Subculture Changes of Calling Animals： There is no superior between online dramas and movies.
An exclusive interview with Xiaoxing Yi, the beast
Special feature of 1905 film network "Unexpectedly, the world is really wonderful … …” In the world of online drama, Xiaoxing Yi, the beast, takes a leading position, and this magical theme song is also popular in dormitory offices of various schools. At the end of 2015, there was a brand-new theme song: "The King asked me to patrol the mountains and catch a monk for dinner … …” In this era when everyone wants to vomit at the mention of "IP", it is simply a historical necessity to call the beast a film director.
Back in 2013, Xiaoxing Yi directed the mini-series comedy "Never Imagine", and the deadpan diaosi Wang Dachui laughed over hundreds of millions of netizens. Now Xiaoxing Yi has embarked on his journey to the big screen, with Wang Dachui and, of course, diaosi distress in the online drama, and his beloved secondary subculture.
Wang Dachui in the online drama is a miracle whose acting skills only depend on facial paralysis. He has a beautiful vision of "becoming a general manager and CEO, marrying Bai Fumei and stepping on the peak of his life", and is endowed with a mediocre character of "thinking" and being "a little excited". Under the packaging of Xiaoxing Yi’s ghost horse, he has become a good partner of urban youth on the subway and at the dinner table. Wei Xiaobao, Rihe animation, animal calling and Ke Bai’s diaosi life experience are mixed, and Wang Dachui’s image is vivid and lovely, which is deeply rooted in people’s hearts. In this New Year’s comedy "Never Imagine", Xiaoxing Yi brought Wang Dachui into the world of The Journey to the West. In order to meet the requirements of the so-called "movie" for the protagonist image of traditional drama, Wang Dachui began to have a heroic dream.
Every young man who grew up under the influence of mainstream Hollywood blockbusters has a heroic dream to some extent. As a creator who "made his fortune" at the grassroots level, the stories told by Xiaoxing Yi also feel this way more or less. As early as 2006, Xiaoxing Yi, an engineer in a road and bridge company, uploaded his own video explaining the game. Unexpectedly, the click-through rate went up all the way. Later, he edited his own dubbing spoof short film, quit his job and started a business in the north, becoming the first batch of online drama creators to become popular. In this process, Xiaoxing Yi brought the research spirit of a science and engineering otaku to the extreme, taught himself everything from prop lighting to photography and scriptwriting, and now he has finally become a film director, and he has not shown a sense of accomplishment after ten years of cold window.
The online drama version of "Never Imagine" not only created a large number of online buzzwords, but also the nonsense dubbing and the editing rhythm of ghosts and animals are its signature features that attract many fans. In the movie, Xiaoxing Yi abandoned many elements that were too networked, which actually meant sacrificing a lot of jokes and jokes. In this regard, he didn’t feel sorry, and he didn’t think that from online drama to movies, even if it was an upgrade, it was just that the carrier was different and the aesthetic requirements had to change.
At an earlier media viewing conference, Xiaoxing Yi said with some humility and fear: I am more nervous about word of mouth than box office. At that time, "Never Imagine" had not set a record of breaking 100 million. However, after a period of roadshows, he was obviously much more practical. The reason is very simple, that is, fans still bought it. As for the opinions of some mainstream critics, Xiaoxing Yi has also done a good job in psychological construction: If you have to compare me with that kind of master, damn it, then I can’t help it.
Interview record
1905 Movie Network: How did the image of Wang Dachui, a diaosi, come into being at the early stage of the creation of Never Imagine?
Xiaoxing Yi: The setting of the character Wang Dachui in the online drama is a combination of the characteristics of many ordinary people, such as Wei Xiaobao, whom I like very much, and my own psychological state. Ke Bai himself is also a very homely person. The most convenient and direct way of comedy is to tell the story of the little guy. He has been failing, but he has been full of hope. The setting in the movie will be different. The hero still has the hero in the traditional drama, even if he is a nobody, but he can’t stay in the same place in the end. We should pay attention to the psychological changes and growth process of the characters, and we should complete self-redemption and self-growth in the movie. We are still a nobody, but the ending will be different.
