Text/Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Zhan Xiwei
The suspense mystery drama " Chinatown Detective 2" created by the original cast has recently concluded. During the broadcast, the popularity on the iQiyi site continued to rise, reaching a maximum of 7,700. The play is divided into four units: "Angel's Melody", "Devil's Breath", "Amusement Park" and "Golden City". The first two units tell the story of detective Lin Mo (played by Qiu Ze) who goes deep into the Angel Nursing Home to thoroughly investigate the murderer and destroy the mysterious organization. story, the latter two units ushered in the personal reasoning performance of Kiko (played by Shang Yuxian), another cool girl who is highly recognizable in "Tang Detective Universe" and a genius hacker.
's proficient computer skills, long straight and playful twin tails with changeable hair colors, and modern and sporty outfits... are Kiko's unique image in the past. Kiko, who mainly assisted in the investigation in the previous game, took off her wig and heavy makeup and took the lead in the investigation for the first time, which attracted much attention. What new experience does she have as the main detective for the first time? In a recent interview with Yangcheng Evening News, Shang Yuxian said that there were happy times and touching moments during the filming process. Kiko in this drama took on more responsibilities, allowing him to understand and get closer to Kiko.
took the lead in solving the case and helped me capture the essence of the character
Yangcheng Evening News: In the previous work, I mainly assisted in the investigation, but in the last two units of the web drama "Detective Chinatown 2", "Amusement Park" and "Golden City" welcomed It's your first solo show. How is your experience?
Shang Yuxian: It is completely different from the relatively relaxed experience of making a movie. As the leading actor in the latter two units of the play, I feel a heavy responsibility and need to take on more responsibilities during the filming process; these two units are led by Kiko Solving the case tells her life story, as well as the psychological offensive and defensive battles and technical competition with her opponents, presenting a complete growth trajectory. This is different from the movie version, and my sense of experience is also very complete.
Yangcheng Evening News: What preparations were done before shooting?
Shang Yuxian: I joined the team quite early. I joined the team relatively early. Then I talked with the director about the details of filming, and also talked with the screenwriter about script creation. I think communication is more important. The character of kiko is quite similar to my own, so sometimes the director and screenwriter would like to know how I would handle or view a certain scene so that I can perform kiko better.
Yangcheng Evening News: Did you encounter any difficulties during the filming process? How to overcome it?
Shang Yuxian: The creation was relatively smooth, and there were not many difficulties during the shooting process. The main reason was that the time was tight and the tasks were heavy. I stayed up many nights for a while, which was quite intense and my body couldn't bear it. And it happened to be that I just When filming starts, I will think about what I will do if there are so many scenes to be filmed later. At that time, I adjusted my mentality and physical condition to adapt to this intensity. It was not until later that the night scenes were reduced and things got better. Everyone got along well with each other, and it was a pleasure to shoot with the seniors and fellow actors.
Yangcheng Evening News: What have you learned from this drama?
Shang Yuxian: I gained a lot. As far as the IP of "Tang Tan Universe" is concerned, shooting this web series gave me a deeper understanding of the character Kiko, because in the movie version, there is not so much space for Kiko to express. But in the web drama, I could feel her emotions throughout the entire filming process, which also helped me capture the essence of this character. From my personal point of view, I haven't done much filming in dramas, and the intensity of filmmaking before was not that high, but filming dramas has been very helpful for me to adapt to the high-intensity rhythm. As mentioned just now, with Kiko as the protagonist, if the performance is not good enough, the effect of the series will not be that good. I think some viewers may think that the heroine's performance is not suitable enough for the character, but I tried my best to interpret Kiko during the filming. The seniors and directors also gave me a lot of help, and everyone worked hard to make the character stand up completely.
I was on the set and was deeply moved many times
Yangcheng Evening News: What are the scenes that left the most profound impression?
