Bright Era of China Entertainment

Listening to the theme song of "The Last Beauty" and watching the sliding list of actors on TV, audiences across the country were unable to regain their senses for a long time.

Many viewers followed Chu Xuan and Liu Yifei to watch the show, but after watching the show at this moment...

They didn’t have the sadness when they saw the demise of the male and female protagonists at the end of "Sword of Immortality", the beautiful mood when the lovers finally got married when they watched "The Condor" ended, and they didn’t have the feeling that the male and female protagonists were full of fighting spirit and went abroad to work hard at the end of "Struggle". An inspirational and blessing mindset.

They had mixed feelings about the ending of "Legend of Red Flame", and they didn't know what they felt specifically. Anyway, it was hard to explain.

Many people and many things in this drama, including this ending, made them feel very profound, but it was difficult to explain where it was profound, and they were all savoring it.

In a courtyard in the capital, two artists were also reminiscing about the entire drama "Legend of Red Flame" that had just ended.

Zhang Li, a well-known domestic director, has directed "The Night Banquet" and "Ming Dynasty 1566". He is one of the few large-scale film and television drama directors in China who has the strength and capital support.

Liu Heping, a gold medal producer, a gold medal screenwriter, a history professor, the vice chairman of the Cultural Institute of Beijing University, and the president of the National TV Drama Screenwriters Association.

If we say he is the second best screenwriter in China, no one in China dares to claim the first place among screenwriters. He was also the only screenwriter in the 90s who was invited by big capitalists to write scripts.

"Ming Dynasty 1566", a collaboration between these two artists, was broadcast last year in 2007. This drama was highly praised by historians from universities across the country, but its ratings failed miserably and almost no one paid attention to it.

Even artists with both virtues and talents cannot avoid a little blow when they see that their works are in such a bleak state in the market.

Why don't audiences like historical plot dramas like "The Ming Dynasty"?
Is the audience’s literacy level too low?
Is the audience’s aesthetic level not good enough?
The two artists have been studying these doubts for a long time, but the growing gap between pure art and people's spiritual needs in the market has kept them from finding the exact reason. The main reason is that the older generation of artists have no idea about the art in their hearts. They are very persistent and do not recognize the changing trend of market flow, entertainment and light culture.

Although "The Ming Dynasty" failed, the high recognition from scholars and experts across the country can be regarded as a partial reward for their efforts.

Two months ago, they heard the news that "Legend of Red Flame" was scheduled to be released. Although it is a fictional historical background, it is also a plot-themed drama like "The Ming Dynasty", which attracted the two artists.

Different from the mentality of the majority of viewers who follow dramas, they view this drama with a watchful attitude.

Now that "Legend of Red Flame" has come to an end, the two of them also have some feelings.

"Fu Hua Dao is a fusion of the Tang and Song dynasties. It does not specifically reflect which dynasty or generation it is from. Of course, this is a fictional historical background. It is understandable, but this is not the point."

Liu Heping said: "The point is that the clothing details of some characters replace the lines and the plot development of the specific process of character transformation. The changes in clothing alone tell you the psychological turning point of the characters, thus making the rhythm of the plot more compact. , which was a highlight.”

Mu Nihuang took off her military uniform and changed into normal princess clothes to go to Kyoto, which meant that she was no longer a marshal, but a Yunnan princess who only wanted to investigate the truth about the destruction of her husband and the Red Flame Army.

Xia Dong has always been a member of the Xuanjing Department. Before she met Mu Nihuang, she wore black clothes. After joining Mu Nihuang's team, she wore silver clothes. This means that she has found her life goal and is also a symbol of her mentality changing from darkness to light.

Before Princess Linglong unveiled her face, she saw Qin Banruo in a red dress. After she unveiled her face, it was Princess Linglong herself in a blue dress, which means she no longer pretends to be.

Xie Yu was dressed in red and gold as a prime minister from beginning to end. On the day when he was preparing to assassinate Xia Jiang and Zhuo Yanqing, he was dressed in black, which meant that he had completely turned into a black man.

