Exploring the Entertainment Circle [Ancient and Modern]

After the broadcast format of "East Return to West Crossing" was confirmed, it encountered a lot of doubts during the promotion.

Cable pay TV broadcasting is a cutting-edge concept for most viewers in China.Many people, deep down, do not want to pay to watch TV.

Older viewers feel that there is no need to spend money for TV channels, and younger viewers feel that it is better to pay for video website memberships than to pay for channels.Video websites were also free in people's minds at the beginning, so when the earliest webcasts that required fees appeared, they were also questioned.However, with the emergence of more and more high-quality paid drama series, people have established a consumption habit of buying video memberships.However, the consumption concept of limited pay TV has not been cultivated for the time being.

So when "Return to the West" joined hands with video media to prepare a weekly drama for the paid channel, there was a wave of ridicule on the Internet that was not optimistic at all.

"I don't even watch the free weekly broadcast. Not only do you want me to wait for a week, but you also charge money? You really treat yourself like a dish."

"The habitual beating offender Xia Yingdi, society society."

"If you have to spend money even to watch TV these days, then there is really no way for people to survive. The era of capitalism."

"It hasn't aired yet, and I don't know what the show is like. I just want to make some money, thinking that everyone is a fool."

"I'm posting here to prove it: I will definitely not watch "Return to the West". "And countless netizens followed suit and set up FLAG.

Among them, Xia Xinghen's huge number of blacks brought a wave of rhythm severely.The overwhelming start of Kepuxia Xinghen's criminal record.

Compared with Xia Xinghen's black, which is bloody and has actual black spots, Tao Qingfeng's black is really nothing.But in fact, there was no need for Tao Qingfeng and Heizi to come out this time, and there were many voices of anxiety, doubt and regret inside the ceramic.

"Qingfeng's rising momentum is so good now, so he wants to go to the muddy water of Xia Xinghen."

"Last time, it was Xia Xinghen's beating of talent that caused the crew to disband. Brother Qingfeng was also implicated. This time, I'm going to help him."

"Originally going to Huaying took up a lot of time, and he went to film "Return to West" during these two holidays. He has to wait until the summer vacation to pick up the new film. I don't know how long it has been since it aired."

"I don't even watch TV anymore. If it's an online drama, I can still watch it, but I really don't want to spend money on TV."

"I'd like to pay for the TV, but I don't have a TV in my bedroom."

"But brother Qingfeng is the executive director, if the show fails, he must be very sad."

Tao Qingfeng's sunspots are also ridiculing: the director of a TV series is the decisive factor.Tao Qingfeng is so good, he has never directed any films, and even the video media dared to buy "Return to West".It must be for Xia Xinghen's face, but with a sprained director, maybe Xia Xinghen will be directed to a mess, and he will lose everything.

In order to take care of the viewing habits of a large number of mobile client viewers, the former video media, which started as an online video, will also broadcast "East Return to West Crossing" on their website according to the channel's weekly broadcast cycle, but only members can watch it.If a paid channel is opened, then the membership of the website is free.

During Tao Qingfeng's winter vacation, when he was intensively filming the last part of "Return from East to West", the samples of the first six episodes were basically ready and sent to post-processing.Each episode has been carefully produced for a long time, and Tao Qingfeng and Xia Xinghen's discussions, disputes, and research work have been almost harsh.The actor's lines and facial expressions, whether each shot can be smoothly connected, what are the explosive points and suspense every few minutes, how to constantly mobilize the audience's emotions... The most important thing is: find "what we want to express" and "the audience wants to see What" is the balance point, and it is produced in accordance with the mainstream aesthetic habits.

Tao Qingfeng learned a lot, such as the use of the camera, the development of the narrative, and most importantly, he understood the most essential elements of the story.

The essence of TV dramas and movies are stories. What the stories tell must be legendary. Even ordinary characters need extraordinary experiences to become stories.Joy and joy, love and hate, good and evil, ten directions of heaven and earth are condensed within the one-inch radius of the camera lens, which is a colorful microcosm.This is the same as the reason why people stop in museums, aquariums or zoos. It is worth spending time to pay attention to the life course of different colors.

Even though there were loud doubts, Tao Qingfeng remained unmoved, and continued to work with high standards and strict requirements with Xia Xinghen.After the winter vacation, he finished filming the remaining shots of "Returning East to West", he cut the samples of the last four episodes and sent them to post-production.The paid channel of video media will also be launched soon, and they will put the first episode of "Return to West" that they have prepared a long time ago.

