Almost no one thought that after filming "Heart Labyrinth" and "Bursting Silent", two crime-themed films with distinct personalities and cold and hard styles, director Xin Yukun's new work would be "Hot Search", which is biased towards commercial and social hotspots.
gave up the structural labyrinth he was good at, the complexity of human nature, and the cold and hard feeling of colliding in the countryside, and went to business, the city and the "hot search", under the reversal, the weak and the strong faced off, "The Grasshopper Shakes the Tree" finally ushered in justice and victory, Zhou Dongyu and other main actors completely deduced the unprecedented aspect in their careers, and the sum of many elements will make the director Xin Yukun, who is outside the story, also usher in his own new success?
Directed by Xin Yukun.
Everything is still unknown, but what is known is that the output is not too much, this is a new exploration after Xin Yukun's self-selection 9 years later. The conversation on the autumn afternoon also showed some slices of Xin Yukun's thoughts at this time node.
The beginning
When he arrived at the studio, director Xin Yukun was already filming the last group**. In the high and empty space, in the dark, the slightest glimmer of light shines through, and he "performs" in front of the camera. reminds me of the bigwigs in some gangster films, mysterious, dark, formal, arrogant, and oppressive.
The filming soon came to an end, chatted a few words about the recent film festival, finished greetings, changed his outfit, and sat in front of the interviewer, Xin Yukun seemed to have taken off his clockwork bag and was extremely relaxed. The diametrical two-sided became his first impression.
Inverted
In 2014, "Heart Labyrinth" was born, as a first-class work, although it has many shortcomings such as immature actors' acting skills and extremely low cost, this niche movie quickly became popular in professional circles. The interlocking multi-line narrative, the realism in the roughness, the excavation of the black attribute in human nature, and the integration of Nolan + Coen brothers-style skills have made the public know little about it, but the director Xin Yukun quickly became known to insiders.
Poster of the movie "Heart Labyrinth".
9 years later, I saw him because of "Hot Search". As the name suggests, the film was born from the story of the hot search, behind the reversal of the Internet, human nature is like a pen scratch on the paper, clear, but tortuous and meandering, at each reversal of the time node, it is going to the side that does not know the way back. In the end, the scroll that unfolded like a picture scroll came to its end, and the story also came to the chapter of justice triumphing over ** as desired.
How can a typical linear narrative story attract Xin Yukun?This is the initial and central question.
I've always wanted to do the story of the ** practitioner. After taking a seat, Xin Yukun opened. "Hot Search" is not a typical expected "Xin Yukun" crime genre film, Xin Yukun still feels that everything has traces to follow. "To do crime or quasi-crime genre films, in addition to the judicial system, I also want to find the best perspective. ”
The story did not have a shape at the beginning, in the early days, Xin Yukun wanted to start with the paper media, and after several twists and turns, the "Hot Search" about the story of the new ** person came to the front. "I changed my thinking and wanted to try it to see how the new ** industry works and what role it really plays in social practice. ”
In reality, like many people, Xin Yukun often sees hot searches, there will always be reversals and reversals, and the "melon-eating masses" are also Xi to "let the bullets fly for a while", under the noisy and suspended appearance, after experiencing the boiling of hot searches, social events will usher in the moment of "justice coming".
Trailer for the movie "Hot Search".
Everyone's attention to social events has shifted from the former TV stations and newspapers to the Internet, and the absorption of information on the Internet has also been continuously extended. At first, I will believe it, I will 'stand in line', and when I see it reversed, I will reverse it again, and even be combed through the timeline ......The fermentation and spread of hot searches is very fast, but every time people pay attention to its timing, it may only be a slice.
As Chen Miao, the female editor-in-chief of the public account in "Hot Search", said, hot search is to let the best people participate in it. "The incident is on the hot search, and there seems to be a strong sense of participation in likes and comments, but what about later?Usher in a reversal reversal and you will feel like you are being taken advantage of. So, we wanted to do a holistic show, to show the process.
Stills from the movie "Hot Search".
"Hot Search" is a hot spot and a precipitation. It's a slice, it's a panorama. In addition to focusing on the hot search parties, hot search promoters, hot search duels and the "big guys" behind them, "Hot Search" also focuses on everyone - girls against rich businessmen, people against power, with **for**, the slight power is dotted, and finally the grasshopper shakes the tree, this kind of thing, in Xin Yukun's previous two works, there is no such "bright" appearance.
This raises doubts. Is it based on investment, theme or other perspectives that "Hot Search" has become its more black and white, although there is confrontation but the final victory?Xin Yukun's answer is that it does not depend on this, nor does it depend on his personal aesthetics and personal preferences.
I have seen a lot of events on the Internet that have generated great empathy at the public level, and often get very big ** attention, even social attention, so they will eventually win. Xin Yukun said. From campus bullying to peachy secrets, the truth of the rich ** girl gradually surfaced, and individuals confronted each other, hanging on the hot search. "How it will end up is sometimes very controversial, sometimes not. ”
Stills from the movie "Hot Search".
