The TV series "Special War Glory" has been a work with both popularity and doubts since its inception. It has a film-level shooting team, the action scenes are wonderful and neat, the big scenes are truly shocking, and it has the "top-match" front and backstage team in the industry—— 
As early as the TV series "The Indelible Number", the two worked together. After having known each other for more than ten years, the two have cooperated very well and made "Special Warfare Glory" together. There are many audiences who are chasing the drama with true feelings, but there are still many doubts surrounding the "traffic star" and "authenticity" of this work.
The Paper interviewed Xu Jizhou, the director of the show, and talked about some of his creative process and thinking behind the show.
In 2017, an old friend Feng Ji came to Xu Jizhou with a novel called "Special Species of Chinese Special Forces". In Xu Jizhou's opinion, this was a typical "Bing King" novel that was popular on the Internet at that time, and it was very easy to read. It's cool, but it's difficult to adapt it to meet the current censorship requirements and the narrative rhythm of TV dramas. For the adaptation, the original work needs to be "all chopped up" drastically, the available bridges and lines are taken back, and the relationship between the characters is reorganized and built. In the era of capital hot money, the Internet is chasing such content, but very few of these novels have been successfully adapted. Xu Jizhou knew this well, but he admitted that the production method of the film and television industry at that time was: if you did not have an IP to lead the project, it would be difficult to advance the project.
I got this project in 2017, decided to do it in 2018, and finished the script a year later. Xu Jizhou recalled that at that time, the popular words on the Internet were not "Buddha" or "lying flat", but "crazy and cool" , "Wolf Warrior 2" and "Operation Red Sea" have brought the market and industry's enthusiasm for military themes to the highest level, while there is still a lack of benchmarking works in the field of TV dramas. "The platform talked to me and hoped to do something like this. At that time, when there was more hot money, capital was also more sought after. Objectively speaking, it was under this circumstance that such a work was born." Xu Jizhou added: "But I absolutely I didn't shoot it in a way to make quick money."
In the whole environment at that time, the national mentality was generally very optimistic and confident. "Everyone believes that today is good, and I will be better tomorrow; everyone believes in being strong, and even if you are not that strong, you must be 'strong'." However, literary and artistic works have a strong lag. "Some projects can't be read after half a year." After more than two years and a long review, Xu Jizhou noticed that the current environment does not seem to be the same. . "In the past two years, the international and domestic situation has been changing, and the epidemic situation is also changing. I feel that in the past two years, everyone's mentality has become more pragmatic and stable. The creative environment and audience preferences are very different from when we were shooting. Believe it or not, will I emotionally and instinctively reject 'what is this protagonist doing so much?', I'm very uneasy." Xu Jizhou said frankly. "The spirit and emotion represented by Yan Poyue are not the prevailing emotion now."
Yan Poyue, the protagonist of "Special Warfare Glory", came from a family of soldiers. Since childhood, he has undergone ten years of military training from his father, and then entered the military camp, becoming a "king of soldiers" with extremely strong individual combat capabilities. But he was rebellious, sometimes disobedient to discipline, made his own decisions, and even showed a hint of disdain for instructors whose military level was not as good as his own. Xu Jizhou added honestly, "It's not a trace, he's very strong."
This character setting has been questioned by many audiences: Can a soldier from a family of soldiers, who have been strictly trained since childhood, be so "thorny"? And shouldn't a "thorn head" who doesn't listen to orders and makes his own opinions, shouldn't have been kicked out of the disciplined army earlier?
Xu Jizhou said that he has paid attention to these voices. In the play, Yan Poyue strayed into the exercise and helped one of them win the plot, which was questioned by many viewers, Xu Jizhou said bluntly, "This has to be explained, after he got involved in the exercise, he directly destroyed the enemy's Command core, this is not to sabotage the exercise. If it reaches that level, you can’t watch this drama, how many rounds of trials have been conducted by the army and the radio and television, if there is such a problem, it is impossible to let this drama pass.”
Regarding the character of Yan Poyue, he made this explanation: "It is precisely because he trained since he was a child that he saw too many soldiers. You think he saw soldiers with 'titles' when he was a child. So it is difficult for him Accept, a person whose ability and experience are inferior to him in all aspects will order and command him. When the other party teaches 1, he actually already knows what 2345 is like. He has practiced many things and comprehends faster than others. The troops take care of most recruits, For example, a subject has been practiced for three months, but he has already mastered it, and he has to accompany him for three months, can he not be bothered?"
