The number of programs has increased, and the influence has become smaller. The Beijing News interviewed industry insiders to discuss how slow variety shows attract people
The slow comprehensive effect depends on the guests, but there are only a handful of artists who can "do it well"
With the content market entering the era of "2x speed", nowadays, audiences are gradually unfamiliar with enjoying a work quietly, and replaced by the competition of "speed" and "fragmentation".
When the pure enjoyment version and the essence version grabbed the popularity with the feature film, the leisurely and indisputable "Slow Variety Show" (hereinafter referred to as the "Slow Variety") seemed to have become a "retrograde".
Similarly, the market sentiment is no longer the same as "going on a trip" and "life is more than just living".
People are becoming more pragmatic and the need for high-intensity entertainment is growing.
Does Slow Synthesis still have a market advantage?
How to maintain long-term vitality?
Through interviews with industry insiders, we try to trace the logic of content production, discuss the changes in market aesthetics, and explore new methodologies for slow and fast development.
Is "slow variety show" better than "fast variety show"?
Matching people is critical, "weird" guests are welcome
In an interview with the Beijing News, Wang Zhengyu, the chief director of "Longing for Life", said frankly that in the sixth season of the show, how to choose guests has become a very challenging matter.
The program team has expanded a lot of "friendship" for Mushroom House, including Shen Teng, Ma Li, Sha Yi who are very effective, and Xu Zhiyuan, Liu Zhenyun, Liu Yijun who are "contrasting cute"... "Although this kind of 'expansion' may be successful, It may also fail, but I still hope that the 'weird' people can bring something new to "Longing for Life"."
"Good-looking skins are the same, and interesting souls are one in a thousand." This sentence applies to all kinds of variety shows.
This is especially true of the slow complex without the support of games, brain-burning, entertainment and other elements.
"Slow variety selection is the foundation for people, and matching people is the key to success, otherwise the very long program process cannot be completed." A variety show practitioner concluded.
It is exemplified that most of the fast-paced variety shows on the market today have established a perfect mode, such as the star of "Escape Room" playing the secret room mode, the game of "Run", and the experience series mode, etc.
And following the mature model, any guest can be qualified to complete the program effect, "For example, the 0713 men's group (Chen Chusheng, Lu Rover, Su Xing, Wang Lixin, Wang Zhengliang, Zhang Yuan's '0713 Brothers Group' - 2007 "Happy Boys" Top 13) to record "Escape from the Secret Room", and also follow the secret room route to complete every link and solve the problem. It's just that different guests have different sparks, some are funny, some are hardcore, and some are a little boring." Zhao Hao, director of "Let's Go Again", said.
But in contrast, the effect of the slow ensemble largely depends on the performance of the guests. "If you put a group of very boring guests in the slow ensemble, the show may be abolished." This is why "Happy Restart" chose slow Zong: "When we were doing "Welcome to the Mushroom House", we actually designed a lot of games on the basis of "Longing for Life". But during the recording, we found that the 0713 men's team has its own set of jokes, and it is very popular in variety shows. Effect. When they play by themselves, we can also find a lot of interesting things." Zhao Hao said.
Mr. Y, who has participated in the production of slow dramas, also admitted that there are only a handful of artists who can do well in slow dramas in the current market.
Although different types of slow ensembles have different needs for guests, some want to show the healing feeling of old friends gathering, some want to pursue the "Rashomon" where strangers socialize; some want to simulate the business process..." But in any case, if the guest has no personality, the sense of artistry is not strong, and the recording of the slow show will have no sense of existence. Or the guest cannot relax and let go of himself, and is unwilling to endure hardship, work, and life, and the content of the film is not enough. Real and good looking."
The recording process is boring and requires finishing touches later
In fact, for a slow synthesis based on the flow of life, the recording process is relatively monotonous.
For example, in each issue of "Longing for Life", the guests get up, wash their faces and brush their teeth, eat breakfast, eat lunch, and eat dinner, and spend a slow day; "Chinese Restaurant" is also inseparable from running, cooking, and paying... I want From it, 10-12 episodes of good-looking variety shows were extracted, and later on, they took on the important task of "finishing the finishing touch".
Zhao Hao has done post-production work for many slow variety shows such as "Longing for Life", "Chinese Restaurant" and "Dear Inn".
In his opinion, "Slow Variety Show" is a test of the ability to summarize and summarize stories in the later stage: how to reorganize long, small and monotonous materials into an interesting story, this process is very difficult, and often requires repeated search for the unexpected from the boring happiness.
"The strong rhythm variety show will be cut backward along the process, so there will be no big problems; but the slow variety show needs to be good at discovering details in the later stage."
Wang Zhengyu once revealed that his most impressive guest in "A Longing for Life 6" is Xu Zhiyuan, "He is very interesting and can chat with anyone. He can chat with Yin Fang's wife about the changes in dance types in the world; chat with Teacher He The way to get along with others; and Yang Di said, 'We are all the same people' (laughs)." This was also discovered later in the program, and a line of "playing wild" was specially edited for him: to get out of the crowd, to avoid doing housework, Letting go alone, doing things that interest you... It is reported that Xu Zhiyuan's performance was once evaluated by the audience as "bringing a never-before-seen feeling to the longing life".
