Unjust? , Yang Mi and Gong Jun's "Fox Demon Matchmaker" was criticized as a bad drama
The comic-book drama "Fox Fairy Matchmaker: Moon Red" starring Yang Mi and Gong Jun was aired a few days ago. It was very popular when it first aired, but soon it was criticized, from the characters, filters, special effects, to the story, Logic and so on are not spared.
It is said to be produced on Platform S, with popular IP, the blessing of popular actors, and the use of the latest virtual shooting technology. They should complement each other, but why is the final effect so unsatisfactory?
The live-action version of Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Moon Red is adapted from the Chinese comic of the same name. On Douban, the comic has a high score of 8.9, has a huge fan base, and is regarded by many as the "light of Chinese comics" in recent years. Therefore, as soon as the news of the comic adaptation came out, it attracted much attention. However, after the series was officially broadcast, it fell into the dilemma of high ratings and low reputation.
According to Maoyan Professional Edition data, the ratings of the show have basically been in the top three since its launch, which is comparable to the ratings of "In the Clouds" and "Qing Yu Nian Season 2". However, in terms of word-of-mouth, "Fox Demon Matchmaker: Moon Red Chapter" has been criticized by fans of the original anime and TV series viewers. A large part of the controversy lies in the "magic modification" of the original plot, coupled with the actors' acting skills, the advancement of the emotional line, and the dull plot. Many people "complain" about this drama as a "middle-aged ancient puppet show." , and some people even "asked for a break."
The setting of the TV series version of "Fox Fairy Matchmaker: Moon Red Chapter" is closer to the traditional fairy tale theme. It tells the story of a towering giant tree of bitterness growing on Tushan Mountain where the fox tribe lives. The bitterness tree helps the monster tribe to form a bond, and the power of love is restored. In turn, it nourishes the tree of bitterness. Against the background of discord between humans and demons, the male and female protagonists strive to achieve peaceful coexistence between humans and demons for the sake of the righteousness of the world. The main line of the story revolves around Tu Shan Honghong and Dongfang Yue Yue, who are fighting against the dark forces eroding the tree of bitterness while their lovers finally get married. However, as the "Little Matchmaker" in the title of the play suggests, the setting of "Matchmaker" in the original anime is more rigorous, and the Bitter Love Tree plays an important role in helping people and monsters in love "reincarnate and renew their relationship." . The live-action version of "Moon Red" was shot separately. On the one hand, it is divorced from the core settings of the original work; on the other hand, settings such as Tushan, the bitter love tree, love missions, spiritual blood, and the conflict between humans and monsters seem to have appeared out of thin air. , there is no realistic ground and detailed elaboration, and it relies entirely on a few lines to explain, making the whole story not only suspended, but also childish.
Whether it is the "little matchmaker" in the title or the love mentioned repeatedly in the play, it is clear that this is a work with a "love" theme. The love and interaction process between Tushan Honghong and Dongfang Yuechu in the play is essentially It should be the biggest attraction, but many viewers who came for the candy were disappointed. The actors are beautiful in appearance and the costumes are gorgeous. Every single frame looks good. However, apart from standing and chatting, the two protagonists rarely have physical contact. The fighting and healing are all done remotely, which makes people feel that not only the plot but also the characters are mediocre. , the character's emotional advancement also has no foothold. Even though it is said to be a shemale love story, it still makes people feel that it is tasteless.
Two years ago, when "Fox Fairy Matchmaker: Moon Red" was completed, it used XR virtual production of shooting scenes as a selling point. It is said to be the first commercial drama in China to use XR virtual production. In order to ensure smooth shooting, the team also moved the virtual studio located in Dachang, Hebei Province to Hengdian and built a 2,400-square-meter virtual production studio.
However, judging from the current presentation, the use of new technology does not seem to add color to the plot. This belated work not only fails to make people feel the superb and dazzling new technology, but also exposes many problems.
