The dog is left to run
A drama with a budget of 5 million, there are still 8 million left after filming, is this a joke or a myth?
Two leading actors who came out of the "Annual Comedy Competition" and are not known to many people, plus a few old drama bones with no traffic, plus a group of students who performed for 80 yuan a day, filmed an anti-Japanese war comedy, which is unreliable no matter how you listen to it.
In this way, without large-scale publicity, the low-cost "Dog Leftover Run" took the online drama distribution license and went online directly.
However, eight sets of CCTV were launched, and as soon as they started broadcasting, they won the first place in the ratings, iQiyi broadcast exclusively, and the highest popularity on the station reached 8518, and continued to occupy the first place in the list of hot search dramas and TV dramas.
In the long river of domestic TV dramas, the theme of the Anti-Japanese War has always been an indispensable part. However, with the passage of time, this theme is facing the challenge of innovation, and the anti-Japanese war dramas in recent years can be described as miserable, and bad dramas are frequent. And on January 25, 2024, a TV series called "Dog Leftover Run" was quietly launched, and achieved amazing results in ratings and online attention.
The director of "Dog Leftover Run" is Wang Xinjun, and the screenwriter is Li Haijiang, the play tells the story of the young dog left in the rural areas of eastern Henan who joined the army three times and became a deserter twice during World War II, and finally awakened and grew up in the revolutionary team.
Because the budget is only 5 million yuan, a large number of student group performances are used, and netizens laughed that there is still 8 million left in the budget after filming. But the production team relied on the exquisite script and excellent acting skills to make this low-cost anti-Japanese war drama stand out, and on the day of its premiere, it won the championship with a high rating of more than 2%, directly defeating the popular "Dajiang Dahe 3" broadcast in the same period. In terms of online platforms, it has also occupied the first place on iQiyi's popularity list for a long time, and "Dog Leftover Run" has achieved a "double harvest" of ratings and network attention with only one small production, and it has also brought the audience the first anti-Japanese war drama of the new year.
For anti-Japanese war dramas, the blessing of comedy elements can be called a bold and innovative attempt. The biggest success of "Dog Run" lies in the excellent integration of comedy style and anti-Japanese war theme. With the protagonist Gou Yu joining the army as a clue, the plot is relaxed and witty, presenting the audience with a new experience that is different from the previous serious anti-Japanese war dramas.
Many of the remaining scenes of the dog at the beginning are full of joy. His performance of eating chaos on the street is very funny, he first ordered a small ball, but drank four bowls of soup in succession, and confidently said that he wanted "clear soup and little water", which truly reflected the life of the hard times and made people laugh and cry. In addition, his awkward encounter with the heroine in the toilet has also made a classic scene full of jokes, the dog is in a hurry to go to the toilet, and he can't bear to "liberate" himself in front of the heroine, and the whole process is ridiculous.
These light-hearted and witty plots not only enliven the heavy background atmosphere of the Anti-Japanese War, but also break the audience's stereotype of the general anti-Japanese war drama in a humorous way, showing the great potential of comedy style in serious themes.
Of course, "Dog Leftovers Run" also presents a lot of fierce battle scenes, showing the spirit of heroic resistance to the enemy, such as Dog Leftovers in the face of the enemy's fierce machine gun fire, not only did not choose to retreat, but fought bravely, and killed the Japanese machine gunners who hit our army with guns.
It allows the audience to feel the responsibility and responsibility of the nation in times of crisis in laughter, and sees the heroism and fearlessness of the Chinese people who swear to defend their home and country from the perspective of an ordinary little person.
"Dog Leftovers Run" is not only unique in innovation, but also has achieved remarkable achievements in ratings and word-of-mouth evaluation. According to the data provided by the China audio-visual big data platform, the average rating of "Dog Leftover Run" reached 15%, and the highest rating reached 1903%。This is a significant improvement compared to the average viewership of the eight platforms in the past. On the other hand, its highest popularity on the online platform iQiyi is also as high as 8518, occupying the top of the list of hot search dramas and TV series for a long time.
