Exclusive interview with Wang Yuan of Youyuan Culture. How long did it take him from photography to production?

There are two rap shows outside, and there are innovation needs and team transformation inside. "Rap New Generation" is more like a big test that cannot be broken or established for Wang Yuan. It is time for him to jump out of the comfort zone of photography and work for Find more opportunities and space for your team yourself.

Since the first SS-level variety show "Rap New Generation" at Station B has come to an end, the heat has dissipated. What remains in the public's memory is not only the most popular songs such as "Letter from the Academy", but also the waste. The factory building, the octagonal cage stage and the large chimney with the slogan "Everything can be rapped", and many ingenious ideas besides these contents, Wang Yuan, the production director and director of photography, and the general manager of Shanghai Youyuan Culture Technology Co., Ltd., participated and witnessed who.

"I am doing interior decoration, municipal engineering, and hotel management in "Rap New Generation"." After the epidemic, Wang Yuan's most intuitive feeling is that he is "busier". When he was busiest, he had eight projects on hand, spanning seven cities in one month. Since the start of the project, the team has participated in "New Generation of Rap", "New Life in Drama", " "Interdimensional Rising Star", "Run", "Dear Little Desk", "Supernova Games", "720 Trend Manager", "Exciting Offer 2" and more than ten projects.

Among them, "The New Generation of Rap" is the first comprehensive project that Wang Yuan's team has done. He said frankly: "Unlike the previous single work, we need to consider it very comprehensively and thoughtfully." Preliminary work " "To organize the show," Wang Yuan brought in visual director Tang Yan, sound director Zhang Xiaonian, and chief director Li Qingwen to help out. These top domestic teams that have worked together many times gave Wang Yuan reassurance for the program.

The next step is to coordinate and coordinate various types of work. "The director team thinks about how to make the content fun, and we just use various technical means to perfectly present the content they imagined." Director The group wanted to do a rap PK in the form of a battle. Wang Yuan discussed the iconic stage of the octagonal cage with the stage design team, and considered the position design of the sound from all aspects with the sound teacher. In order to find a suitable camera position for the director, the window was removed... Wang Yuan He said with a smile that this is a team that integrates the functions of "interior decoration", "municipal engineering" and "hotel management".

The tone of the recollection is very relaxed, but based on the background at the time, you can imagine the great pressure. There were two rap shows outside, and there were innovation needs and team transformation inside. "New Generation of Rap" was more important to Wang Yuan. Like a big test that cannot be broken or established, it is time for him to step out of the comfort zone of photography and find more opportunities and space for himself and the team.

Wang Yuan has obviously withstood this new challenge. If the director's creative team is the brain of a show, determining the direction of the content, and the camera, stage design and other work types constitute the trunk and limbs, coordinating movements with the content, then the work of the production director is like the nervous system, affecting the operation of the entire project In order to ensure efficiency, Wang Yuan not only communicates closely with the directing team, but also connects all aspects of the pre- and post-production management of the program.

The tacit understanding with the director team is an important advantage of Wang Yuan's team. They have cooperated with director Yan Min from "Extreme Challenge" to "The New Generation of Rap", and with director Li Wenyu from "Sisters Over Flowers" to "Cross Dimension". "New Star", Wang Yuan has almost become the royal director of photography for these top producers, "I understand their thinking very well. They only need to say a direction, and I know what they want, which saves a lot of communication costs." This kind of tacit understanding It was developed through repeated cooperation.

Around 2014, the introduction of the international reality show model had an impact on the domestic variety show market. At the same time, the role of systematic and professional photography directors also caused an "earthquake" in the photography and videography industry, accelerating the domestic Videographers have grown from simple recorders of images to important participants in content presentation.

As the only Chinese cameraman on the "Sisters Over Flowers" camera team, Wang Yuan was one of the earlier people in the industry to come into contact with overseas teams. How to shoot with the director's ideas and how to use the pictures to Further learning and thinking about reflecting the director's intentions and conveying emotions will lay the foundation for future work models.

“All our types of work and work are in service of content, so we must have a director’s mind to think about how to use technical means to do better at the content level.” Later, in “Extreme” "Challenge" as a photography director, Wang Yuan's scope of consideration expanded from a single camera to the entire team. The overall coordination of program presentation method, camera configuration, shooting mode, camera position scheduling, key design, etc. was a new challenge.

"I am more serious when I work, and I may be scolded if I don't communicate well. After all, I can't make any mistakes in such a tense situation. Every shot is important." Wang Yuan said , affecting the overall situation because the picture is not given is something he will never allow to happen.

