November 7th, 2022 | Total Issue 3048 What can touch and infect people? true, true, true. So how can it be true? One is to ensure that the scene is real, and the other is to be professional in rescue operations.
Although " Light Chaser " is very difficult to shoot, the response has been very good. I got a lot of DMs wishing I could do more rescue scenes.
My directing experience has been honed from play to play, play by play. I may be more straightforward, the love that bubbles in the sugar water can't attract me, and the "true love in adversity" can be unforgettable.
The lingering vehicle explosion on the highway, and the oppressive mudslide under the closed ruins... "Light Chaser" with the theme of civil public welfare rescue, with the professionalism and authenticity of the emergency rescue scene, won the audience's praise .
These rescue scenes are very difficult to shoot, but they are director Zhang Tong's "comfort zone". War dramas such as "Battle Flag", "Ten Send Red Army", " Fury Hero ", etc., have allowed him to accumulate a wealth of field control capabilities. The hardcore scenes that the audience sees today are his twenty years of accumulation.
is not competing for the first place, the contention is endless. The film and television outlet has changed and changed, and the theme trend has turned and turned, but Zhang Tong has never followed the trend, but chose to take root on the set and absorb nutrients.
Director Zhang Tong
Last year, he came up with " You Are My Fortress " (hereinafter referred to as "City"), which combines the feelings of the family and the country with the love of the children. After the episode was broadcast on the whole network, it landed in the prime of the Central Eighth, and received numerous praises; now, "Light Chaser", which has achieved remarkable results, has been on the top of the Tencent video hot list for several days since its launch, and the cumulative number of mango TV has exceeded 4 100 million.
Director Zhang Tong's works include "square" and "circle". He believes in the creativity of actors, and handles the relationship between actors and characters flexibly, in order to achieve the smoothness of the characters' emotions and the perfect growth.
Director Zhang Tong let us see that the slowest pace is not stalking, but wandering; the fastest pace is not sprinting, but persistence. Below
, is director Zhang Tong's self-report.
wanted to be "square" in filming, and
decided to take on "Light Chaser", I only spent one night.
Last March, I received a call from Suri, the producer of "Light Chaser", when I was filming the revolutionary historical drama "Hundreds of Forged Steel" at Xiangxi , hoping to talk to me about the "Light Chaser" project.
I said that I am squatting in the suburbs, and I will make an appointment when I return to the urban area of Hengyang. Unexpectedly, Mr. Su flew to Zhangjiajie the next day and came to Xiangxi to meet me.
That night, after the show, I chatted with President Su in the hotel where the crew stayed. "Light Chaser" tells the story of a non-governmental charity rescue organization. The story of the "Light Chaser Rescue Team" in the play is inspired by the Blue Sky Rescue Team . The play involves a large number of emergency rescue scenes, such as earthquakes, landslides, karst caves, glaciers, etc., and it is very difficult to shoot.
I was born in military and rural dramas, and have some experience in shooting hardcore scenes. But I am still relatively unfamiliar with disaster dramas, and I know very little about the field of civil public welfare relief. The screenwriting team of
has been polishing the script for three years. They have visited the Blue Sky Rescue Team in Beijing, Zhejiang, Huizhou and other places, and integrated many real rescue incidents into the story. The characters and plots are very solid. As the first "Light Chaser" with the theme of non-governmental public welfare rescue in China, it is both novel and rich in practical significance.
I chatted with Mr. Su all night long, with dark circles under my eyes, but I was very excited. The next morning, I decided to shoot! I want to shoot the stories of these civilian heroesCome!
do what they say. In early April, after the filming of "Smelting Steel" was officially completed, I rushed to Shanghai to adjust the script with the screenwriter team, and went to the Blue Sky Rescue Team bases in Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other places to chat with rescue experts face to face.
I have only heard the name of the Blue Sky Rescue Team before, but I have no idea that since its establishment in 2007, it has grown so large that it has become the main force of civil rescue in my country.
During the inspection last summer, during the flood disaster in Henan, the Blue Sky Rescue Team went to rescue many people. All the team members join voluntarily. They come from all walks of life, including lawyers, doctors, teachers, couriers, takeaways... But as soon as they have a task, they will become part of the rescue team. I remember the team members having dinner with us during the finale banquet, and some people got a task in the middle, put down their chopsticks and went straight to the scene.
After communicating with the experts, we decided to "purify" the rescue events in the script, retaining representative cases such as earthquakes, landslides, karst caves, glaciers, etc.; deleted similar events that recur in the script, such as The 300-meter Tiankeng rescue in episode 30, the original script was written three times. I left the space that I vacated to the characters.
