Character dialogue
Reporter Qiu Wei
Guest Wang Zhili (screenwriter)
"Beyond the Drum Tower", written by Wang Zhili, is being broadcast on Beijing Satellite TV, and its ratings are at the forefront.
Wang Zhili has created a number of high-quality Beijing-style dramas such as "Love Full of Siheyuan", "Under Zhengyang Gate", "Little Woman under Zhengyang Gate", "Silly Spring", etc. The Beijing story written by this old Beijinger is not deliberately or pierced, and has life. The essence, taste the taste of life, let people get a glimpse of the real Beijing scenery and the true feelings of the world.
As a representative of Beijing-style creations, Wang Zhili said in an interview that ordinary people like to seek truth and be kind, and content that is close to life. Beijing-style dramas are all about feelings. Those seemingly small characters in his works are actually very important. feelings.
Talking about works: a play tells a truth
Reporter: What kind of story does the popular "Outside the Drum Tower" tell?
Wang Zhili: This is the story of a wooden craftsman under the bell and drum tower on the central axis.
In the play, the senior brother Yu Zhongsheng and the second senior brother Yin Dongyi confronted each other because of their past grievances. From opening a furniture factory to selling pancakes, selling eggs, and raising ostriches, the two have been tit for tat.
After years of baptism and calm thinking, they have a new understanding of life and life, finally let go of hatred, choose to forgive, and start a new life.
Reporter: The theme of the story is that people should treat each other sincerely and resolve conflicts?
Wang Zhili: There is a detail in the original script of "Beyond the Drum Tower", that is, Yu Zhongsheng, who is behind bars, has been watching "The Count of Monte Cristo".
Yu Zhongsheng's hatred was not ordinary hatred. He went to prison and his girlfriend married Yin Dongyi.
After being released from prison, Yu Zhongsheng began to take revenge frantically, and he fought to the death with his enemy Yin Dongyi, but in fact he was fighting himself, and he suffered both losses and entered a low point in his life.
The story behind is about the process of Yu Zhongsheng's release, and he understands that revenge is going astray.
Revenge, you revenge yourself.
"Outside the Drum Tower" is about not revenge if you have revenge, but to repay yourself.
You have brought down other people, but you have also brought down yourself.
The prototype of this show is a friend of mine, and his story touched me very much.
Reporter: The characters and stories in many of your works come from people and things around you?
Wang Zhili: I have a lot of experience and know a lot of people.
Unlike other screenwriters, I write what I have personally experienced, and all my scripts are original.
Whether it's the public-private partnership in "Little Women under Zhengyang Gate" or the rules of the courtyard in "Love Full of Siheyuan", they are all stories I am familiar with.
The prototype of Xu Huizhen in "Little Women under Zhengyang Gate" is the proprietress of the tavern next to my house.
In my works, there is always a truth that I want to tell the audience, and each play tells you a truth, which is the biggest feature of my works.
"Silly Spring" is about sacrifice and dedication to the family.
In "Zhengyangmen Xia", "collection" means "life", and it is necessary to walk the right way.
"Love Full of Siheyuan" is the complexity and constancy of feelings.
"Little Women under Zhengyangmen" writes that forgiving others is equal to tolerating yourself. If you think about it, there is a very shallow but very deep truth here.
Talking about Beijing flavor: people love to see positive energy
Reporter: Your works have a very strong regional character, and your ratings are outstanding. Why do you think these Beijing-style stories are recognized by audiences all over the country?
Wang Zhili: When "Love Full Courtyard" was broadcast, all the popular on the screen were "little fresh meat" and court dramas.
As a result, no one thought that "Love in the Siheyuan" would dominate the screen at once, and its ratings ranked first in the country.
At that time, seminars were held in the industry to discuss why "Love Full Courtyard" could defeat "Little Fresh Pork" and court dramas.
Later, my "We Were Young in Those Years" and "Little Woman under Zhengyangmen" were broadcast, and they were very successful. Everyone realized that this was not an accident.
Reporter: What do you think the popularity of these works shows?
Wang Zhili: This proves that the audience has feelings, and the people love to watch positive TV dramas, so "Love in the Siheyuan" is a turning point, and the whole trend has changed.
I just write about ordinary people. I like to write about small people. It seems that he has very little feelings, but in fact everyone has big feelings.
In "Love Full Courtyard", after ten years of catastrophe, everyone in that courtyard is changing, who hasn't?
He Bing's "Silly Pillar" has not changed!
Why?
That is, he has the support point of his own thinking and consciousness, that is what is in the bones, and it shows that you are right in your bones, which gives the audience a feeling.
Reporter: You write stories about people in Beijing. From your observation, what kind of temperament do Beijing people have?
Wang Zhili: People in old Beijing are angry, follow the rules, and be reasonable.
The most important thing is to see if this person is upright or not. The real old Beijingers will not put their interests first. You only need to deceive others once, and you are finished. This is the rule in the alley.
In this era, the characteristic of Beijingers is inclusiveness.
Talking about creation: every character lives in front of my eyes
Reporter: There are many intriguing "golden sentences" in "Beyond the Drum Tower", such as "Be a person first when you make furniture", "If you fight for small things, you will lose your way", and "Vengeance is retribution for yourself". How did you create these lines?
Wang Zhili: These are all things that I came up with after I wrote and wrote the script. You will come out on your own if you write them.
Reporter: It is said that your writing habit is to go to bed in the evening and wake up at one o'clock in the morning to write the script?
Wang Zhili: I usually get up at one o'clock in the morning and write until seven in the morning. This is my main creative time.
During the day I don't move the script, I just create it in my head.
If you want to write a good script, you can only do it in the dead of night.
Reporter: Nowadays, a large number of TV drama scripts are collectively created by the screenwriting team, which is an assembly line operation. What do you think of this?
Wang Zhili: I know this format. Many scripts are written in a formatted format. They are divided into minutes. There is a small climax in three minutes, and there must be tears in ten minutes. Determine where a small orgasm is needed and where a big orgasm is needed, but this Can you write a good script?
Every time I sign a contract with a TV producer, I add a requirement: My script is not allowed to pass through the script center.
In the period drama I wrote, he came to talk to me about life and his insights.
Where did he get this insight from?
That's impossible!
Reporter: What do you think is the biggest challenge for screenwriters to create stories and characters?
Wang Zhili: The difficulty of screenwriting lies in the story, the difficulty lies in the rationality and logic of the story and your views on the story.
The characters need to be real first, they have to be like the people who live next to you.
In these scripts of mine, there are hundreds of characters.
It can be said that every character lives in front of me, I don't have to close my eyes, every time I write about a person, he is like standing in front of me.
As long as the characters in my play, I let them have a personality and be alive.