Case-filing court , pre-litigation mediation, post system, statutory law ...
Recently, with the judicial drama " Bottom Line " being broadcast on Hunan Satellite TV , Mango TV and iQiyi , so Some seemingly professional and unfamiliar legal words began to appear in the discussion topics of fans on social networking sites.
They put the protagonist's perspective in the barrage to discuss the details of the case; ask if you don't understand on Zhihu , understand judicial reform measures such as the judicial quota system, the case registration system ; The avoidance system of judges and lawyers, and the details of the characters in the play, such as the configuration relationship between judges, clerks, and legal assistants, are analyzed.
And the final conclusions after dismantling are mostly "very real" or "learned".
"Bottom Line" is produced and distributed by Dangran Pictures, a subsidiary of Xiaoxiang Film Group . Due to the scarcity of subject matter and the particularity of the profession, judge dramas rarely broke the circle in the past. After the broadcast of "Bottom Line", the audience discussed heatedly, and the ratings increased significantly.
Obviously, this state-owned film and television company, which is deeply involved in mainstream boutique dramas, has found a serious and lively way to open judge dramas.
Xiaoxiang Film Group's innovation has opened up a new narrative method for the long-dormant rule of law drama, and "Bottom Line", which integrates the new rule of law concept into life, is destined to be a highlight in this year's main realism boutique drama series .
Why did "Bottom Line" make melon eaters interested in cold legal terms? Compared with previous judicial dramas, which of its ideas and expressions make the audience feel that "the protagonist comes to the side, and the precedents are brought into reality"?
Before the launch of "The Bottom Line", we had the opportunity to see the 2-episode feature film and the 60-minute blockbuster in advance. At the scene of the film, I felt the surging energy of the show. Taking the opportunity of the broadcast, we specially contacted director Liu Guotong and asked him to talk about the creation story behind the scenes of this drama in detail.
Director Liu Guotong
The following is Liu Guotong's story.
Court "internship" for 8 months
was very excited but also a little apprehensive. This was my first feeling when I received "The Bottom Line".
In June last year, I signed a contract with Dang Ran Pictures after finishing the post-production stage of "'s ideal shines on China ". At that time, the company was preparing to shoot a drama about judges, and I got the script for the first five episodes of "The Bottom Line". It was a story written by the screenwriter after a long period of research into the court system, and it was very exciting. I was hooked right away.
But it was difficult for me to control the subject at the time, and it was difficult for me to suggest improvements to the play. Because at the time, like the general audience, I didn’t know much about the court system and the group of judges. In my mind, the judge is awe-inspiring. I am not familiar with the legal issues discussed in the
drama, including the hierarchical relationship of the protagonists and legal terminology, which I am very unfamiliar with. Therefore, although I took over the creation of this project, I still have doubts about how to shoot.
However, this doubt gradually disappeared after my colleagues and I entered the courthouse to experience life.
"The Bottom Line" took a long time to prepare. From the time I joined the project in June last year until the start of the project at the end of February this year, we have been collecting stories, experiencing life, and polishing the script in courts at all levels. In the beginning,
was organized by Supreme People's Court to help us clarify the organizational structure of domestic courts. At the same time, it will also explain to us the underlying logic behind legal practice. After gradually mastering the general knowledge of the industry, you will find that the law is not a cold clause in a textbook, it is warm.
For example, what is the concept of fairness and justice? Why does , the goddess of justice, and , have to cover her eyes? Including what is substantive justice , what is procedural justice? After understanding these underlying logics, we can understand the difficulties and pain points of daily legal practice when we communicate with judges.
We learned that the essence of the domestic judicial system is that justice serves the people,To protect the weak, its background is warm, which is also the biggest difference from foreign justice. At that time, this sentence touched me very much, and it was also the source of the warm and realistic temperament of this drama.
We went deep into the courts at all levels, especially the grassroots courts, to work, eat, and commute with the court police. This kind of internship experience as an "assistant" in the court continued until the start of the program in February this year. When
worked in the court, several leading actors and I were led by a "master". For example, Wang Xiuzhu and played a criminal judge. She would follow the criminal court judge to listen to the case discussion, open the court, and follow up the whole process.
The local court also specially issued an access card for each of us, and we can also enter and exit normally in some non-open areas. There are 16 divisions in the court where we experience life intensively. When we enter the office every morning, we will each look at the schedule, and then select the cases we are interested in to sit in. After I learned more about it later, I also contacted the parties under the guidance of the judge and personally participated in the mediation of simple cases.
Jin Dong plays the judge who is far from the chief judge of the case filing division of the grassroots court. In the daily work, the pre-litigation mediation of the grassroots court is very heavy. When our "internship" was about to end, Mr. Jin Dong personally participated in the mediation of a divorce dispute. The couple reached an agreement during the mediation.
In fact, a large number of cases in Bottom Line are not tried in court. A large number of disputes are resolved through mediation between judges, judge assistants and both parties. The judges worked hard in mediation, much like enthusiastic neighbors and neighborhood committee representatives.
Court workers: ordinary people and superman
In my long-term contact with court workers, I have seen many things in them that are different from what the outside world imagines. Therefore, when the "Bottom Line" was filmed, my goal with the main actors was very consistent, that is, to restore the most realistic group portraits of judges we observed. The protagonists in the
play have distinct personalities.
Fang Yuan, played by Mr. Jin Dong, is experienced and skilled. He is the leader of young judges and the humorous character in the play. During the mediation, he spoke with the client in a Changsha accent. When there is a disagreement with Master, strategically act stupid and stage appropriate "workplace tricks". When getting along with colleagues and apprentices, they can protect their energy while adhering to principles, love them, and teach them well.