Nowadays, "director's thinking" has become the common pursuit of all types of work. Taking photography as an example, you must communicate with the director to synchronize your ideas before shooting, and carry this common sense with you when shooting. Think about how to make the pictures more vivid and better express the director's ideas. "Photography, lighting, sound, stage design, etc. are all the same. This is a systematic project," Wang Yuan said.

In order to implement the director's thinking, during the recording of "The New Generation of Rap", Wang Yuan will first thoroughly analyze the overall ideas and desired content with the chief director, and then discuss technical methods with the person in charge of each type of work during the coordination meeting. "I have always believed that whether a program is good or not, content is king. From the perspective of the director and screenwriter, the substantive content must be maximized, so that the audience will pay and consider the shots." , stage design, artists, etc. "In Wang Yuan's view, the director's thinking is based on understanding and expression based on respect for the creative design of the main creator, and everything must serve the content.

"I particularly don't like things that follow the rules." He seems to have always been this kind of person. In college, he was not a "good student" in the traditional sense. His head teacher, Liang Shiqing, once commented on him: "When he was studying, he and several classmates were very playful, but he never slacked off in his professional field. , I always get excellent results when I participate in various competitions.”

The camera is always with me. I was confused at that time, but finally chose to enter the TV station to hone my skills, and worked my way from an ordinary photographer to a photography director.

Wang Yuan said frankly that he particularly dislikes things that follow rules and has never worked a day from nine to five. In an interview with his alma mater, Zhejiang University of Communication, his advice to his fellow students was “definitely.” Be 'fun-loving' and find things you love to do in your interests."

From discovering joy in exploring alone in college to now leaving the protection of the system and leading a team to rampage in the market, perhaps it is this "restless" love for the profession that gave Wang Yuan and his team More confidence to break the status quo and pursue upgrades.

In the past, the camera market was mainly based on casual work. As the number of projects increased, it gradually became team-based and large-scale. Now the variety show market has entered the era of focus, with vertical subdivisions in coverage areas and innovative exploration of program content. It also places higher demands on the camera team. Nine AR cameras in "Cross Dimension Nova" are rendered in real time at the same time. "Supernova Games" has a collection of "guns and cannons" equipment. "Tomorrow's Sons 3" has specially set up a visual team for beautiful effects... Behind the innovative exploration of Wang Yuan and his team is the second upgrade of the entire photography and videography industry, which requires not only doing well but also improving, not only maintaining stability but also innovating.

This year is Wang Yuan’s 15th year in the industry. Looking back on his growth process from graduating from photography to photography director and then production director, Wang Yuan admitted that doing the same thing over and over again does make him a little tired, “But I I like to constantly explore new things and discover interesting things, whether it’s technology or people, and I especially like to innovate. In other words, what I do tomorrow will be different from yesterday. This feeling is the best.” The freshness of his career also drives him to try more challenges, from the system to the market, from technical specialization to overall planning. "In the process of continuous growth and learning, I will not feel that this is a very tiring, It’s a tiring thing.”

Although he has become the head of the shooting team, Wang Yuan dare not relax at all, “The market is very cruel. If you don’t have a saturated working condition and take fewer projects, the pace will slow down. , it may be eliminated by the market.” But he also said that the team’s requirements for accepting projects will not change. The cooperative team, platform factors, and adaptability are all important considerations. “Being responsible for the project is also responsible for yourself.”

Talking about the future of the team, Wang Yuan hopes to try more projects with overall control, from small to large, from point to surface, and slowly cultivate Youyuan culture to transform into independent planning and production. After all, "I don't want to Soldiers who serve as generals are not good soldiers." It can be seen that this team that pursues professionalism and freshness has more room to look forward to in the future.

Because I am the production director in this show, it is relatively related to the stage design.

Once, when Teacher Tang Yan and the platform were chatting at the base, the first promotional video of "Tuku" came out. When I saw the slogan "Everything can be rapped" printed on the wall, I told them, How about an "Everything Can Rap" brushed all the way from the top of this chimney? Everyone hit it off immediately. The chimney is about fifty or sixty meters high. The effect of the painting is really good. Now it has become a relatively iconic landmark, allowing all fans and people who come and go to see our "New Era of Rap" 》slogan, I think it’s quite fun.

When I first came out of the system, I was quite motivated. I felt that everything was very fresh, and the people we came into contact with were all different, which brought you a new feeling and experience. The impact of competition outside the system. Although the content of each program is different, it will also bring a certain sense of freshness, but doing these things over and over again will indeed make you a little tired. Later, when I started to transition to full-scale production, I found this freshness again. So far, I haven’t felt particularly bored or tired yet, it’s all quite fun. And like "New Era of Rap" is a rap program, the next project "Interdimensional Rising Star" has become a virtual idol, which is a completely new field. In the process of continuous growth and learning, you will not feel This is a very tiring and tiring thing.