The "big heroine" drama has never become obsolete.
Of course, this "big heroine" does not refer to the open and hanging drama represented by the costume Mary Sue, but refers to the drama with women as the protagonist and starting from a female perspective, especially at a time when female consciousness is becoming more and more important.
In 2020, there is "three women and one drama", "Thirty Only", the drama focuses on three 30-year-old urban women, telling the story of their career marriage and love.
The starting point of the series is very good, and during the broadcast, it can also constantly throw out topics to cause the whole people to think, but the human setting deviates from reality, and the plot begins to fall into the cliché in the later stage, resulting in the high standard of the show not being able to achieve the expected high level.
At the beginning of 2021, there is another story with 4 women as the protagonists - "Positive Youth", which shows the temperament of a bad drama from the beginning, whether it is a human plot or an actor's acting skills, it cannot be satisfactory.
The "big heroine" drama is not easy to shoot, and the "big heroine" workplace drama is even more difficult.
However, the "big heroine" workplace drama that looks good and does not degrade is not completely extinct, and there is an excellent case in front of you -
"The Things They Started"
It's easy to see from the title that this is a workplace drama.
The series began broadcasting on January 31, and the four episodes of the show exceeded 6.8 million views on video websites, while it was viewed by 778,000 people on the eight major stations and satellite TV.
At the same time, after the broadcast of the series, people were amazing, and they received a high score of 8.8 in Douban (the highest was 9.0), and the short comments were praised, which is likely to become another Taiwan drama super hit of "Want to See You"
The traffic is strong, the word of mouth is bursting, let's talk about "Those Things They Started".
This workplace love drama that took 5 years to prepare can be called a "king-level lineup" in both starring and producing.
The drama is a new work by Admiralty screenwriter Lu Xiaoyuan after "The Distance Between Us and Evil", adapted from the Chai MenWen comic "Strong Woman Club", which tells the story of three girls of different ages and different personalities who will start a business together by chance.
The series is directed by Xu Zhaoren and Feng Jiarui, the golden partners, and starring Chen Yihan, Lin Xinru, Jian Youshu, Yu Sheng and Lin Zhexi.
The starring team is all goddess and goddess level, Lin Xinru's representative works are too familiar to say more, this drama she also participated in the executive production.
Chen Yihan, the goddess of frozen age, small face and big eyes, playing a college student also has no sense of violation.
Jian Yanshu, known as an oxygen beauty girl, has also been crowned with the title of "tender version of Rene Liu", and at the same time, her appearance is online, and she has also won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Taipei Film Awards with "Rookie".
Among the male protagonists, Qiu Ze is also very familiar with us, and his acting skills in movies have been highly affirmed in recent years, and Yu Sheng and Lin Zhexi have also appeared in many Taiwan dramas.
In addition to the main actors, the supporting roles of this drama are also familiar faces, in addition to Li Liqun and Lan Xinmei, who show more faces, they also include Ke Youlun, Luo Shifeng, Wu Jianhe, Deng Zhihong, Ding Guolin, Li Guochao, Yin Zhaode, Ma Guobi, Liao Huizhen, Ma Guoxian, Huang Caiyi, Xie Lijin, etc.
However, compared with the main creators of the series "Star-Studded", the reason why this drama can score a high score of 8.8 on Douban is that the script is good is the most important.
Screenwriters of domestic dramas should really learn from the current Taiwan dramas and see how they make "big heroine" workplace dramas.
01 Very representative non-heroic protagonists
The protagonists of "Those Things They Started" are three women, each representing a female image of different attributes in the workplace, which is very representative.
Lin Xinru plays the Gongye Bird, which is a large company "S· U· N"'s special assistant, she is very capable, does not leak, and is also very good at discovering the characteristics of employees, Xia Zhi is the "treasure" she dug up.
Although she doesn't talk much in the company, as long as she opens her mouth, she can hit the point directly, and she is a person with absolute leadership, and even the general manager is afraid to see her.
Originally for the role of Gongye Xiao bird, Lin Xinru was once too difficult to memorize the lines, resulting in heart failure and then memory decline, and then through Traditional Chinese medicine to adjust the body, taking medicine and eating for half a month to get better.
