At the first Shanghai Micro and Short Drama Conference held in June, reporters noticed a phenomenon: many of the short drama projects that appeared in the project exhibition were related to the IPs of previously popular long dramas.
The mini-series "My Return Is Windy", a spin-off of the popular romantic drama "Going to Where the Wind Is" produced by Huace Film and Television, was launched during the Spring Festival in 2024. During the broadcast period, it hit Douyin's hot list 9 times, with the average episode exceeding 1,000 million, and the album has a total playback volume of 200 million; in addition, the company also has a short drama "In the Name of Love", a spin-off of "In the Name of Family", which is expected to be launched in the second half of the year; Mingbai Film and Television and Station B will cooperate to launch the micro-short "I" "It's Stamp Li" is a coming-of-age drama about the counterattack of a small person in Shanghai, and the protagonist "Stamp Li" is a supporting character in the hit drama " Blossoms ".
Will the IP linkage of long and short dramas become a major trend in the film and television industry? What are the benefits of "changing long to short"? How to avoid "acclimatization" in creation? With these questions in mind, Nandu reporters recently visited a number of practitioners to discuss the logic behind the "long-short linkage" and future possibilities.
1
Who is "changing the long to the short"?
The long drama company holds the IP, and the short drama company produces
"Currently we are also working on short drama adaptations of some ancient long drama IPs, and it is expected that one may be launched at the end of next month." A micro-short drama director told reporters , the current main body of "reforming from long to short" is generally the long drama production company. "It is the copyright owner of the long drama who wants to develop the short drama. The IP itself is its own, and they are also the producer (of the short drama). So far, I have not heard of any The short drama company specializes in purchasing the copyright of long dramas. "
" It may be difficult to buy the copyright of dramas. Now most of the copyrights of dramas are actually on platforms like Aiyu Tengmang. The first thing is whether they will release the copyright to the outside world. At present, this is difficult. Secondly, the copyright price range of dramas is still relatively high. "The relevant project leader of Jiuzhou Culture, the leading short drama production company, told reporters that as a short drama producer, compared with purchasing the adaptation of a long drama. Right, the company will directly choose to purchase the IP copyright of the online novel. "Many dramas are adapted from novels now. If it is a non-original drama, we may trace it back to the source of the story, which is the copyright of the original novel; if it is an original drama , we may directly cooperate with the production company of the (long-form drama). They are the copyright owner of the IP. We are responsible for the production and the derivative development of the IP "
". The derivative of the IP must be profitable for both parties, which is 1. +1>2. But purely from the perspective of our (micro-short drama) platform, the creation time and production cost of IP-adapted short dramas are actually higher than those of our original content. "Related to Kyushu Culture. The project leader said frankly. Why does
2
need to be "changed from long to short"?
Create a high-quality benchmark and enrich the expression of IP
The person in charge of an IP adaptation project of Jiuzhou Culture revealed that the production cost and sophistication of the project being adapted are at the top level in the micro-short drama industry. "The reason why we want to do this IP is actually I just hope that I can use the influence of big IP to create high-quality content and create a benchmark in the industry.”
In her opinion, the vertical screen micro-short drama itself has the gene of adapting to Internet texts since its birth. It is almost an inevitable trend to be associated with more and more well-known and popular IPs. "Originally, we may have adapted some smaller IPs, but as the influence of the short drama gradually expanded, cooperation with big IPs was also a natural and two-way choice. A (website) IP will become a movie, TV series, it can also be turned into a micro-short drama."
Liu Zifan, head of short drama business of Huace Beijing, said when talking about the original intention of creating the micro-short drama "My Way Home Is Windy", "After we paid attention to the short drama track. I just wanted to try some linkage between long and short dramas, so that (the IPs of long dramas) could have some expression in the content format of short dramas." In the end, the team chose the popular drama series "Go Where the Wind Is" from the company's IP library. Make adaptations.
Poster of the micro-short drama "My Return Is Windy".
Liu Zifan believes that long-form dramas and micro-short dramas are "sharing users", and short dramas are the product of changing user needs in the short video ecosystem.Therefore, there are certain similarities in the themes of long plays and short plays. "Our understanding of the market is that people will have the demand to watch both long-form dramas and short dramas. This is not a multiple-choice question of A or B. Many audiences who watch long-form dramas will also watch short dramas. Long-form dramas and short dramas are actually the same. Sharing the same topic with a user in different scenarios and needs will penetrate a certain part of the user's pain points, regardless of the length of the form. "
In her opinion, the logic behind the "long to short" phenomenon is. It has experienced a "market validation of content." "For example, 'The Wind' itself is an original project. The fact that this long drama can achieve such a good influence and effect shows that the content touches the audience. After we refine it, we can develop some new projects, and it will still be Being loved by the audience, (changing the long drama to the short drama) may have a guiding significance at this level."
talked about the additive effect of the audience base of long dramas on short dramas. Several industry insiders agreed in interviews with reporters. , the IP of the long drama will bring more attention to the derivative micro-short dramas. "I think there must be a bonus for long drama IPs, but we may not be able to give a more accurate figure on how many viewers it can attract (micro-short drama viewers). Because (the 'Youfeng' IP) long dramas are The short drama is broadcast on Mango TV, and it is cross-platform. It is impossible to know whether the audience only watches the short drama after watching the long drama. "
The person in charge of Jiuzhou Culture Project believes that. From web articles to dramas to micro-short plays, all forms of creation in an IP have a mutually reinforcing effect. On the one hand, IP allows its derivative micro-short dramas to naturally gain attention. On the other hand, micro-short dramas can also use their own advantages to feed back IP. “The cycle of short dramas is very fast, and such a relatively lightweight format can fill the gap in IP development. There are some gaps in the process, which will expand the influence of IP to all aspects, and will also bring benefits to IP. I think this is actually a two-way street. "
3
How to do a good job in "changing long to short"?