There are some details such as using clothing to represent the psychological trends of characters, but it was these four characters that impressed Liu Heping the most.

In many dramas, when a character changes, some plots are needed to foreshadow it, and some lines are needed to explain it.

"Legend of Red Flame" saves a lot of explanations and lines. At critical moments, it relies on changes in clothing details to tell the audience that this person has made a certain choice.

The omission of explaining the plot makes the plot more compact.

In his opinion, this is a big highlight.

When "The Ming Dynasty" was broadcast last year, many experts convinced Huadao that it could almost perfectly restore the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, and it was an absolute masterpiece in terms of production.

But compared with "Legend of Red Flame", the fictional history does not have the problem of Fuhua Dao being in line with the times. However, the crew used Fuhua Dao to show the plot and character psychology. In this regard, "Legend of Red Flame" is the most popular domestic film in China. The unique style of costume drama is worthy of learning and reference in terms of artistic innovative thinking.

Zhang Li nodded: "Light and shadow are also used well, and the changes in the character's environment are well displayed."

Mu Nihuang's sunny shots from beginning to end represent her heart for justice, and also represent her as the leader of the investigation into the Red Flame case.

Mei Changsu's frail body and the light and shadow of the camera are full of light, which means that he is also righteous, but also means that his identity is definitely not simple.

The light and shadow of King Jing's lens changed from the original darkness to sunshine after meeting Mu Nihuang, which also represents a change in King Jing's environment.

This play cleverly used light and shadow to explain the hidden psychological trends of some characters, which made him endlessly memorable.

"They are indeed very careful." Liu Heping praised the crew of "Legend of Red Flames" for their attentiveness, and added: "Have you noticed that "Legend of Red Flames" written by Liu Yi is equivalent to his "Hope" model."

Zhang Li was stunned for a moment and thought about it carefully.

"Hope" is a story with a non-linear structure, turning the beginning of the story into the end, with one suspense point after another interspersed in the middle to explain the ending.

The same is true for "Legend of Red Flame". The fact that the Red Flame Army has been destroyed long ago is placed at the end, and one suspenseful plot point after another is interspersed in the middle to explain this ending.

Zhang Li smiled: "As expected of screenwriter Liu Da, you can see all this."

Liu Heping shook his head: "This is Liu Yi's style of writing this type of script. It's not difficult to see."

He is the president of the Screenwriters Association, Liu Yi is a member, and the two parties already know each other.

And Liu Yi is very good at taking a straightforward and simple story, cutting off the beginning and the end, breaking up the story line in the middle, and then using super logical thinking to connect the broken plots to form a complex story with multiple reversals. Story frame system.

There are not many screenwriters in the country who have this creative ability, and Liu Yi is the one who is the best at it.

"Liu Yi put profound things in terms of metaphors, reflections and ideological sublimation in the ending. This may be the reason why "Legend of Red Flame" became popular but our "Ming Dynasty" was not." Zhang Li analyzed.

"The Ming Dynasty" has a profound meaning. How profound is it?

From the first episode on, every Machiavellian plot has something profound to it.

Why is this person doing this?
What is this plot trying to express?
Once you understand it, you will feel that it is very noble. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is a divine drama.

But if you don't understand it, it will affect the audience's perception of the subsequent plot. I feel that there are many "irrational things" that are a headache, and I feel that many plots are unnecessary and useless scenes.

Looking back at "Legend of Red Flame", except for the ending episodes, there is nothing profound in the previous plot. It does not require the audience to work hard to understand, and it will not make the audience confused.

Until the last few episodes, the Red Flame Army was a metaphor for the ancestors of the country and the people;

The collision of truth and illusion reflects the unequal public opinion field between China and the West;
Mu Nihuang leads the soldiers and civilians toward the imperial city in a mighty manner, which is a metaphor for street demonstrations in the West;

Mu Nihuang succeeded on behalf of the righteous side of the people, and satirized Western regimes that were only interested in profit and did not take the people into consideration. At the same time, it also highlighted the concept of the Chinese family and the world and the concept of family and country that water can carry a boat but also capsize it.

