1905 Movie Network Special Article Stephen Chow wants to make a short drama, which caused a lot of noise.
Recently, Stephen Chow officially announced that he will enter the field of short plays and launch the comedy label "9527 Theater", which will unite outstanding young creators to create content for users based on the Douyin account of "Director Stephen Chow's Works". The first micro-short drama "Golden Pigs and Jade Leaves" is scheduled to be launched in May this year. It will be produced by Stephen Chow, supervised by Yi Xiaoxing, and starred by A-list actresses.
Whether Stephen Chow will personally direct the film has not yet been announced. When movie fans who are familiar with Stephen Chow see the number "9527", they will naturally think that this is the number of Tang Bohu, played by Stephen Chow, who works as a servant in Washington in "Tang Bohu Spots Autumn Fragrance".
Stephen Chow expressed his views on short dramas in an interview: "Short dramas are a rapidly developing field of technological innovation and media innovation in recent years... I am looking forward to this new attempt, and everyone will support it." When Stephen Chow's nonsensical comedies and fast-paced movies What kind of sparks will be produced when the rhythmic short play format collides?
2023 can be called the "year of short plays". According to relevant statistics, the total number of short dramas released throughout the year exceeded 1,400, with a year-on-year growth rate of 50%, and the number of registered short dramas was nearly 3,000. The market size of short dramas was nearly 40 billion, which was close to 70% of the film market in the same year. The industry is showing a trend of explosive expansion.
After the "9527 Theater" was exposed, netizens had different positions. Some people say that Stephen Chow is following the capital craze and consuming classic sentiments. "What he is afraid of is that he will not be able to protect himself at the end of the year, which will ruin his signature for so many years." Some people look down on the movie King of Comedy's reduced dimensionality and low price to make micro-short dramas. Some people remain optimistic about this and look forward to it. "Xingye" can bring high-quality works to the short drama market that is growing wildly and has serious homogeneity in themes.
In fact, this is not the first time that Stephen Chow has broadened his runway: in the technical field, he had earlier issued an article publicly looking for web3 talents (web3 refers to the potential next stage of the Internet, a "go-to" platform running on "blockchain" technology. Centralized Internet), indicating that the web3+ai project is being studied. In the field of animation, last year he served as the producer of the Netflix animated film " Monkey King ". His subsidiary Bigo Group will also develop animated films and produce three independent animations.
Judging from the current results of "The Monkey King", Douban scored 5.5 points, imdb scored 5.7 points, and Rotten Tomatoes freshness was 59%. The results are not ideal. However, it is unknown how much content Stephen Chow was involved in as a producer.
may be interested in testing different fields, or may have interests in making money, but there is no conflict between the two. The short drama industry is becoming a new outlet for content. What can Stephen Chow bring to the table? Good or bad, it never hurts to give it a try. Moreover, he is also preparing for his new movie "Shaolin Women's Football".
After many directors reached their creative peak and created a number of classic masterpieces, they failed to keep up with the changes of the times in time, could not find new positions and goals, and were quickly surpassed by later waves. Like Stephen Chow, who "doesn't put all his eggs in the same basket" and engages in multiple fields, he is actually looking for different opportunities to extend his creative life.
Director Zhang Yimou is the most representative. For example, his new Spring Festival work "Article 20", judging from the materials and information released so far, does not have the iconic color aesthetics of the past, nor does it pay special attention to the composition, shape and other formal aspects of audiovisual aspects. The overall look is very "simple".
Zhang Yimou said that this is a "neo-realism" movie. The story is intended to be understandable to ordinary people. The serious rule of law theme is made into a comedy type to cater to the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival.
Fans who like Zhang Yimou's consistent style may be surprised when they see this work: it is very unlike Zhang Yimou. Indeed, Zhang Yimou has been pursuing innovation and change over the years, subverting the public's established impression every time.
From the early days of adapting literary novels to making art films, to investing in large-scale productions and large-scale commercial blockbusters, and now gradually abandoning the past obsession and exploration of visual spectacles and forms of expression, Zhang Yimou is currently focusing more on telling good stories. ."Above the Cliff", "Sniper", "Across the River" and "Solid as a Rock" all reflect Zhang Yimou's subtraction in form, addition in plot, and pursuit of dramatic tension in the story.