For example, the ubiquitous computer graphics from the moment it appears add to the sense of suspension in "Fox Fairy Matchmaker: Moon Red Chapter". Tushan is a fairyland with flowers all year round. It seems that there are almost no real scenes. The art style always reminds people of scenes in domestic games such as "Legend of Sword and Fairy" and "Swordsman". People are talking in the foreground, while the mountains, rivers, flowers and plants in the background are still, with hazy light and shadow, as if only a small piece of "cliff" under the feet is real, and a few more people can't squeeze in. Even the wind, sand and snow were all accomplished with special effects. The characters' hair and streamers remained motionless, as if they were living in a vacuum world.
Even in the battle between the good guys and the villains, the characters only put on a few simple poses and added a few close-ups of their faces, and the rest was all the work of special effects. There are very few extras in the big scenes, and there are only a few protagonists dancing solo in the empty scenery. There is too much post-production, which makes people feel that everyone can shoot alone in front of a green screen, and then synthesize it in post-production. Blurry filters, face-grabbing shots, and blurred backgrounds lack the sense of real shooting and make the whole process suspended. The story is more distorted, there is no spark between the characters, and it is more difficult for the audience to immerse themselves in the situation and accept the story.
Indeed, it is difficult to film a comic book drama. As is often said, there is a natural barrier between the two dimensions and the three dimensions. In two-dimensional animation, the characters can be "mid-level", the lines can be wild and unconstrained, and the protagonist's expressions can be extremely exaggerated; but once you want to remake it into a live-action series, you must put more effort into the characters to make the plot progression more logical and the characters more vivid. Fuller.
In the past few years, there have been high-scoring comic-book dramas on the market. For example, the domestic drama "Soul of Chess" broadcast in 2020 has a Douban score of 8.6. The original animation story of "Soul of Go" took place in Japan. During the live-action film and television adaptation process, the background was drastically changed to China, turning it into a Chinese Go story that took place in the 1990s. Such a bold adaptation actually attracted the attention of Chinese audiences. You will feel more immersed in the process of watching the drama.
From the perspective of animation, "Fox Demon Matchmaker" has a huge and complex world view setting. In the process of adapting the live-action comic book, "Red Moon" will be turned into a separate film and TV series and filmed into a 36-episode TV series. It requires the screenwriters and creative team to work harder on the story and character creation to fill in the unfinished meaning and unfulfilled meaning in the animation. To put it bluntly, it’s not just about reproducing scenes or even dialogue from the original anime.
The same applies to the use of new film and television technologies. The reporter once visited the entire process of LED virtual shooting in a studio. Only the parts of the scene that the actors step on and touch are real, and the background is generated by an LED screen. However, it is difficult to distinguish between real and virtual scenes when displayed on the monitor. It is reported that traditional filming takes 1-2 weeks to set up transitions, while virtual studio transitions only take 10 minutes. Virtual venues have greater flexibility, which can save scene construction costs as much as possible, reduce the budget for extras, and reduce post-production visual effects.
There is nothing wrong with using the latest technology in film and television shooting. These cutouts, one-click imaging, AI face-changing technology, etc., indeed facilitate the film and television production process from a certain perspective, and help improve efficiency and improve film and television industrialization. But in the final analysis, technology should serve the plot and the script. Technology can instantly create imaginary fox settlements such as "Tushan", making the pictures in your mind a reality. But if the only selling point of a drama is technology, it will ultimately make people feel unreliable. Regardless of the green cloth in the studio or the large circular screen, even if the scenery is created with fake and real technology, it cannot make up for the shortcomings of the plot itself.
"Moon Red Chapter" is only the starting point for the live-action comic adaptation of "Fox Fairy Matchmaker". The copyrights were also granted to "Bamboo Industry Chapter" and "King Power Chapter", both of which are large-scale productions and large investments. In the eyes of many viewers, if the real-life adaptations of chapters such as "Moon Red Chapter" are properly adapted, it will help build the entire IP of "Fox Fairy Matchmaker" and even break the circle. However, the effect of the first "Moon Red Chapter" was not satisfactory. It remains to be seen whether the subsequent "Bamboo Industry Chapter" and "King Power Chapter" can meet expectations.
