"Short plays, a short and quick way to make money, even attract big stars!" At 6 o'clock in the evening, screenwriting and writing teacher "Lao Zhang" appeared in the live broadcast room on time to teach script writing skills for online articles and micro-short plays. In the comment area, netizens who hope to become short play screenwriters have asked questions: "Is there any story where the protagonist kills decisively?" "How to dismantle the script?"
Lao Zhang said that in the past two years, he has led Thousands of authors. Different from screenwriters in the traditional film and television industry, the team of micro-short drama screenwriters is huge and the composition of the staff is more complex. Among the screenwriters that Lao Zhang has come into contact with, there are Internet article authors, screenwriters who kill scripts, screenwriters of long dramas, and even housewives, medical personnel, Cambridge PhDs, sales, finance, etc. whose jobs have nothing to do with writing. The short and fast mode of
micro-short dramas has stirred up waves in the content pool. For a time, it seemed that everyone hoped to ride on the wind of mini-drama and fly higher and further.
一
Before becoming a screenwriter of short dramas, Qiu Luo, who was a housewife, never expected that her first script would sell 300,000 yuan.
Because she had to take care of her children, Qiu Luo had to quit her job and become a housewife. She lived a life of two o'clock and one line of work. "Either she stayed in the kitchen or went to school to pick up the children. It seemed like her life was over at once."
Perhaps because he was unwilling to live like this, Qiu Luo wrote an urban light comedy script during his break from housework, telling the story of a girl who traveled through time to the age of 18. After years of baptism, the heroine re-examined her life, corrected her original choices at the fork in the road, and lived an ideal life.
And Qiu Luo himself has a new life because of this script, "Before, I have been called someone's mother, someone's wife. I didn't expect that I could have a new title-screenwriter Qiu Luo."
Like Qiu Luo There are more than 300 such screenwriters in the team of Du Xiaohua, the founder of Sichuan Character Universe. In the team, in addition to teachers like "Lao Zhang" who are responsible for teaching, there are also five chief editors. Each editor-in-chief has 10 fixed authors and accepts submissions from countless non-contracted authors.
According to "Lao Zhang", these authors include retired uncles and aunts, employees working in companies or units, and students who are still studying. In terms of academic qualifications, some have not graduated from junior high school, while others are PhD students in Cambridge. "The author can accept the manuscript according to his or her own level."
"Lao Zhang" who is giving a live lecture
"Although the forms of writing work are diverse, the essence remains the same." Editor-in-chief Dai Yuxun himself has spanned multiple tracks such as online writing, script writing, and short plays. He believes that most Internet article authors can transition relatively smoothly.
The only difficulty is the unrestrained ideas of web writers. For example, in their works, they frequently depict scenes such as "A Fighting Sword in the Snow" and "One Sword Opening the Heavenly Gate", which are difficult to achieve in post-production. "Micro-short dramas mostly choose realistic themes, mainly because of cost and production cycle issues, and it is impossible to be like this." Long-form dramas or movies have particularly good special effects."
Dai Yuxun (left) discusses short play scripts with another chief editor Danqing.
Chief editor Dan Qing, his team can produce 4 or 5 scripts a month. A script lasts about 100 episodes, which sounds scary, but in fact the overall word count is only between 30,000 and 80,000, with an average of only five or six hundred words per episode. As the editor-in-chief,
will lead his screenwriters to "brainstorm" and write the first 10 episodes, outlines and character biographies together, then get them to the market and invest in them. When Bole shows up, he will lead the team to finish the script. Sometimes customized scripts are also accepted, and the editor-in-chief will select the author he thinks is suitable to take on the project. On a daily basis at
, the editor-in-chief will also take the screenwriters to study the short play list, look at the hot spots and directions on Weibo, Douyin, Zhihu and other platforms, and look for those themes that have been practiced in the online article market for many years and have received good market feedback. , “This makes business investment safer.”
二
Screenwriter and writer Tian Hong is one of the earliest professional screenwriters to get involved in the micro-short drama industry.
If there is a chain of contempt in the film and television industry, micro-short dramas are at the bottom of the chain. Professional actors and screenwriters are generally not willing to accept micro-short dramas.But with the rapid development of the market, everyone is also changing this concept. Tian Hong has written several long-length drama scripts before, but the cycle of long-length dramas is long and the risks are high. One script was written for several years, but the company said it would be filmed, but it has been delayed until now. The other script, which took half a year to write, was filmed but failed to be broadcast due to various reasons. It is common for a script to be written after a lot of hard work, but "the project fails".
