On June 27, iQiyi’s popular workplace comedy “Breaking Elite” scored 7.1 on Douban, which is not particularly high but not low either. Director Wei Zheng said on Weibo: "The score on Douban is much higher than I thought. Thanks to the low-star reviews for reminding us not to forget the past, and thanks to the high-star reviews for encouraging us to look to the future. Thank you all."
2 years ago Wei Zheng became a blockbuster with " Love Apartment ". In 2020, with the conclusion of " Love Apartment 5", the "Love Apartment" series will come to an end. As the final work, "Love Apartment 5" uses the iQiyi interactive video standard to realize the "barrage space" which is very impressive. The audience praised it and set off a small climax of domestic interactive dramas.
This year, with the upgrade of iQiyi’s interactive video technology, “The Breaker Elite” has reached a new level of “play” – it is different from “iPartment 5” and the industry-wide adoption of A/B decision-making plot bifurcation. Going in a different direction, it pioneered the "number + keyboard" model and further realized the in-depth integration of technology and content.
"The Breaking Elite" has become the "ceiling" of interactive dramas
The interactive video of "The Breaking Elite" first appeared in the fifth episode "Virtual Companion". The plot summary of the fifth episode of
is: the male protagonist Hu Qiang (played by Li Jiahang ) is added to the company's "Virtual Companion Project" and will spend 7 days with a virtual companion "Xiao Pai" (played by Zhuge Dali). How he spends these seven days with his virtual partner will be entirely decided by the user.
When Hu Qiang asked if the companion could change into other forms, a keyboard popped up on the screen for him to choose. At this time, the audience could enter different codes on behalf of the male protagonist and choose the "style" of the companion: she could be charming, charming, Vibrant, elegant and intellectual...
After the 7-day trial period of "Little Companion" ends, the audience has to enter the code on the new "keyboard" to decide the next plot direction. If you enter the right code, the hero's memory will be completely erased and you can continue to look for the right person; if you enter the wrong code five times in a row, you can help the hero firmly grasp the last chance to stay, retain the memory of companionship, and see the other person. An ending.
In addition, Wei Zheng also planted many Easter eggs in the play. For example, if the user enters the room number in the love apartment, 3601/3602 will see different plots; for example, if the user enters different holiday passwords, different " Achievement".
The password to clear the memory, 12138, also has a special meaning. This is a special number in "Love Apartment", which means 1 apartment, 2 suites, 1 bar, 3 couples, and 8 actors.
The fifth episode alone has 15 nodes actively selected by users, which will lead the plot to 3 different endings and 3 ending songs. This kind of "plot tree" is no longer a simple two-part plot, but is constantly bifurcating like a mind map, and can even cycle back and forth. The multi-threaded plot combined with different Easter egg unlock achievements, global X factors and other interactive gameplay makes the whole episode look a bit brain-burning.
In fact, the interactive set of "The Breaking Elite" does not only appear in the fifth episode. For example, the 16th episode "Red and Black" also has a double ending. Users will see different endings on two days. In the 18th episode "Work-Injured Cells", the audience will see completely different endings from 11 pm to 7 am. Different endings. There will be many more interactive designs like this in the upcoming episodes.
What inspiration does "The Breaking Elite" give to the industry?
The first question is: "Why make interactive videos?" Many interactive video creators fail to think clearly about this and regard interactive videos as a way to show off their skills. They interact for the sake of interaction, technology for the sake of technology, and technology for the sake of coolness. It was cool, but in the end it failed to get applause from the "audience uncles". The specific manifestation is the low rating. Just like the experience of "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch", there were many plot choices but the lowest rating on Douban.
The second question is: "What content is suitable for interactive videos?" There is a natural contradiction between interaction and immersion, so not all content is suitable for interactive videos. Some users are afraid of being disturbed when watching dramas, and they do not open the barrage, let alone let them Stop and choose this or that; some film and television works require the plot to be "closed" enough, such as "Seven Deadly Sins", "Silence of the Lambs", etc. The plots are interlocking and intricate, and the ending is final and cannot be defined. Interaction is undoubtedly Adding insult to injury.
The third problem is: "The input-output ratio of interactive videos is low." Interactive videos give users more choices, which not only involves the integration of technology and content, but also requires producers to prepare more content. The 90-minute "Bandersnatch" requires a 300-minute plot, which places higher demands on directors, screenwriters, actors, etc. The complexity of video production processes such as costumes and costumes has increased exponentially, and the result is interaction. The cost of video production has increased significantly, and when the first question "Why interactive video?" is difficult to answer, such high costs are unacceptable. Therefore, it is difficult for interactive video to become mainstream in content supply.
