Date: October 9, 2024
Moderators: Petya Petrovich, Nano
Agenda:
At the premiere AMA of the short play (Rebirth of the Time Traveler), the founder Chari shared his deep insights into the novel (Six Dynasties Qingyu Ji); Miss Nano discussed many interesting topics with the short play director Naomi, actor Mini_MiSue, and producer MJ.
【Chari】:
Hello everyone, today is the premiere AMA for the short play (Rebirth: A Time-Travel Pleasure Journey), thank you all for coming!
(Six Dynasties Qingyu Ji) is a novel written by the famous Taiwanese writer Rosen in recent years. It has exceeded 8 million words and has not yet been finished.
It tells the story of a young man named Cheng Zongyang who encountered some setbacks in modern society. While on a plane, he traveled to an imaginary world through lightning.
The most interesting thing is that this world has both primitive society and the background factors of multiple dynasties such as the Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, etc.; it tells the story of this time traveler who gains spiritual insights and personal growth and obtains some interesting experiences through his adventures in various dynasties.
Among all the time-travel novels, this one (Six Dynasties Qingyu Ji) stands out. Why do I say that?
In general, time-travel novels are mostly about fighting monsters and leveling up. After the protagonist travels through time, he quickly acquires a skill, defeats a few people who look down on him, and then, when he meets a few people who look down on him, he defeats them again; he keeps fighting monsters and leveling up, and the scenes keep changing, but the core of the story remains the same, it is always about fighting monsters and leveling up, fighting monsters and leveling up…
In "Six Dynasties Qingyu Ji", there is no setting of killing monsters and leveling up from beginning to end;
Although Cheng Zongyang's martial arts value has been increasing since he traveled through time, from the time of travel to the 8 millionth word, the role of the martial arts value on the protagonist is very small. The protagonist mainly relies on his quick wit and wonderful experiences to solve the problems he encounters. He plays more of the role of an ordinary person, and does not defeat the opponent by force in every level.
There is another important point. Rosen was the first person to introduce the concept of fantasy in the entire Chinese novel. In the entire online novel world, Rosen is also a very prominent pioneering figure. The earliest online novel he wrote (Feng Zi Wu Shu) introduced the concept of fantasy in this novel.
The concept of fantasy was also introduced in the subsequent work (The Chronicles of Aribuda). Fantasy really became popular when (Game of Thrones) was adapted from the novel (A Song of Ice and Fire).
(Rebirth of the Time-Space Pleasure) is adapted from (Six Dynasties Qingyu Ji), and we are very much looking forward to the wonderful performance of this short drama.
1. How did you come up with this story after reading this novel?
【Director Naomi】:
Novels are different from drama scripts. We need to capture "actions" and "movements" from them. The description part of novels accounts for a large proportion, and this part is lost more. Therefore, there is a big difference between reading the original book and watching the film.
The film is more concerned with: Who? Where did they go? What did they do?
2. When you chose to shoot this drama, what attracted you? During the actual shooting, what did you want to highlight and what challenges did you encounter?
【Director Naomi】:
The world view of this work attracts me. The protagonist travels back to ancient times and meets many characters. These characters are far from the characters we know before, or even the opposite, which makes people feel very strange and interesting.
For example, the character Wu Dalang is a short man in traditional literary works, but in (The Records of the Qingyu of the Six Dynasties) he is a nine-foot-tall man;
Yue Fei is the creator of this world. The Yue Fei we are familiar with is a hero who is loyal to his country, but in "Six Dynasties Qing Yu Ji", Yue Fei is a time traveler who travels to ancient times and causes chaos in the world.
There are also orcs, which mix ancient Western elements with ancient Eastern elements. It is very imaginative and attractive.
Regarding difficulties, there are difficulties when adapting. There are a lot of war scenes in the novel, and the ideas are wild and unconstrained. When the novel is written, the readers form pictures in their minds when reading it. However, to restore it offline and turn it into a three-dimensional world to shoot, many things are difficult to complete, or even impossible to achieve, so there needs to be trade-offs here;
During the script writing stage, I had already screened it, but when it came to filming, some scenes were still difficult, and I wanted to keep certain scenes, such as the orcs. If we were to make a theatrical movie, it would take a long time just to build the model, and we couldn't do that. I also wanted to retain the elements and symbols of Eastern and Western cultures, so we chose a special actor who was nearly 2 meters tall and added elements such as animal teeth and ears.
