The online "cool drama" allows the audience to see the ugliness of human nature and the warmth of human feelings among the general public with a "popular grassroots fun", which is in line with civilian life. In addition to very real civilian characters and lives, online "cool dramas" also have positive spiritual guidance. The worship of heroes is an eternal psychology of human beings, heroes are needed in any era, and the positive image and positive values represented by heroes can lead the public. Online "cool dramas" portray civilian heroes from a perspective closer to ordinary people have more human than divine emotional appeal, which has also become a new trend in consumer culture to cater to audiences.
The reason why online "cool drama" can continue to ferment in the audience group and media public opinion field is because the plot in "cool drama" brings non-stop stimulation to the audience, allowing viewers to continue to immerse themselves in the "coolness" of watching dramas. Drawing on the classification and description of "refreshment" by scholars Li Yangquan and Li Lu, this article divides "refreshment" into possession, pleasure, achievement and sweet illusion, and different storylines make the audience feel different "refreshment", and these different "coolness" felt by the audience cannot be separated from the setting of "refreshment". "Cool points" are content used to stimulate "refreshment" and exist in the plot setting. This chapter will discuss how dramatic plots satisfy the audience's desire to revel, how the gradual escalation of dramatic conflict creates pleasure, and how parody and mixed plots create jokes, so that the audience can feel different "cool points".
Online "cool dramas" all have narrative characteristics with strong plots and strong motivations. Throughout the popular "cool dramas" in recent years, they all let the audience enjoy their full experience with exciting plot conflicts, fast-paced methods, and happy endings. The dramatic plot in the play is realized by means of crossing, counterattack, and de-conventionalization.
The crossing plot refers to another form of life that the characters take on after crossing over. There are certain narrative routines through narrative. For example, the hero crosses over, usually in the ancient times after the crossing, or in history; The heroine crosses mostly to meet various powerful kings and sons, and then create a few emotional entanglements that are constantly sorted out, and harvest true love.
Taking "Sister-in-law" as an example, Jiang Haochen, who was betrayed and betrayed in the business war, was injured and woke up to find that he had crossed over to a son-in-law named Ning Yi. With his business war experience and life experience before crossing over, he helped his wife run a cloth business, and then bankrupted his rival Wujia, opened his own franchise store, and became the richest man in the Wu Dynasty in the business world, saving the country by himself and becoming a powerful figure. From business frustration, low status, and no right to speak, with the opening of "Goldfinger" and the counterattack of "playing pig and eating tiger", Ning Yi became the richest man, became a hero, and finally achieved a counterattack in status. It satisfies the audience's inner desire and ardent fantasy of "from weak to strong".
The protagonist Qu Tan'er in "Two Worlds Favorite Concubine", was originally an ordinary person who was a sales lady in the real world, and after experiencing crossing, she became the second young lady who turned into Qufu, and the heroine fell deeply in love with him in contact with the male protagonist Mo Liancheng, and finally gained perfect love. The plot of the heroine's successful love after crossing in the play makes up for the gap in the audience's reality, and is also the audience's alternative satisfaction to the frustration of love in reality.
There is a strong contrast and conflict in the crossing plot, because the new identity and new environment obtained after crossing make it possible to reinvent oneself. The characters' originally unsuccessful careers, unsuccessful loves, and unsatisfactory ideals have all been re-realized in the new environment. At the same time, the setting of the crossing plot allows the heroic dreams of male audiences and the romantic love fantasies of female audiences to be fully reflected.
As mentioned earlier, the online "cool drama" will break the inherent template in the character setting, and this kind of anti-routine setting of characters is bound to bring unconventional behavior. For example, in "Yanxi Raiders", Wei Yingluo did not choose to endure after being slapped by Er Qing, but slapped a backhand for a tooth. Wei Yingluo insulted the emperor in the name of curing his illness: "The king of a dignified country would be so petty to please a woman, what is the difference between that and the girl in the Qinglou to please a man!" "The king of a country has actually become a famous flower of the country." "The design of such lines is disrespectful to the emperor, and it is also a provocation and subversion of the emperor's authority.
