Reporter Zhang Jingchao reports from Beijing.
The micro-short drama track is attracting more and more "regular troops" to enter.
Recently, a reporter from "China Business Daily" learned from the Network Audiovisual Department of the State Administration of Radio and Television that in November 2023, a total of 305 and 11,245 episodes of key online micro-short dramas will be planned and filed across the country, an increase of about 13% and 43% respectively, a significant increase. Among them, it is particularly noteworthy that in November, many "new faces" of the micro-short drama market joined, such as the Supreme People's Inspection Film and Television Center, Zhejiang Publishing Group Digital Media and Emperor Film and Television and other companies, which shows that the vigorous development of the micro-short drama market has received more and more attention from many aspects.
In addition, on December 21, 2023, Douyin announced that it would launch a high-quality micro-short drama cooperation plan, and join hands with a number of ** institutions to create high-quality micro-short dramas in the coming year around the three themes of "Yang, Good, and Beauty" and the six directions of "To Dreams, To Youth, To Warmth, To Revitalization, To National Style, and To Imagination". According to reports, more than 20 ** institutions such as Xinhua News Agency, Xinhuanet, CCTV, CCTV Network, Beijing Radio and Television, Zhejiang Radio and Television, Jiangsu Radio and Television, Dragon TV, etc., have reached cooperation intentions with Douyin, and the first batch of co-created high-quality micro-short dramas will be launched in March 2024. Just a few days ago, Douyin just reached a "boutique short drama support plan" with Mango TV, which is backed by Hunan Radio and Television.
Looking back on the development of the micro-short drama market in the past year, the entrants have gradually changed from early speculators and small film and television companies to professional film and television institutions and Internet ** platforms. In the eyes of many industry insiders, on the one hand, the micro-short drama market has broad prospects, and on the other hand, after savage growth, the boutique trend of this emerging track has emerged.
High-quality products mean increased investment and more professional content production, which will also raise the threshold of the industry. In this case, only companies that work hard will have a chance to survive. Jin Yan (pseudonym), who is engaged in film production, told reporters.
From barbaric growth to standardization
In the past two years, the online micro-short dramas grafted from short ** and online dramas have been sought after by many netizens.
Whether it is regarded as the result of the dramatic development of short content, or the form of online dramas adjusted in terms of narrative rhythm, it is impossible to avoid one point: the popularity of micro-short dramas reflects the new trend of film and television content production and consumption - "micro" reflects the lightweight characteristics of film and television production, "short" conforms to the fragmented information receiving habits of netizens, and "drama" fits netizens' pursuit of fun.
With the characteristics of short duration, fast rhythm, dense explosion point, refreshing feeling, and face-slapping aesthetics, the micro-short drama gives the audience a ** experience that is different from the long drama;With the characteristics of short production cycle, low set cost, low shooting cost, and many monetization opportunities, micro-short dramas have also given more opportunities to the film and television industry.
From the embryonic period to the high-speed growth period, there is only one or two years before and after the micro-short drama, and during this time, the micro-short drama was once labeled as a "short ** version of the Internet cool article". The routines of the plot, the patterned characters, the full appearance, and the empty content have become the hard flaws exposed by the micro-short drama market for most of the past time. In addition, the story presentation of many online micro-short dramas has been simplified to the capture of conflict points, cool points, and explosive points, and the result is that conflict elements such as comedy fantasy, rebirth through crossing, grassroots counterattack, wealthy secrets, and ** detectives are often stewed in one pot, but there is not much nutritional value in the "pot". Because of this, many micro-short dramas have left people with the impression of "dog blood".
In November this year, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television made it clear that it would increase the management of online micro-short dramas and refine measures from seven aspects, including carrying out a one-month special rectification work.
Guan Ling, Dean of the Broadcasting Research Institute of Communication University of China, Director of the Media Convergence and Art Innovation Research Center, and Professor of the School of Drama, Film and Television, pointed out that the development of micro-short dramas has gone through three periods: the embryonic period of savage growth, the period of inclusion in supervision, and the maturity period of gradual high-quality production.
Admission of professional content agencies
Since the summer of this year, a number of micro-short dramas carefully created by professional film and television institutions and individual users have begun to appear, such as "Escape from the British Museum" and "Twenty-Nine", etc., and high-quality products have become a topic of discussion in the industry.
A person from a long-term platform believes that on the one hand, this is related to the change in the needs of users. In recent years, a large number of micro-short dramas of the same type have led to aesthetic fatigue among many audiences, which has forced the micro-short drama team that wants to stand out to upgrade the script to explore more diverse genres.
The reporter noticed that judging from the list of micro-short dramas that have been filed with the State Administration of Radio and Television this year, in addition to urban and costume themes, the proportion of suspense themes has increased significantly, and has expanded to the countryside, youth, workplace and other fields.
On the other hand, the mass entry of traditional film and television companies has also brought a lot of "regular army shock" to the industry. The entry of leading film and television companies such as Huace Film and Television, Ningmeng Film and Television, Changxin Media, and Beijing Wonderful has comprehensively improved the production level of micro-short dramas.
With their familiarity with the content of short **, MCN institutions and micro-short drama creation teams try to add attention to and expression of social issues in the field of scripts, so as to integrate emotions and stories more naturally.
Typically, this year's popular short drama "Escape from the British Museum" is in the ancient sweet pet content familiar to short drama users, adding strong feelings of family and country, combined with the attention to the issue of "cultural relics return", through the anthropomorphic way of cultural relics, the emotions of the short drama have changed from small love to big love, and it has also successfully achieved the popularity of the whole network, and has been praised by many official media such as People's **, People's Daily Online, CCTV, etc.
Dong Chuchu, a first-level inspector of the Network Audiovisual Program Management Department of the State Administration of Radio and Television, recently said that the form itself does not determine the level of cultural value, and micro-short dramas can be "micro but not weak, short but not shallow", and can use their unique advantages to focus on social issues, explore core values, and present grand themes of the times with small incisions. At this stage, exploring the road of high-quality and professional development is a major topic for the future development of the micro-short drama industry.
Douyin said that professional ** institutions generally have a wide audience base, professional production capabilities, and strong sensitivity and insight into social hot topics. In the past many years, ** institutions have produced many long dramas with themes ranging from grand narratives to parents, from cutting-edge technology to youthful enthusiasm, which are both popular and popular. On the short ** platform, many plot clips are still very popular today. In view of the ability of professional institutions to "specialize and refine", it will open up more possibilities for micro-short dramas to be upward and good.
Editor: Zhang Jingchao Proofreader: Yan Jingning).