China News Service, Beijing, February 4th (Reporter Ren Siyu) At the beginning of last year, the healing TV series "Go Where the Wind Is" starring Liu Yifei and Li Xian became a hit. The picture of Liu Yifei holding a flower was all over the Internet. It was originally a popular tourist destination. Dali, Yunnan, has welcomed waves of new tourists.
As one of the fans of this drama, Liu Zifan, the producer of Huace Film and Television, began to think about it while following the drama - under the strategy of "IP long and short linkage", is it possible to make a derivative short drama to continue the "Wind IP" ” influence, telling a story that is equally healing and romantic?
Also attracted by this idea were directors Wang Huyu and Douyin. In the past filming, King Codfish's requirement for himself was to "never do the kind of chicken drama that caters to the market." Douyin also hopes to enrich the content types of short dramas and extend the vitality of film and television IP with short dramas. After reading the scripts of the first three episodes of "My Way Home Is Windy", both parties decided to take up this challenge.
Thus, the story of "Xu Youfeng" began.
"My Return Is Windy" Poster
As soon as the lens opens
“The filming must be completed no matter what”
"I'll send the annual leave application now. I want to go back to Sichuan!" After hanging up the phone from his supervisor, Xu Youfeng decisively bought a ticket and returned to his hometown.
Not long ago, she was busy at a listed catering company in a first-tier city. Her bored colleagues were eager to take credit and blame others, and everyone was restless during breaks. However, a sudden accident made Xu Youfeng discover that her colleagues were not the ones she saw. The indifferent workplace also began to make her question the meaning of her daily efforts.
Workplace pressure, anxiety about returning home... Like many young people today, Xu Youfeng faces many choices and entanglements. But at the same time, "My Return Is Windy" retains the undertone of warmth and hope: Xu Youfeng, who returned to Sichuan, unexpectedly ran into his childhood sweetheart, Xie Guitu, the owner of a century-old Sichuan restaurant. After that, they joined forces to start a new business.
Stills from "My Return Is Windy"
However, it is not an easy task to create a healing story told at the pace of a short play. Since September last year, producer Liu Zifan has led the screenwriting team to brainstorm story ideas. After several rounds of overturning and polishing, the script was finally completed at the end of November.
Different from the production rules of previous long dramas, "My Way Home Is Windy" has been scheduled to be released on Douyin short drama during the Spring Festival before filming has started. The task is urgent, and Director Wang Huyu has also adjusted the preparation arrangements. During the location scouting before the start of filming, the director team, photography and lighting team, and art team have already walked and scheduled each scene in advance, designing shots and planning according to the plot. The specific set decoration and prop details are considered to make more complete preparations for the subsequent shooting.
When the vegetables are sorted and cut, the seasonings are ready, and the stir-frying starts from this moment.
At the end of December last year, "My Way Home Is Windy" officially started shooting in Sichuan. In the impression of the lead actor Pang Hanchen, the 6-8 pages of scenes in his hand on the first day of filming were comparable to the 10 pages of body parts in a long drama. quantity. In the past, in long plays, six pages might only contain 8-9 scenes, while in short plays, six pages might contain more than a dozen scenes.
This also means that actors need to give more accurate performance results in each scene to achieve such efficiency. Therefore, on the set every day, Pang Hanchen not only had to focus on the current character state and quickly enter into full emotions, but also, during the gap between scenes, he also tried his best to take time to prepare for the next few days of shooting - for example, reviewing how to subvert the scene. Spoon.
In Liu Zifan's view, the creation of short dramas is not about compression in a simple sense. On the contrary, emotions must be highly condensed in a plot of 4-5 minutes, but after being fainted, many echoes in real life can be obtained. It is a A process that requires relative expansion. Therefore, in the final execution, the plot presentation of a single episode even requires more than a dozen scenes to be completed, and in the fragmented scenes and fast-paced interpretation, the integrity of the characters and the warmth and healing of the plot cannot be affected.