From "Chinese Restaurant 3" Huang Xiaoming's "I don't want you to think, I want me to think" to "Chinese Restaurant 5" he changed his caliber to "I don't want me to think, I want you to think"; in "Longing for Life 6" Liu Zhenyun's three sentences of "retreat to advance" made Huang Lei add three dishes to him, allowing the audience to re-understand the humorous side of everyone in literature... "People who were very serious before came to this show and were very playful, and the camera took it. I noticed TA's nifty little actions, or secretly went to eat something... If you can find these in the later stage, it is a success." Zhao Hao said.
No script leads to high risk of variety show effects
Compared with other types of programs, the up-front investment cost, brain cell consumption, and nervousness during filming are higher.
The first is preliminary preparation.
Starting from the scene selection, the director team has to repeatedly predict whether the guests can have interesting stories here.
"Quick variety shows can directly move the game to a different location, but in slow variety, everything the guests do must be closely related to the location." For example, Zhao Hao, the director of "Happy Again", just wanted to find an island so that the guests could desert the island. Survival, fishing at sea, setting up tents by the sea... He imagined countless interesting possibilities that could happen here.
But beyond the ideal, he also needs to consider whether the transportation is convenient, whether the shooting can be carried out, etc.
"At that time, we stomped almost all the islands in Zhejiang, and finally chose Xiangshan." According to Zhao Hao, the current location selection for the second season of "Happy Restart" has screened out many beautiful places. In the second season, we want to accidentally trigger more interactions with amateurs, so whether the local people like to chat or not, and whether the accent is heavy, all we have to consider."
Secondly, the slow shooting process is also disturbing.
Since the script only has a large structure, which weakens the intervention of the director team, the guests will be faced with possible choices and possible places within a day; the different effects of different choices, and what emergencies will occur, etc., the program team must fully anticipate. All possibilities.
"Like the second issue of Happy Go, I asked them if they wanted to eat at home or go out. Whichever they choose, we have an implementation plan in mind. To put it 10,000 steps back, even if they choose to buy ours Box lunch, we all thought about the variety show effect of eating box lunch." Zhao Hao admitted that it was unexpected that the tent was blown by the wind in the show, but the guests proposed to stay in a hotel, which was actually what the show team expected.
"Although we said in the show that you can find an affordable place to live, we don't care, but in fact, we have stepped on the hotel in advance, after all, we have to determine whether we can shoot and whether it meets basic fire protection standards. There may be no plan at all.”
But many times, the slow synthesis still makes the guests uncontrollable.
For example, Mao Jia, the director of "Summer Surf Shop", once revealed to a reporter from the Beijing News that in the 21-day business cycle, all the time processes, projects, and what to do every day were made by the guests themselves.
Like Han Dongjun, who is very physically fit, on the first day of recording, he was busy and played until 10 o'clock in the evening.
Seeing that it was 12 o'clock in the night, Han Dongjun "arranged" the program group again. He and Wang Yibo decided to rush to the morning wave at 7:30 the next day.
"When they don't rest, we are not willing to give up those materials. If we don't withdraw, they won't stop work; if they keep showing, we won't be able to withdraw." Mao Jia said with a smile that he often got up at four or five in the morning to record this show. , there is only one feeling every day: "I'm so tired!"
The more the number, the less the influence?
Investment is rich and frugal, which can reduce market risks
In 2017, Slow Comprehensive achieved explosive growth, and the market has maintained stable development for many years, mainly "N-generation" such as "Longing for Life", "Chinese Restaurant" and "Unforgettable Restaurant"; every year, there are also "Hello Life" "Friends Please" "Listen up" and other rising stars appear.
Until 2021, Slow Comprehensive seems to usher in a new bonus period. New programs such as "Fifty Kilometers of Peach Blossom Dock", "Mao Xuewang", and "The Star Chaser" have poured into the market one after another; 2022 will usher in "get together and go camping" New slow comprehensive trend.
The first is market orientation.
In the past two years, due to some unavoidable reasons, the business has declined, and the fast-selling products, which are the top users of investment promotion, have been particularly affected.
Compared with other types of variety shows, slow variety shows are mostly natural scenes in the flow of life, and there is more space to accommodate more advertising content.
This kind of broad and in-depth contact with the audience makes the market favor it.
Mr. Y is also concerned about the slow growth trend, but in his opinion, the average investment in current programs is far less than in the past, and many of them are small and medium-sized.
Among them, "Happy Restart" is also due to the lack of funds, so the production process is very fast, and the filming is basically completed in a month, and "poor" has also become part of the program's characteristics.
"Flowers and Teens Camping Season" and "Camp Together" are Mr. Y's guess that he is one of the few programs that has invested heavily.
"Slow Synthesis is a program model that is more frugal and thrifty. You spend 10 million to have 10 million effects, and 100 million to 100 million. When the market is not ideal, Slow Synthesis can also be regarded as mobilizing market operations and reducing risks. A better choice."
The "real" level is being discounted
Although the number has increased sharply, the overall influence of the slow complex seems to have weakened in the past two years.
