April 11, 2023 | Total Issue 3202
Zhang Yimou, who just passed his 73rd birthday, is still full of creative energy.
Recently, Zhang Yimou personally admitted at the China Film Big Data Festival that he is expected to start filming the online drama "League of Legends" in September. He said, "The first time I tried an online drama, I wanted to make this work very handsome, cool, sassy, very modern, and the pace was faster, so as to enhance the texture of the online drama." Although it is not known whether he will get involved in online dramas as a director or producer, this news still stirred up a lot of waves.
More than 20 years ago, Zhang Yimou advised Zhang Ziyi to "don't take on dramas indiscriminately, don't make TV series in order to earn money." In 2017, Zhang Ziyi took over the TV series "Shangyang Fu", and now Zhang Yimou is also embracing online dramas. This transfer, in addition to relying on the drama to realize the commercial value, also shows that the online drama has long been not Wu Xia Amun, and has the conditions and qualifications to compete for top creators at the card table.
Just last month, the second online drama "Echo" directed by Feng Xiaogang finally won a popularity value of 8845 on iQiyi. Compared with the turbulent criticism suffered when "North and South" was broadcast, the reputation of "Echo" has improved significantly.
Feng Xiaogang concluded on Weibo, "The text of "Echo" is somewhat contrary to the viewing expectations of the 'Misty Theater', and we have to say that we are very lucky to reach such a popularity value, and it also shows that the audience's 'fog aesthetic' has changed." ”
He thanked iQiyi for its tolerance and respect for creation, as well as the audience's diverse aesthetics, and the last "goodbye" was meaningful. Next, Feng Xiaogang will focus on the movie "Do Not Disturb 3", and there should be no online drama output in a short period of time.
The film director was given excessive expectations when he made an online drama. Film texture, high artistic standards and good market feedback can do both. A few years have passed, and it is a bit rash to use only one or two sentences of "water and soil disobedience" to judge the path of this batch of directors.
The author's episode is beginning to grow
When "Echo" was a hit, whether professionals or ordinary audiences, the evaluation was always inseparable from the three words "Feng Xiaogang", and the lines and emotions of the people in the play were considered his personal expressions, and it seemed to completely forget the original basis of "Echo" and the fact that the author wrote the script himself.
This phenomenon not only appears in Feng Xiaogang, but whenever the film director turns into a series, it is almost inevitable.
In fact, Feng Xiaogang did put a strong personal watermark on "Echo", which is reflected in at least three aspects.
First of all, it is obviously built for the Misty Theater, but it is light in suspense and heavy on emotions, as he said "against the audience's expectations", to put aside the general director is not afraid to do this, the platform will not pass, but he really did it, and did it.
Secondly, the tone of the lines is distinctive. Many people are complaining that the lines of "Echo" are not life-like enough, like written language, but it undoubtedly adds to the literary nature of the series, and the tone of the actors' lines degrades the sense of stiffness as much as possible, full of the melody of big beads and small beads falling on the jade plate. Like the confrontation scene in the car between Shen Xiaoying (played by Ni Ni) and Xia Bingqian (played by Wu You), as well as the confrontation between her and Ran Dongdong (played by Song Jia), they are all very distinctive and rare on the screen.
If it's just an actor who gives people this feeling, it's his personal charm, but when all the crew is like this, it's inseparable from the director's control. According to the actors of "Echo", Feng Xiaogang is very strict with their lines on the set, and he has clear judgments on rhythm, intonation, and speed, which can torture actors to the point of "wanting to cry".
Third, innovation in image expression. The image style of "Echo" is unique, and one of the most intuitive feelings is that there is a sense of atmosphere composed of light green tones. This is an intentional design by Feng Xiaogang and photographer Zhao Xiaoding.
Film directors are generally conscious of a unified aesthetic style, and they were inspired by the fact that the story of "Echoes" takes place in a small southern town, where the climate is humid and moss can be seen everywhere in the cracks in the walls: the camera peeks into the hearts of people in the city through the cracks in the walls, and the light green features of moss are integrated into the image as a visual element.
After all, Feng Xiaogang is a market-oriented director, and he is eager to find the intersection of self-expression and audience aesthetics, so there will be reflection, and only after the audience criticizes the suspension of "North and South" will enhance the quality of life of "Echo".
Also a film director turned online drama, Zhang Dalei's style is more authorial. "Moses on the Plain" directed by him was shortlisted for the drama unit of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival this year, becoming the first Chinese-language work shortlisted in the nine years since the unit's establishment.
