing problems in the Chinese film and television industry.
The status of Chinese screenwriters is getting lower and lower.
The horizontal poster also put screenwriter Lin Jin in the first place
You know, the screenwriter of this film is actually extraordinary.
"Lin Jin" is not a screenwriter, but a pseudonym composed of three heavyweight screenwriters, namely:
Du Yin, Li Qiang, Huang Gang.
All three of these people have a lot to offer.
Du Yin, who went to Yan'an to participate in the revolution at the age of 20, studied in the Drama Department of Lu Xun Academy of Arts and Literature.
After the establishment of the Central Film Bureau, he was hired as a special screenwriter for the Screenwriting Institute.
Huang Gang also studied in Yan'an.
He is a famous reportage writer, political commentator and outstanding journalist in China.
Before going to Yan'an, he worked briefly at the Central Film Studio, the Kuomintang's official film institution.
Therefore, he was very familiar with the daily state of Kuomintang officers and agents.
This experience later became an important material for him to write the script of "The Eternal Wave".
The most powerful is still Li Qiang.
He is a legend of underground work and was the chief of the Central Special Section.
He is also a scientist who has developed China's first radio transceiver.
He is also an economist and once ministered to the ministry of foreign trade of our country.
Li Qiang's legendary experience provides the most direct, moving and true historical material for the film.
All three screenwriters were revolutionary fighters, and this film is undoubtedly one of their most precious legacies.
Just deleting it like this is unreasonable.
Excerpt from "Zongheng", No. 4, 2017, Ma Shang-Raven
Not only that, but the deletion of the screenwriter's signature is also suspected of violating the law.
On June 1 this year, the newly revised Copyright Law came into effect.
Article 17 thereof provides:
The copyright of film works and television drama works in audiovisual works shall be enjoyed by the producer, but the authors such as screenwriters, directors, photographers, lyricists, composers shall enjoy the right of attribution.
Also, here's a detail worth noting.
Screenwriters are at the forefront of all positions.
Since it is the order of legal recognition, posters should not be changed arbitrarily.
Such a move can't help but be very confusing:
Do they really not understand?
Just change from black and white to color, can the screenwriter's name be deleted or listed behind?
Screenwriter Wang Hailin said in an interview:
"Who really looks down on screenwriters, ignores screenwriters, and bullies screenwriters?" It's our people in the film and television industry, not the audience, it's our own people."
This also reflects an important issue of the moment:
Screenwriting, which was originally the most important job in the film industry, has become increasingly insignificant.
In the past, Chinese films were not like this.
Although the film market has not been as lively as it is today.
But at that time, the screenwriters had names and surnames on the posters, and even the names were written before the director.
For example, in 1956's "Railway Guerrilla".
Written in the first place is the screenwriter Liu Zhixia.
Another example is "The Red Detachment of Women" in 1961.
The first one written is the screenwriter Liang Xin.
There is also 1964's "Little Soldier Zhang Ga".
Screenwriter Xu Guangyao's name is still written in the first place.
It can be said that in the Chinese films at that time, the screenwriter was the highest-ranking one and the core of a movie.
The script, i.e. the "book of a play".
There are screenwriters who lay the foundation for the film in the front, and there are post-production directors, actors and even releases.
Countless excellent screenwriters have promoted the development of Chinese films.
but.
With the gradual marketization of Chinese films, the status of screenwriters has not risen but declined.
Nowadays, most of the first people who think of a movie are directors or actors.
There are very few who can talk about the screenwriter at once.
The publicity does not mention the screenwriter, which is very common in today's domestic films.
For example, "Bomb Disposal Expert 2" released in the finale last year.
In the promotional videos and posters released before the release, a list of actors, directors, and film companies was written, but only the names of screenwriters Li Min and Li Sheng were missing.
As a result, the "Hong Kong Screenwriters Rights Alliance" specially issued a criticism.
Only then did the new promotional materials of "Bomb Disposal Expert 2" make corresponding changes.
Screenwriter Ren Xia, one of the initiators of the "Hong Kong Screenwriters' Rights Alliance", once said in an interview:
"Without the right of authorship, the work we do cannot be put into our resumes, which really affects our lives." In addition, the play that took a lot of effort to write, and the result was that there was no name when it was broadcast, which is a very unjust and repressive situation."
New version of the poster
The same mood also appeared in the screenwriter Yu Fei's body.
He is a well-known screenwriter who has written dramas such as "Foreigner" and "Crossing the Yalu River".
When "On the Cliff" was released this year, he deliberately sent a circle of friends.
The two surnames of "Yu Haolei" and "Fei Fan" were drawn in a circle, indicating that they were also on the poster.
Of course, he was not the screenwriter of the film.
This move is just a reminder that the big poster does not have the names of the screenwriters (Quan Yongxian and Zhang Yimou) signed.
Although there is some black humor, it is really a bit sad.
A reporter interviewed Yu Fei, why did he not sign the screenwriter on the poster?
Yu Fei said frankly:
"In fact, most screenwriters, including me, if people don't know you, then the name is signed, and there is not much commercial value." 」
To put it bluntly, giving a screenwriter a byline has become a commercial practice.
But the problem is that if the screenwriter is not signed, it is difficult for everyone to see.
It's harder to get business value.
This pushes the profession of screenwriter into a dead end.