In the online "cool drama", whether it is the unusual character or the unconventional plot design, it is to convey a spirit of resistance and subversive pleasure to the audience.
This subversive and unconventional narrative is even more vividly played in "The Rumored Chen Qianqian". The women of Huayuan City in the play are in charge, from the city lord to the people. A series of activities such as farming, hunting, war, business, and politics are dominated by women, and women have the right to speak. Men are at the bottom of society, taking care of housework, children and in-laws, and are not even qualified to read and write.
They also have to abide by "male morality", and if they dress inappropriately, they will be accused of "impropriety"; Children not only bear the mother's surname, but also "father depends on the daughter", if a boy is born, the male will be subjected to insulting verbal attacks such as "waste" and "desperation".
The concept of "female superiority and male inferiority" allows some women who are not respected and valued in real life to get imaginative satisfaction in the play. If the setting of the crossing plot satisfies women's fantasies about beautiful love, then the feminist expression in "The Rumored Chen Qianqian" that contradicts reality and conforms to ideals is a rebellion against China's thousands of years of patriarchal culture, an irony of current realities such as inequality between men and women, and the release of the audience's emotional desires in their hearts. The unconventional plot breaks through the audience's psychological expectations and constantly breaks through the audience's cognition, so that the audience can be entertained in the ups and downs of the plot.
The dramatic plot in "Cool Drama" is also reflected in the growth and counterattack of the protagonists. In the play, they often grow quickly from an ordinary small person to a pivotal big person.
The "grassroots" Cheng Yizhi in "Radiance" has an advanced growth history. The male protagonist Cheng Yizhi has neither a background nor a family lineage, and even has an unfortunate childhood life, his mother was abandoned when she was pregnant, so she vented her anger on the young Cheng Yizhi, his mother did not love him, and other children also bullied him.
When he grew up, he came from a poor background and worked as a buddy in a dry goods store while secretly going to college to copy books. In order to pay back the boss and enter the money village as an apprentice, he was appreciated by the big boss Huang Ruhong, and turned over all the way, from a young man to an entrepreneur, and grew into an excellent financial practitioner. Secondly, the emotional bond between Cheng Yizhi and Wu Lizi in the middle of the play is also integrated into the growth of the male protagonist. The two also supported each other all the way from a fake couple to become dependents.
It can be said that the first marriage and then love of "Radiance" satisfies the audience's various fantasies about small love, and turning over against the wind is the audience's desire for a dream game life. A perfect and happy ending is the audience's long-standing inherent mindset and emotional need for good things, and the character's ultimate success is recognized and accepted by the audience.
As mentioned earlier, "Shuangwen" and "Shuangwen" are inseparable, so the writing method of "Shuangwen" has important reference value for analyzing the text of "Shuangwen". In terms of plot setting, the online "cool drama" has absorbed "cool" output skills such as "opening the golden finger", "ability upgrade", "playing a pig and eating a tiger", etc.
The concept of "Goldfinger" comes from games, which is what we commonly call plug-ins. The "Goldfinger" manifestations introduced into online novels such as natural abilities, great difficulties and immortality, god possession, etc., Goldfinger brings many good luck and lucky events to the characters, and is also an important setting to realize the counterattack of small characters from weak to strong.
In "Chess Soul", a hanger lang is a teenager named "Time", and with the help of Goldfinger - "Chess God" Chu Huan, it can be said that he obtained everything without any effort. The "time" of life became famous in a chess match with the genius Go child "Yu Liang", which also opened his indissoluble bond with Go. From a muddled teenager to a professional chess player representing his country, this story ending is in line with the audience's growth cognition and expectations.
"Expectant vision" is an important concept in Yaosi's aesthetic theory, that is, the thinking orientation or prior structure constituted by the reader's literary reading experience when reading a work. The expectant vision in film and television dramas refers to the audience's mind-set and existing cognitive structure before watching a certain work, and the audience has certain expectations before watching.
