cover news reporter Liu Ye
Since the official announcement poster of the short drama "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf" was released, produced by Stephen Chow and supervised by Yi Xiaoxing, the drama has been labeled as "comedy" and "top-notch". The short drama, which has 24 episodes and is broadcast in two seasons, has received 150 million views in the first 6 episodes and contributed to at least three hot searches on different themes. What are the casting criteria for "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf"? What did Stephen Chow do in this drama? On June 13, Cover News conducted an exclusive interview with Yi Xiaoxing.
Yi Xiaoxing on the set of "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf"
Horizontal screen short plays are more suitable for telling stories
Set in advance + tailor-made to make comedy more vivid
"I think the content, form and There is a serious convergence of themes. Since we have the Stephen Chow brand, we have to do something different. "The current convergence in the short drama market is nothing more than the common "boss boss, rebirth" in vertical screen short dramas. themes and intensive "slap-style" famous scenes. Although vertical screen short dramas are quite famous, Yi Xiaoxing did not find a big gap between horizontal and vertical screens in the data table provided by the platform. In view of the difference in subject matter and the need to express the story completely, he finally used a team of filmmakers to complete the short play in horizontal screen mode, "trying his best to simulate a product that the film industry can produce."
"Golden Pig and Jade Leaf" focuses on current hot topics The topic of "Pig Killing Plate" tells the story of trainee lawyer Ye Xiaolai working together with anchor Zhu Hao to decipher the truth in order to find the murderer who defrauded his sister. In terms of content creation, except for a few "inspirations" on the spot, Yi Xiaoxing will complete 95% of the content creation in the early stage. "On the one hand, we think the idea is fun, so we will write it down. In addition, I think the actor may be particularly suitable for this role, and we will adjust the text according to the actor. "Comedian Tudou has a "telling his own story" episode in the play, and this section is based on Tudou's personal characteristics. Tailor-made, facing Tudou's doubts about the script, Yi Xiaoxing gave him a sure vote. "I said, 'You can definitely act,' and then I showed him a few moves. In the end, Tudou did really well."
In the early stage of creation, how to use about 5 minutes to tell a complete story and convey the creator's thoughts? This is a headache for Yi Xiaoxing’s team. Now that "Stephen Chow" has been named, comedy has become the first choice. But unlike Yi Xiaoxing's previous famous work " never thought of ", "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf" did not become the popular short plot video of "a single episode is a story", but a story. Split into multiple episodes for broadcast. While ensuring the continuity of the plot, it is also necessary to retain the necessary points of laughter, suspense or excitement in each episode, while taking into account the artistry of film and television works. "It's actually quite difficult to incorporate suspense and comedy in such a short period of time, and then also include the character's growth line, but we have solved this problem so far. However, because the length of a single episode is too short, sometimes the suspense is quite strong and the laughter is There will be something missing."
"Golden Pig and Jade Leaf" stills
The core purpose of the work is to tell a good story
"Joy" is the casting requirement
Most of the actors in "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf" know Yi Xiaoxing. When he extended invitations to perform, the actors showed great enthusiasm. "As soon as I heard that it was produced by Stephen Chow, many people came even if they squeezed out their schedules, or came to help even if they didn't get paid. I'm very grateful to them." Compared with the actors' unfamiliarity with short play performances, in "Wan Wan Wan" Yi Xiaoxing, who plays the fast-paced game well in "Unexpectedly", seems quite confident. "I told them it doesn't matter, because this play does not rely on actors to improve the rhythm, but on editing, which is what I am better at. So I hope everyone will do the same thing here as they do in film and television dramas."
This short drama requires actors to "have comedy performance experience or a special sense of comedy" during the casting process, and these requirements are finally embodied in each of the comedians we are familiar with, such as Xu Zhisheng, who was in "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf" "When the first episode was released, it contributed to the hot search for "Xu Zhisheng plays a short play to trick the leader". In the play, he said whatever he wanted, and his every sentence hit the point, and he had a kind of honest and honest character. "Zhi Sheng himself is very smart and sincere. But when he acts, he will have the attributes of a prime supporting character in Stephen Chow's movies: clear and stupid. He doesn't mean to hurt you or fool you, but he is such an innocent person. He is actually a very representative character in this show. "
Although it brings together many comedians, this way of combining traditional film and television production with emerging content forms is an innovation for Yi Xiaoxing. Regarding the market response, he bluntly said, "We are crossing the river by feeling the stones. ,no confidence. "Although "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf" does not require payment to watch, and there will be exciting plots in the follow-up, it is far from reaching the level of "hooking people who can't stop". "What we are currently doing is not available on the market. Our purpose It is not about stimulating the audience's emotions to recharge, but using the form of short plays to create characters and tell stories. So no matter what its results are, if it inspires subsequent creators or my own future creations, then I think it is very valuable. of. "
Yi Xiaoxing on the set of "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf"
It was a helpless choice to switch from literary and artistic films to comedy
"Golden Pig and Jade Leaf" is his first collaboration with Stephen Chow
Yi Xiaoxing is well-known for comedy, but In his early days, he started making short literary films. “Although he won some awards, no one watched it, so I started doing comedy out of desperation. I found that people seemed to like it, so I decided to do it. "In 2013, "Never Expected" turned out, and "Yi Xiaoxing" came into everyone's sight. Two years later, he changed his track and became a film director. "Although they are all filming film and television works, it is like track and field. Likewise, sprinting and marathoning require completely different training. The transition period was so painful that it took three years after the first film to get over it. "This kind of transformation is a new life in Yi Xiaoxing's view, "People sometimes need to change their creative state, and changes are bound to be accompanied by labor pains, but as long as you stand firm, it may be over. "Just as he named his company "Breaking Out of the Shell", it also represents "brand new". The results after the transformation are outstanding. In 2023, the comedy movie " Unfamiliar Life" directed by Yi Xiaoxing " has a total box office of 1.184 billion, becoming the May Day comedy box office champion in mainland film history.
are both comedians. Yi Xiaoxing has always had a romantic relationship with Stephen Chow. Although the two have known each other for a long time, they have not been able to succeed before due to schedule reasons. Collaboration. “I thought the skit would be short and quick, so I quickly collaborated. He would give a lot of advice, from the script stage to the shooting stage to the post-production stage. Each of our phone calls lasted for two hours. He still trusts me quite a bit, and there are almost no disagreements. "However, due to regional differences, Stephen Chow would be confused about the expressions of certain dialects in the play. Yi Xiaoxing acted as a translator to explain, "For example, Zhang Baiqiao has a line that is 'Old man, I miss you', in the southwestern dialect.' "Old man" means dad, but Stephen Chow thought he was on the phone with an unrelated person and had no connection with the plot, so he asked me why I didn't delete it. "
After the filming of "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf" was completed, Yi Xiaoxing devoted himself to new film creation. "The next short plays should be handed over to other directors. I will focus on the film. "It is worth mentioning that from "The Road Is Unfamiliar" to "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf" to the "next movie" that has not yet been revealed, he has chosen Chengdu as the filming location. "I am very fond of Chengdu. I really like the whole humanistic environment and the professional cooperation in shooting, and there are a lot of delicious food. ” (Photo courtesy of the film’s author)
