To turn a classic literary work into a film and television work, it is actually a huge project, not to mention a long-form masterpiece like the Water Margin, if the original is filmed according to the original book, then at least 100 episodes will be filmed, and even if it is compressed, it will take 70 or 80 episodes.

Filming such a long TV series will not only greatly increase the cost, but also the whole story will seem lengthy and the pace will slow down. After all, film and television are not words, words can be tasted slowly, and TV dramas mainly look at the visual system to feel, the rhythm is too slow, it is not Water Margin, it becomes a Korean drama, and it will not be able to shoot the true taste of Water Margin.

Therefore, in several versions of Water Margin film and television works, a large number of adaptations have been made on the basis of the original work. Take Bao Guoan's Lu Provincial version of Song Jiang as an example, many heroes and heroes did not appear, and they were filmed completely according to the character story.

And Ning Yuan's version of them has been adapted a lot.

Not only did Ning Yuan and Li Xuedao think it themselves, but they also thought that Lin Chong's death was very good, and they vividly portrayed the contrast between cold and heat, cheering and loneliness, and also reflected the dispute between the two factions at that time from the side, and sublimated the realm.

When this drama came out, most of them were praised, of course, there were also bad reviews, and some said that they performed so many of Pan Jinlian's plays, but the heroes of the Water Margin didn't get together.

As for Ning Yuan, he felt that it was actually better to be detailed, and there was really no need to get all the one hundred and eight generals, this was a literary and artistic work, not a household registration book of the neighborhood committee. Concentrating on doing big things and highlighting the main characters is what literature and film and television adaptations should do.

CCTV's four famous dramas, the other three are more or less excerpts from the original work, only Water Margin tried to recreate, just like Lin Chong's death, and Hua Rong's resignation to follow Song Jiang, and finally died together, and Wu Yong took them back to Liangshan, instead of running to Liao Erwa with Hua Rong to commit suicide, it can be said that ...... The adaptation is more profound than the original.

drastically deleted and merged a large number of homogeneous plots and minor characters that had little to do with the theme, and at the same time added plots such as Song Jiang Fangla's subordinates fighting together, Yan Qing and Li Shishi going away to the end of the world, etc., deepening the narrative theme of the TV series.

A good film and television drama is not only a good adaptation of the script, but also a lot of work has been done since the time of casting.

When Ning Yuan took the art exam, he had already decided that Li Xuedao would play Song Jiang, and Ning Yuan didn't enter the university until half a year after the art exam, but when he started filming in the first semester of his sophomore year, there were still a few people who didn't choose well, so you can know how long it took.

And when selecting, it is not like the future, as long as the funds are sufficient, to take big names and red stars, but to fully respect the original work, completely follow the description of the original work, and choose from the perspective of the quality of the work.

It doesn't have to be all beautiful and handsome, but it must be very characteristic, whether it is appearance or personality. Therefore, whether the actors conform to the original work, whether they have the spirit of the rivers and lakes, and whether the appearance conditions match have become the most important thing in casting.

As Ning Yuan said, not for profit, but for fame - to make the work a classic.

It's not good to choose well, you still have to train intensively, the long one is more than half a year, and the short one is at least more than a month, if Ning Yuan hadn't shown off his muscles and showed them excellent kung fu, he wouldn't have been able to take leave at all.

After the casting stage, the director insisted that all actors who entered the crew should be fit, not only to let the audience see it realistically, but also to ensure the quality of the work.

Because the characters to be played are all heroes, in this case, there will definitely be a body of muscles if you fight all day long, and it is absolutely impossible to be a weak "thin hemp pole".

Therefore, as long as there is a kung fu scene in the play, physical training must be carried out.

However, the crew did not hire a coach in particular, that is, Zhang Hengping, who played Ruan Xiaowu.

He was a true practitioner, participated in many bodybuilding competitions at that time, and won the first place in the 85kg class of the National Bodybuilding Championship in '95.

It was precisely because of Zhang Hengping's toned figure and rich experience that he was selected to lead the "Liangshan heroes" to practice together.

Like many Water Margin actors, he later starred in those Jin Yong dramas in Zhang Ji, played Lu Bai in "Smiling Proud Jianghu", played Lu Youjiao in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", played Chu Wanli in "Dragon Babu", and he also played the machine gunner of the Sichuan Army in "My Regiment Commander, My Regiment".

Everyone practiced together, it was very atmospheric, and no one wanted to fall behind, just like that, when the filming really started, everyone was sturdy, and the state and physical condition of the actors exceeded the director's requirements, which was an unexpected joy.

