Reporter |Duan Zhifei, Dong Zhao, L
Title Picture |Adapted Screenplay".
Director Liang Ming:
Literary adaptation, you can't follow the trend
Take shortcuts and be smart.
Whether it is to visualize or literalize the film, they all help each other and fulfill each other.
*With movies, movies with**, in fact, they are all the same - I don't know since when, every time I talk about movies with ** family, or talk about literature with film directors, I can finally come to such a conclusion.
This conclusion always reminds me of "The Movie of the **Family" directed by Hong Sang-so, which is a story of "the ** family meets the film director".
Between them, there always seems to be a wonderful attraction, whether it is to visualize ** or to make movies literary, they all help each other and fulfill each other.
Stills from "The Three-Body Problem").
The topic of adapting literature into film and television is actually not new, but if you discuss it in 2023, you can see some trends, such as: Liu Cixin's sci-fi ** "Three-Body Problem" was adapted into a drama of the same name;The popular film and television drama "Hurricane" is also adapted from the same name**;Film and television dramas such as "Moses on the Plains" and "The Long Season" triggered a literary adaptation boom in the "Northeast Renaissance". Even at the 7th Pingyao International Film Festival, there were many first-class figures and topics, such as the venture capital of "Migration Plan: From Literature to Film and Television", as well as Yu Hua's "Mistake by the River", Ban Yu's "Getaway", and so on.
Picture: A still from the movie "Moses on the Plains").
For a long time, in the eyes of most people, the reason why film and television works will "ask for help" from literature is because of the lack of good stories in the film industry.
In October this year, Liang Ming's film "Easy Travel", adapted from Ban Yu's short story of the same name**, was shortlisted for the "Hidden Dragon" unit of the 7th Pingyao International Film Festival, and his adaptation of Ban Yu's other script "Gun Tomb" was also shortlisted for the venture capital of this year's Pingyao International Film Festival.
As one of the members of the recommendation committee of the 2023 ** list of "New Weekly", Liang Ming talked to us about his views on adapting literature into film and television.
From literature to film, there are huge trade-offs to make.
All excellent adaptations are original, and the difficulty of literary adaptation lies in 'how to get out of literature' - whether the filmmaker can abandon the original work in time after being nourished by literature. ”
Liang Ming said in an interview with reporters that literary adaptation does not mean copying, and there is a very important link between the original literary book and the film image, that is, the movie script.
Picture: Stills from the movie "Getaway").
In Liang Ming's view, many cultures often go beyond the movie script to talk about learning and movies, as if movies from literary adaptations are filmed according to the original books.
In fact, from the original literary book to the movie script, it has already included a huge amount of work and made huge trade-offs, and from the film script to the film shooting, and even to the film editing, it has always been a process of constant trade-offs.
Before "Getaway" came to the screen, Liang Ming read ** by chance and was moved by the realism of the characters in **, so he had a strong urge to "shoot". Later, he chatted with Ban Yu about many details of the adaptation in **, and he also experienced countless attempts in the middle.
From the perspective of the film's drama, there is no clear story line in the story of the original book "Easy Travel". "Ban Yu's attention to people is very accurate, and he deeply excavates people's desires for survival. This is the reason why Liang Ming was deeply hit by Ban Yu's **.
In the process of adaptation, Liang Ming also tried to build the main line and strengthen the drama, but he found that no matter how he added the plot to it, in the end, the original literary temperament would be destroyed, and the softest parts of the characters would be destroyed.
So he decided that no matter what, he wanted to keep the core aura that could wrap him in the original book. "I feel like I'm in there, I'm with them. Liang Ming said.
Picture: Stills from the movie "Getaway").
In the end, we can feel that Liang Ming has made a successful adaptation of the original book in the movie "Easy Travel", in fact, because he uses many details from real life to establish exquisite audio-visual to present the psychology of the first-person character Xu Lingling in the original book.
The tofu that I wanted to treasure, the mysterious small medicine bottle in my father's bag, the headphones of the unknown sender, the hearse that I was not riding for the first time, etc., the real drama is densely packed in the details of life, like life itself, everything is undercurrent.
The movie is also an adaptation of real life.
In Liang Ming's standards, there are many kinds of successful adaptations, and adaptations that can retain the core spirit of the original work are also considered a success, such as Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" adapted from Zhang Ailing's "Lust and Caution", and "Brokeback Mountain" adapted from Anne Prue's Brokeback Mountain.
