Editor's note: The 30th Shanghai TV Festival started soliciting films in early December last year and ended on March 31 this year, collecting nearly a thousand works. The Magnolia Awards of each Shanghai TV Festival gather the best works of radio, television and online audio-visual from April of the previous year to the first quarter of the current year, reflecting the industry's outlook. Recently, we have invited industry insiders to sort out the creative styles of the five major categories of Chinese dramas, overseas dramas, documentaries, cartoons, and variety shows during this cycle, and look forward to the announcement of the shortlist in May.
Author: Nancy
(This article only represents the author's industry observations)
In recent years, with the rapid development of media technology and the increasing diversification of audience aesthetic needs, the variety show market is undergoing a new round of changes. As an authoritative award in the industry, the Magnolia Award not only reflects the creative vitality and diverse style of the current variety show market, but also foreshadows the future development trend of the industry.
Recently, the 30th Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Award call for films has come to a successful conclusion. The variety shows registered this year have shown a diversified and innovative trend in content form, media integration, cultural expression and cross-border dialogue, which not only enriched the audience's viewing experience, but also played an important role in promoting the high-quality development of domestic variety shows.
Inheriting excellent traditional culture
Audio-visual integration creates a new aesthetic form
Cultural variety shows are showing off their unique charm and creating a new aesthetic through innovative audio-visual integration. Looking at the entries for this year's Magnolia Awards, one can deeply feel the modern expression of Chinese culture on the variety show stage and the wonderful reconstruction of humanistic memory from a poetic perspective.
Chinese culture has a long history and is profound, providing an inexhaustible source of inspiration for variety show creation. "The Biography of Tang Dynasty Poets" leads the audience into the spiritual world of Tang Dynasty poets with a unique narrative method; "Exploring China through Bamboo Slips" focuses on ancient bamboo slips and documents, and deeply interprets the historical information and cultural value contained in the bamboo slips; "Chinese Style Super Drama" gives new vitality to traditional opera through innovative forms of expression and interactive links; "Chinese Heart of Jinshi" focuses on Jinshi culture, and through the display and interpretation of Jinshi cultural relics, it shows the tenacious and self-reliant spiritual character of the Chinese nation; "China in Painting and Calligraphy 3" continues to explore the unique charm of Chinese painting and calligraphy art; "National Medical Youth" shows the profoundness of traditional Chinese medicine culture through the learning and practice of young people; "Sven Jiangnan 3" leads the audience into the magnificent world of Jiangnan culture. These programs use modern perspectives and multiple art forms to creatively transform and innovatively develop China's excellent traditional culture, not only allowing the audience to appreciate the profoundness of Chinese culture, but also creating a new aesthetic paradigm in the integration of audio and video.
In addition to the modern expression of Chinese culture, some programs also reconstruct humanistic memory from a poetic perspective, allowing the audience to feel the weight of history and cultural heritage while enjoying the beautiful scenery. "Set Sail! Grand Canal" and "Shine! Grand Canal" show the magnificent scenery and long history of the Grand Canal. The program uses poetic lens language to depict the natural scenery and cultural landscape along the Grand Canal. At the same time, the program also deeply explores the cultural connotation and historical value of the Grand Canal, evoking people's deep feelings for the Grand Canal.
"All the Way Forward 2" is themed on outdoor exploration, vividly recording what the guests see, hear, feel and think during the journey. The audience follows the guests on their journey, feeling the beauty of life and the vastness of the world, and stimulating their desire to explore the unknown world. "Must Come 2" also focuses on travel experience, using delicate shots and warm narratives to show the sincere emotions and beautiful stories between people. While watching the show, the audience can feel the humanistic charm and life atmosphere of different regions, and enhance their understanding and tolerance of multiculturalism.
Cultural variety shows are using audio-visual integration as a pen and modern perspective and poetic expression as ink to paint a new picture in which Chinese culture and the spirit of the times complement each other, reshaping the aesthetic paradigm through innovation and bringing a new audio-visual feast and cultural experience to the audience.
Broaden the emotional dimension
Feel the joy of life and reflect the mood of the times
As the variety show market becomes increasingly diverse and competitive, audiences’ demand for programs is no longer limited to superficial entertainment, but they are eager to find emotional sustenance and resonance of the times in the programs.
Judging from the entries for this year's Magnolia Awards variety shows, the content and format of the programs are constantly being renewed. Many programs use real group images as a mirror to reflect the various emotions of the times; use delicate emotional relationships as strings to play moving music that evokes resonance, successfully broadening the emotional dimension of variety shows, allowing the audience to feel the true temperature of life and the pulse of the times in laughter and tears.
"Let's Farm 3" and "Hello, Farmer 2" focus on agricultural labor, showing the love and respect of contemporary young people for land and nature, reflecting the emotional resonance of the times for returning to nature and pursuing authenticity; "Burning Moon" and "Fifty Kilometers of Taohuawu 4" convey the love and pursuit of life by recording the living conditions of different groups; "Flowers Along the Way" and "Back to the Summer of Eighteen" evoke the audience's nostalgia and cherishment of the good times through the interweaving of youth memories and real life. These programs use reality as the background and use group portraits to narrate and outline the spiritual map of the times.
At the same time, emotional variety shows such as "Signal of Love 7" and "Goodbye Love 4" have aroused the audience's resonance with love, friendship, and family affection through delicate emotional portrayals and real emotional interactions. Among them, "Signal of Love 7" innovates the "multi-city love" model, and through the "light long-distance relationship" experiment of young people in the Greater Bay Area, it directly faces the real difficulties in intimate relationships; "Goodbye Love 4" shows the complexity of intimate relationships and the diverse possibilities of human growth through real emotional presentation and in-depth topic discussions. Its social value and innovative expression are worthy of recognition.