"Hot Search" finally ushered in victory, in addition to learning from the hot search in real events, it is also related to the prototype of the story and the theme. Xin Yukun said bluntly: ".Therefore, my creative logic is not to substitute the result for myself, but to rely on the environment in which the story takes place and the cognitive basis of the audience, which may be positive or gray. The story will have its own direction.
Try
The movies Xin Yukun watched privately had different styles. He liked the style of Villeneuve, the director of Dune, with a classicist splendor and even a fundamentalist cinematic feel. ** once commented that "Dune" "is like watching "2001: A Space Odyssey" in 1968. Xin Yukun also said: "It has the original feeling of a movie decades ago, or even 100 years ago. ”
Poster for the movie Dune.
On the other hand, movies with strong rhythm and strong technique, extreme to the top, are also his favorite. "Some are very dark humorous, some are very cold, some are very high-intensity, all are very stylized, and have their own logo. ”
A still from the movie "Dune".
Implemented into his own works, "Hot Search" uses a linear structure that does not entangle skills, but it is a clear landing point in Xin Yukun's heart. "The structure may be done to amplify and superimpose, but the story of "Hot Search" pays more attention to the direction of things in a short period of time, and once the direction is interrupted, the audience will not be able to pick up. ”
One of the screenwriters of "Hot Search" used to be a new ** practitioner, and many proper nouns are true. "After making the foundation, let's understand the new office furnishings, staffing, and daily workflow, so that we can understand how a 100,000 plus explosive article was born!Xin Yukun laughed.
Director Xin Yukun's work photo.
In addition to "Hot Search", Xin Yukun also has a completed movie. Nine years have passed, from filming to release, "I have only finished making 4 films, and it is still too early to form a director's style, and I am still trying". In addition, Xin Yukun also intends to differentiate. "Every story, every genre and even every genre has its own approach, and I can't make all films the same. ”
Stills from the movie "Hot Search".
I'll also pay attention to the weight. For example, "Hot Search" will not be particularly brain-burning, but we focus on how the two sides of the main confrontation can put pressure on each other through **, get back a point, and then usher in the next battle. He was reluctant to deliberately create suspense in such a film, and even deliberately cut out some of the confrontational plots that come and go. "It's because I think the audience is very smart, if you always show back and forth around the points that the audience can think of, the audience's viewing interest will be halved. ”
Going down the river was once, after "Heart Labyrinth" and "Bursting Silence", Xin Yukun ushered in a lot of scripts for "strange cases". "Very, very many scripts that reflect crime cases, and even ** adaptations. But I know for myself that I don't just want to make a 'strange case', that's not what I'm looking for. The most important thing is a story, whether there is something behind it that moves me.
Stills from the movie "Hot Search".
rejected the script of the crime case, and in the past two years, when suspense crime films have become popular, will Xin Yukun feel missed?Not really. "I especially hope that after watching "Hot Search", you can feel that I am breaking something and creating something. ”Just like the two sides of the classical aesthetic and strong narrative that he likes, put in a shell, it will turn into a commercial film, and in certain environments, "it will again be a good auteur film".
"After filming my first work, I hope that I will always have explorations and reflections. I've always kept myself in a state of 'half a glass of water', not overflowing, and I'm always in awe of making movies. ”
As a male director, Xin Yukun laughed and said that he is not very good at making romance films, and he may be denatured with sex conflicts and collisions - indeed, the protagonist may change from a pure love warrior to a warrior directly. However, "Hot Search" is obviously paying attention to women, whether it is the new ** editor-in-chief Chen Miao, the hot search party Zhang Xiaosui, or the "dinner girls" such as classmates who have encountered similar encounters with her, as well as ** and people who comment.
Has Xin Yukun ever worried about whether he can enter their world freely in the girls' stories?
Stills from the movie "Hot Search".
My producer is a woman, my wife is my partner, and that's what we talk about every day. On the side, these things are not far off. "The three signed screenwriters of "Hot Search" are also women. "It gave me enough ground for the story and didn't have any cognitive barriers. ”
Trailer for the movie "Hot Search".
However, "Hot Search" was filmed in 2021, the script was earlier, and the update of the communication media made *** no longer a hot spot, and the rise of short** and small compositions was something that Xin Yukun did not expect. "We went to learn about the current public account again, and found that there are still many people looking at it, and there are still a lot of 100,000 plus. He put a little bit of refreshment. And Chen Miao also said at the beginning that he had a new plan for the company, to make a new ** matrix, to be a ** number, that is, to realize that the tuyere had turned. ”
Stills from the movie "Hot Search".
The core of the story is still straight to the heart, and this will not change. As a supplement, "we have also added some short**, barrage presentations."
Magical
Hot Search" started filming in the Greater Bay Area in December 2021. Compared with the filming locations of "Heart Labyrinth" and "Bursting Silence", Xin Yukun made a joke: "This time, 'entered the city'." ”
Song Yang plays Chen Miao's partner He Yan, who is middle-aged, always has concerns, and begins to be submissive, and the second half of the film is more and more showing different faces. After "Bursting Silent", Xin Yukun and Song Yang have always been in contact, and sometimes, when Song Yang comes into contact with some characters, he will ask Xin Yukun, including the interpretation and discussion of the performance, "It is a sense of trust".
