What are the artistic techniques of the documentary "Kindergarten"?

1. Shoot-Start with "Don't shoot anything"

In Kindergarten, after experiencing initial confusion, Zhang Yiqing established the principle of filming: "What not to shoot" is more important than "What to shoot"-I know what not to shoot. His so-called "nothing to shoot" means giving up "conceptual things": not shooting classes, teachers, parents, outdoor scenes, or even "June 1" ... In short, we don't shoot things with familiar concepts.

Zhang Yiqing said: We stay in the kindergarten day after day, so there are some things that we can be sure of, that is, we should capture those unexpected, abnormal and vivid things, those strange and instantly revealed things from the seemingly normal life.

Zhang Yiqing, dominated by intuition and sensibility, is still a rebel even in the face of the original ecological record. This kind of risk choice facing the marginalization of kindergartens really requires great courage and super ability to examine. Only in this way can we win by surprise. And this, it is Zhang Yiqing's ideal pursuit and housekeeping skills. What not to shoot is not only Zhang Yiqing's deliberate choice, but also his unique aesthetic value judgment. In this respect, his personality and unique way of thinking played a vital role.

So, in Zhang Yiqing's eyes, what kind of things are emotional? First of all, he takes a head-up approach and looks at kindergarten from the perspective of children. In this way, the conceptual elements in the eyes of adults are naturally eliminated, and then vivid and infectious symbols are screened out. Here, Zhang Yiqing turned the choice of shooting content into an art.

Class, study, games, etc. It is not uncommon in kindergartens, and everyone has long known it. No matter how many cameras, they can only shoot the same meaning. Therefore, in Zhang Yiqing's eyes, these have become lifeless images. Teachers and parents themselves are the representatives or makers of a series of ideas, and it is difficult to form the original ecological things of kindergartens, so they can only give up. As for the outdoor scene, it's just an ignorant impression in children's eyes, and of course it can be ignored artificially ... Therefore, kindergartens in Zhang Yiqing suddenly become quiet, clean and pure. In contrast, those unexpected, abnormal and vivid things, those strange and instantly revealed things naturally entered Zhang Yiqing's field of vision. And these are photos of kindergarten residents' life: in fact, children are faced with many problems, such as poor clothes, shoelaces tied in knots and not stacked on benches ... It is this artistic conception and design that makes kindergarten a success.

2. Exterior location-the artistic value of fuzzy processing

In Kindergarten, the location is almost blurred by shooting and editing-the lively activities on the playground, the swaying figures at the gate, and even the rainy scene ... are deliberately blurred. Seeing the poetic location of the kindergarten is amazing, but at the same time, I can't help but worry: If Zhang Yiqing can't have a sudden inspiration and doesn't adopt this artistic treatment, what kind of loss will it bring to the whole program? Fortunately, however, Zhang Yiqing found it in time and successfully used it.

In the process of TV program creation, the artistic expression form of lens blur (virtual focus) is often adopted. However, in such an important and specific theme as documentary, it is not enough to rely on inspiration or courage to deal with almost all the exterior scenes of virtual focus. More importantly, it depends on whether it can better serve the theme.

In addition, the clever use of virtual focus pictures, from the perspective of communication effect, also has some enlightenment:

First of all, virtual places reflect the authenticity of the living environment of kindergartens, making children as the main elements more prominent.

Secondly, the external emptiness highlights the reality of children's thoughts and behaviors, allowing them to show their true side and attract enough attention.

Third, the emptiness of appearance is more in line with the reality of children's feelings about the outside world, and it is a hazy and real world in their eyes. Therefore, after such artistic treatment, children can form a relatively transparent space and interpret their stories without interference.

Of course, the vague location also enabled Zhang Yiqing to find an ethereal temple, and successfully captured a series of ingenious symbols, which eventually turned into a series of successful fruits.

3. Dialogue-the ideological depth of black and white images

In the kindergarten, from Xiong Jingwei, a child who practices math and mental arithmetic, to a series of dialogues about family, life, ideals, emotions and international and domestic current affairs and politics, these pictures are treated in black and white.

In colorful kindergartens and colorful children's inner world, why should we use black and white tones to deal with children's mental arithmetic, to show their hearts and souls, and make children's inner hearts so vague and even gloomy? This is indeed an intriguing topic.

Apart from the structural style, Zhang Yiqing didn't talk too much about what "very ambiguous, rich and multifunctional connotations" black and white techniques "carried".

It is true that from a 70-minute blockbuster, it is difficult to stick together the 5,000-minute kindergarten "fragments" in Zhang Yiqing without fully considering the structural form of the film. Therefore, without the intervention of mental arithmetic math problems in front, the dialogue behind is abrupt and deliberately subjective. Similarly, if there is no normal mental arithmetic learning scene in front, it will not set off the wonderful dialogue behind. This structural style not only embodies the unique structural aesthetics of Kindergarten, but also cleverly avoids the climax of a story-telling documentary-because Kindergarten is a documentary without stories.

