At 4 p.m. on April 14, a performance performed by the national private theatrical performance group Xiquzizi Opera will be performed at the Fanglin Village Cultural Auditorium in Luqiao District, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province. Many spectators came to the cultural auditorium, did not enter the theater, but held up their mobile phones to scan the QR code of the live link on the performance poster. "Go home and watch the live broadcast while eating, the two will not delay" "The location of the scene is too far back, it is better to watch the live broadcast effect", the audience said. The national private theatrical performance group opera zi performance, lasting three days, a total of more than 7 platforms carried out online live broadcast, the audience reached millions of people, greatly meeting the needs of the performance.
It had been expected that online performances would fade out as offline performances recovered. Nowadays, online performances have not only not faded, but have also become the "standard" for many performances. In response to the current online performances, how to promote and develop together with offline performances, and how to constantly produce new and brilliant to meet the aesthetic needs of the audience, the reporter interviewed these problems.
Online and offline "dual-performance integration" has accelerated
Offline performances resume, will online performances continue? A recent survey by the China Performance Industry Association gave the answer: 60% of practitioners said that they would still try online performances after the offline market recovered. "This shows that the digital expansion of the performance industry is an irreversible direction." Pan Yan, vice president and secretary general of the China Performance Industry Association, said.
During the epidemic, offline performances were almost suspended, while online performances opened up a "second stage" for actors and art institutions, increasing revenue channels. For example, in 2022, 1,21 live broadcasts and recordings of online performances of various theatrical performance groups will be performed, the number of online audiences will reach 57.3 billion, and the revenue of online performances will exceed 2 million yuan. The Central Chinese Orchestra, China Symphony Orchestra, Central Ballet and other state-level art troupes have all started online performances.
In addition, individuals conduct more online performance activities. Taking Douyin as an example, in 2022, there will be more than 3200 million live broadcasts of performing arts on the platform, with an average of more than 3900,9 viewers per game, which is equivalent to nearly 46,6 medium-sized performances staged every day. The income from performing arts live broadcast tips increased by <>% year-on-year, and more than <>,<> anchors earned an average monthly live broadcast income of more than <>,<> yuan.
Not only that, the online live broadcast has also begun to feed back offline performances, accelerating the "integration of double performances". In this regard, Wen Ruqing, the head of the Guangdong Cantonese Opera troupe, was deeply touched. Recently, Wen Ruqing took the troupe to the western Guangdong region for a spring class performance, each with an audience of 10,000 or 20,000. Such an audience would have been unimaginable before, and Wen Ruqing attributed it to online performances. It turns out that before each performance through live broadcasts and short videos for publicity, many fans will come to admire it, and after watching the performance, many people will also open live broadcasts and post videos. "In this way, our performances were quickly spread to more places, and online and offline performances complemented and promoted each other." Wen Ruqing said.
The "second stage" requires a new model
At the beginning of online performances, freshness was an important factor in the influence of actors and audiences. When online performances become normalized, how to continue to attract the audience on the "second stage" has become a real problem in front of the platform and anchors.
In order to use the "second stage" to bring a better viewing experience to the audience, literary and art institutions and theater troupes have carried out some useful explorations. In August 2022, the Northern Kunqu Opera Theater used the multi-perspective technology of live broadcast to launch a multi-perspective "Peony Pavilion" live broadcast, where audiences can switch between front of the stage, behind the scenes, bands, choreography, interactive chats, etc. while listening to the opera, and feel the new experience of online performance. On New Year's Day 8, the Central Ballet also cooperated with Douyin Live to bring three online performances of classic ballet repertoire. Among them, the classic play "Giselle" is the first online appearance. The show experimented with online pay-to-view, which brought in new box office revenue.
According to Chen Cheng, vice chairman of the Jiangsu Dramatists Association, the low threshold of online live streaming may lead to the mud and sand of live broadcast content, and the management of live broadcast content should be strengthened, anchors who provide high-quality content should be supported, and the spread of vulgar, kitsch and vulgar content should be restricted. Peking Opera performance artist Meng Guanglu said that some actors who are accustomed to offline performances lack new media literacy, are relatively unfamiliar with the live broadcast context, and the live broadcast content lacks "network sense", which is difficult to arouse the interest of young netizens and wastes the opportunity to show themselves to the public. Industry experts believe that platforms should strengthen support for anchors in terms of products, operations, programs, and training, and help anchors and art institutions expand diversified performance forms through rich iterations of live broadcast content and live broadcast modes.
In fact, some platforms are always exploring. For example, as a platform side, Douyin Live has successively launched the "DOU has a good show" plan, the "dance inheritance" plan, and the "DOU has Chinese music" plan since 2022 to provide high-quality content and excellent anchors with support in terms of resources, traffic, and services. The relevant person in charge of Douyin Live said that the current online performing arts are in a critical window period, and Douyin Live hopes to work with practitioners in the entertainment industry to promote the upward development of the industry and make the "second stage" rejuvenated.
Develop new viewing habits
"The offline performance was an hour or two, and although some people dropped out halfway, most people were able to watch the whole performance. At the same time, if it is an online performance, it is estimated that it will be difficult for most audiences to insist on watching it. According to Lin Hongming, dean of the Advanced Institute of Art and Cultural Management of Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, if online performances want to gain lasting vitality, they cannot simply release the videos of offline performances online, but constantly enrich the supply of performance content.
For example, he said that in offline performances, the audience only sees the performances of the actors on the stage, and the things behind the stage, such as how the actors are dressed up, how they usually rehearse, etc., although the audience is interested, but they cannot see it, and these contents can be provided to the audience through online live broadcast.
Wei Sufang, head of the Jilin Peace Grand Theater, said that during the epidemic, they held a large number of online performance activities, and many actors became "Internet celebrities". After the epidemic, in order to better meet the needs of the audience, in the live broadcast, in addition to singing and dancing by themselves, the actors also taught the audience how to sing and dance, changing the one-way performance into a two-way interaction, and achieved good results.
In the past, the online market was not cultivated, which restricted the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage such as opera. At present, many opera performers earn income through live broadcasts, which has increased their enthusiasm for inheriting intangible cultural heritage. As Wang Xiaolei, a Suona player of Hubei Opera Art Theater and a Douyin Suona anchor, said, the audience pays to "order songs" in the live broadcast room, and folk musicians bring them high-level performances, and the two form a relationship of mutual trust and appreciation, so that the intangible inheritors can obtain both spiritual and material recognition, so that they can be more confident in the prospects of the intangible cultural inheritance cause.
However, new viewing habits can not be developed overnight, and the "paid on-demand" model launched by some literary and art institutions has not been promoted because of low audience acceptance. For online performances to be surprisingly new and brilliant, they must continue to explore and innovate.
(Reporter Han Yeting)