Copywriter | Thirteen
Editor | Soda
The "popular style of ancient puppets" in the summer season seems to be the consensus of domestic drama audiences.
From " Flowers of Thousand Bones " and " The Legend of Chu Qiao " to " Meng Hua Lu " and " Sauvignon Blanc ", these ancient puppets have all come out on top in the summer season.
But this year, the situation of summer puppet dramas has taken a turn for the worse.
"年" and "Yan Xin Ji" have boring plots and received mediocre response.
And " Sauvignon Blanc 2", which the audience has been waiting for for a year, is also far below the audience's expectations.
"Four Seas Chung Ming" went straight to the street, and no one cared.
Seeing that most of this summer season has passed, the "Purple Star" of the ancient puppet show has not yet appeared.
Isn’t it possible to see a decent ancient puppet drama this year? Of course not
. This time Goose Factory took action and sent " Liuzhou Ji ".
only aired 3 episodes, and it directly won the most popular on the first day it was launched. This is undoubtedly the potential of a dark horse.
I finished three episodes in one go. The main plot line is clear and the atmosphere is humorous and relaxed. If all ancient puppet shows are shot like this, why worry about not being a hit?
01 The plot setting is novel and interesting
"The Story of the Willow Boat" tells the story of King Cui Xingzhou (played by Zhang Wanyi) of Huaiyang, who uses amnesia to suppress bandits, but the village leader Liu Miantang (played by Wang Churan) develops feelings for her.
Liu Miantang, who recovered his memory, turned against Cui Xingzhou. But when their home country was in danger, they put aside their grudges, put down the rebellion, and finally untied their knots and got back together.
This story combines intrigue and politics, and two of its highlights directly caught my attention.
First, the atmosphere is relaxed.
Usually in dramas involving machinations, the atmosphere is either urgent and exciting, or dull and serious.
But this drama not only doesn’t touch any of them, it also does the opposite.
After a thrilling confrontation at the beginning of the play, the plot immediately turned into "The Truman Show".
In order to convince the amnesiac Liu Miantang that they were husband and wife, Cui Xingzhou turned Lingquan Town into a large-scale real-life performance site. He was also an actor in it, and his vests were piled up one after another.
During this process, the two people tested each other, but they also had to make fun of each other and live like NPCs trying to complete tasks, which made a lot of jokes.
The strategy of using Liu Miantang to lure out bandits is interspersed with these ridiculous daily routines, which not only ensures the advancement of the main plot line, but also makes the atmosphere less urgent, more in line with the tone of ancient puppets.
This kind of comedy in the early stage is undoubtedly the most attractive aspect of the plot.
The second is inversion dense.
The comedy color can only serve as an adjustment in the plot, and maintaining similar routines will easily make people feel boring.
The current main line of the plot is to suppress bandits. But the bait is Liu Miantang who has lost his memory, which adds many uncertain factors to the plot.
In the play, Cui Xingzhou suspected that she was walking on the street to contact Yang Shan's spy, but Liu Miantang planned to buy a shop.
He thought Liu Miantang had regained his memory and pretended to test him, but he didn't expect that he would be tested by her instead.
Finally waited until Yangshan was summoned. Cui Xingzhou wanted to use this to arrest people, but Liu Miantang just went to see Cui Xingzhou's friend Zhao Quan.
Liu Miantang, who has lost his memory, has gone beyond Cui Xingzhou's plan every step of the way, so surprises come one after another.
This kind of reversal is performed frequently in the play, making the somewhat dull plot become ups and downs, and also laying some foreshadowing for the subsequent plot.
It can be said that this drama has a tight rhythm and rapid progress. It can find a balance between comedy color and main plot line. The dual identity setting also adds more suspense to the subsequent plot.
This is how ancient puppet dramas should be filmed.
02The actors have good looks and acting skills.
The first thing to look at in ancient puppet dramas is their looks. If the acting skills are online, it will definitely be a bigger bonus. The casting of this drama is clearly carefully considered.
ranked first, Zhang Wanyi.