In addition to the needs of structure, "clever combination of black and white tones" actually has a more wonderful meaning-it can form a strong visual contrast and enhance the appeal of the work. Among the video works, the works processed by black and white art have the most visual impact effect. For example, The Girl with Big Eyes, as a representative of the image of "Project Hope", is a classic example in which the black-and-white photo of China Youth Daily reporter Jie Hailong was published and aroused strong social repercussions.

By the same token, the expression of black-and-white tones in kindergartens expresses children's adult thoughts, which is like a small thinker in people's eyes. Moreover, this profound and mature expression of thought is quite different from the innocent and pure romantic children in people's imagination and concept, which has to be thought-provoking. In addition, this profound implication also reflects the childhood of adults from another side, and then reflects the profound imprint of the times on a generation. This is the true spiritual embodiment and profound meaning of paying attention to human nature in the era of documentary recording.

4. Interpretation-Picture language replaced "Voice of God"

There is no need to explain the whole process, which is a new creative feature of kindergarten. Compared with Zhou Zhou's World, which used a lot of commentary earlier, and English and White People, which only used a few thousand words to explain, the kindergarten made a "complete revolution" in the long-criticized documentary commentary-all using picture language.

Documentary commentary, as a necessary explanation and organic supplement in the process of program recording, often plays an indispensable role in the program. The narrator on the right is called "Voice of God". However, this traditional TV artistic creation method has been criticized repeatedly because it is questioned that the record is untrue or the creator is easy to introduce too much subjective consciousness. In kindergarten, Zhang Yiqing, who has always been good at "subjective expression", should be completely objective this time, and show everything he has to bear with all pictures with strong expressive ability and rich connotation. Abandoning the crutch of "criticism" is not only a severe challenge to Zhang Yiqing, but also a bold attempt to return his subjective creation to pure objectivity. Although this extreme leap is the original pursuit of documentary, it is as simple and complicated as Chen Jingrun's solution to Goldbach's proposition "1+2". Fortunately, after trying to solve a series of related problems, Zhang Yiqing finally got through the difficulties.

Chen Hanyuan, honorary president of China Documentary Academic Committee, said: Kindergarten has no commentary, but it is more convincing than the commentary.

5. Jasmine Flower-Singing and Sublimation of Life

The northern tune "Jasmine" is the theme music of the film, which appeared five times in the program and is another successful masterpiece of kindergarten.

Because Kindergarten reveals a well-known and unfamiliar world of children with rich connotations and profound themes, the audience's cognition and emotions have changed with the gradual development of the film. This feeling of change is intertwined with the theme of jasmine in different stages, which will produce an inexplicable song.

At first, people may be in a relaxed, happy and appreciative mood when they hear the music of Jasmine, and they may also see the scene of children's innocence and childlike innocence. However, with the scenes of children's real life in kindergarten being uncovered, the melody of Jasmine has a stale feeling, and people's mood has become complicated. Later, especially after the children's dialogue was completed, the profound thoughts and mature characters of young children were unexpected and even more heavy. Finally, when I felt jasmine, the music atmosphere suddenly became depressed and dignified, and I could even hear the profound story of the young life inside, as if Xiong Jingwei, a child who was learning mental arithmetic, was thinking hard alone, and the third mental arithmetic got stuck, which made people feel uncomfortable. Children's voices are like nature, conveying the helplessness of life and the beginning of reality; Angel-like children bear too many times and social characteristics; The fragrance of jasmine is mixed with faint sadness and sadness. However, this is a kindergarten, which is the first symphony of life-while we are examining it, we are also asking who made these children lose their precious innocence and childhood. We must accept her and try our best to do something.

6. Story-Synthesis and Perfection in Fragments

Storytelling is the most basic function of general documentaries, and the complete storyline is also the ideal effect pursued by the creators. But in kindergarten, we can't see the obvious story, and there is no complete plot, only "fragments of life". This kind of "three noes" movie with no story, no plot or even no theme is almost impossible to assemble and form a complete movie only by montage.

Indeed, Zhang Yiqing is not a master storyteller, especially afraid of the complicated logical relationship in the story. Besides, how can an ordinary kindergarten tell a story?

Here, Zhang Yiqing successfully walked a tightrope again with his keen perception and superb skills of the above series of "Ballet in the Air". However, throughout the film, except for the proper use of some exquisite elements, the film structure is symmetrical, the picture is exquisite, the paragraphs are clear, and the ideological mood is profound. Kindergarten still presents a diverse and full story structure.

Dong Zizhu, a scholar of communication culture research, said: The film has a very good overall sense and looks messy, but in the casual structure, it extends the theme, spans the social and cultural level and reaches the life level. He did a very valuable thing.

Zhang Yiqing said, "Maybe it's our children, maybe it's ourselves." Kindergarten is an adult fable. It is only wishful thinking of adults to say that childhood is beautiful; Adults say that children's simplicity is only a prerequisite. Kindergarten shows us the adult society of children. For the next generation, we don't know.

Kindergarten is another unprecedented success of Zhang Yiqing's bold challenge, but it is also a powerful proof that her emotional level is difficult to replicate.