Text/Momo
Editor/Fufu, Quanquan
Tencent Entertainment and New Entertainment Partners have launched the "People in the Drama" column to focus on the behind-the-scenes of popular dramas. This is the 6th issue. Exclusive conversation with Zang Xichuan, director of the popular Tencent Video drama "Black Soil Silence", about the behind-the-scenes story.
During the critical period of withdrawing county districts, three people died mysteriously overnight. The suspect was caught in the first episode, and the suspect admitted to the murder in the third episode... The fourth drama series "Black Soil Silence" by Tencent Video Countless "why?" pop up in my mind.
And this is exactly the "one play, one frame" of "Black Soil Silence" in x theater. It focuses on the line of cold realism criminal investigation drama, and uses the perspective of criminal investigation to show the social beings and destiny choices under the changing times. The "slow reasoning" detective process that peels off the cocoons and has rich layers is an in-depth exploration of human emotions and human nature.
From "Ten Days Game", "Sleeping Garden" to "Nine Righteous People", the first three genre dramas directed by Zang Xichuan all scored above 7 points on Douban. For "Black Soil Silence", he led the team to shoot on location in Mudanjiang, a snow city in Northeast China. He used his lens to inject a cold temperament into the series and also left more ingenuity in the lens, bringing the ultimate sense of immersion to the audience. and a sense of participation.
The following is Director Zang Xichuan’s autobiography:
It was so cold that I shivered when shooting in the ice and snow, and there was an evil wind blowing during the shooting.
The screenwriter of "Black Soil Silence" writes a story about the Northeast, and we also hope to create a cold winter atmosphere in the play. Because in this environment, the little people running and struggling for their own lives are more in line with the characters' mood. Therefore, we chose to start shooting in Mudanjiang in February to authentically present the story of Northeast China under the ice and snow.
Filming in the Northeast in winter is really hard. When the weather is cold, it is normal for your car to get stuck in the snow. The most difficult part was shooting on the ice. The ice surface is very slippery. Everyone walks on it at a different speed than usual, and the overall efficiency is definitely lower than usual. Safety comes first, and there is no rush. However, the daylight hours in the Northeast are very short in the winter, and I am not a good director. Sometimes, in order to grab the daylight, I may not put the meals on time, or ask the staff to work in shifts. The winter meals will get cold after being left out for a while, and they have to put them on the ice. Eat with the cold wind blowing on your face.
There are many night scenes in "Black Soil Silence". It is normal to stay up late to shoot. We also stayed up several all-nighters on the ice. It's colder on the ice at night than during the day. It's okay if there's not a strong wind, but when the wind blows, it's even harder to shoot. In the scene where Yang Xuesong and Chen Xiaoming were lying on the ice chatting, the audience seemed very comfortable watching the two people, but it was extremely cold that day. I was shivering with cold even in my down jacket and cotton shoes, and the two of them were on the ice. Shoot for two hours. There was also an evil wind blowing at that time. If the audience pays attention to details, they will find that snow blew in from the top of the screen while they were talking. The wind was very strong, and the lighting lamp swayed wildly when it was hung up. It would cast a shadow, and it was wrong to have a shadow. I waited for the wind to stop before taking pictures, but the strong wind blew out several lights. After filming this scene, Yang Yutong (played by Chen Xiaoming) said that he was almost frozen.
Therefore, I always say that if you don’t have love for this industry, you really can’t do it. It's really cold, but every time I see a beautiful picture through the camera, I feel it's worth it. Oh, I've come to the right place. It's great. I won't feel cold anymore.
was filmed in a subtle way, and it does not affect the viewing even if you can’t understand it.
Seeing the audience’s various interpretations of Chen Xiaoming’s mother holding the key to the new house given by Yan Hongqiao to persuade her daughter, I was particularly happy that the audience noticed the key. Details, these are indeed some of the ingenuity we added during the shooting: the mother shook her head at her daughter with tears in her eyes, but the key was already in her hand. Some people may engage in high moral kidnapping, but in front of themselves, what choice would they make? Maybe some people will say that I will definitely not be like them. I believe that, but everyone has their own ambitions. I also believe that she has taken it. People are different.
I used an implicit way, and the camera flashed by. Once you understand it, you will understand it. If you don’t understand it, it will not affect the viewing of the play.
When shooting "Black Soil Silence", I didn't want to express it in a particularly obvious way. There were some small thoughts, not just through the characters' language. For the first scene with Chen Xiaoming’s parents, I used a fixed shot. There were no close shots of the two actors. Because the furnishings and environment of her home, the conflicts and entanglements between husband and wife are not an individual case of a certain family, but a point in a group portrait. It doesn’t matter what these two faces look like. What matters is what kind of environment these two people are in and what are they doing? What did the audience feel after watching it?
In fact, in every scene, we are thinking about whether there is a better and more clever way to express it, without being so straightforward. For example, in a scene before Yang Si killed his master when he was young, our camera slowly went up from a pair of feet on the ground. There were cigarette butts around the feet, so the audience could feel that this person had been standing for a long time and was doing an intense job. ideological struggle. Because the blow he made was too difficult. If you kill the master, the child may be saved. How to balance between these two lives? This is very worrying stuff. People who can see these ingenious ideas can also see more things.
Chen Jianbin said, "If you want to take more pictures, just tell me." Deng Jiajia's performance was tense
Teacher Chen (Chen Jianbin) and Brother Jun (Hu Jun) really love to think about the drama. Every scene is carefully thought out, and the best thing is possible. The much-talked-about scene of feeding dumplings in the interrogation room was written in the script, but it was either feeding dumplings or they figured it out.