Fang Yuan's slack and fireworks are actually the common characteristics of grassroots judges.
Mr. Jin Dong has a very meticulous grasp of the role of Fang Yuan. When
first entered the role, he was often stooped and slightly hunched. I was hesitant at the time, whether such a performance would damage the judge's image. Teacher Jin Dong said that in the mediation cases he once participated in, when the judges approached the parties, they often did not maintain a straight posture, they were all bent over and friendly. This state of his performance is very accurate.
In addition to the normal side of the judge, "Bottom Line" also shows the superhuman side of the judge. This kind of superman is not personal heroism, but the responsibility and responsibility of the judge's profession.
For example, with the three provisions, there are many things that judges want to avoid. So small that you can't attend various parties, and so big that your partner's identity cannot be a lawyer. In the
drama, Fang Yuan's wife did not go to work in a law firm in order to avoid it, and regrettably gave up her major. Song Yufei (played by Wang Xiuzhu) had to part ways because her boyfriend was a lawyer. These major personal sacrifices are the norm in the court system. We integrated these into the shaping of the protagonist, and also wanted the audience to see the extra sacrifices that the judges have made in order to stick to their profession and maintain fairness and justice.
Another example is the highly competitive judicial system. The time background set in
"Bottom Line" is after the judicial reform in 2014. Judicial reform has made it more difficult to become a judge in an all-round way, and thus has the concept of "income".
If you want to be a judge now, you not only need a degree in law, but you must also pass the civil service examination , the judicial examination, and have been a judge's assistant for five years before you can get the qualification to participate in the selection of post judges. However, the number of places is not available every year, and even if there are, they must be selected before they can become a formal judge.
This process is very hard, not everyone can stick to it. Some court workers may spend their entire lives working as clerks or clerks. How do they balance career ambitions with objective difficulties at work? Ye Xin, a young legal assistant played by Cai Wenjing, , and Shu Su, a clerk played by Wang Shasha and , embody the test these young court workers have endured.
Even if he becomes a judge, he still faces pressure from many aspects.
Judge's responsibility is very heavy, sometimes a sentence in court can affect people's life. The work of a judge is also very lonely, because of the confidentiality requirements, no matter how much hesitation and swaying in the heart are, I have to overcome it myself. In the play, Cheng Yi plays the newly-paid judge Zhou Yi'an. What he shows is the challenges that young judges may face in their work.
Law graduates have a difficult and long journey to become a judge. In the end, the people who can really sit on the seat of judges have an unimaginable love and perseverance for this profession.
The word "real" is the highest standard
Because the preparation process is very thorough, the filming of "Bottom Line" has progressed smoothly. It took 94 days from the start of February to the early morning of May 30th. During this period of time, we shot in Changsha city throughout the whole process, and the selection and setting of scenes mainly referred to a district court in Changsha.
Actually, it took us a long time to "select" the court. In the beginning, we watched the interiors of all the grassroots courts across the country through the surveillance of the Supreme People's Court. After determining several goals, they went to the field to investigate separately.
In the end, we chose the court in Changsha. This court is relatively new, not outdated, and has a certain representativeness of the court of the new era. Compared with the new courts in coastal areas, it is more in line with the audience's imagination of the interior of the court. If the court scene is placed in a very modern city court, audiences who don't know the truth may feel "false and suspended". When shooting
, we took the exterior scenes and some large scenes in the field court based on the specified area and the real interior scenes of the court office and courtroom, and then made a connection between the two.
In addition to court scenes, "Bottom Line" involves many characters and a large number of cases, so the amount of scenery is also very large. There are more than 40 home sets alone, as well as restaurants, companies, shops and other scenes.
In order to integrate various scenes organically, we made such a basic setting on the image - only four levels of scenes are presented, solemn, pyrotechnic, urban modern, and natural scenery. When choosing a scene, the scene is locked in these four categories. Other styles, or scenes where the tone is in-between, we discarded it. Only in this way can The Bottom Line have a relatively bright visual effect at present.
"The Bottom Line" has a huge number of special actors, nearly 400 people, so the unification of the performance style is also a big problem.
Fortunately, our special actors are very professional. Mr. Jin Dong is like a magnet, calling on a lot of actors to make cameos. The senior actors I have worked with before are also invited. Teachers like Liu Mintao , Cao Lei, Liu Jun, and Li Naiwen performed very well. Even the small supporting roles in some cases with few scenes, their performances are very realistic, their emotional explosiveness is very strong, they can express their demands frankly and strongly, and strive for their own interests, just like the parties we met when we were collecting wind.
Because of the high degree of completion of the actors' performances, the shooting process did not have too many bumps. The remaining key point is to bury some ingenuity in the post-editing.
"The Bottom Line" has a large number of cases, and each episode is often described in two lines, three lines or even four lines, and each case is not complicated.same. Therefore, how to cross the narrative so that the audience can connect and generate interest is a question we have repeatedly pondered.
The editing method we finally adopted is slightly different from the conventional two-line narrative. Basically, we use intense criminal cases, which are intertwined with civil cases. In parallel civil cases, the themes of the cases are relatively similar, and the narrative of the cases should be as complete as possible.
"The Bottom Line" has just aired 6 episodes, and I am also following everyone's discussions and feedback. If I have the opportunity in the future, I hope to participate in the creation of more realistic works, so that I can experience and observe more kinds of life through photography, and record the changes of the times and social life.
【Text/Kwai Chung】
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