Two seasons, two starts
In order to strictly distinguish the 13 years before and after, "Thirteen Years of Ashes" has experienced two starts. The first start of filming will be in January 2022, filming the winter scene in 1997 in time and space. Eight months later, filming started for the second time to shoot the summer scenes in the 2010 time and space. After going through winter and summer, the character's appearance has also changed significantly.
In 1997's chasing the murderer , Wei Zhengrong and Lu Xingzhi were walking through the streets and alleys of the old city of Nandu, one wearing their iconic leather jackets and the other a jacket with a sherpa collar. This time and space is filled with the humidity and gloom of winter. The yellowish-green tones not only have a nostalgic era texture, but also highlight the obsolescence and dilapidation of the space.
When the case occurred again in 2010, the season had changed to summer, and the colors had changed to a warm champagne color. The renovation of the old city was completed, and the city had a completely new look. Lu Xingzhi's look in a military green shirt and a T-shirt was less elegant and more sophisticated. . But Wei Zhengrong, who was very popular back then, took a back seat, wearing an old man's shirt, cropped trousers, and a pair of reading glasses, completely losing the sharpness of the past.
Each episode has a "wedge", and each episode has a clue.
"Thirteen Years of Ashes" unfolds the process of exploring the truth of the dust-covered unsolved cases over 13 years, using a two-line mixed-editing parallel narrative method. The investigation of a doubtful point will take 13 years. Switch back and forth for several rounds. In order to prevent the interlacing of timelines from causing confusion and fragmentation to the audience, there is a small theater-style trailer at the beginning of each episode, which is a "wedge" to explain the important clues that appear in the episode, such as pencils, cherry tiaras, watches, and birdmen. Masks and other key physical evidence are used to lead to an important clue to be traced in the episode; they are tied at the beginning and unbuttoned at the end. One clue is investigated in each episode, allowing the audience to peel off the cocoons and pursue the truth together with the police in the play.
For example, in the fourth episode of "Wedge", although the criminal did not show his face, the watch on his wrist quite stole the show. When it comes to the main part of the drama, Yang Zhe, who appears to be elegant, paranoid, inferior and conceited, appears wearing the same watch. The suspense quietly surfaced in a family dinner scene that seemed to be a formality.
Every detail shows the changes in the characters
In order to clearly distinguish the stories of the two timelines, "Thirteen Years of Ashes" also allows masters and apprentices Wei Zhengrong and Lu Xingzhi to become storytellers at two time points respectively. Through the perspective of Switch so that the two lines foreshadow each other.
In 1997, the master led his apprentice to investigate the case. At that time, Wei Zhengrong was the resolute "Frustrated Master" and Lu Xingzhi was a rookie policeman. In 2010, the apprentice asked his master to help him investigate the case. At this time, Lu Xingzhi had become the captain of the criminal police in his own right, while Wei Zhengrong worked as an in-house clerk in the library of the police station. In the words of his wife, he was "like a little old man."
The master and the apprentice have different personalities, and their methods of handling cases are also marked by the times. Around 1997, DNA testing technology had not yet become popular. The older generation of criminal police officers represented by Wei Zhengrong relied entirely on manpower to handle cases, and they had developed extraordinary interviews and investigations and a keen sense of details. In 2010, in the book Lu Xingzhi put on his desk, Categories such as "criminal psychology" have emerged.
In 1997, Wei Zhengrong scolded Lu Xingzhi for not putting photos of his family under the glass plate of his desk; in 2010, Wei Zhengrong walked around every day carrying a thermos cup with photos of his family members printed on it. In 1997, Wei Zhengrong poured a bottle of chili oil while eating noodles; in 2010, Wei Zhengrong couldn't handle spicy food, so he replaced Lu Xingzhi's noodle soup with " Manjianghong "... The changes and character changes are hidden in every detail. The mutual influence between master and apprentice.
author Liang Juan (exclusive manuscript for "Shanghai TV", please contact the editorial department of "Shanghai TV" for reprinting)
