In 2007, Xiang Qiuliang, who had just graduated from the China Academy of Art, found a substitute job in an unknown studio, and after work, he studied video clips with his two younger brothers and posted them online.
It seems to be no different from the countless self-media on the platform.
Many people are still the mediocre self-media (such as me) after a few years, but the Xiang brothers have quietly come out of the circle.
In 2009, the Xiang brothers earned more than 200,000 yuan in income with a short film of more than 20 minutes put on Youku to pay for on-demand, earning the first pot of gold after entering the industry.
Since then, they have begun to embark on the road of opening and hanging, and now, they have become such people in the eyes of many people: "Now that the net is big, the hottest is the Xiang brothers." (Quoted from the words of a well-known Internet director)
It is said that after the 12th work "Soul Master", the cumulative box office of the films produced by the Xiang brothers has exceeded 100 million.
What an inspirational model.
However, most of the online movies are low-cost small productions, and the works that come out are often suspected of being copycats.
However, with the accumulation of funds and experience, Xiang Shi is obviously not satisfied with others' evaluation of their grade.
Yan Que Yan knows the ambition of the Honghu, and the Xiang clan, who holds a thousand guan, is eager to try the high-end route, and the momentum has become stronger and bigger, which is visible to the naked eye.
If nothing else, just watching two "Water Monsters", from 1 to 2, can make people see extraordinary leaps.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="34" > tell the story better</h1>
The town of Sheung Shui is remote and surrounded by rivers, and the townspeople basically live by fishing.
When Aquatic was six or seven years old, he once went fishing with his father and witnessed his father being killed by a water monster.
Since then, he has become an orphan, and the water monster has become a knot in his heart, both hated and afraid.
Originally, he did not plan to do anything, until he grew up and fell in love with the girl in the town, Pandan, which inspired him to embark on the road of heroism.
Xianglan's brother and father were brutally killed by the water monster, and he was also pushed by the superstitious elders to make sacrifices to the water monster.
Seeing that his beloved was in great pain and danger, the aquatic creature finally broke out in silence and led the young and strong people in the town to carry out monster fighting activities together.
After experiencing the "ninety-nine eighty-one difficulties", the hero finally won the victory, and the beautiful woman naturally married him.
This is the story content of "Water Monster 1", simple and cheesy, and the reason why people are happy to entertain is probably the rendering effect of the actors' hard work and tense atmosphere.
But the story of "Water Monster 2" is much more exciting.
During the Republic of China period, Du Jiajia, a female forensic doctor in the metropolis, became famous in the newspapers for detecting the murder of her adoptive father.
Since then, Jiajia has been receiving anonymous letters from Sheung Shui Town, mentioning his origins, but ambiguous.
In the confusion, Du Jiahao, the younger brother of the family, volunteered to take a trip for his sister to find out the mystery of his life.
Jia Hao may have really found something, and as he approached the truth, death was also approaching him.
Jia Jia, who felt his brother's dangerous situation, also embarked on the road to Sheung Shui Town.
Breaking through the fog, Jia Jia discovered that Shangshui Town was hiding a terrifying secret, it turned out that she was originally from Shangshui Town, and the water monster that she chased and intercepted with the townspeople was her own biological brother, and what was even more shocking was that they were the descendants of the first generation of monster heroes aquatic.
And the maker of all tragedies and tragedies is the mayor of Sheung Shui Town, who will stop at nothing to pursue interests.
The twists and turns of the story, coupled with the thrilling technical effects and the actors' passionate interpretation, are very fascinating.
The Xiang brothers said in an interview with the media that in the early days, making movies was more subjective, and they could shoot how they wanted, but now it is different, and they will think rationally.
They want to present a more exciting story that the audience likes more.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="78" > kernel deepening</h1>
In addition to presenting more exciting, the core of the story is also deeper.
The reason why there are water monsters, the story of the first part is said to be born and nurtured, and the second part is artificially created.
The so-called man will win the day, even the dinosaurs can not survive the human beings, since ancient times, human beings have never been afraid of other species, there is no creature on the earth that is not conquered by people.
So in the first part, even if the water monster is very powerful, moving fast, teeth and claws like a knife, body like loach, and haunted, people with huge physical fitness gaps are not unable to take it.
Because people have wisdom, the net of heaven and earth that has been set up can eventually make them shackled.
But people are smart and think they are smart, and some old fools who "eat more salt than rice" are superstitious and superstitious, and because they are old, they must respect and worship the monster.
Because of the old man's ignorance, the hard-caught water monster escaped from the cage and killed the townspeople who had eaten and drunk enough to celebrate the victory of the monster fight, and the blood flowed overnight.
The monster hero Aquatic had to gather the remaining strength of the town, redeploy a monster-catching operation, and finally eliminate the monster after paying more sacrifices.
Those unnecessary sacrifices are the price of ignorance.
Why are water monsters rampant in Sheung Shui Town?
