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stills from "the past by the water".

"snow labyrinth" produced by zhang yimou and "waterside past" produced by cao baoping are two of the most popular dramas recently. in addition to the subject matter of drug control, they have one thing in common - they are both the first web dramas produced by famous film directors.

in recent years, it is not unusual for famous film directors to "cross over" to produce tv series. in addition to being producers, there are also many who directly direct tv series. from last year to now, there are "flowing flowers" directed by wong kar-wai, "like fire years" produced by wen muye, and "the extraordinary doctor" directed by lu chuan... however, when "individual cases" become collective behavior, quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes, which becomes a new phenomenon worth thinking about.

there was a saying that when a film director touches a tv series, it is called "coming down to earth", because in the stereotype, film is a more "advanced" art. this impression is not without reason - before, the cost of film and tv series was very different, and the functions and evaluation standards were also different. in addition, the inherent "art contempt chain" was strengthened - when critics praised a tv series, they often liked to use the phrase "movie texture".

the so-called "film texture" does not necessarily mean that the quality of the film is better, but that the medium of the film requires it to have certain characteristics, such as a faster narrative rhythm and more distinct aesthetic elements. this is the requirement of the big screen, but it fits the viewing preferences of young audiences today.

shen ao, a young director known for his debut film all or nothing, directed the tv series new life as his second work. shen ao once said that movies and tv series are two different media, and tv series do not aim to be movies, "tv series should be better tv series, and movies should be better movies."

as for the standard of tv series, shen ao believes that the amount of information should be greater, the pace should be faster, and the plot and characters should be more complex to meet the audience's increasing demand for watching tv series. so we can see that in the 10 episodes of "new life", shen ao brought the audience a series of suspenseful reversals like rashomon, and applied the control of rhythm and emotions in the movie to the play.

when watching a movie, the audience not only pays attention to the story, but also often pays attention to the director's style. style is a mysterious force that can only be understood but not expressed in words. when a film director brings his personal style into a drama, the drama may have a charm beyond the plot. a typical example is "flowers". between the light and shadow, bao zong's smile and li li's turn are all full of accents. who else could it be but wong kar-wai?

for example, wen muye is good at portraying small characters. in his previous works, "dying to survive" and "miracle: stupid kid", the audience can feel the charm of group portraits. in the field of tv series, wen muye's team has more room for expression. "like fire years" is a series about the imprint of the times, telling the story of youth growth and the grudges in the rivers and lakes, all of which are closely related to small characters.

"crossover" tv series is also a good thing for the director himself. the scale and volume of the series allow the director to have a more macro and magnificent expression. zhang yimou, who is the first time to supervise the production of a web series, said in an interview that the series has a large narrative volume, and the characters and stories are explained more thoroughly than in movies, and can be told in a leisurely manner.

"bianshui past" has a douban score of 8.0, which is the highest score for domestic suspense dramas so far in 2024. its much-talked-about "three-slope aesthetics" creates a whole new world with extreme realism, from the environment to the costumes and props, and even creates a language "bomo language".

for young directors, the booming drama market has given them more creative opportunities; and the internet attributes of web dramas and the support of platforms have given them more room for "bargaining." a typical example is the length of the show. shen ao said frankly: "web dramas have an advantage. they are not as rigid as tv dramas. directors and platforms can discuss and may expand the number of episodes and length of individual highlights." in "new life", the longest episode is twice as long as the shortest one.

during this year's shanghai tv festival, rao shuguang, president of the chinese film critics society, said that the innovative expression of tv series has surpassed that of movies, and the era has begun where tv series are feeding back to movies.

the "2024h1 (first half) drama market insight report" released by the lighthouse professional edition of the film and television data platform shows that there are 149 effective dramas in the first half of 2024, a decrease of 6.8% compared with the same period last year, but the number of feature film broadcasts has increased instead of decreased, reaching 53.407 billion, a year-on-year increase of 35.1%. this also proves from the side that the quality of dramas is improving. among them, short dramas with less than 12 episodes account for more than 10%, which is double the proportion in the same period, and fast-paced content has a more so-called "movie feel".

movies and tv series are just different carriers. there is no need to set artificial limits. directors are free to choose, and so are audiences. when movie directors bring "montage" to a few-inch small screen, audiences don't care about the director's attributes, they just want to see a good work that is "rolled up".

there are more and more ways to present movies and tv shows on streaming platforms. you can watch tv shows while riding the subway or eating. the audience's appreciation methods are changing and their appreciation standards are getting higher and higher. for the audience, the standard is actually very simple: whether it is a movie or a tv series, it must be "good-looking".

zhang yimou sees this point very clearly, "the audience is very demanding when watching dramas and movies. the audience is the experts, the directors, and the screenwriters. the audience comes first. especially in the internet age, young people are very smart. they can almost guess the rest of the characters as soon as they appear in the front. if you always use the same routine, the audience will abandon the show."

movies have a sense of ritual, and a sense of impact of light and shadow in the dark. but if a tv series has enough power, it can also capture the hearts of the audience in an everyday environment, making them concentrate and even cry. on the contrary, the audience can switch off, turn off, and leave at any time. this is the coldness of the audience to the tv series, and it is also a new test that film directors must accept.

jiang xiaobin

source: china youth daily

(source: china youth daily)

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