How were these two shortlisted works born?, One is about ancient "water conservancy cadres", and the other is about today's grassroots cadres. | Screenwriter | One
At this Shanghai TV Festival, "County Party Committee Courtyard" won six nominations for "Best TV Drama", "Best Director", "Best Writer", "Best Actor", "Best Actress", "Best Supporting Actor", and "Best Supporting Actor". Writer Wang Xiaogun did not shy away from the original hard work. "County Party Committee Courtyard" is one of the most stressful and difficult scripts I have written for more than ten years. At first, my mind was completely blank, and the whole story was a blank sheet of paper. It was always difficult to write the first word, how to write it, how long to write it, and nothing. "
On June 22nd, the "White Magnolia Dialogue" TV Forum and the China TV Drama Development Forum focused on "the refinement and diversification of Chinese opera in the new era.". Screenwriter Wang Xiaoqiang of "County Party Committee Courtyard" and chief director and screenwriter Zhang Ting of "The Long River of the World" each shared their creative experiences of two shortlisted works. These two domestic dramas, one depicting grassroots cadres today and the other depicting historical "water conservancy cadres," have different themes and styles. However, for creators, they can always find commonalities in the down-to-earth creative process to reach the end of the story.
Using the "walking" method to write scripts
As the name suggests, "County Party Committee Courtyard" tells the story that takes place in the county party committee courtyard. Actor Hu Ge plays the role of grassroots cadre Mei Xiaoge in the drama. How to tell grassroots stories of the new era? Although Wang Xiaoqiang took a lot of work notes and wrote the most numerous biographies of characters in his career in the early stages of creation, he still felt uncertain and extremely anxious, with the fear of "this matter is likely to be ruined" every day.
"We can only use clumsy methods. Many writers use walking to write novels, and screenwriters can also use walking to write scripts." Wang Xiaoqiang said, "The process of walking, collecting materials, accumulating details, and shaping characters is the process of reaching the end of creation."
On May 15, 2021, with the support of relevant departments, he arrived in Dayu County, Jiangxi Province from Beijing, where he ate, lived, and experienced life with grassroots cadres, feeling the joys and sorrows of grassroots cadres. At the beginning, the process of integrating into the collective is difficult. "Especially in the first half month, the continuous rainy season without sunshine all day long, the work that cannot be started, the windows that cannot be pushed open, the doors that cannot be opened, the familiarity with people and things is exceptionally slow, the unfamiliarity with the subject matter, the lack of inspiration, and the continuous blow to one's own mentality."
Suddenly one day, a spiritual light appeared. "What if I were Mei Xiaoge? He was transferred from a familiar county town with a sense of security and comfort to Guangming County with many difficulties. On the first night of coming from the city, he lay in bed and couldn't sleep at night. What was he thinking about? Unfamiliar people, work, environment, uncertain future." Wang Xiaoqiang said. The next morning, he put on a white shirt and stood at the entrance of the county committee courtyard in Dayu County, experiencing the emotions and mentality of the characters in the play, and thus finished writing.
In Wang Xiaoqiang's view, true emotions and feelings are the most precious. He jumped in and out, experiencing the emotions of everyone in the play, including the secretary, county chief, deputy secretary, deputy county chief, township chief, village director, as well as various types of people, petitioners, relocated, and unemployed. "Countless fresh story materials are hidden in the cracks of life, hidden in the soil, hidden in the firework. The playwright should first make a shovel to dig out these characters and materials."
How was "The Long River of the World" born?
Behind the creation of the large-scale historical legendary drama "The Long River of the World" is also a story of hard work and dedication.
This ancient costume drama, adapted from historical facts, tells a story that is sufficiently obscure; The names Jin Fu and Chen Huang in the history of water conservancy are unfamiliar to many people. "The script was revised six times, and nine experts were hired, including water conservancy experts, history experts, and cultural history experts. They were nominated for the" Best TV Drama "and" Best Screenplay "awards at the 28th Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Awards. However, Zhang Ting, who was standing on stage, seemed to have some lingering fear of the revised script at that time. He joked," As a screenwriter, I cannot say that I am happy to change the script against my heart, but the adjustments have indeed made it more solid in the details of water conservancy at that time. There is a teacher among the experts, and the doctoral dissertations are Jin Fu and Chen Huang, so the script was reviewed from beginning to end. Wherever there is a problem, where there is an error or omission, the purpose is all. "It's to get close to the truth at that time."
"The Long River of the World" uses almost documentary audio-visual language to present a heart shaking scene of river governance. As the saying goes, the Yellow River breaches twice every three years and changes its course once a hundred years, which is enough to illustrate the severity of the Yellow River floods in history. Zhang Ting used the title "Their names are written on the Great River" to summarize his respect for river officials in history. "From the flood control by Emperor Yu to today, those who have persisted in the first line of Yellow River governance are not renowned authorities, but hardworking and unknown contributors. I am willing to call them the guardians of the Chinese nation." He said that history should firmly remember them, and "The Long River of the World" was created under this impulse.
"Actors and others are actually inspired by the spirit of Jin Fu and Chen Huang, otherwise they could have chosen a more relaxed play." The filming of "The Long River in the World" was not easy. Zhang Ting remembers that there was a water scene showcasing people fighting against floods, which was completely shot purely in real time because the fusion of water and people could not create special effects. "We had about 6 tons of water per day, and this scene was filmed for 5 days without any experience. We relied entirely on everyone's intelligence to film it," he said. The crew came up with a solution and made a 2.5 meter high slide. When the hook flipped over, the water hit the person directly. Then the moment these 2 tons of water flew out of the air, it was very similar to the scene of the Yellow River crashing on the shore during a flood. We repeated several experiments and the results were quite good
This scene also scared Zhang Ting to death. "When my senior brother Huang Zhizhong went up, I hadn't figured it out yet. He flew in the air at 1, 2, and 3, which really scared me. I rushed over and rushed halfway, and they said the director didn't stop, but continued to play." Later, Huang Zhizhong told him that he was also moved by Jin Fu's spirit before taking on the role.
"Later on, we went to Qinghai to take photos of the source of the Yellow River. The most interesting thing was that on the last day of filming, we found a temple next to him, which was also a prophecy in the dark. In Zhang Ting's opinion," The Long River in the World "was loved by young audiences, and he was particularly pleased." In fact, I think the true strength behind it comes from the spirit of ancient Chinese literati and officials. "
