Interview｜Screenwriter Li Kang: "Children of the Bay Area" encountered considerable difficulties in its creation

The TV series "Children of the Bay Area", which is now being aired on CCTV in prime time, is the first film and TV production focusing on the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the first screenwriter of the series is the famous writer and scriptwriter Li Kang. In an exclusive interview with Reader, Li Kang talked about his original intention of creation: "I hope that through the inspirational story of 'Children of the Bay Area', to promote the national pride of patriotism and love of Australia and the heart of the fist, to inspire the young people of the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, to closely link their personal ideals with the development of the motherland and the rejuvenation of the nation."

A Creative Highlight of the Show

Reader's Daily: The show is about the struggles of a girl from a fishing family, so why did it feature a fisherwoman as the main character?

Li Kang: 2019 is the 20th anniversary of Macau's return to the motherland, which is a booming 20 years, with a series of initiatives such as the Pan-Pearl River Delta construction and the construction of the Greater Bay Area, and the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, which have brought new opportunities to Macau. Our original intention of creating this work is to promote the national pride and heart of patriotism and love for Macao through inspirational stories, and to inspire young people in the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao to keep their feet on the ground, strive for youth, and link their personal ideals closely with the development of the motherland and the rejuvenation of the nation.

During the creative phase, we learned a lot about the customs and traditions of Macau, among which the boat-dwelling culture impressed us y. In the past, boat-dwelling families were called "sea gypsies", boats do not leave the water, people do not leave the boat, living by the boat is a reflection of the life of boat-dwelling families, they have unique customs and habits, with the sea **** life, with the wind and waves of the spirit of struggle. The portrait of the heroine of our story is thus clear. Our story is based on the emotional and entrepreneurial experience of Macao boat-dwelling woman Mai Siyu as a clue to start, the return of Macao to the embrace of the motherland, but also changed the fate of boat-dwelling woman Mai Siyu, her resistance and struggle is a representative of young entrepreneurs. Through the "little people" in the context of the big time, growth, struggle life story, interpretation of individual fate and the fate of the country are closely related, which has become a creative highlight of the play.

Reader: You also mentioned the unique boat-dwelling culture, how does it play a role in the promotion of our theme? After all, many people are not familiar with the boat-dwelling culture.

Li Kang, who is also a member of the Chinese government, said: "I'm not sure if I'm a good person, but I'm not sure if I'm a good person," he said.

Li Kang: First of all, film and television is a visual and auditory art synthesis, the plot involves boat-dwelling culture, including boat-dwelling wedding, salty water songs, eating habits, etc., not only from the visual to give the audience a refreshing feeling, but also allows the audience to have a sense of simplicity from the outset of the sense of immersion, there is a breath of life, to focus on the heroine, Mai Sze Yau, such an ordinary and ordinary fisherman's woman's destiny, and to make the audience feel that they have to pay attention to the work of the family. Fate. This is also a creative perspective. Secondly, movie and television works should not only tell good stories, but also spread and promote culture. In this drama, apart from the culture of boat-dwelling families, many Macao cultures and Macao elements are also involved, from various landmarks in Macao to some unique streets, food, stores, cultural and creative brands in Macao, etc., which are naturally shown to the audience through the drama. Some audience feedback said that after watching this drama they would like to travel to Macau and Zhuhai, I think this is the charm of culture.

The characters in the play have roots

Reader: How do you see this spirit of hard work and patriotism inherited by the children of the Bay Area from generation to generation?

Li Kang: The characters in the play actually have roots, where they came from and where they will go, not by human design, but by natural growth. Therefore, regarding the inheritance, it is natural and inevitable, and there are multiple layers in our drama.

The first layer is the inheritance of the spirit of hard work, represented by the young entrepreneurs of Mai Si Yu, and the traditional strugglers represented by Uncle Mai, the relationship between father and daughter, built up a natural kinship bloodline inheritance, but at the same time there is a clash of concepts and contradictions between the two generations. Mai Siyu from receiving the notice of admission to the university began to take control of their own destiny of resistance, such resistance seems to trigger family conflicts, but in fact, she has the courage to go ashore entrepreneurship, and has been indomitable struggle, but also inherited the spirit of the father's generation of the sea struggles.

The second layer is the inheritance of boat-dwelling culture. From Uncle Mak's point of view, he believes that "a boat is a home", which is not just a traditional concept, but a cultural belief. Mai Siyu, on the other hand, came out from the fishing village and saw a wider world, and the simplicity and perseverance in her bones have a distinct cultural undertone of the boat-dwelling family. From the conceptual conflict and contradiction between father and daughter to their mutual understanding and **** birth, the audience can think about the development and change of culture, how to find a new expression of traditional culture in the new era, and carry forward the essence of traditional culture.

The third layer is the inheritance of patriotism. The plot starts from July 1, 1997 when Hong Kong returned to the embrace of the motherland, and there is a bustle of activity in front of the A-Ma Temple in Macao. The episode of Uncle Mak leading the children in a lion dance makes the patriotic sentiment natural and fervent. As the return of Macau draws nearer and nearer, the boat-dwelling girl, Mai Sze Yul, is even more eager to travel freely to the mainland and see the bigger world, and her personal destiny is tightly linked to the times from the very beginning. The simple dream reflects her desire to return to the motherland and her passionate love for her country. This is not the individual expression of Max Yu, including Huang Zijian, Max Hua and others, through the "little man" group in the context of the big time, growth, struggle of life stories, interpretation of individual fate and national destiny is closely related.

Three key words in creation

Reader: The drama is a commercial drama, how can we attract and hold the audience in the story and characterization?

