Haha. I’m technically a doting fan but this new charming side of Xiao Ran is turning me into a dreamgirl. Her 长乐曲cameo as the young version of the Dowager Empress was absolute🔥. I still go watch clips even now.
I think it was more of a collaborative credit then GJM writing everything. So the source of the “everyone says…
This is true. Everyone has their own love. And the discussion is always better when 100 flowers are allowed to bloom. We’re definitely very different in opinion but that’s okay. We’ve been having a pretty productive and interesting conversation so far🤝.
I think a lot of people won’t get my interpretation. It’s not really the view of the audience but more like dissecting a work from a creator’s POV using the discourse from both foreign and Chinese viewers to examine what seems to work and what doesn’t. And I’ll also be honest that I don’t like most of GJM’s recent work very much but it’s not because I can’t understand his storylines. It’s not about complexity, linear storytelling, or romance to me either because they are all fluid factors. It’s just as a director, he’s just really not my cup of tea. Or rather, I think in terms of overall delivery, he’s better at modern stories. That’s actually where he first made his mark. But I can understand why his costume dramas pull in audiences though. There are few Cdrama TV directors who can world-build like he can and world building is essential to costume dramas, especially fantasy ones.
In terms of creative freedom, I feel that directors should have the right to make decisions- the director can focus on whoever and whatever they want, however they want. But if they do, they also have to accept that with the praise may also come criticism-the audience may not like it, that artists may be more wary of working with them in the future, and that it may be harder to find investors. There also has to be some integrity. Some things like billing are contractual agreements and so should be honoured. If a director doesn’t want to work within the confines of billing, then make that clear to artists from the start. And if you accept the leads, respect them in and outside of the drama. If a director can’t do this, especially if the cast is hardworking and dedicated, choose new leads or leave the project. I can’t say I always agree with the intensity and pedantic nature of the fights, but the screen time is related to this too. I think counting down the seconds is ridiculous but I also think screen time should remain proportional and reasonable to the role. A side character with a disproportionate amount of focus or character embellishment is just as unbalanced as a lead with filler arcs and overpowered settings.
And about liking GJM’s work, I don’t think it’s a case of “People who can’t handle it” but just a preference thing.
And I don’t know if GJM is petty. He might be😂It just seems a bit ridiculous to think he’s personally sitting next to the editor with a stopwatch saying “give ABC 10 more seconds than the rest of the cast so I can piss everyone off”.
I think it was more of a collaborative credit then GJM writing everything. So the source of the “everyone says…
Actually, this is an unpopular opinion but I’d argue that he didn’t make it work. And while I wouldn’t say he’s necessarily selfish, I feel like he wants to shape his worlds to his own vision regardless of what the story needs or the audience wants and his amount of voice seems to be getting in his way. That’s why there’s this constant argument about screen time which is essentially an argument about focus and why his character driven shows are always said to have wandering plots.
I started loosely following the show from when it was still in the casting rumors stage and my feeling has always been that the main characters of FoF are ZYZ and WX. This is what GJM initially sold to the audience so this is what the audience expects. A well developed character driven story understands where the focus needs to be and that all the key characters must be 3D. But he didn’t deliver this. ZYZ is sidelined and WX is crushed so the story feels very unbalanced. It has been said FoF is a group portrait in response but group portraits are delicate balancing acts-depicting many main characters requires a keen sense of proportion. FoF doesn’t have this and I don’t think GJM has mastered it yet. He’s still focusing a good chunk of the story on a single daffodil when he first told the audience it was story about roses and then said it was a story about a garden.
It probably has to do with censorship but it’s like he can’t choose the correct protagonist(s). And if you don’t choose the correct protagonist, the whole story suffers. His fix seems to be to shift the camera to whom he thinks should be the protagonists but he can’t market one set of characters to then keep the camera on a completely different set of characters- the audience will either feel cheated or they will feel something is wrong with his storytelling ability because he fails on a key element of storytelling which is to deliver the story that was sold.
That said, I don’t doubt he loves the worlds and characters. It’s just that sometimes a creator gets so stuck in their world, they can’t see the forest for the trees.