"We created such a Yan Poyue, and everyone said: Why is he so good? I can only say that people are different in terms of conditions, foundations, growth environments, and individual qualities." Xu Jizhou said, "And in the play, he In fact, he is only in his teens or twenties. He has no wealth, and his emotional arrogance and disdain cannot be concealed at times. However, he observes basic military discipline. After refuting him, he shut up, but he had a sense of confrontation in his heart. From the perspective of character growth in the early stage of the story, this is reasonable."
"Everyone will guess that such soldiers should not have been fired long ago. In fact, I talked to friends in the army, and they said that the children who come to serve as soldiers now have stronger personalities than before, and the management methods of various troops are different. For example, in the special operations force, a soldier like Yan Poyue with such excellent quality will definitely protect it.” Xu Jizhou said, “Don’t take your own hands completely. One's own cognition can cover all situations, in fact, in the army, among the commonality of soldiers, there is also individual diversity, and people like Yan Poyue may also exist."
Regarding Yan Poyue's growth, Xu Jizhou has his own "empathy", he said that he was a "thornhead" since he was a child, "When I was in school, the teacher thought that I was difficult to manage, and now there are people who dislike me, but there is no way, I changed and I felt uncomfortable, you made me pretend, I couldn't hide it. I think it is very difficult for you to change a person. How can you experience a thing and this person will change, all the thorns are smoothed out, it is unlikely , changing a person is a long process."
Yan Poyue, played by Yang Yang, was praised by some for his military temperament, while others questioned "Jack Sue". Xu Jizhou said frankly, "Without Yang Yang, there would be no such drama." On the one hand, it is the suitability of the actors and characters. He mentioned the training process before shooting, and Yang Yang said something very similar to what Yan Poyue would say at the time: like standing upright and taking a break and turning around. , are you still practicing? "Then when you practice, you find that he is really skilled, and then he fights and shoots, and he can play very smoothly, because he has been in the military art for so many years, he has practiced all these, and he has grown."
"From what I know about Yang Yang, he has been outstanding everywhere since he was a child. He is good-looking and dances. From when he was a child in an extracurricular class to when he was admitted to the military arts, he was outstanding. He is confident and arrogant. , is given by this experience. He has an innate advantage in playing Yan Poyue. And since Yang Yang is playing, he will stand out in the crowd where he is placed, and we can't let him go from a rookie to a rookie. Recruits start acting, and that's not like that at all."
On the one hand, it is Yang Yang's cooperation. "People are interested in this project. When they make the most money, they will give you a year to shoot. The original plan was to shoot for 5 months, and then it took 9 months. They didn't say a word, and they all cooperated."
Xu Jizhou introduced that all aspects of the "Glory of Special Warfare" team used a film team, and the shooting and technology would be more detailed. Compared with ordinary TV dramas, the creation speed is not so fast, and the shooting difficulty is also more difficult, so it took nine months to shoot. . The entire crew usually has seven or eight hundred people, sometimes thousands of people, divided into three or four groups, and basically all the scenes are matched, including training bases, Southeast Asian villages, etc. "The Glory of Special Warfare has such a large volume, which allows me to shoot carefully for nine months with peace of mind, basically realize my various ideas for this work, and satisfy the wishes of my creator, because one In the beginning, it can create a 'plate' that is very recognized in the market in all aspects of the editing and directing, and it is indispensable."
Film and television dramas are classified into "S-level", "A-level", "B-level", etc. according to the size of the volume, which is the rating standard for film and television projects formulated after the rise of the Internet broadcasting platform. "The rules are not set by us. The rules are set by the platform and the market. Others set the rules, and there are other people's standards. Since you want to broadcast there, you should follow other people's standards and rules. Since it is a market rule, As a creator, I have to accept it first, otherwise the creation will not go on. You have to shoot such a big work, you have to use such a large amount of resources, you don’t follow other people’s rules, why should people pay this cost?”
