From Lu Han to Wang Yibo, traffic stars have dominated the screen entertainment for 10 years, who decided?

娱鉴viewpoint

2024-06-13 11:55Posted on the official account of Beijing Tencent Entertainment's "Entertainment Jian" column

Text丨Xu Yunze

Editor丨Elliot Kevin

Preface

At the beginning of June 2024, a Magnolia Award nomination for Best Actor rarely made the registered crew respond in person to reveal the secret of the Internal Entertainment Awards. The conflict between "traffic stars" and "actors" was concretized at that moment, and it must still be brought to the table many years later.

Ten years ago, on August 19, 2014, Lu Han reposted a Weibo post from Manchester United Club in 2012, which was officially certified by Guinness as the "most commented blog post" with 13.16 million comments, becoming the first Guinness World Record to be released to the public on Chinese social media. Indiscriminately in Luhan, the concept of "traffic star" appeared in domestic entertainment, with the amazing energy of its cyberspace, parasitic on batch after batch of idol stars, promoting the explosion of capital and the market.

If there is anything special about the year 2014, it is that the "post-00s" generation, as a generation that grew up in the two waves of globalization and Internet natives, have reached the age of teenagers. Boys and girls have an increasingly strong voice in popular culture and the entertainment industry, and their enthusiasm, stickiness, and consumption power of entertainment products continue to impact the older generation of film and television songs. On the other side of the coin is the destructiveness and instability that complement the fighting power of the teenagers. In the past ten years, countless capitals have coveted this 100-million-level space, and the multi-party games and grand melee between capital and capital, between capital and stars, between stars and stars, and between stars and fans are also destined to leave a thick, complex, and still ongoing chapter in the history of domestic entertainment. The generational pattern of "Entertainment Jian" "The Top Stream of Generations and the Idol Era of the Ebb Tide" will observe and interpret the ten-year traffic era for you, and this is the final chapter of the series of observations.

Lu Han broke the Guinness World Record for the highest comment on Weibo twice, once breaking 10 million and once breaking 100 million

 [1] Traffic stars have reorganized the entire industry, but traffic has become their "original sin"

Putting aside the chain of contempt from aesthetics to values in the entertainment industry, traffic stars have run through the path of "fans-works-commercial value", and for a long time, the profit of capital has formed a relatively stable closed loop. This is also why in the past ten years, the industry and public opinion have repeatedly appeared "traffic star cancer theory", and it is still difficult to fundamentally shake this pattern.

When we count the traffic stars over the years, especially the fault-type TOP-level, there is a saying of "three generations in ten years" among male stars: from the gameplay of the "Four Sons Returning to China" to bring back the draft to Japan and South Korea, to the cultivation of the TFBOYS trio to incubate fans for several years; In 2018, Cai Xukun debuted with the first total number of votes for the talent show "Idol Trainee", and also became the ceiling of the domestic entertainment draft (Xinhua Entertainment Review) in one fell swoop. and then in 2019, Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo, who became popular with "Chen Qing Ling" and reached the top of the fault, as well as Li Yifeng, Yang Yang, Zhu Yilong, Li Xian, etc., who took turns to win the championship here...... In terms of female stars, the generations are clearly divided into 85 flowers, 90 flowers, and 95 flowers, Yang Mi, Liu Shishi, Tang Yan, Liu Yifei, and Zhao Liying continue to grow through the cycle, and Yang Zi and Di Lieba each lead the way and have their own basic plates.

In 2019, "Chen Qingling" was a hit, creating top-notch Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo

When talking about traffic stars, there are usually these three angles: fans, works, and commercial value. Fans are the primary productive force, and as long as the names of these people appear, they will carry tens of millions of traffic data. On May 30, the 29th Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Awards announced the shortlist, and the controversy over the nomination of Best Actor made the Internet storm again for a week. According to media reports, Wang Yibo's fans believe that the TV series "Wind Chaser" starring Wang Yibo was shortlisted for the best TV series, but as the actor in the play, he was not shortlisted for the best actor, but Wang Yang, who ranked third in the leading role, was nominated. As a result, some fans began to denounce on the Internet, and many people poured into the Weibo of "Wind Chaser", actor Wang Yang, director Yao Xiaofeng and related producers to abuse them, making the matter gradually get out of control and intensify.

