Pictures provided by Visual China
Editor’s Notes
Good screenwriters are like ingenious dream weavers. They can convey their own thinking and values through their works, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the waves of emotion and resonate with them. At the intersection of literature and film, they are not only screenwriters, but also creators and disseminators of culture. Their works have left a lasting mark in history and have become classics in our hearts.
——"China Young Writers News" Editorial Department
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Zheng Xiaolong: Creators must have a sense of responsibility
China Youth Daily·China Youth Network reporter Yang Yue
There is always a story that is unforgettable , there is always a melody that touches the heartstrings, and there is always a character coming for you... "Desire", "Beijingers in New York", "The Story of the Editorial Department", "Golden Wedding", "The Legend of Zhen Huan", "Ferritory"... these can be called classics The plays are all produced by Zheng Xiaolong and his team.
In Zheng Xiaolong’s view, when the audience cannot feel the beauty of people, they will not accept it. When the audience can feel it, it is easy to accept it. "For example, for simple people, it is important to express their simplicity. Don't shoot them in a way that shows how great they are in leading the masses. They are unknown and have never thought about how great they are. If they work hard and steadily, they may end up with nothing. Get results." Zheng Xiaolong said.
Literature and art reflect life and influence life. Creators must have this responsibility, as well as this kind of consciousness and courage
In 1982, Zheng Xiaolong, who had just graduated from university, came to the Beijing Television Art Center (formerly Beijing Television Studio). Due to his excellent business ability, he was promoted from editor to director of Beijing Television Art Center. Zheng Xiaolong has worked here for 27 years, completed many "top-down" works, and won many "Five One Project" awards.
"The first time we discussed the script of "Desire", a bunch of us discussed it in a hotel for four or five days. At that time, we were initially planning to write a drama that mainly took place at home, so it was decided to be an indoor drama. There was also a factory office scene, which required A lot of outdoor scenes. The second thing that needs to be determined is who the protagonist is. We hope to reflect the truth, goodness and beauty in life, so we chose a protagonist like Liu Huifang, who is positioned as young and beautiful, kind and virtuous, and works hard for her family... But no matter what the plot is Design must be carried out within the framework of realism." Now, recalling the original script of "Desire", Zheng Xiaolong will also lament how important the creative environment plays to the creator.
From adapting novels or being given topics by leaders to moving towards independent creation, Zheng Xiaolong often looks for topics and ideas with the active literary youth around him. It was in this creative environment that a large number of phenomenal realism-themed TV series such as "Beijingers in New York" and "A Romantic Affair" were born.
What makes Zheng Xiaolong happy is that these dramas with realistic thinking have not only received high ratings and good reputation, but also played some unexpected roles. "In "Beijingers in New York", at first, did everyone think that it would be too derogatory to foreign countries? But it is true that "foreign queue jumping" is not as wonderful as everyone imagined. That year, our "going abroad craze" did cool down to a certain extent. This is the impact of a drama on reality." Zheng Xiaolong recalled that after "Desire" was broadcast, the crime rate dropped, and the crew received a commendation from the Ministry of Public Security. After "Golden Wedding" was broadcast, the Women's Federation told him that the divorce rate even dropped to a certain extent that year.
"This is the direct impact of literary and artistic works on reality, not to mention how much inspiration the beauty of human nature reflected by realism and the lashing of the darkness of human nature has brought to everyone. Our era still has a realist attitude, and literature and art reflect life, To influence life, creators must have this kind of responsibility, as well as this kind of consciousness and courage." Zheng Xiaolong said.
Costume dramas must also enhance the heaviness and appeal of the drama. It cannot do without a good value system.
Many viewers born in the 90s and 00s know Zheng Xiaolong because of "The Legend of Zhen Huan". The broadcast of the show triggered a viewing frenzy and even opened up overseas markets.Having filmed so many modern dramas, the costume drama "The Legend of Zhen Huan" was also a great success. Many people said that Zheng Xiaolong always "steps on the popular points".
"I didn't deliberately step on any popular points, but I insisted on realist creation methods and insisted on observing reality, so it was easy to step on it." Zheng Xiaolong said, "The Legend of Zhen Huan", "Red Sorghum" and "The Legend of Mi Yue" are all based on It was made with a realist attitude. There was a review in the first issue of "Qiushi" magazine in 2014, which mentioned that Zhen Huan was a criticism of marriage under the feudal system. This made Zheng Xiaolong very happy and felt that it spoke to his heart.
