Can "Anti-Black" and "Walker 2" turn Hong Kong dramas around?
"To live or to die, that is the question."
In the new drama "Walker 2" co-produced by Penguin Pictures and TVB, the opening of each episode will quote A famous quote, if the evolution of Hong Kong drama is regarded as a long drama, then the famous quote that should be quoted at the beginning of this episode in 2017 may be the above famous line from Shakespeare.
In the first episode of the play, a famous quote from "A Tale of Two Cities" was used: It was the best of times and the worst of times.
Some drama critics believe that this is the worst era for Hong Kong dramas. In recent years, TVB dramas have become increasingly declining. The scripts are thin, lack new ideas, have many bugs, and the scenes are crude... These problems have always existed. It's just that the TVB dramas of those years competed with the growing mainland dramas, but today's TVB dramas require both In the face of British and American dramas, as well as dramas invested heavily by major mainland TV stations and video websites, the problems of Hong Kong dramas are becoming increasingly serious. "Hong Kong dramas are dead" has gradually become an inevitable topic for TVB's Taiwan celebration every year.
But this is the best of times. Since last year, Hong Kong dramas have had a new way of life: Mainland capital, Hong Kong production. With the cooperation with mainland capital, TVB has successively launched "The Blind Lawyer", "Walker 2", "Anti-Black" and other high-reputation dramas, which have repeatedly triggered social media topics. Compared with Hong Kong dramas in the mainland market in recent years, The performance is mediocre, and many media have already shouted: Hong Kong drama is reborn.
But any change will be controversial. When Hong Kong dramas are no longer "I'll cook you a bowl of noodles", and voluntarily give up the strong market flavor, some commentators believe that Hong Kong dramas have embarked on a path of no return.
What will "Walker 2" and the new model of "Hong Kong drama production" behind it bring to Hong Kong dramas? Can Hong Kong dramas that are no longer limited to the Hong Kong market usher in a rebirth?
American dramas turn into v-selling emotions: Hong Kong dramas in the era of customization
Some drama critics pointed out that although they are both co-productions between TVB and mainland video websites, "The Blind Lawyer" and "Walker 2" and "Anti-Black" are completely different styles. The former is trying its best to remove the traditional Hong Kong flavor, while the latter is doing everything possible to find the password of Hong Kong movies.
Some insiders believe that this may stem from the demand for product customization from two different mainland video sites. The former TVB is co-produced with Penguin Pictures, and the latter is co-produced with Youku. Although the broadcast order of "First Mainland and then Hong Kong" has been adopted in broadcasting, "Walker 2" and "The Blind Lawyer" are both launched as TVB's annual major dramas in Hong Kong. The starring lineup also includes Wang Haoxin, Yuan Weihao and other well-known celebrities. TVB highly praises newcomers and mainstays like Miao Qiaowei.
The lineup of "Anti-Black" is mainly composed of famous Hong Kong stars, and the series has no plans to be broadcast in Hong Kong for the time being.
Different customization needs ultimately constitute two completely different styles of Hong Kong dramas, and no matter which one they are, they are very different from the styles of traditional Hong Kong dramas.
"Walker 2" is a representative example of breaking away from traditional Hong Kong dramas with a strong American drama style. This drama is the first work of producer Su Wanchong after returning to TVB. He switched to HKTV in 2011. The online drama "Police Line" he produced has exceeded 1.5 million online views in Hong Kong, setting a new record for Hong Kong TV dramas.
Under his direction, "Walker 2" no longer continues the urban comedy style of the first film "Explosive CP", but focuses on the plot of the high-level fight among transnational criminal groups and the police investigation. ; In terms of location shooting, we went to Thailand, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and other places to shoot outdoor scenes; in terms of rhythm, each episode has a clear main line, the story advances at a high speed, and the suspense is constantly changing. Su Wanchong even explicitly asked the screenwriter, "Don't have a group of people suddenly stop. Come down and eat, drink and chat.”
Such a change is refreshing to everyone, but controversy also follows. Some mainland viewers praised the series and felt that "Walker 2" finally broke through the petty atmosphere of Hong Kong dramas. However, many viewers believed that "Walker 2" has lost the most precious market atmosphere of Hong Kong dramas.
Compared with the American drama route of "Walker 2", the police and gangster web drama "Anti-Black" starring Jordan Chan is regarded by drama critics as a work that pays homage to traditional Hong Kong police and gangster films.
The story of "Anti-Black" is set in the late 1980s. It not only uses the common faucet stick as the core clue in traditional gangster movies, but also the plot, lines and lens language are full of old-fashioned Hong Kong products. Elements of the film, such as police and criminals sending undercover agents to each other, society executives choosing "talkers", gang infighting, etc.
