In this year's strongest summer season in history, although "Feng Shen Part 1" is not the box office champion of the summer season, it is still an eye-catching presence that cannot be ignored in the summer season. "Fengshen Part 1" not only staged a box office counterattack - the total box office continued to climb from the initial forecast of 800 million yuan to 2.6 billion yuan, it also became a "star-making factory", allowing the originally unknown " Proton Corps” goes to the public. Yu Shi and Chen Muchi are very popular, and Naran, Cisha, Wu Yafan, Hou Wenyuan, Huang Xiyan, Li Yunrui and others also maintain a good momentum of development.
The uniqueness of "Fengshen Part 1" is that all the young characters in the movie came from auditions. Through the auditions, they went through a 26-week closed training camp and the roles were finally determined after layers of screening. While the movie was in theaters, officials released materials about the Fengshen Training Camp from time to time, attracting the attention of many people. The popularity was extremely high. At that time, many people suggested that director Wu Ershan release a documentary about the Fengshen Training Camp. Wu Ershan, who has always been "obedient", released a behind-the-scenes documentary "Newcomers Performing Arts Training Camp", but the total duration of 1 hour made netizens call it "not enough". Some people opened their minds and suggested creating a similar training system. variety show, allowing the audience to witness how actors are born.
Now, the imagination of the audience has become reality. The movie was officially released on July 20. Mango TV communicated with director Wu Ershan about the production ideas in August. After reaching a cooperation, Mango TV received 180t of content of Fengshen Training Camp at the end of August (equivalent to 3,000 movies in length). "Fengshen Part 1"). The project was officially announced on September 4th, the project was finalized on September 25th, and "Fengshen Training Camp" was officially launched on September 28th.
"Fengshen Training Camp" opening sequence
"Fengshen Training Camp" is not only a variety show that records the Fengshen Training Camp, but it also provides a "methodology" that can be used for reference in variety show production, actor growth and film industrialization.
Variety show production’s “more speed, more savings”
The form of "Fengshen Training Camp" is very simple. To put it nicely, it is "returning to nature". It is a variation of the indoor observation reality show commonly seen on the market today - inviting director Wu Ershan and the main actors of the film to sit in the observation room. Watch the content of their time in the Fengshen training camp, interspersed with the guests’ reactions and thoughts in the observation room from time to time.
Observation room guests
The size of the program is also very small. There are only 6 episodes of the program, and the guests watch about one hour of material content in each episode, including about 30 minutes of reaction in the observation room, and each episode is about 90 minutes. It only took the guests one day to complete the recording of this variety show. A lot of invisible work is done in post-production, including the selection and editing of 180T materials, post-production of fancy characters, etc.
The post-production workload is huge
It is precisely because the program production seems to be so "short and fast": the volume is small, the form is short, and the production cycle is so short (it only takes one month from the intention to cooperate to the production and broadcast), which further shows the acumen of the variety show production team. , quick and smart. In the past two years, the audience's interest in variety shows has generally declined - reflected in the decline in variety show viewing time and the decrease in popular variety shows. Mango TV can effectively respond to market demand in such a "more, faster, more economical" way, becoming another A typical case of "using small to expand big".
Due to scheduling issues, Chen Muchi and Wu Ershan were alone in the observation room to record the reaction.
At the same time, as the first cross-border IP linkage variety show of "Film Production In the past, the promotion of film and television linked variety shows basically consisted of the main members of the crew appearing on variety shows, with relatively limited effects. "Fengshen Training Camp" uses a complete variety show as a means of film and television promotion. Because it is the "first release", the linkage of "Fengshen Training Camp" will inevitably lag a little, and the box office bonus for the first part will be limited, but it should have good momentum for the second and third parts. The linkage between film and television and variety shows may have greater room for imagination.
The cruelty and luck of growing up as an actor
In 2017, the crew of "Fengshen" conducted actor auditions around the world, and finally selected 30 people to enter the "Fengshen" training camp; from January to July 2018, they conducted a 24-week closed training, six days a week, many times a day At 12 hours, the training intensity is very high. Four assessments were also conducted during this period. Some people were eliminated, while others successfully stayed and got their roles.
Global auditions to select actors
It’s no wonder that some netizens have always called Fengshen Training Camp a “training system” for actors. It’s just as hard, and even more cruel. After all, the cultivation variety show can be broadcast at least, but once the Fengshen Training Camp is eliminated, it will be eliminated. It will take 18 months to film after joining the group, and it is unknown when the movie will be released. The opportunity to enter the film industry from the Fengshen Training Camp seems great, but the opportunity cost is also heavy enough. For example, Sosha was faced with the choice of going to "Idol Producer" or the Gods Training Camp, and Hou Wenyuan also went to the casting interview for "Meteor Garden".
At first, it was inevitable to doubt that Fengshen Training Camp was some kind of "mysterious organization"
But no matter how hard the process is and how cruel the elimination of the training camp is, the people sitting in the observation room of "Fengshen Training Camp" at this time are lucky, because they successfully "debuted" and followed the "Fengshen No. 1" The successful release of "Part" gained popularity. At this moment, they look back at the hard work in the training camp, the various embarrassments of their immature self, the "social death" moments, and the friendship like college roommates who shared the joys and sorrows. They are filled with laughter and happiness that comes after all hardships.
