Fei Zhenxiang grew up in Peking Opera in elementary school and made his first stage appearance at the age of 5, playing Monkey King. When he grew up a little, he went to act in stage plays, musicals, and still played Monkey King. When he was in his 20s, opera declined, and he switched to a film and television actor. The most impressive role was Monkey King in "Journey to the West"... So far, his WeChat name is "Wukong", which is the relationship between him and Monkey King. The characters, and the story of Journey to the West have met by chance over the years. Facts have proved that this fate is still going on.

After filming "Longling Miku" in the "Ghost Blowing the Lantern" series, Li Xiao, a friend and screenwriter, approached Fei Zhenxiang and handed him the script of "In spite of the Gale". Li Xiao explained that Jin Dong once read a story and was inspired, and wanted to make a film using the characters of Journey to the West as a metaphor to tell the story of an entrepreneurial team working together to overcome difficulties in life. The five masters and apprentices Tang Chen (played by Jin Dong) come from different places, have different backgrounds, and received different educations. The story of the spiritual core of Journey to the West.

When Fei Zhenxiang heard the title of the play, he was almost moved. "I entered this industry when I was 4 years old, and then I became an actor and then a director, but the interlacing is like a mountain, which means that if I crossed a mountain from this industry to another industry, I turned around. Looking back, it seems that everyone When there is a gust of wind, you can't give up in life."

"In spite of the wind" stills

This is not an industry drama, let alone a midlife crisis drama

After reading the script, Fei Zhenxiang was even more convinced that he wanted to shoot this story, "I don't believe that some people have smooth sailing, and some people are happy every day when they open their eyes, and they are happy until they go to bed at night. It is impossible. Everyone will encounter problems, but When encountering problems, we can’t always say inspirational words, “It’s okay, you work hard”, I think this is all nonsense. Li Xiao told me this story in a very humorous and relaxed way, which appeals to both tastes and tastes. I'm very interested."

The story that fascinates Fei Zhenxiang tells the story of the protagonist, Tang Chen, who was "betrayed" by his girlfriend Shuo Bing (Song Jia), and his life fell to the bottom. The company closed down, he lost his job, and he had no income. The "Journey to the West Squad" was found and started a new business.

The content of the whole drama has always revolved around the public relations industry, and it seems to be a workplace drama. When every industry is put on the screen, it will first encounter professional torture. "Even Where the Wind Rises" was not spared. When it first aired, a lot of discussions revolved around whether the show was good enough for the "public relations industry". Fei Zhenxiang also saw a lot of opinions from the audience, but he didn't explain it, because he didn't think it was an industry drama at all.

"In spite of the wind" stills

First of all, this stems from his personal views on the issue of industry dramas, "Nowadays when filming a workplace, everyone will use reality as a benchmark. People. Take a picture of a doctor, have you ever had an operation? Take a picture of a teacher, have you ever taught children? You don’t know where the real emotions of teachers and students are, you just learned the same way. Under various conditions and restrictions, the pressure is too great Yes. If it’s really an industry drama in the public relations field, I really won’t make it.”

Secondly, after reading the script, he reached an agreement with screenwriter Li Xiao on this issue.

"From the very beginning, I felt that this was a story like Journey to the West. The five brothers spent time together and grew up together. Each family's own affairs were brought together in the end. It was a very affectionate drama. Chinese old To put it in a word, it’s a sophistication of the world. Many people have everything in their lives, but people are becoming more and more ruthless, so I don’t want to make this scene too grand, too elite, it’s very ruthless.”

In other interviews, the screenwriter Li Xiao also said that "The Wind Rises" is not an industry drama, nor is it a complete urban emotional drama, it is closer to a new genre. Fei Zhenxiang doesn't care what kind of genre it is. Although his "Ghost Blowing Lantern" series has indeed formed a genre drama, he clearly understands that it is difficult to produce works called "genre" in China. Many dramas developed by us are several decades ahead of ours, and their research on genres is a little bit better than ours, and we are still catching up."

