On April 12th, Zhejiang Satellite TV broadcast "The Wind Chaser" in the second round of prime time; on April 15th, "When the Stars Shine" landed on Hunan Satellite TV's prime time; on April 21st, "Harbin 1944" was launched on Beijing, Jiangsu, and Dragon TV, which is the first work to break through the limit of "one drama and two stars" in addition to gift dramas since 2015.
Five David TV broadcast spy war dramas at the same time, how long have you not seen it?
April 15 is National Security Education Day. April every year is the most lively time for spy war dramas in the market.
It's just that this year the situation is a little more special. The year 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of the overall concept of national security. On April 16, Qiushi magazine published an article signed by Chen Yixin, secretary of the Party Committee and minister of the Ministry of State Security, in which he proposed that to strengthen the important guarantee for the implementation of the overall national security concept, it is necessary to "strengthen propaganda guarantees".
And film and television works are the most vivid promotional materials. As a track that video websites continue to cultivate, spy war dramas have always maintained a large volume. Especially after the rise of the trend of "spy war + idol" a few years ago, whenever a well-known spy war drama emerges, it will trigger a "cake war" among fans.
It is no exaggeration to say that spy war dramas have become a popular commercial genre alongside costume idol dramas, suspense criminal investigation dramas, and pan-military dramas.
In 2024, has the audience's aesthetic orientation towards spy war dramas changed?
Aside from the three that are being broadcast on the screen, we have counted 15 spy war dramas to be broadcast and to be produced, some of which are waiting to be attacked, and some of which are waiting to be launched. They represent the future direction of the genre as a whole.
15 spy war dramas are on the table
This year is a big year for spy war dramas.
"Wind Chaser" broke through the peak of the popularity value of "Rebel" and became iQiyi's first spy war drama with a popularity value of more than 10,000. "Harbin 1944" and "When the Stars Shine" should not be underestimated.
Among the 15 spy war dramas to be broadcast, the one that has attracted the most attention is "Lonely Boat".
After "Hurricane", Zhang Songwen jumped to the "top stream" and continued to heat up, "Ice Hunting", which ended not long ago, did not have much investment and poor production, and he relied on Zhang Songwen to make a breakthrough and squeezed into the top ten of Tencent Video's annual new list.
"Lonely Boat" is a spy war theme with Jiangnan characteristics. In Suzhou in 1941, the architect Gu Yizhong (played by Zeng Shunxi) was forced to get involved in a crisis because of love, and fought wits and courage with Zhou Zhifei (played by Zhang Songwen), a pseudo-person of Wang, and continued to grow in the struggle.
This time, Zhang Songwen played a big traitor.
"Breaking Dawn" starring Yu Hewei and Wu Yue is another highly anticipated hit. This drama is based on the true deeds of General Wu Shi (played by Yu Hewei), and the intelligence battlefield is set on the other side of the strait.
The story of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" takes place in Shanghai in 1933. At that time, the Shanghai underground party was preparing to hold a secret meeting, and on the eve of the meeting, half of the twelve participants were arrested. Chen Qianli, a member of the Communist Party, was ordered to peel off the cocoon, clear the fog, find out the mutineers from the twelve, and clear the ranks.
Judging from the synopsis, this drama is a bit like the popular script killing in previous years. Everyone at the table is suspicious, everyone has to prove themselves, and even slander the people around them to clear their names.
The screenwriters of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" are Wang Ti and Jin Haishu. Wang Ti is good at group portrait shaping, and Jin Haishu is good at historical dramas, which can be called a strong combination. Director Ding Hei is also a senior director with profound skills and a wide range of involvement.
"The Abyss" is directed by Mao Weining, directed by Wang Yiwei, written by Yuan Shuai, and starring Huang Xiaoming and Zhang Jianing.
Mao Weining once made a name for himself in the industry with the anti-special drama "Silent Oath", and in 2021, he also directed the spy war drama "Xiaguang".
The story of "Abyss" takes place in the isolated island period, and the male protagonist of "amnesia" goes to Longtan alone in order to regain his lost identity.
Another spy war drama of "lonely characters" is "Lonely Lost City" starring Huang Jingyu and Xin Zhilei. is also based on "amnesia", but the actor Ou Xiaoan played by Huang Jingyu has really lost his memory.
