Picture source @Visual China
text | Entertainment talk, author | Er Dongchen, the mainstay of
creation, is passing the baton between generations.
In the past few years, youthful aesthetics and Internet sense have been criticized. The younger generation of viewers has grown up and needs youthful content. The dilemma faced by veteran directors is obvious: lack of creative power comes second, life experience and aesthetic intuition are still online, and it is not a big problem to convert the inherent thinking. The real dilemma lies in physical exhaustion. After all, we cannot hope that everyone can be the best. Zhang Yimou, who is over 70 years old, is as energetic as a strong young man, and can withstand the intensity of the work on the set that turns black and white.
is passing the baton between the old and new generations, with new phenomena and new problems.
"Professional" and "grassroots"
From left to right: Xin Shuang, Li Mo, Wang Wei, Lu Xing, Yin Tao, Li Zhi, Xu Hongyu
The rise of the new generation of young directors is relatively polarized, with highly educated people from prestigious schools and grassroots cross-border directors. Fortunately, "Heroes don't ask where they come from" makes sense in terms of artistic creation.
What is different from Internet celebrities and singers transitioning into acting is that if young actors and actresses can make a living by relying on their reputation and enter the entertainment industry with metaphysics, as the star who must maintain the normal operation of the entire crew when they arrive on the set, the director is relatively Yan has the only way to earn a living by relying on his ability.
technology comes from professional education.
kk sorted out the directors who have contributed "high net worth" (balanced development of word-of-mouth and popularity) works to the platform in the past year or so. The proportion of graduates from majors has almost reached about 90%. Even if they graduated from an incomplete "directing department", drama, film and television, Mixed training of surface tutors or related majors such as digital media arts, journalism, etc. are still inseparable.
There are a lot of graduates from prestigious schools. For example, Cheng Hao, director of "Glory Ping Pong", Deng Ke, director of "Sister-in-law", etc. studied at Communication University of China; Bi Fang, director of "Happiness Within Reach", Qiu Zhongwei, director of "You Are Beautiful When You Smile", etc. studied at the Central Academy of Drama; The director of "The Beginning", Yin Tao, the director of "Chang Feng Du" studied at the Beijing Film Academy.
High academic qualifications break the stereotype that academics can only engage in theory but not creation. A very typical one is Lu Xing, the director of "Ordinary Glory". There was a joke in the market before that the director wanted to "strip his academic qualifications", so he studied for a doctorate from the Beijing Film Academy. Li Zhi, the director of "Ask the Heart", and Yao Tingting, the director of "The Year in a Hurry" are master's students at Communication University of China.
would like to add that in the current university training system, practical higher education is also budding and developing. Communication University will set up a professional doctoral degree program in 2024, targeting creative talents with practical experience, which can be understood as higher First level MFA.
In the end, artistic creation is all about culture. This is true for actors’ performances, and even more so for directors’ creations. With solid and systematic training, even if you don't learn any real insights, you can still calm down and "hang your book bag", and you won't make a joke of illiteracy. The significance of education is that it cannot determine the level of a creator, but it can guarantee the bottom line.
There are also turtles who have returned from studying abroad. The more representative one is "The Silent Truth" director Chen Yifu, who studied at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
's capabilities also come from the transformation of industry experience and the blessing of talent and experience. Just like what Ren Suxi said about the Waina band in "Le Xia 3", their talent cannot be defined by a piece of academic qualifications. Their charm comes from "seeing the world."
Read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles, but you have to get one.
From left to right: Guo Hu, Chen Zhoufei, Zhao Yilong
Like "Lotus House" director Guo Hu, he came from a down-to-earth background; director Xin Shuang, who is not very prolific but is amazing every time, studied at the University of Political Science and Law, and became a director after Previously, he was better known as a guitarist in a rock band. Chen Zhoufei used to be a cameraman, turned into a director, and directed "Double Detective".Zhao Yilong, the director of "Orphans from Mars", may have a strange name, but he said that one of the characters he has played will definitely pop up in front of his eyes - Zhen Ping in "Nirvana in Fire".
There is also director Wang Wei who originally did work that had nothing to do with film and television, but one work has stood up. "White Night" made him a "genius director" in the eyes of young audiences, and his subsequent works became more and more blockbuster, such as "Ask the Cangmang" and the always ill-fated "Life Is Like the First Meeting".
One last twist, Guo Fan did not come from a professional background and studied law, but he still created "The Wandering Earth" and a process system suitable for industrialized shooting of domestic films.
"Self-employed" and "Backed by a big tree"
If it is strength that determines how far an artistic creator can go, then the time at which he is seen is somewhat dependent on metaphysics and luck. Inextricably linked relationships or laws.
Book Continuing from the above, the "aura of famous schools" is not only common in the film and television industry, but also in all walks of life. There is a saying circulating on the Internet, "For ordinary people, university teachers may be the highest-level people you can come into contact with in your life." Nine times out of ten, industry giants have teaching positions, are on staff, or are specially hired. No matter how poor the school is, they will find ways to hire a few industry celebrities as "off-campus tutors."
Famous schools mean teachers, and teachers are equal to ready-made network resources after working in the industry.