It seems that strong women are not good.
But although she has the ability and ambition, she also has a short personality, she is very unsociable, and does not know how to use human sophistication to increase her weight.
Because of the family relationship, it is difficult to get acquainted with people, but for acquaintances, it is easy for her to let down her guard.
This led to the fact that they had just started their own business, and they were put together by a friend of hers, and they almost died.
Xia Zhi, who seems to be the most ordinary one, also represents most of the people in the workplace.
She went to "S· U· N"6 years, from a small assistant all the way to become a designer. She is not lazy, the work entrusted to her is always done with all her strength, she has ideas but cannot express them, and she is often robbed of credit by her superiors.
Because I was unwilling to accompany my boss to socialize and drink, I was put on small shoes by my boss, and I found a stubble when I had nothing to do, and then I was "assigned" to do the counter because of three or two complaints, which was completely a social animal.
But even though she was treated so unfairly and was dissatisfied in her heart, she accepted it. In short, it is to be the "gas bag" that is to be obedient.
But at the same time, she has a lot of ideas, a strong execution, as long as she wants to do something, she must do it, and her loyalty and adaptability are also very good.
Lin Meiji, "S· U· N" counter, smiling sweetly, talking and talking, opening and closing are "people...".
It seems to be a role that is of no use except to look good, and because he has interacted with the general manager before, he is called "old man killer".
Moreover, she seems to be a love brain, and the reason why she stands at the counter is to be able to find true love.
But in fact, she is not a useless "vase", nor is she a person who sells her hue for profit, although she is sociable but very measured, and she also knows how to protect herself.
She treats feelings bravely and sincerely, and after knowing that the general manager has been cheating on her dead wife, she immediately sorts out the feelings between the two. After falling in love with Zheng Yinan at first sight, he has also been boldly pursuing love.
She has a strong memory, knows everyone in the company, and the people who meet once can quickly remember their names and characteristics.
And she is also very creative, opening an old shop for Xia's father for more than ten years, and the first visit can develop new dishes for him.
That is to say, everyone in the protagonist group has both advantages and weaknesses, and it is precisely because of their different personalities that they will encounter difficulties later, and there will be certain friction and misunderstanding.
But it is precisely because of this that their stories are true.
At the same time, the screenwriter also designed small details for each person to show their respective personalities and traits.
For example, Gongye Xiao bird, as a high-income special assistant, commutes to work or rides a bicycle, because she has her own understanding and pursuit of life, not blindly pursuing a high-quality life, which also paves the way for her to leave her job and start a business.
There is also Xia Zhi, although she is a recalcitrant air bag, but every time she experiences a major event, she will rely on eating to alleviate it.
And Lin Meiji, because she is a beautiful girl and pursues the setting of true love, her residence and daily dress can highlight her personality.
I really admire the screenwriter's ability to shape the character, and I am worthy of being a gold medal screenwriter.
02 Real workplace stories can resonate
The workplace story of "Those Things They Started" is mainly divided into pre-entrepreneurship and post-entrepreneurship, and the protagonist of the story is not limited to the three female protagonists, Zheng Yinan, played by Qiu Ze, also shows the real side of the workplace.
First of all, Xia Zhi, played by Chen Yihan, has grown from an assistant to a designer all the way and has experienced too many trials and grievances.
The boss targeted her everywhere because she did not accompany the wine, and scolded in front of her colleagues in the company: "Are you mentally retarded?" Or a pig? Or a mentally retarded pig? ”
Xia Zhi's seriousness and stubbornness to work were looked at by Gongye Xiao bird, and Shunshi helped her, but these were regarded by her superiors as "betraying hue" and almost sexually harassed.
But even though Gongye Xiao bird helped her in this matter, he would not take her side because of the dismissal of the cleaner, because "you can only help others if you take care of yourself." ”
Lin Meiji, because of her good looks and sociability, was chewed on the tongue by colleagues behind her back, in fact, they did not understand the truth at all, and they buttoned their hats and opened their mouths.
Zheng Yinan, played by Qiu Ze, as the RM of the bank, although he has full of ideals and ambitions, as well as principles and a sense of justice, the current situation of the entire industry makes him have to face the scene of "justice difficulty".
