Director Zhou Quan of the hit drama "The Boy Who Can't See a Shadow" said that the creation of the drama was more about conveying emotions than "guessing questions", otherwise the various settings in the drama would not have chosen to "play the cards" to tell the story.
"The Boy Who Can't See a Shadow" is currently being aired in iQiyi's Mist Theater. The play is also the third time that Zhang Songwen and Rong Zishan have followed " Xi Xiaohe's Summer " and "The Hidden Corner". cooperate. The series tells the story of the relationship between the "lost orphan" detective Wang Shitu (played by Zhang Songwen) and the young man (played by Rong Zishan) whose identity remains a mystery three years after his disappearance. From confrontation to mutual redemption, they explore the truth and move towards a bright future together. story. As the highlight of "Mist Theater", the show sparked speculation among netizens about the "answer" soon after it started airing. A few days ago, Zhou Quan, the director of the play, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from the Beijing News that the creation of "The Boy Who Can't See a Shadow" was more concerned with conveying emotions than "guessing puzzles." Otherwise, the various settings in the play would not have chosen to "play." Mingpai” tells stories. "We leave some suspense in order to allow the audience to better feel the subtle changes in human nature and the subtle changes in relationships between characters."
"Suspense" is the shell, and the core is "family ethics"
"Invisible Shadow" The story of "Youth" took place in the 1990s. Three teenagers in a small county suddenly disappeared together, and their lives and deaths were unknown. Three years later, one of the teenagers suddenly transformed into a "little pickpocket" and pretended to have lost his memory and returned to his family. The old policeman suspected the boy's true identity and investigated secretly. The secrets that had been hidden back then were revealed one by one. When the mystery was revealed, the old policeman and the "missing boy" also achieved two-way redemption.
Zhou Quan, the director of the play, has directed film and television works such as "Summer in Xi Xiaohe" and is good at telling the delicate emotional relationships between characters. Zhou Quan said frankly that when he first read the script of "The Boy Who Can't See a Shadow", what made him feel the most special about the story was that under the shell of "suspense", it portrayed "the basics of human nature" and explored "family". "Ethics" - all suspense is triggered and promoted by the characters' desires and the evolution of the characters' relationships. In the subsequent creative and production work, in the process of script refinement, on-site shooting, and post-editing, this creative idea is evolving in a more extreme direction. Zhou Quan said that he hopes that all his creations can face reality with warmth, "I hope that every audience will have hope when facing the dawn of tomorrow."
wraps "The Lost Orphan" with a warmer emotional tone. "Heavy topic
"The Boy Who Can't See a Shadow" is also the first realist work in this year's suspense-themed drama to focus on the theme of orphaned teenagers. Issues such as "orphaned families" and "child trafficking" in the drama have attracted widespread social attention. Zhou Quan said frankly that "orphan loss" and "anti-trafficking" are indeed relatively serious topics. If we talk about them directly, we will worry that they will be too cruel for the audience. In Zhou Quan's view, wrapping this topic in a narrative model with a stronger sense of genre and a warmer emotional tone will be more conducive to the audience's acceptance of it.
In director Zhou Quan's view, wrapping the topics of "orphan loss" and "anti-trafficking" in a narrative model with a stronger sense of genre and a warmer emotional tone will be more conducive to the audience's acceptance of it.
Zhou Quan said that he had a man who worked in finance who told him since he was a child that since he had children, he instinctively resisted information on the issues of "orphan loss" and "anti-trafficking", whether it was news or movies, because it It will affect your mood in daily work and life. "A teacher of mine once told me that the great thing about Hollywood is that they can influence the audience subtly and without leaving any trace using methods that common people like to hear and entertain. When we implicitly use it ("Lost") "Lonely" and "Anti-Trafficking") are set in a good-looking story. If we do it carefully enough, we can have what my teacher said is a 'subtle' influence."
[Dialogue]
abandoned many traditional narrative methods of suspense dramas
Beijing News: After the series started airing, many netizens should have guessed that " Xiaoqi" is "Wang Shitu" who was abducted that year. Son, do you care if the audience guesses the "answer" prematurely?
Zhouquan: Don't worry. I always believe that a work that can be remembered by the audience must ultimately rely on vivid characters and sincere emotions. , instead of a brain-burning plot. We even gave up many traditional narrative methods of suspense dramas, and revealed the suspense information that could have been released in the middle and later stages in the first two-thirds of the drama, just to keep the audience interested. It is a "dangerous move" to feel the emotional changes of the characters more comfortably and naturally without being disturbed by the plot, because for many viewers of suspense films, doing so will not seem "brain-burning" or "insufficient" enough. "Shuang", and "emotional suspense" is a concept that is difficult to define for the audience. This is our choice and attempt in creation, and we sincerely thank the creators and the platform for their support.
