October 14, 2022 | Issue No. 3024
Vanity
Issue 74
Mango TV's exclusive costume fantasy mini-drama "Vanity", directed by Zeng Qingjie, written by Zhao Lin, starring Ke Ying, Cheng Lei, Wang Zexuan, Song Zhaoyi and others.
The series tells the story of the story of the little painter Seventeen who was designed to change his face with the eldest miss Shen of Xiangguo Mansion, replacing Miss Shen and marrying into the General's Mansion.
Watching "Vanity", it seems to be reading a three-dimensional web text. There is a plot but not coherent, and the characters are likable but one-sided. The background of its story does not rely on history, but on the ancient times imagined by Chinese web literature.
But it's a really wonderful skit.
Director Zeng Qingjie is well versed in the communication attributes of micro-short dramas and the audience's viewing habits, grabs the eye with a strong visual impact, and quickly promotes the development of the plot with concise lines, "no second is superfluous".
The biggest charm of "Vanity" is that it contains the opposite attribute in each episode. Danger and romance, seriousness and comedy, misunderstandings and straight balls, intrigue and good intentions.
After all, he didn't drink the poisonous imperial wine in his stomach, the general who tore the book "Heavenly Girl Scattered Flowers" and died, the military division who was used as a maid, the unjust soldier who had to go to track with a blue nose and swollen face... These small settings make the plot earthy but not protracted, but the routines are not old-fashioned.
When I watched it, I kept thinking about a question: Is the problem of the protracted rhythm of TV dramas and the length of lines that have been complained about can only be solved by "making a dojo in a snail shell"?
Time one
30 years of senior drama critic, 28 years short
Ma II
When you see someone brush points, you can't get angry
"If one day you woke up and found yourself changing faces with someone else, what would you do?"
After brushing "Vanity" in one breath, I hesitated, is this really not a Zhihu Yanxuan column? "Vanity" tells a typical Zhihu wind story: big brain, heroine perspective, sweet love, and a little suspense. As a distinguished member of Zhihu, I have read a lot of this kind of story in the past.
Objectively speaking, as a small-budget drama, "Vanity" actually did a good job overall.
Although it is a theme of female enthusiasm, the opening "Yingying Yanyan" is still enough to retain male audiences; Although the technique of changing faces seems absurd, the irrationality of logic can also be quickly covered up by a short and fast rhythm; Although the overall narrative is too "brain-opening", the reversal of the finale can still shock the audience.
However, it also has the same problems as most Zhihu Yanxuan stories, and lacks stamina. If the audience can't "finish the liver" in one breath, it will be difficult to pick it up again after putting it down. Fortunately, it's quite short.
Tritin
Senior film critic
The costume short drama "Vanity" combines elements of love, suspense, action and other elements, and the story revolves around the two heroines exchanging appearances. The misplaced character relationships greatly enhance the dramatic tension.
This drama is equivalent to the big heroine "Shuangwen" in the online novel. The female painter Seventeen was originally soft-spoken, and she woke up and had status and Ruyi Langjun. With a novel story setting, the work gets rid of the plot routine of costume love dramas. If the audience does not follow the plot development closely, it is difficult to guess the ending.
"Vanity" is a purely entertainment-oriented work, the story emphasizes legendary, and the picture is beautiful. As a short drama, the goal of the main creator is to attract the audience into the pit for a minute, and the chase of the drama cannot stop.
However, the male and female protagonists in the play are a little hard in their performances, and it seems that they still lack experience and cannot reach the point of heart-to-heart, and this link needs to be strengthened.
Yichen
Watch the drama without paddling
Originally, I clicked on "Vanity" with a disapproving attitude, but I didn't want to look at it.
"Vanity" is director Zeng Qingjie's second micro-short drama after "Nian Nian Ignorance", the color is still good, and the aesthetic online costume painting and makeup are very sincere. The performances of several leading actors are also online, which basically does not make people play, and individual scenes will make people unsatisfied.
I like the emotional line of Seventeen and Xiao Hansheng, one of them is a folk female portraitist, the other is a brave general, but they continued the fate of three years ago due to a face-changing storm.
Xiao Hansheng's sentence "I remember her appearance in my heart, not in my eyes" not only clicks the question but also makes people move. Who said that the gentle heroine and the cold and arrogant male protagonist can't play straight ball and fall in love? "Vanity" is well done.
The OST of this drama is also very good, which appropriately blesses the sense of atmosphere of wanting to say goodbye. After watching this drama, I realized that I really need to pay more attention to micro-short dramas, and today, some excellent micro skits are indeed much higher than individual long dramas.
"Vanity" is characterized by two words: seduction.
First of all, beautiful women nourish their eyes, and handsome guys nourish their spirits. It is not difficult to find good-looking actors, but it is difficult to shoot the aesthetic points of the audience. Director Zeng Qingjie has groped a set of effective costume drama aesthetics from "Nian Nian Nameless" to "Vanity", and the audience loves this taste.
Secondly, the pace of the story is fast, and a few minutes is a small climax. Crazy characters, high-energy face change, sweet love... Smashing it over, it's quite emotional.
Third, there is no burden to chase the drama, and you can enter the next episode in ten minutes. Just like the "undercut temptation" of a short video, I unknowingly finished the whole episode anyway.
When the BGM in "Missing Name" sounded in the finale of "Vanity", the two dramas reached an interaction in this way, and the barrage instantly gave feedback on the full screen, could it be that the micro-short drama can still come out of the entire universe in the future?
Say noon
Professional sleeping, amateur drama chasing
Changing faces for marriage, marriage before love, the novelty of the theme selection makes "Vanity" have a clear distinction from other sweet dramas.
This drama is the same as the team of "Nian Nian Wuming", and its tone, camera movement and composition continue the excellent standard of the previous one, even not inferior to some big-production ancient puppets.
However, I personally think that the plot advancement of "Vanity" is slightly inferior to that of "Nian Nian Ignorance". Due to the limited duration, mini-dramas must bring out more information in a shorter time to maintain their visual appeal. "Nian Nian Wuming" uses a replacement mirror at the beginning to bring out the secrets of the male and female protagonists, but "Vanity" actually spent more than two episodes to pave the relationship between the characters.
Frankly speaking, if it weren't for the good close-up of the male and female protagonists, I probably wouldn't have much desire to watch it.
Kwai Chung
Silent and powerful, late strike