Comedy variety shows use humorous and witty expressions to let the audience feel the joy of life in laughter. "The King of Comedy Stand-up Season" brings together outstanding stand-up comedians to tell interesting stories and life insights in sharp language and vivid performances, showing the artistic charm of stand-up comedy; "Talk Show and Ta's Friends" takes talk show as the core, uses humorous language to ridicule life, work and social phenomena, and narrows the distance with the audience; "Wonderful Night" combines sketches, crosstalk, pantomime and other comedy elements, and brings joy with wonderful performances and humorous lines; "On Air! Situation Comedy-Short Drama Season" is presented in the form of situation comedy short dramas, each episode revolves around an independent story, reflecting social reality and people's living conditions; "Get Off Work 2024" uses comedy to show the relaxation and entertainment of working people after work, and conveys a positive attitude towards life.
In the future, programs with truth as the core, emotion as the bond, and the spirit of the times as the guide will become the mainstream. Variety shows that can accurately capture the mood of the times, delicately portray emotional relationships, and innovate program formats and expressions may stand out in the fierce market competition and lead the variety show market to develop in a direction with more warmth, depth, and connotation.
Innovative program model
Expand thematic expression and artistic expression
In the wave of constant innovation and change in the field of variety show creation, mechanism integration and structural design have become the core elements to drive program innovation and enhance expression. From the works submitted for this year's Magnolia Awards, we can clearly see the vivid practice of this trend.
Immersive reasoning variety shows, with their unique narrative structure and game mechanisms, make the audience feel as if they are in a real reasoning world through carefully designed plots, characters and puzzles, and experience the fun of solving puzzles firsthand. "Cat in the Box 2" reconstructs reality shows with the concept of "infinite flow". Through circular narrative and interactive point design, it integrates issues such as women's safety and cyber violence into suspenseful plots, strengthening the immersive resonance of social issues; "Meng Tan Tan Tan An 2024" combines innovative game settings with rich role settings. Guests play different roles in reasoning competitions in specific scenes, realizing the integration of role-playing and reasoning, adding fun to the program, and attracting audiences to participate deeply; "Back to Reality in Ten Days" uses science fiction settings to create a "serial variety show". Through time loops and high-concept tasks, it explores the narrative boundaries of virtuality and reality, which not only tests the audience's reasoning ability, but also triggers the audience's thinking about deep issues such as human nature and society.
Workplace variety shows focus on workplace tension, and show the struggle and growth of people in the workplace by truly restoring the workplace ecology. "The Heart-Stirring Offer 6" truly records the workplace life of interns and shows their struggles. While allowing the audience to see workplace competition, it also highlights the importance of hard work and persistence; "Infinite Beyond Class 3" continues the acting competition mode, using classic IP remodeling as the assessment content to test the actors' on-the-spot adaptability; "Singer 2024" focuses on the music industry, introduces a cross-border competition mechanism, and amplifies the realism of the stage through live broadcasts, strengthening the dramatic tension of music competitions, allowing the audience to feel the charm of music and persistence in their dreams.
How can the variety show market continue to grow along the path of mechanism integration and structural design innovation? Immersive reasoning variety shows need to continuously expand narrative boundaries and deepen the resonance of social issues; workplace variety shows need to restore a more realistic workplace ecology, focus on different industries, and convey the spirit of struggle and the power of dreams. Programs that can cleverly integrate multiple mechanisms, carefully construct program structures, and accurately grasp the psychology of the audience will lead the variety show market to develop in a more innovative, interactive, and ideological direction.
Cross-border exchanges inspire audience resonance
New ideas to promote cultural exchange and mutual learning
Innovation is the eternal theme of variety shows. Many programs use different forms of cross-border exchanges to stimulate audience resonance, expand the boundaries of expression, and bring new ideas to variety show creation.
Many variety shows build a communication platform for diverse viewpoints, allowing guests from different fields to express their opinions and bring a new cognitive experience to the audience through the collision of ideas. "I'm Reading on an Island 3" adopts the model of location + book club, starting a romantic book journey to satisfy the audience's yearning for "poetry and distance"; "Round Table 7" continues the style of in-depth dialogue and presents diverse viewpoints and ways of thinking; "Talking about Mountains and Seas" takes the mountains and rivers of China as clues, combines field visits with expert interpretations, leads the audience to appreciate the magnificence of mountains and rivers, and broadens their cultural horizons; "Mars Intelligence Agency 7" uses science fiction as the background, discusses and proposes around fantastic topics, and stimulates the audience's imagination and creativity in a humorous atmosphere; "On Stage! The Silk Road" focuses on the Silk Road, and guests visit along the route and communicate with local scholars, artists, etc., showing the diverse charm and profound heritage of the Silk Road.
In the context of globalization, variety shows have the important mission of promoting cultural exchanges and mutual learning. Many programs are guided by a global perspective and allow the audience to understand the cultural features and humanities of different countries and regions through international language expressions. Programs such as "China Wisdom in China (International Edition)" and "Global Living Room" allow the audience to enhance their cultural confidence and expand their international vision while understanding different cultures, and promote cultural exchanges and mutual learning between China and foreign countries through the presentation of international language and global vision; "Peak Food Moments - China-France Chef Competition" uses food as a medium to present the collision and integration of Chinese and French food cultures.
The works submitted for this year's Magnolia Awards show the transformation of the variety show industry from entertainment consumption to social participation. Whether it is the practical record of rural revitalization, the in-depth development of cultural IP, or the innovative attempt of international expression, these works are centered on "content value", and while satisfying the emotional resonance of the audience, they also take on the responsibility of cultural inheritance and ideological enlightenment. In the future, variety shows may further break the boundaries of genres and become a comprehensive media carrier that connects individual emotions, social issues and civilized dialogue.