1905 Movie Network: Ke Bai’s performance this time is still very different from the online drama. I heard that he still has difficulty in getting away from the role several times. Is it because he found his own shadow?
Xiaoxing Yi: Before filming online dramas, it was very simple. One episode was filmed every day, and the performances were routine. Let’s cry, laugh and be expressionless. However, the performance of the film on the screen is still different, and I also helped him get into the characters in an experiential way. He is also talented, and he can get into the characters’ hearts. The scene of being beaten was actually spurned. He started to cry when he was acting, and he was still in the role after calling the card. He cried until he couldn’t breathe, so I arranged for him to cry in an empty corner for more than ten minutes.
1905 Movie Network: How did you first think of letting him play Wang Dachui?
Xiaoxing Yi: He was the first planner of our company, plus a voice actor. At that time, the company was understaffed, and many plays would make him run away. Even if he played a dead body, he would read the script carefully. When dubbing, some of his facial expressions and limbs were also in place, which made him feel better than the actor he was dubbing, so I tried to get him to play some small roles and put them in place. Later, when I was casting a movie, I arranged for him to audition, and the performance was very good. Although there was pressure from several parties to choose another person at that time, I still insisted on using him.
1905 Movie Network: Won’t you worry about his professional problems? After all, I’m not from a regular school.
Xiaoxing Yi: I feel very relieved that he has no problem performing on the big screen. He used to perform in Han Han’s studio. Many professional friends said that his performances and lines were very good. Yang Zishan, who was opposite him, was an excellent actor. When you look at them, they don’t have the class sense of a so-called senior actor and a junior actor. They are in the same channel. Yang Zishan didn’t study acting either. Both of them have high talents.
1905 Movie Network: Why did you design the role of "Friar Sand who loves tears" for yourself?
Xiaoxing Yi: I didn’t really want to play the role of Friar Sand at first. I wanted to find an extra actor to show my face, but there was no suitable one. I wanted to find some comedians, and no one wanted to play them. I was bearded and bald, and I couldn’t see who was who. Then I decided to do it myself, because I was bald. I didn’t set the image of Friar Sand in the original script, but later I wanted to push his cowardice and incompetence to a new height, and I could only cry silently in the face of Master’s unreasonable demands.
1905 Movie Network: The Tang Priest played by Chen Bailin is actually a king of golden sentences, but many chicken soups for the soul are natural eggs, which seems to be quite in line with your spit personality.
Xiaoxing Yi: I like this kind of Tang Priest very much. He is a variation of the leader and boss. He has been giving you some chicken soup for the soul, but he hasn’t given you a practical solution. He also secretly does something else himself, which is very chicken thief. Since the beginning of online drama, Tang Priest has been such an image. He has been smiling and telling you hypocritical words, and his hands are particularly dark. But the Tang Priest is actually a wise man. On the surface, he doesn’t make sense, but he knows everything. Some cruel behaviors are also a kind of practice to hone his disciples.
1905 Movie Network: There are so many fans in "Ten Thousand". Have you summarized what is different about it?
Xiaoxing Yi: First of all, it’s the resonance of the little people. Many netizens are middle-class people in the city. They will see the amplification of Wang Dachui’s strengths and weaknesses and find a lot of resonance. Wang Dachui’s story resonates with everyone’s life. Many of the troubles of job hunting, blind date and Wang Dachui are the troubles of urban youth now. Then, when the first season comes out, there will be a sense of freshness in form. The funny way is rare in China before, and there is a little bit of duality. I am an animation house myself. Based on these elements, a pioneer state of subculture has been formed, and now it has become a movie, so try to squeeze it into the mainstream culture.
1905 Movie Network: From the beginning of online drama, Never Imagine has a very stylized concept of nonsense, such as some special lines rhythm, editing style, etc. Is this concept relatively restrained in movies?
Xiaoxing Yi: There will be restraint. We deliberately make movies less avant-garde, including in form, and rarely use the quick editing in online dramas. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, too. If the online drama is really put directly on the big screen, the audience will be very tired. That kind of visual stimulation is ok on the small screen, but it is unbearable on the big screen. I made a little compromise on popularization to ensure that the public can understand and the fans can enjoy it. From the road show, we still did it, at least the fans thought it was particularly authentic. In fact, I know that too many changes have been made, but the smell is still there.
