Since the documentary series "A Bite of China" became popular and gained good reputation, food documentaries similar to the imitation form have emerged one after another. China has a vast territory and rich resources, and its food culture has a long history. However, most food documentaries often only see "food" and focus on the exquisite framing and the exquisiteness of the shots, which inevitably makes the audience feel aesthetic fatigue. "A String of Life" is different from traditional food documentaries that include delicacies and mountain flavors. Instead, it focuses on "barbecue", a subject that is closely related to people's lives, and produces an extremely "down-to-earth" and full of "jianghu flavor" A high-quality documentary with a taste of the market.

1. The beauty of fireworks in the world of mortals

? "A String of Life" is based on barbecue, and the intention is to capture the sense of life and story of barbecue. Therefore, the main theme of the film is the old barbecue restaurants that can be seen everywhere in the city. The film crew did not deliberately frame the scene, but pursued the realism of the shot. Barbecues are usually held at night, so many shots of the documentary are completed with natural light at night. There are no deliberate color palettes or spectacular vistas, but the barbecue restaurant is still bustling late at night, the neon signboards lit up in the dark alleys, the warm yellow lights of the barbecue restaurant at night, the diners chatting and drinking in the restaurant, and the people shouting loudly to grill the skewers. The shop owner... These shots full of life can bring the audience closer to each other and make people want to explore further.

Although the tone of the documentary is "commercial", the shots of the food are not unattractive. "A String of Life", like other food documentaries, uses a lot of close-ups and high-speed shots. Especially in the process of seasoning, food processing, and barbecue, high-speed lenses are used with the sound effects to fully express the alluring feeling of barbecue. In the second episode "Darker than the Night", some ingredients that ordinary people generally would not choose to try, such as silkworm chrysalis, silkworms, pig eyes, etc., are also used to increase visual stimulation with close-ups and high-speed lenses. The theme of "darkness" is vividly expressed, adding a Jianghu atmosphere to the barbecue.

In addition to the exquisiteness of the food, the film also uses a lot of warm tones, the red and brown colors of the ingredients, and the warm yellow lighting in the store. These also increase the viewing value of the documentary and bring out the "warmth" of barbecue late at night. ” conveyed to the audience.

However, the use of these lenses is not enough to highlight the atmosphere of barbecue. The editing and soundtrack of "A String of Life" enhances the meaning that the director wants to express. In the section of the documentary that introduces Guangzhou barbecue, the drum beats are intensive and the screen changes quickly. The screen is switched by stepping on the drum beat until there is a "bang" sound, and the scallops stretch out on the grill. The change of rhythm makes the documentary extremely beautiful in form. The soundtrack is even more of a highlight. When Harbin Barbecue is about to appear, the documentary plays Harbin's classic soundtrack. The camera looks down from above, with high and low buildings flying past. The soundtrack gradually intensifies until the camera passes through the white smoke in front of the barbecue grill and captures the clear face of the shop owner. The music As a result, the protagonist who has been teased for a long time officially appears.

2. The sense of story in the world of rivers and lakes

The biggest contributors to creating the unique style of "A String of Life" are the commentary and dubbing. In China, the dubbing of long-form documentaries that audiences generally have access to are those with broadcasting skills, with loud, thick voices and smooth accents. But in order to better fit the theme of "A String of Life", director Chen Yingjie personally went into action.

Chen Yingjie’s hoarse cigarette voice dubbing has a strong sense of story, like a barbecue restaurant owner who has experienced the ups and downs of the world telling the audience the stories of barbecue in various places. Although this kind of dubbing attempt, which is different from the mainstream, was initially opposed, it has established a distinct "market-style" style for "A String of Life", giving people more room for imagination in addition to text and pictures. .

The highlight of the film is the commentary. The commentary of "A String of Life" abandons the traditional "popular science" type of commentary style. It uses the first person more often, using friendly and nagging names, such as "Sister Ping", "Old Wang" and "Brother Lively" to bring out each independent barbecue story.

This treatment is more like the opening of the story, as if the "he" in the commentary is beside you, holding a bottle of wine and chatting about life with the "you" who is listening.

In addition to the use of the first person, the commentary also personifies the ingredients and gives them life. In the explanation of roasted silkworm chrysalis, "If time is turned back and the silkworm chrysalis returns to its childhood, can it survive the childhood away from barbecue after turning into a green silkworm?"; in the explanation of roasted pig's eyes, it captures the "eyes" "Only by personal experience can you understand the mystery, just like being shocked by it when you have close contact for the first time." "The heat of pig eyes cannot escape Sister Ping's eyes. They have looked at each other countless times. This belongs to the dark night." The Queen's Perseverance."

