Recap of highlights from CRHK radio show “On a
Clear Day” hosted by Kwok Chi Yan (郭志仁) – January 2,
2015
*** NOTE: Please
read part ONE before proceeding with the below. ***
Part 1 can be accessed here: http://llsmusings.blogspot.com/2015/01/crhk-radio-interview-with-hktv-director.html
***
PART TWO:
-
The second segment
starts with the host continuing the conversation (from part one) about how the
‘system’ at HKTV is different from TVB and that’s why the output is different
as well.
-
The host said that
the day before, he had interviewed Maggie Cheung (張可頤) and asked her about her thoughts
filming TBONTB. One of the things she
mentioned was that this was the first time in her acting career that she had received
the entire script prior to filming. At
TVB, it was nearly impossible to read the entire script prior to filming – they
usually only received the script for a few episodes at a time, so it was very
hard to grasp how the character is going to develop.
-
Given the topic of
‘on-the-fly’ scripts, the host asked his guests (scriptwriters Alex Pau and
Benny Wong and director KK Wong) how HKTV is able to achieve the ‘100% complete
scripts’ mandate.
o Benny Wong clarified that not every series at TVB was
‘on-the-fly’ – it really depended on which production team (some are worse than
others). In some cases, the scripts may
be close to completion, but the production team might have encountered some
‘problems’ or need to change the script for some reason, so they couldn’t
complete timely.
o Benny and Alex stated that HKTV must have complete
scripts prior to filming because Ricky Wong requires it – they are not allowed
to start filming until the script is 100% completed and distributed to the
artists.
o The reason why they were able to meet this consistently
was 1) the station had not launched yet so there was plenty of time to write
the script, and 2) HKTV has fewer obstacles in terms of ‘timing’ (meaning that
they don’t have to ‘jump through hoops’ to get their story ideas ‘approved’
like they did at TVB).
-
The host asked them
to describe what the script writing process entailed at TVB – he asserted
(somewhat sarcastically) that the ‘winning formula’ for TVB series seems to be to
write a generic story, throw in a few love triangles and/or complicated love
relationships, end with a ‘happily ever after’ barbecue scene, then
repeat. This is the ‘formula’ that TVB
has adopted for decades and audiences are so familiar with it already that it
has become a ‘culture’ of sorts.
o Alex stated that this ‘formulaic’ approach to
scriptwriting is not a ‘new’ thing – in fact, it has been in effect for many
many years. The reason TVB uses this
method is because it is easy, fast, and most efficient.
o The reason why it is ‘fast’ and ‘efficient’ goes back to
the ‘approval’ process mentioned earlier [in part one of the interview]. If the story idea that you are trying to
‘sell’ is obscure, controversial, complicated, etc., you will have difficulty
getting buy-in from all the people who need to ‘approve’….alot of time will be
wasted trying to ‘convince’ everyone to ‘accept’ your idea. [sidenote: at this point, the host jokingly said: “well,
unless you’re producer Jonathan Chik – otherwise, you will definitely waste a
time of time arguing”]
o Most of the scriptwriters at TVB conform to the process
because: 1) it’s fast and convenient – why delay people from getting off work
on time by trying to be ‘different’ and causing issues; 2) it’s less hassle – quickly ‘sell’ the
idea, get approval/buy-in, then can start filming right away; 3) the ratings
will always be good anyway [TN: TVB’s monopoly over the HK television
industry means that their ratings will always be decent no matter what type of
series they churn out], it makes the company happy, so why not?
-
The host turned to
KK Wong and asked him: for The Election,
if this were TVB, would you not even bother trying to ‘sell’ the idea, since
there would be so much opposition and it would for sure be banned?
o KK responded that at TVB, it’s best not to even mention
the word “politics”, as it’s a ‘taboo’ subject.
He said that if he were to even mention the word, his story idea wouldn’t
even get past the first stage of – it would have been ‘banned’ from the start.
