In the grand scene of the film and television drama industry, there is a name that cannot be mentioned, that is, Zheng Xiaolong.
Zheng Xiaolong, who integrates many titles such as producer, producer, producer, planner, screenwriter and director, is a witness and witness of the domestic TV drama industry from start-up to prosperity, and can even be called a founder. He knows how to use people well, and with his keen market judgment, he has repeatedly become a legend in the entrepreneurial world. And the beginning of this story goes back to that winter 30 years ago.
In December 1990, a TV series called "Longing" came out, and once it was broadcast, it caused a sensation in the country, and its influence was unprecedented. For the first time, the idiom of crowded alleys has also been used to describe the popularity of TV dramas. Because of the broadcast of "Longing", the crime rate across the country was reduced at that time. It can be said that even criminals were concentrating on chasing dramas at that time.
Zheng Xiaolong, who was already working at the Beijing Television Arts Center at the time, was the executive producer of the show and witnessed the whole drama from scratch. With the popularity of the drama, Zheng Xiaolong also experienced for the first time how much public influence a good TV drama work can produce, which made him more determined in his artistic creation direction, that is, to pay attention to the true feelings of ordinary people in the context of the big era.
Subsequently, Zheng Xiaolong planned another sensational TV series work - "The Story of the Editorial Department". Ordinary people are still the protagonists of the play, and unlike "Longing", "The Story of the Newsroom" reflects the shortcomings of the society at that time with a witty and humorous and ironic perspective.
"The Story of the Editorial Board", which was filmed, could not be broadcast because it could not be reviewed. Zheng Xiaolong asked the production director Liu Sha to record a moment into a CD-ROM and send it to the national leaders at that time, and after a series of efforts, "The Story of the Editorial Department" was successfully launched.
It can be said that without Zheng Xiaolong's bold decision-making, perhaps this drama does not know when it will meet with everyone.
"The Story of the Editorial Department" is the first sitcom in China, and its own artistic value may not be long-term, but under the planning of Zheng Xiaolong, it is an indisputable fact that a large number of high-quality talents have gathered for the Chinese film and television industry. Like director Zhao Baogang, he later became a well-known director of Chinese TV dramas. Screenwriters Wang Shuo and Feng Xiaogang pioneered the Beijing-style humor of film and television dramas. The lead actor Ge You has become a "brother" in the Chinese comedy industry.
At that time, Zheng Xiaolong had a unique vision for the selection and development of film and television projects, and he had a keen judgment on the needs of the market and the audience. After the success of "Longing" and "The Story of the Editorial Department", Zheng Xiaolong set his sights on the other side of the ocean. The project "Beijingers in New York" slowly came to life in his mind.
In the 1990s, going to the United States, earning dollars, staying there, mixing up and returning to China seemed to be the life choice of many young people in China. Why did they make such a life choice? Cao Guilin tried to answer this question with the novel Beijingers in New York. Zheng Xiaolong, who has read the novel, has the desire to create a film and television. He bought the adaptation rights of the novel for ten thousand dollars. He believes that in the context of the era of overseas fever, such a film and television work will definitely resonate with many people.
In order to be able to fully present his ideas, while undertaking the production of the work, Zheng Xiaolong also personally engaged in directing work for the first time. Zheng Xiaolong is a director who pays great attention to authenticity, so he insists that "Beijingers in New York" be filmed on the spot in the United States. This also contributed to the crew becoming the first crew in China to shoot abroad.
After the crew went to the United States, he personally participated in the creation of the script. In fact, the TV series version of "Beijingers in New York" only uses the plot of the original novel in the first four episodes, and the following content is Zheng Xiaolong's re-creation on the basis of the original work.
The biggest and most important change is that Zheng Xiaolong let the male and female protagonists who were not divorced in the original work divorce early in the TV series. Because in his view, only by allowing the hero and heroine to do things that are contrary to the traditional moral concepts in China after going abroad can they truly attract the audience and complete the social functional attributes of the TV series to answer social questions. In order to answer the question of why they did not want to return to China because they did not live in the United States as they were satisfied.
Zheng Xiaolong is good at creating new character relationships to enhance the dramatic conflict of the work and make the work more attractive, so as to firmly grasp the audience's attention. This habit of his creation was also carried by him to other future works.
Zheng Xiaolong emphasizes the authenticity of art, but also is good at getting creative inspiration from real life. Zheng Xiaolong's parents are soldiers, and even when they are old, they will quarrel over trivial matters in life, and Zheng Xiaolong, as a child, came up with the idea of filming "Golden Marriage" after mediating.
What Zheng Xiaolong thinks is that marriage and love need to be managed, and cannot let trivial life consume the passion of love, otherwise a marriage cannot last, and the two are doomed to walk through a long life hand in hand. He wanted to prepare a 50-episode TV series, one episode a year, each episode reflecting an aspect of married life, in order to achieve the purpose of educating people' hearts.