Netizens commented on this anti-Japanese war drama with "to the point", and the audience believed that "Dog Left Run" accurately captured the language characteristics of that era, and reached the hearts of the people with a plain and down-to-earth approach, which made people "hit the nail on the head" after watching it, and deeply felt the accurate portrayal of the characteristics of the times in the play. It can be said that no matter from the perspective of quantity or quality, this small-cost drama has achieved the outstanding achievement of "double harvest of ratings and word-of-mouth", and good word-of-mouth and data prove each other, which jointly highlights the resounding market response of this small-cost drama.
For a low-budget TV series to stand out successfully, a clever script is the key. "Dog Run" has focused on the creation of the script from the beginning, and the director and screenwriter have put a lot of effort into it, they have integrated contemporary values into the tone of realism, while studying historical details to ensure the authenticity of the story details, and the blessing of comedy elements also plays a role in putting the finishing touch, raising the quality of the script to a new level.
The intention of the script can be seen from the setting of Gou Yu, he is an ordinary farmer with a simple personality, in order to marry a wife and then join the army. This down-to-earth way of writing is easier to impress the audience, and it is also convenient to bring out the living conditions of that era. In addition, the addition of Yang San and others' growth line also enriches the level of the story. They all went through the process of going from ignorance to awakening, showing that even small people thrived in that era.
It can be said that "Dog Leftover Run" conceived a story rooted in the folk and close to life, and at the same time added interesting elements, and finally portrayed Dog Leftover and others as full-bodied characters.
A great script needs to have a matching rendition to really create chemistry. One of the highlights of the cast of "Dog Left" is that the powerful actors and the cutting-edge actors have achieved a perfect integration.
Qin Hailu, Liu Peiqi, Li Mengnan and other veteran actors have contributed stable acting skills, and their rich experience and solid basic skills make each character vivid and three-dimensional.
At the same time, Wang He, a student of the ** Drama Academy, had no film and television experience before, but he had an outstanding performance and performed the unique youthful temperament of that era. This combination of "new" and "stable" is full of ingenious chemistry, bringing a new audio-visual experience to the audience.
If there is only a group of old drama bones, the plot may seem stable and boring; If there are only newcomers, they may lose the audience's recognition because of their lack of acting skills. It is the integration of the three generations of old, middle-aged and young actors that doubles the layering of the performance of "Dog Leftovers Run" and becomes a collective acting breakthrough.
The success of Dog Run has inspired other creators. First of all, it shows that innovation should not abandon tradition, but should build on tradition to create new things. This drama focuses on the classic theme of the background of the Anti-Japanese War, but adds comedy elements, striking a balance between tradition and innovation.
Secondly, meticulous historical restoration is also important. "Dog Leftovers Run" shows the characteristics of that era through language, scenes and other details, such as the use of Henan dialect and the restoration of old Beijing Hutong. Only by studying history will the sense of reality be stronger, and the audience will be more likely to have a sense of substitution.
Finally, it is also essential to focus on the contemporary audience. This drama interacts with the youth group "Yixiren", shortens the distance with young users, subdivides the audience group, and finds the needs of different groups, which is an aspect that needs to be paid attention to when creating.
"Dog Left Run" is eye-catching, not only entertaining and inspirational, showing the power of ordinary people's growth from the perspective of civilians, but also opening up a new path for anti-Japanese war dramas and inspiring people to think about the future direction of this theme.
In the past, anti-Japanese war dramas tended to have grand narratives and heroic myths, but Gou Yu, a small civilian person, also took responsibility in his own position, and the positive energy contained in it is also worth paying attention to. Ordinary people are the foundation of the entire nation, and their small struggles have also achieved the indomitable national spirit of the Chinese nation.
Therefore, future anti-Japanese war dramas can discover more stories of ordinary people like this, because everyone writes history in their own posts, and heroes and people come from the same land. What we need is to be moved by laughter, think in emotion, and re-examine that historical memory shared by the whole people.