First, strengthen the story.
Documentary is a work of art for people to watch, and "beauty" is the core of documentary. So how can we look good? This is what we usually call "storytelling". So where did this story come from? The author thinks that this story is composed of contradictions. When selecting materials or shooting, we should first look at whether there are contradictions in the subject matter, whether contradictions can be formed, and whether contradictions or story details are photographed in the creation. In the later editing, the author might as well use the creative techniques of feature films, such as setting suspense, paving characters, cross-narration, speeding up the pace, etc., in order to strengthen the story creation of documentaries. On the basis of real records, the narrative style of documentary stories is not much different from that of feature films, such as suspense, details, bedding, repetition and climax. This is not only a patent for feature films, but also can be used in documentaries. Generally speaking, the ratings of crime-fighting documentaries are higher than those of ordinary documentaries, such as Sword of China and Covert Action, which have caused shock waves, and the unknown elements in the picture stories constitute visual suspense.
In the creation of documentaries, no matter which creative form we adopt, documentaries should not be serious political papers and philosophical lectures, but works of art for people to watch and communicate. The main value of art is to look good. In fact, the documentary we saw today greatly enhanced the story of the program. Elephant-length documentaries, such as Mao Mao's Complaints and Companions, contain not only stories and contradictions, but also character conflicts. Recently, in the 4th Documentary Awards of China, the first batch of award-winning programs, such as The Leader of Cao Taibang, A Simple Life and The Story of Ma Mingshan, are all well-known works with strong stories. Last year, Chen Xiaomei's "Into the City", "Paper Mourning" and "Grandma Ruan's Marriage", which won the China Documentary Award, were even more models of documentary narrative.
Details are also an important part of documentary storytelling, and there are often the most "stories" where there are details. As a part of the plot, the details also directly participate in the unfolding of the story. In other words, the details are short stories that are "magnified", and the most impressive details in documentaries are often the real and touching details. In "Little Duckling", which won the international prize in Japan, the director caught the weakest duck in the growth and migration of this group of wild ducks, and caught the audience's heartstrings with two details: First, when the ducks left the pond one after another, only the smallest one could not fly. It tried to jump the last stone step several times, but it always failed again and again. It didn't lose heart and jumped again and again ... until it jumped more than a dozen times. During the presentation of this detail, the audience were nervous and their hearts beat with the duckling's take-off. The second detail is that when the ducks grow up and want to leave the Royal Park, all the ducklings fly into the sky with their wings, but the smallest duckling flies again and again, and the indomitable duckling does not take off until the eighth time to meet his friends. This detail is the end of the duck story, and it also gives the audience a great spiritual shock and emotional baptism.
Today, however, some creators are afraid to describe their documentaries as feature films when they talk about the storyline of documentaries. In fact, wouldn't it be better if we made documentaries as beautiful as feature films? The fundamental difference between documentary and feature film is not the story, but the "fiction or non-fiction" of the story itself.
Second, the pursuit of drama
There is no drama without conflict, and the story in the documentary should be as dramatic as possible. But this is not the same as the conflict in the feature film. Documentaries pay more attention to the deep-seated conflicts of ideas and values between man and himself, man and nature or man and society. The conflict of documentary is hidden. Generally speaking, the surface conflict is naturalized, which guides the audience to understand the deep conflict calmly and objectively, but it is forbidden to deliberately emphasize the intensity of the surface conflict. In distant villages, there are also conflicts: the second son of member Qizhen quarreled with the village head Zhao Ziping and impulsively smashed the Millennium ancient well in the village; The town government sent cadres to investigate the situation, and Zhao Ziping was suspended; At this time, someone asked to re-measure the land of each household and check Zhao Ziping's account; The primary school was closed, and Liu Xiuwa's family decided to move to the town ... but the director did not exaggerate the incident, but tried to record a process objectively.
In the eyes of most people, documentaries are always so dull, calm and without drama, and sometimes they like to preach. Looking at several documentaries with global box office popularity in 2003, you will find that documentaries may be as dramatic as Hollywood blockbusters. The Brazilian film Bus174 (Bus174) truly records the horror of a desperate man hijacking a bus and the farce scene when the police try to rescue the hostages. In Catch the Friedmans, a father and son from a middle-class family are accused of molesting children at the same time, which is outrageous. Can you believe that former US Secretary of Defense robert mcnamara secretly supported traitors in the Vietnam War? But all this was told by McNamara himself in the best documentary "Fog of War". The documentary "Ice Peak 168 Hours", which combines interview and reproduction, won the Best Film Award of the British Film Academy in 2004. This is the most successful documentary in the history of British box office: two British climbers are preparing to conquer the Siula Grande in the Andes of Peru, and just as they are approaching the peak, disaster happens. Joe accidentally fell from a steep slope and was hung above the abyss by a rope. At the other end of the rope was his companion Simon.
