Huang Qizhe
In the early morning of the winter solstice, the mother watched her nine-year-old son go to school, and the father who set off first warmed the car downstairs and waited for his son.
But within a minute of going downstairs, the child disappeared out of thin air in the corridor.
Just halfway through the broadcast, "Gone Child" was unanimously favored by the industry and audiences with its subtle plot and deep insight into family emotions, and was predicted to be a dark horse in this year's suspenseful short drama.
At present, its netizen rating of 7.7 points is comparable to "The Beginning", which was suspenseful and superimposed with an "infinite flow" time loop at the beginning of the year.
The reason for its good reputation is that on the one hand, it has a high degree of reduction to the original novel - "Sea Anemone", as a suspense novel first published on the Internet platform, has a high score of 8.6; on the other hand, it is through "script kill" The narrative mode brings the audience a more engaging and immersive viewing experience.
However, although "Gone Child" has won a high reputation as a dark horse, it is still far from "phenomenal" such as "Beginning" and "Silent Truth".
What is worth our affirmation is that "Gone Child" may be able to give inspiration to the creators of subsequent suspense dramas after saying goodbye to the last suspense drama hot cycle. "The Evil" is eye-catching, and the narrative innovation of "script kill" can also tell the "suspense" of the plight of ordinary people in real life; and more importantly, let the audience reason and experience together with the people in the play. Gain the warm power to do good.
Reflection on What is "Education of Love" under the Narrative of "Script Killing"
"Your name is Yang Yuan, but you have never gone far. Your life has fallen into a kind of cyclical predicament." At the beginning of each episode of "Gone Child", it will be narrated in such a second person, and delicately outline the characters' seemingly peaceful real life. psychological predicament.
And this has also become the first "script killing" look and feel that the show brings to the audience - as if the character script in the hands of each player at the beginning of "script killing". The progression of the plot provides multiple perspectives.
With the police's involvement in the investigation into the disappearance of Yang Yuan's son Yang Mo, the people involved appeared one by one.
Compared with ordinary suspense dramas, there are not many characters in the play, but they all have motives and suspicions, but everyone seems to have a reasonable alibi.
In the process of detecting the case, policewoman Zhang Ye did not rely on the sudden appearance of genius or the persistent pursuit after locking the suspect early, but by piecing together pieces of clue puzzles and constantly eliminating "interference items" to find the truth. fierce.
And this presentation is also similar to the game process of "script killing", which is for the second "script killing" look and feel.
The third "script killing" perception comes from the fact that the series is advancing around the main story of "the case of missing children", and also in the overlap of clues and the interspersed plots, the case of hiding a corpse and falsely claiming a pension, the landlady case experienced sexual assault.
The structure of case-in-case and serial sets is not uncommon in the creation of suspense dramas, but the presentation method chosen by "Gone Child" is closer to the handling of the "script kill" side plot and side tasks: that is, the height of the key characters of the case. Coincidence, interrelatedness and mutual cause and effect, only by deciphering them one by one and demonstrating each other can the real culprit be brought to the surface.
It is worth affirming that the main creator introduced the "script killing" game into film and television creation, not only to bring a more immersive experience of chasing dramas to the audience, but also to accurately reproduce and deeply understand real life under this narrative logic. , thus highlighting the reflection and questioning of what is "education of love".
At the beginning of the story, under the house name of the "civilized family" in the old community, the "chicken flying and the dog jumping" in the house.
Father Yang Yuan overslept while staying up late for work. Accompanied by mother Tao Fang's constant complaints, he hurriedly squeezed toothpaste and brushed his teeth.
As soon as the camera turned, his son Yang Mo had a circle of milk foam on his lips, making up for the homework left over last night while eating breakfast.
Hearing that her husband was "driving the night car" to supplement household odd jobs, so he neglected the children's homework, Tao Fang softened a lot. When she learned that she could earn 1,500 yuan, she muttered, "Just enough for my son's interest class fee next month. ." The camera cuts back to the living room again, Yang Mo took advantage of less than a minute after his mother left, he put down his homework and played with the car, but he couldn't help looking at the shoes at the door.
In just two minutes of plot and just a few daily conversations, it vividly portrays a couple who are worried about their son, care about each other but have many disagreements in educational philosophy, and also reflect the real life scenes of countless ordinary families today.
On the other hand, his son Yang Mo is afraid of his mother and has fun, paving the way for "disappearing out of thin air" in the future.
Children with ordinary qualifications, facing the mother's high-pressure "chicken baby" education, and the father's tolerant but perfunctory company, finally choose to escape from the family under the guidance of the neighbor girl.
"I thought that I would be different from those traditional fathers. I could dedicate all my time and love to accompany him in his growth and become a good father... But my self-righteous love still pushes the child farther and farther." Son After disappearing, Yang Yuan's monologue expresses guilt and self-blame.
