Today's martial arts drama, how to shoot?
From my experience watching dramas, there are three new modes. The first type of
is a classic remake.
From TVB's classic "Dragon Babu" and "The Legend of Condor Heroes" to the current Yang Youning version of "Dragon Babu", although the quality has changed drastically, the style and form of expression have not changed much.
The second type is new martial arts.
In the past few years, the heroine martial arts drama "You Fei", the fantasy martial arts "Swords in the Snow", and the bloody martial arts "Youth Song Xing" are all representative.
Although these dramas still belong to the martial arts category, the highlights and elements of the main focus are quite different from the martial arts dramas of the year.
The third type is suspenseful martial arts.
The ATV martial arts dramas "Sword Roaring Jianghu" and "Snowflake Excalibur" that year were the most classic suspenseful martial arts dramas.
This year, martial arts dramas such as "Shadow of Mountains and Rivers" have also produced spy wars and suspenseful textures.
But yesterday's new TV series subverted the genre of "martial arts drama".
Can you imagine that a suspenseful martial arts drama can also be made into a tomb robbery comedy?
is not a joke, it is "Lotus House". The
series is adapted from Teng Ping's novel "The Lotus House with Auspicious Patterns", which tells the story of Li Xiangyi, the master of the Sigu Sect, who is well-known in the martial arts world, retreating from the rivers and lakes and transforming into Li Lianhua.
This drama is also a blockbuster new drama promoted by Tao in the middle of the summer vacation.
premiered 6 episodes, and the popularity broke through 6,000 within 90 minutes of broadcasting, and the latest popularity broke through 8,000, rising to the top of the soaring list.
Compared with the traditional ancient puppet shows that have appeared one after another in summer.
This drama focuses on "stylization", and each drama has its own style.
Costume + martial arts + suspense.
stayed up all night chasing six episodes, the more I watched, the more I realized that this show is a bit different from the previous puppet shows.
It has the soul of a martial arts drama. When it tells a story, it has the taste of a suspenseful detective drama, but it has a comedy style. Whether
is a ceiling, I dare not say, but I can be sure that it is a new road that has never been traversed by previous martial arts dramas.
The rivers and lakes in this lotus building seem a bit interesting.
01 Entering the drama: The decisive battle enters the drama, investigating the case and organizing the game. This drama caught my attention as soon as the opening
"Lotus Tower" opened, and I was caught off guard.
Attention - not with swords, but with rivers and lakes.
Dark clouds cover the sky, the battle of the East China Sea.
The big ship of the Golden Yuan League went to sea on a thunderstorm night, and a handsome young man came riding the waves independently of the small boat.
's whereabouts were discovered, the young master jumped onto the big ship.
just a few sword moves, and killed the opponent's miscellaneous soldiers in pieces.
This is the male protagonist Li Xiangyi played by Cheng Yi, a martial arts prodigy who became the world's number one master at the age of 15, established Sigumen at the age of 17, and became the leader of the martial arts alliance at the age of 20.
But a young man who becomes famous must be challenged by the world. His biggest opponent is Di Feisheng, the leader of the Golden Yuan League of the Demon Sect. .
then as you wish.
At this time there was a thunderstorm on the sea, the waves hit the ship's side, and the waves splashed. Two masters went into the sea to start a duel. Li Xiangyi stepped on the hull lightly, blocking, sweeping, flying, and moving. I have been poisoned.
This battle in the East China Sea is an original famous scene. At the beginning of the
story, this super long double play was arranged, obviously to quickly attract the audience into the game. From the results,
has advantages and disadvantages.
Just looking at the scene scheduling of this scene, there is nothing to say, the action design is clean and neat, the lens design is silky and smooth, the transitions are natural, the camera movement is sharp, combined with the special effects at sea, the taste of the master's duel is shot, and it also creates a unique Jianghu chic mood.
Cheng Yi's fighting scenes are very beautiful, with an elegant figure, every move is neat and neat, and it is very enjoyable to watch. Looking at
as a whole, whether it is scenes, action design, or lens language, they are all very delicate, smooth, and fluid.
But the disadvantage is that the whole scene is a bit too silky.