I think it was more of a collaborative credit then GJM writing everything. So the source of the “everyone says…
This^. Directors can be key decision makers. That’s why there’s so many people clamouring to work with good or famous ones. I think some forget GJM came from movies. Movie directors generally have more control than TV directors and director with his own core fanbase definitely will have some sort of voice. As you’ve mentioned, he was part of writing the original story. Even if he is not the screenwriter, the screenwriters will use his story as the base/core of their work. As a director, he also has the ability to cut, amend, add scenes, as well as shape the characters’ emotions and portrayal. As the director, he works with the editor who sets the tone of the show and can make or break a film. If he is an executive producer, this also gives him a level of voice a pure director might not have. Honestly, rather than intentionally deciding someone was going to get more screentime, it feels more like GJM wanted to focus on a particular storyline/character and as a result, they got more time. He’s good at visuals but he struggles with rhythm and showcasing the world outside his favourite characters. And while I’ve never read his work, his directorial style is the type that spends a whole page describing a flower he feels is pretty regardless of how it affects the pace of the story or the reader's experience.
2 
6 
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5220881456693558
We’re definitely very different in opinion but that’s okay. We’ve been having a pretty productive and interesting conversation so far🤝.
I think a lot of people won’t get my interpretation. It’s not really the view of the audience but more like dissecting a work from a creator’s POV using the discourse from
both foreign and Chinese viewers to examine what seems to work and what doesn’t. And I’ll also be honest that I don’t like most of GJM’s recent work very much but it’s not because I can’t understand his storylines. It’s not about complexity, linear storytelling, or romance to me either because they are all fluid factors. It’s just as a director, he’s just really not my cup of tea. Or rather, I think in terms of overall delivery, he’s better at modern stories. That’s actually where he first made his mark. But I can understand why his costume dramas pull in audiences though. There are few Cdrama TV directors who can world-build like he can and world building is essential to costume dramas, especially fantasy ones.
In terms of creative freedom, I feel that directors should have the right to make decisions- the director can focus on whoever and whatever they want, however they want. But if they do, they also have to accept that with the praise may also come criticism-the audience may not like it, that artists may be more wary of working with them in the future, and that it may be harder to find investors. There also has to be some integrity. Some things like billing are contractual agreements and so should be honoured. If a director doesn’t want to work within the confines of billing, then make that clear to artists from the start. And if you accept the leads, respect them in and outside of the drama. If a director can’t do this, especially if the cast is hardworking and dedicated, choose new leads or leave the project. I can’t say I always agree with the intensity and pedantic nature of the fights, but the screen time is related to this too. I think counting down the seconds is ridiculous but I also think screen time should remain proportional and reasonable to the role. A side character with a disproportionate amount of focus or character embellishment is just as unbalanced as a lead with filler arcs and overpowered settings.
And about liking GJM’s work, I don’t think it’s a case of “People who can’t handle it” but just a preference thing.
And I don’t know if GJM is petty. He might be😂It just seems a bit ridiculous to think he’s personally sitting next to the editor with a stopwatch saying “give ABC 10 more seconds than the rest of the cast so I can piss everyone off”.
I started loosely following the show from when it was still in the casting rumors stage and my feeling has always been that the main characters of FoF are ZYZ and WX. This is what GJM initially sold to the audience so this is what the audience expects. A well developed character driven story understands where the focus needs to be and that all the key characters must be 3D. But he didn’t deliver this. ZYZ is sidelined and WX is crushed so the story feels very unbalanced. It has been said FoF is a group portrait in response but group portraits are delicate balancing acts-depicting many main characters requires a keen sense of proportion. FoF doesn’t have this and I don’t think GJM has mastered it yet. He’s still focusing a good chunk of the story on a single daffodil when he first told the audience it was story about roses and then said it was a story about a garden.
It probably has to do with censorship but it’s like he can’t choose the correct protagonist(s).
And if you don’t choose the correct protagonist, the whole story suffers. His fix seems to be to shift the camera to whom he thinks should be the protagonists but he can’t market one set of characters to then keep the camera on a completely different set of characters- the audience will either feel cheated or they will feel something is wrong with his storytelling ability because he fails on a key element of storytelling which is to deliver the story that was sold.
That said, I don’t doubt he loves the worlds and characters. It’s just that sometimes a creator gets so stuck in their world, they can’t see the forest for the trees.
Honestly, rather than intentionally deciding someone was going to get more screentime, it feels more like GJM wanted to focus on a particular storyline/character and as a result, they got more time. He’s good at visuals but he struggles with rhythm and showcasing the world outside his favourite characters. And while I’ve never read his work, his directorial style is the type that spends a whole page describing a flower he feels is pretty regardless of how it affects the pace of the story or the reader's experience.
This photoshoot is gorgeous!
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5218740155187359
Assistant Live Photos
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5218771358712038
Studio photos
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5218765017189707