Suspense dramas are in the limelight, from the blockbuster "White Night Chase" and "Undocumented Crime" in 2017 to this year's well-known "Who Is He" and "Moses on the Plain", the suspense theme has been favored by the audience, producers, producers and other parties, and has become a big hit in the series. It can be seen that suspense dramas have become the favorite of various platforms and audiences.
In recent years, with the development and layout of the platform, the characteristics and trends of suspense dramas have changed in three aspects: the film team "invaded" suspense-themed dramas; The annual output gradually increases, and the word of mouth gradually increases; The content form is more refined and diverse. Such changes have made the already "rolled" suspense drama market enter the "roll within a roll" stage, and from these changes, we can roughly see the latest trends and reasons for changes in the category of suspense dramas.
Increased production and word of mouth
A high-reputation suspense drama with a strong avant-garde temperament, once angrily brushed a wave of existence. At present, suspense theaters are blooming everywhere, the number of boots has risen sharply, and high-reputation suspense dramas have become the "trump card" of various platforms to build drama brands. The rapid development of suspense dramas is not a matter of one or two years. In fact, since "White Night Chase" became a blockbuster dark horse after it was broadcast in 2017, the huge development potential of suspense dramas has been discovered and tapped by major filmmakers, and the quality and quantity have been rising year after year.
According to the statistics of Yunhe Data in recent years, in 2018, a total of 47 suspense dramas were premiered; By 2019, the number of suspense dramas premiering throughout the year had increased to 55; By 2020, the number of new suspense dramas has further increased, with a total of 70, an increase of 15 year-on-year.
In 2021, according to Yunhe data, among the new domestic dramas in that year, the number of suspense dramas and the proportion of effective broadcasts accounted for 14% and 12%, respectively, surpassing idol dramas and period dramas in terms of number and effective broadcast; By 2022, this figure will expand to 14.5% and 18%. Judging from the reserves of major platforms, the number of suspense dramas this year is still very amazing.
At the same time, the reputation and social influence of suspense dramas are also constantly improving. The head suspense drama is getting better and better in 2020, and the trend of word-of-mouth general leap forward is clear. Compared with some works hovering on the edge of the passing line, according to incomplete statistics, last year's Douban score was 7+, with as many as 12. There are three dramas "Fengqi Longxi", "The Beginning" and "Tang Dynasty Mystery" shortlisted, with Douban scores of 8.1, 7.9 and 7.9 respectively. In the first quarter of this year, "Moses on the Plain" and "Who Is He" also achieved good Douban scores of 7.7 and 7.6 points.
Quantitative change produces qualitative change
Behind-the-scenes practitioners are fully upgraded
In addition to the increase in production, its various "hardware" are also being upgraded, and the more obvious point is that the film team is appearing more and more frequently. Since 2017, film directors and film teams such as Guan Hu, Chen Zhengdao, Wang Xiaoshuai have entered the field of dramas and cooperated with platforms, and suspense themes have become the most popular genre for film directors. The entry of film directors has gradually shown new changes in the suspense drama industry, and more and more audiences will use "film texture" to praise the high quality of a series, and the joining of film directors has also become a selling point and "confidence" in the promotion of the series.
Due to the different carriers, the director of the series often uses a fixed creative mode to shoot the work, in order to catch up with the schedule, the director's task is to explain the key information of the content clearly, so some shots can be quickly processed in a standardized way, with a lot less creativity and artistic processing. Film directors will pay more attention to lighting effects, composition, and props, art, makeup and other details. For example, in the costume suspense drama "Fengqi Longxi" directed by Lu Yang, natural light runs through almost throughout. Many light sources come from natural light, although such brightness rarely appears in film and television dramas, but it enhances the movie quality of "Feng Qi Longxi".
