Reporter/Li Jingjing
Editor/Yang Baolu
In the past two years, Hengdian has become a "vertical store" and has become the most watched trend in the film and television industry. In the "Stand Store", on average, nearly a hundred short drama crews start work every week. There were few people and tight funds, so I just turned the camera's horizontal screen to vertical screen and the shooting started. Many short drama production teams often finish filming a drama in a week, and to match this, there is a myth that is frequently circulated among the crews that a certain crew spent tens of millions of dollars in a few hours.
However, with the continuous tightening of supervision and the tightening of policies, the direction of the trend is quietly changing. The higher requirements put forward by platforms such as Douyin are also accelerating, forcing the reckless short drama Jianghu to reshuffle. With the demise of professional production teams, the short drama market, which has been growing wildly, has also begun to pursue better content and more sophisticated aesthetics.
Start with a good story
In the dark and tall torture chamber, a man wore black gloves and raised his fists high. The dull and muffled sound of the fists hitting the flesh and the dense drum music pushed the tense and suspenseful atmosphere to a climax.
"Real fear does not come from violence, but from ignorance and uncertainty." The words were spoken, and the suspense unfolded in the narrative of alternating time and space. "In that turbulent era, I was the only survivor." The thin face of an elderly man flashed by - who was he? Who is "Autumn Cicada"? Why was he the only one who survived? The content of the first episode of the mini-series "The Hidden World of Autumn Cicada" whetted the audience's appetite.
This is the first period spy mini-series in China, adapted from the novel of the same name. This story was "digged" by Dengfeng International CEO and producer Liu Kailuo in 2022. While riding in a taxi with the familiar novel author Lai Ji, he accidentally learned about this moving story based on the prototype of a hidden front hero. story.
Liu Kailuo couldn't help but be moved when he mentioned this story: "We usually play werewolf games, and 'jumping bandits' is just a strategy. But in that era, every exposure meant the price of life. As the younger generation, we hope that through telling Good stories should be known to more people and remembered by more people."
Liu Kailuo, who was the president of Heyi Pictures, has produced films including " The Wandering Earth " series, " Me and My Fathers " and " Long" "Jinhu " and other excellent films, while deeply involved in large-scale production, he also noticed the gradually heating up waters of micro-short dramas. The popularity of micro-short dramas has continued to heat up since 2022. Industry data predicts that micro-short dramas will be the first in 2023. The drama market size is about 20 billion to 30 billion yuan, accounting for about 40% of the movie market. The field of
spy war short dramas has been rarely attempted. Liu Kailuo thought of that novel. The multiple reversal plot setting is suitable for this new era. product form. He found director Wang Yan who was also interested in the story, and they hit it off immediately and planned to adapt it into a short play.
During the project preparation process, Liu Kailuo was invited to participate in a micro-short drama sharing meeting held by Douyin. At the meeting, he saw well-produced and widely circulated vertical screen micro-short dramas such as "Twenty-Nine", and he realized It can be seen that compared with traditional horizontal screen products, vertical screen micro-short dramas may be a novel form more worthy of exploration and exploration. So, he decided to turn the project into a vertical screen short play.
Wang Yan studied photography at the Beijing Film Academy. He won the 9th Chinese Youth Image Forum Annual New Photography Award for " I am not Wang Mao ". He has extremely strict requirements for images and has directed many TV series. When he decided to switch to vertical screen, Liu Kailuo was still a little worried that it would be difficult to persuade the director to accept "vertical screen". Unexpectedly, Wang Yan readily agreed - "Whether it is horizontal screen or vertical screen, it is just a form of expression, and there is no good or bad form." But the content is there."
In fact, before coming into contact with "The Hidden World: Autumn Cicada", Wang Yan also knew about micro-short plays. He admitted that he was not interested in some stories that were "exciting" and brainless counterattacks. He didn’t catch a cold, but he was moved by the forbearance of the protagonist and the passion of the story in “The Hidden World: Autumn Cicada”. “It’s different from the excitement of fighting in the frontal battlefield, the undercurrents in a quiet life, and you don’t know who lives and who dies until the end. The story is even more suspenseful. I think there should be such a series in the vertical screen market."