"There is really not much money for micro-short plays (for screenwriters). The entire micro-short play script is only equivalent to the deposit for a long-play script. But if you write a micro-short play, you can shoot it immediately." She created one after another. For works such as "Don't Think of Assassinating Miss Wang", "Voice" and "Food Comes Knocking", "Most screenwriters of long dramas do not regard micro-short plays as their own works. They just use micro-short dramas to maintain their skills and transition their lives. "
The difference between a short play and a long play is definitely not the length of the script. In Tian Hong's view, "Long plays need to slowly develop the relationship between the characters, and the story also pays attention to sublimation." The short drama does not want those 'high-end' things, but focuses on strong conflict and eye-catching. "She said that some parties will tell them that the plot is not for intellectuals, Douban netizens and other groups, but for residents of small towns." Just want to be bloody."
In 2022, Tian Hong's first micro-short drama "Don't Think About Assassinating Miss Wang" was launched. It tells the story of a modern undertaker who traveled to the only "Queen" in ancient times and was brutally killed as soon as he woke up. The story of being assassinated by an assassin sent by the prince, and eventually falling in love with this assassin.
"Writing this script was very fast, basically two or three episodes a day, very smooth." The producer proposed that it should be fun and interesting, so in the first episode, the heroine who was assassinated commented on the appearance of the assassins, "This one It's a 'little wolf dog', and this one is a 'little milk dog'." Along with the "Hahaha" comments on the barrage, there were also some comments like "How embarrassing".
Tian Hong
writes quickly and shoots quickly, and it is common for her to get confused. Tian Hong said that, for example, in her mini-series, "a lot of logic has been changed. For example, my original heroine was a character similar to Hua Mulan. After traveling to ancient times, no one knew she was disguised as a man, but in the first episode they Just use the voice-over to say, 'That's the Queen who kills people without blinking an eye.'" Tian Hong said, which made the "meme" she originally set up untenable, "When the male protagonist discovers that he falls in love with the female protagonist who is disguised as a man. , thought he had the habit of Long Yang. It was originally a fun plot, but now it has become a logical loophole. "
This is also what Tian Hong believes is the difference between the long-form and short-form drama markets. Some parties hope to see as many elements as possible in a story without considering the logical relationship between them. “We like long-form dramas, not because they are more advanced, but because their teams are more professional. ”
三
To paraphrase Dickens’s classic saying, micro-short drama screenwriting is the best type of job in the film and television industry, and it is also the worst type of job. The good side is, of course, what I said before. The barriers to entry are low, and you can start filming quickly after the script is sold. You can indeed make money under the spotlight.
But screenwriters also have to face many cruel realities.
For example, it is plagiarized or the manuscript is washed. Tian Hong once encountered a very dramatic case of plagiarism: "At that time, a company plagiarized my idea, and (the script) was transferred to another company. It happened that I was found to be the screenwriter." When she raised questions, the other party was confident. He became confused: "(He said) You wrote about a boy riding a bicycle, and a girl riding a bicycle appeared on the market. Can you say it is plagiarism?
And because of the large number of people in Du Xiaohua's team, they encounter one almost every month Two incidents of plagiarism or script washing. She said that after some companies saw the script, they would directly ask their gunmen to plagiarize it without even changing the names of the male and female protagonists; It’s modern, but it’s obvious that the story line and plot conflicts are exactly the same as my own script. “Although we have a dedicated legal team, it’s difficult to defend our rights. And it consumes our energy. If you don’t have the energy, it’s better to write the notebook again."
In addition, trial drafts and pitches are also very common behaviors in the micro-short drama screenwriting market.
For trial drafts, the screenwriter is generally required to write part of the plot, outline and other content before determining whether to cooperate further; pitches are At the same time, several screenwriters are asked to create some content and choose one to cooperate.
"It's okay if you meet a party that respects the screenwriter. If the employer doesn't respect the results of the screenwriter's work, it will feel that it is natural for you to try writing and keep making demands. Revised repeatedly. "Tian Hong said that many screenwriters, especially new screenwriters, make mistakes in the early stage. They are repeatedly asked to change ideas and revise drafts. They go back and forth without talking about contracts or money, and they pay for transportation, time, effort, etc. in vain. You may not be able to get a project in the end, not to mention that some companies will even plagiarize screenwriters' ideas under the guise of "pitching".
But fortunately, Tian Hong and others also feel that the micro-short drama market is moving forward. Mature, production costs are increasing, and the content is not only centered around domineering presidents and wealthy wives. Some high-quality, high-production short dramas are also emerging. "Some short dramas have begun to gradually change from a few minutes to 15-20 minutes." minutes of Chinese drama. It's a middle ground between long plays and short plays. "
" Now that we have started writing, we will try our best to write it well and will not be perfunctory. After all, no matter whether it is a long play or a short play, it is like your own child. "Tian Hong sighed, "It's just that screenwriting is really not easy. I thought I just needed to work honestly in front of the computer, but in the end it turned into a battle of wits and courage with people everywhere...market, audience, Party A, etc. considerations, we as screenwriters can only try to balance it. "
Source: Red Star News
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