Refining the core and "falling cup theory"
It should be noted that due to different content formats, "long to short" will inevitably lead to acclimatization. For example, the short drama "Su Wuming from the Tang Dynasty", a spin-off of the high-scoring online drama "Tang Dynasty Strange Stories", has a Douban score of only 6.2. Some netizens in the Douban hot review commented that "it is too short and the episodes are fragmented." A micro-short play director said in an interview with a reporter that it is not easy to adapt the content of a long play into a micro-short play. “Because the short play is very short, many key information points need to be pushed in a short period of time. What we pay attention to in long-form dramas is the story development logic and the structure of the world view, so the adaptation of short-form dramas can only select and integrate all the key information points in the long-form drama.”
The project leader of Jiuzhou Culture mentioned that some IP types are relatively complex. It is difficult to adapt micro-short plays. "For example, some suspense and brain-burning themes, which focus more on the details to guide the audience to solve puzzles layer by layer. If this kind of content is to be developed into a two- or three-minute format, it is relatively "It is relatively difficult."
Liu Zifan told reporters that the long drama "Go to Where the Wind Is" has been highly praised for its unique slow pace and healing style. It needs to be adapted into a short drama format known for its "short, flat and fast". In fact, it is very difficult. "What makes this IP suitable for short plays is that it can hit the pain points of modern urban topics. But in the format of short plays, you have to switch to another way of expression."
She revealed that the team was in the early stages of the project The planning stage took a long time, and the plan was even overturned several times before the spiritual core of "growth and healing" was finally refined. "Adapting a long drama IP into a short drama actually does not directly condense the content, but first refines the core of why the audience likes the drama and is moved by it. This step is relatively simple to say, but it is still difficult. "Relatively big."
Liu Zifan mentioned that in terms of the expression rhythm of the short play, the team summed up a creative theory-"the cup throwing theory." "Every episode of "My Return Is Windy" will bring up a topic or a golden phrase at the beginning.This is what we call the ‘cup throwing theory’, which means that the person who dropped the cup will suddenly attract everyone’s attention and gain the right to speak. We need to put out the core resonance and emotion of this episode first, and then tell my story, so that the audience can quickly feel immersed in this situation. "The person in charge of
Jiuzhou Culture Project said when talking about the IP adaptation experience: "We actually don't want to make content that is homogeneous with online dramas. The adaptation of micro-short dramas is not about repeating the story again, and the same is true for IP parties. I hope to make this IP more complete in different forms. So the direction we chose at that time was to make an extension of the branch character based on the world view of this IP. The writing style of the novel is limited. We hope to complete the big IP and flesh out the characters through short dramas. "The short drama derived from
ip must be loyal to the original work in terms of style and tonality, while also taking into account the unique narrative rhythm of the short play. "Our IP adaptation still does not deviate from the original work, and the characters in it are all traceable in the novel. As for the rhythm, the narrative rhythm of short plays and long plays, including the text, is definitely different. When we create content, we must comply with the consumption habits of users on the short video platform. For example, there will be more reversals and a faster pace. There may be a climax or cool point in the first 5 seconds of the chapter. What is important is to quickly Bring users into the world view and capture their attention in a shorter period of time. "
4
What other possibilities are there for the linkage of long and short dramas in the future?
Short dramas have become the "pioneers" in the content market
When it comes to more possibilities for the linkage of long and short dramas in the future, practitioners all believe that in addition to "changing long to short", Many hit micro-short dramas also have the potential to be expanded and adapted into adult dramas.
"There is definitely this possibility. "Liu Zifan said, "It's just that for now, there are still a few samples that we can verify. But when we feel that the audience really has pain points and resonates with a certain topic (of a short play), we can actually extend this content into a long play. Short plays are a bit like the 'forerunner' of content, because one advantage of short plays is that the cycle is short, and the audience will respond to it very quickly. But there is also a risk that the production cycle of long dramas is relatively long. If you develop a long drama based on the topic of a short drama, it is uncertain whether the audience's pain points and emotions will still be there when the long drama is launched. "The person in charge of the
Jiuzhou Culture Project also affirmed the creative advantages of short plays, "I am very optimistic about (expansion and adaptation of short plays into long plays). Short plays have obvious advantages: they are more flexible, the cost of production is not as high as long plays, and the error tolerance is relatively large. If a micro-short drama is recognized by the audience, it is actually an IP with potential. We can quickly see whether this IP is liked by users. Short dramas are a more to c, direct-to-audience market. If the audience finds it interesting, they will unlock it and watch it. If this content is proven in this mode, it will also have potential in the long-form drama and movie markets. ”
Written by: Nandu reporter Zhu Wenyi
