"Icebreaker", "Hurry", " Chinatown Detective ", "The Wind Rises in Luoyang", Xu Mi, a female producer, is behind each of the hit suspense crime-themed works.
Producer Xu Mi
As the head of iQiyi Fengqi Studio, Xu Mi has been deeply involved in the creation of suspense themes for many years and has compiled a complete set of creative methodologies for this type of genre. After establishing her advantages in creating suspense themes, she did not stand still.
"Nowadays, people have fragmented time, and the social environment is getting faster and faster. Many viewers are pursuing fast-paced film and television works with strong plots, so suspense will be a long-lasting genre, but the endless emergence of suspense dramas makes The audience's demands are getting higher and higher." She said frankly, "The scale of suspense dramas is no longer the direction we are pursuing. We have been thinking and trying the 'suspense +' type, and in the future we will involve more suspense drama themes with superimposed elements. Broadening the suspense track. "
For example, female suspense themes are the direction Xu Mi is trying. In 2021, "Who is the Murderer" starring Zhao Liying will be broadcast on iQiyi's Mist Theater. The story is novel and very popular.
"Who is the Murderer" poster
However, in Xu Mi's recollection, due to the subject matter of "Who is the Murderer", two of the three main character lines had to undergo overturning revisions, "The filming had already been completed at that time, and we had passed the review After various attempts and efforts by the post-production director and editing director, the show was finally reduced from 24 episodes to 16 episodes. "Undoubtedly, such deletions will damage the project, but this experience of overcoming difficulties and moving forward is undoubtedly. It is a valuable training opportunity for the team.
In Xu Mi’s opinion, the proportion of female users of suspense themes is not low. "Now more and more female screenwriters are joining the creative team, and there are more and more female suspense movies on the market." She looks forward to the emergence of more new suspense genres.
In addition to the suspense track, Xu Mi is bravely trying literary IP adaptation. In 2021, she came across the novel "Longing and Determination" by Shandong writer Zhao Defa, and was attracted by the novel's simple and rich literary texture. In the feudal and turbulent era, a girl from a landlord's family in the Qilu Mountains was kidnapped by bandits before she got married, and then accidentally married into a farmer's family, thus unfolding a story about a village, two classes, and three families. "The emotions between the characters are full of intensity, and the emotional tension between the characters, the land and the times is full. It is a work that can be both ornamental and literary." The novel was adapted into the period TV series "Life of All Things", directed by the famous director Liu Jiacheng Directed, starring Yang Mi , Ou Hao , and is currently filming. Xu Mi frankly said why she made such a big genre leap, "I think maybe after I turned 40, I started to pay more and more attention to society, people, and the times, and I have more thoughts and cognitions, so I also want to learn more about it." Involved in this type of field."
In Xu Mi's view, in the adaptation of the project "Life of All Things", the background of the times, regional customs, and living customs must be respected, and the art props must be restored as much as possible. "What is presented in this way is a period of time. True history and characters.” Based on the uniqueness of the project, Xu Mi and her team decided to shorten the time span of the story in the novel, from the original story spanning several generations over seventy years to a story that focuses on two generations around thirty years. At the same time, in accordance with the current spirit of the times, "We have adjusted the heroine who started this story, and changed the heroine who was manipulated by fate under feudal ideas into a person who fights fate and controls her own destiny," Xu Mi said , "This change is more resonant with the current female audience."
In the conversation with Xu Mi, she shared her creative methodology and also talked about the creation story of her new work "Birth of All Things".
Concept poster of "All Things"
[Dialogue]
talks about female suspense: More and more female screenwriters are joining in the creation
The Paper News : I have seen many suspense works in your resume, can you talk about the types of suspense dramas? In terms of innovation, what kind of exploration and thinking did the team jointly carry out?
Xu Mi: As a large genre, suspense drama actually has many subdivisions. "Icebreaker" and "Hurry" belong to the category of police-related cases, where the forces of the enemy and ourselves are obvious, so they focus more on the game of good and evil, confrontational, and are not so intensive at the level of reasoning; "Who is the Murderer" and "Chinatown Detective" belong to crime suspense genre, focusing more on reasoning, finding the murderer and the truth; "Twenty One Days", which is still to be broadcast, is a disaster suspense, focusing more on the discussion of human nature; " Justified Defense " focuses more on social suspense, paying attention to social phenomena and Hot topics; the "Low IQ Crime" we are filming focuses on black humor and suspense, as well as the emotional suspense drama we are preparing.
