Recently, the Dark Night Walker of iqiyi fog theater won a good reputation after it was broadcast, which once again aroused people's attention to the fog theater. In 2020, the popularity of iqiyi's homemade drama "hidden corners" made the theater mode of the video platform well known and promoted the in-depth exploration of this mode by major video platforms. The works hotly discussed by the audience, such as I'm fine in a foreign land by mango TV monsoon theater in 2021 and please call me director by Youku favorite theater in 2022, are all the products of theater mode. Theater mode refers to that the video platform gathers works with similar themes, styles and types into one theater for centralized broadcasting. This helps the audience to distinguish the style of works and make targeted choices according to their personal preferences. After a period of development, the theater mode has become the brand, IP, image and logo of major video platforms. Iqiyi's misty theater, small tease theater and love theater show iqiyi's pursuit of youth brand tone; Youku's favorite theater, suspense theater, Hong Kong theater, etc. reflect the characteristics of the platform "focusing on love", while mango TV's monsoon theater shows the character of the platform resonating with the times and walking with the society. Cross border evolution and upgrading The theater mode of the video platform is closely related to the satellite TV theater. In order to distinguish different program sections in a day, satellite TV often names the sections showing TV dramas as "theatres", such as happiness theatre, Golden Eagle theatre, China blue theatre, Oriental theatre, etc. However, the theater names of satellite TV are mostly determined according to the characteristics of each satellite TV rather than the characteristics of the broadcast plays. Moreover, the styles of satellite TV theater plays are diverse, and these TV plays are usually not very recognizable. Since its birth, online theater has been committed to exploring stylization, typology, branding and boutique. In 2013, the sunshine theater launched by Youku may be the earliest attempt of online theater. In 2015, the theater was launched on Youku. Two small theaters, bold and relaxed, were launched for male and female audiences respectively to consciously explore audience segmentation. With the development of self-made dramas on the video platform, iqiyi launched the strange suspense theater and the love Youth Theater in 2018. At this time, the style of online theater works began to unify, the types began to stand out, and the theater name also had a certain degree of recognition. In 2020, iqiyi upgraded the Qi suspense theater to the fog theater, and successively launched such works as ten day game, hidden corner and extraordinary witness, which made it famous for a time. So far, iqiyi has officially operated and promoted the theater as a brand, which has played a leading role in other video platforms, making the theater mode enter a high-quality and high-quality development stage. Pursue creativity and innovation The works under the video platform theater mode generally pursue creativity, innovation, imagination and creativity. The stories told and the way the stories are told focus on meeting the curiosity of the audience. "I'm good in a foreign land" has a unique perspective and profound excavation, which shows the working life and struggle of four young women who are "drifting North". "Meow, please make a wish" adds sci-fi elements to the love story, telling the emotional experience between people on different planets. These imaginative stories bring audiences a different experience of watching dramas. The themes of theater works are diverse and rich, and they often integrate a variety of elements to create new ideas. There are both suspense dramas and costume comedies; There are both urban love dramas and youth campus dramas; There are both scientific research career dramas and science fiction dramas... A variety of themes meet the personalized needs of the audience. The works of the same theater often have a high degree of unity in style, pay attention to the breakthrough in type, and the theater name shows its own characteristics. Iqiyi's three theaters, fog, love and comedy, are full of creativity in both name and content. For example, although the fog theater mainly focuses on suspense, it also focuses on themes such as family, science fiction and growth. Who is the murderer focuses on the psychological state of young people and the power of family affection behind suspense. The works of Youku hejiahuan theater are mainly comedies and family dramas, while the works of urban theater are mainly modern urban life dramas and comedies, such as "lucky to meet you in three lives" and "Hello, my mother", which are humorous and have the characteristics of type integration. Strive to create high-quality products At present, the audience differentiation and fierce market competition determine that film and television works must go through the storm. The theater operations of major video platforms have implemented the high-quality strategy and made various efforts: "Refined production": reduce the number of episodes, refine the plays, and strive to present better audio-visual effects and actor performance. "I'm fine in a foreign land" vividly depicts four young women who have tasted the ups and downs of work and life in just 12 episodes. The mystery fog of the octagonal pavilion tells a family story spanning nearly 20 years in 12 episodes. The characters are three-dimensional and vivid, and the pictures and sounds are cinematic. "Fine content": focus on topical social hot spots, and arouse empathy and resonance. Sito expresses the theme of romantic love and the concept of environmental protection; The hidden corner focuses on family education and children's growth. These themes can affect the hearts of the current audience. "Elite audience": respect the youth audience, convey youth culture and show youth image. "Please call me director" shows young women's independent self-improvement and positive outlook on career struggle; The Night Walker depicts the heroic images of young policemen, praising their perseverance, courage and wisdom... These plays all convey the youth culture and youth images characterized by idealism, sense of family and country responsibility, tolerance and fraternity. Explore brand strategy Theater mode is the branding and IP construction of video platform, which has high anti risk ability and strong brand attraction. On the one hand, the theater provides publicity convenience and audience foundation for the works. For example, because the audience is full of expectations for the fog theater, they take the initiative to publicize the Bajiaoting fog before it is broadcast; On the other hand, the outstanding works of the theater have a strong brand pulling force. For example, the secret corner directly ignited the fog theater, and I'm good in another country also rapidly increased the influence of the monsoon theater. Theater brands also have certain self healing ability. When the brand appeal drops for some reason, if the theater can launch new works in time, it can quickly attract the audience and restore the brand influence. Theater mode is also an industrialized exploration of online drama, with industrial advantages. First, the cost is controllable, and subsequent script creation can meet the needs of the audience by "deliberately planting flowers" according to the expectations of the audience of the previous play; Second, the works can rely on brand influence and appeal to reduce marketing costs; Third, it pays attention to the industrialization of production, which is often jointly produced by multiple companies. For example, the dramas of several iqiyi theaters are mostly produced jointly with other production companies, and then maintain the brand in the form of "iqiyi broadcasting alone". Most of the theater works on other platforms are the same. The fine theater also has the significance of international cultural communication. The secret corner, the silent truth and other works of the fog theater have been broadcast in many countries and regions overseas. The secret corner has also become the only work in China to be selected as the world's 15 best dramas in 2020 by the American variety magazine. Undoubtedly, these high-quality dramas not only show the artistic level of Chinese online dramas overseas, but also an international communication of Chinese brands and Chinese culture. (outlook new era)