Although "The Breaking Elite" cannot completely answer the above questions, it is also inspiring for the industry.
First of all, it answers the question "Why do we want to make interactive videos" to a certain extent.
Judging from the practice of "The Breaking Elite", it increases the user's "customization ability" for the plot, but why do it? Not only because of the sense of participation and playability, but also because of the focus on inspiring users, allowing them to think deeply after interacting and resonate during participation.
For example, in the fifth episode of "Virtual Companion", when the user takes on the role of the male protagonist to help him choose whether to clear the memory of his "little companion", he often thinks of the people who accompany him, such as his partner, family, and friends, and says goodbye to them. What decisions will be made at that time, and companionship may be more important in life. Just like the line in the play, "Since starting work, the whole world seems to have shrunk into two points and one line. Except for your family, it is difficult to meet people who are willing to really spend time with you."
Another example is in episode 18 , users will see a different plot if they watch the drama late at night (11 a.m. to 7 a.m.). The director intends to remind the audience to pay attention to the balance between work and life and pay attention to workplace health. These are hot topics in society. topic, the director expresses the values of the content itself through the setting of interactive videos.
A thousand people are like a thousand Hamlets. One of the core values of literary and artistic works is to make people think deeply and inspire. When interactive videos give users the permission to "customize the plot", they must return to the work itself and "customize the plot". "As a rhetorical device, the process of user interaction itself is also consuming content. In other words, the previous feature of interactive videos was that "the audience can choose, and you have the final say on the plot." However, the idea of "Breaking Elite" is that "giving the audience plot options is itself a kind of content expression."
Secondly, it answers the question of "what content is suitable for interactive videos" to a certain extent.
Judging from the production of "Breaking Elite", its interactive videos are the result of careful selection.
Why does "The Breaking Elite" make interactive videos? In addition to director Wei Zheng's personal preference for interactive videos, it also has something to do with the subject matter. In the past two years, domestic film critics said that "sitcoms are dead", and there will be no sitcoms after iPartment 5 ended. The viewing scene of the sitcom itself does not have high requirements for plot closure and immersive viewing, and is relatively suitable for the exploration of interactive videos. As Wei Zheng shared externally: Whether interactive videos are suitable depends on the content. “Whether you design your story direction and script based on the form of interaction? If so, it is a native interactive drama, otherwise it is a forced one.” The superfluous structure is superfluous. "
If a drama is naturally suitable for being a "native interactive drama", product technology must be involved as early as possible to truly make it "native".It is understood that "Broker Elite" decided to make an interactive video at the project establishment stage. The producer, iQiyi, intervened in the early stages of the project and participated in the entire process, starting from script writing and other aspects of communication on interactive creativity, and it took a year and a half to produce.
It is precisely because of such full participation and in-depth collaboration from start to finish that the final presentation can show a seamless, natural, and deep integration of interaction and content itself. It is not a "forced" plug-in interaction. iQiyi has always insisted on making interactive videos. Whether it is film and television dramas, commercials or trailers, it only explores content suitable for interactive videos, and only makes native interactive videos to ensure that the user experience is enhanced rather than subtracted. point.
Finally, to a certain extent, the question "How to reduce the cost of interactive videos?" is answered.
When a platform like iQiyi takes the lead in interactive video production and provides creators with corresponding standards and tools, theoretically it will be possible to continuously accumulate and reuse interactive video technology. When the scale of interactive video content increases, the cost will increase. will be significantly reduced. For example, the "Keyboard + Numbers" mode first introduced by "Broker Elite" gives interactive videos a new interactive ability, and also opens up the director's creative space similar to "digital easter eggs". This interactive mode will definitely become an interactive video in the future. As standard configuration, iQiyi can modularize, standardize, and componentize the interactive technology corresponding to keyboard + password. In the future, more content can apply this interactive model at low cost. In addition, iQiyi’s previously developed “vibration mode” and other light interactive gameplay can be reused as standardized components.
In addition, if a director is accustomed to applying interactive video technology and cooperates with the platform for a long time, it will further reduce the difficulty and cost of producing interactive videos, because the cooperation between the content creation and product technology teams will only become more tacit, and both parties can continue to accumulate experience. Form a standardized process to make the interactive video production process smoother and smoother, and continue to reduce the cost of interactive video production. According to Wei Zheng, the primary reason for the interactive video collaboration between "Breaking Elite" and iQiyi is precisely because "we have cooperated with iQiyi for many years, and everyone trusts it." Previously, "Love Apartment" also cooperated with iQiyi. 5》After using interactive video for the first time, Wei Zheng found that the audience liked it very much, and decided at that time to continue interactive video as a tradition.