"In spite of the wind" stills

He prefers the group portrait scene in this story, "I don't really like being chained to a man and a woman. From youth to death, "In spite of the Gale" allows me to see different family backgrounds, as if friends around me , loved ones, can resonate, this is what I think must be done when doing modern urban themes, that is, to resonate with the audience, not because you feel that you are far away from your life."

Fei Zhenxiang even disagrees with the idea of a "middle-aged crisis drama" when the protagonist's life has changed in his middle age. .People are positive, as long as the sun rises as usual in the next morning and you can see the sun, you have hope. There is no crisis, it is just an experience that should be had.”

"Data and traffic are not worth referring to at this moment"

In the interpretation of the plot, Fei Zhenxiang repeatedly mentioned the word "love", which is the clue for him to understand the characters in the play throughout, and it is also the core thing he personally wants to inject into the play. The leading actor Jin Dong felt that Tang Chen was very similar to the characters he played in the past. "It doesn't mean that they are like elites, but they all have 'feeling'." Fei Zhenxiang said.

For example, at the very beginning of the episode, the heroine Shuo Bing ruined her boyfriend Tang Chen’s career in a very extreme way. She used Tang Chen’s trust and his personal account to leak the internal scandal information of Party A that Tang Chen’s company served. , leading to serious losses for Party A, Tang Chen's company also went bankrupt immediately, and his life was severely damaged. This kind of plot has caused huge controversy. If the heroine has done this, can she continue her relationship with the hero?

Fei Zhenxiang regarded himself as an audience and talked about his understanding of the plot.

"When I stand in Shuo Bing's position, she is a person who does not want to trouble anyone. I hope to pack myself up and turn it into a very nice gift for you. It is spotless, but at the moment I do No, I chose to leave. This 'betrayal' saved Tang Chen to a certain extent. If I could see what my partner will look like in ten years, I would definitely remind him, you can't do this, but I told you Sometimes, you don’t understand, I will kill you as Shuo Bing’s character. Shuo Bing also has a younger brother, which is like a “burden” to her, and she doesn’t want to trouble others. Besides, she doesn’t want to see Tang Chen Mistakes again and again. Some people also said that what Shuo Bing did did not consider the ordinary employees of Tang Chen's company. In fact, Shuo Bing arranged for his people. She made it very clear, or I will support you, your employees I take care of everything, I take care of your customers, I also support you, is it okay? It’s just that people don’t accept it under the traditional culture. Everyone talks about the Three Views, but what are the Three Views and who decides the Three Views ?A work of art is not mathematics, it is not 1+1 it must be equal to 2, art is open."

Screenshot of "The Wind Rises"

Fei Zhenxiang also thought, "From Tang Chen's point of view, I didn't accept this matter at first. Why did you ruin me like this? But he became warmer later, and his understanding of Shuo Bing changed. In the end, I suddenly felt that whether Shuo Bing was wrong or right was no longer important, because Tang Chen became a 'human', and this is the most important thing."

This is just an interpretation from the viewer's perspective, but Fei Zhenxiang, as a director, will inevitably have to go through the evaluation of platform rules. Will consider dropping the show. Fei Zhenxiang said frankly that it is impossible for him not to think about it. After all, in the current industry environment, "big data is the supreme magic weapon", especially because he has also directed big IP series and has an understanding of the rules of this part. But with the gradual accumulation of experience, Fei Zhenxiang also has his own set of principles.

"I respect big data very much, but sometimes, creators still have to think about a complete story. This thing is very contradictory. As a director, are you helping big data or filming? It’s a question of trade-offs. Because if you help big data film, you may be able to go a little further. Of course, if big data disappears one day, the director will disappear. But some directors are willing to serve the story , Divide it into six for the story, and four for the big data. For example, for the big IP drama "Ghost Blowing the Lantern", I will rely more on the big data, because "Ghost Blowing the Lantern" is completely popular by fans. I When filming "The Brilliant Stars", I just filmed a story that I like. In the drama "In spite of the Gale", people said that the heroine is like this, and she might rush off immediately, but I also made my own Choice, this scene is a matter of human feelings, let us shoot according to human feelings, data and traffic are not worth referring to at this moment."

