The two directors of “Splendid Mountains and Rivers” talk about how to work hard on life-oriented processing with plain and simple bearing the grand theme
The TV series “Splendid Mountains and Rivers” is being broadcast on CCTV. Yu Chun and Lu Zibo, the directors of the show, said in an interview that the main challenge of this show is how to make it real, warm and touching, so that the audience can see it, full of human nature Rich, “No matter how lofty the idea is, without a solid story and vivid characters to carry it, everything is zero.” Therefore, from the very beginning, the two directors set the tone of the shooting: cut from the plain and simple, not suspended.
“Splendid Mountains and Rivers” stills
All cast and crew speak Guanzhong dialect
The two directors Yu Chun and Lu Zibo have both filmed poverty alleviation dramas before, but this has not reduced the difficulty of filming “Splendid Mountains and Rivers”. Yu Chun introduced that the TV series “Stone Blossom” he directed before was a collaboration with many directors, each of whom only filmed one unit, while “Splendid Mountains and Rivers” is a series with a time span of 30 years. Of course, the difficulty of shooting has increased, which also gives them more room to play. “The story time is relatively sufficient, which allows us to fully express the stories that happened in this land of China and record those worthy characters.” Yu Chun said.
Lu Zibo introduced that from the very beginning, the main creative team decided to make a work with the main theme that the audience can watch. , repeatedly deliberate on the balance between drama and life, and try to find a more suitable balance.” Lu Zibo said that “Splendid Mountains and Rivers” gave up strong drama conflicts, and showed disasters and poverty to the point, without deliberately exaggerating, not Sensational.
“Splendid Mountains and Rivers” was praised by the audience for being “true and full of fireworks”, and it is inseparable from the dialect performance that allows the audience to “enter the play”. 90% of the actors in the show are from Northwest China. Lu Zibo said that one of the major requirements for the actors is to speak the Guanzhong dialect. “We want to create the atmosphere of this play and make it as real as possible. It’s better.” The two directors also tried to speak Shaanxi dialect at the scene, and if they couldn’t understand, they just said it in a daze.
Yu Chun believes that Shaanxi dialect has a magical power. When everyone around him speaks Shaanxi dialect, he will be infected. “Director Lu Zibo has filmed in northern Shaanxi, and his language skills are relatively strong. I can’t do it, I just learn it now. It doesn’t matter, if I’m wrong, people won’t laugh at me. As a director, in order to master the effect of shooting, you also need to learn by yourself.”
Sometimes the whole scene is improvised
The creative atmosphere of “Splendid Mountains and Rivers” was very good. When the film was about to start, the actors had two or three discussions throughout the night. Each actor expressed his thoughts on his own role, and everyone collided together. According to Lu Zibo, the actors Li Naiwen, Yan Bingyan, and Hu Ming joined the crew very early, and together with the actors who played the villagers, dozens of people gathered together. “Basically, we talked from six o’clock in the evening to three or four in the morning. The teacher is also there, and we discuss the shooting direction together.”
The main creators will also “hold small meetings” in the WeChat group. Lu Zibo said: “We will pull character groups through WeChat, and some relatively segmented events will also pull a small WeChat group. Group”Runaway Group’, everyone discusses in the group first. The actors have some ideas of their own. Before shooting a certain scene, they will discuss with them a day or two in advance. I probably have a bottom line. Waiting for the shooting At that time, everyone will sit down and discuss, and discuss the final mentality of the characters in this scene, and then start shooting.”
Director Yu Chun praised the actors as “good actors with energy”. The actors contributed their own life experiences to each scene and each character, and contributed their understanding and cognition of the characters. Therefore, the characters in “Splendid Mountains and Rivers” can leave a deep impression on the audience. Even the group actors in the play have shown their best state. “Because time is tight, Zibo and I can’t cover everything, so during the filming process, knowing that some actors have a better understanding of the script, Zibo and I will also give them some tasks to let the actors think about their own characters. Biography, discuss character interpretation.”
Lu Zibo revealed that the joining of these powerful actors has brought collisions and sparks to “Splendid Mountains and Rivers”. There are a lot of wonderful “shows” on the shooting scene. It was over after a quarrel, but during the on-site dialogue, other actors participated in and added a sentence from the perspective of their own characters. As long as he put in a sentence, someone behind him would pick him up, and someone would continue to follow up. , like Solitaire, turning around and then coming back, the whole scene is very active. In the play, there are many group scenes of villagers, a group of people chatterboxes open, and they can’t hold back.” Director Yu Chun also said that when shooting scenes with many people, The actors are in a state when they match the words, but they change when they are actually filming. “It may not be the words, but the words that are compared are still accurate and vivid. Sometimes almost the whole scene is improvised.”
Filming a scene wearing a padded jacket around the stove on a hot summer day
Lu Zibo revealed that Li Naiwen, Wang Lei, and Yan Bingyan all worked hard to control their diet for this poverty alleviation drama, so as to get close to the appearance of the characters in the drama. “They worked hard before they started shooting, and during the filming process, they ate very little food. Li Naiwen only ate vegetable leaves. In addition, it was extremely hot during filming. They had to sweat a lot every day, and physical work was exhausting. From before the filming process to filming For about a month, Yan Bingyan basically didn’t eat seriously. Because she had to play a more affluent mother in the previous drama, and that drama required her to gain 30 catties. When she came to the crew of “Splendid Mountains and Rivers”, she had to lose the 30 catties first. Go down, and then reduce it down.” Director Yu Chun added: “Yan Bingyan took a bite of rice one day and said ‘sin, sin’. Don’t touch any carbs. It’s really not easy for an actor.”
For this shooting, the crew caught up with the hottest month and a half of this summer. Lu Zibo said: “At that time, the surface temperature in Henan was 40 to 50 degrees Celsius, which was very hot. The staff and cast members in the group all suffered from heat and cold, including myself.” There is a scene in the play that the country canceled the agricultural tax in 2006. A big event was announced in the winter, and the actors would wear cotton jackets and light the stove to perform. Lu Zibo recalled that the day of filming was extremely hot. Li Naiwen and Yan Bingyan sat on the edge of the kang in cotton-padded jackets and watched TV, and a big stove was lit next to them. Think of another way. Li Naiwen and Yan Bingyan looked at each other, and within three seconds, they said, “No, let’s shoot, let’s not delay the scene.” Therefore, the filming team tried their best to set up the camera as completely as possible, and strived to complete it in one go. Even so, two sets of camera positions were taken. “The scorching heat is a big obstacle. I would like to thank the cast and crew, who have withstood the scorching heat.” Lu Zibo said.Reporter Qiu Wei