"The Indelible Designation", "Killing Tiger's Mouth", "War Thunder"... Xu Jizhou's creative career has many military themes. He said frankly, "In the past, there were many scenes in the army, but the army could also cooperate with the crew in filming. Now, after the military reform, the army is usually not allowed to cooperate with the crew in filming." The censorship requirements for this theme have also gradually tightened, and the space for creation has shrunk accordingly. , "I can also understand, because the international and domestic situation is constantly changing, but as a creation, it has a very long cycle, and it is not possible to adjust the direction immediately to adapt to the report today. If the entire review threshold is more stringent now If so, I think it is difficult for this kind of theme to appear in mass production, and the risk of doing this theme is still great.”
However, for Xu Jizhou, the choice of subject matter is not a problem. "I am very happy to shoot any subject matter. If you let me eat my own money, I think: My god, I'm so young, I'm starting to rest on my laurels? No way", last year's word-of-mouth drama "8090" focuses on nursing homes that are rarely involved in domestic film and television dramas, and has made new ideas and social values in the theme. "I just want to do what I have dabbled in. From the theme of nursing homes, people always face death. This is a tragedy, but I will think about how to tell a sad story in a comedy way. Filming such a scene to get to know a group that I am not very familiar with is more attractive to me.”
"Creation is the only channel for me to communicate with the world." Xu Jizhou said, "If I don't film, I don't communicate much with the outside world, so I like to do different themes."
"To do something new is to understand another unknown world, unknown industry, unknown life, knowing that there are so many aspects to the world, and to understand it in a relatively safe and confident way for me. People see that we are here to create, and the people we communicate with will be willing to give us their best things, and we can naturally build up a kind of trust. For me, it is a kind of enrichment.”
Keeping pace with the times is the hope of all creators, but it is difficult to achieve because the world is changing faster and faster. "But there is another saying: You may never catch up, but you can be a clock that never runs. If the world keeps turning, there will always be a day when it turns to you. You can choose according to your personality. Let's go." Xu Jizhou finally said, "I personally think, don't just take profit as the starting point, you should still shoot things you like and have passion. If you don't like it and don't have passion, if you just make some money for fame and fortune, I still can't stand it anyway. ."
"Special War Glory" poster
Director Xu Jizhou has directed many hit dramas, and has been nominated and won many TV drama awards. He also served as a judge of the Magnolia Award at the Shanghai TV Festival; screenwriter Feng Ji, a famous military screenwriter, has created "Fire Blue Blade" and "Red Sea" action".As early as the TV series "The Indelible Number", the two worked together. After having known each other for more than ten years, the two have cooperated very well and made "Special Warfare Glory" together. There are many audiences who are chasing the drama with true feelings, but there are still many doubts surrounding the "traffic star" and "authenticity" of this work.
The Paper interviewed Xu Jizhou, the director of the show, and talked about some of his creative process and thinking behind the show.
Director Xu Jizhou
"The King of Soldiers" in the "Hot Money Era"In 2017, an old friend Feng Ji came to Xu Jizhou with a novel called "Special Species of Chinese Special Forces". In Xu Jizhou's opinion, this was a typical "Bing King" novel that was popular on the Internet at that time, and it was very easy to read. It's cool, but it's difficult to adapt it to meet the current censorship requirements and the narrative rhythm of TV dramas. For the adaptation, the original work needs to be "all chopped up" drastically, the available bridges and lines are taken back, and the relationship between the characters is reorganized and built. In the era of capital hot money, the Internet is chasing such content, but very few of these novels have been successfully adapted. Xu Jizhou knew this well, but he admitted that the production method of the film and television industry at that time was: if you did not have an IP to lead the project, it would be difficult to advance the project.
I got this project in 2017, decided to do it in 2018, and finished the script a year later. Xu Jizhou recalled that at that time, the popular words on the Internet were not "Buddha" or "lying flat", but "crazy and cool" , "Wolf Warrior 2" and "Operation Red Sea" have brought the market and industry's enthusiasm for military themes to the highest level, while there is still a lack of benchmarking works in the field of TV dramas. "The platform talked to me and hoped to do something like this. At that time, when there was more hot money, capital was also more sought after. Objectively speaking, it was under this circumstance that such a work was born." Xu Jizhou added: "But I absolutely I didn't shoot it in a way to make quick money."
