Wen | a bomb (Luosi Film and Television Research Group)
There is a jargon in variety shows called "artists come first". In the current variety show era when artists are in the seller's market, remuneration is no longer enough to impress stars, and the function of the money offensive in artist invitations has been weakened day by day.
Known as the big coffee vacuum cleaner in the circle, Zhejiang Satellite TV's phenomenon-level variety show "Ace to Ace" takes the IP duel as the model eye, based on the studio, the two seasons of the program not only "inhaled" Jackie Chan, Zhang Guoguo, Zeng Zhiwei, Deng Chao, Xie Tingfeng, Liu Xiaoqing, Bai Baihe, Zhu Yin and other big-name stars, as well as Wang Gang, Chen Jianbin, Zhang Fengyi, Zhang Tielin, Guo Da, Cai Ming, Jiang Wenli, Yuan Li and other senior drama bones isolated from the variety show. It can be said that half of the entertainment industry has been invited.
On June 11, at the China Model Day Forum, Yu Yuji interviewed Wu Tong, the chief producer of the two seasons of "Ace to Ace". In his successful experience, "Ace" can pry the entire entertainment industry, in addition to the two stepping stones of "professionalism" and "sincerity", it is also based on a unique understanding of the relationship between the show and the stars.
When communicating, take a step back, and force yourself to go further in the design of the program
The core of the variety show is still the program content. As long as the content of the show is tailored and engaging enough, the invitation is half successful. The first successful experience shared by Wu Tong is, "When communicating, we must learn to take a step back, but we must force ourselves to go further in program design." ”
In the second season of the God Eater special, Nicholas Tse made it clear before coming that he would not play games. We respect his opinion. But if he wants to play on his own, will the situation be different? "Wu Tong's idea is that if the game design hits the excitement of the star, then it may be natural to get involved." Our first game of the year was Ingredient Solitaire, the rules are very simple, the first person reports a food, and the latter person says its color. In fact, this is our elaborate design, Nicholas Tse is a well-deserved star chef, his understanding of food is far better than others. In the game, he can not only introduce rare ingredients to everyone, but also the ingredients he says are unknown to other stars. He found his own role positioning through this game, and the active participation of the game later became logical. ”
Different from the general season program, in addition to the captains of the two teams and the new "Ace Agent" in the second season, each episode of "Ace and Ace" is based on the mode of IP duel, which requires a large number of artists and guests as support. Such a program model invisibly increases the difficulty of guest invitation: the schedule of big-name artists is very tight, and the length of a program is limited, how to design suitable content within the specified time, so that every guest feels that it is meaningful to take time to come to this trip?
"When Jackie Chan came, the recording time he gave us was very limited, and everyone was under great pressure. For such a big person, what kind of feelings should be used to impress him? The so-called iron-blooded soft sausage, when he lifted the Oscar trophy, what he missed most in his heart would not be the brother who accompanied him all the way to this stage? Thus, the idea of "Jackie Chan's family reunion" was born, "this idea was immediately in line with his agency team, and they fully cooperated." When dozens of brothers stood in front of him, Jackie Chan burst into tears. The show has meaning for him, and the original time limit has been solved. ”
The professional team is to reassure the artists
In the 90s of last century, starring Zhou Xingchi and Zhu Yin, "Journey to the West" was one of the most influential films after the 80s and 90s, in addition to the hilarious classic lines and poignant love stories, Zhu Yin's prosperous beauty at the peak of the period was even more captivated by countless people, and it is still remembered. In the second season of "Ace to Ace", Zhu Yin once again put on the red and white veil of the year after a gap of 22 years and transformed into a "Purple Xia Fairy", holding a donkey like when she first appeared in the movie, and using a sentence of "From now on, I am the Pansi Immortal, everything here is mine, including you", to instantly bring the audience back to the world of "Journey to the West".
After 22 years of re-wearing the red and white veil of "Purple Xia Fairy", how did "Ace to Ace" impress Zhu Yin? "'Zhu Yin dressed as a purple xia fairy' once became a hot search on Weibo. But it took us a year to invite Juin. This role is too special for her, and every time she mentions playing Zixia, she refuses, fearing that the show will ruin Zixia's appearance in her heart. ”
How to reassure artists? In Wu Tong's view, professionalism is the best reason to convince artists. "We did a lot of homework to reassure her. Zixia's clothes, we are inviting professionals to reset all silk, when she put on the clothes we prepared for her, she can't help but say: True like. ”
Zhu Yin leads a donkey to open the show, which is how the Purple Xia Fairy appears in the movie. The three-act crossover drama pays tribute to the love classic of "Journey to the West", until Zhu Yin expresses her own concept of love at the end: "You must first learn to love yourself before you can learn to love others." Sharing successful experience, Wu Tong believes that if it were not for the trust in the program group, she would not have been so open-minded.
"A professional team is to reassure artists." Wu Tong said that the issue of "Love Apartment", because Lou Yixiao's schedule was very tense, in order to give her more motivation to squeeze out time, the program team invited her good partner Chen Jianbin.
Inviting Chen Jianbin is also a twist and turn, Wu Tong flew to Sanya to talk about life with Chen Jianbin. Through in-depth chat, he learned that Chen Jianbin rarely appeared on variety shows, and he had his own worries about appearing on the stage of "Ace", and Wu Tong obviously would not go away unprepared. He told Chen Jianbin that the collective appearance of Zhang Guoguo, Chen Jianbin and Zhang Tielin happened to be Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong", "three generations of emperors of grandchildren" on the stage at the same time, which are three roles known to all ages and absolutely attract everyone's attention. With this said, Chen Jianbin's concerns were eliminated.
Deeply cultivate feelings and use content to add value to artists
In the current showbiz circle, many stars choose to maintain good contact with the audience through variety shows. For the program, achieving a win-win situation between the stars and the program is the most ideal state. Wu Tong said: "The difference between Ace is that we are more thinking: What can we give to artists in the show? If a variety show can add value to the artist, it is definitely the trump card in the variety show. “
When the first season of "Ace to Ace" was broadcast, some insiders asserted that "this is a show that is difficult to do the second season", for two main reasons: first, it has always been in the form of confrontation between film and television IP, and the sustainability is limited; second, there are too many stars and the production cost is too high. The second season of "Ace" not only solved the above two concerns, but also handed over a beautiful result of 2.173% of the average ratings. The secret behind it is two words: feelings.
Throughout the second season of aces, "Jackie Chan Chengjia Class Tearful Gathering", "Liu Xiaoqing Re-played Wu Zetian", "Iron Triangle Redoubles Iron Tooth Copper Tooth", "Purple Xia Fairy Zhu Yin Dialect Journey to the West", "Chef Huang's Proverbs of Revealing Love", "Love Apartment Touching Reunion", "Yin Zheng Zhang Fengyi Pays Tribute to the Overlord Farewell"... Referring to the successful experience of reproducing these classics, Wu Tong shared: "Every deep cultivation of feelings is to regenerate new values for existing IP, and also to help artists shape an image that is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In this way, it is also reasonable that Ace can invite so many artists to join."
Editor| Director