These elements are very profound, and the layout concept is also very grand, which immediately sublimates the theme of "Legend of Red Flame" to several levels.

But unlike "The Ming Dynasty", even if the audience does not understand these profound things, just watching the superficial story will not affect the audience's perception.Liu Heping found the difference and found the biggest difference in story structure between Liu Yi's "Legend of Red Flame" and his own "The Ming Dynasty".

Liu Yi first made the surface story structure logical and smooth, and finally sublimated things under the smooth story. Since the whole story is smooth and easy to understand, the sublimated things are not felt and do not affect the viewing experience.

He intersperses the story directly with the nodes of the story structure, one by one with profound connotations. Once the audience does not understand the plot of one of the nodes, it will be difficult to follow the subsequent plot.

These are two styles of writing, and it’s hard to say which one is stronger and which one is weaker.

It doesn’t mean that the audience doesn’t like profound things, but the prerequisite is that the audience must successfully understand the whole story and then think about its connotations. Who will think about deeper things if they can’t understand the story?

Liu Heping concluded in his mind that the depth of "The Ming Dynasty" is not inferior to the final sublimation of the concept of "The Legend of Red Flame", but it is inferior to the innovative thinking of telling the story that the audience expects in the face of today's market.

To put it simply, allowing the audience to confront profound things in a grand manner on the surface of the story is no longer in line with the current mass market of film and television dramas.

On the other side, Mango Channel's analysis is more thorough.

"Compared with "The Ming Dynasty", "Legend of Red Flame" has many advantages." The deputy director concluded.

"The Ming Dynasty" is a historical conspiracy drama that Mango Channel will focus on in the second half of the year after "Struggle" last year.

Once it was broadcast, it was regarded as a historical conspiracy ceiling by people in the industry.

It's a pity that the poor ratings of 1 point caused Mango Channel to suffer heavy losses.

Many people said that this drama was broadcast on the wrong TV station and should be broadcast on CCTV.

At first, Mango Channel thought so too. The channel knew that its audience was mostly young people, and few young people would watch serious historical dramas.

However, the popularity of "Legend of Red Flame" made them deny this answer and determined that "The Ming Dynasty" would not be popular on any TV station.

The deputy director explained the reason: ""Legend of Red Flame" also has some doubts that make people confused. To put it simply, it is difficult to understand for a while. However, the advantages of "Legend of Red Flame" being vigorously promoted on micro-entertainment are at this moment. It shows.”

He handed the data report to the director of Ouyangyang, and Ouyangyang took the account and looked through it.

Actors such as Chu Xuan, Liu Yifei, Ren Quan, Qiao Zhenyu, and Yang Rong have huge fan followings. This huge traffic attracted the attention of countless drama critics and big Vs to "Legend of Red Flame".

Any questionable topics that arise, these drama critics and big Vs will take the initiative to help the audience explain.

This resulted in a large number of extensive analyzes on the service, lens, light and shadow, character logic and plot of "Legend of Red Flame", which not only made the audience understand and discuss it hotly, but also attracted more viewers to follow the show. interest.

Director Ou Yangyang looked at his computer. When "Legend of Red Flame" was finished, the topic of it appeared on Weibo in a timely manner.

#The idea of ​​"Legend of Red Flame" is amazing#
#Looking at the present from the past, the metaphors you didn't find in "Legend of Red Flame"#
#Its ending is very heavy, but also makes people think deeply#
[Holy crap, are there so many things to say about the ending episodes? 】

[I'm going to watch the replay to see how awesome it is. 】

[Baofengyingyin has the complete collection, start with the second brush! 】

[This is the best drama so far this year! 】

[Upstairs, you are being conservative. Personally, I think it is the best costumed conspiracy drama. Not only is the acting of all the actors outstanding, but every twist and turn is amazing. 】

Mr. Ouyang Yang didn't look too much. For him, he could tell the direction of the topic just by taking a quick look.

