The TV series "Amai Joins the Army" is considered an "outlier" in recent costume dramas. For most of the play, the heroine wears men's clothing, darkening her face, and carries out the real man's disguise as a woman; she grows up with the hero, but in the end she is completely torn apart; in the ending, the heroine guards the border and is no longer with the hero. When we meet, we look at each other across our home and country.
Audiences who like this show praise it as a "real heroine" and "real female growth". Those who didn’t like it thought it was “not sweet”, “the male protagonist is too funny” and “too different from the original work”.
"Amai Joins the Army" poster
Zhang Fan, the chief producer of the show, has participated in the planning of film and television dramas such as "Double-sided Tape", "Wang Gui and Anna", and "Before Dawn", and served as the director of the TV series "Spring for Rag Girls", "My Friend Miss Chen Bailu" and "Tongue Damage" "Producer of dramas such as Earlier, before he graduated from Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts, he participated in a play by Meng Jinghui and Tian Qinxin.
He is a rare producer in the industry who understands art, video, and scripts, and can always give accurate opinions in creation. At the same time, he is also the general manager of Xitian Pictures. In 2015, "The Princess's Promotion" starring its artist Zhang Tianai became a hit. He keenly saw the potential of the original author's work and bought "Amai Joins the Army" "This novel. The novel itself has a unique style and clear selling points, but the film and television adaptation is quite difficult.
Zhang Tianai as Amai
In the current market, mainstream women prefer costume dramas that focus on emotional love. Regardless of whether they are "big heroines" or not, in the end, the heroine's love choices must be regarded as the biggest highlight. But Zhang Fan and his team didn't want to do that. They retained the bold and rough texture of the words "Amai joins the army" to the greatest extent. The military and war scenes were solid and beautiful, and they created a character who doesn't talk much about love, but has courage. The image of a heroine who is strategic, resolute, bent on revenge, and protecting her family and country. The male protagonist, however, went against the stereotype of most costumed emotional dramas. He started out as a naive playboy and became the comic relief of the drama. "Unconventional" innovation gives this drama the ability to break through the industry, but it also brings risks and controversy.
Zhang Fan is a producer who likes to be fully involved in all aspects of creation, "making sure every detail meets my expectations." He accepted all the positive and negative reviews of "Amai Joins the Army". "As a producer, your work is your label, and you must be responsible. I will bring the experience and shortcomings in the creation of each work into the next play and strive to improve."
The Paper interviewed Zhang Fan and talked about the creative process of "Amai Joins the Army" and his thoughts on IP adaptation as a senior producer in the industry.
【dialogue】
Comedy style, lowering the threshold
The Paper: The drama version of "Amai Joins the Army" has a strong comedy style in the early stage. Was this style determined during the script creation period?
Zhang Fan: We did add a lot of comedy elements later. In fact, what attracts me most about this story is Amai’s growth and the family feud she bears. The story of her searching for clues, taking revenge, and gradually growing into a female war goddess is very fascinating. Ah Mai is actually quite miserable. In order to balance the overall heavy plot, we deliberately added some comedy elements, so that the audience can feel some relaxation and humor while feeling the tense revenge and invasion of foreign enemies, and lower the entry barrier.
The Paper: There are many costume dramas with female protagonists nowadays, but they are highly homogeneous. In contrast, "Amai Joins the Army" is very unique. In the early stages of creation, how did your team explore adaptation? In addition, among the three main male characters in the original work, why did you choose Shang Yizhi as the male protagonist?
Zhang Haowei plays Shang Yizhi
Zhang Fan: I remember that our team spent more than half a year discussing who among the three male characters should be the leading actor. This is a very difficult decision, because the novel itself has a very good foundation, and there are also many book fans, each of whom supports different male protagonists. We don’t want the female protagonist to be the core of the narrative entirely, but we still need a male character to be present throughout the play. In the end, we chose Shang Yizhi, even though he was not the main character in the original work. This choice does bring great risks, because the original party may be confused or angry about this, and they will wonder why Chang Yuqing is not the male protagonist?
Wang Ruichang as Chang Yuqing
However, in the adaptation of TV dramas, the character growth and story development of the male protagonist usually need to be parallel to the female protagonist for a long time before the plot can develop. In the original work, the relationship between Amai and Chang Yuqing is close and distant, and he is an enemy general. In terms of script creation, it is difficult for their scenes to be written together for a long time. In addition, because of their different positions, Fighting occurs at first sight, and in terms of production and audience preferences, we should not do more in fighting scenes, but should focus more on the emotions and growth of the characters.
At that time, we had repeated discussions with teachers from the platform, planners, editors, and screenwriters before we decided to bring Shang Yizhi up because he could be the growth line tied together with Amai, and in the end, they were torn apart and separated. It's very emotionally dramatic.