This is a fairly familiar scene, and the energy and will of the top fan group once again shocked the entertainment industry. Subsequently, Wang Yibo himself, Wang Yang, the producer and producer of "The Wind Chaser" all posted responses on Weibo. On June 5, in accordance with the "Weibo Community Convention" and other relevant regulations, the Weibo station cleaned up more than 3,700 pieces of illegal content, and banned 654 accounts in stages according to the degree. In this public opinion turmoil, a large number of brushing volume control comments have emerged, and the marketing accounts that rely on the traffic of the fan circle to feed have also triggered a large number of malicious behaviors of pulling and leading the war. These "basic exercises" around the fan circle are by-products of the energy of the fan circle, and to some extent, they are not part of the production mechanism of the energy of the fan circle. And this time, the sword of Shang Fang, who is "defending the rights" of fans, is - how much the filmmaker relied on Wang Yibo, who "carried all the heat and topics" in the early stage, how unjust he was when he was put aside in the award.

Wang Yibo's fans denounced the drama party: "I ate the dividends of traffic and kicked again"

Industry insiders and producers close to this matter S revealed to "Entertainment Review": Traffic stars and Xiaohua Xiaosheng, since their birth, have been wrapped in many forces, including fans, and in fact, they have always played the role of reshuffling the entertainment industry, restructuring the entertainment industry and capital structure. In the past ten years, we have witnessed too many protagonist cases that have been born, and the fresh blood launched in the market is dazzling. However, they can successfully establish film and television projects with their huge popularity, but it does not mean that this popularity can be exchanged for mainstream awards for acting skills. When Wang Yibo wears the label of "traffic star", meets a "uncle circle" predecessor like Wang Yang, and then encounters an authoritative award in the traditional sense like the Magnolia Award, the only thing he can rely on may be his fans.

In 2024, when we re-examine the culture of the fan circle and the top performers of the fan circle, many values need to be reevaluated. Just as Wang Yibo worked hard to break into the ranks of mainstream film and television actors, trying to use his acting skills and works to clear the label of "traffic star". With almost no experience in starring in movies, he participated in Cheng Er's film "No Name", and starred alongside Tony Leung, becoming an "interloper" in the Spring Festival stalls, helping the box office of literary films to exceed 900 million. Wang Yibo was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 36th Golden Rooster Awards for this film, but he was also complained of "desperate illiteracy" by the media because of his outletless performance at the roadshow scene, and even affected many films in the same schedule. In a sense, it is not only a check and balance on the rules of the game set by capital for traffic stars, but also an insistence on how not to get off the table after reaching the top.

The "old book" of traffic stars varies from person to person, but the core remains the same: the popularity of popular dramas can be used for a while, but it cannot be guaranteed for a lifetime. In the first half of 2024, Yang Mi, the leader of 85 flowers, folded in one breath on the three film and television dramas "Harbin 1944", "There is No Thing That Can't Be Solved by a Hot Pot" and "The Red Chapter of the Fox Demon Little Red Lady". Three films in half a year, all of them did not become the "work" that Yang Mi posted on Weibo at the end of last year "2024 Works Meet", the transformation failed, the circle was unsuccessful, and he was about to lose the basic disk of his ancient puppets.

A fan of a 90-year-old star told "Entertainment Jian" that in fact, most traffic stars are already eating food for fans and traffic value, but these traffic stars are still "thick-blooded", and they may be able to hold on for another two or three years. Star chasing pays attention to "expectation management", and if follow-up resources cannot be connected, it will affect the stability of the actor's popularity. The blood is as thick as Yang Mi, and he can't bear the weight of the "triple pounce", let alone others. This is more significant in the traffic actors who have grown up in recent years, a big hit drama is blessed for three or five years, and a small hit drama is hot in March and May, if there are no high-quality works to continue, the popularity gained by luck will also be lost by ability. If the usefulness of "traffic" fails to bless the actor's follow-up resources in a critical period, then this traffic will do more harm than good. This is also why resources, drama routes, and transformation have become the key to the most important concerns of traffic star fans.

Explosive dramas can make actors' dividends last for several years, even Yang Mi, whose acting skills have been criticized, has been popular for 10 years, and the "triple pounce" in 2024 may have a negative impact on her future plays, but there is no negative impact on its commercial value in the short term

[2] Looking back on the ten years of traffic, popular items have changed in the same typology

In the years when the exchange value, income leverage and profit space of traffic were maximized, the so-called "works" did not only refer to film and television dramas. As analyzed in the first two articles of this series, some of the traffic stars who debuted in the draft idol rely on their popularity to enter this circle, and they will dabble in music, film and television, variety shows, performances and other tracks at the same time, choose each other, and discipline each other.