In addition, as directors are technical talents, the current talent training system still retains the mentoring model of masters leading apprentices. The handover of the baton from generation to generation of directors is also completed in the inheritance of masters and apprentices. Typical examples include the earlier Kong Sheng and Li Xue, as well as Teng Huatao and Lin Yan.
Young directors also work together to gather strength as a team and learn from each other's strengths. The online drama "Detective Chinatown", which Chen Sicheng served as the producer, produced several young directors who were able to take on their own roles, such as Ke Wenli and Dai Mo. Dai Mo directed the movie version of "The Three Brigades" last year.
Picture source: Douban netizen Border Town Rose Girl
There are also relatively well-known ones, such as the "Arclight Alliance" initiated by director Wu Bai, whose members Wang Wei, Yu Qing, and Liu Ziwei have performed well in the vertical track in recent years. Yu Qing's upcoming dramas include "Backlighter", and Liu Ziwei's upcoming dramas include "Huan Yu".
Young directors are being recognized more quickly. Another possibility is to be signed by a large company or platform. After being deeply bound, there will be no shortage of work, but it is unknown whether the degree of creative freedom will be limited.
Xiaotangren's contracted director Liu Chang, a series of works such as "The Soul of Chess" and "The Best of Us" have allowed him to gain a foothold in the youth genre. As a young director with excellent reputation in the past two years, Li Mo has gained a lot of popularity with the "A Foreign Country" series, "Sanyue Has a New Job", "Pretending to Be Revelation" and other works. Today, his new drama "180 "The Sky Restart Plan" was completed. On the way to becoming the "urban drifter" in the city, his understanding and understanding of young people are indeed deep and detailed enough. He is also a contracted director of Mango TV.
At the end of last year, Ningmeng Film and Television released the film list. "When I Run to You" director Mao Zhishu became a key talent for in-depth cooperation. He will provide content in the youth track and will direct "No One Like You" and "Today Is the Sun Rain". "; Director Li Zhi will continue to direct "Ask the Heart 2" and "Bao Qingli" after "Asking the Heart".
also has a special type of deep binding. In various senses, "son inherits the father's legacy". The atmosphere of family inheritance is there, and coupled with his own abilities and talents, he grows faster. For example, the director of "The Beginning" is the son-in-law of director Kong Sheng; and Liu Yulin, the female director who appeared in Ning Meng's film list, "Entrance Call", her father is Liu Zhenyun.
"Ascension" and "Hidden"
Behind the scenes and in front of the stage are the same, and the development of popularity is almost metaphysical. Some directors' debut films are an instant hit, while others have been working diligently for many years without even being able to air a single film. Although there is no shortage of work to do, the lack of word-of-mouth from the audience makes the film almost uninteresting.
html Among the directors born in the 1980s, the ones that were filmed in the past few years were a bit miserable. The heat was so close, snap, gone.For example, Niu Chao suppressed the movie "With You on My Left Shoulder", while Qiu Zhongwei was even more embarrassed. The 8-episode TV series "Guang Yuan" had no beginning and no end.Some directors are not very prolific, such as Xin Shuang. There was a long gap between "The Hidden Corner" and "The Long Season". After filming "The King of Bombs", he went into hiding until he returned with the next film "The King of Bombs". His surprise is still worth looking forward to.
Some directors have explored their own creative "dominance zone", such as Li Mo, who is very comfortable with the combination of "city drifter" + grassroots stories.
Zhang Yimou "Snow Maze" interview
There are also some directors who can see the upward trend with the naked eye, such as Wang Wei. After "White Night", he continued to shoot "Ask the Cangmang" and "Life Is Like the First Meeting", ranking among the major and serious dramas. ; and Lu Xing, the new project is "Snow Maze" produced by Zhang Yimou.
What is more depressing are the female directors. The job of directing does not distinguish between men and women. The reason why we talk about gender is because there are few practitioners. Among those born in the 1980s, there are very few women who are directors.
From left to right: Liu Ziwei, Lin Yan, Liu Shuqiao, Yao Tingting
At present, director Lin Yan has a new drama to be broadcast, "Fireworks" (formerly known as "Her and Her Islands") is a collaboration with Xixi Pictures;
Liu Ziwei He is the director of Arclight Alliance, and the upcoming drama "Huan Yu" after "Ripples of Heart" is also a project of Xixi Pictures.
Liu Shuqiao had already defined his creative label through the suspense genre when iQiyi's Mist Theater was still the "Suspense Theater", and he was almost unique in the suspense track. The new drama will be directed by "Crime Hunters 2". After the turmoil, the screenwriter became Zhang Lai, the screenwriter of "Peace Hotel". In addition, the male leads of Jin Shijia and Tan Jianci have not changed, and the market expectations are still very considerable.
After Yao Tingting became famous in "The Year in a Hurry", her overall production has been low. After directing "Please Call Me Director" starring Lin Gengxin and Tan Songyun, there has been no movement, and there is no play in the repertoire to be broadcast.
There is a long way to go for young directors to take over, but fortunately they grow up with audiences of their own age. Stabilize your own advantages and maximize your creative talents. Talent is different from creativity and appearance. Time cannot be snatched away, and outsiders cannot take it away. It is always yours and will be seen.
picture source: Weibo, Douban, intrusion and deletion.