This idea is good, but it is difficult to implement. Because you guarantee that the content of each episode is different, and at the same time you also ensure that the content of each episode has a strong enough dramatic conflict, otherwise the audience will easily lose interest in this long-form TV series.
"Golden Wedding" is a typical TV series created after the project is established, and zheng Xiaolong, as a director, asked the costume and props department to collect a large number of costumes and daily necessities.
It is these materials from real life that make the story of "Golden Wedding" really move the audience. The director's continuous pursuit of artistic authenticity allows the audience to truly immerse themselves in the era environment that "Golden Wedding" wants to strive to create.
Looking at today's domestic TV drama market, the works of big heroines abound. And the person who started the trend of this era is still Zheng Xiaolong.
During the filming of "Golden Marriage", Zheng Xiaolong's wife Wang Xiaoping discovered the novel "The Biography of Zhen Huan" and recommended it to Zheng Xiaolong. But after Zheng Xiaolong bought the adaptation rights, he did not rush to start filming, until 2011, the year when costume dramas were piled up, and "The Biography of Zhen Huan" was broadcast on television.
Now nearly ten years have passed, and the "Palace Lock Heart Jade" and "Step by Step" that were popular on the screen at that time have gradually been forgotten by people. Zheng Xiaolong's "Biography of Zhen Huan" is also often replayed by various satellite televisions. The fundamental reason for this lies in Zheng Xiaolong's diligent pursuit of the authenticity of his works.
The background of the story of Liu Yizi's original work is the overhead Great Zhou Dynasty, and when she made a film and television adaptation, she let the work "land" in the Qing Dynasty. Because after Liu Yizi watched "The Desire of the Golden Branch", she felt that although the story was wonderful, the etiquette in the play was not rigorous enough. She wants her work to balance plot, history and etiquette.
In order to truly restore the historical style, Zhang Xiaolong, the actor of Wen Shichu in the play, is the etiquette instructor of the Central Academy of Drama, and in addition to playing his own role, he is also responsible for the detailed guidance of the etiquette and music and dance choreography of the whole play. In order to ensure that each actor can make his role conform to the etiquette of the time, all the actors before entering the group have received half a month of intensive training, constantly repeating their own etiquette.
In terms of casting, Zheng Xiaolong also made a lot of efforts, unlike several other Qing Palace dramas in the same period, which used a large number of young actors with beautiful appearances. The actors selected in "The Biography of Zhen Huan" are all in line with the attributes of the characters, and the historical Yongzheng only ascended the throne at the age of 45, and his actor naturally cannot be a young man. That's why I found Chen Jianbin to play. The little lords of the harem cannot simply look at the appearance, and the actors must also match the temperament of the role. It is Zheng Xiaolong's excellence in every detail that has made the long-term broadcast of "The Biography of Zhen Huan" unending.
After the fire of "The Biography of Zhen Huan", some people also said that Zheng Xiaolong was a scum who promoted national culture. However, in Zheng Xiaolong's view, the expression of the confinement of human nature under feudal etiquette and the distortion of human nature under confinement is precisely the content of this drama. Zheng Xiaolong wanted to provoke the public's criticism of feudal etiquette by presenting evil content.
The reason why the TV series launched by Zheng Xiaolong is deeply loved by the audience is not only his accurate judgment of the market, but also because of his good knowledge and good responsibility. Ge You and Sun Li needless to say. Huang Xuan and Zhu Yawen can also bring surprises to the audience in Zheng Xiaolong's works.
Zheng Xiaolong feels that Zhao Liying is not a vase-style actor, and Zhao Liying will feel the role with her heart, grasp the characteristics of the role, and finally interpret the role she plays. After watching the costume dramas played by Zhao Liying in recent years, Zheng Xiaolong is more convinced of his evaluation of Zhao Liying, believing that she is a qualified and reassuring actor.
So after more than ten years, Zheng Xiaolong found Zhao Liying again and let her star in her new play "Happiness to Ten Thousand Families". This is a new challenge for both Zheng Xiaolong and Zhao Liying. "Happiness to Ten Thousand Homes" mainly tells the story of He Happiness leading the people of the whole village to get rid of poverty and become rich, presenting the material and spiritual outlook of the new socialist countryside.
This is Zheng Xiaolong's second TV series with rural themes after many years, and Zhao Liying's own role has suddenly changed from ancient times to modern new countryside. Such a new work of the two powers has already satisfied the audience's appetite before it has been filmed. Not surprisingly, Zhao Liying will also return to the peak with Zheng Xiaolong's work.
Wen | Yaoting Edited by | Zi Ling @ Naranze Self-media Editorial Department