The starring cast is also tailor-made for Hong Kong film lovers. The protagonist Jordan Chan's police character in the drama "Anti-Black" is nicknamed "Phoenix", echoing the "Phoenix" in his masterpiece - "Young and Dangerous". "Pheasant" means "Pheasant turns into a phoenix"; Ng Mang-tat also participated in "Anti-Black", playing a has-been big brother;
In addition, familiar faces from Hong Kong films such as Chen Huimin and Wu Yi will also appear Once again playing a familiar gangster role. What's even more interesting is that Ke Shouliang's son Ke Youlun plays a young and Dangerous boy nicknamed "Xiao Hei" in the play. In "Young and Dangerous 2", Ke Shouliang played Chen Xiaochun's cousin "Xiao Hei" .
Youku’s early film library contained a large number of Hong Kong films, which also attracted a large number of die-hard fans of Hong Kong films. However, iQiyi’s traditional users are more inclined to American dramas. Different user bases determine different audiences. Episode development style. For these video websites, the essence of Hong Kong dramas is a kind of customized dramas. No matter what Hong Kong dramas looked like in the past, they must now be dramas created for website users. But from another perspective, this kind of customized drama's hard change to the Hong Kong drama model eventually forced Hong Kong dramas to break out of the past pattern. It was a win-win for both parties.
Mainland Capital V TVB Production: Rebuilding the TV Factory
It is understood that mainland video websites and TVB are not simply copyright cooperation, but have been deeply involved in the project preparation and IP development stages. , this production model of mainland capital + Hong Kong drama production will of course profoundly change the past static production pattern of Hong Kong dramas.
Many viewers have discovered that these Hong Kong dramas co-operated with the mainland have generally bid farewell to the repetitive scenes and dim lighting that have remained unchanged in Hong Kong dramas in the past, and they are no longer the same medium shots, close shots, front and back. Shot.
“This is because TVB dramas in the past were produced on the Shaw Brothers studio. TVB’s photography studio is open all year round, seamlessly connecting the upper and lower dramas and never wasting studio resources. 1 Once the filming of the drama starts, the filming team will work for 16 to 18 hours a day. In order to ensure the production progress, of course, a large number of medium shots, close shots, and very few long shots will be used, let alone sports shots. This kind of assembly line production can satisfy the needs of past teachers. However, these traditional practices have been almost completely abolished by these co-produced Hong Kong dramas. "Walker 2" has more camera positions and different shooting equipment. Upgraded, the editing has many camera changes, not only the switching of multiple complex camera positions, but also a large number of aerial shots and sports shots. The production quality has been greatly upgraded.
But apart from changes, there are also constants. "Not everything has to change. If everything has to be reinvented, why do we still need TVB? When mainland video websites cooperate with TVB, they must not only absorb the audience of Hong Kong dramas, but also learn from TVB's creative strength and production experience. Both parties can learn from each other's strengths and complement each other's weaknesses. , This is destined to be a painful and beneficial process."
For example, in "Walker 2", the first thing that mainland video websites hope to retain is the actors. At the beginning, the crew also extended an olive branch to Raymond Lam and Charmaine Sheh, but in the end they failed to materialize, and only the leading actors from the previous film, Michael Miu and Michael Hui, remained. In the end, the crew introduced a group of middle-aged familiar actors such as Chen Hao and Xuan Xuan, and also introduced new-generation actors such as Huang Cuiru and Zhou Pakho. Although their recognition in the mainland is generally low, Penguin Pictures did not force the series into the series. The inclusion of any mainland actor maintains the pure Hong Kong flavor of the series, which ultimately ensures the success of the series.
This approach of not overly intervening in TVB's casting and creation is precisely the key to the success of the series. "In any drama, the most important thing must be the story and characters. The smartest thing about "Apostle 2" is that After losing the two core protagonists, the focus of the narrative became multiple lines, but the character Zhuo Sir played by Miu Qiaowei was retained as the connection. In terms of the style of the series, although it tried its best to become an American drama, it did not really give up. The fundamental focus of "Walker" is to find undercover agents and investigate criminal police. This creative choice ultimately gave "Walker" a new look, without losing the fun of Hong Kong drama. "
For TVB, such changes certainly have pros and cons. "The Blind Lawyer" premiered in mid-June. In order to adapt to the update method of video websites, it was changed to a weekly drama mode in Hong Kong. It will be launched on Jade Channel every Saturday and Sunday evening. iQiyi will update it for free every Tuesday and Wednesday. It is four days earlier than Hong Kong, and iQiyi paid VIP members can enjoy episodes 1-14 immediately. "Walker 2" also released 10 episodes as soon as it was launched on iQiyi.