In addition to not attributing the screenwriter, another chaos has been derived -
Not a good signature.
For example, in 2010's "Orphans of Zhao".
Only Gao Xuan, who participated in the script creation, was given the title of "pre-script creation".
Another example is the "Little Times" series, "Traces" and other movies.
In addition to the screenwriter's signature guo Jingming, there are also a number of screenwriters who have been signed as "associate screenwriters".
Later, Guo Jingming repeated the same trick on "Actors Please Take Place 2".
In the short film "Immeasurable", he signed himself as a screenwriter and two others as associate screenwriters.
The tumultuous operation of the short film "Immeasurable" caused a lot of controversy at that time.
As mentioned earlier, "attribution" is only the most basic problem faced by screenwriters.
They also have to face all kinds of problems caused by the outside world.
For example, the director arbitrarily changed the script.
A similar story was told in the movie "Nanhai Thirteen Langs", based on the famous Cantonese opera arranger Jiang Yuhao.
The script written by Jushiro was changed beyond recognition by the director.
He went to the director for an explanation, and instead of explaining, the director forcefully threw out a sentence:
"I'm the director of this play, and I say I'll change it."
Another example is the poor level of actors and forced to change the script.
Just like Wang Hailin once publicly complained, Party A asked the screenwriter to reduce the difficulty of the plot.
Because the traffic star can't play, the lines can't be memorized.
"We haven't written more than two lines of lines in years."
The situation of screenwriters today is completely different from that of decades ago.
There is neither freedom of authorship nor freedom of creation.
It seems that the whole industry is against screenwriters.
Many people say that the story of domestic films is too badly made up.
This pot is often carried by screenwriters.
But in the face of such an embarrassing situation, the screenwriter seems powerless to change.
In 2015, Xu Yuanxiang, vice president of Alibaba Pictures, gave a speech.
He said that he will no longer invite professional screenwriters, but invite all kinds of handwritten stories to achieve the purpose of creating a super IP.
This statement immediately attracted the insults of the entire film and television industry.
Although the incident ended with Xu Yuanxiang's apology, we did not think about it:
What he is talking about may be the mainstream idea of the current film and television industry.
Compared with the past, today's Chinese film market is more free, and more and more capital has been involved.
Commercial blockbusters at the billions at the box office seem to have become commonplace.
As a result, the commercial attributes of filmmaking have become more and more important.
Since it is a business, the shrewd businessman naturally wants to exchange the lowest cost for the highest profit.
In order to reduce the risk, the filmmakers naturally choose big stars and big directors.
And unwilling to bet more time, energy, and money on the screenwriter.
Is it a bet on an unknown story to explode, or a few familiar faces on fire?
In the face of interests, this decision must not be difficult to make.
Such a movie may make money.
But for the development of the film industry, it is like using a knife to slowly cut a hole.
The industry is becoming more and more impetuous, and few people have sunk their hearts and spent time and energy polishing a script.
Because no matter whether the story is good or not, as long as there are stars and traffic, the box office will not be bad.
The results are obvious.
A bunch of bad films, very few good films.
The low salary of screenwriters has long been an open secret in the industry
Shi Zhongshan, who wrote "Happiness Is Like a Flower", once said:
"First-line screenwriters are paid at most 200,000 or 300,000 per episode, while the price of first-line actors, 600,000 or 700,000 episodes, is cheap." 」
"Happiness is like a flower"
As a result, a vicious circle is formed within the circle.
In such an environment, it is even more difficult for newcomers to emerge.
There is nowhere to stretch the talent, and there is even a risk of being "white prostitute".
Just like there have been young screenwriters involved in the script writing of "Fourteen Years of Chenghua" before, but they have not received a signature.
Screenwriters are not respected, which naturally leads to the scarcity of screenwriting talent.
The decline and even marginalization of screenwriting talent will inevitably lead to the inability of the entire industry to progress.
In comparison, the status of Japanese and Korean screenwriters is very high.
Especially in South Korea, the three major TV drama production companies Green Snake, Sanhe and PAN Entertainment all adopt a screenwriting center system.
The script of authoritative screenwriters, even the big-name directors and actors can not be modified without authorization.
And in each link of selecting actors, determining the name of the play and marketing promotion, we have a voice.
South Korean gold medal screenwriter Kim Eun-sook
In the past two years, the screenwriter of the popular Korean drama "Kingdom" Jin Yinji once said that Netflix "never expressed any opinions, only gave money".
The reason why Netflix can launch so many explosive self-made dramas is also revealed behind the trust and respect for the screenwriter and the creation.
In terms of movies, Korean directors and screenwriters are also willing to sink their hearts to polish the script.
Like director Bong Joon-ho, who has not heard from him for a long time.
The Oscar-winning "Parasite" was two years ago.
The scripts for each of his films were patiently created by himself and his partner during the retreat.
Although not prolific, the results are there for all to see.
"Parasite" screenwriters Han Jin-won and Bong Joon-ho
Respecting the screenwriter is actually respecting the creation.
This is also the most basic premise for the development of the film and television industry.
And now, we are still signing a screenwriter's name, begging for it.
Seeing him on the poster is an eyesore, he will also delete it at will.
How helpless, how pathetic.
There is only one "benefit" to a screenwriter's unsigned name.
Even when a film is bad, we can only scold the director and the actors.
Because, screenwriters don't exist.