In a limited period, shooting more detailed and richer shots is the main creator's request for this drama. When it came to the key emotional scenes where the male and female protagonists met and got to know each other, everyone worked through the feelings over and over again. In some walking and transition scenes that promoted the development of the plot, the content to be filmed was made thinner and clearer.
Stills from "My Return Is Windy"
After finishing work every night, King Codfish will continue to discuss the shooting plan for the next day with the photography department and the executive director's arrangements for the actors. He will go through the scene first, and then let the actors do it again in a comfortable way the next day. Once the lens is turned on, it cannot be stopped. "No matter how difficult the shooting is, you have to complete all the shooting in this scene on this day."
In this way, 18 episodes were filmed in 11 days. The creators of "My Way Home is Windy" fought a tough battle to "maximize efficiency".
Hengdian turns into a “vertical store”
"It's just that the monitor is turned up."
The compression of time and space for the crew did not affect everyone's trust in each other during the production process.
During the short period of more than 10 days of filming "My Way Home Is Windy", King Codfish was deeply impressed by one scene: in a scene showing roast duck, the Sichuan restaurant owner played by Pang Hanchen was chopping duck in the beautiful glare, but After shouting "Ka" the next second, the two leading actors were already standing aside and happily eating.
Stills from "My Return Is Windy"
The main creators who were striving for the same goal quickly got along well. "Meihan and Hanchen especially like to discuss with me and will come up with more content than the script." Wang Huyu said, "Because they are the filming director The professional actors in the play have certain designs for the logic and actions of the characters, so they will be more comfortable in this regard."
In 2019, Wang Huyu tried to shoot a horizontal screen short drama for the first time. At that time, she had just come from long dramas and online movies. She thought the short drama was very short, only 10 minutes per episode, but she did not expect that now, it would even appear 1 minute long. vertical screen micro-short drama.
In the past few years, the development of micro-short dramas has been rapid. The "2023-2024 China Micro-Short Drama Market Research Report" shows that China's online micro-short drama market size will be 37.39 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 267.65%. Also in 2023, the national movie box office will be 54.915 billion yuan.
A vivid data can give a glimpse of the popularity of micro-short dramas: in Hengdian, Zhejiang, the world's largest film and television shooting base, nearly a hundred micro-short drama crews start work every week.
Hengdian has become a "vertical store".
Actor Liu Meihan, who has appeared in works such as "Going to Where the Wind Is" and "Everyday Life", became the heroine of "My Return Is Windy" this time. In recent years, familiar faces such as Yang Rong, Liu Yun, and Gao Yalin have appeared more frequently in micro-short dramas.
Stills from "My Return Is Windy"
With the demise of mainstream film and television companies such as Huace Pictures, professional and confident actors have arrived in "vertical stores", and a large number of well-produced micro-shorts have shocked the audience. It turns out that vertical-screen micro-shorts with movie quality are no longer The stereotypical "tyrannical boss fell in love with me".
"Is the outside world already like this?" "This is simply a dimensionality reduction blow..." Netizens commented one after another.
However, producer Liu Zifan is a little in awe of the words "dimensionality reduction strike". She would also say something repeatedly in interviews - don't underestimate short dramas. “If you change careers with a ‘dimensionality reduction and attack’ mentality, you may be slapped hard in the face.”
From horizontal screen shooting to vertical screen shooting, director Wang Huyu quickly adjusted himself to adapt to the rhythm, "Although the sparrow is small, it has all the internal organs. From hatching to shooting, all our departments are very different from the configuration of horizontal screen short plays and long plays. , there may be a certain increase or decrease depending on the size and investment, but there are all the departments that should be there and the people who should be there."
In her opinion, what everyone wants to accomplish is the same. The possible difference is that "the monitor is raised."
catch up with the times
“Not everyone is Wong Kar-Wai”
In "Go Where the Wind Is", there is a very touching line: "The essence of wind is the flow of air. When cold air flows to hot air, wind is formed... When people feel tired and cold, they also You need to flow to a warm place. Find the power of joy, the power of happiness, the power of beauty, or in other words, the power of starting over.”
