With a fast-paced and conflict-strong plot, micro-short dramas have captured a large number of audiences on new media platforms in recent years, and at the same time, there have been many controversies due to the uneven content. In November 2023, the State Administration of Radio and Television announced that it would launch a one-month special governance of micro-short dramas, and take seven measures to strengthen industry management. Subsequently, various online platforms successively investigated and dealt with relevant illegal micro-short dramas and accounts.
In January 2024, the State Administration of Radio and Television released the creation plan of "Follow the Micro Short Drama to Travel", proposing to create and broadcast 100 excellent micro-short dramas with excellent themes in 2024, promote a number of physical filming locations to follow the popular "out of the circle" of the micro-short drama, and create a new trend of following the micro-short drama to "check in" all over the country. Relevant measures are taken to promote the healthy development of the micro-short drama industry.
Change in quality:
The content is compliant and correctly oriented
"The heroine is too ruthless" "How did this kind of three-view drama pass the review?" At the end of last year, a micro-short drama called "Black Lotus Upper Manual" was launched on a video platform, and the controversial storyline caused many netizens to question it. In less than a week, this drama was removed from the entire network for "exaggerating the bad values of extreme revenge and countering violence with violence".
At present, micro-short dramas are mainly oriented to the three mainstream tracks, the first type of micro-short dramas are produced in a standard of long-form dramas, with a single episode ranging from 10 to 20 minutes, mainly on long video platforms; the second type of micro-short dramas are mainly shot on vertical screens, with a single episode ranging from 2 to 5 minutes, mainly on short video platforms; and the third type of micro-short dramas are also shot on vertical screens, with a single episode duration of about 1 minute, mainly relying on the mini program platform to be launched, and the number of such episodes is also the largest.
"In the past, the review of micro-short dramas was basically self-examined by each platform, and then submitted by the platform to the competent department for review or filing, resulting in the savage growth of various dramas with poor quality and low style. Jiang Zhengyang, head of Guizhou Digital Intelligence Culture Technology Co., Ltd., said.
"After the short drama ushered in strong supervision, screenwriters need to pay more attention to the value orientation, social responsibility and creative quality of the script, and do not involve bloody, violent, pornographic, horror and other bad content. For example, it is also a costume fantasy love theme, and our recent new drama emphasizes the feelings of family and country and cultural inheritance. Zhong Rongsheng, assistant to the chairman of Jiaxing Kyushu Culture Media Co., Ltd., said that in the future, the creative ideas of screenwriters should be shifted from focusing on "cool points" to improving the rationality, ideology, artistry and appreciation of the script.
"In the past, I used to brush up on short dramas directly, but recently I have become obsessed with short dramas, and the plot, costumes, and soundtracks are very high-level. Ms. Wang from Guiyang City said that as a former "short drama insulation crowd", the acceptance of micro-short dramas has increased a lot.
Changes in the industry:
From "traffic game" to "content is king"
Heavy traffic and light production used to be a common routine in the short drama industry. Skit actor Shi Zhuofan said: "We have to complete the filming of a drama within a week, and the male and female protagonists basically shoot for more than 12 hours a day. ”
In contrast, the delivery of information feed is very important. "The maximum proportion of the production and broadcast funds for a platform drama can be 90%. Niu Jian, chairman of Guangzhou Divine Wolf Culture, said.
Under such a creative orientation, the practitioners are mixed. Xiong Yulan, founder of Shenzhen Lanxin Drawing Film and Television Culture Media, said: "After the micro-short drama became popular, many newly registered film and television companies appeared in the market, and the shooting team came from a complex source, some of them had filmed advertisements and some of them did wedding follow-ups. ”
With the fierce competition for traffic, the production orientation of the micro-short drama industry is also changing. "Wind and Moon Change" produced by Mango TV's Damang Studio will land on Hunan Satellite TV in December 2023, becoming the first micro-short drama to be broadcast on the stars. Zhan Yali, producer of Mango TV's "Wind and Moon Change" platform, believes that from the hit broadcast of "Wind and Moon Change", it is found that users actually don't care whether the episode is 10 minutes or 20 minutes long, the key is to attract audiences.
Change of direction:
Explore diversified global development
In the Qinhan Film and Television City in Duyun City, Qiannan Prefecture, Guizhou Province, the group actor Li Xinyi is dressed in ancient costumes and plays a shopkeeper. "A drama can be filmed for seven or eight days, and you can have an income of six or seven hundred yuan. "Lee Shin-yee is a chef, and he dreams of being an actor when he comes to perform in his spare time. He said that there are many short dramas in the film and television city, supporting a large number of group performance groups, and there are two or three hundred people in the group performance union, which sends announcements in the group every day, and they can come when they are free.
"The number of large crews is limited, and the composition of short dramas is a strong supplement to the source of customers in the film and television base, which not only provides income generation and employment opportunities for surrounding shops and local group performances, but also makes the film and television base a check-in place and empowers the cultural tourism industry. Jin Jian, head of investment promotion of Guizhou Yunying Film and Television Operation Management Co., Ltd., said that in 2023, hundreds of crews will be received in the film and television city, and more than 80% of them will be short drama crews.
Short dramas going overseas have also attracted a lot of attention. At the end of 2023, Chinese Online's short drama mobile app Reel Short beat TikTok and jumped to the top of the free software download entertainment list of the Apple App Store in the United States. Up to now, the cumulative number of downloads of Reel Short has exceeded 15 million.
In September 2023, Kyushu Culture Media Co., Ltd. launched Short TV, broadcasting English-language self-made dramas, with a total of nearly 5 million overseas users and a market covering Europe, America, Australia, Southeast Asia and other regions. As of November 2023, the company has gone overseas for more than 600 short dramas, 80% of which are translated dramas that add English dubbing to domestic short dramas, and 20% of which are overseas localized short dramas filmed and produced by overseas teams.
"Whether it is dubbing and broadcasting excellent domestic short dramas, or localized stories filmed overseas, the broadcast data of both is not bad at present. Overseas markets are quite different from those in China in terms of policy restrictions, copyright protection, censorship systems, cultural habits, etc., so it is still necessary to formulate corresponding strategies to optimize overseas distribution. Zhong Rongsheng said.
In 2022, the studio began to cooperate with overseas agents in China for the overseas distribution and distribution of short dramas, landing in more than 100 countries and regions overseas. "The distribution revenue of each region is related to the theme preferred by local audiences, and Southeast Asian audiences prefer costume themes. The overseas distribution revenue of "Wind and Moon Change" is nearly 1 million yuan, and the growth trend is obvious. ”
Half Moon Talk Reporter: Xie Wentao, Yang Xin / Editor: Xu Ning
Original title: "Say goodbye to traffic games, make new choices for micro-short dramas"
*This article is the content of the 7th issue of "Half Moon Talk" in 2024