Shang Yuxian: There are two. The first one is that there is a happy ending scene in the finale. The atmosphere was very harmonious and I felt very happy.The other is the finale of "Amusement Park". In the two or three scenes from the pursuit of Fanan to the confrontation with Fanan at the police station, I really felt the power of Kiko's character, even though there were people around me helping me during the investigation. She, but more often than not, faces the villains alone. Moreover, Kiko actually feels like a "little girl" a lot of the time in the play, but she has strong power in her heart to support herself in upholding justice and fighting against evil. After the confrontation with Fanan, Kiko felt as if his whole body was going to collapse and all his energy was exhausted. At the moment when I rescued a group of girls, I was very moved and felt very proud of Kiko and myself. The scene that touched me the most at that time was that the camera was shooting from behind me, and the girls facing us were the victims. I felt quite shocked at the scene.
Yangcheng Evening News: Have you had any memorable exchanges with actors and directors?
Shang Yuxian: As far as I am concerned as an actor, I think the director’s vision for selecting actors is really precise. We actually have very little time to get used to each other, and not much, but in the first few scenes, All felt very comfortable. Their performances were also what I imagined when I read the script, and everyone had a great time filming. It is quite rare to sit down and have a very serious discussion about how to perform this scene, because everyone is relatively comfortable with their roles and they work well together.
Yangcheng Evening News: As a mystery drama, its core is more inclined to express justice. What do you think?
Shang Yuxian: In the chapter starring Kiko, both stories moved me very much. As for the reasoning process, everyone will indeed discuss it when reading the script, but the final presentation of the reasoning logic has a lot to do with post-production. My personal view is that the pursuit of justice is a result and reasoning is a process. When I read the script, I felt that the element of reasoning was quite sufficient. Some viewers will definitely pay more attention to the process. If they watch it as a pure mystery drama, they may hope that there will be many reversals in the middle. If there are not so many reversals in the drama, they will be disappointed, or in the middle I didn't like some parts of the story so I gave up. This is normal and everyone understands it. As a drama, the theme it wants to express cannot be understood more completely until the end.
performs a three-dimensional Kiko, showing her strength
Yangcheng Evening News: What do you think of the character Kiko?
Shang Yuxian: From the perspective of the advantages and disadvantages of solving the case, her skills and talents, as well as her tenacity, are all outstanding. In terms of disadvantages, as a little girl, her energy in real life is still relatively limited. She gets into danger many times in the show and needs help from others to escape. From the perspective of the character's image, like most viewers, I was influenced by the image in the movie. I would have preconceivedly liked her outfit and her personality before, but after these years of contact, I understand this character better. Putting aside cool things like computers, skills, etc., she has a lot of shining points. She is a very brave, strong and kind person. From this perspective, I hope that after watching this web drama, in addition to discussing how cool, handsome, and dazzling this girl is, you can really appreciate the strength she shows in exploring the truth and seeking justice. Power, everyone should be very moved after reading it.
Yangcheng Evening News: In the movie version, Kiko has stunning looks, changeable hair colors, and an overall two-dimensional temperament. However, when he serves as the main detective this time, Kiko has lost his bright wig and makeup, and his overall outfit has become more sophisticated. What is the special significance of the changes in makeup?
Shang Yuxian: I didn’t participate much in the makeup design of the movie version. At that time, I had to adapt to this kind of makeup. The outfits I wear in my daily life are not that conspicuous, they are quite plain, mainly in black, white and gray tones. But when I was filming the drama, I participated in some of Kiko’s makeup designs. My personal idea was that I didn’t want her to continue her previous makeup style. In the setting of the movie, she wants to show off her hacker detective style on the international stage, so it is okay to have a more exaggerated look.But in this drama, Kiko has already started her own story line, so she must be a living person in life, and when she leaves the online world and comes to reality, for example, she may need to sneak into a certain place with her partners when investigating a case. There is a place to investigate. At this time, if there are twin ponytails dangling on her head, who can help but see her. Therefore, at these times she may need a cap or other prop to hide herself. In terms of hairstyle, I also tried braiding my hair when I was setting the makeup. After communicating with the director and the styling team, I finally chose the current short hair image after comprehensively considering the character’s action scenes in the play and my personal hair situation. Maybe some viewers just like the makeup look like in the movie, and I think that’s okay. But I hope everyone can truly feel that kiko is a real person, rather than like a person in a virtual world. I also want to use this web drama to make Kiko more three-dimensional and multi-faceted, closer to reality, instead of always having that exaggerated make-up. After returning to the character itself, it is still very helpful for the audience to understand the character's heart and growth experience.
