2019-06-12

How Could TV Dramas Grasp the Pulse of the Era: Reflect on Reality, and Adhere to Realness

On the morning of June 12th, the 25th Shanghai TV Festival STV Forum "The Pulse of the Era - The Mirror of Reality: TV Drama Creation Forum" was held in the Central Hall of Shanghai Exhibition Center.

FU Dongyu, member of China TV Drama Directors\' Guild and director of THE THUNDER, HOU Hongliang, president of Daylight Entertainment, LIU Jiacheng, vice chairman of Beijing TV Artists Association and director of THE STORY OF ZHENGYANG GATE, Actor WANG Jinsong, ZHAO Dongling, scriptwriter of RED SORGHUM and IN LAW WE BELIEVE and others attended the forum. Actor LIANG Zhi was invited as the host, and together with the creators of the excellent realistic TV dramas, had an in-depth dialogue on the direction of realistic TV drama creation and realistic techniques.

Realistic theme should emphasize the value of the era

As for the realistic creation techniques, scriptwriter ZHAO Dongling believed that realism should convey the spirit of the era, reveal the laws of historical development, and express the aesthetic attitude of the creators. Director LIU Jiacheng thought that it is necessary to reflect on the reality, respect the logic of life, and guide and inspire life.

ZHAO Dongling, scriptwriter of RED SORGHUM and IN LAW WE BELIEVE

In addition to reflecting the characteristics of the era, HOU Hongliang, president of Daylight Entertainment further pointed out that the reality theme should address the dilemmas in real life while presenting the reality. "Adhering to the direction of positive energy, we should meditate on what to convey in addition to telling a story and depicting a character?" HOU Hongliang said.

HOU Hongliang, president of Daylight Entertainment

FU Dongyu, director of THE THUNDER, agreed with him. He believed that the value of realism lies in the reflection of dilemmas, such as emotional dilemma, life dilemma, and to spotlight dilemmas is to find the good, the hope of the future. This should be the attitude and consciousness that art creators should uphold. "Led by such spirit and consciousness, there will be a better future for our creation." FU Dongyu stressed.

FU Dongyu, member of China TV Drama Directors\' Guild and director of THE THUNDER

Actor WANG Jinsong added from the perspective of the audience that the creation of TV dramas should be inspiring for the audience. The content expressed and presented should show positive energy and have the power to lead world view, life view and values.

The creation of realistic themes should stick to reality

In terms of creation techniques, the scriptwriter ZHAO Dongling held the idea that creators should first respect the laws of art, establish ambitions in the creative process, and dare to explore the new. They must present their answers to reality and meditation on the real world in each work.

Director LIU Jiacheng said that at the creation level, the grasp of real emotions matters the most. We must be rooted in real life and return to the audience\'s perspective. In addition, we must pay attention to the pulse of the era and know the audience\'s expectation for content. LIU Jiacheng pointed out that in today\'s society, the audience are increasingly gaining more confidence with a more advanced thought. The aesthetic has changed from worshipping appreciation to immersive appreciation. Creation, therefore, should start from the individual and reveal the group and the society through the individual. "But the individual should be true to life, close to reality. Only in this way will the audience accept the truth, goodness and beauty conveyed in the works." LIU Jiacheng said.

LIU Jiacheng, vice chairman of Beijing TV Artists Association and director of THE STORY OF ZHENGYANG GATE

HOU Hongliang, president of Daylight Entertainment, emphasized the importance of being real. He believes that the most important task of realistic themes is to let the audience believe the characters, time, plots, props, and all efforts should serve the purpose of to be "real".

Director FU Dongyu said that the realness degree presented by the creation not only depends on the connotation of the characters, but also on the performance power of the actors. Whether the actors/actresses performs in a real way or not determines whether or not the audience enjoy the works.

With respect to the performance of actors/actresses, actor WANG Jinsong said that the realness of performance cannot be separated from life itself, so creation must be based on the accumulation of life experience.

Actor WANG Jinsong

From June 11th to June 13th, this year\'s STVForum consists of 5 industry dialogue forums and 3 master classes. The guests are the leading figures in the TV industry at home and abroad. The STVForum, which has always been regarded as the wind vane of the TV industry, this year, has highlighted the era and mission sense though its topics. Based on the core value of adherence and innovation, it has strived to give full play to the platform effect of STVF, converged the industry’s global wisdom for the development of the TV industry in the new era, showed the vigorous power of Chinese TV industry before the whole world, while promoting the TV industry to forge ahead together with the times.