Hengdian launches 388-yuan short drama shooting experience, where tourists become starring actors and perform their film and television dreams

travel observation

388 yuan to experience the filming of a 3-minute short drama

I am the protagonist in Hengdian

"I want to report the illicit affair of Imperial Concubine Xi and cause chaos in the harem. The crime will not be punished!" In the Ming and Qing Palace Gardens of Hengdian Film and Television City in August, under the red walls and yellow tiles in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony Square, several tourists dressed in flag uniforms and holding fans were reciting lines to the camera in a passionate voice.

On another set not far away, an attendant was bending down and saying to a "boss boss" in a suit: "President, Madam is going back to China." At the martial arts studio next door, a tourist was hanging a wire, clumsily but conscientiously making sword moves in the air.

Different from the shooting scene of a professional crew, this is a new cultural tourism project that has exploded in Hengdian this summer - a short drama shooting service for tourists.

Tourists perform short plays to experience a different life

Zheng Lili and her best friends came to Hengdian specially. Zheng Lili works as an e-commerce operator in Hangzhou, and her best friend works as a graphic designer in Shanghai. They rarely meet each other. Zheng Lili accidentally came across the official account of Hengdian Film and Television City. In the video, the director was filming a short drama for tourists. She immediately "summoned" her best friends in the comment area. As level 10 scholars in "The Legend of Zhen Huan", the two of them didn't hesitate much: "Let's go! Go shoot the famous scene of 'Blood Test'!"

On the day of the shooting, after Zheng Lili and her best friends arrived at the Ming and Qing Palace, the makeup team was immediately in place. Zheng Lili chose the role of Qi Guiren, while her best friend played the role of Zhen Huan. "The makeup artist is very professional. There are many flag heads, armors, and flower-bottom shoes. Putting on that flag outfit and standing in front of the mirror, I was stunned. I felt like that." Zheng Lili's best friend laughed at her: "Don't laugh for a while."

Zhang Jinquan is a full-time director of Hengdian Micro Film Company, and the popular short play experience project was filmed by his team. He told reporters that in order to solve the problem of tourists' lack of performance foundation, the on-site director will demonstrate it first and then guide the tourists to follow. The director is responsible for controlling the rhythm and emotion, and tourists only need to relax and perform.

After filming officially started, Zheng Lili discovered that "acting is not that simple." For the first time, when she shouted, "I want to report Concubine Xi's affair," she couldn't help but laugh. "The director shouted from the side, 'Don't laugh, don't laugh. You are here to complain, not to make fun.'" After reshooting several times, she gradually found the feeling. The director will guide her movements, expressions and lines for every shot, and the photographer will follow her every move with a machine. There are also professional NPCs (non-player characters) on the side, cooperating with her lines and movements.

After about 40 minutes, the filming ended. In less than a day, they had the finished film. Zheng Lili forwarded the video to her parents. "My mother immediately asked if they could also shoot it."

Lu Hongxia joined the Hengdian micro-film team as a screenwriter in 2017. When talking about the changes in script creation, she said: "Tourists used to like to make slow-paced, atmospheric literary micro-films, but now they have completely changed their approach - they like one and a half to two minutes. For short plays, shoot the most intense or classic scenes, and try to incorporate as many cool and refreshing lines as possible, such as, ‘In three minutes, I want to get all his information.’ Many tourists come and say, I’m going to say that famous line, and the rest doesn’t matter.”

Throughout August, the phone calls for inquiries about short drama shooting never stopped. The popularity is reflected in the schedule - the short play experience project has hosted more than 2,000 people. Makeup artists, directors, and photographers were all busy on the set. Zhang Jinquan said: "As soon as this person put on makeup and was taken away, the filming started, and the next tourist came in to have their makeup done. During the day, we shot in the Ming and Qing Palaces and the streets of Guangzhou, and in the evening we went to the Qingming Riverside Scenic Area. If we make an appointment late, we won't be able to get in line."

From being an extra to starring, we have to let tourists join the show

"There is a widely circulated saying on the Internet: Many people think that we are a transformation team that started a second business in the cold winter of film and television." Zhang Jinquan clarified with a smile, "Our Hengdian micro-film team has been shooting micro-films for tourists since 2011, and has been doing cultural and tourism-oriented shooting."

Zhang Jinquan counted the changes over the years on his fingers: when it first started in 2011, there were only seven or eight people, shooting simple micro-films for tourists; in 2015, a professional company was established, the team expanded to 20 or 30 people, and the micro-films were also divided into trial and luxury versions; in August this year, a short play for individual tourists was launched. Over the past ten years, the products have been changing.

At the price of 388 yuan, the service, director, photography, and professional team are all included in post-production. Is this price profitable?

Regarding this issue, Zhang Jinquan did not hide it at all: "It is difficult to make a lot of money from this project." He then added: "But behind our team is the big company Hengdian Film and Television City."

"This 388-yuan short drama experience itself does not exist to make money." In Hengdian's business logic, it is an introduction. Zhang Jinquan said that as one of the film and television city projects, it can drive the entire tourism industry in Hengdian. The accommodation, catering, tickets, and NPC interactions generated after tourists come, those consumptions are what Hengdian really needs to settle.