Rong Zishan and Zhang Songwen played in the drama " "The Boy Who Can't See the Shadow" plays Xiao Qi and Wang Shitu.
Beijing News: In terms of the protagonists in the play, Wang Shitu and Xiao Qi are a policeman and an imposter "missing boy". In your opinion, is there anything special about the "competition"?
Zhouquan: One of them is a "lost orphan policeman" and the other is a "lost boy". These two labels are the background of their characters. . The destiny of each of us is full of unknowns and coincidences. Who we will meet and what will happen are beyond our control. The collision of any two colors will produce a new color. The encounter of any two people. There will definitely be unique sparks. Different colors have different meanings for everyone, and any emotional relationship also has different understandings for everyone. Wang Shitu and Xiaoqi have their own goals. , met on the road of "life", all I can do is to try to present my knowledge and hope. "Competition" does not necessarily mean "confrontation", but can also encourage each other to grow. The audience can color them themselves, please define them, because only in this way can it fit your truest feelings.
Zhang Songwen is a playful and affectionate person in life.
Beijing News: Zhang Songwen has previously appeared in a series of dramas. The gangsters, drug lords and other villains are impressive. This time he plays a policeman looking for his son. In your opinion, what temperament does he have that matches the character?
Zhouquan: Teacher Zhang Songwen is actually a playful and affectionate person in life. The audience is invited to wait and see and experience these two "true qualities" of his in the play.
Beijing News: This drama is also your second collaboration with Zhang Songwen and Rong Zishan after "Summer in Xi Xiaohe". Do you have any special feelings about collaborating again after so many years?
Zhouquan: years have passed, and everyone has entered a new stage of their lives. The most obvious change is that teacher Zhang Songwen has become a well-deserved superstar, and Rong Zishan has grown up and is making solid progress towards his dream. What hasn't changed is that they all still have a passion for performing. Teacher Zhang Songwen is still the performer who provides countless good ideas to the director and rival actors on the scene, and Rong Zishan is still the smart and innocent boy. We are familiar with each other's working methods and have a good foundation of tacit understanding. There is no need for a running-in period when working together. More importantly, our hearts are similar. We trust each other, rely on each other, support each other, and can make new attempts more relaxedly. During the filming, we adjusted the script in a timely manner based on the rough cut of the filmed material and the development of the characters. In this process, full trust between the actors and the director is even more important.
In director Zhou Quan’s opinion, both Guo Keyu and Cheng Taishen are very experienced actors.
Beijing News: The supporting roles of this drama also impressed everyone. The "parents" played by Cheng Taishen and Guo Keyu are not "facial" characters in the traditional sense. Can you talk about the performance of these two actors? Especially Guo Keyu's performance is amazing.
Zhouquan: Cheng Taishen and Guo Keyu, two teachers, are both very experienced actors. Their image creation and performance abilities are beyond doubt. The only thing I have to do is to find a path to create these two characters with them. We reached a high degree of consensus in creation - to find the underlying demands of these two characters and the logic of their actions to achieve this demand. Teacher Guo Keyu is a treasure. No matter how beautiful words are, they are not enough to express my deep respect for her. I can only use "creepy" to describe my feelings about her performance and singing.
I sincerely wish every baby to go home soon
Beijing News: At the end of each episode, there is a photo of a real missing child. Is it to increase the sense of documentary?
comprehensive: "Baby Come Home" is doing a great cause. There is not much we can do, but we hope that through our humble efforts, we can bring a little hope to all separated families in the world. Even if there is only 1% hope, we are willing to give 99% of our efforts. We sincerely accept the audience's criticism and encouragement of our drama, and we also ask the audience to believe in our sincerity in helping lost families. The duration of the ending screen is limited. You are welcome to intercept our pictures and information and spread them. We sincerely wish every baby to go home soon!
Beijing News: During the entire filming, was there any scene that impressed you the most?
Zhouquan: I put emotion and sincerity into every scene in the filming. I believe that the camera will not deceive people. In fact, I also want to know which plays have impressed the audience the most.
The director said that he sincerely wishes every baby to go home soon.
Beijing News: Looking back on the creation process of the entire series, what was the biggest challenge or difficulty?
comprehensive: Every work has its own challenges and difficulties, and "The Boy Who Can't See a Shadow" is no exception, but any difficulty is no excuse for us to shirk our responsibilities. All difficulties are insignificant, all challenges are growth. Every creation is an opportunity and process to find an audience. If you can find a sympathetic audience, everything is worth it.
Beijing News reporter Liu Wei
editor Huang Jialing
proofreader Zhao Lin