* The creativity and imagination of a home are different from those of filmmakers, and it is good to be able to be nourished by literature. Liang Ming said.
Of course, it is also necessary to discern what constitutes good "literature". On the basis of these premises, it is not a simple matter to carry out literary adaptations for film and television, and to complete "originality", which is actually a test of the filmmaker's ability, especially when the soil of contemporary culture has become more layered.
Picture "Lust, Caution").
Looking at the creation of the film and television industry in 2023, most of them span time, telling about our fathers and us, the 20th century and the new century, and the rise of this kind of theme adaptation, in addition to burning a small 'nostalgia' fire, is also a kind of reminiscence from collectivism to individualism, and back to the collective again. ”
In Liang Ming's view, in recent years, we have experienced many changes in reality, and people's feelings, angles and expectations have also changed, these are our desires, and the movie is actually an adaptation of real life.
In Liang Ming's eyes, whether it is ** or film and television, good works may need to present people's emotions, circumstances, and life states, and good literary works are adapted into film and television works, which can not follow the trend, do not take shortcuts, and do not play smart, which is actually the most sincere expression.
Writer and director Hong Ying:
The abyssal charm of the movie makes people desperate.
When Hong Ying attended the 2023 Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival as a director, she was asked the question that has been very familiar in recent years - why did you change from a writer to a film director?
In 2015, Hongying met the director who bought the film adaptation copyright of her ** "Roma" in a workplace, and when asked if the other party had found a suitable Italian director, what she got was a rhetorical question: "You come to direct, you must be able to do it, you know China, and you have lived in Italy for ten years, I will invest part here, and you can find other funds, do you dare?."”
Although she was well aware of the huge challenges of becoming a director, since there was a person who believed in herself, and she was willing to try new things, and "never played according to the rules", Hongying decided to give it a try. She also wants to see what it's like to shoot her own **: "Isn't it different from them?".Is there a whole thought of my own running through it?”
Make a movie with your own manuscript fee.
From that day on, Hongying began to absorb a lot of knowledge about filmmaking. Through book reading, crew visits, and on-site observations, she figured out the details of the director's workflow and practice.
Just when she felt ready and put it into practice, the realistic and brutal film industry taught her a heavy lesson, and the shooting plan was put on hold. She returned to her familiar realm of writing, regaining her lightness and freedom.
At the beginning of 2019, Hong Ying went to the Chongqing set of the movie "The Sky of the Wind Dog Boy", and one of the main creators learned that her filming in Italy was not going well, and said: "Your first film should be made in Chongqing, you are familiar with everything here, you can make a Chongqing movie, you can." ”
Rainbow Shadow's dream of directing is rekindled by a friend's words. When she returned home, she picked out a short story written by herself in Chongqing**, and immediately wrote the script. After the script was completed, she was supposed to move forward with filming, but when the new crown epidemic broke out, she had to return to the UK due to visa issues.
The quarantine life in the UK reminded Hongying of her hometown Chongqing countless times, prompting her to expand the shelved script into a long story**, which led to "Moonlight Samurai" published in 2021. Based on this, she reconstructed the script of the film of the same name and returned from England to prepare for the film.
Rainbow Shadow reconstructed the script of the movie of the same name, and returned from England to prepare for the film "Moonlight Samurai". (Photo: "Moonlight Samurai").
Funding is the first and biggest problem that Hongying encountered. As a writer and screenwriter, she is already quite valuable, but her resume as a director is blank, so many producers and investors think, "You are a good writer, but you may not be a good director, we feel very risky, so we can't vote for the time being".
In the end, Hongying used the manuscript fee she had accumulated as her main investment, and she wanted to prove that she could be a film director, and at the same time "set an example" for investors who had concerns.
Next, Hongying began to "form a team". Because she understands the limitations of such a rookie director's work, she thinks more about "right" when casting. With the help of her friends, she "knocked" the actor Zuo Hang of the teenager Dou Xiaoming, and then combined everyone's recommendation and national auditions, finalized the actors of other roles, including Feng Jiamei, Cai Heng, Bai En, Lu Xingchen and other young actors.
She chooses the most professional production team, and also has to consider ** and schedule issues. In the end, many senior behind-the-scenes personnel such as recording director Zhang Jinyan, editing director Xiao Ruguan, sound designer and editor Mo Huijia were added.
In preparation for this collaboration, Hongying herself has made many additional preparations, the two most important of which are to undergo laser surgery for myopic eyes and train herself to fall asleep quickly. During the shoot, they will save her a lot of time and energy, which in turn will increase her productivity.
