"Qin Shi Huang" "Out of the Circle" note

The creator of "Resurrection Legion" and the staff of the Rong Media Center in Lintong District, Xi'an City filmed a short video together. Photo by reporter Zhao Chen

"Have you downloaded the Anti-Fraud APP?"

"Not yet..."

"Here comes the man! Drag it away! ”

On the afternoon of December 10, in the streets of Lintong District of Xi'an City, citizens felt the majesty of "Qin Shi Huang" in a novel way, while smiling and installing the "National Anti-Fraud Center" APP. At the other end of the phone, hundreds of thousands of netizens liked the short video works of the "Qin Shi Huang" IP, calling "touch" to the roots of history and culture.

Chen Ma Qiaodan and Liu Yunlong, the actors of "Qin Shi Huang" and "Li Si", never thought that they would one day "go out of the circle" in this way. Previously, they were actors in the "Resurrection Legion" historical scene theater in Lintong District, with ordinary salaries, playing specific roles, and living a dull life. What the two young people did not expect was that in just a few months, through the short video to spread positive energy, they also seemed to have become the publicity ambassadors of Lintong District.

During the epidemic period, in the days when the theater was once closed, they did not wait, but opened up more new spaces and had a wider world with a wonderful and interesting short video full of positive energy.

Test the waters: the crossing of the "big IP" starts with taking the subway

The creation of the image of "Qin Shi Huang" originated from an event. On December 9, 2020, Xi'an Metro Line 9 (Lintong) was put into trial operation, and the relevant person in charge of the Rong Media Center in Lintong District found Qiao Lida, the head of the "Resurrection Legion" theater, to discuss whether he could let "Qin Shi Huang" interact on the spot at Qinling Station, which attracted more topics for the news of the opening of the subway.

"The Legion of Resurrection" is a private theater in Lintong District, and its core play "The Legion of Resurrection" tells the story of the first civilian family letter in Chinese history during the Battle of Fachu in 223 BC, and the theater has 186 actors. "The actors are ready-made, and we support the activities on the district with both hands!" Jolida agrees.

Therefore, on the day of the trial operation of Metro Line 9, "Qin Shi Huang" and "Li Si" led a group of "Qin Xiaobing" to shout in the Lintong subway station: "We have a subway!" This chant became the keyword of weibo hot search on the day, and the news and derivative topics of the day broke 100 million times on online platforms such as Douyin and Weibo, and the number of likes exceeded 700,000 times, and the image of Lintong city has been greatly improved.

"Qin Shi Huang" and "Li Si" were on fire. Nowadays, when the "Qin Shi Huang" wearing the imperial crown and the "Li Si" wearing a wide robe and large sleeves are vaccinating on the streets, publicizing anti-fraud APPS, and explaining fire protection knowledge, people feel that the "big IPs" who were once only displayed in museums or appeared in history books have been reborn and crossed into people's daily lives.

Interestingly, although they are publicizing national policies, they have changed their boring and preachy routines, added a lot of ideas, and often "skinned" in unexpected places, which makes people can't help but be funny. In the short video, "Qin Shi Huang" changed the stereotype of "serious and cold" to become "holding the imperial shelf but constantly making jokes because he did not understand new things, and needed Li Si to save the scene frequently", so that everyone could understand the policy and master the knowledge in laughter. "Qin Shi Huang teaches you to wear a mask", "I am Qin Shi Huang, give me money" and other series of Internet celebrity short video circles countless fans.

"Lintong has a very rich historical heritage and a thick cultural gene. How to make these cultural relics and history 'alive and can speak' and display them in the form of media products is the direction we have been thinking about and trying. Cheng Fang, chief of the new media section of the Rong Media Center in Lintong District, said.

"Breaking the shackles of tradition and finding the most appropriate combination of traditional IP and modern life and culture, we chose the right path." Jolida said.

Opportunity: "Breakout" in Special Periods

On Qinling North Road in Lintong District, about 9 kilometers away from the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Museum, Qiao Lida invested all the income from the previous years of hard work for the "Resurrected Legion". During this special period of the epidemic, his life was not very good. What's more, the "Legion of Resurrection" has been in operation for less than a year.

In a short period of time, Jolida has not had time to firmly establish the reputation of the theater, and all his moods and attention are in the repeated opening and "stopping" of the theater, just like riding a roller coaster, up and down, up and down, up and down.

"When the epidemic is over, our theater is on fire; when the epidemic is over, our theater is resting again." Qiao Lida told reporters that like all investors who run theaters and theaters, the industry is still in the alternation of "ice and fire".

On December 13, it was 64 days since the most recent performance suspension. The 186 performing staff of the Jolida Theater are still rehearsing every day. "Maybe one day we'll be able to perform, we're all waiting." Now the basic expenditure is more than 20,000 yuan per day. "Jolida told reporters that when the theater was once popular, it could perform 19 times a day, and the venue was full." After letting go of the theater performance, I am still very confident. ”

Now, they prefer to walk out of the theater door on the days of "shutdown". Special periods also give them the possibility to be bold. "If it is usual, the actors rotate around day and night, and there is no free time to shoot short videos. All of us are immersed in the theater and immersed in our respective roles. But now, many of the ideas that exist in everyone's minds can become reality. Behind the 'danger' there is still an 'opportunity'. Artistic life is limited, the state of the actors must also be constantly adjusted, we can not do so and wait for the epidemic to pass. Jolida said.

Happily receiving the olive branch thrown by the Rong Media Center in Lintong District, the "resurrected legion" "broke through". Now, the two sides work together, they comprehensively innovate from the aspects of carrier, form and content, borrow the rich historical and cultural resources of Lintong District, take the Qin cultural IP as the main material, and use a unique way of publicity to achieve the publicity effect of chain superposition.

Positioning: to have large traffic, but also to have positive energy

"Culture is the spiritual root for a nation, and vitality and soul for a city. In the new era, what kind of short videos do we need to impress people's hearts? This is a question that Cheng Fang, Jolida and the lead actors have discussed endlessly for many nights.

At the end of 2020, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the Opinions on Promoting the High-quality Development of the Digital Culture Industry. The "Opinions" pointed out that it is necessary to conform to the development trend of digital industrialization and industrial digitalization, cultivate and shape a number of original IP with distinct Chinese cultural characteristics, and strengthen IP development and transformation.

For the creative team of "Qin Shi Huang", from accidental "holding hands" to long-term video production, the "tone- setter" of the product is crucial, which is like the white moonlight in the heart, but also like the homely Yangchun noodles, thinking about it, all involve a "care".

"Strengthen cultural self-confidence and create positive energy and high-quality video works." They agreed. Therefore, "Qin Shi Huang" walked into the epidemic prevention site, fire squadron, police dog base to carry out anti-fraud propaganda and celebrate Journalists' Day... "We do not accept commercial cooperation, and all videos are completely public welfare content." Jolida said.

The cultural flavor is stronger, and the confidence of cultural self-confidence is more sufficient. On the basis of launching various explosive short videos, Lintong District has also made media products such as electronic posters, WeChat emojis, mouse pads and cultural and creative products according to the personality characteristics of "Qin Shi Huang", making the image of "Qin Shi Huang" more diverse.

"Lintong District has always been committed to 'bringing the city's cultural relics and history to life.'" Cheng Fang told reporters that in the next step, Lintong will continue to rely on cultural tourism resources such as the Qin Terracotta Warriors, hanhongmen banquet, and Tanghua Qing palace, deeply excavate the cultural elements of Qin, Han and Tang, continuously inherit and innovate, and interpret the urban temperament with "living history". Shaanxi Daily reporter Qi Hui correspondent Wang Sanhe