"It's boring to repeat myself." This was the most memorable sentence of the reporter during the interview with Han Qiming. From "Embroidered Spring Knife" to "Assassination of the Novelist", and then to "The Wind Rises in Longxi", this young photographer is indeed practicing his creative ideas.
The project "Feng Qi Longxi" is very attractive to Han Qiming. He likes to read history books, and he has many fantasies and longings for the Three Kingdoms period. When he was filming "Assassination of Novelist", he also liked to take a copy of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as a pastime during a short break. In his words, the theme of the Three Kingdoms has a natural attraction to boys.

Stills of "The Wind Rises in Longxi"

However, the project "Feng Qi Longxi" is a new challenge for both director Lu Yang and Han Qiming, who is the director of photography. The two's previous masterpieces were mainly movies, while TV dramas were created. It's different from the movie in every way.
"Although Director Lu and I don't have much experience in filming dramas, we have the same idea that we should present the story in the most appropriate way." Han Qiming said, "whether it is a TV series or a movie, it is just an artistic expression. The essence of the difference in form is to tell a story. The story of 'Feng Qi' is presented in the form of an episode. First of all, we must respect the production mode and presentation method of the drama. On this basis, we will discuss and seek some kind of innovation and Breakthrough." It is not easy to respect the method and process of TV drama creation and production, but also hope to make innovation and quality.
After discussions with the director and the creative team, it gradually became clear that "The Wind in Longxi" is a typical spy war-type male group portrait play, and the background is the Three Kingdoms period that most Chinese audiences are familiar with. In order to have a better sense of story substitution and the audience's immersive experience, and in order to restore the appearance of that period more realistically, chilling, gloomy, and simple are the team's setting for this work in the early exploration. "After the general principle is set, all the details are to match it."

Han Qi's name (right)

"If you can't move, don't move"
Han Qiming said frankly that there are many texts and plays in the drama "The Wind Rises in Longxi", and everyone didn't think about using the film's shot scheduling to complete it. Technically, we can achieve the kind of high-level sports shots in the mode, but it is not appropriate to do so." Han Qiming believes that a refined and conventional form of expression should be used. "This consensus is related to the cost of time on the one hand. , but more importantly, we believe that in terms of camera scheduling and audio-visual language, "Feng Qi Longxi" should be more back to basics."

Stills of "The Wind Rises in Longxi"

Minimize the number of shots, do not deliberately emphasize the existence of the camera, do not increase unnecessary movement, all omission and weakening are all to present a sense of quaintness. Just like when we write with calligraphy, it is not only beautiful to write beautifully, but sometimes showing a slightly clumsy state is another kind of beauty. "Han Qiming said that only when the play provides enough dramatic motivation and emotional support, he will use some relatively complex audio-visual language to assist, and this assist is also extremely restrained and cautious," in general , can not move or move. "

Stills of "The Wind Rises in Longxi"

This kind of "moving if you can't move" has also been implemented into the shooting of action scenes. Previously, director Lu Yang also summed up the action style of "The Wind in Longxi". It should be fast and clean, without the feeling of "martial arts", and it should be more realistic and have a sense of chill. Based on this understanding, "Feng Qi Longxi" is very different from "Embroidered Spring Knife", which also has many action scenes.
Han Qiming introduced that when filming "Embroidered Spring Knife", they used a lot of handheld photography to create a sense of presence in action scenes, "Then when the tone of "The Wind in Longxi" gradually became clear, we wanted to use the action The scene was shot more objectively, and the rendering was done as soon as we clicked. We didn’t use it much by hand, so we wanted to shoot it solidly, so that everyone could see every action clearly, and there was almost no extra scheduling.”

Stills of "Embroidered Spring Knife"

"Control the Light"
To get close to the imaginary simplicity of the Three Kingdoms period, the processing of "light" is the key to the photography and lighting department that needs to do a good job of design and consideration in the early stage. "Like ancient times, fire and natural light should be used for lighting, so try to simulate the effect of both. We have also tried this before in the filming of "Embroidered Spring Knife", but I don't think it is thorough enough." Han Qiming said, "Before our shooting was limited by technical conditions and production time, there may be more restrictions on simulating natural light, and the artificial traces will still be revealed through some details, which is a regret of our previous creation."
And this time, "Feng Qi Longxi" does show some kind of natural light effect, the swaying candles in the night, the dimness of daytime and rainy days, etc. The light, to a certain extent, has shaped the quaint and chilling feeling of "Feng Qi Longxi" gas. However, in the real shooting process, the use of natural light has been strictly transformed and simulated by Han Qiming and the photography team. "The uncontrollability of natural light has determined that it needs more strict control, so the 'seemingly natural' presented in the play actually took a lot of effort from the design and execution level."