Not only Zhang Hengping, Jia Shishi, who plays Hu Yanzhuo, but a bull with the title of "Oriental Hercules", has performed the stunts of pulling helicopters and cranes, and has won the world's best acrobatic base award!

For example, Ding Haifeng, who played Wu Song, although he had just debuted at the time, the crew still boldly used him, largely considering his muscular image and righteous temperament, which is very suitable for playing Wu Song.

There is a scene where Song Jiang sprinkled wine and acted strongly, standing on the deck, behind Li Xuedao, a strong man wearing a crotch cloth, such as Ruan's Sanxiong, Zhang Shun, Zhang Heng, and Li Jun, the shiny strong muscles on their bodies said that they were qualified to participate in bodybuilding competitions.

It is precisely because of the blood and qi shown in it that when it was broadcast in Ning Yuan's previous life, it inspired the Chinese people's pursuit of strength and fitness in that era.

Even Song Wenhua, who plays Wu Dalang, is actually not like the "three-inch Dinggu bark" written in the book, in reality, he is still a sanda master, and he has also won the championship of traditional martial arts.

When he knew his identity, Ning Yuan was thinking that if it weren't for the needs of the plot, it was estimated that Wu Song would not be needed to fight Ximenqing.

It's Zang Jinsheng, when he auditioned for Lu Zhishen at the beginning, he was not photographed by the director, because he was not fat......

But Zang Jinsheng is also a ruthless person, he gritted his teeth at that time, and set up a military order with Zhang Shaolin:

"Give me two months, and if by then, you're not satisfied with my shape, I'll turn around and leave without complaining. ”

Zhang Shaolin agreed.

In order to gain weight, Zang Jinsheng consulted doctors and fitness coaches, ten eggs a day, never drank water, and used milk powder and beer instead...... I gained 60 pounds in two months.

But even if he was a little lucky, Ning Yuan later joked with him: "Uncle Zang, if you come to the crew after gaining weight and find that we have started filming and are filming Lu Zhishen's scene, do you have to collapse?"

Zang Jinsheng laughed: "What's that, how do I get fat, how can I lose weight." ”

When he was the fattest, Zang Jinsheng weighed more than 260 pounds, and in order to maintain his body shape, he also took a small stove in the crew to eat shabu mutton and sheep tail every day, but after eating, he had to train his muscles.

At that time, he and Zhao Xiaorui, who played Li Kui, were both fat gainers, in Zhao Xiaorui's words, he was so tired and panting that he couldn't squat down at all, and he couldn't tie them for half a day.

In addition, from the perspective of performance, in fact, there is no problem with the performance of Jin Song, the actor of the new version of Lu Zhishen, but it gives people a single feeling, that is, he is very arrogant, simple-minded, hahaha at every turn, and he is bold, but there is always a kind of stupidity that lacks heart, you must know that Lu Zhishen is not the rough one on the surface.

The portrayal is very good, that is, after Lin Chong died, everyone was ready to go down the mountain to fight, and Wu used a large group of them to pay tribute to Chao Gai in the back mountain, and Lin Chong was only Lu Zhishen alone in front of the scene.

In the same shot, on one side is everyone worshipping, and on the other side is the cold and lonely Lu Zhishen, in contrast, the sadness comes out all of a sudden.

There are also female characters.

The original book treats women as nothing, and even except for a handful of women such as Hu Sanniang, they are all silver babies as women, but after this adaptation, it seems that several female characters are not in the pool.

is not inferior to those big names, although they only have a few episodes, they are extraordinarily heavy.

In Ning Yuan's view, the adaptations of Pan Jinlian, Pan Qiaoyun and Yan Poxi are particularly exciting, especially the interpretation of characters and the portrayal of hearts, and the limelight seems to be better than the three female generals of Liangshan.

Perhaps, the negative role is easier to perform in depth than the positive role, for example, Pan Qiaoyun said Yang Xiong: After following you for two years, it is better to be happy with your senior brother for two nights, and the aftertaste when talking suddenly made Pan Qiaoyun live, and also gave Yang Xiong, a character with a personality, a more sufficient reason to kill her. ”

This is a record written by Ning Yuan, as well as Wang Siyi's Xiao Pan:

She performed Pan Jinlian's psychological and emotional delicate changes before and after the development of the plot, in terms of performance quality and character chewiness, it is better than Niu Li and Mu Qing, not the whitewashing that ordinary people think, but what people do, they are motivated, such an adaptation, in addition to showing the market atmosphere of the Northern Song Dynasty through her, deepening the sense of age, but also making the characters stand up. ”

Among the three female generals of Liangshan, in addition to the mother insect is soy sauce, Sun Erniang and Hu Sanniang also have a strong and colorful display, Sun Erniang's hotel proprietress is swept and spicy, the children of the rivers and lakes are bold and neat, the women who work hard to drink and eat in the cottage, and the sister-in-law of the two Wu brothers, several sides of the characters have come out, and the performance is three-dimensional and vivid, fresh and spiritual, Liang Li praised. ”

"Dao Ma Dan Zheng Shuang's Hu Sanniang is the best in all versions, there is no one, heroic and sassy, handsome and graceful, there is no second person, just marry Wang Ying, a bit tyrannical, really spicy eyes......"