The legendary lives of the characters in "Cool Drama" from ordinary to extraordinary meet the psychological expectations of the audience when watching. By focusing on the protagonist's control of his own destiny, the audience looks forward to the eventual growth of the protagonist, and their struggle and struggle, transformation and growth also inspire the audience, and this upward spiritual force has been recognized by the audience, realizing the value isomorphism of the character and the audience.
The most striking feature of the narrative performance of online "cool dramas" is the preference for conflicting narratives. "Conflict" is the selection, concentration and processing of contradictions in life to be presented in works of art. Conflict is the basis of the storyline, the narrative element that drives the story the most, and the key factor in creating the rhythm.
The progressive dramatic conflict in the online "cool drama" is similar to the game that young people are keen on, upgrading the gamified plot of fighting monsters, so that the audience can enjoy the joy of self-control.
"Shuang Drama" is mostly adapted from "Shuangwen", but from a deeper level, the source is the game. In the game, the protagonist needs to pass the level, constantly level up, and enter the more difficult "monster fighting mission" to present a game-style level-break. Game logic not only affects the plot setting of "cool drama", but also determines the rhythm of plot development.
The protagonist Wei Yingluo in "Yanxi Raiders" shoulders the task of "revenge", from the early stage of avenging his sister and the confrontation with Fu Heng, to the later revenge for the empress, opposing Er Qing and Concubine Chun who killed the empress, and then fulfilling the emotions between himself and the emperor. In this process, Wei Yingluo was promoted layer by layer, from palace maids to nobles, and then to concubines Ling, concubines, concubines, and imperial concubines.
As the level of the character increases, stronger enemies are also eliminated. She has successively eliminated enemies such as Taifei, Qi Jiaqingxi's bodyguard, Er Qing, Chunguifei, Empress Ulanara (娴妃) and the prince, just like fighting monsters and upgrading in the game, bringing the audience a sense of satisfaction and achievement after clearing the level.
In "Son-in-law", Ning Yi first helps his wife Su Tan'er deal with the father and son of the second room of the Su family, which is to solve the family matter; Then face off against the rival Wujia in the mall, bankrupt Wujia, and develop other cloth shops to become their own franchise stores and become the richest local man, which is to deal with business matters; Faced with Qin Xiang's heavy responsibility and the safety of the people and the city, Ning Yi took the risk of being an undercover agent, and cooperated with the general inside and outside to defend the country, and negotiated peace with neighboring countries, in exchange for the stability and peace of the country, which was to solve the state affairs.
This escalating family affair makes the storyline more compact. Such an acceleration of the pace, the escalation of contradictions and conflicts, and the superposition of intricate interpersonal relationships add unlimited space to the narrative of the online drama, while the intensity and density of the audience's "refreshment" are also escalating.
"Duan Brain" takes the gamification program to the extreme, focusing on the plot of "game clearance", and the game content accounts for more than half of the plot of the entire drama. The story begins with the murder of two novelists, leading to the "end brain" game of "man cannibalism" - "Labyrinth of Lies", "RUNNINGMAN Team Confrontation", theatrical version of "Werewolf Killing" "Agatha Dinner", puzzle game "Hand in Hand"..., this series of upgraded game difficulty, allowing players from the novice trial level to the normal game level to the "challenge advanced player qualification" game level and the head-to-head duel level for advanced players, and there are hidden mission settings that provide extra points. In this way, points can be continuously accumulated in order to find out the truth of the "terminal brain" game.
As the game becomes more and more difficult, the plot becomes more tense and exciting, and the audience seems to be in it and follow the protagonist to solve the puzzle together, maintaining a strong visual freshness from beginning to end.
The escalating conflict and game mode trigger the visual pleasure of the audience and mobilize the tension of the audience. The audience no longer watches as a bystander, but perfectly integrates their own will with the will of the characters in the play, substitutes the characters to gallop through the rivers and lakes, and realizes themselves and releases emotions in this way.