In 2019, an audio platform launched the exclusive audio program "Yi Yang Qianxi: 52 Questions of Youth", and officially announced Yi Yang Qianxi as the spokesperson, and then developed Wang Yibo, Luo Yunxi and other young artists with a fan base, with audio diaries such as sound diaries, audio dramas, and companion diaries that focus on fans and emotional value, carrying the repurchase and conversion of platform members. Mr. D, who used to be a star producer, told "Entertainment Review": "Internet companies have a very clear set of 'playing methods' for traffic, data and corresponding interests. ”

Internet companies, platform gameplay, digital products, celebrities, fan bases, and data traffic have formed the best pattern that seems to be inevitable and difficult to replicate today. Correspondingly, film and television dramas have become the best targets for the integrated operation of the whole link of the long video platform from planning and project approval to production and shooting to publicity and marketing, and have been placed in the most conspicuous position on the table of capital and traffic stars.

To this day, the dialogue between the fan base and public opinion has led to several encounters. If there is a point of view that the famous "227 Incident" is an important symbol of the collapse of traffic stars and fan circle culture itself, the landmark event after this may be Yi Yang Qianxi's entry into the National Theater, and he is accused of relying on star privileges to compete with ordinary people. The aforementioned 90-year-old fan told "Entertainment Jian" that after 10 years of evolution and clear washing, the domestic entertainment fan circle has obviously changed greatly now and when it first began to explode growth. As more and more information gaps are eliminated by entering the industry in person and reporting popular science, the power circle that gradually formed within the fan circle in the past has the possibility of being quickly deconstructed at present. On the one hand, it is a continuous and stable high barrier and an exclusive entry threshold to the circle, and on the other hand, even die-hard fans have to secretly complain, complain, and criticize a few words while chasing stars, forming a unique and bizarre "insulting fans" at the moment. The platform for chasing stars is not only limited to Weibo, but also spreads more in Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and Station B, which is different from the Buddhist method of controlling and commenting on the fan circle. And the only thing that remains unchanged is the attitude of the public opinion field towards traffic stars, even the top stream will still be strongly despised, once traffic stars and fans are not satisfied with "enclosure self-sprout", but overflow out of the circle, they will be ruthlessly educated by the real world.

On the other hand, in 2019, the traffic empire created by platform capital is already a giant ship that cannot turn around. The first generation of top stars were once jokingly called PPT beasts, which means that on the PPT of film and television drama projects, as long as the words they participate in are simply and rudely put on, they can go all the way to the green light and go straight to the S-level. Platform capital puts the market demand in front, first creates market demand, and then has works come out. The producer of the aforementioned audio platform recalled that at that time, a large amount of manpower in the project team was actually doing the work faced by the artists "data female workers", refreshing the number of punches of celebrity artists on Weibo countless times a day, which is in addition to the number of fans, transfer comments, Baidu index, etc., more accurately and directly display the data of the most real activity and popularity value of a star artist's dynamics, "The number of punch cards divided by 5 can basically calculate how much the artist's related works or products can be sold", Mr. D introduced.

As of the time of this article, the latest issue is the hottest super talk

Ah Shun, the producer of the "Amazing Dad" and "Stray Elvis" series, told "Entertainment Review": "(Quantitative indicators) must be there, whether it is Baidu, Xiaohongshu or Douyin platform, the data will be consulted, and then judged, including how to do the project and how big it is." However, these big data can only be auxiliary, and it still depends on who the story itself is suitable for, the volume it can carry, and the direction of the content it wants to make. There are subtle differences between dramas and movies, which may have a greater effect on dramas, including the expected tone of the producer's negotiation with the platform and the company's own capabilities. Big data is a very important reference when Casting, and I think it can be used as an aid to provide a lot of judgment. Of course, it is only an auxiliary, and the core of good project quality is basically not in traffic. ”

Upstream companies master a large number of IPs, talent shows and variety shows create high-sticky artists, produce works through film and television companies, and invest in platform channels to form a strong closed loop of interest chains. This model has changed the production and supply relations of the film and television market in the past decade based on the precise target users anchored on the basis of data analysis and maximized fan effect, which are explained in detail in the first two articles of this series and will not be repeated. Looking back on the past ten years, the new traffic and popular dramas complement each other and achieve each other, and we can clearly see the transformation route of its popular products - the "Tingfeng" CP Li Yifeng and Chen Weiting that started in 2014 "Ancient Sword and Strange Tan", "Tomb Robbery Notes" and Li Yifeng, Yang Yang / "The Pretender", "Langya Bang" and their derivative Shuquan CP in 2015, "Addiction" and Huang Jingyu and Xu Weizhou in 2016, "Town Soul" and Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu in 2018, "Chen Qingling" and Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo in 2019, By 2020, "Shanhe Ling" and Gong Jun, Zhang Xhan; In the summer of 2022, "Canglan Jue" and the summer of 2023 "Sauvignon Blanc" - from the independent track of "Must Explode" of Dangai and male CP to today's BG Xianxia costume idol drama, no matter how the popular items change, there will always be one that will become the main position of traffic-oriented players wading in film and television works. And we still don't know what shape the next popular item will be if the ancient puppet track is saturated one day.

