Interview with the director of ＂Sauvignon Blanc＂ ｜ Yang Zi’s new drama breaks records, why？

1905 movie network feature After the series "Sauvignon Blanc" went LIVE, it broke the platform’s highest record for in-app popularity in 2023 at the fastest speed.Perhaps, at a time when platform records are constantly being broken, there is no rush to go LIVE’s first week of feedback to prove whether a drama is really "explosive".

Just from the current market feedback, the performance of "Sauvignon Blanc" is from the content of the series, the characters themselves to the actors, multi-dimensional top the chart on the hot search list. To a large extent, the original author Tonghua personally took off the screenplay, visible "mother" in battle, providing the original blessing protection for the work.

After entering the film and television industry, how can the characters and plot be more prominent while ensuring the authenticity of the story?

In an interview with 1905 Film Network, the director-in-chief, Qin Zhen, said frankly, "Before we started filming, the producers and I agreed that we would make a new costume that was more realistic. Although the story had a mythological flavor, it would become a more practical story."

In addition, Qin Zhen has only one criterion for actors, "suitable". She told us that "almost every actor submitted a biography of their understanding of the character." When she read the "homework" submitted by everyone, "everyone gave me different surprises."

When the creation began, the story of "Sauvignon Blanc" began in another way.

01. Creation guarantees implementation

Before touching the script, Qin Zhen finished reading three original novels. "They have been working on the script for many years before, and the content is very complete." The script still follows the framework of the novel, "but we will explain the history of the story in the first episode."

It is precisely the historical setting of the first episode that lays a solid emotional foundation for the story of Sauvignon Blanc.

It put aside the appeal of the stars and presented the whole story with small actors, allowing the audience to better cut into the characters and provide a foundation for empathy. In the past, there were occasional forms of creation in the drama market. For the producers, weakening the appeal of the stars was a challenge, but for the sake of the integrity of the story, it was a valuable creation.

After all, for the development of the story, the emotional development between many characters requires more convincing promotion and emotional logic, at least in terms of the content currently broadcast in "Sauvignon Blanc", this task has been completed.

Entering the filming preparation period, Qin Zhen and the team were faced with the biggest problem, "How do we take the famous scene and make it taste like it should be in a novel."

To this end, the team specially made various preparations from all aspects, from the art scene, to the actor’s clothing, and even the actor’s mood. "We will have some design and consideration in advance." Most of the famous scenes in the novel are descriptions of words, combined with the reader’s imagination, to present the artistic conception of each person’s private picture.

It’s just that when the film and television are materialized, especially the pictures of the artistic conception, "I will also communicate with the photographer in advance and let him prepare in advance. On the lighting set, I will combine it with the advancement and make some different changes."

Not only that, Qin Zhen and the producers jointly agreed to build a clear water town for Sauvignon Blanc.Although the story of "Sauvignon Blanc" spans the three realms of humans, gods and demons, for Qin Zhen, "it is still necessary to implement everything as much as possible."

"We visited a lot of venues in Hengdian, and none of them was the clear water town in my heart." There are more than ten episodes of "Sauvignon Blanc" that take place in clear water town, and it is a place that Xiaoyao (played) still misses after becoming Wang Ji. "It is a very natural, simple, and smoky place."

In order to visualize this, Qin Zhen and the team vividly presented Shimizu Town according to the setting of the script. The geographical arrangement of each scene is as much as possible to ensure that the audience can feel the body when watching, and at the same time, it can also meet all the shooting needs.

02. The heroine is the key to the drama

"Sauvignon Blanc" is a drama that focuses on the growth of the heroine. It is conceivable that the choice of the hostess is the key.

In her collaboration with Yang Zi, Qin Zhen found that "she is a talented actress and loves acting very much." Facts proved the director’s understanding, "From the beginning of contact, Yang Zi took the script very seriously, and used her as a super-strong actor to grasp every scene."

Yang Zi plays two roles, one is Xiaoyao, the real body, and the other is Wen Xiaoliu. The natures of the two characters are completely different, and the entire setting requires the actors to constantly adjust the state of the matching characters.

"Wen Xiaoliu’s character is a man, not a man pretending to be a woman." Fortunately, in order to find the right fit, Yang Zi and the director "adjusted a scene, and let her act the first time. After communicating, the second time will be very natural."

Not only that, the director also made a lot of aids for Yang Zi in terms of makeup, from the style, it made her look more playful, using loose clothes such as radish pants to cover up the curvaceous beauty of women. Yang Zi even took the initiative to make her makeup darker and move closer to the makeup of other male characters around her.