The commentary of "A String of Life" is not only full of fireworks, but also extremely humorous. Commentaries often grasp a feature to associate or exaggerate, and use trivial colloquialism to express the effect of black humor. For example, in the episode "Darker than the Night", the documentary will show all kinds of weird barbecues. The opening commentary states that "the best food is Xiasanlu, and the excitement requires heavy taste", which sets the tone for the entire episode. In the explanation of Naohua BBQ, Lenovo exaggeration is used to the extreme. "At midnight, in this city with the most restaurants in the world, gluttonous zombies are wandering around looking for brains." This explanation not only points out that the theme of the upcoming barbecue is brains, but it is also very graphic and humorous, making the audience laugh.

In addition to these two points to create a Jianghu atmosphere, there is also the shooting of diners. When "A String of Life" shoots barbecue restaurants, it often takes many close-ups of diners. When eating barbecue, you need to take special close-ups of your mouth, and when chatting and chatting, you also need to take close-ups of your face. The inclusion of many interviews with diners not only enriches the audience's understanding and imagination of barbecue taste, but also enriches the character image of the protagonist, the shop owner. The most important thing about fireworks is that there are people. Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes. "A String of Life" captures this point very well, and uses a large number of diners' shots to create the legend and "down-to-earth" atmosphere of each barbecue restaurant.

Each story in "A String of Life" is an independently developed story. The documentary collages and combines these stories to create the feeling of the world, and at the end it reviews the story of the entire episode. The unfinished or upcoming actions of these protagonists are summarized and collaged to give the audience the feeling that the story will continue, and these protagonists are just like us ordinary people repeating the life of the previous day every day but leaving surprises. It also expresses the documentary's attitude of paying tribute to ordinary life. "How can we be soft when faced with the hardness of life? Lick your fingers, wipe your lips, bones, and take another bite."

3. The legend of the street hero

"Life Another major feature that distinguishes Yi Chuan from mainstream food documentaries is that it pays more attention to "people" stories. There is no sensationalism or deliberateness. The documentary shows the fireworks life of each shop owner to the audience, but it explores the more meaningful human beauty behind barbecue.

In "A String of Life", the owner of each barbecue restaurant is a big shot in his field. The diners gathered together because of their love for barbecue, and they became friends with the owner of the barbecue restaurant while enjoying the delicious food. Although some barbecue restaurant owners have traveled to different cities, their mobile phone numbers have never changed. As soon as diners contact them, they know where to look for this unique taste.

Fang Ge, the owner of a Harbin barbecue restaurant, spends his life barbecued with his wife. Love with the flavor of fireworks is also the longest love. Brother Fang’s silent confession to his wife is hidden in his years of barbecue skills.

Yangzhou Shang Laosan’s barbecue restaurant has benefited Yangzhong students the most. The documentary even joked, "If you don't know Shang Laosan, you are not a student of Yang Middle School." For these students, when they think back to their hometown and their youthful days many years later, they cannot avoid Shang Laosan BBQ Restaurant. This place carries their memories of a most beautiful time.

In the hearts of wanderers, the aroma of barbecue is the best description of their hometown. Make an appointment with one or two friends, order three taels of skewers, and a bottle of wine. The hard work of being away for many years will be dissolved in this atmosphere of words and laughter.

For each shop owner, the documentary focuses on shaping the shop owner’s understanding of barbecue, time, delicious food, and diners, from ingredient selection to ingredient processing, from picking up customers to chatting. Different people have different situations, such as career change, unemployment, and inheritance, but different stories contain each protagonist's free and easy attitude towards barbecue and life. This kind of atmosphere creation makes the audience willing to fall into the barbecue arena of different people and encounter a surprise in ordinary life.

"A String of Life" was first released on Station B. The 30-minute duration of each episode is well in line with the usage habits of new media platform users. With unique commentary and dubbing, it immediately became a "high-end" TV series. ” Outstanding among documentaries. But the most important thing about this documentary is not the form, but the deep expression of the fireworks in the world. "People's Daily" commented: The so-called "respect our appetite for meat and vegetables" does not actually encourage everyone to eat barbecue. The deeper meaning is to pay tribute to the ordinary life of the audience-here are the "longest "Confession of Love", it also has "the most refined mood", and it also has "the taste of time". And this is exactly why we feel endless aftertaste after watching "A String of Life". "Without fireworks, life is a lonely journey." We all hope to find a place to rest in our busy life, vent the emotions accumulated during the day, and spend a good time with someone.