The director paid too much attention to good looks, and turned the opening scene of the martial arts drama into a fantasy drama. Two martial arts masters fought from the bow to the stern of the ship, and forcibly shattered a ship.
It is not surprising that viewers who like traditional martial arts have doubts about the opening.
But this opening has another advantage, that is, it allows us to feel the push and pull of the characters and the advancement of the plot.
An opening scene, two of the three main characters appeared on the stage, and quickly completed the fate change of the hero Li Xiangyi.
In the battle of the East China Sea, Li Xiangyi was poisoned and his life was hanging by a thread. In the end, both Li Xiangyi and Di Feisheng suffered losses.
The disciples of the Sigu Sect were hit by the Golden Yuan League's thunder formation and lost most of them. Since then, they have been disintegrated, and there is only Baichuanyuan, the torture hall of Jianghu. The masters of the
generation have only lightness kung fu and 10% internal strength left, their appearance has changed drastically, and they only have ten years of life left.
Li Xiangyi, who has experienced life and death, hides in the rivers and lakes under the pseudonym Li Lianhua. He only wants to find the body of his senior brother, and no longer cares about the rivers and lakes.
A scene quickly opened up the suspenseful story style, and also created a vivid image of Li Lianhua, which is different from other heroines in martial arts dramas.
But in order for the male protagonist to embark on a journey of detective investigation, he still needs to find a partner and helper. This person is the sickly second male protagonist played by Zeng Shunxi.
This little brother is the sole heir of Tianji Villa. He has been sick since he was a child, but he was encouraged by Li Lianhua's promise back then. In the end, he not only survived, but also determined to work as a detective in Baichuan Hospital.
He claimed to be Li Xiangyi's apprentice, and he also gave him the title deed of Baichuanyuan. Only then did he get the chance. As long as he can solve three cases, he can officially become a criminal detective.
The two met by chance, and in less than six episodes, Fang Duoxing was stunned by Li Lianhua once, thrown on the way twice, cheated again and again, but it stuck tighter and tighter like a plaster. Li Lianhua introduced the Jianghu that he avoided.
The two formed a small team of "both civil and military, without money and beauty", and broke into the treacherous rivers and lakes disputes of Bo Yun together.
At this point in the story, the pattern of investigating the case has been opened.
The hook of the character's fate is buried. The key suspense of the
story is set: who poisoned Li Lianhua back then?
I'm in the game.
02, Entering the game: 5 masters died in 6 episodes, the investigation is burning, the rhythm is fast, the action is ruthless, and people can't stop.
But the core of the story of "Lotus House" can be summed up in two words: detective.
The story soon leads to the first case: the case of children in Lingshan.
This case focuses on the intellectual offense and defense of the two male protagonists and the remaining members of the Golden Yuan League.
The head of the Lingshan School turned his body into a golden body in front of all his disciples, and he also left a last word in public that he would be reincarnated as a soul boy, and he would inherit the Lingshan School.
Wangfu, Fang's sick servant, was selected according to the clues he left, and became one of the five finalists.
But at the Children's Recognition Conference, the other four soul boys caught fire, and only Wangfu was unscathed. Both Li Lianhua and Fang Duobing discovered the trick behind it. This was actually a case of man-made murder + arson.
After investigation, the two quickly found out the tricks. It turned out that the head of Lingshan, like the thief Miaoshou Kongkong, used the turtle's breathing technique to feign death, so as to transfer the sect to his illegitimate son.
The secret of turning "sitting" into a "golden man" is to use several mirrors on the spire, combined with the reflection of the setting sun, to create a visual illusion for everyone present.
But tortoise breathing exercise needs someone to wake him up with needles within three days. The cronies he entrusted not only didn't give him needles, but even killed him with a single palm at the first time he finished the trick.
This person is Xin Lei, the remnant party of the Golden Yuan League who has been lurking for ten years.
In this intelligence attack and defense, Xin Lei's chain trick was really clever, but Li Lianhua and Fang Duobing dismantled them one by one. News that the remaining party of the Golden Yuan League still exists.
What's even more exciting is the second case in the whole play: the jade city mystery.
