The new costume drama "Hua Rong" starring Xiao Ju was a hit in early June, but the first wave of discussion focused on the heroine Wei Zhi's style. As a fairy, Wei Zhi's head is messily tied with curtain-like beaded chain hair accessories, coupled with Xiao Ju's unchanged low eyebrows, and the whole image makes people look nothing new.
I don't know how many times Xiao Ju has shown such a perfunctory style in costume dramas. From the protagonist to the supporting role, the character she plays is almost the same model, with a few beaded flower chains piled on her head more or less, and her clothes are the same except for the color.
The director of "Hua Rong" originally hoped to increase Xiaoju's popularity through a new drama, but who knew that after the broadcast, the first reaction of netizens was the disappointment of the style. Some viewers even ridiculed that "it's not as amazing as the shape in variety shows".
Indeed, the few episodes of variety shows that Xiao Ju has been to are more beautiful than the costumes she conceived in "Hua Rong" for half a year.
This also makes people have to reflect, an actor can't even do the most basic clothes modeling in the drama he starred in, is it really necessary to arrange costume dramas all the time? Xiaoju's modeling problem also seems to reflect the general decline in the quality of the current domestic production of costume dramas, and many crews who only want to finish filming quickly no longer have the heart to carefully design their characters.
In today's costume dramas, from the top to the second-rate crew, the actresses' hairstyles and costumes seem to have fallen into a strange circle, that is: no matter who you play, you always have to tie a messy curtain beads on your head, and only pick different colors.
Just like the fairy played by Xiao Ju in "Hua Rong", and the princess or county lord she played in "Long Moon Embers" and "Yunxi Biography", it is almost a hairstyle, that is, the kind of simple bun on the top of the head, and then insert two or three strings of flower cards on the head, a very perfunctory posture.
I don't know what the stylists in these crews think, if an actor acts from his early twenties to his thirties, almost all of them are the same kind of hair accessories, which requires the audience to have a sense of freshness and substitution visually.
In the end, it can only contribute to the ceiling effect, and the lack of styling is also one of the important reasons why the total rating of actors like Xiaoju is not high.
Even in the previously popular "The Legend of Yunxiang", Mao Xiaotong could have been made into a fresh and refined image of a chivalrous woman, but it turned out to be a mediocre-looking supporting actress. The kind of hairstyle that is tightly tied to the point that the face is deformed, it is indeed difficult for the actress to reflect the highlights that she should have.
On the other hand, some costume dramas played by old drama bones, whether it is modeling or makeup, pay attention to highlighting the actress's own characteristics, which will make people remember "whose lady is this" at a glance.
Most of today's costume dramas do not have this consideration at all, and all the characters are produced by a model, which also leads to aesthetic fatigue among more and more audiences.
In contrast to the increasingly perfunctory styling in costume dramas, the costume styling of some actresses when they participate in the recording of variety shows is often more exquisite and elegant, which is eye-catching.
For example, Cai Wenjing, whether it is in "Hello, Saturday" or "Happy Camp", the costumes are very rich and full of ingenuity. The light skirt complements the shawl, and the fluffy softness of the hairstyle sets off her makeup.
Compared with her listless style in the drama "Linglong", it is simply two people. In addition, Sun Yi and Kan Qingzi also have the same law. They only appeared on these entertainment programs in order to promote new dramas, but they were often beaten by the stylists they temporarily cooperated.
Kan Qingzi's set of Tang style red makeup made her already outstanding temperament to a higher level. Even Guan Xiaotong, who has never acted in costume dramas, frequently co-plays the roles of various dynasties in "Ace vs. Ace", from Eyre to Princess Marcheta to Yang Yuhuan, all of them are amazing.
Among them, the Tang costume is even more beautiful and dignified, and it is impossible to see that it is a temporary number. This proves that many actresses themselves have the appearance and temperament of costume dramas, and the problem is mainly in the styling design of so many crews like Xiaoju. In contrast, if you want to make the audience's eyes shine, the stylists of the drama obviously need to work harder.
The most important thing for an actress's costume style to truly highlight her style is to choose the right hairstyle and makeup. For example, using a hair bun to raise the bun can not only have a fluffy and soft effect, but also make the face look smaller, so as to better bring out the three-dimensional sense of the facial features.
is like the Tang Dynasty girl played by Tong Liya in "National Treasure", the high bun is harmonious with the face shape, and a few beaded hairpins are just right, making the whole person look fresh and refined, full of static beauty.
This classical Tang Dynasty element will never go out of style, but will have more charm than the later Western makeup. Therefore, the modeling design of costume dramas still needs to closely follow the theme of the script and characters, and it can't simply pile up some colorful decorations. Xiao Ju is a hairpin head face of a model in various dramas, which is too unsophisticated.
On the other hand, different actors have different advantages in makeup and hair, which also needs to be treated differently by stylists. If they all force a uniform "industrial" scheme, it will not only waste the characteristics of the actor, but also limit the possibilities of the role.
To let the audience see what they want to see, it is naturally a colorful and strange design. If Xiao Ju and Mao Xiaotong's looks are only perfunctory and lack of refinement, then the minimalist and funeral costumes are completely unworkable.
The so-called minimalism means that everything from hair to clothes to decoration is extremely simple. For example, in a costume drama, Sun Yi simply put a mustache on her head, with the most simple costumes, and at first glance she was the most ordinary character image in life, and she didn't take it seriously at all.
And the funeral style is even more exaggerated, from the hairstyle to the makeup, it is all the image of a female ghost, with a gray face, black eye circles, and a gloomy atmosphere. The tone of the whole picture is gray and black, and the costumes are also very casual, revealing a perfunctory and embarrassing atmosphere.
These two styling concepts, both in terms of visual impact and plot needs, have brought the audience an extremely bad experience. That kind of simplicity with unknown meaning makes people's scalp tingle when they look at it.
In fact, many actresses are beautiful themselves, as long as they put a little care into their styling, it is not difficult to surprise the audience. The problem is that a crew like Xiaoju's crew is too lazy to work on the character image in order to meet the deadline.
This perfunctory attitude is the fundamental reason why more and more dramas are separated by only 5. As an audience, what we expect is actually very simple, no bells and whistles, but at least we must be able to take it seriously, and we can't just do it casually.