"Hurricane" poster
"Just Cause" poster
Nowadays, people's time is fragmented, and the social environment is getting faster and faster. Many viewers are pursuing film and television works with the same fast pace and strong plot, so suspense will be in a period of time A great genre that lasts forever. However, the endless emergence of suspense dramas will make the audience's requirements higher and higher. The scale of suspense dramas is no longer the direction we pursue. We have been thinking and trying the suspense + type, and will involve the superposition of more elements in the future. The suspense drama theme broadens the suspense track.
The Paper News : "Cyclone", "Who is the Murderer", and "Ming Dynasty under the Microscope", each work has great innovation in its genre track, but innovation means that there should be many "pits" and "pitfalls" from the beginning to the end of the project execution. Risks need to be avoided. At this point, as a producer, how do you consider and control risks?
Xu Mi: First of all, innovation may fail. We just try our best to minimize the risk. We are relatively lucky at present and have not encountered failure on the road of innovation, but we still encounter a lot of "pitfalls".
For example, due to the subject matter of "Who is the Murderer", two of our three main character lines had to be revised in a radical way, but the filming had already been completed at that time, and after various attempts and efforts by us and the post-production director and editing director, in the end The broadcast was reduced from 24 episodes to 16 episodes. In fact, for a project, the losses are huge, but fortunately, the results after the broadcast were very good, and it finally landed smoothly without any danger. Because I have had this experience, and because I have done a lot of dramas involving police cases, and I grew up in a traditional film and television company, I have a relatively strong awareness of censorship risks.
When facing the second risk - the market, we must actually pay attention to the news, society and public sentiment at all times, watch the latest broadcast projects as soon as possible, understand the audience's feelings and concerns from multiple dimensions, and use their opinions on Understand the feelings of the project to understand their status, emotions and aesthetic preferences, and try to reduce market risks through these aspects as much as possible.
Stills of "Who is the Murderer"
The Paper : "Who is the Murderer" is a successful female suspense work in recent years, but as a subject of female suspense, not many have been successful in recent years. Regarding this subject, what do you think? Are there any inherent disadvantages? If so, how to avoid it?
Xu Mi: According to our user analysis, the proportion of female viewers in suspense dramas is actually very high. However, the reasons why suspense dramas are difficult for women can be analyzed from my experience: first, the screenwriter. Because most screenwriters who write suspense dramas are men, it is difficult for them to be so accurate with female characters. This is a more important reason. In the early stages of the development of this genre, when judging the audience of suspense dramas, everyone would think that male audiences accounted for a high proportion. In addition, there were mostly male screenwriters, so naturally there would be fewer suspense dramas involving women.But now, more and more female screenwriters are joining the creative team, and the market is changing. There are more and more female audiences in this genre. I think there will even be more suspense genres in the future.
talks about IP adaptation: presenting real history and characters
The Paper News : From "Hurry" to "All Things", the genre spans greatly. Can you talk about the origin of this project? And why such a big genre crossover?
Xu Mi: I came into contact with this project in 2021. At that time, I was attracted by the simple and heavy literary quality. In the feudal and turbulent era, a young lady from a landlord's family in the Qilu Mountains was kidnapped by bandits before she got married. She accidentally married into a peasant family, thus unfolding a story about a village, two classes, and three families. The emotional concentration between the characters is very full, and the emotional tension between the characters, the land and the era is full. It is a work that can be both ornamental and literary. As for why I made such a big leap in genres, I think maybe after the age of 40, I began to pay more and more attention to society, people, and the times, and gained a new level of thinking and cognition, so I also wanted to get more involved in this field.
The Paper : As an IP adaptation, how can we respect the original work while also being innovative during the film and television process? What are the main aspects of our innovation? How to resonate with the audience in today's era?
Xu Mi: No matter what kind of IP adaptation, we must first retain the point that impressed us in the first place. This is also the most likely thing that can impress the audience. In the adaptation of the project "Life of All Things", we must respect the background of the times, regional customs, and living customs, and the art props should be restored as much as possible, so that what is presented is a real history and characters. In this solid background, we In order to innovate, based on the uniqueness of our project, we decided to shorten the time span of the story. The original story spanned several generations over 70 years, and was adapted into a story that mainly tells the story of two generations around 30 years ago.