(Photo: "Moonlight Samurai").
At the end of October 2021, "Moonlight Samurai" started filming in Chongqing, and Hongying not only had to be a good director, but also take care of art, costumes, props, finance, scenery, field affairs and other aspects. During the filming, some of the actors changed their attitude towards her from a slight suspicion at the beginning to complete convincing, and colleagues in other departments were also infected by her creative passion.
This way you will become a very well-rounded director, rather than shouting at the people around you to do it. "And we were originally a low-budget movie, so I had to do everything myself." ”
That moment came to life.
In order to maintain her physical strength, Hongying insisted on doing a set of runs in place every night before going to bed, but Rao was like this, and the energy of being a director was still scattered by multiple tasks, but she had to persevere.
What has supported Hongying along the way is her dream of cinema, and the real people behind this non-physical concept.
Each crew's situation is different, and experience tells Hongying that working with someone who has a tacit understanding with her is the most efficient - not only in terms of time, but also in cost. So, she got to know everyone in her group well enough to finish the shoot in a harmonious and enthusiastic atmosphere.
After the Spring Festival in 2022, the film will enter post-production. Not long after, due to the constraints of various factors, Hongying and her colleagues tried every means to advance the work, and even went out in a van pulled by car, and finally finished the late stage in the autumn.
Most directors don't have to be like that, let alone well-known directors. In fact, Hongying will not worry so much about being a writer, such as the new book promotion event, the publishing house will help her arrange everything, she just needs to attend. But she doesn't have a psychological gap, because it's good to be a director in this way, and she can exercise her abilities in other aspects.
(Photo: "Moonlight Samurai").
In mid-November 2023, "Moonlight Samurai" got the public screening license, and it was officially announced that the premiere will be held in Chongqing on December 9 and will be released nationwide on December 15. When it was decided that her own company would take the lead in the announcement, Hongying heard some doubts. She doesn't care much about that, because whatever she does, she's prepared.
Hongying Xi for a whole year. At first, she was single-handedly responsible for all kinds of related work, but before the file was finalized, she invited some like-minded friends and hired full-time publicity staff to move forward according to the professional model.
If you ask her confidence from, she will tell you that every department that supports and helps her, organizations, companies and friends is her confidence. Of course, there is also the strong backing of her family - her husband is one of the chief planners of "Moonlight Samurai", and her daughter helped her draw a modern painting.
Previously, Hong Ying was invited to attend the "American Hollywood Next Generation Independent Film Awards" ceremony, and "Moonlight Samurai" was nominated for the Best Screenwriting Award. When her name "flew" from the stage, Rainbow Shadow's nervousness was finally interrupted: "I feel as if I woke up at that moment, I came back to life, it just lifted me out of the abyss." ”
This achievement seems to echo what she said to reporters last year: "How to solve difficulties in the midst of difficulties, how to stand firm in compromises, and how to be more artistic when breaking through is a test for every film." It depends on your tenacity and your determination to persevere, like the indestructible gold of the rainbow. ”
The various experiences of filming "Moonlight Samurai" did not shake Hongying's belief in continuing to be a director. She feels that the movie has a unique charm, "it is like an abyss, attracting you to jump down, so so many people can't stop, knowing whether it is the abyss or jumping inside."
Writer Han Songluo:
Film critics are also part of the film.
The first article published by writer Han Songluo was film and television review. It was 1995, and after watching "Red Rose and White Rose" directed by Guan Jinpeng, he was moved. Han Songluo wrote film reviews on a large scale around 2004. At that time, online forums were in the ascendant. He often browses the "New Youth of Peking University" and "Xici Hutong", in which the film and television section gathers a large number of people who love movies.
Picture: "Red Roses and White Roses").
In forums such as "Movie Night Sailing" and "Love You Like Bonnie", Han Songluo can see many excellent film review posts. "At that time, everyone was not deeply involved in the film industry, there were no rules and regulations, and when evaluating movies, they considered more about the literary nature of the images, and loved the fate of the people, the relationship between the characters and how to shape them. ”
There is a film review analyzing the visual style of Hu Jinquan's film, which impressed Han Songluo deeply. It was a translation, translated by "magasa" and "**TV", and if it was translated literally, the title of the article would have been "less is better than more", but in the forum, people saw another word - "lack is better than abundance".