Stills of "The Wind Rises in Longxi"

The "candlelight" lighting that everyone sees in night scenes is not shot with real candlelight, "because the current sensitivity of the machine can't be done. And it is necessary to use candlelight completely to make the main and auxiliary light contour light and even the ambient light. , is also unlikely." Han Qi famously said, "Most of the real candles are used as background decorations, and the candles of the main lighting are simulated. We designed many small props, such as the organs on the candlesticks, and we tried to find them as small as possible, but Bulbs with relatively high luminous power are added with strobes to simulate the flickering effect of the fire, and then processed into candles through special effects in the later stage, so that the direction and shadow of the light source can be in the real position.”
The difficulty of Japanese dramas lies in the fickleness of natural light when shooting on location. It is difficult enough to talk about the daily light changes from morning to night. In the eyes of the audience, the actual shooting of a ten-minute scene may be a whole day, and the change of natural light in the exterior scene will lead to different shots of the same scene, and the lighting effect will vary greatly. "We need to control a lot of light." Han Qiming said that many of the daytime exterior scenes that everyone sees in "The Wind in Longxi" now cover the venue with black cloth, and then follow the sun. The position changes, constantly adjusts the mask position of the black cloth, and then assists the lighting equipment to lock the light effect required by a scene in a certain period of time. "Basically every time you take a shot, you have to readjust the lighting."

Stills of "The Wind Rises in Longxi"

The "price" of "new"
In order to perfectly present the image style set for "Feng Qi Longxi" at the beginning, this drama also uses a 2.35:1 wide-format, relatively low-saturated low-key photography that is rarely used in domestic TV dramas. Audiences who like it praised "high-level sense" and "movie sense", but audiences who didn't like it complained about "too dark", "not used to" and "not clear".
Han Qiming explained that the words "high-level, cinematic" are not described by anyone in the creative process. All the effect presets serve the story and characters. The so-called cinematic sense is definitely not The original intention of this creation. In order to better restore the era in our minds and create that atmosphere, we will not abandon a certain expression method for no reason, nor will we deliberately adopt a certain method because of the "movie feeling". Everything is formed naturally under the premise of production rules. The selection of wide-format is mainly to consider the presentation of group portraits, and I also hope to show more environment in the lens to help the actors bring the scene into the scene. The low-key treatment of non-high saturation, soft and high contrast is to create a chilling and depressing spy war atmosphere.
"The audience thinks it's too dark", Han Qiming said, this is the question he most wants to answer. He admitted that he had concerns with Director Lu Yang when he communicated with Director Lu Yang about the final appearance of the work before filming "The Wind in Longxi".

Stills of "The Wind Rises in Longxi"

"The screen is dark or not. The audience has the right to evaluate and appreciate it. No matter how the audience reacts, I can understand it." Han Qiming said, "Let's put it bluntly, can we use a safer and more secure method? To shoot? Of course it is possible.” However, he still insisted, “A photographer is a very simple job. In my opinion, creation is to pursue new things and realize what you imagine.”
"I am not willful and disregarding the audience's experience, but since I have determined a creative direction, I have to unswervingly execute it during the shooting. What are you afraid of in execution? I am afraid that you don't understand it very well, and then you look forward and backward in the process. Now, the thing that came out is probably: your style has not been shown, and you don't know what the 'four dissimilars' are, which is very scary." Han Qiming said seriously, "This is very possible. What happens, for example, your creative attitude is not firm enough, and your creative thinking often falls into self-doubt.”
"If you want to go further in creation and come up with something new, you really need to pay a price, you need to face doubts, and even affect your career. So it also requires extra courage. At this point, the director, the producer , the management has given me enough trust and space to play.”
After the broadcast of "Feng Qi Longxi", Han Qiming and Lu Yang also made a review, how to absorb the experience of this creation. "Like a movie, if you close a small dark room and watch it on the big screen, it will be an advantage if the details of the dark part can be fully presented. But the broadcast of TV series does have to face the differences of different broadcast media and the broadcast environment. Tolerance is enough and other factors. For the case of controlling the details of the dark part at the limit position of the exposure curve, if possible, we will do some tests before broadcasting. Do different playback versions, such as those for TV playback, Pad or mobile phone playback Yes." Han Qiming said frankly, "I think this may better present the original appearance of the film."