The Paper: Zhang Haowei’s Shang Yizhi adds many comedy elements, and the overall character temperament is also different from the novel. In recent years, this type of character image has been quite rare in costume dramas, and the audience may be more accustomed to seeing overbearing presidents or ruthless CEOs. An iceberg of male characters.
Zhang Fan: In fact, the current change of this character was planned during the script stage, including the actors. We also searched for them after the script was finalized. For example, Hao Wei, after we met him, we found that he is a very humorous person at heart. What’s interesting about him is that he seems serious but is actually very humorous. I think this is particularly suitable for the state of our character.
Stills from "Amai Joins the Army"
As the prince, Shang Yizhi has a noble status, but I don't want him to be just a cold, unworldly character. On the contrary, I hope that he will be more down-to-earth, so that the audience will find him interesting, cute, and even a little "two". This setting is what we have always emphasized during the script creation and post-production process.
When we designed Shang Yizhi's appearance and status, we hoped to bring a relaxed feeling to the audience, and finally presented a sense of joy. The actors and directors have put in a lot of effort, and their cooperation and discussions on the scene have provided a great foundation for the audience. The script adds more comedy elements than expected. Hao Wei also tried a performance method that had never been tried before. At the beginning of filming, he also expressed doubts about the performance of this character. He had never acted like this before, and he was also worried about whether his performance would be recognized by the audience.
The Paper: It is true that this character is controversial.
Zhang Fan: I really hope to use comedy elements to lower the threshold for watching the drama and attract more people to watch it. In addition, the character of Amai has a very difficult life and experience, and I didn’t want to pile up too much suffering around this girl, so I asked the male protagonist to take on more comedy tasks.
Audiences who have not read the original work may find the current male protagonist's design novel and interesting. But fans of the original work may feel that this character is not like this. I accept these opinions and understand everyone’s dissatisfaction.
Adaptation of IP is always like this. Every reader has his or her own image of the character, so there must be a variety of voices appearing. But from the perspective of our film and television production, there are production difficulties, plot structure difficulties, and censorship risks, so we have to consider more aspects and the problems are more complex.
In addition, the character of Amai is a woman disguised as a man, while Zhang Tianai’s appearance as a man is very heroic and distinctive. In our group, everyone jokes that we don’t have any actresses because the male lead is Zhang Tianai. We also hope that this combination of female A and male O will bring freshness to the audience.
Stills from "Amai Joins the Army"
The characters stand still and let’s talk about feelings
The Paper: Amai is also one of the rare female protagonists who disguises herself as a man for almost an entire drama, and even the proportion of love scenes is very small. Can you talk about some of the creative considerations in this regard?
Zhang Fan: We have seen many similar "female general" works before, but most of them are women who, for some reason, were forced to disguise themselves as women and become generals. But Amai is different. She is a nobody, and she took the initiative to disguise herself as a woman and join the army. Moreover, the relationship between our heroine and the three male protagonists is constantly advancing, and some strong emotional entanglements are gradually added, mainly because she is burdened with too many things and has been pursuing the truth. The emotional line is not suitable to advance too fast. . It is indeed risky to put the emotions of the male and female protagonists behind the scenes, so we added some comedy and used the main line to tie the common destiny of the male and female protagonists, as well as the group of characters in the play, to enrich the plot.
The main reason is that we feel that this drama is different from traditional costume love dramas. It is a real heroine drama, not a love story disguised as a heroine. In this regard, when considering the emotions of male and female characters, we still feel that we must first establish the character and let everyone recognize Amai as a person, and then follow her emotional line, which may be stronger. Later, when people were discussing Amai's emotional line on the Internet, various CP camps were formed. I think this is also a good thing.
Stills from "Amai Joins the Army"
The Paper: In addition, the shaping of the characters in the play is quite careful. Generally speaking, costume group portraits need to be handled with caution, because too many group portraits may distract from the protagonist's role. As a producer, how do you think about and deal with this kind of group characterization?
Zhang Fan: Although we have many roles, each role has its own unique role. Even for some characters who have fewer scenes, we hope they can leave a deep impression on the audience. I'm not worried that these characters will steal the spotlight from the heroes and heroines. On the contrary, I think that a successful series requires the performance of all actors, not just the heroes and heroines. Only when each character makes the audience feel their power and charm can the show truly engage the audience and keep them paying attention.
We really put some thought into choosing the actors. Although the production budget was limited, we still invited many familiar actors to participate in the play. Their performance was highly recognized by the audience, which also proved that our choice was correct.
The Paper: As far as I know, the production logic of many costume dramas now focuses on "coding the plate", that is, finding which star to play the female lead or the male lead. In order to find the star, the script can even be modified at will. What do you think of this phenomenon?
Zhang Fan: This phenomenon is actually abnormal. It’s called the actor-centered system. Good actors can indeed bring traffic and ensure ratings, but we can’t violate the rules of creation. We used to talk about writers and directors, and there was a ranking, that is, the second time. When creating, you can raise your ideas and opinions about the script before you do it. Accept the good ones, and discuss the bad ones. To be honest, actors will basically have problems when they change the script, because they will only start from their own characters, and there will be deviations. of. There are specialties in the art industry, and being the best in their respective fields is a serious matter.