The distance between me and kiko is getting closer
Yangcheng Evening News: In addition to makeup, Kiko has a lot of black technology equipment on her body. The shape of the lollipops she eats in the movie version and the web drama version are also different. Can you tell us about the behind the scenes? preparation status?
Shang Yuxian: I am not very involved in the planning of these equipments. They are basically designed by the team. They will tell me which accessories can perform which functions. Compared to movies, these equipments are used less frequently in online dramas. Some detective tools are not kept on the person, but sometimes in the bag. For different lollipop shapes, it may be the director's design, or it may be related to the actual shooting location, because in some places you can only buy lollipops of a certain shape (laughs).
Yangcheng Evening News: Is kiko’s character similar to yours?
Shang Yuxian: This character has accompanied me growing up for many years. The screenwriting team knows me well, and when writing this character, they will try their best to write in a direction that I am familiar with. Therefore, when I play Kiko, even if I perform it completely according to my own understanding, the directors will think it is okay. In this process, I become more and more like Kiko, and Kiko becomes more and more like me. For example, some of Kiko’s little expressions, such as rolling his eyes, are actually the same in my life, because my expression management is not that good (laughs). I saw before that some viewers thought Kiko was so cute and tilted their head when talking, because that's how I am in life. I remember when I was filming a movie two or three years ago, the character needed to be more serious, and the director would tell me not to tilt your head all the time, as this would appear unserious, but I didn’t notice it myself, and I didn’t feel like I was speaking before. Have a problem with head tilt. Therefore, many times the audience finds some interesting or cute details, which are actually presented very naturally.
Yangcheng Evening News: What influence has the role of Kiko had on your growth in acting?
Shang Yuxian: From a practical point of view, most viewers probably know me through this role. I haven’t thought about other influences carefully. When I play a role, I think about how to better interpret her and become her.
There are novelties and joys, but there are also regrets
Yangcheng Evening News: How does it feel to work with director Wang Tianwei on filming?
Shang Yuxian: It feels very good. Everyone cooperated very well during the performance. As a young director, Director Wang is very open-minded about many of his ideas. He has been following this project for more than two years and has a very deep feeling for this character. When I made art films before, I always worked with young directors, and we often had different sparks, which was a quite novel experience for me.
Yangcheng Evening News: Are there any interesting things on the set that you can share?
Shang Yuxian: Several actors who worked with me in the play, especially the senior actors, whether it is Teacher Zhong Zhentao or Teacher Yu Haoming, are very interesting people in private. Sometimes they will joke around on the set, and sometimes they will be embarrassed. There are also some interesting mistakes.For example, at that time, my computer screen was often green. I often didn’t react, and then the computer turned green, and my face turned green. Teacher Yu Haoming would laugh next to me. The whole shooting process felt quite relaxed and happy. of.
Yangcheng Evening News: Are there any regrets in this drama?
Shang Yuxian: When filming at that time, due to location and time constraints, we had to settle for the next best thing, so the shooting locations for many scenes were not considered the best scenes. But before it was finalized and released, the director said that we had done a great thing, because this drama paid attention to some current social events, which was quite meaningful.
Yangcheng Evening News: If the third part of the web series is released, will you participate?
Shang Yuxian: If there is a story about kiko in the next third part, I will participate. Because after filming this drama, my feelings for Kiko have deepened a lot. I am also very grateful that she has been able to accompany me to grow up for so long. I have no reason to abandon her.