Time is also a big challenge. The production cycle of a short drama is very short, and it is a big challenge to present so many fantasy, fighting, and non-realistic scenes that are very time-consuming.
3. (Six Dynasties Qingyu Ji) is a million-word novel. Which part should be selected for the change? How many seasons are estimated to be produced? What information do you want to convey to the audience in the first season? How can you attract the audience's attention?
【Director Naomi】:
First, quickly grasp the action line; the first season of the short drama uses three seasons of the original novel to form the structure; the subsequent seasons are expected to be shot for 8 to 10 seasons;
The setting of the short play, different characters, 4 female protagonists, the character setting is quite attractive, for example: Su Daji, how is she different from the demon queen around King Zhou that we knew before? This is quite attractive.
The first season is mainly about laying the groundwork for the protagonist's adventures. The rest of the season is about the gradual unraveling of the adventures, which is more intense.
4. This work has a storyline with a male protagonist and multiple female protagonists. What are your main considerations when choosing the characters? Can you share a few characters with us?
【Director Naomi】:
The actors need to fit the characters and their acting skills need to be OK;
Can you adapt to fighting scenes, horse riding, wire work, and wielding swords, guns, and other weapons?
Whether it is beautiful or not, whether it is pleasing to the eye, etc.;
Also, the people in our vertical screen dramas will be fatter than those in horizontal screen dramas, so when choosing actors, we try to choose those with less facial fat, clear contours, and a temperament that fits the character.
5. Invite the famous web3 KOL Xiaomiqiu to share with us how it felt to shoot a short play for the first time? What was your first reaction after receiving this role? What are your thoughts during the performance that you can share?
【Actor Xiaomiqiu】:
I learned with a learning attitude; I got the role, which had a lot of lines; I acted with my own understanding of the role and worked with the team. Thank you for your tolerance;
When we were filming, I felt that I didn't have too many camera hiccups and I wasn't stage fright, so I felt it was okay; when I watched the finished film, I found that the other actors performed very well. Professionals are professionals, but there is still a big gap between me and others.
Many people including the on-site staff, lighting staff, director, assistant director, etc. worked together to present the show on screen for one minute. Everyone was really dedicated in filming the show. In my opinion, the quality of the show is up to the level of a micro-movie.
6. Film producer MJ, I heard that you are a fan of the original book. What highlights or features do you think are in the work that made you willing to be the producer of this drama?
【Supervising Producer MJ】:
I have been deeply involved in the short drama industry for many years. Before 2020 was the initial stage. The ones that had some influence at that time were (I Never Expected It) (Life Has Hit Me) (The Psychic Princess), which became a little popular.
2020~2021 is a period of development: the mainland platform Kuaishou launched the "New Cute Plan", Tencent launched the "Mars Plan", Douyin released an entertainment white paper and entered the short drama track, Youku launched the "Fuyao Plan", and Mango's "Big Mango Plan"; during this period, micro-short dramas were still relatively rare in the public eye.
2022~2023 is a mature period: the various plans mentioned above have achieved certain results. Jiuzhou launched some Douyin dramas and mini-program dramas, which attracted many people.
The turning point was on October 18, 2023, when there was an interactive drama (It’s over, I’m surrounded by beauties); from that day on, October 19, I started to get calls constantly, all seeking cooperation in short dramas;
On October 20, 2023, Chari approached me and asked if I wanted to research short plays. I said yes, but you need a good script. Chari said that there are many books on his platform and he could select them.
Because after the short play matures, it will enter a period of explosive growth, and the requirements for the script are very high;
We started looking for a production team in October. Director Naomi might not know about this. We found some teams and produced some scripts, but I always felt that the scripts were a bit superficial. Without a good production team, this would be difficult to proceed.