Obviously, there are problems with the project, but the boss gives the green light without more evaluation for the year-end award and performance, and the project company is even more rich and powerful, and does not pay attention to his small staff at all.
When he proposes that the project is risky and discusses the issue with his colleagues, he will be warned by his superiors not to be nosy, and his colleagues will persuade him to accept the status quo for the sake of life.
"Helplessness" has become synonymous with workplace life.
When the trio decided to leave their jobs to start a business, although all three of them had their own strengths, things did not go smoothly with Goldfinger, but succumbed to reality, and there were a bunch of troubles waiting for trouble.
A few people energetically spent almost all the goods purchased by the venture capital, but because they did not investigate the buyer situation in advance, the goods could not be eliminated, and 4.8 million were adrift, what to do?
Without the help of the boss, they just rely on the phone call from house to run the business, and sell all the inventory in their hands. Look closely, the number of their sales charts still match their personal abilities.
At the same time, in addition to the pressure brought by performance, the contradiction between the three has also become an obstacle for them to continue to move forward.
Gongye Xiao bird because of the previous bump into Mei Ji and the general manager together, coupled with the fact that Mei Ji's clothing has always been more bold, has always been prejudiced against her, thinking that she is an empty and beautiful vase, which has also become the fuse for the conflict between the two.
It can be said that although the series is fast-paced, every turn is reasonable, there is no deliberate deepening of contradictions, nor is it crazy to solve the problem, they are only facing some "bird" things encountered on the road of "entrepreneurship".
03 "Workplace drama" can also have a life
Domestic workplace dramas have been criticized, a big point is because they fall in love under the guise of "workplace dramas", and there are very few parts that really involve the workplace.
It is hard to have a workplace drama "Ordinary Glory" that can be handed, or a workplace drama that is almost isolated from love.
So the question is, can't workplace dramas have love? Or to put it a little bigger, can't workplace dramas have a life?
Of course not, because of the temperature brought by life in "Those Things They Started", this drama has a little more healing flavor in addition to inspiration.
In terms of the current life line, Xia Zhi has the most scenes, with three lines of family, friendship and love.
For the unfolding of Xia Zhi's family affection, it can be said that it is both funny and touching, but it is all real.
When she wanted to resign because of Gongye Xiao bird's proposal, Li Liqun's father objected, because "large companies have the benefits of large companies and stability." ”
But the mother played by Lan Xinmei expressed support, because "it is better to work for the boss than to work for yourself, comfortable." ”
When she decided to start a business with Gongye Xiao bird, she wanted to invest 1 million yuan, but only 200,000 yuan on hand, after thinking about it, her father decided to take out the 980,000 yuan saved for so many years to start a business for her.
And although she received bullying from her boss at the company, her colleagues were also very warm to her.
The emotional line between her and her boyfriend Takeki has learned from her brother Zheng Yinan is also very interesting, to say a digression, Qiu Ze's acting skills are really OK, 40-year-old acting college students, that timid and stunned look is very plus.
According to the three heroines after that, although they will all have the development of the love line, from the preview, they will not be reduced to love brains.
Gongye Xiao bird even said that "children will eat their mother's time and physical strength and fighting spirit little by little", which is a famous line that although it is heartfelt, it is also a fact.
Finally, two more words about the production of this play.
"Those Things They Started" cost nearly NT$200 million, shot in 4K, and put a lot of effort into the art setting, finding the movies "Hypnosis Master", "Before Dawn" and "Love. Art director Luo Shunfu of Chitose Adult's First Love.
In order to ensure the authenticity, it is hard to build an S · U· Company N, the OST in the play is also very good to listen to, and it is heart-wrenching.
Now there are too many workplace dramas on the surface under the banner of "professionalism", and the result is still a love drama in the end, and it is rare to encounter a workplace drama that can combine the workplace and life so well and shoot a workplace drama with real temperature.
Again, domestic drama screenwriters, don't imagine it out of thin air, learn how to make up a real and good-looking workplace drama.
Bluestone Film Editorial Office | Old Meng
This article is the original content of Bluestone Films, please do not reprint it in any form without authorization