This move has affected the ratings of the series in Hong Kong to some extent: two to three weeks after the broadcast of "The Blind Lawyer", the ratings have been hovering at 16-18 points until the middle of the plot, driven by word-of-mouth Next, the ratings in Hong Kong rebounded to 20-23 points, with an audience of 1.3 million to 1.5 million. The ratings of "Walker 2" are stable at around 26 points, but they are far less than the high average ratings of "Walker 1" of 30.5. But at the same time, the two seasons of "The Blind Lawyer" on iQiyi have exceeded 500 million views, and "Walker 2" has exceeded 1.45 billion views.
In this regard, TVB Deputy General Manager of Programs and Production Du Zhike once told the media that although the broadcast model is "first in the mainland and then in Hong Kong", which somewhat sacrifices local ratings in Hong Kong, TVB has greater ambitions. It is to improve the production standards of Hong Kong dramas, give full play to the advantages of Hong Kong dramas, and win more young audiences. In the long run, this may not be a good opportunity for the rebirth of Hong Kong dramas.
Hong Kong drama v New Hong Kong drama: It is not about losing the Hong Kong flavor, but about reshaping it
For mainland video websites and TVB, this reinvention of Hong Kong drama can be said to be a happy one. Past TVB dramas , the conventional investment for a single drama will not exceed HKD 50 million. For some urban dramas with large sponsorships, the production cost can be reduced to HKD 20 to 30 million.
Even if investment is increased now, compared with the tens of millions in salary costs for popular mainland stars, TVB dramas are still "cheap and good" for mainland video websites. For TVB, the ratings in Hong Kong have not dropped significantly. Under such circumstances, it not only introduces mainland capital, but also expands the mainland market, which is also a good deal.
But for the audience, have they really lost the Hong Kong flavor in Hong Kong dramas?
"Everyone will have a different answer to whether the public should applaud the new Hong Kong drama, but Hong Kong drama cannot stop where it is. On the contrary, the current Hong Kong drama is sailing against the current, and if it does not advance, it will retreat. The current situation The Hong Kong drama revolution that was inadvertently triggered by the injection of mainland capital is destined to be a thankless innovation. Although the graphics and production have been upgraded, viewers who grew up watching TVB dramas will inevitably dislike it for its lack of Hong Kong flavor and lack of TVB plots. Those born in the 2000s may not be satisfied with the production quality of dramas -
But Hong Kong dramas must be innovated, because times are changing, and so are the audiences. If things don’t change now, the last wave of audiences who have the plot of Hong Kong dramas will grow older. If we go, Hong Kong dramas will have no chance at all."
The real question is - how to change?
It is understood that "Apostle 2" has 30 episodes, a filming period of 5 months, and 138 scenes, shot on location in Thailand, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Hong Kong. There are more than 200 scenes, which are produced in a "movie-like" mode, shot with a single camera, all real scenes, and the lighting and photography are similar to those in movies. This kind of change that breaks through the past neighborhood drama production model of Hong Kong drama is certainly a change that Hong Kong drama needs.
The "Hong Kong flavor" is something that Hong Kong dramas must retain. "But to think that neighborhood drama and 'cook a bowl of noodles for you' is Hong Kong flavor is actually a narrowing of Hong Kong flavor. The real Hong Kong flavor should be the original flavor of Hong Kong drama. It is not a fixed plot, scene, or line. , but the essence of Hong Kong dramas that has been refined through thousands of Hong Kong dramas, just like a bowl of the most authentic Hong Kong-style wontons, the soup stock is the key to the Hong Kong flavor."
Although "Walker 2" has been criticized. There are various doubts, but in fact the Douban score still reached 7.6 points, and "The Blind Lawyer" scored 7.8 points. On the contrary, the completely nostalgic "Anti-Black" only scored 6.9 points. In the final analysis, it is because these dramas are changing. At the same time, it still retains the essence of Hong Kong police dramas and legal dramas, and at the same time incorporates the fast pace and strong plot characteristics of American dramas and the taste needs of mainland audiences. The Hong Kong flavor has not been lost, but has been reshaped.
Although American dramas are good, they may not fully conform to the aesthetic habits of Orientals. In fact, the new generation of audiences does not fully accept American dramas. In a sense, the top products of Chinese TV dramas, Hong Kong dramas, American dramas, and mainland China The integration and reconstruction of dramas may be a new path worth looking forward to for Chinese TV dramas in the future. ”
It is reported that TVB has signed contracts with mainland video websites for at least 5 co-production dramas: after “The Blind Lawyer” and “Walker 2”, there are also “Heartstorm 3” and “The Palace Plan” 2", and follow-up cooperation will continue.
This Hong Kong drama revolution is far from over. How to recreate the "Hong Kong flavor" while catering to the tastes of mainland audiences. This is the biggest challenge for Hong Kong dramas.
For Hong Kong dramas, this is destined to be an era full of changes.
After its prosperity and decline, cooperation with mainland capital has become a ray of hope for reshaping Hong Kong dramas. The future of Hong Kong dramas may be described by the title of a planned sequel to a classic Hong Kong drama: "Genesis"