TV series "Wind Chaser" is on the air. This legendary story that cuts into the history of the Republic of China from a financial perspective has aroused the curiosity and follow-up of many viewers. Its production level can also be regarded as the best work of 2024.
Director Yao Xiaofeng admits that he has always been interested in the history of the Republic of China. "This history is actually very heart-wrenching. In this history, the ups and downs of the country's destiny, the people who participated in it and the people who followed the trend, what are they?" I find this kind of experience and feeling particularly interesting.”
Poster of “The Storm Chaser”
Yao Xiaofeng is a film photographer and has the ultimate pursuit of images. In the play, an old Qibao Street was built and rebuilt in different places. The producer was under great pressure, but Yao Xiaofeng insisted, "I think Qibao Street is the residence of a group of poor workers living on the edge of Shanghai, and its texture should be more chaotic. , it’s overcrowded and needs to be more life-like.” For this reality, the crew spent a lot of money to present a convincing atmosphere of old street fireworks in the play.
In addition to the visual presentation, the performances of many actors are also quite exciting. Yao Xiaofeng said confidently: "The actor in my play will definitely be able to give one of the best performances in his career." He is a director who is very good at communicating with actors and bringing out their charm. The leading actor Wang Yibo will also perform this time Contributed a commendable performance in "Storm Chaser".
cooperated with Wang Yibo for the first time, and Yao Xiaofeng recognized this "kid" very much. "I spent a lot of thought on Wang Yibo this time, and he was very involved and fully committed himself to me during the process. He also believed in me." He said, "There are no distracting thoughts in our cooperation. "
In the history of the Republic of China, from 1911 to 1949, there are countless stories and countless directions that can be explored in so many major events. In Yao Xiaofeng's view, it is a very large treasure trove of materials, "I have been paying attention to this history over the years. , so when this script appeared, my eyes lit up. "He said, "Entering a spy story from a financial perspective has rarely been seen in previous dramas."
Yao Xiaofeng on the set of "The Storm Chaser"
[Dialogue. 】
trust each other "Lizhen"
The Paper News: is actually twice as difficult to innovate in a mature genre and then create more exciting stories. During the creative process, what are some things that you and your team may face that require breakthroughs and efforts?
Yao Xiaofeng: Spy drama is my favorite genre and I have been studying it for the past few years. How to find a breakthrough in the framework of spy war works? One of the things this play gave me was the perspective of financial economics.
In the past, when we filmed wars, we seldom photographed "where the money comes from." Where did the money for the war come from? What role did the economy play in the war? What did these people on the economic front do? In film and television works, the performance of these aspects is almost blank. I happen to be a person who is interested in both history and economics, so I feel that finding a breakthrough in this area may be a direction.
"Storm Chaser" focuses on the economic war through the identity of the protagonist, a KMT central bank employee.
The Paper: The first episode of shows the male protagonist being dragged into the stock market by his landlord's aunt. On one side is the heroine's gunfire and on the other side is the male protagonist's stock market turmoil. This contrast is quite interesting.
Yao Xiaofeng: The male protagonist of is an ordinary person. When an ordinary person is involved in chaos and bloodshed, he goes from being at a loss to being calm and then making a decision. I think this is very interesting. An ordinary person's true reaction when faced with a world he cannot control may be the highlight of this drama. So for the first few scenes, I first created the atmosphere of his life and let the audience accept what kind of person he is. Talking about the relationship between an ordinary little person and the big era and the big world is my specialty.
The Paper: seems to have seen you express your appreciation for Wang Yibo in previous interviews. I would like to hear you talk about the cooperation process, including some observations of this young actor?
Yao Xiaofeng: When we met, I could feel Wang Yibo’s sincerity, and I said I wanted to pass on this sincerity to the audience. No matter what kind of scene you face, you don’t have to act, you just need to tell me your truest feelings on camera. The good thing about this kid is that he easily believed the scenarios I gave him.
I think this kid is very good. He understands it very well. When he comes to the set, he is filming. He regards himself as an actor and leaves it completely to a director. As a director, I explained my ideas to him and let him develop them. I often say that actors and directors should trust and respect each other. From the moment we met, we only talked about the two creators’ understanding of the characters and the play, so there were no distracting thoughts about our cooperation.
