Today, the folklore thriller "The Case of Xiangxi", with Liu Yong as the producer and chief producer, was officially launched on Tencent Video and iQiyi. The film is directed by Zhao Cong, starring Cheng Yufeng, Ma Ling, Chen Junxi, and Xu Shaoqiang in a special appearance. It tells the story of Xiangxi corpse exorcist Long Ping'an and detective Chen Xing teamed up to investigate a mystery case and chase the murderer.
Folklore thrillers cannot just focus on curious characters. They must first have conflicts and stand up.
The film starts with a high energy that makes people's hair stand on end. Long Qiye, played by veteran actor Xu Shaoqiang, rings a bell and casts talismans, drives corpses across the road, and shows the scene of corpse driving in western Hunan in front of the audience; the corpse king mutates and goes berserk for revenge, his eyes flash back and he slowly turns his head, directly dreaming back to the shadow of his childhood; There is even a paper man possessed, wandering around laughing, suddenly touching his face and his heart skipping a beat... It uses the resonance elements of traditional horror folk tales to fill the Chinese horror atmosphere.
In addition to the novelty and attractions, Liu Yong pays more attention to the character setting and emotional expression. Liu Yong said that what he liked most was the brotherhood in the film. One of the male protagonists, Long Ping'an, is a corpse exorcist and a worker in feudal superstition, while the other male protagonist, Chen Xing, is a policeman who rejects feudal superstition. The two went from being at odds with each other at the beginning to cooperating with each other to investigate cases. In the end, they trust each other and depend on each other for life and death, attracting the audience's attention with the intriguing brotherhood and the different perspectives brought by different identities. In addition to the full-bodied characters of the two male protagonists, the character of Fanyi is also relatively complete. Fanyi does not have a paper personality, but is slowly formed and developed through the character's experience. After watching it, the audience can more easily understand what this character does. do. These rich characters are what impressed Liu Yong and why he chose to do this project in the first place.
The creative team has the know-how to create a polyphonic narrative of "folklore + thriller + suspense"
Liu Yong was born in Jixi, Heilongjiang in 1984. Influenced by his grandfather since childhood, he liked listening to storytelling and watching popular Hong Kong movies at the time. By chance, Liu Yong met Mr. Shan Ruilin, the son of Shan Tianfang, a master of storytelling, and became his teacher, thus getting involved in drama creation. Since Liu Yong first joined the crew of "The Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties" in 2013, in the past 10 years, Liu Yong has participated in the creation of the TV series "Brothers Fire", the online drama "Hate the King Not Like Jiang Louyue", and the online movie "The Demon Doctor", "The Princess", etc. This year, his first film as a theatrical film producer, "The Octagon" (with a cumulative box office of 2.206 billion), has won both word-of-mouth and box office success. It is precisely because of his rich working experience that Liu Yong has his own unique production experience and tips.
"I must find the most suitable one for the creative team. I will not save money on the creative team." Liu Yong said. Regardless of the camera, makeup, lighting, and editing teams, everyone worked together to enhance the suspenseful atmosphere and tighten the screws of film quality with excellent visual presentation. For example, a man wearing a ghost mask suddenly appeared in a venue that had been closed down by the police, and a redwood coffin floated from the river in the distance, etc. to stimulate the audience's strong curiosity to decipher the mystery. Through the delivery of the main creative team, different perspectives, multiple voices, and multiple clues are brought together to integrate and superimpose a polyphonic narrative of folklore, thriller, and suspense.
Of course, you must save when you need to. According to Liu Yong, the beginning of the film, "The King of Corpses Revenges the Bandits," was originally intended to be designed on a ship, but the overall budget was too high and was not suitable for the film. Therefore, after subsequent polishing and adjustments, it was changed to take place at the Corpse Drive Inn. In order to fit the theme and atmosphere, each of the avenged bandits was given a strange way to die, making the mystery of the corpse exorcism and the power of the corpse king even more terrifying.
The powerful core that distinguishes traditional zombie movies is the foundation of the film.
Speaking of zombies, the zombies from the Qing Dynasty in Hong Kong movies are the ones that are most memorable in the public’s memory. In order to break the audience’s inherent impression and make the background events more folkloric in western Hunan, the Corpse King created The big bamboo hat worn, the copper coins wrapped around the head and face, and other props and blessings were the result of several rounds of communication between director Zhao Cong and the styling director before finally coming up with a different look that is now presented in front of the audience.
In addition, Liu Yong also revealed that the creative team not only worked hard on the protagonist, but also did not underestimate the supporting roles. For example, the characters and scars on the faces of the bandits who broke into the corpse inn were very time-consuming and energy-consuming, but in order to show the ferocity and brutality of the bandits, they were still retained in the end. For another example, in the film, a sick child with white hair and eyebrows fell at the feet of a group of cult members wearing religious robes. The contrast between red and white, and the contrast between the strength of adults and children, further highlighted the thriller-like oppression of the film. .
In addition to aspects such as styling and story rhythm, the core of the film is the most important thing that the creative team wants to make a "stylized" film. The "1+N" narrative structure allows "The Case of Western Hunan" to focus on the death of Long Qiye and derive many sub-lines. For example, after Long Ping'an suffered the mysterious death of his master, he determined not to be a good-for-nothing anymore, and is dedicated to finding the truth; Chen Xing goes from being arrogant and rude to shaking hands with Long Ping'an and making peace; Duoduo, a girl, protects her younger brother and the entire village on her own... Every character shows the arc of growth, shining endlessly. A sincere heart that fears power and does not follow blindly conveys powerful value power to young people.
"The Case of Western Hunan" is produced by Sichuan Huacai Film Co., Ltd., Beijing Yiqiba Film and Television Media Co., Ltd., and jointly produced by Beijing Wanlewu Film and Television Culture Co., Ltd., Beijing Ruyu Film and Television Culture Media Co., Ltd., and Beijing Yiqiba Film and Television Media Co., Ltd. exclusively produces and publishes, and Ruyu Culture exclusively markets. The video is now online, go to iQiyi and Tencent Video to have a look!
