writer/ Xu Wei
editor/ Meng Huiyuan
"I owe you a movie ticket" series has added a new member.
Following Xu Zheng's "囧妈", netizens once again ushered in a free online movie. It is reported that " Big Winner ", which was originally scheduled to be screened in theaters on February 21, has been released on March 20 on multiple online platforms such as Toutiao, Douyin, and Watermelon Video for free.
Affected by the epidemic, many movies have to be withdrawn or postponed. Seeing that the theater-line movies are released indefinitely, the first webcast mode of "囧母" has become the common choice of many peers. Up to now, a total of three domestic cinema movies have been converted to webcasts: In addition to the two free movies "囧妈" and "Big Winner", there is also "Fatty Dragon Crossing the River" that needs to be paid to watch.
is unexpected, the word-of-mouth of "囧Mom" and "Fat Dragon Crossing the River" are completely different due to whether they are charged or not. Some netizens complained online, "I feel sorry for my six dollars. It feels a little worse than "囧Mom". I feel embarrassed to see me with a smile, but I did a good job in fighting." This also reflects the theater movie. There are still many problems on the road of webcasting: how to quickly cultivate the user’s paying habit? How to solve the problem of profit after film webcasting? How to bridge the gap between online and offline viewing experience?
Webcasts are showing a global trend.
Not only is the Chinese film market being hit by the epidemic, but as the foreign epidemic intensifies, the overseas film industry is also facing an existential crisis.
In the past few days, major US cinema chains, including AMC, Cinemark, Regal, etc., have successively announced the closure of all their cinemas; "Mulan", "007: No Time to Die" and "Black Widow" were originally scheduled for March to May. Heavyweight films have withdrawn or postponed; "Batman", "Fantastic Beasts 3", "Lal Singh Chada" and other film crews are also suspended.
The overseas film makers that have shut down due to the epidemic have made the same decision as in China : Universal, Sony, Warner Bros. and Disney have announced that some of their films will be placed on streaming media platforms in advance, and will start the online on-demand mode .
Compared with domestic film makers who completely abandon offline channels for new films and concentrate on webcasting, most overseas film makers just put some of the movies that are currently being shown on the line.
NBC Universal will release the short-lived "Hunting," "The Invisible Man," and "Emma" on March 20. Each movie will be on-demand at a 48-hour on-demand rental price of US$19.9. Warner Bros. will broadcast on the on-demand platform. Squad", "Justice of Mercy" and "The Road to Return" three films that have been screened in theaters earlier will be launched on the streaming media platform on March 24...
In addition, some new films to be released will also be used Simultaneous online and offline screening. For example, NBC Universal’s animation "Magic Hair: A Journey of the World" planned to be released on April 10 will land on the theaters as originally planned, and will broadcast on-demand streaming on the same day.
Previously, when "囧妈" pioneered the transfer of theatrical movies online, it was strongly opposed by the theaters , "The revenue of the film and television industry is different from the payment model that the industry has cultivated over the years. The trampling and deliberate destruction of the current Chinese film industry and distribution mechanism will play a destructive lead."
No one thought that the webcast of "囧 Mom" not only made the audience praised again and again, but also received a lot of traffic blessings-"囧 Mom" had a total of more than 600 million views in three days, and there were more than 320,000 positive comments from users, mostly Average.
Nowadays, the webcasting mode has become the best hope for many theater-line movies, and the streaming media platform, which was repeatedly boycotted by the traditional film industry, has become the best choice for reducing losses.
three big problems waiting to be answered
prepared in webcast modeIn the context of being respected and widely quoted, some problems that urgently need to be solved by film makers have also been exposed.
"囧妈"'s pioneering work in webcasting gave it a double harvest of word of mouth and traffic. The "Fatty Dragon Crossing the River" that followed the trend on the web has not received the same treatment. The reason for is that it is free of charge while the latter charges are inseparable from . "Fat Dragon Crossing the River" chooses to land on iQiyi and Tencent for the premiere of video. It needs to be paid on-demand for a member price of 6 yuan and a non-member price of 12 yuan.
"Fat Dragon Crossing the River" was complained by netizens
Some netizens said that only the fee for "Fatty Dragon Crossing the River" determined their initial attitude towards the movie. "The evaluation criteria for paid products will definitely be more stringent. They are all webcast movies. Once it is discovered that the paid "Fat Dragon Crossing the River" is poisonous, or the plot is not as good as the free "囧Mom ", there will be a feeling that money has been spent."