This also confirms that the popularity of "Legend of Red Flame" is not only due to the excellent story itself, but also because of this linkage that has increased the upper limit of its popularity.

In the past, there have been such linkages between Internet topics and TV series. Perhaps the scale of micro-entertainment has not achieved such an explosive effect, making people's concept of Internet + TV series not so clear.

But now in 2008, the "Legend of Red Flame" has completely exploded the trend of TV development.

Generally speaking, the influence of popular actors on a drama is becoming more and more important. It can easily trigger the hot linkage of Internet + entertainment, making the hot discussion on the Internet closely connected with the popular drama.

Compared with "The Ming Dynasty", the older generation of actors such as Chen Baoguo and Huang Zhizhong lack the appeal of fans. Drama critics and big Vs naturally have no interest in this drama because they cannot see the traffic. They only rely on the support of some experts and professors.

Most viewers lack intimacy with experts and professors. Relying on the support of these people is far from enough to drive the audience's enthusiasm for watching the show. Moreover, the plot of "The Ming Dynasty" is indeed too profound, which ultimately led to the show's failure on the street.

Of course, the reason why the Internet linkage of "Legend of Red Flame" can be closely connected is naturally because Bright Times is a shareholder of Micro-Entertainment, and the support provided by Micro-Entertainment for the promotion of its works must be great. If it were replaced by other dramas, But there is no such treatment.

Director Ou Yang flipped through the next page and saw a new survey point of view.

Some viewers are streaming media audiences. Streaming media is not like TV. They are gone after watching an episode, and there are not so many people watching reruns.

Streaming media can be watched repeatedly at any time, capturing the essence, details and highlights of the plot to the greatest extent, and then using the Internet to add topics that others are not aware of but are interested in, thus promoting the popularity of the entire drama.

The increase in popularity will have a chain reaction, attracting more viewers to follow the show, attracting more drama critics, big Vs and media to provide fresh news and topics about "Legend of Red Flame".

This forms a new TV ecological cycle.

Director Ou Yang sighed: "It's 2008, the Internet is becoming more and more developed, excellent production companies, excellent scripts, excellent crew, excellent production, super popular cast, and the largest publicity outlet, this fire It seems that it’s not incomprehensible even if the upper limit is exceeded.”

He opened the ratings report, which showed that the final ratings of "Legend of Red Flame" were 10.1%.

Since last year, the TV series has not had a ratings of more than 10.

According to the general trend of the highest ratings declining year by year, the entire industry believes that no TV series will be able to break 10 in the future.

The divided market has reached another downward limit.

"My Fair Princess" once had a rating of 34, and "Supergirl" had a rating of more than 20 a few years ago, which has become an unsurpassable history.

This is why he said that "Legend of Red Flame" has exceeded the upper limit of popularity recognized by the industry and is destined to become a standout in the ratings of national TV dramas this year.

"Chu Xuan is the protagonist, but he doesn't have the role that the protagonist deserves. He can still achieve this rating with Liu Yifei's support. The popularity of these two people needs to be re-examined," he said.

"The only super popular couple in China, they are so young, and one is handsome and the other beautiful, it is hard not to attract new viewers' attention." the deputy director said, a bit jokingly.

Ouyang Yang smiled and said: "That's true. There are a couple of actors in the entertainment industry who have such a dedicated relationship. If I were younger, I might also be their fan."

He ordered: "Report the ratings and let those TV stations feel it. This year, Mango Channel won again."

"Okay, I'll do it." The deputy director was glowing. Although it was only mid-May this year, according to the ratings results of "Legend of Red Flame", it can already be said that it is scheduled to be the first TV series in the country in terms of annual ratings.

He could even predict that Liu Yifei, the heroine, would be soft-hearted because she wanted to win an award for this drama. (End of chapter)