[TN:
this coincides with what Alex Pau mentioned in the book he wrote about 6
or 7 years ago about his life as a scriptwriter – he listed all the topics that
are considered ‘taboo’ at TVB and they are not allowed to film… I don’t
remember all of them at the moment, but I know for sure ‘politics’ and ‘religion’
were 2 of those topics…]
o He also expressed that after working at TVB for a long
time, the scriptwriters and producers all have a ‘self-reflection’ and ‘self-censorship’
mentality – meaning that they already know they will encounter problems if they
even try tackling a particular topic, so why waste time attempting in the first
place?
o The other thing about the work environment at TVB that
complicates things is that they (the execs/management) are rarely forthcoming
or direct with you. For instance, if you
mention wanting to film one of the ‘taboo’ topics, they will never tell you
directly ‘no, you can’t do that’ – instead, they will ask you all sorts of
questions and make the process as difficult as possible, to the point that the
person who mentioned the idea will feel it’s too much hassle and decide to
abandon the idea on his/her own.
-
Both of HKTV’s
currently airing series reflect what is going on currently in society – The Election
talks about the HK political scene while To Be or Not To Be talks about the
long-time conflict between HK and Mainland China.
-
Discussion about the
series TBONTB:
o The host asked Alex Pau whether there is special
significance to the way the opening theme video and the transitional video
during each of the break segments are designed.
Just in case people didn’t notice, during the break segments, the middle
characters of the 7 character title are ‘blurred out’ – so if you read the
non-blurred characters only, you’ll notice it says ‘come HK people’….is there a
particular meaning to this?
o Alex answered that the design of the title flow should be
credited back to the series’ main director Luk Tin Wah. He said that there is indeed a purpose behind
the design – each audience will view the title in a different way depending on
their own background and experience. For
example, you can interpret those remaining characters as a way of encouraging
HK people (‘come on, Hong Kongers’) or you can look at is not wanting to be a
Hong Konger.
o The purpose of designing the title that way [TN: there’s also significance to the way the
artists’ names are listed in the opening credits, which wasn’t mentioned during
the interview but was explained on HKTV’s Facebook page later on] is to
make audiences think and reflect: if you
were given the choice, would you choose to be a Hong Konger? How about your children and grandchildren? Would you want them to be Hong Kongers?
o The host asked Alex for his personal interpretation of
the title: which perspective does he see
it from? The Mainland sister’s
perspective (HKers have a certain attitude and can’t stand them), the HK sister’s
perspective (too much pressure being a HKer due to all the conflicts and would
rather not be a HKer) or the ‘future foreboding’ perspective (sooner or later,
HKers will lose their identity and no longer be HKers)??
§ Alex stated that from a creativity standpoint, he can see
it from both perspectives (HK and Mainland).
He said he has a Mainland friend who once said to him: “HK is like a
spoiled child”…already treated well yet still wants more. This made him reflect and realize how true it
is that each person’s perspective will differ depending on which ‘side’ you
come from (HK side or Mainland side).
For example, some Mainlanders may think – hey, you guys (HKers) are
already given special treatment all the time, daddy already spoils you, lets
you play with all the toys and do things we can’t do, yet you still feel it’s
not enough and have to push for more?
Meanwhile, HKers see it from the opposite perspective and feel their
freedoms are being taken away.
§ This helped Alex understand that growing up in different
places with different education and cultural influences will cause your mindset
to be completely different. Taking it
down to a smaller scale – even in a household, you might all be HKers, yet you
could hold drastically different perspectives on things that could cause the
household/family to be divided.
§ The purpose of the title (and the series as a whole to
some extent) is to urge people to recognize that there are issues.
o To conclude the TBONTB segment, the host asked Alex a
very interesting personal question: in
your next life, would you choose to be a Hong Konger? Alex’s response: Yes, absolutely! Why?
Because even though HK is not what it used to be and despite all the
problems going on, he was born here, grew up here, his friends and family are
here, so he feels that even if the boat is truly sinking, he will accompany to
its end.
