Food documentaries need to break out of the circle
2024-08-08
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Food documentaries have always been a popular "food companion" among young people. Recently, the late-night snack culture documentary "Snack World 3" was broadcast on Tencent Video. As soon as the film was broadcast, it attracted the attention of many netizens. However, the reporter sorted out the Internet film list from 2024 to the present and found that food documentaries are no longer the main force of major platforms. What is the current situation of the once popular food documentaries? How can the food documentaries that have become bland break through?
New changes in food documentaries
In 2024, Internet platforms such as Tencent, iQiyi, Youku, and Bilibili have released documentary lists. "Food" is the benchmark of Tencent Video documentaries. "Flavorful World", created by Chen Xiaoqing, the original team of "A Bite of China", is a hit food documentary. In terms of food culture documentaries this year, Tencent Video has launched three programs, "My Food Guide", "Little Sour Village", and "Snack Jianghu 3", and there is another "Flavorful World 5" to be broadcast. For iQiyi, "Dinner Jianghu 3" has been broadcast, and "Brilliant Season 2", "Street Food Soul 2", "Eating Noodles in All Directions", and "Hong Kong Taste" are to be broadcast. Youku launched "Jianghu Restaurant" and "Two Sides of the Strait 2" with the theme of fireworks. Bilibili continues to cultivate food IPs such as "A String of Life" and "Strange Food Diary" for series creation.
Looking at the list of food documentaries in 2024, the two major directions of the creation of this type of documentary are the popular themes and the high-quality themes. Among them, programs such as "Midnight Snacks Jianghu" that presents urban culture and "A String of Life" featuring barbecue are representatives of popular themes. "Midnight Snacks Jianghu" connects people through food, tells the stories of stall owners, diners and related characters, and shows the living conditions and life philosophy of stall owners, as well as how small communities in the city establish connections around food. Director Du Xing said: "It is the countless ordinary people living in the alleys and corners of the city who intersect, rub and merge with modern high-rise buildings and traffic, and jointly build the temperament of a city. Looking at the temperament of a city through the midnight snacks in the rivers and lakes is the original intention of the creation of "Midnight Snacks Jianghu". "A String of Life" not only shows the diversity of food by showing the barbecue culture of various places, but also deeply explores the stories and cultural significance behind the food.
A documentary producer said that this type of subject matter is more in line with the aesthetic tastes of young audiences and has a "net-born feel". They use a level eye to delicately depict the hard work and dedication of ordinary people behind the food, as well as the hardships and life situations of life, and convey to the audience the philosophy of life that "life is plain, there are not so many ups and downs, and there are always unknown bitterness, sweetness, sourness, and so on behind it". By paying attention to ordinary people and daily life, and discovering the stories behind ordinary people, the distance between the audience is naturally shortened, thus causing strong resonance.
The way to “break the circle” is to lead
As a representative of high-quality documentaries, the food documentary "A Bite of China" directed by Chen Xiaoqing in 2012 is undoubtedly the most representative. Since then, for a long period of time, the number of domestic food documentaries represented by "A Bite of China" has increased rapidly. In 2018, the food documentary "Flavorful Origins" directed by Chen Xiaoqing received a high Douban score from the first season in 2018 to the fourth season in 2023. The film explores global flavors of food with an international perspective, shoots through high-level lenses, abandons unnecessary character narratives and emotional expressions, and has achieved great success. Since then, the team has also delved into vertical fields and successively launched "Flavor Origin" and "My Food Guide" to show the "taste of hometown" and "the taste of mother". The reputation and playback volume have been relatively stable since the broadcast.
High-quality documentaries such as "Flavorful Origins" and "Flavorful Origins" use exquisite shots and exquisite descriptions to bring a feast of food to the audience, while also permeating the fireworks of the world from the screen to the outside of the screen, affecting people's diet and life. "The Taste of Hong Kong", produced by the Central Radio and Television Documentary Center and launched on the Youku platform, uses the three-dimensional structure of "life + culture" to draw a comprehensive "Hong Kong Food Atlas", counting the highlights of this Pearl of the Orient. The film also takes the route of boutique, exploring the "sense of ritual" in food and focusing on the various aspects of life behind food. The diverse delicacies, the inherited local flavors and the Chinese flavor complement each other, demonstrating the cultural vitality of Hong Kong's integrity and innovation in the new era.
Many documentary professionals said that in the future, there is still a lot of room for the creation of food documentaries. The way to "break the circle" is to be a leader in the audience's aesthetics rather than a follower. As long as you continue to break through the information cocoon of food, you can always "adjust" new flavors. As Du Xing said, "I think the audience's viewing habits can be cultivated. It mainly depends on what the creators can provide for the audience." (Reporter Gao Shuang)
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(Source: Jinwanbao)
