Liu Xuesong spent 20 years from a small voice actor to the director of the TV series "Emergency Doctor" which was hotly debated by the whole people. In today’s film and television industry, where he "doesn’t know where the problem is", everyone needs to work at a trot, even "a good sleep only takes five hours". Although there are many bad dramas in the industry, the voice of criticizing "small fresh meat" is endless, but Liu Xuesong doesn’t want to criticize the actors.
In an exclusive interview with Ai Guangzhou Daily recently, he confessed that for young actors, "unless you don’t choose him, you should give him the greatest encouragement if you choose him."
Text/Guangzhou Daily All-Media Reporter Chen Shilan
Figure/Guangzhou Daily All-Media Reporter Liao Xueming
When I met the director Liu Xuesong, he was in front of the live monitor of the new drama "We Are All Fine". Liu Xuesong, with a bald head and a moustache, was particularly easy to recognize on the set in a hurry. He held a walkie-talkie and told the staff about the shooting from time to time. Although he only slept less than six hours a day for a month, the director’s face showed no signs of fatigue. He stared at the screen carefully and studied the details of the actor’s performance.
Gemini’s "workaholic"
The voice in the walkie-talkie rings from time to time, and the WeChat message on the mobile phone around us flashes on the screen from time to time. People walk around, adjust the seats and lights, and convey the message.
Liu Xuesong sometimes feels very anxious. He smokes a cigarette from time to time. Newly revised scripts are sent from time to time in the WeChat group. Although the new drama has been on for a month, the scripts are still being polished and revised. Sometimes, after work at night, he will still look at the newly revised scripts of the day.
Time is pressing, and this year’s Spring Festival is likely to be spent on the set, just like countless previous Spring Festivals in Liu Xuesong. Sometimes Liu Xuesong really wants to stop and wait for the script to be polished before shooting, but he can’t. The shooting time and cycle are determined by the schedule of the actors. "Time is money" is particularly obvious here. Although they work more than 15 hours a day, everything must be trotted.
"How fast and how economical" has become a new requirement for directors. Liu Xuesong often feels very contradictory. Producers often ask them to make a tall and well-made film, but they also ask for "fast". Compared with ten years ago, there are more and more TV episodes, but the shooting cycle is getting shorter and shorter. He is unwilling to sacrifice the quality of the play. "I can only sacrifice the health of myself and the team."
Although he works hard every day, Liu Xuesong doesn’t feel tired. Even in his opinion, "a good sleep only takes five hours". When joking, he always attributes the trait of "workaholic" to his horoscope — — Gemini. "Look at Gemini, or you are very happy to participate, or you are actively planning."
He loves this profession from the bottom of his heart. "This may be the only job I can do well. I am really grateful to the world for having a career as a director." Liu Xuesong, who loves cooking in his spare time, is also proficient in cooking. "Otherwise, I will be a cook."
From dubbing to directing
Liu Xuesong was born in Tibet. Soon after his birth, his parents took him back to Wuhan, where his mother grew up. Liu Xuesong’s father is a drama actor in the army, and his mother is a stylist. Influenced by his family’s literary atmosphere, he has been the backbone of literature and art in his class since he was a child. When he was a soldier, he naturally joined the art troupe, performing sketches, allegro, cross talk and double spring. During his service in the Art Troupe, Liu Xuesong had a vague idea: to be a director. So he chose the drama department of PLA Art College. "We should first enrich ourselves in literary control." He wants to be a director later.
In 1997, after leaving the army, Liu Xuesong confidently prepared to go to the director department of China Theatre Academy. Liu Xuesong’s mentality was very relaxed during the first and second tests, and he didn’t even imagine that he had failed the list.
"The first reaction was stupid. I watched the big red list three times, but there was no (my name)." When the reaction came, Liu Xuesong was already standing in the alley next to the Chinese opera. He was sitting on the curb, and there was a group of fire fighters on the opposite side. He suddenly remembered his brothers in the barracks, so he told his friends that he was going to Kunming. "Are you going to Kunming Lake? Want to jump into the lake! " Recalling the past, Liu Xuesong couldn’t help laughing. From time to time, he demonstrated the scene with his body movements.
Liu Xuesong stayed in Kunming for a month, and the director’s dream seemed too far away from him at this time. He began to understand that he was too arrogant. In order to make a living, Liu Xuesong became a voice actor, starting with serving tea and pouring water, and then dubbing the role. At the poorest time, he had only ten yuan on him, and every step in three years was extremely difficult.
The opportunity came at last. Liu Xuesong once performed for the play directed by Ouyang Fenqiang, the actor of Jia Baoyu in the 1987 version of A Dream of Red Mansions. He always remembers a phone call from Ouyang Fenqiang, in which he asked Liu Xuesong if he would like to be his deputy director. Liu Xuesong was very excited.
After Liu Xuesong became an independent director, his father sent him a WeChat. "He said that I am watching your play now, and I feel dreaming when I see the name of the director." The encouragement of his family made Liu Xuesong persist in directing.
Actors are treasures to protect.
From 2001 to 2009, Liu Xuesong has been filming with Ouyang Fenqiang. Liu Xuesong can remember many details of getting along with Ouyang Fenqiang, but he didn’t learn the directing lessons in Chinese opera. The guide taught him a lot.
Liu Xuesong always remembers that his first play with director Ouyang Fenqiang was sctv’s sitcom "Xiongqi Restaurant". For professional reasons, Liu Xuesong was extremely sensitive to the actor’s lines. He always felt that the actor’s lines were wrong and asked him to shoot another one.
"The director looked at me, stared at me and said ‘ Ok, ok, just shoot another one according to the idea of this fart doll (Sichuan dialect) ’ 。” Liu Xuesong used Sichuan dialect to imitate the situation at that time. "When he came down, he told me that I couldn’t communicate things so directly, and I had to consider the emotions of the actors."