-
Next is discussion
about the series The Election:
o First, a fun fact – KK and Benny are actually brothers
(people may have noticed the similarity in their names). KK (the director) is the older brother and
Benny (the scriptwriter) is the younger brother.
o The host asks Benny:
this is the first time that a TV series about politics in HK has been
made. Without prior experience with this
type of topic, how were the ‘sensitive’ portions of the series handled? Previously at TVB, you wouldn’t dare to write
this kind of stuff, so now, writing it for the first time, what was going
through your mind? Were you worried at
all?
§ Benny said that when he first started writing the script,
he didn’t think much about whether the topic was ‘sensitive’ or not. He just wanted to lay out the story for
audiences and think of ways to add in the dramatic elements, since it IS a
drama series after all.
§ In the middle of writing however, he (and his brother KK)
started questioning himself – is this perhaps a bit overboard? Perhaps a bit too ‘sensitive’?
§ The host asked what parts were ‘sensitive’, to which the
brothers responded – the piece about the Media for example and their role in
politics as well as the back story of the TV station owner trying to pull
political strings to get her son out of prison – perhaps some of the elements
are a little bit too close to real life?
§ In the end, they decided to talk to Ricky Wong about it
and ask for his opinion. He said that if
they feel strongly about it to go ahead, but if anything happens, they will
also need to be accountable (along with himself of course).
§ Benny said that the main thing he kept in mind while
writing: their intention isn’t to
deliberately ‘insinuate’ anyone or anything – rather, their intention is to
create a series that people will want to watch, has dramatic elements, and
delivers the message that they want to get across.
o It was briefly mentioned that in terms of ‘sensitivity’
of the subject matter, season 2 of The Election will contain way more ‘sensitive’
material (as a ‘spoiler’ of sorts – the Media will be a huge focus in the
second season).
o The discussion then turned to all the complaints about
the ‘dark lighting’ of the series [TN:
those who have been following the news will probably have heard about this]. Was
the lighting done that way on purpose:
§ KK started off by saying that one of the good things
about working at HKTV is that all of the production team (director,
scriptwriter, lighting, props, makeup, etc.) stay in close communication with
each other (inferring that there was a lack of communication at TVB?).
§ Since everyone on the team has a ‘heart’ for making the
best series possible, their goal is the same, so it promotes an environment
where they constantly get together to discuss the various elements of filming.
§ KK said that they filmed the series with dark lighting on
purpose – as the director, he wanted more natural lighting because it would give
a more realistic effect, so the guys in charge of the lighting gave him
feedback on how to go about achieving this.
§ After hearing all the audience complaints about the
lighting, he realized that not all audiences are accepting of this type of
lighting (hence they decided to add a “brightened” version of the series for
those who couldn’t accept the “darkness”).
He said that he will keep this in mind for next time.
§ Benny added that when they do the post-editing for the
final cut of each episode, they use high quality specialized monitors that
bring out all the colors and details and very meticulously go through each
scene – but they realize that when the finished product comes out, majority of
the audiences will see things differently because they are not watching on the
same specialized monitors that the production team is.
-
To conclude the
interview, the host asked the team what they would like audiences to ‘pay close
attention’ to when watching both series.
o For TE, the director and scriptwriter would like
audiences to really pay attention to the way the series was filmed and the
unique way the story is told: the
dialogue is not very blunt or direct and oftentimes, audiences have to ‘read
between the lines’ – this isn’t a series that will be easily understood by just
‘listening’. Also, the other elements
that make up the story, such as the ‘daring’ subject matter, concentration on
one main story arc (the Chief Executive election), the political philosophies
of the main characters, etc. – for example, the main character Yip Ching
(Angelica Lee) running her political campaign based on the tenant of ‘fairness’…should
cause people to reflect…
o For TBONTB – in addition to the fine acting from the cast
as well as the good script, Alex would also like audiences to pay attention to
the aspects of the production that are not as easily ‘seen’ – for example, the quality
and aesthetics of the production (the cinematography, lighting, camera angles,
etc.). He would like audiences to ‘feel’
the effort put into the production and give credit back to the production crew
behind-the-scenes who worked so hard to make things happen.