Stills of "The Wind Rises in Longxi"

Surprise from "New Friends"
From entering the industry to now, Han Qiming admits that technically, every play has regrets, and every play will be improved and perfected, but for him, the biggest change is "to the artistic expression of film and television. Changes in thinking and understanding”: “In the past, I was more focused on how to use technology and how to make the picture more perfect. After years of professional filmmaking, I will focus more on the story and characters: I want to How to use photography to help the completion of the story and the characters.”
"Film and television dramas are about creating a virtual world, but this is a virtual world that you want the audience to believe and immerse in. Its establishment is about technology, but more about creative awareness. How to create a sense of reality in this world and a sense of reality in characters, This is something I need to think more about as a photographer as my career progresses. Only after a breakthrough in consciousness can I achieve better technical means.”

With "Assassination of Novelist", Han Qiming was nominated for the Best Cinematography Award at the 34th China Film Golden Rooster Award and the 16th China Changchun Film Festival last year.

To build a believable virtual world, in Han Qiming's view, photography must be a "pre-stage" work. "You must think clearly about your creative ideas and goals in the early stages of preparation." But he also He said that no matter how comprehensive and meticulous you are, every day you go to the scene, you still have to face a variety of complex shooting environments and solve many complex problems, which often require the photographer's on-the-spot judgment.
An unexpected situation is brought about by the creation itself, "The actors and our photographers will influence each other. After you feel the emotions of the actors, combined with the specific environment at that time, you may judge and design a conventional shooting method. It is not the best, and the originally designed plan may be temporarily adjusted.”
In the play, Chen Gong killed Huang Yu to avenge his wife. Originally, according to the original plan, the final scene should focus on capturing the actor's facial performance. "But when Brother Kun (Chen Kun) was in that environment and we saw him from a distance, our intuition told us to let the audience see the whole scene. We temporarily decided to change to a telephoto lens and shoot Chen Gong from a distance. After revenge, he was bloody and desolate, and the camera was also worried about disturbing his peace at this moment. The staff also consciously did not dare to make too much noise. This scene has indeed achieved a highlight moment for the character Chen Gong in the play. "
There is also a sudden situation, that is, changes in objective conditions. In the scene where Li Yan was finally arrested by Ma Dai, teacher Yin Zhusheng, who played Li Yan, had to perform the whole process immediately. For the safety of the actors, the original plan for this scene was that after the full scene was filmed, the actor switched to the props and immediately took a close-up. shooting. As a result, something went wrong on the day of filming, and it was going to be late when the scene was filmed, "We don't have enough time, we have to grab the light, we can only set up three or four cameras after communicating with Teacher Yin, and capture the whole scene. his performance."
During the filming, the horse suddenly stomped, and everyone was startled. Fortunately, Mr. Yin's equestrian skills were superb, and no accident happened. Li Yan, who was facing a desperate situation, and the horse who was jumping high and neighing in the surrounded, also formed some kind of image interaction. The text has become "a stroke from God". Thinking of that scene now, Han Qiming is still a little scared. "The horse is actually not easy to control. Fortunately, Mr. Yin can ride a horse, otherwise ordinary people can't do it." He emphasized that this scene was a last resort and passed by. Demonstration and safety protection, and in the early program design, such a risky shooting method will never be designed.

Stills of "The Wind Rises in Longxi"

"Every time an emergency occurs, I will think about how to avoid it or solve it better next time. The first time I think of ten points, I shoot five points, and the next time I try to achieve seven or eight points, gradually getting closer to my heart. That is ten." He described the process of practicing in "bursts" again and again.
But when it comes to his favorite moment at work, Han Qiming still thinks that it is the moment when "unexpected things appear". "Doing a new project is like meeting a new friend. You must first understand his appearance, temperament, and character. On this basis, you can get along well with him. In the process of structuring this new project, or in other words, understanding this new Does it cause excitement in the process of being a friend? Yes, but not when he breaks your imagination."
"When a scene, an effect, has been infinitely close to your pre-architecture, sometimes unexpected deviations, this deviation may be closer to what it 'should' be, it is more vivid and more realistic, which makes me Excited. Like our friend, I thought I knew him well, and at some point, it made us feel like we can't really know the other person, the truth doesn't fully exist in what we have Knowing it. This is the interesting part of filming." "Of course, this kind of situation is often unpredictable."
But Han Qiming thought about it and added, "Actually, if I want to talk about my favorite moment, maybe it's time to call it a day."