Yangcheng Evening News reporter Wang Li in Beijing
Intern Hou Ying
"It's like a heavy rain, like walking on thin ice, but no matter the cold or adversity, the unquenchable fire of justice in the chest always supports them to move forward and break through all difficulties." Interpretation is also the spiritual power that the show wants to convey to the audience.
The anti-drug drama "Ice Rain and Fire", which gathers Chen Xiao, Wang Yibo, Wang Jinsong, Liu Yijun and other actors, is being broadcast exclusively on Youku. The drama tells the story of a lone hero Wu Zhenfeng and anti-drug police Chen Yu working together to wipe out drug dealers.
Since its inception, the series has aroused constant heated discussions. From the plot, pictures to props and actors, they have all become the focus of discussion among netizens.
After "Icebreaker", why do you still shoot the same type of "Ice, Rain and Fire"?
What are the breakthroughs in the new work?
How to evaluate the performance of the actors in the play?
What have you gained along the way?
Recently, the director of the play, Fu Dongyu, was interviewed by a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News and shared his thoughts from the director's point of view.
The anti-drug drama will ask for more
Fu Dongyu graduated from the Film and Television Directing Department of the Shanghai Theater Academy. After graduation, he was assigned to the Shanghai Film Studio, where he managed props, and also worked on printing and editing.
Until 1993, he self-financed the completion of his first film "Can't Help".
In 2002, Fu Dongyu and Jiang Haiyang jointly directed the police and bandit anti-drug drama "Life and Death Undercover", and won the 4th China TV Art Top Ten Directors for this drama.
In 2019, he once again focused on the anti-drug theme and directed "Icebreaker" with Liu Zhangmu and Li Jinrui, which won the Best Chinese TV Drama of Magnolia at the 26th Shanghai TV Festival and the Best Chinese TV Drama at the 30th China TV Golden Eagle Award. TV series and other awards, he was also nominated for the Magnolia Award for Best Director for this drama.
Now, he has brought a new work on the anti-drug theme "Ice Rain and Fire".
On many film and television themes, Fu Dongyu said frankly that he prefers anti-drug themes: "Because I like more dramatic works. This kind of themes talks about how people turn around after being cornered and unable to escape. The dramatic reversal will be very interesting. On the one hand, it is a torture of human nature. How will you face when you encounter insurmountable difficulties and obstacles? The torture between life and death must contain the most extreme and full expression of human emotions. I find it more moving. "
Preference is one thing, being able to do it well is another.
Fu Dongyu said that because he likes it, he will do some research, watch a lot of works of the same theme, absorb the advantages, and analyze how to be more sophisticated in typification: "The so-called typification, in my opinion, means that the audience will be more interested in such subjects. There is an expectation, for example, there should be a sense of suspense, an extreme plot, and people will be forced to give up after being pushed to a desperate situation. These plots must be present. Screenwriting, structure, shooting, actors, tone, editing, etc. It should be closer to typification, this is the basic skill.”
Fu Dongyu said that "Icebreaker" was a great success back then, and friends around him told him not to touch this subject again in the short term, "because the audience will be more critical."
"Actually, as a director, I had regrets at the time. At the same time, I had very specific and fresh experience in all aspects of producing this type of subject matter." Therefore, when Fu Dongyu encountered "Bing Yu Huo", he decided to Try it again, "In a way, being terrified and walking on thin ice is what I'm in when I'm shooting. I feel more pressure, and more demands and challenges on myself."
The script comes from life to be full and true
"All the drug cases in "Ice Rain and Fire" have prototypes." Fu Dongyu said that more than 90% of the stories in the entire play have a realistic basis, "Except for the small gangster characters in the corners, most of the characters are related to each other. , identity, and occupation settings are all from real cases. Another example, the 'Rhubarb Capsule' involved in the opening case is a new type of synthetic drug, which is completely different from the drugs we knew before. All the aspects involved in the further extension of the story also come from the complex situation on the front line.”
Fu Dongyu revealed that the original script made him feel "a little floating", so he suggested that the screenwriters go to the front line to take a look.
The director and screenwriter team spent more than a month traveling along the border of Yunnan, in-depth interviews in Ruili, Xishuangbanna and other places to collect materials.
In Fu Dongyu's view, the script must come from life and be completed according to the realistic creative path, so that it will become full and real: "It's always impossible to build a car behind closed doors. When you are on the front line, the story will come out on its own, and sometimes The drama of life is much higher than the story you make up."
Then, the main creative team began to build a new story structure, and after three or four months of polishing, the second version of the script was born.
But after several deliberation, Fu Dongyu found that there are still some problems to be solved: "After the big story line was finalized, I felt that the characters were not full enough to make me feel excited, and the plot also had some logical loopholes." Once again subversive modification It continued until the start of the movie, and the story expanded from the original 24 episodes to the finalized 32 episodes.
"In my opinion, the script at this time is already very rigorous. What I mean by strictness is that although there will be adjustments and revisions in the details of the shooting scene, there is no increase or decrease in the whole scene, not from 40 episodes to 32 episodes. Yes." Fu Dongyu said.
Interviewing police officers, drug dealers, and following the police, the experience of that first-line interview has left a deep impression on Fu Dongyu: "In such a small border town, the anti-narcotics police are doing huge jobs with meager wages, facing risks and complexities all the time. Therefore, this drama shows not only the struggle between good and evil, but also a lot of complex emotions mixed in, and this dilemma must be expressed through the script structure and shooting.”