This case is adapted from the well-received first case in the original work, Bi Yougui Murder Case.
Yu Qiushuang, the second lady of Yucheng, mysteriously appeared in an inn on a stormy night.
was found and protected by the Yu family guards, but in the middle of the night, her best friend Yun girl's scream opened the prelude to the Yucheng mystery.
The strangeness of the case lies in the fact that Miss Yuer, who was seen by everyone in the inn and on the silhouette of the inn window, was found dead in the box of the inn's escort agency?
Why was the body mysteriously caught on fire after being sent back to Yucheng? Why was Wang Fu, Fang's sick servant, killed?
How could the remnant body of the Second Miss, saved by Miss Yu who was driven back, rot faster?
This scene mainly focuses on suspense, the heavy rain outside the window, the wind blowing open the window, the bloody footprints on the stairs, the panicked passengers, and the woman who died in the wooden box, making people feel a little creepy at night.
But this time, Li Lianhua, who was involved in the case because of staying at the inn, seems to have known everything well.
came directly to invite you into the urn.
is more than that -
also took advantage of the trend to seek justice for the dozens of guards who were forced to commit suicide by the lord of Yucheng, and found out the truth of the Yucheng case.
The most acclaimed feature of this story in the original work is not the suspense and horror, but the hidden humanity in the story.
Miss Yu Er is the best person in the whole family, but the ones who killed her were her closest relatives.
Everyone wants to protect their own interests, everyone chooses to sacrifice her at the critical moment, the taste of suspense and humanity is mixed, and it was filmed.
But to be interesting, it is the third case: the tomb robbery case.
Because of the seven headless corpses, it led to the mysterious tomb that the tomb robbers from all over the world peeped into, and the martial arts god Guanyin, which was wanted by Di Feisheng after ten years of retreat, was also weeping in the tomb. The case of
also involved Li Lianhua and Fang Duoxing, who repeatedly said they went their separate ways but were inseparable.
The story style of this case obviously followed the "Curious Case" model of "Tang Dynasty Strange Events Record".
In the horror style of painting, Jianghu martial arts are also involved in the mystery.
But the most interesting thing for the audience is that Zeng Shunxi, who played Wu Xie, and Cheng Yi, who played Zhang Qiling, went to the grave again in the play.
The funniest scene is "Wu Xie" who accidentally bumps into "Wu Xie" who is eating with a tomb robber.
The fun of this scene is only understood by fans of Tomb Raiders. The rhythm of the first six episodes is really fast. There are three cases in the six episodes, and there are already five martial arts masters who have been offline.
The rhythm of brain attack and defense switching between the two sides is very fast. In the interlocking battle of wits, there is no shortage of thrilling detectives and reasoning.
This is exactly what makes "Lotus House" so impressive—the hero, Li Lianhua, seems to be just talking about it, but in fact, he is meticulous in every step of the way. While fighting wits with the opponents in the play,
also throws hooks to the audience from a distance, making people curious.
As a master of reasoning, Li Lianhua's resourcefulness is not based on his golden fingers, but on his own strong insight and understanding of people's hearts in the world.
With the deepening of the investigation, various forces gathered here, tomb robbers, murderers, bureaucrats, Jianghu martial arts, each has its own calculations.
Although the protagonist's reasoning technique is a bit straightforward, it does not delay the suspenseful charm of the series. It is obvious that "Lotus House" has a temperament that other dramas do not have.
It has an interesting battle of wits, a super fast story rhythm, the suspense of the melee of various forces, and the wisdom to walk through it with ease.
And the combination of Li Lianhua and Fang Sickness is like silly white sweet + quack veteran.
is such a diverse combination, allowing the audience to find the motivation to continue watching the drama in the coolness of the genre elements. Chasing the drama is equivalent to following the Lianhualou team to explore the mystery around. Every time
opens a dungeon, there will be a series of weird and witty detectives, cool!
03. Acting skills: Cheng Yi's sense of story, Zeng Shunxi's purity, and flawless acting skills are enough to retain the audience. The shortcoming of
is the lines.