"We are not talking about the love between lovers in ancient times. Some previous costume dramas made the palace beautiful and happy, and the emperor was affectionate and sexual, which is not in line with historical materialism. We read this novel because there is a good relationship between the characters, but if there is no good relationship, The value system will not work. I set the plot to the Yongzheng era in the hope of increasing criticism of the feudal system." Zheng Xiaolong said.
"There are less palace fights in "The Legend of Mi Yue". The palace fights here are not only for favors, but also for the feelings of family and country." After "The Legend of Zhen Huan", Zheng Xiaolong has new and in-depth thinking about "The Legend of Mi Yue", Mi Yue Yue opposed hereditary inheritance and valued military merit. He was a representative of the advanced productive forces in the transformation process from slavery to feudalism in Chinese history.
"Costume dramas must also have a historical materialist attitude and historical materialist creative spirit. They are not simply showing palace battles. Only in this way can the drama's weight and appeal be enhanced." Zheng Xiaolong said that the theme of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" is criticism , "The Legend of Mi Yue" strives to bring positive inspiration to the audience.
Only by truly reflecting the times, truly going deep into life, and facing the problems in life can we create truly peak works.
How to judge the quality of a drama? Zheng Xiaolong said that he has always adhered to two standards: "First, the characters and language must be in line with the true temperaments of real people in real life. Many works do not speak human words and do not act according to the standards of normal people, which is ridiculous. The second is Whether the values are correct, TV dramas must conform to the mainstream values of society."
Zheng Xiaolong can combine national events or creative worries into a pot of soup full of human touch. This human touch stems from his insistence on realistic creative style. He believes that everyone's personality and understanding of society in the play must be designed in advance from life.
"Sharp daily observations often make Zheng Xiaolong's works a hot-selling spiritual food of the times. Before filming "Beijingers in New York", Zheng Xiaolong went to the United States to experience life for half a year. During his time in the United States, Zheng Xiaolong modified some plots in the original work: adding the character of David and the plot of Wang Qiming and Guo Yan's divorce. In Zheng Xiaolong's view, "this is typical": "When you go to the United States, of course you have to have some contact with Americans, and the Chinese are very particular about 'the hatred of taking away your wife and the hatred of killing your father.' I will rob your business, so That's interesting."
When it comes to creative skills, Zheng Xiaolong said that he still insists that the language should conform to the true temperament of the character. For example, there are many sayings in "The Legend of Zhen Huan" that are still popular today. The Queen's "Concubine can't do it" and Concubine Hua's "Bitch is just hypocritical" have become typical language that has been "broken" by netizens. "In a specific atmosphere, this kind of language is successful if it makes you feel that it truly reflects the image of the character. The design of language depends on the identity of the character. Different identities have different languages. Pay attention to the literary and daily aspects of the language. Unification." Zheng Xiaolong said.
In addition to aesthetics and entertainment, literary works also have cognitive value. "The most important thing is the realist attitude, which truly reflects the times. Image is greater than thinking. Artists and creators must truly go deep into life, face the problems in life, truly reflect their advantages and disadvantages, and reflect without pretense. Only then can they make A work that has truly become a peak." Zheng Xiaolong said.
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Yu Baimei: The best creations always fit the pulse of the times
China Youth Daily·China Youth Network Trainee Reporter Zheng Xinyi Zhao Xiaoxuan Reporter Zhou Wei
Speaking of Yu Baimei 15 years ago, he was A gold medal screenwriter in the sitcom industry, he is now more active in the public eye as a mainstream commercial film director.
From writer, screenwriter, to director, Yu Baimei’s artistic creation path seems to be full of “accidents”. His interest in art and creative talent showed early. He loved literature since he was a child. He began arranging and performing sketches in high school. He accidentally studied computer science in college and spent several years as a "science and engineering man". After the setbacks, he returned to the creative path.
’s first face-to-face contact with comedy was in 1994. At that time, Yu Baimei was invited by classmates from the Beijing Broadcasting Institute (now Communication University of China) to be an audience member of a sitcom being filmed at their school. After the scene ended, Song Dandan, one of the leading actors, sat in the audience seat in front of him and took the lead in applauding and laughing. "At that moment, I felt that this profession was so attractive, but at the same time I was disheartened. I felt that I was too far away from this in my life."
This sitcom had a huge impact on Yu Baimei, the famous actor and director "I Love My Family" directed by Yingda, and it was still 6 years before Yu Baimei and Yingda collaborated.