Stills from the movie "Hot Search".
Working together again, Xin Yukun felt magically lucky, and for various reasons, schedules and candidates, he finally bumped into Song Yang again. "Hit it off!”
Zhou Dongyu also showed an intellectual and sharp mature woman temperament in "Hot Search". Red lips, curly hair, and professional attire, it's an outfit, and it's also **. A scene without makeup after removing makeup reveals the softness of women.
Stills from the movie "Hot Search".
The unexpected surprise was Yuan Hong, Yue Peng, the president of the group, who was successfully deduced by Yuan Hong as a scum, and even a well-dressed beast. The biggest villain, the rich man Wang Shimin, makes people feel his mystery and silence through layers of rendering and advancement, but he is a ubiquitous sense of oppression.
Stills from the movie "Hot Search".
At the filming site, Zhou Dongyu actually didn't have much obstacle in performance. "She has done enough preparation, and she is very hungry for such a role from the bottom of her heart. "There are a lot of technical terms, but Zhou Dongyu is fluent in lines. "Obviously well prepared and memorized very skillfully. ”The only problem is her voice, Zhou Dongyu's own voice is a little sharp and young, and later, after a few days of shooting, she found a way by herself: "Chat with 'Master Song (Song Yang)!."Zhou Dongyu is good at imitation, and by imitating Song Yang's voice, Zhou Dongyu successfully lowered his original voice. "Later, the more I said it, the more 'sinking' it became, which was too right. ”
Stills from the movie "Hot Search".
Unfortunately, there are some views that are missed. "We saw a lot of scenery near Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhuhai, and at the beginning there was a design for a better view. Wang Shimin's office found a model room, but the design was very different, full of mysterious oppression. Due to the epidemic, this scene was abandoned in the staggered tossing and turning of time.
Trailer for the movie "Hot Search".
Wang Shimin is very special and at the heart of the other side of the conflict, and the design of him, the things around him and the environment, all hope to give the audience a chilling feeling - although you can't see this person all the time, he seems to be everywhere. These, in the end, through the design of light and shadow and angle, presented Wang Shimin's office, Wang Shimin's black figure projected on the window, etc., also made up for it.
Stills from the movie "Hot Search".
Pushing back to the beginning of the film, to the middle of the film, and at the end, from Zhang Xiaosui, Chen Miao, the principal to Yue Peng and Wang Shimin, everyone has a moment to stand on a high place, as if it is a metaphor. In Xin Yukun's view, everyone has different motivations, different classes, different identities, and different moods. "For example, Wang Shimin is on the top floor, like a king in a tower. As for Yue Peng, he would think that standing on a high place was a symbol of identity and strength, and if he wanted to put pressure on Chen Miao in this way, he was also trying to win her over. ”
Trailer for the movie "Hot Search".
This setting is also because the drama "Hot Search" does not have too many actions and scenes. "A lot of dialogue, although there is a duel, but not a chase, not a shootout, it can only be, first, find a way to make the lines concise and interesting, and second, find a way to combine human nature, psychology and scenery. ”
Director Xin Yukun on the set.
As an aside, in addition to "Hot Search", the years before and after the epidemic have given Xin Yukun a new understanding and feeling of life. Re-entering the project made him feel, "Everything is much easier." ”For example, during a group play, everyone will go to the scene to go through the scene first, and then collide, and even improvise, smooth and sparkling.
Once, whether it was filming "Heart Labyrinth" or "Bursting Silence", the creative environment on the scene was very difficult, the winter was cold, and the wind hurt people, which became an unforgettable scene in my memory. Xin Yukun said: "I often think that when I was filming "Bursting Silence", I was really fighting against nature a lot of the time. ”
Stills from the movie "Bursting Silence".
However, even in those days, Xin Yukun can always feel the "magic" in the favor, such as catching up with the time in the overgrown wilderness, catching up with the light of day, and all kinds of twists and turns are also ushered in the results after the thrill - just like Chen Miao did.
Stills from the movie "Bursting Silence".
What Chen Miao wanted to do at the beginning finally did. She also delivered a voice, both to those closest to her and to those far away on the other end of the network. Xin Yukun said. In fact, "Hot Search" is not personal heroism, because in the end, victory was not achieved by Chen Miao alone, and there were many, many others. Chen Miao just passed on the sound, and it still needed the relay of many people to complete the result of the grasshopper shaking the tree.
Hot Search" and Xin Yukun's own experience are mirrored in pairs, and they also remind people of a sentence: God helps those who help others.
Photo by Qi Bing.
Curated by Timmy
Interview & Written by Sun Sanhao.
Makeup and hair Dou Kai.
Image Shen Yang.
Coordinator Chen Liuning.
Producer: Wang Lu, Li Hexuan.
Costume assistant zhangdandan