Cheng Yi's lines are too sticky, and Zeng Shunxi is too modern and lacks old-fashioned flavor.
But outside of the lines, both lead actors are very good.
Let's talk about Cheng Yi first.
He played two roles, from "Number One in the World" Li Xiangyi to "Miracle Doctor" Li Lianhua, a youthful vigor and a lazy and quick-witted one, Cheng Yi compared the roles very well.
The most wonderful thing is Cheng Yi's eyes.
Li Xiangyi, who started the decisive battle in the East China Sea, had a fierce look in his eyes, and he didn't even pay attention to the collapse of the sky and the earth.
Later Li Lianhua did not take the human world seriously. I looked down on
before, but it doesn't matter later.
There are two different states of a character, and Cheng Yi completes the transformation only with his eyes and movements.
Li Lianhua has been pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger, running the train with his mouth full, playing around with Fang Duobing and others. No matter what the situation is, Li Lianhua always has a calmness that does not match the crisis situation.
was questioned by Yucheng, and the situation was calm.
Seeing the big scene, it's none of your business.
Cheng Yi accurately conveys the inner emotions of the characters with his calm performance, and Li Lianhua's laziness and indifference to the world are well grasped.
Especially in the scene of being healed by the Shaolin master, Li Lianhua learned that she had ten years to live. Li Lianhua had read the Zen language, said the Zen language was very good, and realized it.
and then like a living dead, without emotions, emotions, and six desires, just for a goal, regardless of life and death to move forward. The goal of
is to find the body of the brother.
Some people say that Cheng Yi's performance lacks expression, but when you think about it carefully, people who are used to life and death, or who don't care about life and death, shouldn't be like this. In the first 6 episodes of
, I only saw the emotional changes on Cheng Yi's face twice.
For the first time, it was Fang Duobing who recalled the past to him, and he discovered that this kid's uncle was his senior brother, and that the one who inspired this kid back then was himself when he was in high spirits.
There was a rare affection on his face, as if recalling an old friend.
This is Li Lianhua's core emotion.
The second time was in front of the master's grave.
Cheng Yi said lightly; old man, your place is really nice, but it is too high, and every time you climb up, you are very tired.
also said that when he finds his brother, he will bury one on his left and one on the right to accompany him.
Cheng Yi's performance in this scene is really good, it conveys the feeling of life passing by slowly.
Although he didn't shed a single tear during the whole process, his heart seemed to be screaming, more and more heart-piercing. The heartbreaking feeling of
makes people feel extremely sympathetic and tearful.
I think he played Li Lianhua very well.
The other is Zeng Shunxi.
He played the role of Fang Sick, the "Master of Rich Gold" who wanted to support his master's sect. In the past few years, Zeng Shunxi's acting skills have improved rapidly, and this time he did not disappoint at all.
The role of Fang sickly is actually not easy to portray.
He is the fire seed of martial arts, but he has never experienced world affairs. He grew up under the protection of his parents, but he has never experienced the horrors of the world.
this kind of character is silly if you don't play it well.
The good thing about Zeng Shunxi's performance is that from the beginning to the end, there is a kind of clear simplicity in his eyes.
you can say he is too tender.
But martial arts knights, this is how they gradually grow up and mature in the turmoil.
His rivalry with Cheng Yi is also very good, an old fox, a small Xiugou, followed by a ruthless flute flying sound, this small group not only has sky-high strength and brain power, but also the rivalry is too interesting , will make the audience want to see their future stories.
Among the supporting roles, the most exciting of the first five episodes is Sun Zhihong.
This treasured actor has performed wonderfully in "All Quiet in Peking" and "The World".
In the early stage of the play, he was a butler of the Lingshan School who handled the case meticulously, but in the later stage, he transformed into the remnant party of the Demon Cult who committed crimes.
's nonchalant attitude when he was captured, combined with the actor's expression, showed the character's ruthlessness.
is able to play such a contrasting character so penetratingly, Sun Zhihong's acting skills are amazing!
Among the other actors, Xiao Shunyao plays Di Feisheng who only wants to fight Li Xiangyi, and the role is full of murderous intent.
