At the recording site of "Let's Farm", I found that this is really a "not very smart" show...

"The land will not deceive you."

From Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport to Sandun Town, the drive is nearly 60 kilometers. When the scenery outside the window gradually changed from the high-rise buildings rising from the ground to muddy paths and endless fields, the entertainment studio finally came to the recording site of "Let's Farm".

As early as the start of the show, we had an exclusive conversation with Yang Changling, the chief director of the program, who wrote in "Let 10 male artists farm in the countryside for 190 days, is it ridiculous?" " answered many outside curiosity and questions.

To be honest, after experiencing too much patterned publicity, it is inevitable to put a question mark on the sincerity of the main creator, and always have a scrutinizing attitude towards "Let's Farm".

Until this visit, when they saw the mushroom rack that the farming team was building, the water channel that had been opened, the hoe that was broken, and their skilled skills in the field, and the mud that they didn't know how to wash off, everyone couldn't help but sigh that "Let's Farm" was really "a group of people seriously doing a stupid thing."

A real "working" variety show

Just 10 minutes into the visit, the entertainment studio found that the resident guests, 10 farming boys, had quietly hidden among the staff. Just from the outside, it's hard to find out who is the "person in the show" because they are too "grounded".

The farming team led everyone to visit, the source author

Usually, the idea of most variety shows is to invite several stars and do "flower work" on them. Some let them play games, travel, some let them complete tasks, be cheated and so on.

But to put it simply, the subjects are stars, and the audience gets a certain pleasure and pleasure when watching them work hard, embarrass themselves, or share life insights, and also feel fresh because they see the different faces of stars and film and television dramas, and few people will care about what they do and how they have done. And these things often don't matter.

At the recording site, even if there are many staff, the place with celebrity guests will always bring its own light, they are always surrounded by cameras, and their shape and appearance can always be recognized at a glance.

Looking back at the farming team "nourished" by the land - Chen Shaoxi, He Haonan, Jiang Dunhao, Li Gengyun, Li Hao, Lu Zhuo, Wang Yiheng, Zhao Xiaotong, Zhuo Yuan, Zhao Yibo, they are too different from the variety show guests in their minds in the past, and it is difficult to attach to the stars in variety shows.

In fact, in the eyes of many people, they cannot be called stars. When the program first started, some viewers thought that "the program group is crazy" and "who wants to watch amateurs farm". In fact, the seemingly unwise choice just shows the attitude of the program group, "We don't put on a show, we just farm here seriously for 190 days." ”

Therefore, "Let's Farm" really has no "show" component at all, the camera is farming, and outside the camera, the guests are still farming in their Vlogs. Nothing but work.

When they first arrived in the fields, like all young people, the 10 boys continued the routine of the city - not sleeping at night, not staying up during the day, "staying up until four o'clock every morning." The program team all looked at it and never stepped forward to remind them, and the filming process was always in a "stocking state".

After planting, the first "double robbery" (grabbing the crop, then sowing the crop, which must be sown before the winter solstice) quickly changed the 10 people. Until now, everyone works at sunrise and sunset, and sometimes lying in bed at night, the unfinished farm work in their minds has become too anxious to sleep.

"They must get up at seven o'clock in the morning, make their own breakfast, and go to work as soon as they finish eating." Wait until noon to come back and start lunch, and then start to take a nap like middle-aged and elderly people, sleep until about one or two o'clock in the afternoon, and then go to work. This change in routine actually reflects their work and life here. ”

Yang Changling even noticed a small detail, several times when taking a nap, the boys did not want to get on the bed because the clothes and pants on their bodies were particularly dirty, and as soon as they wore and took off and lost time, they sat directly on the chair and slept, which made the director team warm and sad.

What comforts everyone is that there is no trickery and games, there is no "Farm" that reverses reality shows, and it has indeed gained a group of audiences just by burying one's head and working hard.

At present, the show's Douban score has reached 8.5 points, and some netizens have written this sentence in the discussion area of the show: "How can people who shine in the field not idols and love beans?" ”

Zhuo Yuan Zhao Xiaotong is nailing the shelf, source author

"Wait for a sunny day"

Unlike most variety show recording scenes, the director's shouts and "clicks" cannot be heard here, only the sound of the farming team working and the wind blowing in the field.

When Li Hao was playing wooden cards in front of the newly built multi-purpose room, a cameraman and a director stood not far away. The machines are recording everything, and there is no communication between them.

The director told Entertainment Studio that this is their daily routine. "A lot of times it's a day to watch what they do, it's a very different reality TV shooting experience."

During the group visit, the boys also laughed and complained: "The chief director said that if there was a problem, he would look for him, and when he really asked him, he said: 'Think about it yourself.'" So much so that now that when people have problems, they would rather call and ask their father who is far away at home.