The good thing about our script is that we didn’t make the negative side so stupid, allowing the characters to confront each other rather than one side being crushed. The two of them acted out this tit-for-tat confrontation to give people the feeling that their boats and oars were being wiped out in the midst of talking and laughing, and the trick was over in the midst of talking and laughing. I had a very strong sense of immersion when I watched the two of them acting on the spot. Basically, there was only one machine, and I just watched the show there. Sometimes I had to remind myself whether some important points were covered.
Netizens praised Mr. Chen for his first scene of picking onions and eating noodles, saying that he understood how Northeastern people eat noodles. The scene of eating noodles included picking onions in the script, but he came up with it himself. He must have gone to find out how Northeastern people eat noodles. Brother Jun also did a lot of design for the characters. For example, in the fourth episode, his son gave Yang Si a new mobile phone and placed it on the table while he was eating. After his son left, before taking the mobile phone, he wiped his hands on his chest and clothes a few times. Just such a subtle action not only allowed the audience to see his living habits as a person at that level, but also his cherishment of the mobile phone given by his son and his love for his son.
Audiences said that Wang Ping, played by Deng Jiajia, did not look like a female boss. In fact, we chose her because we didn’t want to be sidelined. If you find an actor who looks like a boss lady, everyone may think that whatever she does is natural. On the contrary, Deng Jiajia doesn't look aggressive, which makes people think that such an incompetent person can do such a thing. Achieving such a big career will make people interested in discovering how much she has shouldered and how much she carries in her heart.
Moreover, Deng Jiajia's performance is very tense and calm, which can also make people feel her inner things and power. She herself is also striving to improve her performance. There was a scene that was very difficult not only for the actress but also for the actor. Her hands were tied behind her back and she was dragged along the ice and had to struggle and roll in various ways. We took two pieces, each one is very long, but each one feels a little flawed. I think the two pieces are OK when put together. She said that the director would not leave any regrets, and would come again and shoot until she was satisfied.
Teacher Chen also told me after taking pictures for a few days, if you want to take more pictures, just tell me directly, no problem. Brother Jun is also very easy to talk to. When I told him that I needed more time to shoot today, he always said, "You go ahead and do it." I really met a wave of good actors. There may be a lot of good actors like this in China, but it is quite rare to meet so many good actors together.
Focusing on the behind-the-scenes case, reflecting people's control over desires
In July 2021, Bing Chen, the casting director of "Black Soil Silence", told me that there was a genre drama project that he wanted to film with me. I thought it would be the kind of strong plot, For a drama that is particularly dramatic, I find it difficult to come up with new ideas. I refused without even reading the script. Since we are good friends, he insisted that I read the script.
After reading the script, I found that it was different from what I imagined. It follows the delicate line of socialist reasoning, and is more about exploring people and the emotions between people. It is the things behind the case rather than the case itself. It reflects the complexity of people and the complexity of human nature. I think this is interesting.
Just like on the first day of broadcasting, I can see that the audience is guessing the murderer, and their guesses are almost accurate. But even this seemingly simple case, where the murderer can be seen at a glance, can make the audience think countless why? For example, when Yang Si denied it at first, why did he suddenly admit that he had killed someone? Why did he kill people? What's the problem between him and Yan Hongqiao? Speaking of which, it comes down to emotional matters, the blood relationship between father and son.
Yang Si's life was very tragic. He encountered countless forks in life and made countless choices. The premise was all because of relatives, family, and emotions. His choice is very heartbreaking. Everyone has a different perspective and understanding.
And "Black Soil Silence" tells the story of the times that have created all kinds of people through the experience of this character. In this environment, after seeing some opportunities, some people hope to work hard with their own hands. Some people want to speculate and do things that make huge profits, thereby expressing people's control over desires. Many people in the play are led to the road of no return precisely because they cannot control their desires.
The key to this type of drama is to play games with the audience, and it is interesting to have some pulling.
From 2020 to now, he has directed four genre dramas in a row. It is not that he has a special liking for this type of plot, but he got his start by filming "Ten Days Game" , all the ones I came to find were dramas with a bit of mystery. After filming several dramas, based on my own observations in life, audience feedback from past dramas, and watching dramas produced by others, I gradually figured out a few tricks to this type of drama. I feel that doing this kind of drama is actually playing a game with the audience. You have to make them feel that something is right or wrong. It would be boring if you could see the whole thing at a glance. The communication between the director and the audience must be interactive to be interesting. The audience won't stop watching because it's slow, as long as the hook can be caught.
This type of drama is difficult to make and this is also difficult. Therefore, when handling some scenes, I will put myself in the perspective of the audience. Will they like to watch this scene if I handle it this way? Would they find this line interesting? If you don't like it or don't find it interesting, just change it or don't want it. If I find it boring, why should the audience find it interesting? I feel like I can’t watch it anymore, it’s boring and embarrassing, so why do I think the audience likes it? Especially now that the audience has watched so many good dramas.
Actually, in addition to this type of drama, I can also shoot other genres. I like dramas that are more down-to-earth, that is, the so-called down-to-earth and life-oriented genres, so that the audience can see themselves like looking in a mirror through watching dramas. Although each subject has its own unique charm, I still like not to be too far away from me. If you ask me to shoot science fiction or fantasy, I may not be able to shoot it, or I may be able to shoot it, but I may not be able to shoot it well, so don’t Don’t waste this project, just take pictures of what you like or what you are comfortable with.