Over the years, there has been no shortage of popular life dramas such as "The First Half of My Life" and "Thirty Only" in the market, not to mention popular court dramas such as "The Legend of Zhen Huan" and "Yanxi Raiders", as well as classic works such as "Ming Dynasty 1566", "Bright Sword" and "Wulin Gaiden" that have been excavated and pulped by a new generation of audiences. However, these non-traditional idol drama dramas have a natural disadvantage compared with idol dramas in terms of their ability to create traffic actors. A big hit life drama can raise coffee for the leading actor, but it is difficult to become a fan of the starring circle and turn the leading actor into a "traffic star". On the one hand, the market audiences faced by the drama series are different, and they are not as fast as the younger generation who have been washed by the Internet and circle culture in forming a circle; On the other hand, the perfect and ultimate character characters, whimsical character relationships, and beautiful and gorgeous art props in idol dramas naturally provide convenience for the audience to project empathy to the actors themselves. Even "Hurricane", which exploded into the highest income in iQiyi's history, Gao Qiqiang, who has a clear charm and tension, can only make Zhang Songwen a first-line at the speed of light, with a large number of drama fans, but it is difficult to form a traffic fan circle. Therefore, the shape of the next popular item may have its own merits, but the next item that can create a traffic star is still inseparable from the "idol" path.

The popular life dramas "The First Half of My Life" and "Thirty Only" make actors lift coffee at the speed of light, but it is difficult to form a fixed rice circle

[3] "Getting rid of traffic" has become the theme of the moment, and the channel to create top flow has encountered challenges

At the beginning of 2023, a 39-episode anti-black criminal investigation drama "Hurricane" will be released. There is no popular IP with tens of millions of fans, no traffic stars in the traditional sense, "Hurricane" has carried the title of national "drama king" with a solid plot and careful production, and has also brought Zhang Songwen, who has been dormant for several years and has no drama to play in one fell swoop, Zhihu's famous performance vertical answer to the translation, "the new first sister-in-law of domestic entertainment" Gao Ye, and even the actress Lonnie who played the supporting role "Gao Qilan" have also had names since then, and they are well-known to the public with their roles in the play.

At the end of the same year, the TV series "Flowers" adapted from the work of writer Jin Yucheng won the Mao Dun Literature Award was released. Directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Hu Ge, Ma Yili, Tang Yan, Xin Zhilei, plus the lineup of powerful actors such as You Benchang, Dong Yong, Wu Yue, Chen Long, etc., the drama rose from 8.1 on Douban to 8.7 points. With the help of the announcement of the short video platform, the first of the 57 nostalgic episodes in the play exploded, and in the two months at the end of the year and the beginning of the year, "Stealing Heart" and "Annie" swept the entire Chinese Internet.

is also nominated for the 29th Magnolia Awards, Yang Zi was shortlisted for Best Actress with "Sauvignon Blanc Season 1", and Tang Yan who played the role of "Miss Wang" in "Flowers" was also shortlisted; In terms of actors, "Flowers" also sent Hu Ge to the Best Actor nomination. Some people say that Yang Zi's shortlisting has boosted the confidence of the ancient puppet; Some people say that I don't know how Yang Mi felt when he saw Tang Yan, a former friend and a "flower of the same period", being shortlisted; And some comments said that if he has been in the game for a long time, the traffic will one day become a powerful faction, just like Hu Ge, who debuted in the early Xianxia drama and has gone through multiple intergenerational cycles of domestic entertainment, and has come to this day, who can not say a word, he is still the "top stream" who can play?

In 2024, the national hit dramas with high word-of-mouth and long-tail ratings, either through the director, or through the screenwriter, or through the interpretation of the actors, relying on high-quality production, are not at all the way for traffic actors to take the lead, and among the main actors, only Hu Ge and Tang Yan, two post-80s actors, have had traffic dividends in previous years

