The domestic sci-fi drama "Three-Body Problem" has come to an end, but the influence of this drama may last for a long time.
In addition, the producer Tencent Video not long ago officially announced the shooting plan of "Three-Body: The Great History" and "Three-Body II: Dark Forest".
Some time ago, the film and television exclusive dialogue TV series "Three-Body Problem" chief director Yang Lei and visual director Lu Beike listened to them talk about the creation process of the TV series and their own "Three-Body Problem" past.
A tribute from two fans
The origin of Yang Lei, Lu Beike and "Three-Body" can be traced back more than ten years ago. Both are science fiction fans and have subscribed to Science Fiction World magazine since the 1990s. In 2006, "The Three-Body Problem" began to be serialized in the "Science Fiction World" magazine, and Yang Lei was immediately amazed: the best Chinese science fiction novel appeared.
Yang Lei
But it will take 13 years for him to become attached to "The Three-Body Problem". In June 2019, at the 22nd Shanghai Film Festival, producers Bai Yicong and Yang Lei sat next to each other. Bai Yicong asked bluntly, are you interested in making "Three-Body Problem"? Immediately stopped Yang Lei. Both he and Lu Beike are big fans of "The Three-Body Problem", and they have also heard that someone in China is preparing to shoot "The Three-Body Problem", but they never thought that this burden would fall on their shoulders. He said, let me think about it. When
returned to the company, Yang Lei consulted with Lu Beike. "Hurry up, hurry up", Lu Beike didn't even hesitate. Normally, he seldom gets emotional. But in front of his favorite "Three-Body Problem", he couldn't restrain his joy.
Beike Lu once served as creative and production director at base/fx, the largest US-funded film visual effects company in China, and has extensive experience in special effects production. When watching "Three-Body" in his early years, he imagined how to use the technology at that time to present the world in the book. This time, the opportunity finally fell to those who were prepared.
Lu Beike
During the days when Yang Lei went home to reread "The Three-Body Problem", Lu Beke wrote a 20,000-word long letter to Yang Lei, in which he wrote about his various interpretations of "The Three-Body Problem", as well as the current domestic film and television special effects technical level.
In the letter, Lu Beke wrote: If our professional career can coincide with "Three-Body Problem", we will have no regrets in this life. “I told him that with the current technical reserves, there are no technical barriers in special effects. The technical barriers we often talk about are not just whether it can be made, but whether the technology can be successfully completed at a given cost. "
This letter gave Yang Lei a reassurance. He began to think, if he were to direct "Three-Body Problem", how should he shoot each scene? In the past, he always fantasized about that distant world from the perspective of a reader; now, after he walks into it and reads the whole novel from the perspective of a director, he is 70 to 80% sure.
In July 2019, Yang Lei and Lu Beike had a long phone call and decided to take over the job.
Yang Lei wrote a short essay for Tencent Video, the producer. Based on Lu Beike's experience, he analyzed the technical feasibility of "The Three-Body Problem" in film and television. Determined to adapt, he soon received a "reply letter" from Tencent Video, let's shoot. In August, Yang Lei officially joined the group.
At that time, the chief screenwriter Tian Liangliang and his team had written the script for more than three years, revised more than 20 drafts, and explored many paths. "The Three-Body Problem" is the Huang Zhong Dalu in Chinese science fiction literature, and no one has the confidence to change it. Do you want to add popular elements? Do you want more suspense and criminal investigation elements? Do you want to make it into a pure science fiction drama?
In the end, Sun Zhonghuai, vice president of Tencent and CEO of Tencent Online Video, made the decision and set the tone of being loyal to the original. This coincides with Yang Lei's previous vision. "As soon as I joined the team, I told Lao Bai (Bai Yicong), don't change it. The height of the original work is beyond our reach. He said, don't worry, the script is based on the original work."
Yang Lei is I opened the script with a "prickly" heart. In his words, this is the scrutiny of a fan of the original book. Unexpectedly, the overall context of Tian Liangliang's script is very clear, and some deliberately omitted details and anti-story tendencies of Liu Cixin in the original work have been made up. After that, he used this as a basis to rush to work on the director's draft.
"Da Liu's novels are based on thought experiments as the guide, but to make a play, you need to change your thinking appropriately, the characters must be complete, and you mustThere must be growth, there must be warmth, and there must be relationships between characters. For example, Xu Bingbing in the book only has one line, but in the play she plays the role of talking point. Through her explanation, the audience can better understand some serious scientific concepts. "
In addition, the main creator also made many details of "Three-Body Problem" comedic. For example, the "relic"-style humor in Shi Qiang's lines, and Wei Cheng's Jinan dialect and Qin Shihuang's Guanzhong dialect. In Yang Lei's view, this is very necessary. The style of the original work is relatively cold, and most audiences' requirements for film and television dramas are still based on fun.