Creators in the film and television industry are also following the flow of opportunities. In the crew of "My Way Home Is Windy", the director of photography, Mr. Meng, who has been working on long-form dramas for more than 20 years, took the initiative to choose short dramas, which surprised Wang Huyu.
People who are deeply involved in the industry are often the best able to grasp the future of the industry. Many years ago, when everyone was still working on traditional TV dramas, Teacher Meng and many colleagues turned to online dramas. At that time, many people did not realize how big a splash a small online drama would cause. Now, Teacher Meng has decided to turn around and embrace the short drama market.
Opportunity is a key word mentioned by many practitioners who take the initiative to switch to short drama. In the past 2023, Wang Huyu filmed a total of 4 short plays. The process was busy but very fulfilling. "You will have more opportunities to stand on the front line of creation. If you wait ten years to make a work like "Flowers", it will be Very good, but not everyone is Wong Kar-Wai."
Changing tracks is a choice for the brave, but in the end, it is often a turnaround for the visionary.
Stills from "My Return Is Windy"
As one of the first creators to enter short dramas, Wang Huyu’s most intuitive experience of changes comes from the circle of friends. In the past few years, everyone was experiencing an “industry winter”, but starting from 2022, there are people in the circle of friends who are constantly starting new projects. "I think part of the recovery in the film and television industry is also due to the boom in short dramas."
The micro-short dramas that once grew wildly are now becoming increasingly high-quality. Not long ago, Douyin launched the "Chenxing Project" to cooperate with the entire industry to produce high-quality short dramas. Currently, 37 film and television companies have reached cooperation intentions. Among the 10 high-quality micro-short dramas that will be released during the Spring Festival, they cover a variety of themes such as reality, costumes, and science fiction. Many of them are derivatives of popular film and television IPs such as "Where the Wind Goes" and "The Young Lion". work.
Another trend is that the combination of micro-short dramas and cultural tourism has also begun to be put on the agenda. In "My Return is Windy", Xu Youfeng, who once worked in a listed catering company, returned to her hometown and devoted herself to exploring intangible cultural heritage delicacies, such as roast duck, Juntun pot helmets, Dengying beef, boiled cabbage... She and Xie Guitu, the owner of a Sichuan restaurant, together Give full play to their respective advantages and strive to introduce Sichuan intangible cultural heritage delicacies to the world.
Stills from "My Return Is Windy"
In January this year, the State Administration of Radio and Television released the "Travel with Micro-Shorts" creation plan, proposing to create and broadcast 100 excellent micro-shorts with the theme of "Travel with Micro-Shorts" in 2024, and promote a group of physical filming locations to follow The popular broadcast circle of micro-short dramas.
Just like "Going to Where the Wind Is" successfully boosted tourism in Dali, "My Return Is Windy" is also expected to become a new sample of "cultural tourism + micro-short drama" creation.
When more professionals take the initiative to join the game, it means that short dramas will be refined from the subject matter, interpretation, shooting to post-production, from bones to flesh. More and more high-quality micro-short dramas are winning hearts with their profound concepts and stories. respect. A foreseeable future is that they will move towards a more mainstream and broader market.
In this era, the iteration of appreciation needs is faster than the pace of content updates. Faced with an audience with more style and higher pursuits, creators cannot stop.
Currently, "My Return Is Windy" has entered the second round of revisions. This high-quality short drama co-produced by Douyin will be launched on February 16 during the Spring Festival. Working from 10:30 in the morning to 12:00 in the evening has become the daily routine of the main creators recently. "Maybe we have been adjusting until the final launch," Liu Zifan said. Everyone is still looking for the most effective lenses and language to adapt to the short drama so that the content can be expressed to the audience more accurately.
"There are so many things we need to learn," Liu Zifan feels. The short-form "language" is the expression of this era, and they are still working hard to catch up with this era. (over)