Li Kang: The main characters in the drama are the youth faction, Mai Si Yu is a boat-dwelling fisherwoman, ordinary and tough, always down-to-earth, struggling for youth; Huang Zijian is a young learner, from the school bully to the growth of high-tech talent, but also wrote the song of youth; Liang Wen is the child of an intellectual family, knowledgable and simple justice; Mai Sihua is the only son of the old Mai family, subject to the father's strict discipline, but also have the sisters of the He is the only son of the old Mai family, who is strictly disciplined by his father, but also favored by his sisters, and listens to Mai Siyu the most. These distinctive characters have both dramatic characteristics and real life in our lives, they may be your neighbor's children, may be your friends and classmates. They may be your neighbor's kids, or your friends and classmates. Their youth may be your youth, and the expression of both texture of life and romantic feelings makes the audience empathize with the epitome of a group of young people struggling in their time, which is them, you, and even more so, us.

Reader: What was the biggest difficulty you encountered during the creation of the play?

Li Kang: The script is the foundation of a play, and there are difficulties in writing a good script and telling a good story. The story of "Sons and Daughters of the Bay Area" takes Macao boat-dwelling fisherwoman Mai Sze Yul as the main character, and the story line unfolds in the context of the development of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao's Greater Bay Area, and the personal destiny of the characters is closely related to the development of the times. In the process of creation, the screenwriting team closely focuses on the three key words of entrepreneurship, business, and livelihood, and we have really put in a lot of effort in order to write these three key words well.

The conceptual conflict and contradiction between the young entrepreneurs represented by Mai Siyu and the old boat-dwelling family members represented by Uncle Mai who guard their homes and traditional boat-dwelling culture, and how to achieve understanding and ****birth in the conflict, the screenwriting team has gone through a lot of research and discussion. In order to write a good clues in the development of the industry in this drama, breaking the traditional business set, to make the creation of the future view, so our screenwriting team studied a large number of literature, scientific research reports, do a lot of interviews with the work of the wind, combined with the development of the Greater Bay Area, the integration of the elements of the smart city to the plot, reflecting the "intelligent interconnected lighting concept

There is something to be said for the emotional line of the protagonists in the drama

Reader newspaper. " "This is the power of the motherland!" ...... Where do these heart-pumping, burning golden lines in the play originate?

Li Kang: Art comes from life, and it can be said that such lines are the real and deep impression we got in the interview. The return of Macao, the implementation of a series of policies and implementation, for the characters in the play brings opportunities, become Max Yu, Huang Zijian and other people to realize the dream of the opportunity. The power of the motherland is not only felt by the characters in the drama, but also by us living in the new era. The 20 years of development of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao is the best witness that the fate of the country and the fate of the people are closely related.

Reader's Newspaper: In the drama, there is also a relationship line between the male and female leads, especially Huang Zijian and Mai Siyu, which is conflictive at the beginning of the drama, and is full of points of view. Do you think emotional lines are a necessity for a drama? In the case of this drama, what is its role? What's novel about it?

Li Kang: It is said that love is the eternal theme of film and television, so naturally, the emotional line is a necessity for a drama. Mai Si Yu and Huang Zijian was originally childhood sweethearts, but their feelings are ignorant and simple, seemingly a natural pair but because of the university to pull the distance, this distance is insight, knowledge structure and cognitive distance. Huang Zijian embarked on the road of the school bully, and Mai Siyu ashore from the bottom of the struggle, the two people's emotional line from the natural intersection of the parallel lines of their own struggle, but these two parallel lines have a hidden and inseparable intersection, that is, a deep friendship and mutual fulfillment of the initial heart. As the two people struggle in different fields, their distance is brought a little bit closer, which is like climbing a mountain, the starting point may be different, but they will always meet at the end. The viewers will always be held by the emotional destiny of the two people, like a roller coaster of ups and downs. Through their emotional destiny, it is better to realize that it is their personal ideals and the development of the times that lead them, and ultimately, they are firmly walking together into the future.

Screenwriters need the Four Forces

The Reader: It's been said that in the process of screenwriting, "the script and the production have to be the soil for each other, and trust each other."

Li Kang: The script is a one-degree creation, while the production is a two-degree creation, turning words into images, and readable into watchable, which is the relationship between the two, and it's very apt to say that they are the soil for each other. When I was in the crew, the director would return from the scene every night, and no matter how late it was, he would convene a meeting with the scriptwriters, artists, coordinators, etc. Such communication and exchanges were, on the one hand, for discussing and solving the practical problems encountered in the script presentation and filming, and on the other hand, for the scriptwriters and the production team to polish the details of the work, including the character's lines, moods, scenes, props, etc. I remember one night was very late. I remember one night when it was very late, close to 1:00 a.m., the coordinator came up with a plan for shooting two days later, and one of the scenes involved a mosquito light prop, and the art teacher found many pictures for me to look at to make sure that what I had written was the same as what they had understood. This is a very small detail, but the production is to be precise and meticulous about countless details, in order to present to the audience to see this work.

Reader's Journal: What's your best advice for a lot of beginning literary fans who want to be good screenwriters?

Li Kang: Novel writers and screenwriters have different rules and styles of creation. Compared to novel writing, screenwriters need to have a sense of picture and space when creating scripts, because movie and TV works are different from literary works, and need to be more watchable, so all the details appearing on the screen are presented in the screenwriter's pen. What we create is not only a good-looking story and wonderful characters, but also a work that vibrates with the times on the same frequency ****. To write a work with vitality, it is necessary to go deep into life, rooted in reality, broad vision, digging details, realistic and innovative. Therefore, screenwriters need to "four forces" - eye, foot, pen, brain, to create works can have temperature, quality, art, thought.