Wei Cheng speaks lines in dialect, which was also discussed in advance by Yang Lei and actor Zhao Jian Zhao Jian is a "drama lunatic". No matter how many lines the characters have, he strives to perform wonderfully every time he plays. Wei Cheng is a math genius, but he is also an idiot in life. He can calculate the three-body problem without sleep for three days and three nights, You can also not take a bath for a month. Such a person is too lazy to learn Mandarin, so wherever he is from, he can only speak that dialect.
"In the scene of Qin Shihuang, in addition to the dialect, there is also Huayin's old accent. When I was in college, I went to Beijing Renyi to watch "White Deer Plain". The Shaanxi accent in the play was particularly shocking. In addition, I stayed in the Northwest for a long time. When the scene of Qin Shihuang was filmed, the voice in my head suddenly jumped out. I think it must be added, to embed the roots of traditional Chinese culture into Chinese science fiction stories, and let it find its roots. "
Taking photos of Red Bank
The most surprising thing about "Three-Body Problem" is the restoration of the Red Bank base in the book, apart from the display of the game world. In the novel, there are many descriptions of the Red Bank base. He spent most of his life there.
Yang Lei has filmed a lot of dramas of the Republic of China and many modern dramas, but his works rarely involve the 1960s and 1970s. In his words, he is a bit afraid to shoot this The story of a period of time. Firstly, that period of time was too close to the present life; secondly, he was born in 1979, so he was worried that his lack of life experience would make the taste wrong.
In order to make a good shot of the line of Hong’an Base, Yang Lei and Lu Beike did a lot of desk work. There were very few video materials at that time, and they were not very practical. After many efforts, Yang Lei and Lu Beike found thousands of photos from the 1960s and 1970s, and took each photo Ask old comrades who have life experience about the past.
"There is a photo of many people queuing up holding lunch boxes. I asked what is this for? The styling instructor, Mr. Chen Minzheng, told me that we would line up for everything, including eating and going to work. Not only lined up, we also sang. At that time, everyone's living conditions were singing, queuing, queuing, and singing. "These photos have provided great help for Yang Lei to reproduce the Red Bank base line. Whether it is the appearance of the Northeast Forest Farm, or the shape of the characters in the play, the decoration of the base objects, and the way the actors speak, they have done their best to be as well-founded as possible. Keyi.
Lu Beike said that the interior scenes of the Red Bank Base were mainly shot in a studio in Beijing, while the exterior scenes were shot from a mountain in Miyun and Heihe respectively. The line of the Red Bank Base was shot for a month and a half. Ye Wenjie The scene of cutting the rope was done in Heihe, when it was the coldest time. There is also a painful joke here.
When Ye Wenjie was cutting the rope, it was snowing in the sky, and the snow here was done by CG. Take pictures of the snow in Heihe, and greet the local people in advance. At that time, the forecast said that cold air was coming, and snow began to fall all over the country. As soon as we heard the news, we immediately informed the crew to go to the Northeast. It was snowing all the way to the north, and it was precisely because of the snow that the convoy was stuck on the road, and it took more than 20 days to arrive at the latest. With so much snow across the country, Heihe didn't even fall at all. No way, only artificial snow. We rented all the snow machines in Heihe and took shots one by one. As a result, after we left, it began to snow in Heihe. "Lu Beike smiled. Although
wants to restore the original work, in Yang Lei's view, restoring the original work is not the same as "picking out the book", but to show the flavor of the original work. If compares the book and the play word by word, you will find In fact, there are still many differences. It is impossible for actors to memorize all the lines in the book. After all, "Three-Body" is not only for fans of the original book, but also for ordinary sci-fi fans and ordinary people who are slightly interested in sci-fi. The public.
"Some people just can't see it, it doesn't matter, it's a good thing to attract one. maybe you todayI can't watch it anymore, and I will watch it again in a few years, and suddenly find that I can watch it. No matter when the audience comes, it is not too late. "
In order to lower the entry threshold as much as possible on the basis of ensuring the taste of the original work, "Three-Body" has thought of many ways. For example, the countdown in Wang Miao's eyes. In the original work, this plot is only a few lines. But in the episode In the movie, Yang Lei used one and a half episodes to show Wang Miao's fear. This is a process of deliberate strengthening. Only when the audience understands Wang Miao's fear at that time, will they resonate at the same frequency when they see the arrival of the sophon at the end of the film.
Why can sophons make scientists commit suicide? It would be hard for the audience to convince the audience if the contents of the original work were directly quoted. But through the countdown to "never disappearing" in front of Wang Miao's eyes, through his conversations with his wife, daughter, and friends, and through the universe he observed Flickering, everyone can experience a sense of oppression that is immersive and frightening.
