" The Long Season " has been aired for more than a year, and " Blossoms " has been aired for nearly half a year. However, these two works with good reputation and ratings are still talked about by people inside and outside the industry. The starting point of a good work is the screenwriter and script. Recently, at the spring sharing meeting of phenomenal works hosted by the Screenwriting Professional Committee of the China Television Association, the screenwriters and chief producers of these two dramas shared their creative processes and experiences, which inspired people in the industry.
These two dramas are the result of long-term polishing and continuous improvement. Qin Wen, vice president of the Screenwriting Committee of the China Television Association and screenwriter of "Flowers", said that she had been working on adapting the original novel into a script for many years since she first met the director of the play, Wong Kar-wai, in 2017. Several versions of the script were produced. She was very surprised by the large quantity and high quality of information Wong Kar-wai accumulated during the preparation process. For example, the street scene of "Yellow River Road" where the story takes place, the details of a stamp as a prop in the play, and the past and present life of a supporting character were all made into booklets and shared with various departments of the film crew. In the three years since filming started in 2021, Qin Wen has been staying on the crew, revising the script at any time, and is known as an "immersive screenwriter." In her impression, the filming crew was very quiet, everyone was on call at all times, and no one looked at their mobile phones. The film crew was divided into two groups for filming. Wong Kar-wai shuttled between the two groups to direct the scene alone and seldom slept.
“If you want to make a word-of-mouth drama, you must adhere to ‘long-termism’.” Zhang Na, chief producer of "The Long Season" said. She first came up with the idea of creating a suspense drama with screenwriter Yu Xiaoqian in 2017. After many twists and turns, it was decided in 2021 that Xin Shuang would direct it. Xin Shuang spent 11 months carefully polishing the script with Yu Xiaoqian and other screenwriters. Xin Shuang asked for a 120-day filming period for the 12-episode drama, but to no avail, he used his salary to make up for the 7 days. In Zhang Na's view, Xin Shuang is not only talented, "but also diligent, serious and dedicated. Very few TV drama directors only film one drama a year, but Xin Shuang spent three years filming this drama."
These two works also refreshed the audience with their unique artistic expression techniques. Wong Kar-Wai is a successful film director. He gave the TV series "Flowers" a distinct film mark. For example, the story-telling method using characters as clues and techniques such as jumps, splicing, and flashbacks were widely used in the drama. "The Long Season" is positioned by Xin Shuang as a life suspense drama. The suspense line and the life line are intertwined. The beginning is introduced with a strong sense of life and a sense of humor, and it is narrated. It then gradually upgrades to change the rhythm and adjust the creative method. "This drama changes scenes according to the rhythm of the story and the emotions of the characters. It does not completely adopt the linear thinking of traditional TV dramas and innovates the way of telling." Yu Xiaoqian said.
"The Long Season" and "Flowers" are very different in terms of subject matter and type, but they both arouse strong emotional resonance in the audience. "We must insist on making good content and don't underestimate the audience, worrying that they will not understand or know the goods." Zhang Na said that viewers from New Zealand, Australia, the United States and other countries told her that "The Long Season" has a very good reputation among overseas Chinese. good.
As the producer and broadcaster of these two dramas, Tencent Video President Sun Hongzhi said that the data obtained by the platform shows that after the rise of short videos and the platform’s introduction of measures such as double-speed viewing of dramas, audiences have higher requirements for the information density of works, and aesthetics are also improving. Improvement: Many users only watch the top dramas, especially those who watch dramas on mobile phones, and are unwilling to spend more than 10 minutes watching mediocre dramas. "The screenwriter must give the audience a clear point of view, and the beginning of a drama should be very attractive; more importantly, the screenwriter cannot write in a closed world of his own, but must do social observation and field research, and have wider contact with different groups of people." He said.
The script is a necessary condition for the success of a work. Gao Changli, director of the TV Drama Department of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said that "The Long Season" and "Flowers" are both realistic themes. He hopes that the industry will pay more attention to the creation of realistic themes, read thousands of books, travel thousands of miles, and let the audience see warm realist works. Hopes and dreams lie ahead. (Article)
Source: People’s Daily Overseas Edition