"Confrontation" is a national security drama, and the screenwriter is still Wang Xiaogun.
In 2021, his "Opponent" is very stunning, showing the process of the destruction of the lurker's life.
"The East is White" and "Night and Dawn" are all anti-special dramas. The former takes place in Tianjin, and the latter is aimed at Shanghai.
"Dream Bund" (tentative title) is written by Wang Hailin and directed by Chen Haowei, the male lead is Tong Dawei, Liu Yunlong, Yu Hewei, Li Dongxue, and the female lead is Wang Jiayu , Kan Suzi, is a financial spy war drama, which is currently being produced and broadcast.
Liang Zhenhua served as the chief screenwriter and producer of "The Front Without Gunpowder", adapted from the novel of the same name by writer Ma Zhitu, which tells the story of an underground CCP member who lost contact with the organization on the eve of the liberation of Sichuan, mediating in various complex relationships and grievances and disputes, and facing the test of life and death.
The show has obtained a distribution license and hopes to meet the audience as soon as possible.
Two new representations of spy war dramas
If you take a closer look at the spy war dramas that have been popular in recent years, you will find a very interesting phenomenon.
All the "old" spy war dramas almost all ended silently. Any work that can broadcast a little sound is either because the actor has his own fan stickiness, or he has really reached the aesthetic range of young audiences.
Don't get me wrong. The "old" here does not mean that the main creator is old, but that the overall tonality of the work has been separated from the aesthetics of the times.
Every era has its own era of "Hamlet", even if it is a popular spy war drama in 2014, it may not be able to gain the favor of young people in 2024.
Spy war dramas are nothing more than three branches, divided into spy war, anti-specialty, and national security in chronological order, and many popular works have been produced in the past 20 years, leaving little room for innovation for creators.
The overall creative skeleton of spy war dramas is fixed, the era is similar, and the means are similar. Multiple identities play flowers, at most from triple to fivefold, pretending to be husband and wife, brothers to different camps and other bridges still exist today.
First of all, it is necessary to provide a more familiar environment and atmosphere for it.
Have you noticed that the "two" spy war dramas that have been popular in recent years - "Rebel" and "Wind Chaser" are very similar to workplace dramas. It's just that the former's workplace is the secret service, and the latter's workplace is a bank. The boss of the former is ruthless, and the boss of the latter is sincere. (As an aside, both bosses are played by Wang Yang.) ）
The workplace is the most familiar environment for contemporary young people, and at the moment when the employment environment is relatively depressed, whether you can meet a good boss and become a descendant will determine the development of people in the workplace in the next five years.
One of the major functions of film and television dramas is to borrow other people's wine glasses and pour their own blocks. Spy war dramas can also become a new fun for people in the workplace.
Secondly, young audiences want to see more growing characters in spy war dramas.
In the past, a screenwriter complained to me privately, saying that the thorn that the platform often picks after getting the book is that the character has not grown.
This is a revision that has made countless screenwriters big. But I have to say that the audience really cares about whether the characters have grown or not.
In the spy war drama of the early years, the protagonist came from Gu Long's novel. They have subtle insight, lightning and flint reflexes, and a big heart that stands still when tigers and wolves are around, and knives and axes are added.
For example, Qian Zhijiang and An Zaitian in "Secret Calculation" are all skilled masters of the special intelligence front.
The sixth brother of the military commander in "Kite" is masculine and charming, and I don't know how many female viewers are fascinated by it.
Zhou Yi in "Cliff", walking a tightrope in a desperate situation, playing the enemy around.
Yu Zecheng's growth in "Latent" didn't take a few episodes.
These suave heroes, outstanding leaders, are rarely seen today. Even if there is, it is often presented as a guide. They hurriedly went offline and stood up for the last shift of the protagonist's growth.
Some people say that this is because the screenwriter can't write it. The predecessors are in front, and Maradona is stronger than Messi.
The more plausible reason is that these heroes are no longer needed by younger audiences. Xu Tian in "Huan Yan" is more impressive than Xu Tian in "New World".
The reason why Spider-Man has taken the world by storm has been found.
[Text/Ma Er]