Wei Zheng's two most-discussed hit dramas, "Menghualu" and "The Broken Elite", ended on the 3rd and 4th one after another, and followed two completely opposite public opinion curves: the former started high and went low; The latter made a difficult comeback. The reasons are unrel

Wei Zheng

The two most popular dramas " Meng Hua Lu " and "The Broker Elite" ended on the 3rd and 4th one after another, and followed two completely opposite public opinion curves: the former After opening high and going low, made a difficult comeback. The reasons are unrelated, but the commonality is the same, reflecting that public sentiment has become a stronger factor in determining the reputation of a drama.

"The Broken Elite" was taken for granted as a "little broken drama" at first, because it is "blood related" to the " Love Apartment " series, which is also the work of director Wei Zheng. It was even labeled as "plagiarism" when it debuted. The questioning, belittling, and contempt never stopped. Director Wei Zheng was more active than ever on Weibo: on the fourth day after it was launched, he issued a declaration that "The Broken Elite" does not plagiarize, and emphasized that "If there is any plagiarism in 'The Broken Elite', any British drama, American drama, Japanese drama, Korean drama, Thai drama For evidence of domestic dramas, you can contact me on Weibo. I will answer them one by one. If there are any questions, I will apologize in public, delete all relevant clips, and as the first signed screenwriter, bear all legal responsibilities... If you have the guts to fight"; and then published The behind-the-scenes special of this drama - that is the "evidence" that has been prepared during the filming. "The more the audience understands, the more it will help reduce misunderstandings about this industry. This thing has to be done, otherwise if something goes wrong, we will have to talk about it again." Not sure."

Regarding the issue of plagiarism in the "Love Apartment" series, Wei Zheng once explained in an interview after the completion of " Love Apartment 5" was released. He said that only the fifth part of this series was the screenwriter. As for the plagiarism of the script, he only found out about it after "Love 3" was broadcast, but the director contracts for "Love 3" and "Love 4" have been signed together... Despite this, in his past career, he has never been able to work with "Love 3". Apartment"'s reputation and burdens are untied.

"Broken Elite" came to an end on the 4th. The voices questioning "plagiarism" gradually disappeared. The breakthroughs and attempts in comedy creation of this work were gradually seen. Many comments began to regain their objective mood and advocated a fair view of "Broken". "Elite". During the interview, Beijing Youth Daily reporter could also feel Wei Zheng’s determination to start anew and his confidence in comedy. The Douban score of "Broker Elite" is currently 7.1. Wei Zheng said: "It's 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."

Dialogue

Comedy Feature Film Thankless

If you don’t reform yourself, you will face elimination

Beiqing Daily: From "Love Apartment 5" to "The Breaking Elite", are there any twists and turns in the topic selection? How has the target audience changed?

Wei Zheng: Our simplest idea at the time was to make a new work that was completely different from "Love Apartment 5", with breakthroughs and changes in its subject matter and style. At that time, we carried out some screening on several topics, and finally decided on "The Breaking Elite" as an entry point for working as a worker. Afterwards, I felt that this topic was actually very suitable for expression. It can really involve all aspects of social life. Regarding the target audience group, I think the audience of "The Broken Elite" should be older than that of "Love Apartment", and the viewing threshold will be relatively higher. It is suitable for viewers who like to think and have certain life experience. "Broker Elite" retains the funny and interesting side, but also has a realistic core.

Beiqing Daily: The rapid development of short videos has had a considerable impact on the comedy market, especially sitcoms. What do you think?

Wei Zheng: It has no impact on sitcoms. There are no comedies in the TV drama market. With or without the rise of short videos, not many people are willing to make feature films because it is very difficult and thankless. The result of the boom of short videos is that everyone has further raised the threshold for laughter, which is a greater challenge for comedy workers - how can we provide the audience with a viewing experience that exceeds that of short videos in a 45-minute feature film? Why should others come to see you instead of watching short videos? What is the value of future feature films?

I think that comedy films in the traditional sense have lagged behind the times today. They must reform themselves, otherwise they will face elimination.Any comedy team relying on the wisdom and laughter output of a few screenwriters cannot compete with the millions of creators of short videos. Long videos have no advantage at all in terms of jokes. The real advantage lies in its story and structure. Its characterization and world view are more complete, and the theme can be penetrated deeper. If a comedy is still a joke drama, then it will have less and less chance, and it will become more and more difficult to survive in the competition with short videos.

I hope that "The Elite" can accompany everyone to grow together.

Beiqing Daily: "Love Apartment" has grown together with the audience, completing companionship and healing; what functions do you hope that "The Elite" will carry? Will you continue to do it?

Wei Zheng: I hope that "The Breaking Elite" will still be a comedy that can accompany everyone's growth. I hope it can bring strength to the audience: "Love Apartment" may be more about warmth and companionship, while "The Broker Elite" brings strength. If you look at them, you will feel that their life is not so bad. If they can stand up, so can you. Although the people in the Broken Affairs Department seem to be doing poorly, they do not accept their fate. They are still working hard for their lives.

There is no need to distinguish comedies and sitcoms

too clearly.

Beiqing Daily: Recently, a variety show about sitcoms was broadcast, and "The Breaking Elite" also attracted a lot of attention when it was aired. What do you think is the biggest dilemma of this category at present, and what changes and efforts are needed to achieve the ideal growth environment and status?

Wei Zheng: I don’t think it’s necessary to distinguish the categories of comedy and sitcom too clearly. Anyway, there are neither too many sitcoms nor too many comedies nowadays. They are both endangered species, so don’t subdivide them. Comedy is comedy. We have made many breakthrough and mixed-genre attempts in comedy this time, whether it is science fiction, costume, or suspense. There are no specific rules for comedy, no one stipulates what comedy must be like, it can be mixed with any genre, including tragedy, as long as it looks good. What we need to really think about is why so few people are willing to make comedies in the past ten years, but there are a lot of sweet pet dramas and costume dramas? Nowadays, I am very happy that I have the opportunity to go one step further, or even a few more steps, to keep comedy itself advancing with the times, and to make some new attempts and changes in form, type, and style to make it more vital. It is more in line with the current viewing rhythm, allowing comedy feature films to show their unique charm in competition with short videos. As for what changes and efforts are needed, I think the industry might as well break the original stereotype of comedy, and the audience might as well show appropriate tolerance to comedy creations. In addition, we comedy workers ourselves also need to take every work, every baggage, every scene and every line seriously.

Text/Reporter Yang Wenjie

Coordinator/Man Yi Liu Jianghua