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stills from the tv series "the past by the water". photo provided by the production crew

recently, the drama "bianshui past" produced by cao baoping and directed and written by mou xincen has been popular on youku. the drama tells the story of shen xing, a young man who came to "sanbianpo" in a foreign land.

"the past by the water" is a new type of play. mou xincen believes that "this play constructs a relatively fictional narrative space, but it also has a certain realistic perspective." the sanbianpo in the play is a fictional place, and the extreme test faced by the protagonist is quite different from daily life, but the creators have infiltrated the details of life into it, making the plot development have a certain degree of credibility and logic.

in the script creation process of "bianshui past", cao baoping provided a lot of help and guidance to mou xincen. for example, the play should return to the characters and plots, why the characters do this, how they think, whether the plot advancement is logical, etc., all of which should respect the audience's psychology. the most important thing is that the creator must observe the depth and breadth of the writing, and the narrative logic must stand up to scrutiny. the environment in the play subtly affects the actions of the characters. for example, the northern part of the fictional mokuang mountain in the play has high terrain and little vegetation, so water has become a scarce resource, and every corner is a container for storing water. where there are forests, there are houses, where there are mountains, there are mines, and where the terrain is relatively flat, there are cities... the establishment of a dramatic environment is the foundation, and then the relationship between characters is constructed on this basis. mou xincen made an analogy: "think of the script as a sandbox or a game, introduce real logic to construct it, and try to make the plot as real and credible as possible through details."

for mou xincen, the starting point of his creation is to break away from some of his past high-concept and hypothetical creations. "'border water past' gave me a new opportunity to incorporate more realistic creative thinking." mou xincen said. talking about the original intention of creation, he believes that suspense is just a way of telling stories, and long series should carry and superimpose more effective information. what really attracts the audience is that the plot extends the story to reality, innovates in the genre and is closely close to real life, allowing the audience to substitute the role in the process of watching the play, resonate with the role, and experience true feelings.

"the rhythm of dramatic conflicts in the first 15 minutes of a series is no longer applicable. if the audience cannot be retained in the first three or four minutes of a series, they may abandon the series. creators have to rethink what kind of content needs to be presented in the first few minutes of the work." mou xincen said. taking "border water past" as an example, a lot of thought has been put into the drama settings such as the environment and characters, as well as the details such as the opening and ending credits and subtitle fonts. there are up to hundreds of people working in the art and props team at the same time. the opening uses a sand table perspective to present the regional features of each unit story. mou xincen hopes that in this way, the audience can be attracted from the beginning.

a work takes several years to prepare and finally has to be presented to the current audience. it won’t work if you still use something from a few years ago to perform it.

"good works must be ahead of the audience and be forward-looking." mou xincen said that in the internet age, creators must learn to discern information while understanding it. with the emergence of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, creators must continue to learn, constantly feel the times, experience life, and understand fresh people and things in order to obtain a continuous source of creative inspiration. "our generation of creators grew up in the internet age, and we have more ways to connect with the audience. i hope that i can summarize something through my creation, and i also hope that more audiences can gain, think, and feel from my works." mou xincen said.

today, the maturity of internet technology and the widespread application of new media have provided a broader platform for film and television creation, promoting the innovation and diverse presentation of film and television works.

at the same time, online audio-visual platforms have been strengthening their support for the growth of young directors, providing creators with greater space and support in terms of subject matter innovation and project funds. many young directors have stood out with their personalized works.

people's daily (september 5, 2024, 19th edition)