Ju Jingyi and Liu Xueyi starred in the costume drama "Huajian Ling" since its premiere. It has suddenly emerged as a dark horse in the spring season and has received favorable reviews. A few days ago, the play's screenwriters Yu Hailin and Zhong Jing accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from the Beijing News. Different from the many popular costume dramas adapted from popular novels, "Huajian Ling" is an original story. According to Yu Hailin and Zhong Jing, they first talked about the story idea of ââ"Huajian Ling" in 2013. , the theme and the relationship between the core characters have been determined: in that era of pursuit of good looks, a beautiful man sought after by the world and an ugly story, one is hurt on the face, and the other is hurt in the heart. When they collide together, they will definitely make a dazzling sound. of sparks.
"Flower Order" tells the story of Yang Caiwei (played by Ju Jingyi), who is disliked by others, and Pan Yue (played by Liu Xueyi), a man with both talent and appearance, getting married. On the day Pan Yue married Yang Caiwei, Yang Caiwei was killed, and the suspect pointed at Pan Yue. Yang Caiwei, who "resurrected from the dead", returns as the "beautiful evil woman" Shangguan Zhi, determined to reveal Pan Yue's true face. In the process of investigating the truth, the two gradually discovered that there was someone else behind the scenes, and that someone had been secretly controlling her. Pan Yue's love for her has always been the same.
"Huajian Ling" is an original ancient puppet detective story.
Yu Hailin said that since his undergraduate major was Chinese, he admired Pan Anâs mourning poems that pioneered the history of literature. Therefore, in the initial conception stage of the story, he wanted to tell the story around âdeathâ and ânot deathâ, and the heroine was chosen at the beginning. He dies, and the male protagonist fulfills the female protagonist's wish to "let Heyang River clear Haiyan", "you die because of me, and I live for you", creating a tragic and tragic fate of infatuation and reincarnation. After that, during the further revision process of the story of "Huajian Ling", the theme finally decided to sublimate: the face is just the appearance, the essence is to tell the story of a marginalized person in the carnival era - everyone is a monster of the times, how to deal with it, How to coexist, how to grow up, and then how to live a life of your own. The unit cases in the play are basically designed around this theme. Gu Shan, Shen Ci, and Lu Erge, they also have their own sad and deplorable aspects. The environment gave birth to their evil thoughts, but they did do something wrong and broke the law. , eventually losing control and turning into a monster.
Yu Hailin said frankly that he usually likes to watch American dramas, Korean dramas and British dramas, works with strong structure, and genre films. In his opinion, these are reflected in "Flower Order", and he will highlight thriller, suspense, and comedy when writing. , tragedy and other types of styles will also explore a lot in terms of recognition-not recognizing, recognizing-not recognizing, loving-not loving, etc., forming a structural sense of pull. Zhong Jing's undergraduate and postgraduate studies are both journalism majors, and she usually pays more attention to social news and people's livelihood. She said, "Articles are written to suit the time, and songs and poems are written to suit the matter." She also deliberately wrote "Huajian Ling" It highlights some portrayals and reflections on current hot issues.
Story: Yang Caiwei is a faint but immortal light
Beijing News: How were the core elements of the story of "Huajian Ling" determined step by step?
Yu Hailin: I had a story idea in 2013, an outline in 2017, and 15 episode scripts in 2020. The first five episodes took eight months to write, and the drafts were changed several times. Later, due to the epidemic and market changes, the project was stalled for two years. During this period, we subverted ourselves and rewrote the draft from scratch. The most important adjustments and overturns are the structure, that is, what the male and female protagonists do in Heyang. Our first draft was about investigating old cases and unsolved cases, but it felt disconnected from the real time and space. In the end, it was changed to a model of investigating old cases + cracking down on crime. The second is Yang Caiwei's personality. The first version of the script was written as a character who is afraid of outsiders and is self-contained. However, as the face of the sin city Heyang gradually unfolds, and Yang Caiwei's experiences over the years gradually fill in our hearts, this character himself alive.
Ju Jingyi starred as the heroine, bringing a wave of popularity to the drama.
Beijing News: What kind of change has the setting of the heroine Yang Caiwei gone through?
Yu Hailin: When we established the relationship between her and Lao Jiangtou, would Lao Jiangtou let a ten-year-old girl learn opera from him? Generally speaking, no, then how did Yang Caiwei persist and finally conquer? Where's the ginger head one? We thought of a scene where Lao Jiangtou gave Yang Caiwei a hard time and asked her to count how many bones there were in a corpse, so he accepted her as his disciple. He thought she would give up, but when he opened the door the next day, she was covered in blood. Little Caiwei stood at his door, pale, stubborn and excited: I counted two hundred and six. After that scene comes out, Yang Caiwei will not be afraid of society. She will survive in the city of sin with strength, perseverance and wisdom. Her wounds will be on her face, not in her heart. So, we ended up changing it to our current personality, which is a faint but everlasting light in the darkness.
Beijing News: In recent years, "evil woman" characters have become popular in some domestic and foreign film and television works. What do you think of the "evil woman" Shangguan Zhi in this drama?