According to the rough statistics of a reporter from the Beijing News, in 2021, the number of 19 slow-scores in 2021 will only be a few hundred to a few thousand people, and there are also many "no ratings". The restaurant" is a new show that is so popular.
Some people in the industry believe that the good-looking degree of the program is closely related to the authenticity of the guests and the program.
"Slow Zong's advantages are mainly based on 'reality'. Explore real life conditions, real relationships, real expressions, real characters..." Leng Song said.
Zhao Hao also remembered that in the variety show "The Great Challenge" back then, there was a life experience in which Yue Yunpeng went down to a tunnel several hundred meters deep to dig coal.
"At that time, when I saw that his face was so black, I knew that he had been in it for a long time. If an artist is willing to do this in the show, this show can convince me." In his opinion, It is very important to convince the audience of a slow ensemble.
Just as in "Longing for Life", the audience likes to watch the guests break corn and do farm work, and expect Huang Lei to be busy in the kitchen every day; the grandparents with Alzheimer's disease in "Unforgettable Restaurant" are called "the most Lovely guests"; and the sharing of real stories of amateurs in "Listen to Friends", even more "out of the circle" than the performance of the guests...
But now due to various reasons, the true degree of slow comprehensive is being "discounted".
Take business programs such as "Chinese Restaurant" and "Night in Da Wan Chai" as examples.
The earliest "Chinese Restaurant" was a star who ran a Chinese restaurant abroad in 20 days and made a Chinese taste.
Most of the people who come to eat in Chinese restaurants are overseas Chinese or foreign guests who hardly know Chinese stars. The real foreign food exchanges and feedback, and the difficulties and challenges encountered in foreign operations are all naturally collided.
Now that business programs are rooted in China, most of the guests have to go through the "reservation system" layer by layer screening, and it will be more difficult to present the "real", "For artists, the pressure will also become a little subtle. When everyone can't find the most real mentality, there may be some problems in the reality show level." Mr. Y said frankly.
Blindly following the trend, it is difficult to make content features
The "blind following" in the variety show market has also led to the fact that each slow variety has not had its own unique content in the past two years.
As early as 2017, in the slow variety market, there were “homestay variety shows” such as “Dear Inn”, “Three Yards”, and “Youth Hostel”. .
The "homestay" wind subsided, and the "camping" wind rose again.
According to media reports, the number of National Day camping orders in 2022 will increase by 410% compared with the "May Day" holiday, and the number of camping orders will increase by more than 10 times year-on-year; the number of domestic camping enterprises has also increased significantly in the past two years.
According to the statistics of reporters from the Beijing News, there will be at least 6 slow camping events in 2022, among which "Flowers and Teens Camping Season" is the most typical, but "Go Wild!"
The market feedback of programs such as "The Dining Table" and "Let's Go Camping" was actually not as good as expected.
The psychology of onlookers is not as good as entering the game, which has brought about a competitive run on resources and excessive release. This is the fate that every "explosive" in the history of Chinese variety shows is bound to follow suit.
Repeated copying by opponents will inevitably disperse and consume the patience and loyalty of show audiences to similar styles and forms of expression, and the imitative characteristics it presents constitute the inherent weakness and compromise at the innovation level.
However, "the innovation and development of content is a long-term process that requires a systematic layout. How to break through the competition and continuously gain high attention is the biggest challenge for creators." Leng Song said.
It is necessary to change from "slow" to "real", only with a soul can it last
How does the slow complex maintain its long-term vitality?
In Lengsong's view, just like the green-skinned train still has value and significance despite the rapid development of high-speed railways, the slow synthesizer is also adapting to social development and audience aesthetic changes, and continues to use the track's "minimally invasive" "New" maintains its popularity and attracts new audiences.
In his opinion, in the future, "slow" variety shows can be made "real", "First, slow is not boring, but full of reflection on life; second, it can trigger memories and feelings through the gathering of different characters, Create a relaxed state of sharing stories among friends; third, to a certain extent, slow variety shows and farming culture have a natural fit, representing a nostalgia for simple life, which can strengthen the audience's yearning for rural life outside the city. "
As the program that won the first place in variety show reputation after "Airborne" this year, "Happy Restart" is also eagerly thinking about the upgrade and iteration of the second season.
Zhao Hao believes that the Douban score of 9.6 for "Happy Restart" is actually "irrational".
Now he wants to put aside the halo of the first season and think about how to maintain the advantage of slow comprehensive content in the second season and make this show last for a long time.
"The cost of the first season determines the style. 'Poverty' is no longer a shortcoming. It also creates an open space for reality shows and a large selection of materials. If the investment promotion in the next season is good and the program team has sufficient funds, we may use the funds. Abundantly presented. Secondly, the artists themselves are also changing. They have changed from not getting much attention from the public back then to now taking jobs all over the country, gaining popularity, and earning money. In the second season, they show what their true state is, This is also important."
As Wang Zhengyu previously told the Beijing News reporter, he does not think "Slow Comprehensive" is a category, and the program should only be "good-looking" or "not good-looking", "A really good program has its soul; it has a soul, It can go a long way.”
Written by Zhang He, reporter of Beijing News