The annual fee for the video pay channel is more than 200 yuan, and the monthly fee is 20 yuan.Not too expensive for a household with a TV.In order to attract users to subscribe, the video media channel not only purchased "East Return to West Crossing", but also purchased some other high-quality programs, with a total purchase fee of several billion yuan.The initial investment can be described as amazing.Many people were genuinely stunned by this kind of generosity.

"How many subscribers do they have to get back their money?" According to the analysis of online viewers: There are about 1000 million cable TV users, but [-] million of them need to subscribe to the channel to basically get back their money.Everyone is generally not optimistic.

Regardless of whether the outside world is optimistic or not, according to the contract, the broadcast must still be broadcast.

Before the launch of the video media paid channel, a lot of advertisements were placed, and many promotional activities were carried out in cooperation with the set-top box manufacturers, and the network members also promoted activities.Coupled with the tone of promoting Huaguo's first premium paid channel, the rich program content introduction still attracted some people to subscribe.The first batch of people who paid was not too many, 100 million people subscribed, but it was far from meeting expectations.The main reason is: cable TV is gradually declining in the eyes of young people, and many aunts and aunts, the main force who master the remote control, will not open it.

Many ceramics chose to subscribe to the website membership of video media, which is cheaper than cable premium channels, to watch the first episode of "Returning East to West".

At that time, it happened to be around the Spring Festival, and Xiaomeng went home to celebrate the New Year. Although she had a TV at home, the relatives who played mahjong around the table chose "Journey to the West" and "Huanzhugege", which are rebroadcast every year during the winter vacation, as the TV background music. In the midst of the sound of playing mahjong, Xiao Meng was embarrassed to go to the TV and spend money to open a channel, which meant explaining to relatives who were playing mahjong for a long time.In order to support Tao Qingfeng, Xiao Meng chose to watch the premiere of "Returning East to West Crossing" on her mobile phone.

Xiaomeng's cousin who is in high school and her cousin who is already working are also curious to see what she is doing. The opening title of "Returning East to West Crossing" is a pure music background, the music is majestic and majestic, and the color palette is also beautiful. The characters are gradually unfolded in the form of a static scroll, just like an ink sketch of the times.The cousin asked Xiao Meng: "Is this show good?" Xiao Meng said anxiously: "I don't know yet."

After playing the opening song, the bomber shuttles in the sky, black and white camera with narration: In 1937, the full-scale war of resistance broke out...

Then the camera turned and came to the flashy old Shanghai.At the entrance of the Concession Police Station, Yun Xianglei, the young master of the vase, was kicked out with his bedding.With a reassuring look in his eyes, he packed his bags, turned around and left without saying a word.Those former colleagues behind him pointed sarcastically, the background gradually blurred, but their voices emerged through the narration more and more clearly...

"Without Lao Tzu, what is he?"

"Can't do anything, like chopping wood."

"The chief doesn't like him either, if it wasn't for his father's sake..."

"I changed seven or eight bureaus in three years, and I didn't want him in each of them, and I had the cheek to ask for a letter of recommendation to go to the next one."

"This time his father is dead, let's see if they still accept him."

Yun Xianglei turned around the corner of the street and made sure that there was no one in front of him. His hunchbacked appearance immediately changed his spirits. A look of cruelty flashed in his eyes. He took out a list and crossed out "The Third Police Station in the Concession" One line of writing, the tip of the pen slid to the next "Gukou Police Sub-station", frowned and sighed.

Suddenly, a beggar who fled in a hurry came around the corner of the alley, and there was a search outside.The beggar was injured and could hardly run anymore. Yun Xianglei rolled his eyes, hid the beggar in the abandoned tarpaulin next to it to protect it from the rain, and walked out of the alley as if nothing had happened.He was still wearing a police uniform, and he took the initiative to ask the foreign policemen who were searching for what they were looking for and if they could help them. The policemen did not suspect him, and saw that he was walking out of the alley, so they did not search.But he didn't tell Yun Xianglei what they were searching for.

After the arresting policemen left, Yun Xianglei dragged the injured beggar out from under the canvas again, and said to him, "Since you specialize in inquiring news for others, you can also inquire about one for me, and I'll save you and protect you..." Then The beggar trembled in surprise: "How do you know..."

What follows is Yun Xianglei's quick and concise reasoning, and what exactly the beggar is trying to escape.This plot of less than 5 minutes shaped the mystery of his wit, wit, and the contrast between the two faces.

Xiaomeng was already engrossed in seeing this place, and her cousin and cousin also couldn't take their eyes off it, but the screen of her mobile phone was too small for the three of them to watch it together.The cousin also took out her phone and asked, "What movie is this?"