The first is because of the ignorance of some people, and the second is that people with ulterior motives use human ignorance to control people's hearts.
In the first part, the aquatic creature has led people to kill the water monster, the town has a hero, there is no water monster in the water, and the years of the water town are just around the corner.
However, the good times were short-lived.
In the Nth year after the elimination of the water monster, the town suddenly came to the plague (the film implies that it is man-made), and some people began to spread rumors that the plague was caused by aquatic creatures, because he took the lead in fighting the water monsters and offended the water monster gods.
Ignorant people could not withstand the temptation, and they raised their eyebrows at the aquatic family.
So the aquatic family was persecuted, the water fell ill and died, the younger son was controlled by the bad guys, he was imported into the virus to make a new water monster, the eldest daughter was rescued by the neighbor Ying Zi who risked death and was adopted by the police from Shanghai, watching the husband die and scatter, and the wife Xianglan directly went crazy.
The town of Sheung Shui is once again shrouded in bloodshed, and people are afraid that they will become the souls of the water monsters one day.
However, unlike N years ago, this time no "aquatic" dared to propose to kill the water monster.
Because of the emergence of the plague and the "rebirth" of the water monster, the ignorant people lost the confidence and motivation to resist again, silently accepted the fate of letting the "water monster" kill, and followed the elders to worship the water monster and hate the people who questioned the water monster.
The cowardice and ignorance of the people inadvertently defend the lies of the bad guys, and the townspeople have been unable to discover that the water monster is not really a water monster at all, but the son of the hero who beats the monster, and the killer of the townspeople has someone else.
Cowardice and ignorance have killed many people, including those who are cowardly and ignorant.
On the other hand, why did the bad guy create all this and let the town that had been quiet for many years fall into a bloody storm?
Because he wants to chase personal unlimited interests.
This rises to the level of human nature, and the evil it brings is complex, abstract, and far more difficult to deal with than the water monster itself.
Therefore, the second part no longer pulls the tough guys to the C position, but leaves the position to Du Jiajia, an intellectual woman full of wisdom.
Du Jiajia is an upgrade of heroes, not only has the genes of heroes, but also the strength, self-confidence, wisdom and awakening given by the new era, so that they can defeat this kind of dark villain who hides in the corner and harms one side.
From the first to the second, the ideological content has been upgraded.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="104" > star lineup upgrade</h1>
The male and female protagonists of "Water Monster 1" are newcomers, Liu Lincheng, who plays aquatics, and Zhu Lilan, who plays Xianglan, has only been in the industry for 5 years, and the performance level is decent, not pulling crotch, but also not brilliant.
Newcomers always have to go through the experience, and the audience still has this tolerance.
But being able to understand doesn't necessarily mean that the delegates will like it.
"Water Monster 2" brought a lot of surprises, and the starring team had two "drama bone" level starring actors, namely Han Dong and Wang Zhen'er.
Han Dong does not have much time to appear, but just a few shots, it makes people marvel at the technical crushing of the drama bone.
Du Jiahao, played by Han Dong, single-handedly paddled a small boat into the black wood forest in the hazy night, and the distant view seemed to be both empty (no one) and crowded (the dark place seemed to be full of unknown creatures), giving people a creepy feeling.
Du Jiahao's whole body was full of the word "afraid", sweat soaked his hair, and the glasses covered with water vapor could still reveal the strong panic in his eyes.
But there was a stubbornness in his forehead, a magical force that forced himself to face fear, causing him to pick up the camera and stare at the water in front of him.
Han Dong's beginning opens the thriller's aura perfectly, and then Wang Zhen'er appears with a spear and a travel box.
Wang Zhen'er is a post-85, debuted for more than ten years, and has played many classic roles, such as "Luo Haiyan" in "Shanghai Women's Picture Book", Ai Qing in the youth inspirational romance drama "Dear, Loved" and so on.
Her appearance may not be the most popular type in the entertainment industry, but her face is very storylike and easy to bring rich connotations to the characters.
Many times, she seems to do nothing, and uses her expressions alone to show her inner world very well to the character and situational needs of the character.
For example, when she first arrived in Sheung Shui Town, she was righteous as soon as she appeared: a pair of deep but eyes that seemed to burn something made people with weak hearts can't help but feel timid.
For example, her acquaintance with her brother who became a water monster is deeply touching: her eyes are tearful, she chokes up and calls, awakens the rationality and emotions of the water monster, and finally rises up to fight the bad guys and sacrifices herself to save the children in the town.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="121" > conclusion</h1>
Among the domestic network thriller film works, "Water Monster 2" has remarkable points, especially from the first to the second part, which makes people see the sincerity of the creators to try to do a good job.
Of course, compared with the master-level blockbusters, the works of the Xiang brothers still have a lot of room for improvement.
However, as the creators of the network who started with short videos, their down-to-earth and steady forward spirit has encouraged many ordinary people who are also pursuing progress.
Perhaps, let's see what the movie can learn.