Although Qiao Wanyu, played by Chen Duling, does not have many roles, the costumes are still online.
Of course, these actors showed their faces in the first 6 episodes. After
, there are still many actors who have not yet shown their faces.
For example, Liu Ximing, Lu Xingyu, He Zhonghua, etc., a generation of male gods in ancient costumes, these acting schools will of course make the series more dramatic and more entertaining.
4. Jumping out of the framework of traditional martial arts dramas, "Lotus Tower" has embarked on another road of domestic suspense martial arts dramas.
If you want to use one word to describe domestic martial arts dramas in recent years, I think it is silent.
Although martial arts dramas such as "You Fei", "The Sword in the Snow", and "Young Song Xing" have been released continuously, it is difficult to say which drama has truly broken the circle.
"Lotus House" is naturally not perfect. For example, the martial arts style of the series still lacks the sense of actual combat, the sense of story reasoning is not enough, and the much-anticipated auspicious pattern building has not yet shown its real body, etc.
But the series still let me see the new hope of domestic martial arts dramas, two obvious characteristics, and also showed a creative mode of suspense martial arts dramas.
First, it is a new martial arts style that combines multiple elements.
Traditional martial arts dramas tend to have a unified story style and atmosphere.
But "Lotus House" is completely different.
On the one hand, the director has created a suspenseful martial arts drama with a brighter painting style and a more humorous plot.
The tone of the whole drama is actually rather joyful. Although Li Lianhua's fate is sad, there are many elements of joy and humor in the story.
But on the other hand, the series also contains strong "Chinese horror", especially in the second case at the beginning, when the two male protagonists return to the inn to investigate, a sense of suspense and horror emerges spontaneously.
's style of blending comedy, suspense, and horror has formed a unique look and feel of martial arts suspense dramas.
For example, immediately after the East China Sea War in the opening scene, the warm and bright tone immediately lays out the retirement life of Li Lianhua who is smoking.
The sense of joy reconciles the sense of suspense and horror in the play, refreshing the conventional perception of suspenseful martial arts themes.
The whole drama is grotesque, relaxed but full of suspense and tension, it is very good to watch.
The second is to break the stereotype of the martial arts genre.
The visual style of "Lotus House" is full of martial arts, and it is worth watching with bated breath when you calm down.
The composition, light and shadow all have profound meanings of oriental aesthetics, just like the ink paintings of rivers and lakes, which are so beautiful that they touch the apex of the heart.
Even, with the opening soundtrack and the ink and ink rippling, I seem to have stepped into the rivers and lakes.
But the rivers and lakes are never just about swords and swords, fighting and killing.
people are the flesh and blood that make up the world.
The most exciting thing about "Lotus House" is that it explores the inside of "people's treachery". The murder case is not the focus of the episode, and it gives more words to those involved in the case.
especially Li Lianhua who wanted to withdraw from the arena, but was involved in it.
"Lotus Tower" is not a martial arts. The basic composition of "Wu Xia" is the narrative subject of "Wu" and the spiritual core of "Xia".
On the surface, "Lotus House" doesn't count, but in fact, it does.
Because of the character Li Lianhua, he has carried a world.
It's just that what he represents is not the youthful spirit of Jianghu, but how the Jianghu passed through a person and what kind of traces it left on him.
The depths of the rivers and lakes will always be deep in the hearts of the people.
Traditional martial arts dramas are considered to be "narratives of men". But "Lotus House" let us see: there is a kind of rivers and lakes, let go of everything that should be let go.
The whole story is actually about a long farewell between Li Lianhua and Jiang Hu.
This is another meaning of "Lotus House": inheritance.
There is always Li Lianhua saying goodbye to the arena, and there is always Fang who is sick and enters the arena for the first time.
One generation comes, one generation goes.
In fact, this is also the fate of martial arts dramas.
You can't expect a drama to revive martial arts, but the popularity of "Lotus Tower" proves one thing: martial arts dramas themselves are not outdated, what is outdated is the rigid thinking of the creators.
What "Lotus House" did was to inject some new blood into this chivalry. As for the future of martial arts dramas, I will leave it to tomorrow
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