Yu Hailin: She is a hateful character. What she did was bullying and even more criminal. She is also a pitiful character. In the previous drafts, we explored the reasons why evil girls become evil girls, and the environment that creates evil girls is truly evil. However, most of the story takes place in Heyang, and there is no room to develop the environment that created the evil woman.
Creation: Expressing different ancient values ââ
Beijing News: "Huajian Ling" is a story with an imaginary background, but the style and tone are based on the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Why did you choose the relatively unpopular Wei and Jin Dynasty background as a reference? What work has been done from the perspective of screenwriters to reflect the differences in the Wei and Jin backgrounds?
Yu Hailin: My personal favorites are the Wei, Jin and Song Dynasties. I like the style of the Wei and Jin Dynasties and the market culture of the Song Dynasty. In terms of differences, for example, when we create characters, such as the princess, Bai Xiaosheng, or even Mrs. Sun Wancai in the fourth episode and the princess sister later, we do our best to express the different ancient characters according to our limited abilities. Values ââand choices.
Beijing News: The theme of "rebirth" has become very popular since last year. Many viewers read the synopsis and thought it was another rebirth web adaptation. Why did they choose face-changing instead of rebirth? What are the two settings from the screenwriter's perspective? different?
Yu Hailin: face-changing emphasizes the identity of the protagonist more. The setting emphasizes "this person", while the rebirth emphasizes "that person".
Beijing News: The play combines ancient puppets + detective stories. For the audience, the "suspense" and "suspense" are very attractive. Do you have any experiences you can share with this creative method? ?
Yu Hailin: Donât write about spreading sugar in , write about plot and character relationships. This is my shallow understanding.
The two protagonists work together to investigate the case.
Beijing News: What is the biggest challenge and excitement in creating "Huajian Ling", and which part takes the most thought?
Yu Hailin: are all characters. How to make the characters believable, vivid and moving is both the key and the difficulty.
Characters: Because I love her, I fall in love with the whole world
Beijing News: Regarding the character creation of Shangguan Zhi and Yang Caiwei in the play, they seem to be two completely opposite characters. How to make the two characters become "one person"?
Yu Hailin: Yang Caiwei and Pan Yue are two sides, so why not Shangguan Zhi and Yang Caiwei. Shangguan Zhi is a perpetrator, but also a victim of the times. They are two sides of the same subject.
Zhong Jing: is just like what Pan Yue said in the play: good and evil are not completely opposite, but coexist as one body. The most good Yang Caiwei and the most evil Shangguan Zhi merge into one, which is also a thematic symbol.
Beijing News: What kind of ideas do you have for the creation of the male protagonist Pan Yue? What kind of love do you want to show?
Yu Hailin: In terms of shaping the male protagonist, we donât want to be limited to small love small love , and try to create a great love with the world in mind.When he mistakenly thought that Yang Caiwei was dead, his hair turned gray overnight and he was in pain, but he would not die for her because a seed was planted in the first episode of the script. Yang Caiwei hoped that Heyang would have a fair county magistrate in the future. She died for him and he lived for her. This is the life of love.
Zhong Jing: Pan Yue and Yang Caiwei are lovers, confidants, and soul mates. They respect each other equally, understand each other, appreciate each other, and work side by side from beginning to end. Because of his love for Yang Caiwei, after Yang Caiwei's "death", Pan Yue came to Heyang, where she lived and loved, to continue her unfinished story and fulfill her unfinished wish. Because one person fell in love with a city and this city. World, this is the best love in my heart.
Pan Yue and Yang Caiwei embrace each other.
Theme: Audiences hope to see evenly matched love
Beijing News: There are more martial arts themes in the two known masterpieces. Did these experiences help in the creation of "Huajian Ling"?
Yu Hailin: The core of martial arts is actually adventure and growth. Any story is an adventure story. This is my creative concept. No matter how tiny a drop of water merges into the sea, it will be thrilling. These experiences, intentionally or unintentionally, we brought into the ancient language track.
Zhong Jing: martial arts characters are usually more wanton and unrestrained, with landscapes in their eyes and chivalry in their hearts, and they will not be trapped by small loves. Therefore, the characters we create will be more free-spirited and open-minded. Even love rivals like the male lead and second lead will be sympathetic to each other.
Beijing News: Can you share with us some insights into ancient puppets and current audiences, especially female audiences? How else can Gudou effectively innovate? How to better connect with the demands of current audiences?
Yu Hailin: canât be said to be insightful, and I feel hesitant and helpless when I write. But when I write to the point where I cry, I feel a sense of faith. Some viewers saw the candy-giving scene, and I personally would sometimes cry when writing it, because the journey of the male and female protagonists was extremely difficult. Empathy is the best way to appeal.
Zhong Jing: I think female audiences are tired of "artificial saccharin" and "brainless sweet pets". They want to see evenly matched love. Men neither snatch nor rob, and women neither humble nor arrogant. They are attracted to each other because of understanding and appreciation. We understand female strength to be gentle and firm, with a strong and stable personality. When love comes, dare to devote yourself fully, whether it is Yang Caiwei who agreed to Pan Yue's proposal in the early stage, or Bai Xiaosheng who bravely pursued love in the later stage. But when love is gone, I can heal myself, live a good life, and love myself well.
Beijing News reporter Liu Wei
editor Tong Na
proofreader Zhao Lin