Although the filming process had to face various difficulties, the entire creative team gritted their teeth and persevered.
When the final goal was achieved, Fu Dongyu felt that everything was worth it: "Grit your teeth and don't miss any scene or shot. We have more than 300 scenes, except for four scenes that were built, all the others were real-life transformations, and the workload was heavy. It's bigger than the regular two or three dramas. The 32-episode drama took more than 200 days for the two groups to film together, which is not easy. But all the actors understand that if you want to make a good thing, you must spend this effort. , I have to shoot until I am satisfied. Everyone is in this state, as a director, I am very happy."
The balance of rhythm and suspense is the focus of the production
When it comes to anti-drug dramas, Fu Dongyu believes that the balance between narrative rhythm and suspense setting is the focus of production.
The opening plot of "Ice Rain and Fire" "confused" many audiences. The relationship between the characters is intricate, it is difficult to distinguish right from evil, and the progress of the case is also confusing.
Fu Dongyu explained: "In the past, everyone watched dramas on TV, and the plot was over, and there was no way to watch it back. The rhythm should be slower and the plot should be simpler. But now the audience is basically watching it on computers and mobile phones. In a drama, the progress bar can be pulled at any time. They are following the plot while doing their own creation and analysis. Therefore, when shooting this type of subject matter, it is necessary to analyze the audience. At the beginning, let the audience guess who is the bad guy and whether it is the bad guy or not. 'Black eats black', whether there is a set or not, and the rhythm should be 'fighting' with the audience."
Fu Dongyu introduced that in the post-production of "Frozen, Rain and Fire", in order to achieve satisfactory results, he tried to edit the previous six episodes and cut out no less than five versions.
"What I insist on is that no matter which plan, the rhythm must be set according to the psychological rhythm of the audience when watching the play. How to put the suspense, how much, how much the audience can guess, and how much the audience can accept, this is what I have to judge. I I hope that our dramas can’t be watched at double speed, if all of them are on double speed, it means that the drama is full of moisture.”
"I personally hope that it can be better in terms of type and plot." For this reason, Fu Dongyu had three attempts when creating "Ice Rain and Fire".
First of all, the core theme of "Ice, Rain and Fire" is still to show the dedication of the anti-drug police, but the action scenes are heavier, accounting for no less than 25%, in order to pursue a type of expression.
Secondly, "how to better build a sense of suspense" is a question he often thinks about, that is, under a reasonable premise, to make the plot more suspenseful and reversible.
Finally, the expression of the characters should be full enough and not flattened and facialized.
Fu Dongyu said: "What I care about is whether each character is vivid enough, whether it is a positive character or a negative character, whether it can make the audience emotional, whether the audience will be brought into emotions, and whether it can make the audience fall in love through the transmission of emotions. This drama. Because, after all, no matter what type of drama, it's all about telling people's stories."
Young actors must learn and dare to surpass
"Ice Rain and Fire" has attracted much attention since the official announcement of the lineup, and the performance of several leading actors since its broadcast has also caused heated discussions on the Internet.
For casting, the standard that Fu Dongyu adheres to is the match between the actor and the role.
When starting the movie, he said to all the actors: "I absolutely do not allow experienced actors to act in this play, and young actors to be responsible for their appearance." In his opinion, all actors are a whole, a piece of the puzzle, the director His job is to bring all the actors to a level and form a unified performance: "Old actors need to help, and young actors need to learn, improve, and dare to surpass their predecessors."
In the play, Chen Yu, one of the most important protagonists, is played by Wang Yibo. Fu Dongyu commented that his performance "completely fulfilled my requirements for him before the start."
Fu Dongyu said frankly that Wang Yibo was not the most ideal candidate for the role at first. "He is thin and shy, and he is a little far from the Chen Yu I imagined."
But in the end Fu Dongyu was moved by Wang Yibo's persistence: "He is very determined to play this role. I asked 'Can you endure hardship and live?', he said 'I do'; I said 'You are too thin, willing to let yourself go' Can you get stronger?', He said, 'I'll exercise right away'... This kind of simple, straight-up feeling, I think it's the Chen Yu I want."
What impressed Fu Dongyu was such a scene. It happened to be Wang Yibo's birthday that day, but he planned to shoot a very painful scene that required him to break down and cry.
"I told Yibo, let's change it. He said let's do it, it's ready. I didn't stop for more than six minutes for one scene in that scene, and when I stopped at the end, he was still in pain. His emotions didn't come out, and Wang Jinsong next to him was also brought in by him, and the whole rhythm of that scene was controlled by Wang Yibo."
Fu Dongyu said frankly that this scene made him see Wang Yibo's sense of belief and his full-strength attitude as an actor: "For young actors, we are neither embarrassed nor embarrassed. It is impossible to grow without mistakes. I look back at the young actor now. I can also see the tenderness in the scenes I filmed at that time. But the most important thing is whether you are fully committed at the moment of starting."
"Can the actor throw himself out in front of the character, and then the character will come alive and impress the audience." Fu Dongyu believes that only skillful performances are not sincere, "The so-called affectionate performance is the actor putting his soul and Emotions are integrated into the characters. More than 20 actors in "Frozen, Rain and Fire" are all online, and none of them have fallen off the chain. I think this kind of happiness has been gone for a long time."