A video of eating a box lunch can increase 100,000 fans a day
I am "Hang Piao" Rulan
My short video has hundreds of thousands of fans
Our reporter Wang Xiaojie/Wen Zhengyang/Photo
Hengdian, a small town in Zhejiang with a resident population of 170,000, has an average of 13,000 extras entering and leaving every year. They travelled from all over the country to the film and television city in a short period of several weeks or as long as several years. They are called "horizontal drift".
Among this group of people, some are chasing stars, some are chasing dreams, some are to experience life, some want to become famous overnight... Zhou Rulan is one of these people.
"When I was young, I liked Zhou Xingchi's movies. I think the story in "The King of Comedy" is about me."
In 2018, 31-year-old Zhou Rulan came to Hengdian from rural Anhui, in order to prove herself to her parents, to change her life, and for her dream of acting.
Costume look
90 yuan a day, not stable
At noon, it was over 30 degrees Celsius and there was no wind. As long as people stand outdoors for five minutes, they will get dizzy from the sun and sweat constantly. Located in the studio of Jinhua Hengdian Film and Television City, group performances are mostly concentrated in the shadows under the wall.
When I saw Zhou Rulan for the first time, she was running between teams. He is not tall and fat, and his round face, dressed in an ancient costume, was flushed by the hot sun. After changing back to her daily dress, she put herself in two ponytails. As an actress, she is neither beautiful nor young, but she is very kind and eye-catching.
Zhou Rulan came to Hengdian for three years and said in her own words: "I'm already an old man. I love to make friends. After coming to Hengdian, the friends I made have left, and I cried for a long time every time." It's not easy, most people leave because they can't bear hardship.
"One time I was a horse substitute (riding stand-in), and I had to wear 20 to 30 kilograms of armor to take pictures on horseback. One time I shot a night scene with Chen Weiting. It was very cold at night. I was soaked in sweat, and when the wind stopped, my whole body became cold, and even the horse caught a cold. Chen Weiting was surprised when he saw me, and felt that I was a woman working as a horse substitute."
Staring at the scorching sun all day in summer and wearing thin clothes to film summer scenes in winter nights are all commonplace for actors to work. Zhou Rulan said that group performances earn 90 yuan a day, which is still unstable.
Leave three times and come back three times
"If I had not been exposed to short videos, I would have left Hengdian now." In three years, Zhou Rulan had left Hengdian three times. Not long after her arrival, she was arranged to go to Xiangshan Film and Television City to film "The Twelve Hours in Chang'an". The first time he played with a big star, Rulan became the group leader. However, as a group leader, she couldn't make the film. After Zhou Rulan left for the first time, she chose to return to Hengdian.
Hengdian often has group acting classes organized by actors' unions, and some film and television companies organize themselves. This is one of the main reasons why Zhou Rulan returned to Hengdian. It was difficult to pick up the show during the study period. In order to survive, Zhou Rulan went to an inn to do cleaning and only got 8 yuan for cleaning a room.
"At that time, even food and clothing were a problem, let alone renting a house, so I had to go out to work, and the factory provided food and housing. I came back quickly when I saved the money."
Not long after returning, Zhou Rulan's parents learned that she was acting as a group in Hengdian and were very opposed to this. For this reason, she left Hengdian for the third time and returned to work in her hometown in Anhui. "When I go back, my heart is still there." Father Zhou saw his daughter acting on TV, and his attitude changed little by little. When she discovered that her father had begun to accept her ideas, she felt it was time to return to Hengdian.
Increased 100,000 followers a day and became an internet celebrity blogger
At the end of 2019, Zhou Rulan became a short video blogger. She named herself @横飘如兰. Now she has hundreds of thousands of fans. In the video, Rulan, dressed in costumes of various ages, played the role of the imperial concubine and the cavalry...Her Mandarin has a little accent, and she plays with her own comedic character. She truly restored a horizontal daily life, showing her professional life from the perspective of group performance.
During the day to catch a break, Zhou Rulan would ask a group of actors to take a video of her; after the live broadcast late at night, Zhou Rulan began to edit the material taken during the day.
In 2019, many Hengpiao began to produce and publish short video content on short video platforms, most of which were based on talent shows, funny jokes, and daily life in groups. Having a crew means that there may be a chance to shoot explosive material that day. "I take pictures of my work every day, or interesting things in the crew. My short videos have no scripts, they are all routine."
"I just came into contact with short videos. I just introduced myself in three sentences. I took it more than a dozen times." Although I have experience in acting as a group, but facing the short videos of self-direction and self-acting, Rulan and other Heng Piao are a little confused Measures. "There is no team, everyone helps each other take pictures."
After the video is uploaded, Rulan turns on the phone after a while to check the playback volume. There are often exchanges between group performances. Some people say that as long as they are recognized by the platform, the work can be rewarded.
In order to improve the video quality, Rulan signed up for a video training class and also participated in a free course offered by the Dongyang Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department. "I was learning and making it. About two months later, a video introducing props gained 30,000 fans. The most exaggerated is a video of eating a box lunch. I gained 100,000 fans in one day."
"At first, I was not sure whether the content would be popular. The teacher always encouraged me and contacted Hengdian Group to issue a policy to facilitate my shooting."
Two short videos a day, according to the number of views and fans, Rulan can get an extra income of about 400 yuan a day, encountering a hit can not only increase fans, but also means higher income.
Because the content is positive and optimistic, and the words are real, more and more people pay attention to Zhou Rulan and even ask her for help. Among the fans, 60% of the fans are acting in the same group as her, the elder is 60 or 70, and the younger is 89. There are often private messages asking questions about rooting in Hengdian, and Zhou Rulan always responds patiently. Some netizens concerned about her life and sent her cosmetics, and some netizens became friends with her and went to Hengdian to visit her. "Because their support and encouragement made me very motivated, and now my family supports me."
More than 10,000 monthly income, more group performances join the short video army
In three years, Zhou Rulan's life has undergone earth-shaking changes.
"Affected by the epidemic this year, the crew has decreased. Many people around me started making short videos. Some of them have thousands of fans, and there are more than 30,000 or 50,000 fans."
According to incomplete statistics, there are thousands of people from Hengdian short videos like Zhou Rulan, among whom there are about 100 internet celebrities with more than 500,000 followers.
According to market rules, a live broadcast of 30,000 fans from the media earns 100 yuan a day, and a day with more than 500,000 fans earns 1,000-1,500 yuan, excluding commissions for bringing the goods. If there are video works, it will be calculated separately. This income has far exceeded the income of 90 yuan a day for group performances.
"My next goal is to buy a house in Hengdian and take care of my children and parents. I can still stay in Hengdian and film."
It was late at night. After finishing the video, Rulan opened the pinyin book and started to learn. She said that now she has a stable income and has a reputation on the Internet. The next step is to learn Mandarin, and she will have the opportunity to receive better roles.