In the whole environment at that time, the national mentality was generally very optimistic and confident. "Everyone believes that today is good, and I will be better tomorrow; everyone believes in being strong, and even if you are not that strong, you must be 'strong'." However, literary and artistic works have a strong lag. "Some projects can't be read after half a year." After more than two years and a long review, Xu Jizhou noticed that the current environment does not seem to be the same. . "In the past two years, the international and domestic situation has been changing, and the epidemic situation is also changing. I feel that in the past two years, everyone's mentality has become more pragmatic and stable. The creative environment and audience preferences are very different from when we were shooting. Believe it or not, will I emotionally and instinctively reject 'what is this protagonist doing so much?', I'm very uneasy." Xu Jizhou said frankly. "The spirit and emotion represented by Yan Poyue are not the prevailing emotion now."
"Special War Glory" stills
"It's really a problem, it's impossible to let this play pass"Yan Poyue, the protagonist of "Special Warfare Glory", came from a family of soldiers. Since childhood, he has undergone ten years of military training from his father, and then entered the military camp, becoming a "king of soldiers" with extremely strong individual combat capabilities. But he was rebellious, sometimes disobedient to discipline, made his own decisions, and even showed a hint of disdain for instructors whose military level was not as good as his own. Xu Jizhou added honestly, "It's not a trace, he's very strong."
This character setting has been questioned by many audiences: Can a soldier from a family of soldiers, who have been strictly trained since childhood, be so "thorny"? And shouldn't a "thorn head" who doesn't listen to orders and makes his own opinions, shouldn't have been kicked out of the disciplined army earlier?
Xu Jizhou said that he has paid attention to these voices. In the play, Yan Poyue strayed into the exercise and helped one of them win the plot, which was questioned by many viewers, Xu Jizhou said bluntly, "This has to be explained, after he got involved in the exercise, he directly destroyed the enemy's Command core, this is not to sabotage the exercise. If it reaches that level, you can’t watch this drama, how many rounds of trials have been conducted by the army and the radio and television, if there is such a problem, it is impossible to let this drama pass.”
Regarding the character of Yan Poyue, he made this explanation: "It is precisely because he trained since he was a child that he saw too many soldiers. You think he saw soldiers with 'titles' when he was a child. So it is difficult for him Accept, a person whose ability and experience are inferior to him in all aspects will order and command him. When the other party teaches 1, he actually already knows what 2345 is like. He has practiced many things and comprehends faster than others. The troops take care of most recruits, For example, a subject has been practiced for three months, but he has already mastered it, and he has to accompany him for three months, can he not be bothered?"
"We created such a Yan Poyue, and everyone said: Why is he so good? I can only say that people are different in terms of conditions, foundations, growth environments, and individual qualities." Xu Jizhou said, "And in the play, he In fact, he is only in his teens or twenties. He has no wealth, and his emotional arrogance and disdain cannot be concealed at times. However, he observes basic military discipline. After refuting him, he shut up, but he had a sense of confrontation in his heart. From the perspective of character growth in the early stage of the story, this is reasonable."
"Everyone will guess that such soldiers should not have been fired long ago. In fact, I talked to friends in the army, and they said that the children who come to serve as soldiers now have stronger personalities than before, and the management methods of various troops are different. For example, in the special operations force, a soldier like Yan Poyue with such excellent quality will definitely protect it.” Xu Jizhou said, “Don’t take your own hands completely. One's own cognition can cover all situations, in fact, in the army, among the commonality of soldiers, there is also individual diversity, and people like Yan Poyue may also exist."
Regarding Yan Poyue's growth, Xu Jizhou has his own "empathy", he said that he was a "thornhead" since he was a child, "When I was in school, the teacher thought that I was difficult to manage, and now there are people who dislike me, but there is no way, I changed and I felt uncomfortable, you made me pretend, I couldn't hide it. I think it is very difficult for you to change a person. How can you experience a thing and this person will change, all the thorns are smoothed out, it is unlikely , changing a person is a long process."
"Special War Glory" stills
"Without Yang Yang, this drama would not exist"Yan Poyue, played by Yang Yang, was praised by some for his military temperament, while others questioned "Jack Sue". Xu Jizhou said frankly, "Without Yang Yang, there would be no such drama." On the one hand, it is the suitability of the actors and characters. He mentioned the training process before shooting, and Yang Yang said something very similar to what Yan Poyue would say at the time: like standing upright and taking a break and turning around. , are you still practicing? "Then when you practice, you find that he is really skilled, and then he fights and shoots, and he can play very smoothly, because he has been in the military art for so many years, he has practiced all these, and he has grown."