From the perspective of the audience and the director, the violently conflicting plot also gave the "ordinary person" Fei Zhenxiang some enlightenment on his life path, "If a person made such a mistake before, I would definitely not forgive him, but now that I think about it, I I think, why don’t I forgive him? Can’t I use wisdom to face these people who treat me badly? If I hate them more, it’s because I’m not strong enough, warm enough, and unable to tolerate others.”

"In spite of the wind" stills

Do you want to shoot rigid "public relations", or do you want to shoot people's hearts and feelings?

Compared with other industry dramas that really focus on the public relations industry at home and abroad, the interesting thing about "The Wind Rises" is that many of the cases are not "tall", such as square dancing is a typical example. Tang Chen had no money and no one at the start-up stage of the company, and he wanted to promote a song that sounded of low taste. When all kinds of advanced methods were useless, he saw an aunt dancing in the square, and found a way to promote it on a large scale. Opportunity. But for the square dance competition, Tang Chen even had to smoke to curry favor with his original partner to save some expenses. This series of operations is quite far from the public relations industry recognized by the public. The most important thing is that it reveals a sense of "elimination of elites". Square dancing, handing out leaflets, etc. are all things in the lives of ordinary people.

Fei Zhenxiang likes this kind of case story very much. He believes that this is a "wisdom" story that truly returns to the audience. "Everyone is against the square dance case. Zhu Ran thinks it is too low, and Hou Zhi thinks, how can I give it to the audience?" The old man and the old aunt serve. Shazhou can go or not. Tang Chen is being framed, there is no way, he has to do this, and then he came up with a strange trick. For me, Tang Chen's wisdom is not How much wisdom is the wisdom of the common people. It is daily necessities, rice, oil and salt, like a poor mouthed Zhang Damin. It is not as simple as poverty. The wisdom of the common people is that this wall leaks air. How can I prevent it from leaking. The glass keeps ringing at night, how can I Make it silent."

In his opinion, such wisdom of the "poor Zhang Damin style" is the real wisdom.

"I'm not rejecting Gao Dashang, it's just that Gao Dashang is too far away from us, we can only be amazed, he is so handsome, he is so beautiful, and he is so powerful. But like "The Wind Rises", his wisdom comes from daily necessities , The parents are short-tempered and have no great ability. But then again, I think wisdom is to be able to make moves at the most critical moment. This is called wisdom, so Tang Chen was in a very bad mood at the time. At the lowest point, he suddenly saw the square Aunt Wu, in the judgment at that moment, it is wisdom. Some people have plummeted and can’t get up again, so they have no wisdom.”

From another perspective, Fei Zhenxiang also admitted from the bottom of his heart that public relations itself does not necessarily mean "tall", and stereotypes are not desirable. Seeing these people set up a dilapidated factory building, playing around and making jokes every day, they say they are not professional, but I would like to ask professional people, how many people understand professional things? I don’t want everyone to see public relations and talk about public relations. Yes, must comply."

Because of the industry, Fei Zhenxiang actually has in-depth contact with the public relations industry. Based on his own experience, he does not think that public relations have to have an "office elite sense", "Which public relations are sitting in the office to get things done? No. They are all exquisite, the method of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, which public relations work with big data? Anyway, I have never seen it. Public relations attack people’s hearts. You write a lot of manuscripts, and the lines you make up are hypnotic, but you are not impressive. You want to shoot Is the so-called stereotyped 'public relations' still trying to capture people's hearts? I will definitely choose the latter."

In his opinion, the interesting part of the story is that a few people who do not seem to be professional public relations, but are engaged in professional public relations. "Every case is not a serious analysis, but is based on my own personal experience. , life experience to do things, it is very warm."

"In spite of the wind" stills

Put your emotions and feelings into it

When it comes to the feeling of filming this drama, Fei Zhenxiang also put in some emotions that only belong to him. He has "selfishness" towards the character Tang Chen. Tang Chen is at a similar age to him, and he has also experienced Tang Chen Similar "restarting of business", even more than once, the ups and downs of it, only he himself knows.

