【Audio-visual observation】

  Recently, the sci-fi suspense online drama "The Beginning" has become a hit in the market, making "Infinite Stream" a hot word in public opinion.

In fact, "Infinite Stream" is not a new concept, but a general term for a specific type of online novel.

This can be traced back to several online novels that emerged in the early 21st century, and their framework has become the basic paradigm of most subsequent "infinite flow" creations: there is a "system" that is above all time and space in the work, and the protagonist enters the system through the system. Each different world "upgrades and fights monsters" to grow.

The setting of "Infinite Flow" is intended to explore and break through the time and space of the real world, the finiteness of life and death, and to seek a transcendent life experience.

In the narrative structure of such themes, the main line and multiple sub-lines are mostly nested, that is, under a whole system, it is divided into several small units for branch narrative; The reverse flow method empowers the characters, and the protagonist constantly "upgrades" in the story loop with suspense to promote the development of the plot; in terms of character settings, most of the protagonists are weak and helpless at first, and grow rapidly through the experience of "time loop" In the end, the "time loop" can even be used as a weapon to "reverse" the external environment.

In addition to "The Beginning", the foreign film "Source Code" and the domestic online drama "Duan Nao" are also representative works of the "Infinite Stream" theme.

In these years, the themes of immortals, sweet pets, and fantasy have gathered together, and some creators have fallen into the routine creation mode and cannot extricate themselves. The emergence of the theme of "Infinite Stream" has expanded the width and dimension of creation, and opened up new opportunities for the development of online dramas. space.

It is foreseeable that with the success of "Beginning" in the market, there will be many "Infinite Stream" works to follow.

In the future, how to develop the theme of "Infinite Stream" and even the creation of online dramas can maintain strong artistic vitality, tap deep ideological connotations, and reflect positive social value, which has become a topic that the industry needs to discuss.

  Summarizing the successful experience of existing works such as "Beginning", "Source Code" and "Tennao", we found that the logical starting point for its creation is always the "people" who always shine the arc of humanity.

First of all, "Infinite Flow" opens the boundary of time and space, allowing the protagonist to access the ideal existence.

The finiteness of life lies in the fact that it has a clear starting point and end point from the very beginning. The setting of "Infinite Flow" opens the boundary of limited life time and space, allowing the audience to experience a kind of life tension between "being and not", which fits very well. Chinese traditional "inner transcendence" life aesthetics.

For example, in "The Beginning", Li Shiqing repeatedly said "try again" to Xiao Heyun in order to save a car of people he didn't know. Go back to 8 minutes to find out the truth about "source code".

The protagonists gain control over their own destiny by constantly fighting against a system that sets the rules.

From the point of view of existentialism, "Infinite Flow" is the transcendence of this in the world. In the "game" between the protagonist and the time and space set by the system, it shows the determination, courage and resourcefulness of people.

  Secondly, no matter how "unconventional" the story of "Infinite Flow" is set, it is always wrapped in the pursuit of kindness, justice and good social order, so that the work has a solid spiritual core under the surreal.

For example, "Tannao" explores the betrayal and sacrifice of friendship in the process of playing games with life, and shows the brotherhood between Xia Chi and Meng Qin that transcends life and death in the torture of human nature.

When the hero and heroine of "The Beginning" began to encounter the explosion, they only wanted to save themselves, but in repeated cycles, they established contact with strangers such as Uncle Watermelon in the car, young Lu Di, and Lao Jiao, a migrant worker. Everyone united to save everyone. people.

In this process, the different values ​​of these people collide under the same framework, but potentially reveal the secular logic of family ethics and social morality.

Whether it is the protagonist or the supporting role, they are ordinary, real, warm, just like you and me in life, and their essence, it is not difficult to summarize, is "people".

It can be seen that the abundance of human nature is the flesh and texture of the story of "Infinite Flow".

  The phenomenon-level work "Beginning", in addition to bringing valuable reference for the creation of the theme, also reflects the change in the wind direction of the industry ecology: from "traffic first" to "content is king".

Although online dramas have experienced a variety of explorations in form, such as long dramas, short dramas, interactive dramas and micro-short dramas, the subject matter has always been "dominated" by sweet pets, tomb robbers, and palace fights.

Of course, the overhead and imaginary "net feeling" temperament of these themes is very suitable for the taste of young audiences, and it was once synonymous with "theme innovation" in the early stage of network drama development.

However, industrialized production methods such as "poor boy getting rich" and "Cinderella's counterattack" style, production ideas that traffic is king, and capital-led directional creation based on data analysis continue to consume the dividends of these themes.

According to the "2021 Online Drama Development Report", the current online dramas have sweet pet themes from the head content to the waist and the tail market, and the homogenization competition is becoming more and more fierce.

At the same time, the multiple choices of online culture, the nourishment of online dramas by traditional culture, and the continuous improvement of users' aesthetic level have forced platforms and producers to explore diversified themes.

In addition, the current film and television industry is in the critical stage of "improving quality and reducing volume", and the fast-paced and compact short dramas have become a new solution for film and television to reverse "water injection" and promote high-quality products, making new themes and niche themes have "small and broad-minded". "Opportunity.

This clue has emerged from the suspense dramas and industry dramas that network dramas have developed into a realistic dimension.

This time, "The Beginning" integrates elements of science fiction, suspense and life, jumping out of the stereotype of dazzling skills and dazzling IQ, to explore more human nature and capture social hotspots, and to balance the extreme between the drama and the reality of life. In place, the audience has a strong sense of brain-burning and immersion, and has achieved a "double upgrade" in the type of realistic themes and performance techniques.

  In short, whether it is fantasy, sweet pets, ancient costumes or "infinite flow", whether it is in the real world or "different time and space", what can always retain the audience is the high-quality content with very high theme concept, ideological depth and aesthetic taste.

In 2021, the total number of online drama filings will exceed the total number of TV drama filings, but the rapid increase in number needs to be supported by the improvement of cultural taste and spiritual pattern.

In order for online dramas to become a new force in the current pattern of great development and prosperity of film and television, it must have a conscious cultural responsibility for goodness and beauty.

Starting from innovation and returning to quality should become the constant methodology of its creation.

  (Author: Tan Xuefang, professor at the School of Communication, Fujian Normal University)