It was only after 14 episodes that Xiao Liu regained her true body and returned to Xiaoyao’s state that Yang Zi did not directly show the side of a female character, but slowly changed from never adapting to being completely feminine in terms of movement and character.

In the early communication, Yang Zi made a lot of his own interpretation of this role, and these interpretations happened to point to the director’s thoughts. In Qin Zhen’s opinion, whether it is the optimistic and lively Xiao Liu, who is not stingy, or the more mission-minded Hao Ling Wang Ji Xiaoyao, "Their base color is pity."

After reading the novel Sauvignon Blanc, she felt that the series was difficult to shoot. This was also the temperament of Sauvignon Blanc. It was just that the temperament was difficult to grasp, but it was still good.

03. The allure of male characters

In "Sauvignon Blanc", the three male characters and the female protagonist have a more or less sense of fetters. Although the novel finally gives the final official match, in the hearts of book fans, each pair of CP is worth pursuing.

"Our characters are all very extreme, everyone is not perfect and has their own shackles. But I think everyone is very real, so how to shoot, to make the audience believe that they are real and understand their feelings and positions, is more important to us." Therefore, the casting of the team has become more difficult.

In the novel, once said to Xiaoyao, "Every time you get married, I don’t allow you to say’congratulations’, let alone send congratulatory gifts." This sentence also became the most moving words of Qin Zhen, "In fact is very tolerant, and in the end you can’t love it."

Although in the previous story, the storyline of Yu Xuan was not clear, and the character’s behavior was not pleasant, as the story under the foreshadowing slowly opened up, "everyone will like the character Yu Xuan." In Qin Zhen’s opinion, Zhang Wanyi is a very charismatic actor, "He has his own way of expression, and in him, I think there is a similar temperament to Yu Xuan."

On the contrary, as an official match, the emotions between Tu Shanjing (played) and Xiaoyao are more detailed. "Xiaoyao and his emotions are not smooth sailing." When Qin Zhen describes the drama of the two, she uses many metaphors to show the changes between the two, especially from the long time when the two met for healing, to the early stage when Tu Shanjing realized that the other party’s daughter, "They have slowly undergone subtle changes in their hearts."

When casting for Tu Shanjing, after Qin Zhen met Deng Wei, "I think he has more of Tu Shanjing’s temperament than other boys. Deng Wei himself is a very simple and sincere person."

After the novel was published, Xiangliu (played) had many fans, and even Qin Zhen sighed, "Xiangliu is a ceiling set by people, and it is difficult to present it." Moreover, the description of Xiangliu in the novel is more of a temperament, and there are few more practical descriptions, which also leads to every fan’s own Xiangliu in their hearts.

Not only that, Xiangliu also has a doppelganger role, Windproof Bee, two roles, one cold and one hot, which is a challenge for actors.

In the end, the team chose Tan Jianji to play the role, "He is very different from the character, but he has a strong sense of belief in acting." Qin Zhen and Tan Jian****** a deep chat about this character, and she found that the actor in front of her already had a deep understanding of the role.

"He hopes that this coldness won’t turn into facial paralysis. He tries to use his own way to interpret the coldness of Xiangliu and the heat of Windproof Bee." Because Xiangliu is a cold-faced and cold-hearted person, Windproof Bee is a doppelganger, which is the setting of a playboy. It looks very lively on the surface, but it is still cold at the bottom of his heart.

04. I hope the audience can truly empathize

Anyway, just from the popularity of the broadcast platform, or the number of hot searches on the top chart, or the number of likes on the short video platform, "Sauvignon Blanc" has good results and feedback, but looking at the summer file, it has its own unique style.

Qin Zhen admits that each play has its own characteristics, and the reason why she wants to make "Sauvignon Blanc" a realistic new ancient costume is largely, "Whether I read the script or read the novel, it makes me feel that every character is very down-to-earth and down-to-earth, and always has a kind of eloquent temperament."

After all, "Sauvignon Blanc" involved a lot of magic settings. "It needs to burn, it needs to be younger, but it also needs to pursue reality, so our action scenes all pay attention to the combination of reality and reality."

Even in order to make the underwater scenes as realistic as possible in the later part of the episode, Qin Zhen and the photography team kept experimenting before starting the show to simulate the buoyancy of people on the seabed, as well as the light and shadow effects. "We took a trial shot, and then used the post-synthesis to see the effect. After finding the exact mode, we began to invest in all-round shooting."

Returning to the story itself, "I think each character in’Sauvignon Blanc ‘depicts a different life in reality." Whether it is family, friendship, or abusive and sweet love, the audience can find empathy in it.