Finally, the ratio of rescue incidents to the lives and occupations of the protagonists is about 3:7. Although the rescue scene only accounted for 30%, it accounted for more than half of the 100-day shooting cycle.
We average 2-3 episodes with one big rescue event and 1-2 minor events in each episode. Small incidents such as before the supermarket shelves fell, Robben ( Luo Yunxi ) used his body to protect the little boy; Xiong Fei (Xu Shaoying) went home from get off work after delivering the courier, and rescued the neighbor child who stumbled in the air...
they It increases the visibility and realism of the content, which can not only show the characteristics of the characters, but also give a small boost to the plot. The big events of
need to be concentrated in space to show.
My creative philosophy has always been "moving people's hearts" as the highest criterion. What can move and infect people? true, true, true. Wen Wuzhen is empty talk, Wu Wuzhen embroidered legs, and Xi Wuzhen is illusory.
So how do you make it real?
First, we must ensure that the scene is real , can use the real scene and use the real scene, and try to restore the 1:1 restoration of the real scene, so as to create a "immersive" feeling.
Second, rescue operations should be professional. life rescue is a very serious matter that requires very professional rescue knowledge, and there is no room for sloppy life. Every time a large rescue scene is filmed, members of the Blue Sky Rescue Team will follow and guide.
The most difficult is the cave rescue in episodes 24 and 25. Due to the sudden rain in the play, Ding Dingding ( Li Tingting ornaments), Luo Yuan ( Yang Anqi ornaments) and two ALICE friends are trapped in the inner cave of the cave and are in danger of being submerged at any time. For the first part of the cave exploration, we found a real cave in Hangzhou to shoot for a whole day. The swollen part of
was replaced by the simulated karst cave we built in Hengdian. When the water was waist-deep, we started shooting. When we filmed the scene where the rescue team dived in and brought out the trapped people, we had already poured the water to a depth of 4 meters.
took 6 shots of true and false combination, and the whole set of scenes was finally completed.
The scene of the snow mountain rescue was also built by us. When the snow mountain rescue scene was filmed, it was midsummer and the weather was over 40 degrees. The actors wore thick down jackets and blew heavy snow with artificial goose feathers. Sweat all over, muddy legs, and a pool of water in the shoes. In one shot, several actors suffered from heat stroke.
There are more things out of your control. During the filming of the 21st episode of the search and rescue scene of the speedboat on the lake, there was a sudden storm and the entire crew was stuck by the lake. There was no preparation. All the cameras had to protect the machines with their bodies, but two of them were damaged and repaired overnight. Shooting can be resumed the next day.
But I am very moved by the cohesion and drive of the team, the actors are very hardworking, and at the beginning, everyone will not be able to rappel independently, and when it was finalized, each actor could rappel and tie knots independently.
In terms of production, we have achieved the "square": adhere to the creative standard and face the difficulties.
shoot people to be "round", truth is supreme
"Light Chaser" has three emotional lines set up, each pair of CPs has different chemical reactions, different painting styles, and different themes.
Robben and Zhanyan ( Wu Qian ) are two-way healing, and the bond is the deepest. This drama is also a three-part work of Luo Yunxi and Wu Qian, and the two have a tacit understanding.
Luo Yunxi's image with elite lawyers is very close, he has a good understanding of the characters, and can always put forward his own ideas. Many people thought he was too thin to be a rescue team member. But the rescue team members are also ordinary people, not superheroes. After taking off their team uniforms, they are tall, short, fat and thin, and have their own identities. Robben is a lawyer and the "brain" of the team - a think tank, who has made great contributions to the rescue team.
Wu Qian called me almost every day before starting the game to discuss how to present the character Zhanyan.
Wu Qian designed Zhanyan as a girl who is cold on the outside and hot on the inside. Due to family reasons, her appearance is cold. She said: "Director, don't worry, I will slowly give you back the beauty in your mind." The Zhou Mingming in my heart is a delicate boy with a rich second-generation cynical temperament and a kind heart. Tintin Ding is a free and easy girl with her own little world. When
auditioned, I fell in love with Li Mingde and Li Tingting. Facts have proved that the effect is good, "Three Ding Er Ming" brought a lot of joy to the audience.
Xiong Fei and Luo Yuan are "missing" and fulfilling. They have gaps in their secular life, Xiong Fei has been in prison, Luo Yuan can't speak, but after they meet each other, the gaps fit together, the two sides become complete, and there is an ordinary firework atmosphere.