The gears of fate always turn silently. An unexpected car accident on December 30, 1997 became the "turning point of Yu Baimei's life." During the few months he was recuperating in the hospital, he completed his first novel. From then on, his enthusiasm for literary creation was out of control. He began to use "Yu Baimei" instead of his original name Wu Tao, and continued to publish works on the "Under the Banyan Tree" literary website, one of the earliest gathering places for Internet writers at the time.
In 2000, a friend called and invited Yu Baimei to be a writer. Writing scripts for TV series. Without any hesitation, Yu Baimei and his friends came to Beijing to work hard and wrote the script "Diary of an Internet Bug" based on himself. Through Wang Shuo, the script was sent to Yingda, and fate went round and round, finally completing the closed loop. After that, Yu Baimei became a professional screenwriter for Yingda team, and successively created a series of sitcom scripts such as "The Idle Man Sister Ma", "A Family in the Northeast", "Xi'an Tiger Family", etc. When Yingda introduces him to others, he always says: "This is The first batch of screenwriters who grew up from my audience."
Being a TV drama screenwriter pushed Yu Baimei to success, but this is far from the end of his creative journey.
In 2009, Yu Baimei and his friend, the famous actor Deng Chao, established a drama team and launched a series of stage plays such as "The Breakup Master" and "The Villain Angel". Just when the small theater performance was in full swing, Enlight Media sent an invitation to Yu Baimei: "Do you want to make a movie? The ability to make people laugh can also be transferred to another form."
After becoming a director, Yu Baimei also Gradually a new understanding emerges from the script. "Movies are an audio-visual art. If the screenwriter is responsible for conveying ideas and constructing the texture of the story during creation, then the director is the final chief engineer, who must present these contents."
From the beginning of deciding to write a script, to Transforming into a director, Yu Baimei lamented that he "seems to have been pushed away." "If there hadn't been a car accident, I wouldn't have written a script. If there hadn't been that friend's phone call, I wouldn't have known how to get into this industry." But compared to others, Yu Baimei believes that she is more interested in the work she is doing. I am also more dedicated and focused, both as a screenwriter and as a director.
At the beginning of 2023, "China Ping Pong: Jedi Strikes Back" will be released. This is Yu Baimei's fourth film as director. For him, this is also an important step on his path as a director. "In previous shootings, most of the time I was cooking on set like cooking. This is the first time I feel that I have my own control over the camera." Yu Baimei, who is not a professional, relies on continuous learning and experience The accumulation of films clearly clarifies his direction as a director.
In Yu Baimei's view, although "Chinese Table Tennis: The Last Strike" tells a story that is relatively far away from today's life, the theme of "facing setbacks and fighting bravely" it conveys is inseparable from the current era. "The world is changing, and the themes of creation will change. The best creations can always be in line with the pulse of this era. Facing this uncertain era, what should we do? My next few works Movies and TV shows are paying attention to this matter. This is a question that needs constant thinking.”
When asked what expectations he has for today’s young creators, Yu Baimei quoted the words of a well-known foreign director: You should think about it Why are Chinese people anxious, why are Chinese people suffering, and why are Chinese people happy? This passage once deeply touched Yu Baimei. Yu Baimei said, "Art creators must work hard to help this era and our ethnic groups on the land take the pulse, and work hard to feel their voices."
As a creator, what kind of work do you want to create? Regarding this issue, Yu Baimei, who was in his 20s, had a simple idea when he first entered the industry: success would be to make a best-selling product every two years. Now, the 48-year-old Yu Baimei will answer: "I want to make works that can stay in time."
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things: the guardian and reformer of elegant literature
Wang Zhen China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily reporter Xie Wanfei
Dong Dong believes that there is an unchanging standard for writing, which is "a sound on the body." For Dong Dong, making a "real voice" and revealing the complexity of modern people and life through novels are the goals he has always pursued.
Having a background in Chinese, he has never forgotten the speech entitled "Silent China" published by Lu Xun in 1927. The pursuit of his own voice once made him see "Life without Language" that ordinary people cannot see. It also made him clearly remember the "loud slap", and even allowed him to hear the "echo" that belonged to the world.
Regarding the birthplace of Guli Village, Tian'e County, Hechi City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Dongxi recalls the mountain village in his memory, and all the people and things related to water that come to mind are difficult but poetic. It is the natural swing of the bodies of the mountain people when carrying water in the early morning mist and evening glow. It is also the innocent and comfortable feeling of children gathering around the mouth of the well when the cold wind blows, imagining how the wind can make music. From the perspective of things, those are the sources of inspiration for his creations.
