BTS: The “birth” of a new story | The Litchi Road
We have all heard that famous poem. “By a lone horse through the dust,
the consort smiles, no one knows the lychees are the cause.” We remember the consort’s smile, but no one asks [Ma Boyong, author and story consultant]
how the lychees got there. A low-ranking, humble official is handed a nearly impossible task. How does he overcome the challenges and carry it out? That’s a story well worth telling. [The Litchi Road,
The Birth of a New Story] The original story is only
about 70,000 characters long. But when we began adapting it
for the screen, [Little East Gate]
we realized its scope [Lychee Orchard, Chang’an]
and content didn’t match. The production team asked a clever question. “When you wrote the novel, was there anything
you regretted leaving out?” There was a lot I never got to realize. For example,
the character Zheng Ping’an. He wasn’t in the novel at all. You want to learn the art of strategic maneuvering? You’ll have to learn it from me. He’s a lighter, more comedic character. When I was writing the novel, I already had a feeling. Li Shande, the protagonist, is weighed down by so much suffering. Visually,
he comes off heavy and brooding. The story needed a lighter counterbalance, a sort of comic foil. You want to take down
the Right Chancellor? You? Deliver lychees? The chemistry
between this character and Li Shande gave rise to a lot of new stories. In a way, it helped me fill all the gaps I had left in the novel. [Cao Dun, Director]
We wanted to do something different. When Mr. Ma worked on the screenplay, he added new scenes, which gave us access to hidden depths in the story. There’s Chang’an, there’s the scenery along the way, and there’s Lingnan. [Lingnan VS Chang’an]
We wanted to highlight the contrast. [Humid VS Dry]
The cultural and geographical differences [Humid VS Dry]
between the north and the south [Hu attire VS Tang attire] to give audiences a more comprehensive insight
into China’s vastness. We designed Lingnan to feel hot and sweltering. You can’t catch a cold in this place. He’s got heatstroke. Get out! Visually, we played with daylight color temperature
during shooting. [Chang’an, Lingnan] Lots of direct sunlight. We didn’t go for long, sweeping shots. We kept it fragmented. Li Shande is a fussy, rambling type. We wanted the language to match that same energy and rhythm. We tried to give viewers
a familiar Chang’an, and a new, unfamiliar Lingnan. I hoped to show a richer, 【Chang’an]
more layered world. [Hu Merchants Guild] [Lingnan] In our own way, within a limited space, we tried to approach the story with as much rigor and care as possible. So that the audience could truly feel how Li Shande overcame impossible odds to complete a mission that seemed doomed from the start. I ask all of you. Let’s give it our all, and strive for a result. [The Litchi Road] We have all heard that famous poem. “By a lone horse through the dust,
the consort smiles, no one knows the lychees are the cause.” We remember the consort’s smile, but no one asks [Ma Boyong, author and story consultant]
how the lychees got there. A low-ranking, humble official is handed a nearly impossible task. How does he overcome the challenges and carry it out? That’s a story well worth telling. [The Litchi Road,
The Birth of a New Story] The original story is only
about 70,000 characters long. But when we began adapting it
for the screen, [Little East Gate]
we realized its scope [Lychee Orchard, Chang’an]
and content didn’t match. The production team asked a clever question. “When you wrote the novel, was there anything
you regretted leaving out?” There was a lot I never got to realize. For example,
the character Zheng Ping’an. He wasn’t in the novel at all. You want to learn the art of strategic maneuvering? You’ll have to learn it from me. He’s a lighter, more comedic character. When I was writing the novel, I already had a feeling. Li Shande, the protagonist, is weighed down by so much suffering. Visually,
he comes off heavy and brooding. The story needed a lighter counterbalance, a sort of comic foil. You want to take down
the Right Chancellor? You? Deliver lychees? The chemistry
between this character and Li Shande gave rise to a lot of new stories. In a way, it helped me fill all the gaps I had left in the novel. [Cao Dun, Director]
We wanted to do something different. When Mr. Ma worked on the screenplay, he added new scenes, which gave us access to hidden depths in the story. There’s Chang’an, there’s the scenery along the way, and there’s Lingnan. [Lingnan VS Chang’an]
We wanted to highlight the contrast. [Humid VS Dry]
The cultural and geographical differences [Humid VS Dry]
between the north and the south [Hu attire VS Tang attire] to give audiences a more comprehensive insight
into China’s vastness. We designed Lingnan to feel hot and sweltering. You can’t catch a cold in this place. He’s got heatstroke. Get out! Visually, we played with daylight color temperature
during shooting. [Chang’an, Lingnan] Lots of direct sunlight. We didn’t go for long, sweeping shots. We kept it fragmented. Li Shande is a fussy, rambling type. We wanted the language to match that same energy and rhythm. We tried to give viewers
a familiar Chang’an, and a new, unfamiliar Lingnan. I hoped to show a richer, 【Chang’an]
more layered world. [Hu Merchants Guild] [Lingnan] In our own way, within a limited space, we tried to approach the story with as much rigor and care as possible. So that the audience could truly feel how Li Shande overcame impossible odds to complete a mission that seemed doomed from the start. I ask all of you. Let’s give it our all, and strive for a result. [The Litchi Road]