When a creator who loves interactive videos meets a technology platform that strongly promotes interactive videos, the threshold for interactive videos will no longer be a problem, and the cost will continue to drop to the ideal state.
In my opinion, the biggest breakthrough in interactive dramas of "Broker Elite" is the introduction of "digital" interactive gameplay.
On the one hand, traditional single-choice interaction can only reflect the interactive logic of users deciding the direction of the plot, and the user's ability to decide the plot is relatively limited. The interactive logic of entering numbers means that the plot can theoretically have unlimited options - because the number combinations are unlimited. The combination of options at different selection nodes creates a terrifying plot structure, which makes the plot fall into an infinite flow just like " West World ". In other words, the breadth and depth of "interaction" between users and the repertoire have been expanded.
On the other hand, numbers themselves can carry information, and directors can use numbers to express information. For example, the holiday eggs in this episode of "Virtual Companions" can unlock different holiday greeting achievements. The process of users inputting different holiday numbers is itself "exploring" the content. Another example is that the memory clearing password "12138" has its own connotation. Digital easter eggs have always been a common "embedded thread" in film and television works. For example, Wong Kar-wai "046" in the movie 2046 is a room number, which also means that people are always there. Trying to find lost memories.
Because of such interactive capabilities, and the fact that the subject matter itself is naturally suitable for interaction, "Broker Elite" has found a balance between content and technology, without affecting the user's immersion in watching, while providing unprecedented interactive gameplay. It gives creators a new space for expression and creation, and also completely changes the user's content consumption experience, empowering content through technology to sublimate the artistic value of the content.
iQiyi's road to interactive video
iQiyi released the world's first interactive video standard IVG in 2019, and then released the interactive video auxiliary production tool platform IVP, which includes "Component Attribute Setting Panel" and "Story There are two core modules: "Panel". The former is used to set the number and content of branch options, and the latter is used to build plot structure and edit story lines. Regardless of standards or tools, what iQiyi wants to do is to lower the threshold for interactive video production and promote the industrialization of interactive videos by componentizing and standardizing corresponding technical capabilities and converting infrastructure into .
While continuously strengthening the interactive video infrastructure, iQiyi itself is also exploring different forms of video interaction, and working with creators to launch interactive video content covering different types. This is what iQiyi has been working hard to do, and its vision It is "to be a great entertainment company driven by technological innovation". Technology + entertainment is its "double helix gene". What it has been doing is applying AI as the core technology to content creation, production, distribution, Every link in the chain such as recommendation and monetization not only liberates artists and creators, but also provides consumers with better and more content supply and a better entertainment experience.
Over the years, its consistent support for interactive videos is the epitome of iQiyi’s use of technology to promote the industrialization of film and television. The essence of interactive video is to empower content through technology, thereby providing creators with a new "rhetorical technique" to help them express themselves, ultimately enhancing the value of content, enhancing user experience, and broadening the boundaries of video.
In the long run, for iQiyi and the industry, the maturity and even industrialization of interactive video will bring multiple values:
and better meet user needs. Judging from user feedback on social platforms such as Douban, Weibo, Zhihu, iQiyi's interactive videos are gaining market recognition, and "interactivity" will become the competitiveness of some film and television works to a certain extent in the future, such as " After the interactive video appeared in the fifth episode of "Broker Elite", the audience's positive feedback increased significantly. Some netizens even bluntly said that this episode was "the best": "I feel that if Wei Zheng's series of experimental techniques are successful, then it can really be said It is the breakthrough and future of Chinese sitcoms.”
In the future, interactive videos can also be customized in a targeted manner based on user feedback. While Wei is sparing no effort to promote interactive videos on Weibo, he is also actively collecting user feedback. For example, after the 16th episode of the double-ending "Broker Elite" was aired, he initiated a vote on Weibo: "Using the iQiyi mobile app Viewers, each device can only see one random ending every day. I want to know, which ending will you choose? "Isn't this kind of interaction with users the charm of interactive video itself?
. Create more industry possibilities. html Over the past 1100 years, movies have gone through development stages from silent to sound, from black and white to color, from narrow screen to wide screen, from ordinary films to digital films. Today, large-screen theaters, smart TVs, smartphones, smart projections, XR and other media A hundred flowers are blooming, long, medium and short videos are keeping pace with each other. The video industry is thriving, and behind it is technology, the core driver of the film and television industry.
Just like the development of interactive video cannot be separated from the support of the technology itself. Just like Wei Zheng’s experience, although he had been exposed to interactive videos around 2008 and had ideas to create content, however, due to the limitations of technology and media environment at that time, interactive videos were difficult to realize. “Many years have passed, until Aiwu By then, this interactive technology will be truly mature enough to be supported by video websites “
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