Following the previous changes, we have made corresponding adjustments to the heroine who started this story, changing the heroine who was manipulated by fate under feudal ideas and resigned into a person who fights against fate and takes control of her own destiny. This change is more resonant with current female audiences. In addition, the emotional model of the male and female protagonists in this drama will also heal the young people of today, turn suffering into the warmth of mutual dependence, and brighten the darker background of human nature in literary works. Our image style will also be adjusted accordingly to the temperament of our entire play.
The Paper : Director Liu Jiacheng is most famous for his Beijing-style cultural series, such as "情满四合院", etc. It is quite unexpected that he would direct a rural theme like "All Things". How was your overall experience working with him? Will there be a running-in process?
Xu Mi: Director Liu Jiacheng is a director with both virtue and art. I have seen many of his excellent works. Many of his works show the fate and emotional relationships of the times, families, and characters. Although he is a Beijinger himself , has also filmed many Beijing-style works, but the place where our drama takes place, Shandong, also belongs to the north and is the birthplace of Confucian culture, which is exactly the same as the director's simple, humble and elegant temperament.
From our initial stage, when a few core creators held script meetings in the office at intervals, to subsequent discussions on choosing the main creator, actors auditioning for roles and makeup, music and special effects, etc., the director and I had many different ideas. Director Liu Yang also coincided with this. The three of us have a creative group, and we often hold various discussions in the group. We all have a tacit understanding. This is also a very happy creative experience for me.
The Paper : Speaking of cooperation with director Liu Jiacheng, what do you think is the best state of cooperation between the director and the producer?
Xu Mi: I think that a good cooperative relationship between producers and directors should be based on mutual recognition of each other's professional abilities, trust in each other's character, and mutual respect.Openly listen to opinions on projects and adopt good suggestions. Producers should think more from a creative perspective while ensuring production, and directors should think more from a production perspective while ensuring creation. Everyone can trust and accept them. , put myself in my shoes, I think there is no problem that cannot be solved.
talks about "All Things": a drama that "depends on the sky"
The Paper News : What difficulties and challenges did you encounter during the filming of "All Things"? How was it solved?
Xu Mi: "The Creation of All Things" is a story that spans decades, and there will definitely be changes in the four seasons. The beginning of our story is winter, and it takes up a relatively large proportion, but it is already April when we start the film, and the leaves are falling one after another. Everything has sprouted, but what we want to present is a snow scene, so the special effects start working before we prepare. On the one hand, a lot of greening needs to be removed in the later stage. On the other hand, part of our snow scene scenes have to wait until winter to shoot. However, the snow scenes in the village and outside the house require a large amount of artificial snow, and they have to be combined with the snow scenes that have not yet been filmed, which requires a lot of special effects for us.
In addition, this drama is about farmers and land. Wheat is one of our important props. We have to film the growth, changes and harvest of wheat throughout the year. The crew rented nearly 100 acres of land, and when the wheat matures When we were filming, we had a major scene where we had to burn a wheat field. The area is very small, but because the script has been adjusted, wheat grains are starting to fall, the wheat stalks are drooping, and the color has changed. Moreover, Shandong has begun to enter the rainy season. After a heavy rain, it may be impossible to shoot the wheat fields.
We are a drama that "depends on the weather". The whole crew was very anxious. Finally, in the last few days, the script was revised. It happened that it didn't rain in those days, but the temperature entered again. The crew adjusted the color of the wheat. We shot for 3 consecutive days in a high temperature of more than 10 degrees Celsius. Our filming in Shandong encountered scorching heat and the rainy season. In the scorching heat, not only our staff, but also our animal actors suffered from heat stroke; in the rainy season, we were worried about our crops, and I really realized how difficult it is for farmers to rely on the weather for a living.
The Paper : The cast of "Life of All Things" has been revealed so far, which is very exciting. What did you and the team think about when casting? Please comment on the leading actors. How did you feel about working with them?
Xu Mi: We are a group drama, and every role is important. This is the consensus reached with the director at the initial stage of the project. In fact, when we were reading the script, some of the leading actors were already in our minds, such as teachers Ni Dahong, Qin Hailu, Lin Yongjian, and Chi Peng. Many of the remaining characters were selected by us and the director after many rounds of auditions.
I think all the actors in our drama are great and work hard. After our drama is finished, many actors will spontaneously discuss their roles together. This is basically the norm for our crew. I believe that when this drama is aired When it comes out, everyone will see the surprises brought by the actors.