In addition, the reason why the suspense theme is popular with the directors is because the relationship between the characters of the suspense drama is complex, and the theme of exploring human nature is more "shadowy", which is what they are good at. For example, "Octagonal Pavilion Mysterious Fog" directed by Wang Xiaoshuai has made a suspense drama into a "literary and artistic fan" family ethics drama, this drama under the control of director Wang Xiaoshuai, presents too many anti-suspense, anti-type characteristics, does not immediately establish character characteristics, but slowly spreads the inner world of the characters; There is no high-concept suspense between good and evil opposing mode, the main line is to solve the case, but the inside still shows the complexity of family and society, in fact, it is a continuation of the most common family motif in his films.
The entry of filmmakers into the drama market is a mutually fulfilling "business and art" cooperation, one providing resources and platforms, and the other responsible for technology and creation. It can be seen that film directors first respect quality, followed by innovative breakthroughs and the spirit of adventure. More and more film directors who join the creation of TV dramas will bring more diversified creative directions and forms to the creation of Chinese dramas, and provide a shortcut for catalyzing the industrialization of TV dramas.
The forms are more diverse
The reason for the rapid development of suspense dramas is inseparable from their diversified and differentiated development pace. Previously, the most common form of unit criminal investigation drama in domestic suspense dramas appeared. Although it is an old-fashioned police and bandit story shell, with the advancement of investigation technology, the integration of many new elements and the establishment of the IP universe, the process of solving the crime breaks the routine and becomes fresh and interesting.
For example, in the suspense drama "White Night Chase" and the online drama "Detective Chinatown" have attracted a lot of attention because of their IP popularity and high-quality production standards, and the production teams of the two dramas have also begun to consciously create the concept of "film and television IP universe". "Detective Chinatown" undertakes the function of a movie derivative drama, with Lin Mo, the apprentice of "Chinatown's first detective" Tang Ren, as the protagonist, which is independent of the movie in the plot case, and highly related to the movie in the relationship between characters and characters, and this set of "Marvel Cinematic Universe" style play successfully whets the audience's appetite. "Rebirth" is based on the brother chapter of "Chasing the Murderer in the White Night". The story also takes place in the virtual "Jingang City", both of which are inextricably linked with the Guan team played by Pan Yueming, but the narrative background is relatively independent, which shows the ambition of the main creator to spread the "White Night Universe". In addition, Youku also joined hands with Zijin Chen to create 10 high-quality suspense dramas within 5 years to form the "Zijin Chen Universe".
Judging from the content characteristics of suspense dramas in recent years, the keyword binding between "suspense" and "male" has been loosened a lot, and there are many suspense dramas with obvious "female" characteristics - "Fog Tracking" and "Jiang Zhao Dawn" all belong to this category. "Fog Tracking" not only sets up female issues in each case, but also takes the female police as the protagonist's detective perspective, so that the heroine falls into the dilemma of women who cannot balance family and career. At work, she can solve one problem after another, but in the face of family problems, she is helpless, which causes the audience to explore deeply. And "Jiang Zhao Dawn" is bolder and deeper in the expression of feminism, which tactfully pushes the topic of domestic violence to the extreme with suspense and wonderful narrative, presenting the dilemmas and constraints faced by women in real life to each character.
In addition, there are some "alternative" in suspense dramas, such as "Moses on the Plain" as a suspense drama, subverting the traditional drama style, innovatively launching a 6-episode miniseries format, there is no hardcore murder high-energy start, nor a tense brain-burning reversal plot, but presents a life-oriented literary film narrative style, trying to challenge the psychology of watching suspense dramas. "Unknown Creatures" combines the nostalgic era of youth in the 90s, the weirdness brought by the invasion of black oily monsters, science fiction, environmental protection, and youth, forming a very rare style in domestic dramas.
summary
Throughout the entire market, the suspense drama market is still a place where soldiers must fight, and although the major platforms have different playing styles, they all have explosive works emerging frequently. And the increase in production, production improvement, and innovation are also key factors to ensure the quality of suspense dramas, such "involution" may be very cruel to the platform and capital, but it is precisely because of this that the suspense theme has been greatly innovated. With such a fierce involution, can it still brew a national explosion? We'll see.