This taught Liu Xuesong an important lesson, caring for actors. He often warns team members to respect actors. "Not only big actors, but also small actors, young actors and staged actors, they are all our treasures and the embodiment of our thoughts. They are fragile and sensitive, so we must protect them."
Although there are endless criticisms of "small fresh meat", Liu Xuesong is unwilling to be a critic. "Unless you don’t choose him, you should give him the greatest encouragement if you choose him. They may not be so satisfactory because of their lack of experience and psychological strength. But you have to believe that young actors have this ability and give them enough space. " Believe in beauty and express hope.
No matter what theme he is shooting, Liu Xuesong feels that what he wants to express is consistent. "I will emphasize to believe in every film I make, and believe that good things exist, even though there are many bad and gloomy things."
After the release of "Emergency Doctor" co-directed by director Zheng Xiaolong, Liu Xuesong received many private messages. Some people questioned that deliberately shaping the image of doctors in "Emergency Doctor" would intensify the contradiction between doctors and patients in reality. Liu Xuesong was somewhat disappointed after seeing it. "Don’t we, as literary and art workers, even have the right to express our hopes?" At the beginning of their conception, Liu Xuesong and Zheng Xiaolong didn’t want to make a critical work. "We are just expressing hope, hoping to set a benchmark and hope that those related to it will work hard for it."
In the new drama "We Are All Fine", the heroine played by actress Tamia Liu was forced to give up her dream and become a housewife because of her family. The gap and contradiction between her husband, who is a financial genius played by Shuo Yang, is widening day by day. She is out of touch with the society and suffers from depression, leaving her family and her children. In the confusion and exploration, they met two 90s, and found a better self through each other.
In addition, Liu Xuesong also wants to show the collision between post-80s and post-90s. Liu Xuesong was ready to be scolded. He had a premonition that he might touch some people’s thunder in the first half of the play, but Liu Xuesong was not afraid of being scolded. He winked at the reporter and revealed a little liveliness that didn’t match his appearance. "Not being scolded is a mediocrity."
Hot money suddenly poured into the industry and many people were caught off guard.
There is no need to criticize the actors.
Guangzhou Daily: With the support of director Ouyang, you moved from the later stage to be a director. How does this experience help you to be an independent director now?
Liu Xuesong: Director Ouyang is my brother, master and friend. When I was independent, he never said anything bad to me. When people asked him, he always said that my executive director’s name is Liu Xuesong, and his ability has actually surpassed mine. He condescended to help me film here. I believe he will surpass me one day and become an excellent director. I have always been grateful to him.
Guangzhou Daily: Nowadays, there are many bad TV dramas, and the voice of criticizing young actors is endless. What do you think is wrong with the TV drama market?
Liu Xuesong: I don’t think it’s necessary to criticize the actors. It is luck that an actor can get a good script, plus a director who knows you and a good production team. I think actors, including the so-called small fresh meat, still want to fix themselves, and many times he can’t decide for himself. How many people does a star coffee feed, and these people around him fill his schedule for various purposes. Then tell you OK, we can take this play and give you 30 days. Can the actors say no?
Why do I say that the actor may not be very willing, because his own face appears on the screen, and the actor can’t hide. Who do you think wants to make himself so bad?
Maybe quick success and quick success and the entry of capital are two problems for outsiders and insiders. The employers don’t care too much about quality, but they care about input and output. I don’t understand your story, and I don’t understand your so-called art. I just want to know how I can make money. All kinds of hot money suddenly poured into our industry, which caught many people off guard, even those who got the money off guard.
The first half of the new play is doomed to thunder.
Guangzhou Daily: In your last play "Emergency Doctor", some people questioned that over-beautifying doctors would aggravate the contradiction between doctors and patients in reality, while others thought that the emotional drama in the play dragged down the whole play. What do you think?
Liu Xuesong: At the beginning of its conception, Emergency Doctor didn’t want to make a critical work, criticizing the bad things of doctors and patients. I’m also concerned about what you just mentioned. Some doctors even wrote to me privately that you were killing people. I don’t think so. It’s just that we are expressing our hopes. Don’t we even have the right to express our hopes as literary and art workers?
As for the emotional part, I personally am not particularly satisfied, including director Xiaolong, because the script was written many years ago, and the same problem is that the preparation period is not so relaxed.
At that time, we had decided to shoot a solid industry drama, so we made a lot of efforts in this respect, and the original intention did not want to describe emotions in a big space. Looking back now, some emotions have advanced a little faster, which may be what some viewers call "thunder".
In fact, the scene of the finale fully shows our feelings about the whole drama. We prefer the plot to return to the battlefield from the wedding. Although I am a mortal, I am also a doctor. When work and life are contradictory, we have no choice. You have no choice, because what is in front of you is human life, not a single business or a trip. After the cut, I really typed a line from the heart, and I would like to dedicate this film to the race with death — — You guys.
Guangzhou Daily: The hero and heroine of the new drama "We Are All Good" are called "Forward and Search". Why are they named like this?
Liu Xuesong: The hero and heroine’s names imply something. One keeps running forward, so that he forgets his marriage and family. He thinks that as long as he runs forward, he will have everything. And the other is looking for, looking for lost self, lost dreams.
My play, especially in the first half, is doomed to thunder, and may be scolded. For example, looking for a wife who leaves her husband may not be condemned, but a wife who leaves her children, or, to put it bluntly, abandons her children to save herself, may be condemned by many people. Although she had to do it in the play, from the appearance, she just left her children. But I want to dig deeper under the surface.
I’m not afraid of being scolded. Some things still need to be touched. If an artist doesn’t have the courage to touch something, don’t do it. You always have some sense of responsibility.