Sitting on this side of time, smiling at the naivety of the past
Compared with the somewhat rustic amateur state when they entered the training camp, after being polished by the training camp and tempered by movies, they have now become movie stars with a completely different temperament. Their efforts in the Fengshen training camp paid off, and they achieved "actor growth."
Compared with the training camp, the temperament of the Proton Corps has changed greatly.
But this does not mean that if a person who wants to be an actor works harder, harder, and is more desperate than the people in the training camp, he can replicate the success of the Proton Corps. In the acting industry, there is never a "methodology" that guarantees success. Hard work is very important, but luck/star luck is even more important.
When they first joined the camp, the starting point for the 30 people was the same, but now their situations are completely different. Some people sit in the observation room and laugh at the past, while some people have withdrawn from the entertainment industry, or are still transparent in the entertainment industry. It may not be that they didn’t work hard enough, or that they didn’t seize the opportunity, but it may not be the best option, or if they are just a little bit unlucky, the path to stardom will be completely different. The entertainment industry is so cruel.
The friends who used to train together are now in very different situations
This is the methodology given to those who want to become stars: If you are not mentally prepared to accept blows and gaps in the entertainment industry, there will be a long period of pain, unwillingness and loss waiting ahead. It means putting in 100% effort, but also accepting the key influence of luck on your destiny.
The "scientific management process" of the movie
Movie blockbusters can best reflect the industrialization level of movies. After all, movie blockbusters are large-scale productions, big investments, big scenes, long cycles, many links, and many participants. The higher the level of industrialization, the higher the scheduling efficiency, the smoother the connection, the more stable the quality of movies, and ultimately the greater the box office returns for blockbusters.
When the "Feng Shen" trilogy was launched, it was still an era of blockbusters; unexpectedly by the time the movie was released, blockbusters, especially costume blockbusters, had lost the trust of many audiences, so much so that "Feng Shen Part 1" was officially announced There were many voices of doubt after the show, and there were even outrageous rumors that the actor "escaped". Although mid-level films in the summer and National Day films have won the biggest victory, it still has to be said: to continuously improve the level of industrialization of films, the accumulation of experience in blockbusters must be required.
Wu Ershan’s timeline listed on Weibo
Wu Ershan can be said to be one of the earliest directors with industrial awareness in China. As early as 2015's "The Secret of the Dragon" (which ranked third at the box office that year with a box office of 1.681 billion yuan), Wu Ershan implemented the awareness of industrialization into the filming of the film. He made a very famous judgment at that time. , "I don't believe in talent, I only believe in the scientific management process that turns talent into artistic reality."
To put it bluntly, industrialization is a set of management processes that are scientific, systematic, can be used repeatedly, can greatly improve efficiency, and can ensure the basic quality of movies. When preparing and filming the "Apotheosis of the Gods" trilogy, Wu Ershan once again implemented the concept of industrialization. Guo Fan, who was preparing to film "The Wandering Earth" at the time and went to visit the crew, was amazed by this and benefited a lot.
In terms of casting and actor training, Fengshen Training Camp is the embodiment of industrialization. Instead of choosing popular stars, we auditioned actors from 8 bases around the world who fit the roles in the movie. For example, they should "have their own natural wildness, extreme focus on everything, dissatisfaction, and a sense of resistance." It’s a power, not a performance.” Facts have proved that it is right to use new people. The success of the movie is inseparable from the high degree of adaptation between the actors and the characters. This adaptation is not only based on the "wildness" of the actors themselves, but also because only new talents are willing to sink their hearts. He stayed in the training camp for half a year and stayed in the same crew for 18 months.
The training content of the training camp is also scientific and systematic. In terms of curriculum, the training camp is based on the "Six Arts of the Gentleman" (ritual, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and arithmetic), and offers acting classes, martial arts, equestrian archery, body shaping and other action classes for actors, as well as pre-Qin cultural history , film appreciation and other cultural courses. The training camp first allows students to become people of that era, and then assign roles on this basis. Thanks to solid training, when the movie started shooting, difficult action scenes such as horseback riding and archery were all completed by the actors themselves. They vividly embodied the martial spirit of the pre-Qin Dynasty.
The course schedule in the training camp is very intensive
This industrialized "scientific management process" is even reflected in the diet of the training camp. Three regular meals and three snacks, low in oil, low in salt and high in protein, can not only ensure the nutritional needs of high-intensity training, but also help actors develop bodybuilding body shape.
Six healthy meals a day
Nowadays, the instability of the input-output of blockbusters has increased, and the dependence of blockbusters on traffic has only increased. Projects like the "Fengshen" trilogy, which spend so much time and energy on casting and training actors, are almost It is extinct, and the Fengshen Training Camp may be difficult to replicate. But the film industrialization methodology-"scientific management process" it provides is worth learning from.
In short, although "Fengshen Training Camp" is a seemingly simple variety show, it is not just for fans. The form and content of the show can bring some thinking to people on different levels.