The actor in my play will definitely give one of the best performances in his career. As a director, what I have to do is to amplify the charm of the actor and help him complete the role. I spent a lot of thought on Wang Yibo this time, and he was very involved, and he also trusted me in the process.
The Paper: How does build this trust?
Yao Xiaofeng: means equality. I don’t “pretend” to be a director, and he doesn’t “play” a star. We are just two ordinary people. And then he was the younger guy and I was older than him and he certainly had a lot of respect for me. But at the beginning, when the two of us were not that familiar, I talked more about the script with him, without any pretensions to being a director, and communicated with him in a normal manner. After slowly breaking through the barriers between people little by little, the rest will not be a problem.
His smile was so lively. I made him laugh once. After laughing, I said you have such a cute smile, and we were both very happy. Later, he often smiled, and I think he probably smiled the most in my play.
Wang Yibo (played as Wei Ruolai) has many breakthrough performances in the play
The Paper News: saw the care put into photography and art in "The Storm Chaser" and talked about some of the audio-visual considerations with the team, including the creation of aesthetic styles process?
Yao Xiaofeng: Because I am a photographer, I can quickly grasp the creation of lighting, atmosphere, and color. We all set a basic tone first: In a dark era and in turbulent Shanghai, the first thing to create is a Our tone is very calm due to the bloody cruelty, but there is a human warmth in the calmness.
The photography, art, styling, editing and music composition of our drama are all experts in the industry. Our teacher Wu Jiakui is a very senior art director at Shanghai Film Studio, our teacher Ma Defan is also a very good stylist, and our props teacher Huang Yuguo. Without them, it would be difficult for us to restore the old Shanghai flavor of that era to what it is now.
Our photographer, Zhou Wenchao, is my junior brother. This is our first time working together, but our communication is very smooth. He is a very talented young photographer with a very strong creative impulse, and I respect him very much. We want to make a high-quality TV series that has the quality of a movie, and this time he used retro lenses to shoot it to create a grainy and historical feel from a bygone era.
The Paper: In recent years, everyone praises TV series and likes to say that they have a cinematic feel. From a professional perspective, what do you think about this?
Yao Xiaofeng: What is the cinematic feel of ? To put it simply, composition, atmosphere, etc. are all aesthetic pursuits. I used to work as a cinematographer, but the monitors at that time were not good enough and looked dark. Therefore, only the photographer in the group could see the most complete and clear picture in the shooting frame, and the director could not see it. Therefore, the photographer's responsibility for the picture is too great.
I remember that when I was working on a movie, every time I looked at the dailies, it was the most nervous time for the photographer. The whole crew had been working for a while. Let’s take a look at the recently developed dailies, every detail, every dirty spot, every detail in the picture. Improper lighting management and inaccurate exposure will make the photographer want to crawl under the chair. But my eyes are very good. When I scan the viewfinder, I can find all the problems.
Now as a TV drama director, I find that TV dramas are different, the audience's aesthetics have also improved, the shooting technology and equipment have become better, and the investment has increased. Under this kind of production conditions, the content presented by everyone is richer. To work in this industry, you have to break through your comfort zone and make progress.
"The director must have willpower"
The Paper: Qibao Street, a major scene in the drama, is very well done. Can you talk about the story of this street?
Yao Xiaofeng: Qibao Street We invested a lot just to set up and change the scenery. After the art was done, I went to see it, and then told them that they had to overthrow it all, because I felt that Qibao Street in the play was the residence of a group of poor workers living on the edge of Shanghai, and its texture should be similar to the previous one. The urban villages you have built in recent years look good, but they should be more chaotic, overcrowded, and more life-like. Just listen to me and let's readjust.
We chose another street and rearranged it. What kind of environment are these rental houses on Qibao Street like, and what kind of people are they like? They were doing some kind of business. Who were the people employed by the family? This is something that is not even in the script, and is something the director should do. How can I make this place richer? I specially set up a schedule to tell who washes clothes when, who dyes clothes when, and who irons clothes at what time. Everyone knows what kind of position and role I have in this street, and what kind of tasks I have to undertake every day. They are in a natural state. Once everyone has the state, they can quickly enter the role. I also specially found a few gasoline barrels, boiled water in the yard, and boiled cloth in them. All kinds of people are busy, which gives the scene a real life atmosphere and makes it very "live".