He entered Liyuan at the age of 4. He finally learned to be on stage, but finally had to change his career as a film and television actor. "It seems that they are all actors, but the performances are different. You bring opera performances in front of the film and television cameras. , It’s completely exaggerated, the director is joking, you have to overthrow all the conclusions you have learned for ten or twenty years, this is a very difficult thing, because it has already penetrated into the bone marrow. This window paper layer seems very thin , but it just couldn’t be broken.” After failing to realize his ambition, he changed his job as a director. Fortunately, he caught up with director Guan Hu, but what made him miserable was that Guan Hu didn’t allow him to stay behind.

"When he agreed to let me follow him, I was very happy. I thought I could become the second Huang Bo, or rather, I thought he could take me on the road of film and television and become a famous Chinese actor. In the end, he was the second Huang Bo. In a word, from now on, all thoughts of acting will be cut off, and no character can be played. If you die, you are not allowed to act. He said that if you have no way out, you will always feel that you have a chance, and you will never do it again. Back to actor."

Fei Zhenxiang felt that he and Tang Chen had the same spirit of "not giving up". For example, in Xie Liqiang's case, Tang Chen never gave up. It was only in exchange for the final cooperation, "This is the same as my scouting, I always want to go one kilometer further, like when filming "Ghost Blowing the Lantern", sometimes I can't go any further, the front is the virgin forest, I said no, if I walked forward for another half an hour, I might find a completely different scene. That's why I brought a lot of surprises." Fei Zhenxiang said with emotion, "Tang Chen was passive and cut off the way out, and every time I changed my career , It is only by taking the initiative to cut off one's own back road that it is possible to move forward."

In addition to the sympathy in entrepreneurship, Fei Zhenxiang is now also better able to understand Tang Chen's handling of emotions because of his age. The handling of this part of the emotional line is completely different from the emotional lines in young idol dramas or urban dramas. The tenderness, quarrels, forgiveness, and mutual assistance are all more adult, which is the middle-aged emotional line that is relatively lacking in current domestic dramas.

"Young idol dramas must have passion, and it can be described as fiery. Middle-aged people have lost their youth, and have more responsibilities and responsibilities, so there is more hesitation in it, and I can't give it directly, because You have experienced too much, and you all know that going forward is a pit. Young people are me who have to jump to see if this pit can kill me. But middle-aged people are not like this. Middle-aged people will find a way to bypass that pit. The shooting should be simple and simple, because their own characters are already very rich, do you still want to show off your skills? Don’t. How can you shoot the simplicity without showing off your skills? This is also a very test It's about kung fu."

Fei Zhenxiang concluded that the love line of this age group is indeed difficult to shoot. He believes that to shoot well, one must learn to "hide", just like the scene where Shuo Bing faced Tang Chen in the bridal shop at the beginning of the episode. The reaction did not seem heartbroken, "If it was a young idol drama, the house would be smashed, the police would come, and I would have to cry with the police uncle all night. This is all my personal experience, because your emotions Fluctuations lead to loss of control of the body. I think everyone was young and only cared about venting their emotions, that is, young people. But middle-aged people will have a different state of mind, without the urge to externalize physical strength, but the heart is extremely hurt. "So Tang Chen's crying is all about "hiding".

"Young people will cry loudly. When they are really old, there is no sound when they cry." Therefore, Tang Chen cried several times, and Fei Zhenxiang discussed with Jin Dong, either sideways, or bowed his head, and even had a scene In the crying scene, the camera focused on the back of Tang Chen's head, and only photographed a tear on the side of his right eye. When the front was photographed, he was immediately hugged on the pillow so that no one could see it.

Ni Dahong plays Tang Chen's father in the play. When Tang Chen lost everything and just started again, he gave his son dumplings. This is a "famous scene" that many audiences like very much, and it is also a scene that Fei Zhenxiang likes very much. It was a feeling he recognized in his heart.

"Father Tang said that when you are in your 20s, you have to be like a pizza, everything is on the outside, but when you are 40, you have to be like Chinese dumplings, with all kinds of flavors inside. Yes, at this age, All emotions are reserved and simple.”