In order to make the film more realistic, Wang Yan and the creative staff also specifically reviewed historical materials and visited researchers on relevant historical events. "We have to do research and understand clearly to avoid showing cowardice. "The researchers at
gave a lot of inspiration to the main creative staff. Many spy dramas now use a presentation method that reveals the identity right from the beginning, which is not realistic. The creative team also adjusted the narrative method of the story based on this suggestion. The first episode lasted more than 4 minutes. , full of conflicting plots, immersing the audience in the puzzle. This stripped-down "script-killing" shooting method also gives the audience a greater sense of participation in solving the puzzle.
As for it, a short drama requires more than 100 people Filming
In early May 2023, the crew of "The Hidden World: Autumn Cicada" came to Hengdian, known as "China's Hollywood". When this professional production team of more than 100 people appeared in Hengdian's "Guangzhou Street" When walking on the streets of "Republic of China Street", many other production teams raised eyebrows - "As for that, a short play actually requires more than a hundred people to shoot." "
Wang Yan retains the traditional film and television people's "cleanliness" about the beauty of the picture. Simply and crudely turning the lens upside down to shoot directly will cause distortion of the picture. When the face moves up and down, the edges of the picture will be pulled and cracked to varying degrees. . After trying different shooting methods, he figured out a method that could not only meet the requirements of vertical screen shooting, but also ensure the quality of the picture - the equipment used on the set was still a film and television drama-level ISA camera, and the shooting method was Draw a 9:16 viewfinder in the middle of the screen, select the small piece in the middle of the horizontal screen and crop it into a vertical screen. In this way, the lens can change from the 12mm that may be used in the vertical screen to at least a 35mm focal length, which is closer to how people see each other with the naked eye. Perception: “The amount of storage used in the end may be huge, but only one-third of the material is actually used. "
Many people in the crew are Wang Yan's "old friends". They followed him from film movies to TV series, and then to online series. However, when it comes to vertical screen shooting, everyone is a "layman".
Therefore, At the shooting scene, Wang Yan had to correct the cameraman again and again, "Brother, who are you photographing? He said that I was filming an actor, and I said that the actor was not in the frame. Did he say that this was not in the frame? I said, brother, we stand vertically, we only want the core in the middle, what’s the use of patting the skin! "Wang Yan said with a smile. He also has higher requirements for group performances. "Some people may have done too many other vertical screen dramas and can't even fasten their buttons properly. I will remind them to take it seriously. "The creative team of
once discussed the limit of budget compression for vertical screen dramas, but Wang Yan realized based on his professional photography experience that vertical screen does not mean "saving as much as possible" on the scene. On the contrary, he believes that vertical screen When shooting, we just stretched the scene shots that require horizontal attention in the horizontal screen vertically. The requirements for the richness of the picture are reduced, but the requirements for accuracy are higher. "For example, at a dance, we might shoot a scene when the screen is horizontal." A building is enough, but when shooting a vertical screen, you need to clear out the top and bottom of the floor, and the character's position must also be up and down to show the relationship. "
The budget is tight, the time is short, and the fast-paced Hengdian cannot tolerate any delays. As soon as the scenes are finished, another crew will come in immediately. Torture chambers, dance parties, street scenes... Wang Yan will paint complex scenes every night. Vertical screen splitting in order to achieve higher shooting efficiency the next day. With careful planning, Wang Yan’s vertical screen splitting became better and better without missing a single scene.
Money should be spent wisely. In order to save budget, he also "snapped" a lot of other people's attention. Props and cars are expensive, so use them to shoot several scenes at once; venue costs are expensive, so shoot as many scenes as possible in a dance hall; lighting is needed , then hurry up and touch the lights of the next team before work ends. "The story cannot be made up randomly, the camera cannot be shot randomly, and the performance must be concise and accurate." "This simple concept has been throughout Wang Yan's filming.
In terms of actors, "The Hidden World: Autumn Cicada" did not skimp on the budget. The leading actors invited are all well-known film and television actors, who play the role of Lu Banfeng, the director of the Kuomintang Inspection Division. The actor is TVB TVB King Haoxin.
Before accepting the director's invitation, Wang Haoxin had heard rumors about the "rough production of vertical screen short plays", but he gave up his concerns after discovering that the production team was a professional team in the industry. When
first appeared, Wang Haoxin felt the difference between vertical screen shooting and horizontal screen shooting. The accuracy of attitude and position was much higher than that of horizontal screen shooting. He told reporters that the audience may also notice the scene on the horizontal screen. , but in the vertical screen, the characters always occupy the focus, which places higher requirements on the actors' demeanor and micro-expressions. After filming the scene of his execution, he went to the monitor to check the light, shadow and composition. He found that the vertical screen captured the character's cold and twisted face very well. "The staff on the scene were all scared by me." Wang Haoxin said with a smile.