This year, Hengdian launched the concept of "playing in Hengdian". More than 100 NPCs interact with tourists in the Qingming River Scenic Area, and if they match the secret code, they will be given "remuneration". If you save enough "remuneration", you can exchange it for small gifts; there is a large-scale marching performance "Into the Movies" on Guangzhou Street, and tourists will follow the team of actors and take to the streets to shout slogans. In order to make tourists feel like they are "acting in the drama", the matter of staying in a hotel is also included in the script.

Tourist Xu Lanlan checked into a hotel on Guangzhou Street in early August this year. This was her third visit to Hengdian. I came here for the first time in 2017. I used a map to visit the scenic spots, look at the buildings, and take photos. It was "no different from visiting ordinary scenic spots." When I come here for the second time in 2023, I can already catch up on popular dramas such as "The Legend of Zhen Huan" and "Celebrating More Than Years". This time, from the moment she checked in at the hotel, the front desk staff called her "actor teacher." Pushing open the door to the room, there was a notice on the bed, which listed the performance time of the scenic spot the next day, check-in points, where the NPCs were, and what time you could earn "remuneration" by going there.

Xu Lanlan used the "remuneration" she earned during the day to exchange for the turndown service. "In the evening, the 'charter lady' came knocking on the door. From head to toe, she looked like the charter lady in Stephen Chow's movie. She held a cigarette in her mouth, spoke in a loud and aggressive voice, and did not forget to do a scene when she handed in the milk and foot bath medicine." Early the next morning, "Zhang Qishan" (a character in the TV series "Old Nine Gates" - reporter's note) came to wake up. A handsome young man in Republican costume stood at the door and asked her in a very soft voice how she was living and if she had any comments. Before leaving the scenic spot, the staff also prepared a "finalizing ceremony" for her. "From entering to exiting, I felt like I had walked through the entire process of a movie." Xu Lanlan said.

From the early NPC real-life interactions, to "I am a group actor in Hengdian", to today's "I am a starring role in Hengdian", behind this is the continuous upgrading of Hengdian's cultural tourism industry. "In the past, tourists came to Hengdian to see how the crew filmed and how the actors acted, which satisfied their curiosity about the film and television industry. Now it is different. What tourists want is to walk into the studio and become the protagonist in front of the camera, and our short drama shooting just meets this demand of tourists," said Zhang Jinquan.

“Making tourists want to come again after coming” is the key to the next step

Xu Hong, dean of the School of Tourism and Service at Nankai University, said in an interview with reporters that behind the iteration of cultural tourism consumption in Hengdian is the change in consumer psychology: in the past, people were content with watching, but now they have to participate and generate their own content, from watching to experiencing, and from supporting roles to protagonists. "What Hengdian does is to transform the 'space where professionals make movies' into a 'scene where ordinary people become the characters in the drama.'"

388 yuan per person is not enough to take a set of photos outside, but this project has opened up the consumer chain. In Xu Hong's view, "If the fixed asset investment in a scenic spot is idle, it will be depreciated whether people come or not. As long as the variable costs can be covered by receiving tourists, it will reduce losses and make a positive contribution to the enterprise."

After the short play project became popular, many local cultural tourists came to study. Many people are curious whether Hengdian's model can be copied. Xu Hong believes that the form can be learned, but it cannot be learned at all. "Hengdian has brand IP, landscaping space, and professional directors, photography, and makeup teams. These are not something you can just dream of." She said that if other places spend hard money to build film and television bases to imitate Hengdian, "the risk will be very high." A better approach is to "use local materials and transform local folk customs and cultural activities into a way that tourists can participate in and experience. What you learn is the soul rather than the form."

How can this popular short drama project become popular this summer? Lu Hongxia believes that two points are most important: one is the sense of experience, and the other is that people are willing to come back. "You have to make him want to recommend it to others after filming, and you have to make him want to act a second time."

Xu Hong also reminded that we need to continue to "upgrade the design" of the product: to allow visitors to form a personal memory of a timeline or a role axis. They have acted in their 20s, and they can play different roles in their 30s and 40s.

In the past few days, Zhang Jinquan took the time to interview 70 or 80 professional film and television creative talents in Hengdian, preparing to expand the team. Lu Hongxia is also working on her scripts. She has completed more than 20 finished scripts, covering multiple categories such as the Qing Dynasty, Republic of China customs, and folk legends. Short drama scripts for parent-child and elderly themes are also being created. "Let all ages and groups come to us and there will be dramas to film," Lu Hongxia said.

On the day Zheng Lili finished work, she took a group photo with her best friend at the entrance of the set. The photo of her wearing the flag uniform was posted on WeChat Moments with the text "Finished today." The comment section below was abuzz, with more than a dozen friends asking "where was it filmed?" "how much it cost" and "can you take me with you?" She replied one by one and added a message at the end: "I will come again next year to play Xue Zhenzhu's classic scene in "The First Half of My Life"!"

China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Tan Sijing Source: China Youth Daily