It can be said that the dramatic narration of documentaries has become an important feature of today's documentaries. Because it abandons the previous writing style and shows a relatively complete and continuous conflict process in a certain time and space, the causal relationship, beginning, development and climax are well taken care of, so its popularity is much higher than that of the "original ecological record" story. For example, The Mourning of Paper by an independent filmmaker records the rise and fall of a paper mill in Dashanli, Fujian. In this 50-minute documentary, there are three lines of conflict between the boss and the workers, the boss and the tourism bureau, and the boss and inheriting the cultural heritage of the motherland. The last dramatic focus falls on the connection between the boss and marketing. The audience not only saw the conflict of interests between people in the program, but also learned what the market economy gave them. How should we deal with the contradictions and conflicts between good people and good people in the market economy?
Third, improve the viewing power.
Feature films become more and more beautiful because of their stories. However, not all the topics we record in our daily life may have beautiful stories: for example, ancient buildings and natural themes, it is difficult to shoot conflicts between people and beautiful stories at a glance. Such a documentary will definitely improve the appreciation of the program.
Micro-world, also known as Small Universe, produced by the French, has become the first choice of many dvd manufacturers because of its exquisite pictures and unique perspective. The film records the living conditions of ants, caterpillars, snails, mantis, bees and other insects in the most direct way. Therefore, with the melodious and soothing music, we can relive a series of classic scenes, such as spiders preying on grasshoppers, snails whispering in love, stinging caterpillars marching in the scorching sun, heavy rain hitting the insect kingdom again, and the battle of longicorn beetles. Ordinary insects often cause the audience to laugh happily. What's particularly interesting is that some friends who haven't seen this movie are always curious about what the movie Insect was when it was born. When it fluttered and flew, it suddenly realized, "Oh, it was a mosquito!" "So there is laughter. ...
"Migratory Birds" is the new work of the original crew of "Micro World", but this time the perspective turned to the migratory bird paradise in the vast starry sky. The film uses a large number of aerial photography techniques to truly record the migration activities of a large number of wild migratory birds such as geese, geese, swallows, eagles and cranes. Through the film, we can feel the difficulty of migratory birds' migration: they need to avoid hunters' killing, natural enemies' attacks, waves' attacks, avalanches' devouring, and occasional injuries will make birds delicious for crabs. Even if they encounter oil pollution from galloping horses, roaring cars and factories, migratory birds will accidentally get lost in the wilderness during their journey ... The migration of tens of thousands of kilometers is the need of birds' survival and a challenge to their fate. While telling about this hardship, the film also shows the audience a high interest in the bird world as always. Through exquisite pictures, the audience not only brought great interest in watching, but also satisfied people's curiosity and prying desire. There are not many such large-scale documentaries in China, but there are some excellent ones in recent years. Like the Potala Palace,
Resurrection Corps, Conghua Ancient Dwellings, Centennial Opening, etc. One of the biggest features of these programs is that the images are particularly clear, the picture composition is particularly neat, or the production is particularly excellent, or the music picture effect is particularly harmonious ... Wikland Scheiner, the production director of Discovery Asia TV Network, brought a short film about China at a film festival in Guangzhou last year. Although it only lasted 65,438+05 minutes, it showed the audience an ancient, mysterious, beautiful scenery and rapid development. In this short film, hanging coffins, ink paintings and Kunqu Opera appear, showing "ever-changing" Shanghai and Beijing, as well as Old Town of Lijiang and snowy Tibet that have been like this for hundreds of years. While telling the story of Kung Fu superstar Jackie Chan's hard struggle, he also tells the story of an ordinary Hong Kong old man who bought a shroud and shoes for himself and a "paper-cutting artist" who has lived in the northwest all his life. This program is very enjoyable, and the judges are all optimistic about the "music" plot formed by editing with exquisite and neat picture, slow and moderate rhythm.
We should remember that appreciation is not unique to stories. In the aesthetic world, anything that can bring pleasure to people has its ornamental value; In the viewing world, the audience will always have different tastes; In movies and TV, the audience is always right.
Fourth, set the excitement.
Why do some movies get excited when they look at the material, but they don't hide when they are filmed, because the director won't arrange the excitement of the story. Grasping the excitement of documentary begins with the topic selection. A topic full of contradictions and dramatic conflicts already has the embryonic form of the excitement of the work. As we all know, there will be dramatic conflicts only if there are contradictions; With dramatic conflicts, there will be excitement. Excitement is what we usually call "watching the excitement". With "seeing", there will be "broadcasting" and "selling". Therefore, a documentary must have many "excitement points" in order to make the audience feel good and watch it.
So what are you excited about? I think there are several kinds:
First, whether there are contradictions and conflicts in the recorded stories, and whether certain contradictions and conflicts can be formed. There is a documentary called Companionship, which records the story of a Mrs. Liu who raised a big pig weighing 2600 Jin in the mountains. During the 52-minute film, the author tries to reveal the contradiction between Mrs. Liu's family, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the contradiction between people and animals, the contradiction in Mrs. Liu's inner world and the fate conflict of the characters themselves. Until the end of the program, the audience was still worried about the fate of Mrs. Liu and Big Pig.