In Dongxi’s early creations, there was an obvious obsession with suffering. In 1986, Tian Dailin, then a middle school teacher in Tian'e County, published her debut work "Children of Longtan" in "Guangxi Literature". This work with a strong theme came from an essay competition praising the hydropower construction of the Hongshui River. In this novel describing the selfless dedication of hydropower builders, most people focus on the heroic deeds of their parents told by children, but Rin Tashiro focuses more on the loneliness and fear of the children.
From the perspective of things, writers need to care about others, that is, to be emotionally involved, otherwise the characters they write will be cold and symbolic. His subsequent novels such as "Gutoushan", "Drunken Mountain", "Rare Guest", "Ancestors", and "The Breath of the Earth" logically describe these subtle emotions, such as Feng Shiqing who died of loneliness and illness, his eldest brother whose family was ruined, Dongcao who was bullied and who couldn't bear it. The painful vision of jumping into a river and dying began to appear in front of readers one after another. Suffering will eventually make people grow, just like the teacher Tashiro Lin who finally left her hometown and chose to become a writer.
In the spring of 1991, just when he had decided on a pen name, his father passed away in the summer. In Dongxi's own words: "These two things seemed unrelated, but they seemed to be related." Since then, the responsibility of being a father and taking care of her mother began to push the 26-year-old Tashiro Lin to grow up. From this year on, Dongxi The tone of my voice as a writer is also beginning to emerge.
In the early 1990s, the wave of reform was surging. Things that left the mountain village saw the gradual changes in people's hearts under the market economy, and also saw a strange and sensual scene.But all this seems to have no impact on things, because he just wants to tell his story quietly through writing, just as he also said, "Other than love, sometimes we can't find a better reason to write." Dongxi always says that you must love life, that is, pay attention to reality. Only when the writer's soul has a chemical reaction with reality, will their works have a chemical reaction with readers.
Dongxi is accustomed to tracing back to the origin of his writing path and the time he spent in rural Guangxi. Perhaps it was fate. Like the symbolic ending of the novel, his father's sudden collapse swept away all the illusions in the village. From then on, the village no longer had any illusions. And things seem to wake up from fantasy and turn to dig the rich mines of reality. "Writing is like digging a well, like digging coal or mining. I use a stupid method, which is to dig a hole in a place that everyone is familiar with, and then dig down until I dig out the theme I want." In other words, this so-called stupid method is actually an exploration of the inner secrets of the characters.
In 2023, Dongxi’s work "Echo" won the 11th Mao Dun Literature Award. For readers, what may be more memorable is the statement made during the promotion of the new book, "Detect love the way you solve cases." In fact, compared with Dongxi's previous creations, "Echo" changes from the serious and cold style of the past, and shows the incomprehensibleness of the human heart through a different kind of "reasoning + psychology" writing.
When talking about the division between pure literature and popular literature, Dongxi gave his own answer. "In my heart, there is only good literature, regardless of whether it is popular or popular. The ancestor of novels is originally 'popular'. I have always been the guardian of elegant literature, but to protect it, we have to 'reform' and learn from folk or genre literature. A breath of vitality..."
Based on this concept, let's look at the creation of "Echo". The use of counterpoint makes the case and emotional mystery cleverly blended. Dongxi explained: "In the odd-numbered chapters, the plot progresses rapidly, and in the even-numbered chapters, the plot almost stops, but the characters' hearts are churning, giving people the feeling that one second is longer than a year. There are two chapters together, some are fast and some are slow, some are urgent and some are slow. , having an outside and an inside, unexpectedly gaining a sense of rhythm."
Many writers often want to explore reality through novels, but Dong Dong believes that "there are so many novels today, but they still cannot keep up with the pace of contemporary life. Life is changing with each passing day. , its stories repeatedly exceed fiction, which puts pressure on the writer, as if writing is far behind life." This reminds us that in "Echoes" readers are often eager to detect love by solving cases, but things are Tell us bluntly: "Sometimes you need love to forgive hate, just like the soul forgives the body; sometimes you need to use hate to mess with love, just like properly implanting a virus to resist disease. Love is not always calm, you have to learn how to adapt." ”
“ Here in East and West, writing is similar to love. Because for things, "true love is to maintain effective communication, care about each other, find common interests, and reach cognitive consensus." And real writing "must have substantial literary resources, such as Lu Xun, Shen Congwen, Yu Dafu, Kafka , Faulkner, Sartre, etc., you must also have the determination to love life and pay attention to reality." So although love is difficult to explore, Dongxi believes, "When I question love, I have actually shown that I believe it."
Source: China Youth Daily
Source: China Youth Daily
