"Live Variety Show" is a new variety show style that has been upgraded and developed on the basis of online live broadcast with the continuous integration of the Internet and traditional literary and artistic forms. This format not only retains the form of traditional variety shows, with a relatively complete variety show narrative language and program flow, but also adds the immediacy and strong interactive attributes of live broadcasts, and has considerable creative popularity in the field of online literature and art.
Stills of CCTV's "This Young Summer" File Picture
From "Variety Show Live Broadcast" to "Live Variety Show"
In the era of traditional TV variety shows, "Variety Show Live Broadcast" is more common. It is a large-scale evening party or variety show presented in a live broadcast. The event site. Compared with pre-recorded programs, this kind of live broadcast is usually aimed at large-scale evening parties at specific points or variety show events that have entered a critical stage, such as the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, the finals of variety show events, etc., highlighting the ritual and importance of the program. , is regarded as a high-standard television program production. Its live broadcast process focuses on the artistic presentation effect and tests the tacit cooperation between various types of work. It is a one-time achievement that demonstrates the exquisiteness of TV program creation.
"Live Variety Show" is neither a live broadcast of a certain period of a regular variety show, nor does it include a live broadcast of personal talent on a video platform, but a new program that uses live broadcast as a normalized technical support and deeply bundles live broadcast means with variety show content. Form, its essence is still a variety show. It uses documentary intuition and instant suspense to create an appealing real scene for the majority of users, allowing users who are not physically present to participate in the occurrence and development of events in the program through live broadcast, enhancing the sense of interaction during the viewing process. , sense of presence. Some scholars believe that "live variety shows are real-time and synchronized presentations of original scenes, rather than products processed and edited by the program producers. The authenticity of 'one shot to the end' and the second spectacle of simultaneous participation are what distinguish it from TV variety shows and Two main characteristics of online variety shows."
China ushered in the first year of "live broadcast" in 2016. With the rapid development of domestic online live broadcast platforms, live broadcast variety shows continue to delve into the interactive characteristics of live broadcast media, integrating games, music, puzzles and other elements to develop social and interactive formats. Live quiz variety shows and live music variety shows. This type of program is born out of already mature programs such as food talk shows, talent shows, game reasoning, etc., and uses the live broadcast format to inject freshness into variety show creations.
For example, "1.3 Billion Decibel" actively responded to the "Chinese Language Resource Protection Project" and performed music in the form of "dialect songs". The main part of the program is to gather online users from all over the country through live broadcast connections. It uses the universal participation and non-destructive nature of dialogue to convene dialect musicians, and cleverly transforms the users on the other side of the camera into performing subjects, achieving zero Threshold participation and interaction enhance the content competitiveness of live variety shows. At the same time, taking advantage of the advantages of live broadcast media, we explore ways to protect and inherit folk culture in dialects.
Closes the aesthetic distance between programs and users
Variety shows in the form of live broadcasts not only meet users' needs for content products, but also increase the emotional value of the product with the advantages of super companionship, movable companionship, and precise matching. Therefore, live variety shows have become a social literary and artistic product favored by netizens in the mobile Internet era.
In the traditional TV era, the audience followed the "you act and I watch" viewing model, and there was a long aesthetic distance between them and the program. Entering the Internet era, the identity of the audience has changed into "users". They no longer watch silently, but give full play to their subjectivity in the process of accepting the program and provide instant feedback through messages, comments, forwarding, likes, barrages, etc. , gradually achieving synchronized presence with the program content. As a direct product of the Internet, the emergence of live variety shows has shortened the aesthetic distance between programs and users.
On the one hand, the program is in the form of live broadcast, creating a parallel time and space that occurs simultaneously inside and outside the camera. Users can simultaneously participate in the program process, improving the autonomy and interactivity of participation; on the other hand, live variety shows are limited by The space-to-aspect ratio of mobile screens tends to focus more on human subjects.In order to express the content appeal more intuitively in front of the camera, the program mostly uses close-ups of the performers and mid-to-close shots from the waist up to ensure that the main body of the screen is prominent and the information on the screen is clear, allowing users to see everything happening in the program clearly from a closer distance. Especially the movements, demeanor, and micro-expressions of the performers, which transformed the aesthetic process that was originally only based on symbolic interaction in the cloud into the on-site presentation of body images. The anchors or guests in the program are no longer just aesthetic objects of content or elements, but play the role of "close friends" with real emotional communication, providing a sense of companionship, recognition and satisfaction during the interaction.
In recent years, China Central Radio and Television has continuously launched vertical screen live music programs, such as the summer singing show "This Young Summer", which consists of a singing lineup of 21 CCTV hosts and 13 professional singers, integrating micro variety shows, vertical screen The communication advantages of on-screen variety shows and live variety shows create an immersive aesthetic experience in the new media environment. The program deeply understands the emotional needs of today's young people. It uses a seemingly flowless and irregular "lawn party" format to sit around, chat and sing. The interactive ceremony creates a "co-presence" acceptance space for participating users, thereby achieving virtual companionship and enhancing emotional identification.
Find the right program theme and type
Brand-new things are always full of charm, and currently live variety shows are favored by creators. However, not all variety shows are suitable for live broadcast, and the quality of existing live variety shows on online platforms is still uneven.
In terms of content, there are very few live broadcast variety shows that can achieve high-quality quality. Most of them are rough, and the program links are not compact enough. The blank clips that appear from time to time in the live broadcast can easily destroy the rhythm of the program. In addition, there is a lack of post-production of traditional variety shows. link, the excitement of the content is greatly reduced. At the same time, the phenomenon of program homogeneity is serious, and some live broadcast programs are too long, challenging the patience of users. There are still many uncertainties and uncontrollability in the live broadcast process, which requires higher quality of hosts and guests, especially the ability to control the scene, which increases the difficulty of program recording.
In addition, live variety shows have certain requirements for the theme and type of the program. Relatively speaking, types of programs that have interactive requirements and need to create a sense of atmosphere, such as competitive sports and artistic performances, can use live broadcast technology to amplify the emotional value of the program. Some slow variety shows, dramas and other programs are more suitable for the "recording and broadcasting + editing" format, relying on careful post-production to ensure the broadcast quality of the program. To achieve high-quality development of
live variety shows, video platforms and creators also need to start from themselves and find content forms that closely match the platform attributes, program themes, content creation, and user needs. Only when the market becomes more mature and the content becomes richer can live variety shows show its value.
(Author: Yu Junwen, lecturer at the School of Culture, Creativity and Media, Hangzhou Normal University)
Source: Guangming Daily