"From what I know about Yang Yang, he has been outstanding everywhere since he was a child. He is good-looking and dances. From when he was a child in an extracurricular class to when he was admitted to the military arts, he was outstanding. He is confident and arrogant. , is given by this experience. He has an innate advantage in playing Yan Poyue. And since Yang Yang is playing, he will stand out in the crowd where he is placed, and we can't let him go from a rookie to a rookie. Recruits start acting, and that's not like that at all."
On the one hand, it is Yang Yang's cooperation. "People are interested in this project. When they make the most money, they will give you a year to shoot. The original plan was to shoot for 5 months, and then it took 9 months. They didn't say a word, and they all cooperated."
"Special War Glory" set photo
In addition, the reporter mentioned that whether the actors are the "top-notch", the project will be pushed relatively smoothly. Xu Jizhou is very sincere: "You said it very softly. In fact, there are no S-class actors and no S-class projects."Xu Jizhou introduced that all aspects of the "Glory of Special Warfare" team used a film team, and the shooting and technology would be more detailed. Compared with ordinary TV dramas, the creation speed is not so fast, and the shooting difficulty is also more difficult, so it took nine months to shoot. . The entire crew usually has seven or eight hundred people, sometimes thousands of people, divided into three or four groups, and basically all the scenes are matched, including training bases, Southeast Asian villages, etc. "The Glory of Special Warfare has such a large volume, which allows me to shoot carefully for nine months with peace of mind, basically realize my various ideas for this work, and satisfy the wishes of my creator, because one In the beginning, it can create a 'plate' that is very recognized in the market in all aspects of the editing and directing, and it is indispensable."
Film and television dramas are classified into "S-level", "A-level", "B-level", etc. according to the size of the volume, which is the rating standard for film and television projects formulated after the rise of the Internet broadcasting platform. "The rules are not set by us. The rules are set by the platform and the market. Others set the rules, and there are other people's standards. Since you want to broadcast there, you should follow other people's standards and rules. Since it is a market rule, As a creator, I have to accept it first, otherwise the creation will not go on. You have to shoot such a big work, you have to use such a large amount of resources, you don’t follow other people’s rules, why should people pay this cost?”
"Special War Glory" stills
"I am very happy to shoot any subject""The Indelible Designation", "Killing Tiger's Mouth", "War Thunder"... Xu Jizhou's creative career has many military themes. He said frankly, "In the past, there were many scenes in the army, but the army could also cooperate with the crew in filming. Now, after the military reform, the army is usually not allowed to cooperate with the crew in filming." The censorship requirements for this theme have also gradually tightened, and the space for creation has shrunk accordingly. , "I can also understand, because the international and domestic situation is constantly changing, but as a creation, it has a very long cycle, and it is not possible to adjust the direction immediately to adapt to the report today. If the entire review threshold is more stringent now If so, I think it is difficult for this kind of theme to appear in mass production, and the risk of doing this theme is still great.”
However, for Xu Jizhou, the choice of subject matter is not a problem. "I am very happy to shoot any subject matter. If you let me eat my own money, I think: My god, I'm so young, I'm starting to rest on my laurels? No way", last year's word-of-mouth drama "8090" focuses on nursing homes that are rarely involved in domestic film and television dramas, and has made new ideas and social values in the theme. "I just want to do what I have dabbled in. From the theme of nursing homes, people always face death. This is a tragedy, but I will think about how to tell a sad story in a comedy way. Filming such a scene to get to know a group that I am not very familiar with is more attractive to me.”
"Creation is the only channel for me to communicate with the world." Xu Jizhou said, "If I don't film, I don't communicate much with the outside world, so I like to do different themes."
"To do something new is to understand another unknown world, unknown industry, unknown life, knowing that there are so many aspects to the world, and to understand it in a relatively safe and confident way for me. People see that we are here to create, and the people we communicate with will be willing to give us their best things, and we can naturally build up a kind of trust. For me, it is a kind of enrichment.”
Keeping pace with the times is the hope of all creators, but it is difficult to achieve because the world is changing faster and faster. "But there is another saying: You may never catch up, but you can be a clock that never runs. If the world keeps turning, there will always be a day when it turns to you. You can choose according to your personality. Let's go." Xu Jizhou finally said, "I personally think, don't just take profit as the starting point, you should still shoot things you like and have passion. If you don't like it and don't have passion, if you just make some money for fame and fortune, I still can't stand it anyway. ."
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