This example shows the importance of literary expression. Han Songluo said: "Many people use film as a starting mechanism or motivation to express themselves, but at that time, when we wrote film reviews, we not only treated it as a functional genre, it was just like writing poetry and prose, it was literature. ”
In Han Songluo's eyes, a good film review should have structural qualities. Those powerful film critics often have built a structure of understanding and ** with the help of movies in the process of watching movies. Han Songluo said: "Film criticism should not just be attached to and target the text of a certain movie, it should not be repeated again and again in a different way, what film criticism needs to be creative is to be creative." ”
Towards this goal, Han Songluo has written a film and television review column for many years. In 2010, these essays were collected and published into a book, Watching Movies for Revenge. He rarely defines those essays as film reviews, preferring to call them movie essays, because in his mind, "it is more important for movies and real life to mirror each other."
Watching a movie for revenge
Han Songluo. Baihuazhou Literature and Art Publishing House.
The idea originated from a conversation. He was chatting with a friend about the Korean movie "August Photo Studio".
The other party proposed a novel angle: "After the heroine has dated the male protagonist, the clothes she wears every time she appears are better looking and decent than the last time, and the growth of people is hidden in subtle changes." After listening to it, Han Songluo felt that this touched him more than previous film reviews.
At a time when creators tend to write technical stream film reviews, Han Songluo instead returns to life to find the connection between movies and life. He wrote "A Tree Full of White Flowers" and found all the trees with white flowers in the movies he had watched.
Although looking back many years later, he felt that the concept at that time was a little immature, but this way of commenting was consistent with him in the future.
Han Songluo has also made some adjustments. For example, in the self-**** era, he wrote *** articles, and he would fine-tune the form, and each paragraph was shortened a little bit, so that the rhythm of reading was more in line with people's current Xi. But these changes are external, and the real core part has never been shaken.
He said: "What I always want to do is how the director and screenwriter have created this character, what is the relationship between people, and what is the relationship with our reality, in the final analysis, my final foothold is to analyze people." ”
In Han Songluo's view, to a certain extent, film critics have also become part of the movie: "The movie script depends on the actor's body to complete the interpretation, and from a creative point of view, I am also an actor, but I use my film review to perform it again." ”
February 28, 2022, Zhengzhou. A "nostalgic TV tree" appeared on the streets of the business district, and the classic movies and TV series that are attracting many citizens to stop. (Fig. ic).
But in recent years, the number of times Han Songluo "acted" has gradually decreased. A very important reason is time, in order to write a good film review, he often has to watch a lot of **, watch 20 movies, maybe he can dig out a good movie, this process is more time-consuming."
During the most intensive period of writing film reviews, he had to go to the cinema to watch three or four movies a week, plus looking up information, his energy was really not enough.
In addition, because he has participated in the production of films, Han Songluo knows the worries and anxieties of the creators in each link, and when he sees those places that he wants to complain, he will "not be able to do it", but understand their situation better.
Now, some of his film critic friends have also entered the film industry. At their dinner, everyone joked with each other, saying, "Can you write a movie review of your own movie the same way you used to write a movie review?"”
However, Han Songluo did not leave literature, but placed the accumulation of the past in the "container" of **. One of his ** episodes "Night Walk in Spring Mountain" is called "Five Weirdos Speech Group", when writing, he used the creative method of TV drama synopsis, and he felt that "there should be no problem with changing it to a short drama".
Han Songluo never shies away from the transformation between texts, and when someone says that his ** is suitable for adaptation into a movie, he will be happy. Regarding the relationship between literature and film and television, he does not want to favor one over the other. In his latest novella published in Harvest magazine, "The Fish Tank and the Sunset", his description of the scene borrows from the way the film is handled.
* At the beginning, Han Songluo wrote how David Lynch should start a story. Immediately afterwards, Han Songluo narrated in the same way, and the small town, the building, the balcony, the window, and the man reading with the letter gradually appeared. **At the end, people, the earth, the universe, the scenery slowly pulled away, and all of this left the scene one by one.
Whether it is film criticism or **, Han Songluo has always explored in multiple ways of expression. He believes that all kinds of creations can learn from each other and infiltrate each other. Maybe in the process of development, they will change, but what will always be stable is that literature will always be there, like the one he wrote recently, close or farther, everyone can choose for themselves.
More exciting content.
Please pay attention to the 648 issue of the new weekly.
Special issue of 2023 China's ** list
Operation: Lu Zirui.
Typesetting: Yang Fang.