If director Kong Sheng is the quality assurance of domestic dramas, this golden signboard should be given to director Yan Min.
Yan Min, one of the few author-type variety show directors in China, is represented by the first four seasons of "Extreme Challenge". From imitation to transcendence, Yan Min and Extreme Man helped achieve the miracle of national variety shows.
After leaving Oriental Satellite TV, Yan Min and Station B cooperated to create "Rap New Generation" is also a word-of-mouth phenomenon in 2020.
Recently, he and his old partner Huang Lei joined hands to launch a drama-themed variety show - "Drama New Life".
The Douban score is as high as 9.2.
Huang Lei, the initiator of the show, invited seven actors to be the MC (regular guests) of the show, and began a two-month long theatrical creation life in Wuzhen, a water town.
They are Xiu Rui, Wu Bi, Liu Xiaoye, Zhao Xiaosu, Liu Tianqi, Liu Xiaoyi, and Ding Yiteng.
Except for Xiu Rui, who often appears in variety shows, the other six people are well-known drama actors. However, if you usually do not pay attention to the drama circle, it is actually difficult to know these numbers of characters.
Because drama is still too far from public life.
Entering the niche industry of drama and unveiling its mystery is also the original intention of the show "Drama New Life".
At the beginning of the show, Yan Min sacrificed his usual routine - insufficient funds, and the new theater troupe drama commune formed by seven MCs could only rely on themselves and struggle hard.
There is no fixed process for the whole show, and the whole process is stocked.
Rent earned by themselves, food by themselves, what to do themselves, but also have to find their own performance venues, sell their own tickets to sell.
But there are many tasks in front of the MCs: in order to maintain the survival of the entire troupe, ten theatrical performances need to be produced in two months.
To some extent, we can also think of "New Life of Drama" as a self-made entrepreneurial story of drama actors.
The 7 MCs will work every few days to earn income, and all the living expenses of eating and drinking Lasa are spent in this money.
After living a collective life, all the troupe members used their brains to come up with a variety of ways to save money.
They go to the ditch to find fish, pick vegetables in the scenic spots, and have free resources to never spend a dime on themselves.
The first order received by the Drama Commune was the anniversary of the chicken farm next door.
The drama must be arranged within three days, and since the audience has adults and children, this drama also needs to be suitable for all ages.
Liu Tianqi, a new director, created the main story of this children's drama from his daughter's favorite fairy tale "Different Carmela": when other chickens learn to lay eggs, chick Carmela wants to see the sea.
Experienced teacher Liu Xiaoye enriched the story characters based on the classic drama "Ominous Egg".
Liu Xiaoyi's ability to make props is also excellent.
He made a crown with gloves and a chicken tail with miscanthus.
The graffiti drawn by hand, together with the paper shell and the bamboo basket, the whales in the sea are made.
In addition to this, others also play different roles in the team:
Ding Yiteng improvised his lines, Wu Bi coordinated all kinds of work, Zhao Xiaosu interjected and joked to enliven the atmosphere, and Xiu Rui challenged different roles.
In the end, the big guys worked together to arrange the drama "The Story of the Chicken Farm".
Of course, after the play is arranged, it is necessary to go to Lai Shengchuan, the "director of the art committee", to review and seal it.
The vision of this drama master is not generally high, and he does not release water at all. After watching the rehearsal, Lai Shengchuan made a professional guide to this small play.
I have to admire the creative ability of this group of dramatists, in 3 days, they are all self-sufficient from life to theater.
The story of the chicken and the sea that is finally presented to the audience is simple but philosophical.
Born as a chicken, laying eggs is Xiaolan's vocation, and then he has always wanted to see the sea. Along the way, despite the obstruction of the flock of chickens, it impressed Columbus, who wanted to eat himself, and finally realized his dream.
Fairy tales are projected into real life, laying eggs is a cookie-cutter life, and the sea is poetry and far away.
The children were laughed at, but the adults cried.
The second issue of the drama "Chicken and Rabbit in the Cage", which explores the relationship between father and daughter, has greater creative freedom than the first issue. The actors used their superb performances to bring the audience closer to the world of drama.
To borrow He Bing's words: "Movies and television are dreams that invite you to come and see me, while dramas are dreams that we come together, and drama actors are a bit more like priests and preachers." ”
Different from the characters sold in the variety show and the script arrangement in the love reality show, the drama actors in "Drama New Life" restore the most authentic artistic charm of the drama in the most simple way, bringing the audience the enjoyment of beauty.
In addition to the drama itself, in "Drama New Life", we can also clearly see the living conditions of drama actors and the current situation of the industry.
On the one hand, the drama actors put a lot of effort into the performance, but did not receive a better remuneration.
For example, Liu Xiaoyi revealed that he often needs to do other work to subsidize drama performances.
On the other hand, the domestic drama market has yet to be explored, and most audiences are unwilling to pay hundreds of yuan to buy tickets to watch dramas.
For example, in the second phase, Wu Haochen and Xiao su Xiaoyi desperately solicited tourists to buy tickets in the scenic spot, but many people hesitated to hear the price of 150 yuan.
It can be said that whether it is Huang Lei, the initiator of this show, or the MCs involved in the recording, everyone is using love to generate electricity for the drama.
Director Yan Min also has no intention of making "Drama New Life" a reality SHOW variety show like "Extreme Challenge", in which drama is the only protagonist.
Before it aired, no one knew if the niche show could bring a fire drama, but everyone went all out.
Objectively speaking, to watch a play, you need to immerse yourself in the theater, which is naturally not an art form under the Internet ecology. In the new era, however, all art forms inevitably need to embrace the Internet.
A group of drama artists promote the drama in the form of variety shows, trying to attract more audiences into the theater. This initial intention is worthy of recognition but the effectiveness is questionable.
In addition to variety shows, what are the more appropriate ways to cultivate the audience of drama? This is something that requires further reflection.
Pillow Cloud 24th floor theater