"For example, if the director wants to capture a scene where I throw a coin into the sky and it falls on my hand, the actor's position must be very accurate; also when shooting a physical conflict, the fist may come out of the picture left and right. Therefore, body movements also need to move up and down." Wang Haoxin explained. But he quickly adapted to this shooting method. If he encountered a scene that he was not sure about, he would try it several times within the frame to ensure that it would not "appear".
Wang Haoxin feels that the production staff are very "volume" and the actors are also very dedicated. "When we were filming the interrogation scenes, there were some topless scenes, so when we weren't filming, we could always meet each other in the gym. There was also an interrogation scene that required us to stand on ice in the studio with the actor opposite me. We stood on the ice for several hours, carrying the cold and shooting the real scene."
voting rights in the audience
"The Hidden World: Autumn Cicada" was filmed for 15 days and post-production was done for three months. After the finished film was completed, Liu Kailuo watched 15 episodes in one breath. "The effect was unexpected and I was very surprised." He showed the film to his colleagues and observed everyone's reactions while showing it to see where they were nervous. , frowned, laughed.
Liu Kailuo believes that the current business model of micro-short dramas is to sell content products directly to the audience - "There may be more mature business models in the future, but at least for now, the audience has the right to decide, and they can top up if they like you." "In terms of the production of drama series, traditional film and television production staff are undoubtedly professional. In terms of audience preference, Douyin also gave some suggestions on data points to help the production staff remove some plot branches and make the plot more compact.
Wang Yan also feels the same way, "Vertical screen short dramas cannot succumb to shoddy productions. We have an obligation to present good works to the audience so that the audience can improve their aesthetic appreciation, rather than taking it for granted that the short drama audience only deserves to watch some shoddy works." ." He kept holding a breath in his heart. When explaining the director's production, he mentioned that he must use the real story background, cruel social reality, tense storyline, rigorous logical thinking, and high-level image impact to create A vertical screen drama with new visual senses. "If you blow your mind, you must bring it back."
From TV series to online dramas to short plays, he has always embraced every form with an open mind. "I don't think the audience is impatient. As long as you shoot well enough, no one will realize that the time is very long."
With the collective efforts of the production team and the platform, the ecology of short dramas is slowly changing. Now, Many professional film and television companies, famous directors and creators have entered the short drama market. The well-known Hong Kong director Wang Jing and many well-known film and television drama directors and actors have tried their hand at it. There are also many online writers and traditional film and television screenwriters who have transformed into short play screenwriters.
The mass demise of traditional film and television companies has brought a lot of "regular army shock" to the micro-short drama market. Douyin's "Twenty-Nine", "Full-time Househusband Training Plan" and other high-quality short dramas launched in the past year, from the cast In terms of shooting quality and service, it is comparable to a high-quality long drama. Many viewers said, "This is what I want to watch in a short play, but professional actors are different." "It's much more exciting than a long play filled with water." "Sure enough, professional things need to be done by professionals."This has also led the entire industry to break away from the routine plots such as "upgrading a son-in-law", "slapping water in the face", and "tearing up the mistress" that have been criticized by the audience, gradually tearing off the label of "catching the horse", and presenting a more three-dimensional character creation, Richer details and core expressions with more contemporary value.
html On January 18, Douyin held a press conference for the high-quality micro-short drama "Chenxing Project" in Beijing, targeting film and television companies, media organizations, mcn organizations and individual creators. extended an olive branch and announced that it would provide financial and traffic support to high-quality micro-short dramas. At the meeting, Douyin also released the 2024 Spring Festival high-quality micro-short drama film list. Ten works will be online during the Spring Festival, in addition to "Beyond! A Juan" "Tianya Little Nyonya" and many other micro-short dramas derived from popular "film and television IP", including this novel "The Hidden World of Autumn Cicada".Liu Kailuo said frankly that the emergence of new things will inevitably experience brutality at the beginning In the growth stage, as the market becomes more standardized and more and more professional teams enter the market, the stereotype of micro-short dramas will also be changed. "As the business model of micro-short dramas becomes more and more mature, I believe that there will be The sophistication of a one-day short drama can rival any traditional content form. "
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