Compared with the external educational pressure that mother Tao Fang puts on the child, Yang Yuan is also consuming the child's trust intentionally or unintentionally.
Small things that are inconspicuous to adults can have a profound impact on children.
As he himself said, he may have "lost" the child in broken promises again and again before the child goes missing.
The suspenseful short drama "collective misfire"?
In addition to gimmicks, it is necessary to find the topic of power
Some people say that suspense themes should capture the audience with strangeness and horror, but this "Gone Child" does not have the so-called "ultimate villain" and "all villains" in traditional suspense dramas, except for the sexual assault criminals who are finally arrested. Bloody and brutal crimes are presented with complex and cunning conspiracy layouts.
Seemingly "ordinary" and "ordinary", why did it firmly grasp the hearts of the audience?
It is a solid foundation of real life under the innovative narrative package of "script killing".
The protagonist of the story is not a "template" for sin and wonder, nor a "tool" for reasoning and showing off his skills, but an ordinary person who seems to live next door to us and work at the table next to us: adults run around for a living and family. Busy, the child is looking forward to the love of the family while learning and playing.
It is precisely because of this that the family problems they encounter can also arouse the empathy and thinking of the general public.
In the early stage of the show, the one with a high degree of discussion was Yuan Wu, played by Wei Chen.
After graduating from a prestigious school, he originally had an enviable job and a happy family, but because of his addiction to gambling, he not only separated from his wife and children, but also implicated his parents to sell their real estate to pay off their debts.
Due to his neurosis, Yuan Wu's work was hindered, so when his father died, he chose to hide his father's body to claim his pension.
What did he experience from being a corpse gambler?
Looking back on the growth trajectory, the arrangement and intervention of his parents for his daily life and even his marriage have shaped his cowardly and evasive personality, and indirectly caused the tragedy of fate.
The drama does not use the so-called "Ma Bao Nan" label to demonize this character, but delicately and restrainedly presents his hesitation and helplessness in "Love and Be Loved", echoing the whole drama's focus on family emotions and education. topic discussion.
"The Disappearing Child" is not over yet, and some audiences have already called to find the surprise of the old domestic suspense drama.
Indeed, there was a time when "suspenseful short dramas" were a new force in domestic high-quality dramas.
In 2017, a 12-episode "Undocumented Crime" was launched, allowing the audience to see the charm of "suspenseful short dramas".
In 2020, "Silent Truth", "Skyscrapers" and "White Moonlight" will be launched more intensively. These episodes all try to reflect family, emotions, workplace and many other topics through the process of case reasoning, and have gained a good reputation among the audience.
The successful path of "suspense short dramas" to leverage the large market with small cost and small volume has made it the most popular track for film and television creation.
Several online platforms have also launched the brands "Suspense Theater" and "Mist Theater" for suspense short dramas, which have greatly improved both in terms of investment scale and cast.
Objectively speaking, these short dramas have curbed the "water injection" atmosphere of film and television dramas to a certain extent, and through the creative mode of strong plot, fast rhythm, and heavy reasoning, they bring the audience an irresistible look and feel.
In turn, its good market feedback also allows platforms and production companies to see the commercial value of short dramas, thus forming positive feedback on creation.
However, there are also hidden worries behind the prosperity, and the narrative and themes of these popular works have been further exposed in subsequent works of the same type.
For example, last year's "Mystery of the Octagon Pavilion", which assembled a group of "actors" such as Duan Yihong, Hao Lei, Zu Feng, and Wu Yue, originally attracted much attention, but netizens scored only 5.6 at the end.
Excessive pursuit of the creation of a ghostly atmosphere, leaving a contrived look and feel, forcibly dragging good stories and good actors into a mediocre situation.
This year, the slightly larger "Sin Hunting Books", "The Gate of Rebirth", and "Jiang Zhao Dawn" have made breakthroughs in the themes and content, but unfortunately they all "opened high and moved low".
Compared with the protracted rhythm in the latter part of the drama, the more fundamental problem is that the labels and topics placed by the main creator on the characters are "overloaded", but they ignore the rationality of reality and theme orientation, and ultimately fail to satisfy the audience. end.
In contrast, dramas such as "Who is the Murderer", "The Cloister Pavilion" and "Double Detective" caused less splash in the market, and even caused the voice of "suspense skit to misfire".
In this bottleneck period, "Gone Child" may not be able to become a benchmark and a boutique of the same theme, but its appearance has found a new force for the creation of suspense short dramas - when the suspense returns to reality, the warm expression may not be compromised It damages the edge of reasoning and the depth of the theme, but instead becomes a deep positive force for good in public empathy and discussion.