Wei Ruolai and his neighbor on Qibao Street
Many important plots happened in the pavilion where Wei Ruolai lived.
The Paper: The pavilion where the male protagonist lives on Qibao Street is also particularly rich in details.
Yao Xiaofeng: When Wei Ruo came to the room, I said it was not shabby enough. It was also a loft at the beginning. When the view of the loft was ready, I said as soon as I entered, you have no experience living in a pavilion. It is too high, too big, and the room is not dilapidated enough. But the photography team is also worried that your space is too big. It’s hard to get small photography equipment in, so it’s not easy to take pictures. But when it comes to photography, I want it to be small and have enough space for people to hit their heads.
Space is right, we will discuss every detail of the characters' lives, what kind of lights are used at home, where to eat, where to cook, you will discuss it all. The staff in the clothing team are relatively young now and have no idea about the "ragged" clothes of that era, so I asked them to make them as old and torn as possible.
Everything was ready. Wang Yibo put on a ragged cotton-padded jacket, entered the pavilion where he would hit his head, and bent down. The small quilt on the bed could only cover his head but not his tail, so he could only shrink up. We filmed it in winter, and his most authentic reaction was aroused. By truly feeling in this real atmosphere and environment, you can bring the characters to life.
The Paper: The premise of ’s pursuit of perfection in details is that you can convince a team of hundreds or thousands of people to listen to you. People who do art are very proud, so you need to unite so many proud people into one, and work together It's hard to do something. As a director, how do you convince the audience?
Yao Xiaofeng: photography, art, they all have their own ideas at the beginning, especially their ideas are very good and precise, so I want them to understand me and recognize my adjustments, which is good for the project. If you are better, everyone will obey you.The director must have willpower. It is very important whether I can persist, persuade everyone to persist, and follow you in a certain direction. On the one hand, this requires the trust brought by long-term team cooperation; on the other hand, in the new cooperation, you know that Zhou Wenchao and I were running in for the first time, but the lens instructions I gave him, the adjustments and scheduling of the scenes, he I think you are great, then it will be no problem for us to cooperate.
The Paper: Often, a big problem between screenwriters and directors is whether their understanding of the text is consistent. In particular, the director's ability to convert text into images is very critical. So I also want to talk to you about the director’s judgment and understanding of the text.
Yao Xiaofeng: Whether has a consistent understanding of the text is the basis for the cooperation between the screenwriter and the director. If there is no inconsistency, various problems will arise. So far, I can say that I usually have the same understanding of the text as the screenwriter.
As a director, imagination, perception, and understanding are very important. If the director has a major deviation in his understanding of the script and cannot understand the expression of the screenwriter, then the play will not be possible.
In the creation of TV series, good cooperation between the screenwriter and the director must be the icing on the cake based on the director's work as the screenwriter. This is an indisputable fact. It is impossible for any director to say: This TV series is good because it was made entirely by me, and the screenwriter is a mess.
"Storm Chaser" is a special drama. I saw this script six years ago. At that time, I felt that this subject matter had great potential, so I kept the storyline of the script, but focused on the confrontation of all the characters and ideas in it. Restructured again.
Witnessing the flames of war and the darkness of corruption in the Kuomintang's financial field, Wei Ruolai found his own faith and joined the Communist Party to benefit the people.
The Paper: saw you crying during the interview, and I especially want to hear you talk about your feelings for this drama. What do you most hope to convey to the audience through this play?
Yao Xiaofeng: I think it is "asking" and "faith".
Our generation was born in the late 1960s, grew up in the 1980s, and entered society during the period of reform and opening up. It has been a lot of emotion over the past few decades. We want to use the story of "Storm Chaser" to connect young people of different generations and let them continue to explore and make choices for their own beliefs. We hope that through this drama, we can influence today's young people to think about their own lives and choices. We also hope that Through this drama, today's young people can live more enthusiastically, work hard to find and determine goals, and build a positive and optimistic attitude towards life in the era.