Photographers recording the scene, source authors

Because of choosing to do such a different farming variety show, the program team could not write a script for nature in advance, could not determine the development of things, could only return to nature's long growth law, waiting for the growth of crops, not in a hurry, nor in a hurry.

The only thing they can do is learn and practice everything before the farming squad, and when the boys really can't handle it, come up with a solution, and let them do it themselves.

There is no "script", which also means that there will be incidents at any time, and the scene is turned on almost 24 hours a day, resulting in a huge amount of material, almost 2 T's of video material will be generated every day. If calculated according to 190 days of cultivation, the amount of material may exceed 400T. Whether calculated from the time cost or labor cost, it seems very "silly".

But Yang Changling feels that the post-production trade-off is not so complicated, "We are actually editing around a process of farming, explaining what happens every day, rather than trapping a certain scene, and one person will be introduced around TA." ”

"Let's Farm" staff rest, source author

Just a few days ago, Yang Changling just participated in another variety show discussion, and a producer lamented that now netizens will discuss the device of an artist to participate in the show, what clothes he wears, what color lipstick he wears, but he does not pay attention to the content of the show itself, which is not the original intention of everyone to do the show.

This reminded him of the barrage of "Let's Farm", in which there were praise for the reality of the show, and there were also direct opinions to the show. "Whether it's praising or scolding, I think it's all good feedback."

"Including now netizens can see some fleeting details, what guests will come will have 4 dishes, they eat their own 3 dishes, and then the guests are using porcelain bowls, they use iron bowls, this is really the picture of the camera shaking, indicating that everyone is really watching our program attentively."

Kitchen signboard: Up to 3 dishes for dinner The guest came 4 dishes, the author of the picture

And the shooting of "eating by the sky" is also destined to hone the character of young people.

Referring to the changes in the past 100 days, Zhao Yibo told Entertainment Studio: "I am not as young and vigorous as when I just graduated, and I have learned to work silently and wait for the flowers to bloom." ”

"In the past, when I didn't know what to do about many things, I would be very anxious, internal friction, and anxious, but during this time in the ground, sometimes it rained for seven or eight days in a row, and it was useless for you to do anything, you don't have to rush to do it, in fact, just wait for a sunny day, the sunny day comes, and all the problems are solved."

As of February 24, the farming team has a debt of 260,000 yuan, the source author

The meaning of farming

Of course, such a special theme is also a grind for the program group and platform.

Wu Han, head of iQiyi Little Monster Studio, still remembers the first project plan he received - a PPT of 88 pages. "Director Yang didn't write anything about the content of the program, all he wrote was how to grow wheat, where to buy seeds, and what to do if the seeds were broken..." It was this innovation and determination that finally impressed the platform.

At present, the "Let's Farm" program records the whole process from sowing and planting to maintenance and harvesting, and also opens an account for the farming team on the short video platform, with Vlog and slow live broadcast every day, using a combination of long and short videos to highlight the realism of the program, giving the audience a sense of immersion and companionship.

The farming team is working on a daily basis, the author of the photo

From the original white boy to the current rough man in the field, the audience has also witnessed the growth of the farming team. And this growth doesn't stop at everyone's appearance.

In the final group interview, Lu Zhuo said that he always avoided difficulties before, and if something needed to be challenged repeatedly, he would be particularly afraid, and during this time he began to face his inner fears. "I feel that when we farm, we are not only cultivating the land, but also cultivating myself."

He Haonan realized one thing: "The land will not deceive you. "In the past, I may have often been confused and didn't believe that 'hard work is meant to pay off.'" After coming here, I found that everything I do here pays off. Including the fact that we used to dig ditches and plant wheat, and now we are so tall, this is all feedback from the land. ”

In the process of constantly trying new things, Yang Changling also felt the "rareness" that has been missing for a long time. "As a variety artist who has been in the industry for so long, it is not easy to encounter a show that changes his production concept and production process. Many people are doing it, and filming variety shows has become a line of work, but I still have the opportunity to empty my past experience and come again, which really makes me cherish this show very much. ”

Wu Han called it a "youth experiment", because almost everyone will work hard when faced with a given good result, but often the scary thing is, "When you don't know whether there will be a good result in doing this, are you willing to spend more than 100 days to persist?" ”

In his opinion, if "Let's Farm" can let the audience and fans see the meaning of persistence through the perspective of the farming squad, and understand the preciousness of the sun arch, it is a kind of "starlight" no less than any program.

In the view of Entertainment Studio, the variety show industry can launch a show like "Let's Farm" in the cold winter, which also shows the determination to shift from star effect to content as king. Perhaps when we no longer expect those bloody bridges and pull-off plots, the internal entertainment variety show will naturally have a broader vision.

Because of this, the market also needs more "not smart enough" "farming".

After a light rain, "Let's Farm" ushered in a sunny day, the source author