The establishment and breaking of the fandom layer, the starting point of traffic and the path to enter the mainstream, the comfort zone of popular models and the transformation of strength, these three pairs of relationships have always haunted the "traffic star", and the capital of all parties that created the market pattern and interest link of the traffic star has also come to the crossroads of self-reflexivity, transformation and reorganization. Senior producer A Shun told "Entertainment Jian" that if TV series and movies are compared, TV series are in great need of traffic: "This is determined by the production and broadcast method of the series, and the drama is basically guided by the platform, and the platform determines the survival rate of the drama...... Now the platform is too strong, and it's basically up to them. Now the producers are working for them." Compared with dramas, the film market is much less affected by traffic stars, "First, the film industry with the director-centered system as the mainstream, the market appeal of star artists still cannot exceed that of directors; The second is that the movie has not been able to be a pure digital business, the audience votes with their feet, the box office may indeed be higher than the ratings and traffic, and the main link that traffic can play a role lies in publicity, but no matter how high the popularity in the early stage is, no matter how good the data is, the box office will eventually see the real chapter. ”

The explosion of "drama kings" such as "Hurricane" and "Flowers" has made the energy of the short video platform completely stand in the center of the entertainment industry. In the summer of 2023, Bad Monkey Pictures, the filmmaker of "All or Nothing", released 41 video materials on its official Douyin account "Bad Monkey Theater", with a total of 6.62 billion views, of which the best data Wang Chuanjun clip has more than 6 million likes. Judging from this collection of materials, the filmmaker does not seem to take the actor Zhang Yixing as the focus of publicity, and the facts also partially confirm this choice - "All or Nothing" is out of the circle with Jin Chen's makeup, Wang Chuanjun's divine acting skills, and the unexpected surprise brought by the supporting role Sun Yang.

In the era of short videos, the overnight explosion of amateurs and the overnight collapse of celebrities can happen at any time, and the traffic password of the short video platform behind the two has strongly rewritten the Internet traffic pattern, like a huge black hole, and no one has been able to say some rules about it so far.

The most popular video of "All or Nothing" on Douyin comes from Wang Chuanjun's "If you want to succeed, go crazy first" speech and other clips

Mr. D told "Entertainment Review" that when the traffic star products of the audio platform reached a certain 95 traffic generation, they were no longer very sellable; Looking at the programs on the entire platform, the best performance is Guo Degang's "Guo Lun", and Liu Mintao's original audio drama "Ancient and Modern Women's Illustrated Guide" is also amazing, and only this album has received 54.926 million plays on the platform. "These are the real good works that can drive users to stay for a long time and effectively consume products."

Senior producer Ah Shun also said that the explosive drama that can successfully "get rid of traffic" has boosted the confidence of creators: "It will make more producers and filmmakers see hope, as long as this plate is stacked, there are unlimited possibilities to ensure that there is unlimited possibility to make a good show, which is the most important thing for the filmmaker." Before the production or broadcast of many popular dramas without traffic stars, everyone didn't think it could be popular, and there are too many such examples. It gives more producers a kind of hope - if the trick is done well and every link is done solidly, it is possible to have a good income. ”

But Mr. D also said that to this day, it is still difficult to say that the entertainment industry has disenchanted traffic stars. After Zhang Song's diploma "Hurricane" became popular, the film appointments continued, and finally got out of the dilemma of the cold bench, but in terms of commercial value, it is hard to imagine that Zhang Songwen's endorsement will surpass some small fresh meat in the short term. Fans-works-commercial value, if the traffic star has opened up this winner-takes-all interest chain with the blessing of capital, its closed loop has also caused the stagflation of the entertainment industry to update and iterate, self-hematopoiesis, and after the residual value of the "top stream" bottoms out little by little, it is still difficult to see the beginning of the new link in the betting, game, wait-and-see, and lock-up of all capital and forces. After Xiao Zhan, Wang Yibo, Zhao Liying, Yang Zi, and Di Lieba, there has not yet been a fresher top layer of steady wins.

End

After "Chen Qingling", Xiao Zhan immediately participated in the movie "Zhu Xian", which only invested 50 million at the time, but won a box office of 400 million, allowing its producer to earn a net profit of about 100 million; In April 2022, Lehua submitted an application for listing in Hong Kong, and in its disclosed financial report, netizens found that the company's revenue composition basically comes from artist management, and the most influential and commercial value is still Wang Yibo. I'm afraid the entertainment industry won't easily let go of the elephant in the room of traffic stars. Where will the next top stream be, and where will the next outlet be?

Perhaps, there has never been an essential "top stream" that can be clearly defined. Their births are all meandering in the ten-dimensional space of the entertainment industry, flowing and running in different fields with a spectrum, a wave or the convergence and dispersion of some particles, forming probabilities and constantly breaking.

2024 is already more than halfway through, and according to the collation, only in the category of ancient puppets, there will be at least 74 dramas broadcast this year. We can't predict when and in what way this carnival from fans to capital will land, and where will the batch after batch of traffic stars be coerced as targets, as tools, as carriers of fame and fortune, and as real, complex, flesh-and-blood individuals?

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