Jojo's Jojo story

Jojo: Selling iron to make movies for animals.

(Comprehensive official media reports)

On a cold morning, the moon is still high in the sky, a flock of swans are crossing the quiet sky, and several spoonbills are leisurely foraging on the Yellow River beach. ...

This is the scene of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in the documentary "Home".

Every winter, tens of thousands of birds inhabit and overwinter here. No narrative, no human subjectivity. In ethereal music, only nature is telling us its story. This is also the environmental protection concept that Jojo, a photographer of Homeland and a director who graduated from Beijing Film Academy, wants to express to us: protect the ecological environment with light and shadow.

At the 2nd China International Folk Image Festival, Home stood out from more than 1 10,000 entries from 35 countries and regions around the world and won the "Best Short Film Award" in the main competition unit. Although the film is only more than four minutes, it was edited by director Jojo from more than 2,000 hours of shooting material in four years.

Jojo said he didn't care much about winning the prize. He believes that different people have different views on works, and those who win prizes are not necessarily good works, and those who don't win prizes are not necessarily bad works; He will take all these honors as an encouragement to encourage him to go on.

In 2008, six young people took their dreams on the road. For more than five years, he never thought of giving up. Jojo and his film crew "Protecting the Ecological Environment with Light and Shadow" have been running around in the wild all the year round, with wind, frost, rain, snow and stars in Dai Yue. Because I don't have a car, I have to carry 100 kilograms of video equipment to and from the station and the shooting place every day, and sometimes I have to walk for an hour or two. I often get up at 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning, and it's already 1 1 o'clock when I get home from work at night, and I only sleep for 3 or 4 hours a day.

It is normal to eat baked wheat cakes and sleep in tents. A big cake and a bottle of water in the morning are often ignored at noon because they want to save time. Living like this all the year round makes Jojo look a little malnourished. For such a difficult shooting state, Director Jojo didn't take it to heart: "I don't feel bitter, I am used to it, so I don't think there is enough time."

Shooting in the wild all the year round is inevitable. In order not to disturb wild animals and find the best shooting angle, difficult shooting actions are often performed. Once in Shanxi, in order to shoot herons on the cliff, Jojo tied a safety rope. The cat was on a protruding stone on the cliff, followed by an unsupported cliff and the bottomless Yellow River below. Jojo said that although she was scared, she couldn't take care of it when shooting.

The director thinks he is a one-track-minded person. As long as he likes it, he will try his best to do it. You can skip meals and sleep for a while, but you can't help filming his favorite natural ecological environment films. But the ideal and reality always seem to be out of place, and in the process of shooting, money has become the biggest difficulty.

The five-year filming process cost millions, which is undoubtedly a huge number for a young man. Without the investment of investors, the assistance of foundations and the support of the government, all the burdens fell on the young man.

Although more and more people are paying attention to environmental protection now, documentaries are slowly coming into people's field of vision. However, director Jojo thinks that the film industry is too impetuous, which makes the development of documentaries in China difficult. However, due to the lack of funds, equipment, experts and other resources, as well as the mentality of filmmakers who are eager for quick success and instant benefit, the production of nature and environment documentaries is still in a state of zero start in China. "When the CCTV documentary channel started broadcasting, someone once declared that' documentary spring' was coming. In fact, how many documentaries are produced in the country every year? How many of them entered the cinema? How many people bought tickets to see it? How many are broadcast on CCTV's documentary channel and movie channel? Can be said to be a handful. It is an indisputable fact that commercial films monopolize the market and cinemas and audiences neglect documentaries. I think it is more reliable to call it' documentary hibernation'. " Jojo is not blindly optimistic about the future of documentary.

In order to raise money to continue filming documentaries, he sold his house and car and borrowed friends from relatives. "If I really don't have money, I will shoot some advertisements or commercial films. Once I make money, I will invest in documentary shooting."

In order to save money, stay in the cheapest hotel, or simply set up a tent near the shooting location, often eating only one meal a day. You can save living expenses, but you can't shoot casually. The only thing he felt sorry for was his team. "They followed me to eat baked wheat cakes and pickles, and I looked very sad."

The development of documentary faces many difficulties. People are not interested in documentaries, and few people are willing to go to the cinema to see a documentary. On the other hand, it is difficult for most documentaries to get a shooting license, and they are not qualified to be shown in cinemas at all. At the same time, the operation of documentary is different from that of commercial films. The shooting, editing, promotion and release of a commercial film are all planned and arranged. A documentary needs time, and a lot of time. The more you accumulate, the richer the content, but time is money. Jojo believes that no matter what problems a documentary director faces, it is necessary to tell stories and tell good stories.

Today, China folk documentary is still immature. In the whole filming process of the documentary, from renting and buying shooting equipment to the staff's food, clothing, housing and transportation, the director paid for it himself. Like most documentary directors, Jojo is also engaged in commercial activities, making advertisements, making commercial films, and also making documentaries and making money to invest in documentaries.

Documentary people just want to express what they love. "They are a group of particularly brave people, not to make money or become famous, but to express and record the bits and pieces of this era." Zhang Tongdao, director of the Documentary Research Center of Beijing Normal University and author of China Documentary Development Research Report 20 10, commented on the persistent documentary director.

Jojo said: "Documentary shooting is different from drama. Documentaries need time, especially natural environment films. Every movie takes a lot of time to cut out the right pictures from a lot of material. You have to carry a lot of equipment during the shooting, and the car rental fee is several hundred yuan a day, plus the rental fee of video equipment. The cost of a day's shooting is several thousand. These are all our own or borrowed money, and now we are really in debt. I would like to thank Zhengzhou TV for its support and love. In the end, we have to edit more than 2000 hours of material to complete a documentary with a standard length. This public welfare documentary short film "Lost Home" of 12 minutes and 2 1 second is a gift for "20 12". "

Jojo said, "I am a simple-minded person. I will try my best to do what I like. " You can skip meals and sleep, but you can't skip the movies. This is doomed that I will continue to be painful and happy, not giving up day and night ... "

Mr. Jong Lin, a royal photographer in Ang Lee, appreciates Jojo and his works very much. I once gave him a pair of couplets jokingly. The first part is: doing public welfare, selling cars and houses to make movies; Part II: I am willing to be a film ascetic for environmental protection. Jojo commented: I asked for it.

Jojo said modestly in her personal Weibo: Thank you! In the past five years, we have only done one small thing: just to arouse more people's good thoughts, protect the ecology and the environment, and keep a beautiful home for the present and the future!