Zhang Wanyi has always been a leader among actors in the same period. In "Sauvignon Blanc", he played the role of Xingxuan, which broke the stereotype that he is good at acting in serious dramas but not good at ancient puppets.
In the new drama, he plays Cui Xingzhou, the king of Huaiyang, who has a deep city and lofty ambitions. He is cruel, cold and suspicious when facing his enemies, but gentle and considerate when facing his relatives.
In the play, he looked at the bandit spies being hung up, leaning back on the chair relaxedly, with a leisurely and comfortable expression. He asked people to throw them into the water tank without blinking, as if he was watching the fun as if nothing happened.
Zhang Wanyi's acting is so natural.
is second, Dong Xuan.
In " Mo Yuyunjian ", Dong Xuan played Ye Zhenzhen, the mother of the heroine Jiang Li. Even though she didn't have many roles, she left a deep impression on the audience.
Compared with "White Moonlight" like Ye Zhenzhen, the Empress Dowager Wu played by Dong Xuan in the new drama is a snake-hearted person. The emperor was young, and as the queen mother, she was ambitious and controlled the government by manipulating the emperor.
In the play, when she heard that the King of Huaiyang did not reduce his army and horses, the smile that originally hung on her face disappeared instantly, her expression became tense, and the viciousness in her eyes made people shudder.
As the villain, Queen Mother Wu should play a crucial role in the subsequent plot, and Dong Xuan's performance is worth looking forward to.
ranked third, Wang Churan.
Sure enough, costume dramas are Wang Churan’s comfort zone. From the domineering Zhang Guifei in " Qing Ping Le " to the smart Sang Wen in " Celebrating More Than Years 2", regardless of acting skills, Wang Churan's costume appearance never disappoints.
In the new drama, she plays Liu Miantang, who was originally the master of Yangshan village with martial arts skills, but became a housewife after losing her memory.
In the play, Liu Miantang stepped off the carriage and looked back with a gentle and generous smile. The simple hair accessories and plain clothes made Liu Miantang more dignified and elegant.
Although he was injured and lost his memory and was unable to use martial arts for a while, the murderous intent he inadvertently revealed when encountering a bad guy can still reveal a bit of his former heroism.
I hope that Wang Churan, who has found a suitable role, can restore his reputation in this drama.
is fourth, Huang Cancan.
said that this name may not be familiar to the audience, but everyone must be deeply impressed by her role as Fengfeng Yiying in "Sauvignon Blanc 2" which ended at the end of July.
As soon as Sun Yun'er, played by Huang Cancan, appeared in the drama, the audience all joked, "Fangfeng Yiying is here to pursue Xingxuan."
Sun Yun'er obviously knew Liu Miantang's true identity, but when she looked at Liu Miantang, there was no surprise in her eyes, only resentment on her face.
Perhaps she can play a key role in Liu Miantang's recovery of memory.
In addition, there are also actors such as Tong Lei, Xu Meiling, and Bao Dazhi in the play. Judging from the plots of these episodes, the actors fit the characters very well. Their appearance and acting skills are all top-notch, and they are experienced actors. The fit between the actors and the plot has reached the effect of 1+1>2.
03 Conclusion
The popularity of "The Story of the Willow Boat" is mainly due to these two factors.
is first of all a strong creator and team. In addition to the careful design of the plot, a lot of effort has also been put into the scenery. The streets and courtyards are all antique, and the composition of the picture also has Chinese aesthetic connotations.
Secondly, the market environment is favorable at the right time and place. The previous summer dramas have fallen over one after another, and other dramas currently have a mediocre response, but "The Story of the Willow Boat" just seized this opportunity and stood out with its excellent quality.
Therefore, you still need to be strong when you are forging iron. I hope that the success of "The Story of the Willow Boat" can give some inspiration to other ancient puppets.
And if the follow-up plot of "The Story of the Willow Boat" can maintain this rhythm, it couldn't be easier to become a hit in this summer season.