1905 Movie Network: This actually means a lot of jokes will be sacrificed. Do you think it’s a pity?
Xiaoxing Yi: I don’t think it’s a pity. It’s normal. The aesthetics of a movie is different from that of a small screen. The small screen can be pulled away at any time, and the movie is in a dark cinema, forcing you to accept it. These two feelings are different, so a change must be made for the theater audience. We didn’t make a big online movie, so we can’t sacrifice the theater feeling for the small screen.
1905 Movie Network: From spoof videos to Wanhe Tianyi, and now to film directors, is there a clear plan all the way?
Xiaoxing Yi: I never said I had to make a movie or anything. Now I think it’s a good thing that my own movies can be seen by more people. It’s just that I’ve slowly come to find that it’s almost time to make a movie. First of all, the rapid development of the market has given people like us an opportunity. I have been in the film crew for ten years, and I have basically taught myself other jobs except makeup. There are no obstacles in communication, and the work is smooth, so it’s fate. Making cinema movies is a platform for me to show my thoughts more. Maybe there will be something more interesting in the future, so I will try that. Let nature take its course, and fix the things on your hand first. When I was a dubbing enthusiast, I did the dubbing well. When I was a editing enthusiast, I did the editing well. When I was a short drama director, I did the short drama well. Now I am making a movie, I will do the movie well.
1905 Movie Network: From online drama to movie, do you think this is a counterattack of diaosi culture, or an upgrade of the carrier?
Xiaoxing Yi: It can’t be said that it is an upgrade of the carrier, but a change. I don’t think cinema movies have to be more advanced than online dramas. First of all, it’s just a different aesthetic space. Sometimes what I see on the small screen will be more interesting, but the platform is different, depending on your mood at that time and your aesthetic requirements. Everyone has their own advantages, right?
1905 Movie Network: The "five-hair special effects" in the online drama is very classic. Are you nervous when you do your own special effects now?
Xiaoxing Yi: Audiences sometimes need novelty. For them, there are two kinds of visual effects, one is very bad, which is also a kind of excitement, but I didn’t expect it to be so bad. Another kind of stimulation is that I didn’t expect to do it so well, such as many Hollywood blockbusters. I don’t want to do anything moderate. The five-hair special effects in online dramas are a kind of joke, but also a sense of excitement and freshness. When I was making a screen movie, I told the special effects company that I know we can’t reach the level of Hollywood now, so you can give me their visual effects of big movies five years ago. I think it’s good enough. As a new director, I’m satisfied with this degree of completion. The audience at the roadshow was also very satisfied.
1905 Movie Network: Do you want to spoof Wang Dachui’s cartoon image of Shi Niu?
Xiaoxing Yi: I have discussed with the art director for a long time. The whole movie is cheap and cute. Everyone is cute except the villain. It’s also very strange if he turns into a very fierce cow in the end. We should refer to the modeling map of Shi Niu in Han Dynasty, which I think is very cute.
1905 Movie Network: You said you cared more about word-of-mouth than box office when it was screened before. What’s the evaluation you received so far?
Xiaoxing Yi: At first, I was particularly worried that the core fans wouldn’t buy it, because many changes were made. However, along the way, fans still bought it especially. They said that this is a million movies, and I don’t know what they think. Since they bought it, the first step is completed, no matter what the box office is like, at least I am worthy of them. Some places are not so funny, and they are extremely small, beyond my imagination. This film has three completion points, one is worthy of investors’ investment, the other is worthy of myself, and the other is worthy of the audience who support us. I have a clear conscience about my own efforts, and the fans also recognize it. I think there is no problem with the first one.
1905 Movie Network: If the movie version of Never Imagine still retains the pioneering nature of the secondary subculture, are you worried that mainstream film critics will scoff?
Xiaoxing Yi: A truly tasteful film critic will certainly be able to understand the story and perceive the author’s intention. The structure and jokes of this film are very clean and clear, and the three views are also correct. Professional film critics should not say anything too hard out of the mentality of caring for new people. If you have to compete with that kind of master, shit, then I can’t help it. I can’t compare this, can I? But as a newcomer’s first film, film critics should be more tolerant, I think so.