The fact is that since 2014, the country has increased its efforts to combat piracy and mainstream video sites have jointly combated the piracy industry chain, thereby creating a good film and television copyright ecology, and the rapid development of mobile payment, providing users with a safe and convenient payment experience. Conditions, the payment habit of domestic online video users can be difficult to develop.
Despite this, domestic online video platforms dominated by Youku, iQiyi, and Tencent Video still face the dilemma of high costs and losses year after year. From this point of view, it has to be said that the free webcast of "囧妈" is actually a not-so-good start for the online operation of cinema movies.
"囧Mom" can become a traffic harvester during the Spring Festival, to a large extent because of its "free play", "own heat and quality", "first webcast cinema movie", "Spring Festival file" "The only movie shown" and other multiple attributes. In a sense, these attributes have also become invisible thresholds for other cinema network movie broadcasts.
For example, the free broadcast of "囧Mom" will discount the reputation of the paid "Fat Dragon Crossing the River". Another example is when the first "crab" " 囧妈" earned a lot of freshness from users. After the webcast mode is gradually rolled out, it faces more fierce competition, and it is difficult for other theaters to stand out. Will be bigger. According to relevant industry insiders, "囧Mom" undoubtedly drives more high-quality movies to choose online playback mode, which is also the value trend of online distribution. In this case, what is the correct profit model for and how to promote users Taking the initiative to pay has become the two major problems that the traditional film industry needs to think about and answer.
At the same time, the huge difference between online and offline viewing experience is also a practical problem that must be solved in theater-line movie webcasting. Donnie Yen, who starred in "Fat Dragon Crossing the River", is very concerned about the fans’ sense of watching the movies on the web. "Are the TV screens in your home still quite big? Do you know that mobile phones can be used for TV projection?"
Cinema The overall audio-visual effect brought to users by the large screen of is unmatched by online channels. Of course, as far as the experience is concerned, it can also be slightly compensated in terms of price. According to the price of Chinese movies, most of them are in the range of 34-38 yuan. The webcast price of "Fat Dragon Crossing the River" can be said to be very close to the people, but movie manufacturers How to balance high production costs with relatively low online prices?
The transformation and upgrading of the traditional film industry
With the help of the epidemic, the webcasting model has become a general trend to sweep the world. In fact, with the popularization and development of the mobile Internet, some movie makers have already tried to embrace the Internet.
In 2014, the martial arts movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II: Sword of Destiny" was released simultaneously on Netflix online and IMAX theaters in North America. This is also the world's first Hollywood blockbuster with a "zero window period" in theaters and online theaters. The resistance of Hollywood theaters did not arouse much splash.
Since then, every movie produced by Netflix will be premiered online and offline simultaneously. Unfortunately,Under the joint suppression of Hollywood theaters, Netflix has not been able to completely break the barrier between theater movies and online channels.
On the one hand, the benefits of cinema screenings to film producers are , which is difficult for streaming media platforms to reach. Even if the epidemic is current, it is unlikely that high-cost productions such as "Mulan" and "Fast and Passion 9" will choose webcasts. It will be too big. Considering the cost and benefits, the film studio will even postpone another six months to one year after the file is withdrawn. The global release of
will be postponed to April next year.
. Entering the era of fragmented entertainment, the audience's acceptance of small screens is also increasing. However, in terms of movie viewing experience, the big screen is still not a substitute for .
"For this new mode of watching movies (online play), I always hold a relatively optimistic attitude. After all, it is a special approach under special circumstances. It will be difficult to become the norm in the future. Cinemas always have a fixed advantage. "Tang Le, the film manager at the headquarters of Huayi Brothers Cinema Management Company, said.
However, in a special period, for small and medium-sized movies, webcasting can help them withdraw funds quickly, and streaming media platforms can improve operational efficiency , but the film party has achieved miraculous effects. Even when the epidemic is over, theaters will inevitably usher in a wave of movie releases. For many less competitive theater movies, webcasting is a better way to show them.
Generally speaking, with the development of the times, it is an inevitable trend for the traditional film industry to go online. The epidemic may become a major opportunity for the overall transformation of the traditional film industry. When offline channels are not available and traditional film makers have to focus on online, they will realize that online and offline are not different That is the relationship between others, but can be interdependent and coordinated development .