By chance, a friend of Chari in the cryptocurrency circle introduced Naomi to us. We only had two online meetings to finalize the deal. Before, we had met many crews offline, but none of them seemed good enough. I won’t go into the details of the reasons. Just now, Naomi talked about her creative ideas and script production, and everyone could feel her professionalism. After we finished the conversation, we felt that this might only be something that Naomi could do well, and others probably couldn’t do it.
The official launch was in May 2024 (before that, Naomi probably didn’t know a lot of things). We did so much preparation in the early stages, which shows that we are very attentive, and we believe that this drama can be done well;
In particular, the current environment is a period of explosive growth for short dramas. Real Short of China Online, DramaBox of Dianzhong Technology, and Jiuzhou later launched Short TV. Their overseas data in April 2024 had reached 200 million US dollars; in 2024, the domestic short drama market is expected to exceed 500 billion, and the investment scale may reach 30 billion.
It was very hot where we were shooting. Although there was air conditioning, the director required the best and most perfect on-site sound recording to reduce post-dubbing. So everyone turned off the air conditioning and shot in a stuffy environment. At that time, Teacher Xiaomi Qiu was constantly wiping sweat, touching up her makeup, and waiting, keeping in good condition at all times, waiting for the director's call and being able to go on stage at any time. This kind of professionalism gives you a very reliable feeling.
After chari arrived at the scene and saw it, he said: This team is dedicated.
When you learn about the entire production process of the drama (Rebirth: Across Time and Space Pleasure), you will have a feeling: there is no reason why this drama is not popular.
7. Between artistic creation and commercial benefits, how do you consider the better way to monetize this drama? You have produced many dramas. What are the characteristics of our drama?
【Supervising Producer MJ】:
My personal thoughts on this drama are consistent with Chari's. This is a long-term plan. Micro dramas have an interesting name in the circle, called "small earth dramas". The characteristics of "small earth dramas" are: short, flat, and refreshing. You can watch them alone in bed at night. After watching, it's over. It's difficult for you to take the initiative to find a friend to discuss this drama. When will you discuss this drama?
Usually, by chance, you see that another friend is also watching the same drama, and then you start discussing it.
"Rebirth: A Time-Travel Pleasure" is a micro-movie that can be passed on by word of mouth, not something you can watch in bed and then leave. Now, in my opinion, there are some dramas in mainland China that are caught in internal competition, about 300 to 400 dramas per month, but only 10 to 20 of them are really known to everyone.
Our "Rebirth of the Trans-Time and Space Pleasure" is adapted from "Six Dynasties Qingyu Ji".
First, there is a strong readership, which are potential fans who can become devoted fans;
Secondly, after you finish reading, will you tell everyone about it?
Hey, I watched a drama recently, it’s quite interesting, and a little different from the usual cool dramas. This drama also has some cool, itchy, and catchy points, and the worldview is a little different. For example, the contrast of Wu Dalang makes you want to share it with others.
Once shared, the biggest cost of short dramas is to buy traffic. Xiaoshuang dramas are like games. If you don’t buy traffic, no one will watch them, and they can’t spread by word of mouth. But we don’t need to buy traffic. After watching, the audience will share in Moments that they recently watched a drama and it’s very interesting. We save the traffic cost. This is a long-term and slowly developing drama, and the long-tail effect is very good.
For ordinary short dramas, the ending is known in 5 to 6 days, so no matter how hard you try, it won’t have much effect.
【Nano】:
Yes, when I watch skits, I always feel ashamed. They are too low-brow and too rustic. I am embarrassed to tell others about them for fear of being laughed at.
Our "Rebirth of the Across Time and Space Pleasure Record" is adapted from Mr. Rosen's "Six Dynasties Qingyu Records", so there is a lot to talk about, and there is absolutely no "shame" that comes with watching ordinary short dramas.
In addition, we will release it overseas first, and will also connect to two playback platforms in China (Tik Tok and WeChat mini-programs), which are currently under review.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the production team and all the guests. I hope that our "Rebirth of the Time Traveler" can impress the audience. Thank you!