Second, is there any good plot or detail in the shot picture? Stimulation refers to the plot or details that can cause the audience to have emotional changes when watching. The conflict between story and drama is supported by stimulation, and stimulation is expressed through beautiful plots or details. In Companion, Mrs. Liu keeps a watchdog, but this dog bites her daughter-in-law. When the audience sees the plot of this picture, they will cheer for them: how fierce the contradiction between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is.
There is a "teasing" theory in the United States, which emphasizes that the hook is extended from the beginning of the film at 65,438+0 minutes to arouse the interest of the audience, and the whole film is inserted with "excitement points" at appropriate intervals. These exciting points should fluctuate like a roller coaster, be stimulating, and arouse the audience's mood and interest until the end of the film. The documentary "Policewoman Lei Min" is like this. At the beginning of the film, a female soldier (Lei Min) is seen killing pigs with a dagger. This story of 1 minute and a half greatly aroused the audience's appetite.
Third, the director intentionally forms the excitement of the story when editing. Excitement can be emotional, suspenseful, humorous, thoughtful and enlightening. When dealing with the contradiction between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the director of Companionship adopted a "parallel editing" method, which aroused the excitement of the audience and made the conflict more visible. The chronicle of CCTV requires a 45-minute program to have at least 12 highlights, while Hubei Satellite TV requires a 15-minute documentary to have at least 5 highlights. Documentaries need to be good-looking and wonderful, which is a conceptual problem; However, how to edit the story better and more dramatically is a technical problem. Therefore, we must not ignore the formation of more excitement in the "second" (later) creation.
There is also a program in which suspense has become a vague concept. The audience can follow the concept they want to see through the picture, which can also arouse the audience's excitement. For example, in Looking for the Kingdom of Loulan, the film crew took the audience into the desert that swallowed the Kingdom of Loulan 1500 years ago. What reporters are looking for, what they are looking for, what the audience can see, everything is in an unknown state of progress, no one knows what will happen in the next second, and all the vague suspense that may change at any time will bring the audience into one excitement after another.
The stimulation of documentary can be human or human; It can be a plot or a clip; It can be visual or oral; It can be interesting or sad ... In short, with the "excitement" of the documentary, the audience can be excited and excited, which will not only watch the program, but also arouse the audience's thinking and interest in participating in the program. There is a theory that documentaries should not only provide information but also be entertaining. The perfect combination of the two can make an excellent documentary.
Fifth, the camera is aimed at people.
These characters are the first story in the documentary. Without a deep record of the characters, it is impossible to "tell" a good story. Mr. Chen Hanyuan, a veteran of documentary generation, once said: "TV documentary records the trajectory of human life, a period of human history and respect for people." Mr. Zhong Danian of Phoenix TV once said: "The cultural spirit nurtured by people's sense of existence and life consciousness has become a realm in many TV documentaries." The author thinks that the most interesting and difficult thing to do in documentary creation is to shoot people, because people are the most typical representatives who map an era and the real world.
It can be said that people are an eternal topic in documentaries. People's thoughts, emotions, behaviors, truth, goodness, beauty, falsehood, ugliness, environment and social consciousness have become the themes that TV viewers are eager to see. They are eager to see "the story of ordinary people", the value of people in social survival, and the harmony between man and nature. Man is becoming the protagonist of documentary creators, and his inner world is becoming an important content of documentary exploration.
The story behind the mural shows the story of cancer patient Tao Xianyong resisting death with the help of his teacher Liu Yu 'an. Liu Yu 'an did everything he could, but in the end he failed to keep Tao Xianyong's young and beautiful life. Liu Yu 'an once again experienced the emotional experience of the destruction of China and the United States and the destruction of life, but he concentrated and recorded the beautiful process of his life struggle on murals, expanding the philosophical level of "life is beauty". The director did not simply deal with stories that seemed to help others, and reached a very high documentary level.
In such excellent works, we can often strongly feel the author's sense of mission and responsibility. Although there may not be any philosophical brilliant language in the film, the human mind, inner world and humanistic care recorded in the film often inspire people and society for a long time.
Documentary is such a film with strong humanistic spirit. From its performance in real life, we can clearly feel the strong influence of national spirit, national psychology and national culture on modern life. Meng, the protagonist in The Last Mountain God, which won the international prize, is not only a "very smart" and full of personality, but also the carrier of the director's concern-reflecting the psychological world of the Oroqen people in the process of changing from traditional mountain life to civilized settlement life; He is the last shaman of Oroqen (a mountain psychic) and an old hunter. Mountains and forests are his whole life. He is obsessed with the traditional way of life, but his reason tells him that living in the mountains has unparalleled advantages. Documentary creators choose this character to shoot, which has a strong sense of the times and profound humanistic value.
This exploration of people and the real world is actually a kind of philosophical thinking. No matter what answers are left in the audience's mind, this philosophical thinking is undoubtedly profound. For documentary creators, it will be the premise for us to discover and grasp the harmony between people's hearts and highlight people's inner world.