Xiaomeng told the website and the title of the work, and suddenly had an idea and said, "Let's watch it on TV." Because from the plot just now, she felt that "Returning East to West" is a "good-looking" movie.Whether it is attractive or not can be seen at a glance after the first few minutes.And Xia Xinghen's changing eyes are really vivid, and his acting skills are really good.

Xiaomeng went to open a video media paid channel, subscribed and paid the annual fee.The relatives who played mahjong said: "It costs money to watch TV, so expensive?" Xiao Meng said: "It's okay, you can watch a lot of programs." My relatives all looked back frequently, and even played the wrong cards.

"Change, change, I want to watch TV." The relatives sitting opposite the TV were very itchy, and they got off the table to watch TV with Xiaomeng's sisters and brothers after the game, and asked: "What's the name? Who played it?" Yes? Xia Xinghen, the one who played "The Metropolis"."

Xia Xinghen has won numerous awards and has been prosperous, including classic masterpieces.Many passers-by who don't pay attention to the life news of celebrities don't even know about his beating, but they know about the dramas he acted in.

After the first episode was broadcast, fans and melon-eaters watching on the Internet also began to discuss it.

"I think "Return to the West" is going to explode, and the first episode is really good."

"Word-of-mouth is really fermenting. My relatives and friends followed me to watch it for a few minutes, and then went to open a membership."

"Why wait a week, the flowers are all gone."

"I don't think it matters. The first episode has so much content, two small cases and one major case, and half of Yun Xianglei's life experience is directly taken away. The plot is like a rocket. I feel that it tells the content of ten domestic dramas in one episode. "

"Is the hero, Yun Xianglei, going to get revenge and upgrade the main story line? I like the duplicity of Yun Xianglei. I thought that the villains in the police station would only slap their faces later, but the male protagonist scared the shit out of me in the first episode. It really blows my mind."

"It's not necessarily Yun Xianglei's hero. Although Yu Song only played for 5 minutes, I can see his potential to upgrade in this line."

"The heroine Sang Xiaohui is also a sample of promotion dramas in the Kuomintang system. There are so many promotion dramas, I don't know how much love dramas are."

"Looking for a love scene in a drama directed by Tao Qingfeng? Forget it, do you guys still remember Yu Shanhai and Mei Wangxue from 'Fengyue Daoqingxiao'?"

"Haha, have you watched "The Witch of the Eastern King" upstairs? Haha, I've read it three times. It's so good."

The more people who discuss the plot with real feelings, the more it is a sign that a movie is about to explode. The majority of audiences pay attention to the plot, and it has nothing to do with who the actors are or who the producer is.Those are at most a propaganda function.But if it doesn't look good, no matter who plays it, the audience will change the channel within 3 minutes.It is such a simple but cold truth.

The good reputation of the first episode of "Returning East to West" still arouses some people's doubts:

"What if the beginning is good, but the end is broken? The annual fee will not be refunded to me."

"Of course, the first episodes of all TV dramas have to be very good. I'll wait and see for a few more weeks."

Subscribers to video media channels continue to rise, and other programs also attract a lot of viewers.No matter which program content it buys at a high price, it will always attract some people.Moreover, viewers after paying have a kind of "can't waste" mentality, and will alternately watch other programs on the channel.

As of one week after the launch of the video media paid channel, the number of subscribers has reached 600 million, half of the target has been completed.However, the number of people who have watched "East Return to West Crossing" exceeds this number, because many viewers have chosen online membership.

Although the total number of people is not as good as the free videos that click hundreds of millions at every turn, it is already a very encouraging number.And whether it is a cable payment or a subscription, it costs money to watch.

I hate Xia Xinghen and Tao Qingfeng sunspots, since I hate them, I won't be willing to spend money (unless the kind of dedicated hackers "for reason and evidence").If you don't spend money, you can't join the discussion of genuine users.After all, video piracy is very strictly controlled, and a lot of money has been spent to prevent it, so no piracy has flowed out.If the sunspots are pretending to gossip, there will be fans clamoring for subscription or membership records.And if they really spend money to buy and watch it, in contrast to the quality of this show, there will be a small number of people who continue to gossip without conscience.

A set of graphic screenshot emoticons were also posted on the Internet:

"A week ago: I said: 'If you kill me, you don't want to watch "Return to the West". The flag stands tall in the background."

"A week later, a few small heads gathered together to eat: '"Return to the West" is really delicious.'"