In addition, Pang Qiuxia played by Zhang Chunyan is as heroic as Hu Sanniang, but one is cold and beautiful, the other is simple, and the moments when she was amused by Hei Li Kui and sneered and lightly covered her cherry mouth were too wonderful. ”

"The most amazing thing is that Zhang Chunyan and Pang Qiuxia played by her happen to be a pair, which is simply too coincidental. Fresh and simple, in addition to Pang Qiuxia, there is also magnolia. However, Pang Qiuxia is heroic and generous, while Yulan is shy and reserved, which is the difference between the identity of a martial arts woman who walks the rivers and lakes and a maid who does not leave the deep house. ”

In addition to casting and character portrayal, the martial arts of this drama are also something that people talk about.

The first full-length vernacular in China is the Water Margin, which is also known as the sprout of martial arts, and the characters with the most martial arts characteristics in this book are Wu Song and Lu Zhishen, so in the adaptation, they both focus on portrayal.

In addition, the flea on the drum is the first character who can penetrate the ridge of the house, and it has also played a great role in enlightening the martial arts of later generations, and he is the ancestor of Chinese long-form martial arts.

Naturally, when filming TV series, martial arts has become the top priority.

It's just that during the Water Margin period, there was no difference between Jin Yong's internal strength, light skill, and external strength, and there was no magic skill such as the eighteen palms of the dragon, the great shift of Qiankun, and the finger of the Lingxi, and the whole play, there seems to be only Wu Song and Yan Qing with detailed martial arts descriptions.

Because of this, it is difficult for this drama to be as elegant and wonderful as Tsui Hark's new martial arts movie, and it cannot be as meaningful as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon directed by Yuan Heping.

Before the CCTV version of the Water Margin, the Lu Provincial version of the Water Margin and the CCTV version of the Three Kingdoms' martial arts were not particularly outstanding, the former was too rigid in one move, like watching a martial arts performance, and the latter was simply no different from ordinary people fighting.

In order to improve the martial arts drama of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Shaolin and the others did not hesitate to invite Yuan Heping, and the person who went was Zhang Jizhong.

The Yuan brothers also have their own team, and of course they want to use photographers they are familiar with. After all, the shooting of martial arts does have high requirements for photographers, and the camera position is different from the norm, and the position of the person is also different from the norm. The action rate is extremely fast, and the timing of the shot is fleeting.

Although it was still an arrogant CCTV at this time, it was still necessary to be careful in playing a tome like "Water Margin", and for the sake of cost, they did not agree to Yuan Heping to use his team at the beginning, but with the mentality of giving it a try, they found Yu Min, who was changed from an actor to a cameraman.

At that time, Yu Min had long hair tied behind his head, and his temperament was wild and uninhibited, Zhang Jizhong felt very uneasy when he saw him, and he made preparations for a replacement.

As soon as I came up to shoot the scene of the Baiyun Inn, Yan Qing fled here with Li Kui after the fight, and was chased and killed by officers and soldiers.

But Yu Min, who was filming martial arts for the first time, handed in a satisfactory answer, his camera movement was accurate and in place, and the picture was neither dull nor fancy. Yuan Heping also praised:

"The photography feels great, all the requirements are met, and it's not worse than our original photography!"

In this way, Yu Min sat firmly in the position of the photographer of "Water Margin", and later in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", Yu Min began to work as a director, and "Dragon Babu" contributed more.

Success is not a certain factor, but all the success factors are in place, it will happen, and the long time has been in this crew for more than two years, and the short one is a few months.

Although Ning Yuan's scenes have been filmed, there is nothing for him to do for the time being, except for going back to classes and performing dramas, he will fly back whenever he has time to watch them shoot other location scenes.

And Ning Yuan's notes were also circulated by many people, and in the end, I don't know how they ended up in Zhang Jizhong's hands, after reading them, he deliberately found them and chatted with Ning Yuan for a long time.

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