The authorship of this drama is reflected in the nostalgic atmosphere, realistic style, soothing rhythm, non-professional actors... These characteristics are almost a continuation of his literary film "August", Zhang Dalei is almost using the thinking of movies to create online dramas, which has caused a lot of discussion, some people are happy, others can't understand or even angry.
Not only these two dramas this year, but also going back, "Feng Qi Longxi" at this time last year, in addition to the color grading style of the image made the audience very uncomfortable, even the crisp and neat martial arts drama is highlighting the difference between Lu Yang, a film director and a traditional TV series director.
We all know that Chen Zhengdao's "Yue Ai, Chitose-sama's First Love" and "Love is Delicious" are well recognized by the market, but he actually plays the complex narrative that he is good at in quality dramas such as "Skyscraper", and hot topics such as child sexual assault, domestic violence, native family, PUA are integrated without mess, and it can be regarded as having a strong authorship.
Looking back, Wong Kar-wai's "Blossoms" authorship is undoubted, and the audience can give a "very Wong Kar-wai" evaluation without seeing the finished film. Although Zhang Yimou's "League of Legends" is an e-sports drama, with the style of "e-sports + game" of Yaoke's previous e-sports drama "Crossfire" and Tengjing Sports' ambition to deeply cultivate the "League of Legends" IP, Zhang Yimou's unique scene scheduling and aesthetic style should be able to be greatly played in this work.
Under the debate of right and wrong, creation is easy to be overlooked; Under the data competition of wide opening and closing, the quality is easy to be obscured. It is not difficult to find that a few years after the film director switched to dramas, an author's drama that is different from traditional online dramas is becoming a special category.
Due to the existence of the so-called "viewing threshold", it may be difficult for them to set off a frenzy of ratings and broadcasts like "Crazy", but they really maintain and improve the artistic level of the series. Their existence proves that when viewers criticize domestic dramas with "routineization", there are always people dancing in places beyond our imagination.
Motivation, privilege, temptation
Judging from the current situation of the overseas film and television industry, it seems that the switch of film directors to dramas has become an irreversible trend.
Last week, some media said that since the second half of last year, investment in Korean films aimed at theatrical release has stopped, and directors, producers and other creators have focused on the creation of series of TV series, and Korean films may disappear from theaters.
The news was seen as an example of the "cultural colonization" of South Korea by international streamers. In fact, in areas with developed film industries, few people are willing to invest in theatrical films except for head production companies and streaming media, and filmmakers either strive to cooperate with head companies or streaming media, or embrace cutting-edge shooting technology in exchange for the support of equipment companies.
As an emerging market in the film industry, some people once thought that Chinese films were the "hope of theatrical films" in terms of market level, but under the double blow of the film and television winter and the epidemic, this hope is full of uncertainty. Although it is not like Korean filmmakers to form a "grand situation" that gathers in streaming media, it is reasonable to find a safe way back.
Feng Xiaogang told the direct reason for filming online dramas: he was "unemployed" at home, even the employees of the company did not work, and if he wanted to start work and eat and support his family, he had to find a job to do.
As far as the platform is concerned, by cooperating with top artists, producing second-tier dramas other than blockbuster dramas, that is, works that do not expect market feedback to be successful, but can win the praise of some audiences and professionals, is an important way to build brand power.
Whether you admit it or not, after the rise of video platforms such as iYoutengmang, they are not only considered to be a drama broadcast platform, but gradually formed a recognition in the minds of the audience: this is a place that can break through the imagination of the audience and make the series better.
Therefore, in the era of big data, film directors enjoy certain creative privileges in the process of embracing online dramas, and do not need to look at the face of big data, but rely on the inherent perception and judgment of art to create personalization - they have become a very special group in the creation of dramas.
At that time, the TV series directors were engaged in the vigorous tide of marketization and theme creation. Under the combination of many factors, the new film director naturally took over the artistic stick.
I don't know whether it was intentional or unintentional, Zhang Yimou said when talking about the "League of Legends" online drama that "I want to improve the texture of the online drama". It is even more difficult for film directors to achieve effective innovation in the ancient art category of film, but it is still possible and tempting to leave one or two landmark works in the field of online drama.
Although creative artists have little room to pursue their dreams in the field of dramas, fortunately, they will not have box office pressure when they come here, which may be the source of the endless online dramas of the film guide and the few author's dramas, but it will continue to be supplied.
【Text/Xu Xinqiang】