The principle of "moving people's hearts" also applies to romantic scenes. I may be more straightforward, the love that bubbles in the sugar water can't attract me, and the "true love in adversity" can be unforgettable.
So I tend to put the turning point of the protagonist's feelings at the moment of life and death. In the basement submerged by the mudslide, Robben and Zhanyan exchanged heartfelt feelings; in the karst cave submerged by the rainstorm, Zhou Mingming gave up the oxygen cylinder to Tintin Ding.
To survive before the disaster is to fight against the heaven and the earth; to leave the hope of life to the other side is to fight against human nature. This kind of struggle has strong penetrating and infectious power, and can touch everyone's heart.
"City" was my first love scene. At the beginning, I didn't even know what "sprinkling sugar" and "wall dong" were. Later, I also understood that I should not express my feelings full as soon as I came up, but pursue a natural progression.
"City" Li Mi Yu ( Ma Sichun ornaments) and Xing Kelei ( Bai Jingting ornaments) have been obsessed with each other for two years, which resulted in a less obvious increase in the final emotional arc. In "Light Chaser", I let Robben and Zhanyan go from "Pride and Prejudice" to falling in love with each other, and the audience can clearly see every turn of their relationship.
From acting to directing, I have accumulated
I am an actor, and in 1991, I entered the Chinese opera committee training class of Sichuan Renyi. After graduating, I worked in Sichuan Renyi. After a few years in dramas, I began to play some marginal roles in film and television dramas. So I really believe in the creativity of the actors themselves.
Before the start of each scene, I acted it out in my mind and controlled the general direction of the performance before shooting.
The rest is left to the actors to collide with. My shooting habit is, I don't call cards, just watch how they play. As a result, they often improvise a lot of fun things, although there will be laughs, but the chemistry is stronger.
Actors are realistic carriers of characters, the audience can only see the characters through the actors. What are the conditions of the actor, I try to design some small details for the actor to make the audience believe that he is this character, which is regarded as "teaching according to his aptitude".
For example, in "City", Bai Jingting's complexion was very white. Even if he did tanning makeup, he still didn't look like a special police officer who was exposed to the sun all the year round. In order to solve this problem, I added a scene and asked Xing Kelei to roll up his sleeves to prove himself, "I'm still white? I'll show you how white I was!"
The current experience and achievements are my 20 years The director experiences precipitation. And it was my mentor Mao Weining director who discovered my directing ability.
In 2002, I got to know Mao Dao, and in Mao Dao's works, I slowly moved from assistant director to executive director.
In 2011, I was the director of Group B of "Battle Flag", and my performance was okay, so I went on to film " Oath Eternal ", "Ten Send Red Army" and "Ordinary World", with more and more experience. In 2016, Director Mao promoted me to be the director of group A of ", the Frontier of Love".
hammer after hammer, ring after ring. It can be said that my directing experience has been honed one after another, one after another.
Director Zhang Tong (left) and Director Mao Weining on the set
In 2009, I had a " seven-year itch ". At that time, I was the assistant director of "Shanghai Shanghai", and I felt as if I knew everything and could go out and take pictures.
Mao Dao discovered my "mindful thoughts" and talked with me all night. He told me not to be jealous of how much fame and fortune other directors have gained, but to be down-to-earth, focus on works, and accumulate shooting experience. He said to me, "My today is your tomorrow."
I was completely absorbed, and only studied how to shoot each scene well. In 2018, the producers of "City" approached me because I left an impression on them when I was the assistant director of " Lone Hero " and the director of Group B of "Battle Flag".
Although I have never filmed a modern drama, they believe that I can collide with the actors to create a different spark. At the same time, they also hope that our team, which is good at shooting realistic themes, can bring "City" to a new height.
Director Zhang Tong (second from left) on the set of
observes the principle of being small and strong, while being dedicated and strong. My current Group B director is my apprentice. I have been with me for 12 years, and I have been a field manager for 7 years and an executive director for 4 years. Now I am a Group B director. I believe he can climb mountains in small steps like me.
Although every new work is a new theme and a new challenge, my years of directing career have given me the confidence to move forward. Although the shooting of the non-governmental charity rescue theme of "Light Chaser" is very difficult, the response has been very good. I received a lot of private messages, and everyone hoped that I could do more rescue scenes in the future. The audience likes it, that is the biggest affirmation to me.
will have a chance in the future, and I would like to take the team to try out the costume drama that is full of rage. Of course, no matter how the subject matter changes or how new the field is, 's guiding philosophy will not change: adhere to realism, strive to restore reality, and make works that move people's hearts.
[Text/Time One]