Stills from "Amai Joins the Army"
Originality has disadvantages in the market
The Paper: The development trend of domestic drama series is that there are more and more IP adaptations. As a producer, how do you view this adaptation? Can you share some successful experiences?
Zhang Fan: Regarding the adaptation, we must first avoid some content that cannot be filmed, and then enrich the characters and add their color and depth. In a good script, the characters are the most attractive. The audience can follow the plot, but it is easier to follow the characters. Now everyone is working hard to adapt IP novels. We will first focus on shaping the characters to make them more in line with the current aesthetics and audience expectations. In this way, even if the story is changed, the audience can accept it. The key to the success of the adaptation lies in whether the characters are three-dimensional and attractive. With good characters, even if the story is adjusted, the audience will generally agree.
Stills from "Amai Joins the Army"
The Paper: In the current market, especially costume dramas, perhaps more than 85% are IP adaptations, with relatively few original works. What do you think about the phenomenon that there are far more IP adaptations than original works?
Zhang Fan: Speaking of adaptation, in fact, we didn’t even know the term IP in the early years. A dozen years ago, most of the works were original. But with the rise of online literature, we began to have more novel IPs. In the current market, 85 to 90% of TV dramas are IP adaptations. Originality has disadvantages because the story characters of the IP have been demonstrated in the market before, which is equivalent to having done market research. Unless your original content is special Excellent, otherwise the market digestion is limited and the project may not be completed. In addition, there are not many screenwriters who can write good original stories nowadays.
The Paper: Original creations are at a disadvantage compared to adaptations. Can you elaborate on the main aspects of this disadvantage?
Zhang Fan: First of all, original products are indeed at a disadvantage in terms of market share. Compared with works with IP, original works may be slightly less recognized by the platform, and most production companies have IP adaptation projects, but IP itself has a copyright period, and our company has also had copyright expirations. situation, so usually production companies are more active in promoting adaptation projects, because from the perspective of company operations, adapted works have time limits and pressure to sort, but original works can flow smoothly and there is no such time limit. Moreover, it is difficult to create original works, so the speed of original creation may not be that fast, and the market share is relatively small. To be honest, for the operation of a mature and healthy film and television production company, it must have several IP adaptation projects, because the production cycle of original works is too long, and our adaptation projects are indispensable.
For platforms, it is easier for them to review IP projects. They know what IP you want to shoot and what kind of content it is. Their evaluation department often reads online articles to know what copyrights you will buy and how the development progress is. This way they can easily communicate with you and discuss how to adapt it, how to interpret the characters, etc.
Of course, there are still good original ideas and scripts. I also see that the platform is encouraging originality, and many screenwriters are also working hard to create original stories. I believe that there will be more and more opportunities for original works in the future. Our company is also actively trying original projects, hoping to bring more fresh stories to the audience.
Stills from "Amai Joins the Army"
The Paper: TV dramas are a project that requires a high degree of teamwork. In addition to collaboration, there also needs to be a clear guiding ideology. This avoids a lot of friction and trial and error. As a producer, you need to control every stage and aspect of the project. How do you judge whether your persistence is correct?
Zhang Fan: I always adopt a producer-centered system when filming because I am responsible. I am responsible for ensuring that everyone moves forward in the direction we have determined before and cannot change back and forth. Because someone has to make the decision. To be honest, from buying the novel to deciding to shoot, every step may not be successful, and a lot of money and energy may be invested without getting any return. But as a producer, you need to bear these responsibilities yourself.
When the project progresses according to your ideas, you need to be the facilitator to find the right team and people to complete the work together. This depends on your judgment. When working on a project, I was with the crew throughout the whole process, including the early preparations. For example, we communicated about the art style for half a year in the early stage of "Amai Joins the Army". The current effects are consistent with our pictures, that is, what you see is what you get. People in the industry think the production level is good.
I have one of the most basic requirements when filming a movie, which is to show it to people in the industry first. I hope that colleagues in the industry can recognize our production and see our intentions and excellence. In terms of production, whether it is lighting, photography or art, we all need to meet certain standards. Only when people in the industry recognize it can I feel that this is not in vain.
In addition, I think the choice of actors and their fit with the characters are very important. The actor's performance method cannot be distorted, otherwise it will cause damage to the play. And the actors need to know each other, so we let the actors join the group for training in advance so that they can become familiar with each other. In this way, we can have a good tacit understanding when acting. To be honest, it is important for a drama to have an absolute subjective will. As a producer, you have to be responsible for the drama, find the right people, and ensure that everyone is working in the same direction. As a producer, you have to be responsible for going forward with determination, not changing your mind easily, and having your own judgment.
