Culture

There is controversy surrounding the rising popularity of Chinese micro dramas, where will they go?

2024-03-26   

In recent years, Chinese online short dramas have entered the public eye with a rapid and flourishing trend. The unique charm of fast pace and multiple twists has attracted a lot of attention and love in a short period of time. The 2023-2024 China Micro Short Drama Market Research Report shows that the size of the domestic micro short drama market reached 37.39 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 267.65%. At the same time, online mini dramas are also popular overseas. According to Sensor Tower data in the United States, in 2023, an application called ReelShort had over ten million downloads in the United States and has repeatedly become one of the most popular applications in the entertainment industry. It is reported that this software is developed by a Chinese company and is specifically designed for the overseas micro drama market. The explosive growth of domestic and foreign markets, coupled with the continuous increase in user numbers, has exposed some issues and sparked controversy in the online micro drama industry while advancing at a rapid pace. For example, there are issues of vulgarity, roughness, and anomie in the content of some micro dramas. Regarding this, Lv Fan, Deputy Director of the Television Research Center at Peking University, stated that compared to traditional TV series, the shortened length of mini dramas meets the fragmented aesthetic needs of contemporary people. However, it is precisely because of their small size, short production cycles, and the need to capture audience traffic in a short period of time that there have been some imitations and plagiarism works in the market, which only focus on plot conflicts and suspense, and ignore character shaping and the depth of the story. However, this is by no means "inevitable". Lv Fan said that the refinement of micro dramas is completely possible and worth looking forward to. At present, most micro dramas in the market focus on themes such as emotions and entertainment. However, in reality, there is a broader creative space and possibilities, and "short" does not mean that it cannot be "refined". Within a few minutes, creators can still tell a complete and profound story through careful planning and editing, which tests their ability to create a dojo in a snail shell. Lv Fan pointed out that with the rapid development of the market, micro dramas have attracted more and more creators with stronger professional abilities to enter. Some platforms are also building a high-quality support system for micro dramas for long-term development considerations, which will help micro dramas develop towards excellence, diversification, and specialization. With the intensification of market competition and the improvement of audience taste, some vulgar, rough, and nutrient free content will gradually be eliminated, and high-quality, deep, and creative works will receive more attention and pursuit. In fact, apart from controversy, micro dramas have also shown many impressive performances, including rural cultural and tourism themes, film and television IP derivatives, and many other works that are not only well produced but also have clever ideas, winning traffic and reputation. In Lv Fan's view, as a new form of online film and television, micro dramas still need time to embark on the path of refinement. Just like in the past, web dramas also had issues with low-quality and vulgar content at the beginning, but with the strengthening of government regulation and the iterative development of the industry itself, "content is king" has become a consensus in the industry. The trend towards high-quality micro dramas also requires the industry itself to express its past and embrace new ideas. In November 2022, the official released a document titled "Further Strengthening the Management, Implementation, and Creation Improvement of Network Micro dramas"

Edit:liangyongqing Responsible editor:liyi

Source:chinanew.com

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