why do big dramas lose their sensational effect?
2024-08-31
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◎li yu
this year's summer tv drama season has come to an end. although major platforms have taken out their trump cards and launched blockbuster dramas one after another, unfortunately, except for a few big dramas such as "tang dynasty strange stories 2" and "bianshui past" that met expectations, many other s+ dramas have failed in both word-of-mouth and popularity.
the big summer dramas have lost their sensational effect, fully exposing the long-standing drawbacks of ip dependence and traffic dependence, which also means that the current tv drama production has reached a point where it needs to be drastically improved.
diverse genres and frequent hits
judging purely from the types and themes of the series, this year's summer dramas are actually quite rich and diverse.
in terms of ancient puppet shows, there are "longing 2" and "the willow boat"; in terms of modern puppet shows, there is "you are more beautiful than the starlight" starring tan songyun and xu kai; in ancient costume detective dramas, there are "tang dynasty strange stories 2" and "sifang pavilion"; "lonely battle in the lost city" and the spy drama "lonely boat" with a different style starring zeng shunxi and zhang songwen; "young man on a white horse drunk in the spring breeze" injects a "youthful feeling" into martial arts dramas...
in addition, this summer season also includes workplace dramas such as "dream city", "red heat", and "bright future", urban emotional dramas such as "young couple", and fine suspense dramas such as "misplacement" and "past by the water".
ip dependence, mediocre script
this year's summer drama series are rich in variety, with s+ works presented to the audience in almost every genre, but most are far below expectations.
the conflict with the olympics did affect the popularity of the series to a certain extent, but the bottom line is that the quality of most major dramas themselves is not strong enough and there are big problems with the scripts.
it is not difficult to find that most of these dramas that are below expectations are adapted from well-known online ips. "longing 2" is adapted from tong hua's novel of the same name, "the willow boat" is adapted from kuang shangjia kuang's novel "jiaozang", "four seas reborn" is adapted from yidaixue's novel "i have three dragon aotian babies", "you are more beautiful than the stars" is adapted from jiu yuexi's novel "you are more beautiful than beijing", "sifang pavilion" is adapted from chen jian's suspenseful mystery novel "the western regions kings", "young white horse drunk in the spring breeze" is adapted from zhou munan's novel of the same name...
the failure of the summer ip drama is a major outbreak of the accumulated problems of "ip dependence" in domestic dramas over the years, that is, over-reliance on the influence of the ip itself, neglecting the polishing and innovation of the script, showing a tendency to be stereotyped and routine. even works with a high popularity base find it difficult to break through the existing narrative framework, causing the audience to have aesthetic fatigue; at the same time, in order to cater to market demand, some adapted dramas are overly commercialized, sacrificing artistry and depth, resulting in exaggerated and far-fetched plots.
for example, xiaoyao in "longing for love 2" has become a clichéd heroine in idol dramas. the image of a "different heroine" in the original publicity has been interpreted as someone who will choose whoever chooses her. she lacks autonomy and independence, and has lost her original soul and depth. xiaoyao's career development is glossed over, but her emotional entanglements are portrayed in detail. this imbalance also makes the audience dissatisfied.
the story framework and character relationship settings of "you are more beautiful than the starlight" are highly similar to the clichéd "the domineering ceo falls in love with me", lacking novelty and surprises; some of the dramatic conflict settings in the play seem outdated, such as the plot in which a woman is accused of wearing revealing clothes after being harassed. this has become a negative example of public opinion in modern society, but it is still presented seriously in the play, which is out of touch with the times; the design and performance of individual characters have a certain degree of delicacy, but overall the character creation and growth space is limited, and lacks depth.
although the willow boat has an attractive setting and promising themes, such as the love battle between cat and mouse and the duel between highly intelligent people, the actual presentation of the relationship between the male and female protagonists is too abrupt, lacking reasonable foreshadowing and logical support; the originally anticipated theme of the love battle between cat and mouse is overwhelmed by the love scenes, and the clues of power struggle and revenge are ignored, causing the plot to become unclear; the behavior and decision-making of the male and female protagonists in the play lack sufficient intellectual competition, and instead show some childish behavior, which weakens the appeal of the plot...
in comparison, original scripts such as "strange stories of the tang dynasty 2" and "nine prosecutors" are more surprising.
"strange stories of the tang dynasty 2" combines traditional cultural elements with modern suspense techniques. it not only reproduces the historical features and cultural characteristics of the tang dynasty, but also shows a unique charm of reasoning through the thrilling case-solving process, breaking the inherent pattern of traditional costume dramas and exploring more possibilities.
original scripts are also closer to the current life situation in contemporary society and are more likely to resonate with the audience. as the first tv series in china on the subject of juvenile prosecution, "the prosecutor of nine departments" deeply shows the complexity and importance of juvenile prosecution, which not only fills the market gap, but also successfully arouses more people's concern about the issue of juvenile crime, showing the social value of original scripts.
it can be seen that over-reliance on ip is not a panacea. only scripts that are close to real life, innovative and emotionally resonant can be well received. this does not mean that ip adaptation is not good. for example, "border water past" has received good reputation; rather, whether it is adaptation or original, content creation should be based on the script, which is the key to winning the audience.
the acting skills are not good enough and need to be improved
the summer season is often seen as an opportunity for some popular stars to rise to prominence. if they can play an important role in a popular drama during the summer season, and if the drama becomes a hit, they have a great chance of making a career leap.
this summer season has undoubtedly disappointed the hopes of young actors who were eager to make a breakthrough. overall, most of the young actors who played the leading roles had some degree of performance marks and their acting skills were still relatively raw.
the lack of acting skills of young traffic stars is first related to the high homogeneity of the roles they play. due to the market demand for specific types of roles, young traffic stars are often repeatedly arranged in similar roles, such as handsome male protagonists or sweet female protagonists, resulting in a lack of diversity and depth in their performances, and also allowing the audience to form a fixed impression of them, making it difficult to break through the constraints of the existing image. for example, zhang wanyi's roles in different ancient puppet dramas are not very different, and his performance is superficial, which shows his limitations and lack of breakthroughs in character creation.
on the other hand, this also reflects the impetuousness of the current star-making mechanism in the entertainment industry. in the fast-paced entertainment industry, many young actors have quickly become famous by virtue of their appearance, popularity or background, but their acting skills are far behind. when they are pushed to the screen, they are unable to cope with complex roles and profound emotional expressions, and it is difficult for them to accurately convey the inner world of the characters to the audience. the shortcomings in acting are fully magnified under the high-definition lens and the audience's increasingly improved aesthetic vision, and there is no way to hide. no matter how much the fans praise them, it is just a self-entertainment of the circle.
the immature and even crude acting skills of young actors make the script, which is not very good to begin with, even worse, and even make the script that was originally ok seem ridiculous. because once the audience cannot believe the authenticity and credibility of the characters, it will greatly reduce the appeal of the story; especially when the characters encounter a major turning point, if the actors' performances cannot convince the audience, then the entire plot will lose its appeal.
for young actors, don’t think that acting skills can only be seen by fans to maintain traffic. acting problems will not only affect the broadcast effect of current works, but also have a negative impact on their future careers. if the acting skills are not good, no matter how many resources are invested, they will not produce a real hit, and will eventually be abandoned by the audience and the market.
young actors must prioritize improving their acting skills rather than just relying on traffic and appearance. producers should also re-examine the core value of content creation and return to the quality of the script and the acting skills of the actors. this task is particularly urgent in the context of the sharp impact of short videos on long dramas.
(source: beijing youth daily)