"Those who have watched it may remember that the color saturation in Wang Miao's countdown scene is very high. We want the audience to empathize with Wang Miao's state at this time. He is on the verge of collapse, and despair surrounds him. Including the later shot of "you are bugs", we also used a very dynamic shooting technique. Think about it, for ordinary people, you can't bear it for three seconds, but Wang Miao endures it all the time. "Lu Beike said. The
scene where the young Ye Wenjie and the elderly Ye Wenjie looked at each other was also carefully designed by Yang Lei. In the original book, the elderly Ye Wenjie did not return to the Third Red Bank Base. This is the original plot of the chief screenwriter Tian Liangliang. "I think the screenwriter is I want to stand on the stage of history and express a sense of depth. I read the script repeatedly, and finally a flash of inspiration occurred, and the picture popped up in my mind. It would be wonderful if the two generations of Ye Wenjie could look at each other at this time. "
Difficult but meaningful things
Lu Beike designed three major types of visual effects for "The Three-Body Problem". First of all, the realistic style. Since the realistic shooting technique was set at the beginning, Yang Lei made a bold decision , to achieve real-scene shooting as much as possible. For these real shots, we must try our best to erase the traces of special effects, even if there is post-processing CG processing, there should be no traces.
Secondly, it is the animation style in the game world.This is also for better Serve the authenticity of the plot. Although the Trisolarans talk to eto, they have no way to provide hardware support for the earthlings. With the graphics card level of the earthlings in 2007, they can only achieve the level in the play. This part refers to the 3a at that time Great work. However, Lu Beike intentionally made the light in the game more expressionistic than the movie, and many scenes are backlit.
There are also some of them, which are in the style of scientific and educational films with artistic treatment. For example, the shooter hypothesis in the play, the farmer and the fire The Chicken Hypothesis is neither realistic nor purely artistic, but a bit like the early science and education movies.
"We deliberately enlarged the size of the planet and reduced the distance between the planet and the star to make it easier to understand. The real universe is very empty. When you look at the stars from a spaceship, they are all small dots. Lu Beike said. In the
Guzheng operation scene, the crew moved to several places. In the original
, the Guzheng operation took place in the Panama Canal. The canal is very long, and it takes a few days for the boat to pass. Yang Lei originally planned to lead the main creator to the Panama Canal Gaillard Waterway, but they couldn’t leave the country at that time. The local people looking for it didn’t know how to use aerial cameras, so they had to give up.
Lu Beike said, “We found a National Geographic documentary later, and there happened to be an episode about the Panama Canal. The art team started looking for locations based on the documentary. First I went to the Lancang River in Yunnan, and then to the Changhua River in Hainan. It turned out that there was no suitable place, so I had to use seven or eight places to form a canal. "The
canal is "found", and we have to consider the ship. After searching for a long time, I finally found a ship under maintenance in a port in Zhoushan. After getting the specific data of the ship, Yang Lei began to design the lens.
Nanometer When Si cut through the "Judgment Day", the eto members on the ship fell in response. How to fall and where to fall is also a matter of knowledge. Even if people can fall at will, mechanical factors must be considered where the cut ship fragments fly.
Here Another story. In order to shoot the Guzheng action scene, Yang Lei deliberately left an open space in Hengdian. But after measuring it, he found that the area of the ship island was too large and would occupy the space of the crew next door. He went to discuss it with the other party. The producer asked, what do you film? "The Three-Body Problem"". The other party was very excited when he heard it, saying that they were all loyal fans of "Three-Body Problem", and they demolished the already built scenes without hesitation.
"Why do people like "Three-Body Problem"? Probably because it provides a whole new world. You may encounter trivial problems in life, but as long as you pick up "Three-Body Problem", you will forget your troubles involuntarily. In the long river of the universe, we are all dust."
Lu Beike agrees with Yang Lei's point of view, he said that what science fiction works teach us is the courage to face the unknown. Even if the future is unpredictable, people always have the courage to meet it. This unknown may be the space, the ocean, or the human brain.
"The Three-Body Problem" was a success. Whether it is Chinese science fiction literature, science fiction film and television or science fiction fans, it is a real "breaker". Before it, there has never been a drama that can show the space epic and the rules of the universe on such a scale, and it is rare that the game can be shot so exquisitely. Not to mention, it also examines the chaos of human nature, reflects on past turmoil, and questions one's own soul.
Yang Lei said that this is inseparable from the full support of the producer Tencent Video. The "Three-Body Problem" project is a meaningful but not necessarily rewarding thing. Sci-fi dramas have a long shooting cycle and require a lot of funds. Without extremely firm beliefs, it is impossible to succeed. "Maybe this is seeking benevolence and obtaining benevolence," Yang Lei said.
【文/马二】