"Sniper" and "Man Jiang Hong" screenwriter Chen Yu described Zhang Yimou's current director status as "returning to nature", which means returning to the storytelling nature of movies. "After reading a story, you can gain psychological satisfaction, just like giving the audience a full meal." .
Zhang Yimou once talked about his creative changes in a master class at the Beijing Film Festival: "Let go of the artist's stature in quotation marks and try to fly into ordinary people's homes to educate and entertain, get close to the audience, interact with them, and let The movie should impress and attract them as much as possible, and put the artistic ideas you want to express behind. I highly recommend this creative idea."
Zhang Yimou rarely made comedies in the past, and comedies are also a type that Chinese audiences prefer. From "Man Jiang Hong" " to "Article 20", they all worked hard in genre areas that they are not good at. He said, "It is already difficult to laugh purely. It also has to make people laugh and remember it. I am also learning slowly at the moment."
Not only are the creative concepts and techniques changing, Zhang Yimou is also actively changing his career path. He will start filming his first online drama "League of Legends", which will be his first contact with the e-sports theme. He said that he wants to keep up with the current fashion among young people and "shoot with a cool and handsome feeling." Earlier, writer Chen Yan revealed that Zhang Yimou will adapt his Mao Dun Literature Award-winning novel "The Protagonist". If it is completed, it will be Zhang Yimou's first TV series.
Zhang Yimou likes to try new shooting methods and do things he has never done before. There will definitely be viewers who will question and wonder why they don’t pay attention to the colors and forms they are best at? Why do you want to "go down to earth" to film a drama? Why don’t you make those award-winning art films anymore? Zhang Yimou once stated that his current self-positioning is to be a professional director, not to pretend to be a master, and to maintain a young mentality.
Zhang Yimou has increasingly become a creative product director serving the market. As he said, "The creator just expresses himself, talks about his thoughts, his art and feelings, but cannot attract the audience to go to the cinema to watch. What's the point?" What's the meaning?" Maybe he will make short plays next and think about what more sophisticated audiences would like to watch.
When a famous guide enters a new industry field, it may stir up the "spring water in a river" and affect or even change the pattern.
When director Wong Kar-Wai started filming "Flowers", he aroused a lot of doubts. The three-year secret filming often led to rumors that the project was in trouble. After the drama version of "Flowers" was aired, the ratings and reputation skyrocketed, becoming a phenomenon-level hit at the beginning of the year. The response along the way can be described as "questioning Wong Kar-wai, understanding Wong Kar-wai, becoming Wong Kar-wai". Before the broadcast of
, many people wondered: Can Wong Kar-wai's usual weak narrative and strong style of filming adapt to the context of the series? Obviously, Wong Kar-wai, who was filming a drama for the first time, made changes. "Flowers" not only continues Wong Kar-wai's unique audio-visual aesthetics and emotional characteristics, but also has many strong conflict plots that are in line with the audience's love for watching dramas. This is the first time that Wong Kar-wai's works have such a high density of plots.
The score of "Flowers" on Douban has so far risen to 8.6. Some experts commented at the seminar that "Flowers", which is a fusion of Wong Kar-wai and the drama, is like a "bomb", subverting the normalcy that has been established in the Chinese TV drama industry for many years. , mediocre and comfortable creation status.
Of course, the play has not received overwhelming praise. There have also been criticisms that its adaptation is deviated from the original work, the period restoration is not authentic enough, the story is fragmented, and the character dialogue is too noisy. Even though there are mixed reviews, this step taken by Wong Kar-Wai is still bold and innovative, which is better than being complacent and conservative.
The reason why great directors have been able to create screen classics and reach great heights is precisely because they know how to keep pace with the times, keep up with trends, and then lead new trends.
From movies to online dramas, TV series, short plays, etc., artistic creation does not distinguish between stages, and there should be no chain of contempt between different media. When more famous directors join a new market, it may inspire them to change their creative routines, and also change the market's routines, driving more outstanding talents to enter the market.Only by learning from each other and integrating them can it be possible to create new artistic vitality and power for industry sustainability.
