This summer, several costume idol dramas have exploded in popularity.
The just-concluded "Freedom of the Orchid", iQIYI's popularity exceeded 10,000, and the second most popular episodes in the station's history. As of press time, the show's popularity has reached 10,572, approaching iQIYI's most popular "Zuofu". The Douban score is also stable at 7.8, with more than 430,000 scores. 
"The Secret of the Orchid" iQIYI's popularity exceeded 10,500 posters.
After the broadcast, the popularity and word-of-mouth of "Xinghan's Splendid Moon Rising to the Sea", which has also gained both popularity and word-of-mouth, opened the direct on-demand direct finale gameplay, allowing the broadcast platform to earn a shoutout and real benefits. Douban's reputation has also stabilized at 7.6 points. Scored by more than 420,000 people. 
Stills of "Splendid Stars: The Moon Rising to the Sea"
Even "Agarwood is like crumbs", which is not as well-known and popular as the first two, is still in the top three in the rankings of Yunhe Data, Maoyan, and Lighthouse.
On the other hand, contemporary urban dramas have recently broadcasted the contemporary urban themes "Ode to Joy 3", "War of the Roses", "Twenty Do Not Confused 2", etc. Except for "Twenty Do Not Confused 2", which has a good reputation, several other dramas have a good reputation and popularity. Both "dumb fire" feeling.
Why do costume dramas, especially costume idol dramas, sit firmly on the basics of broadcast volume, and sometimes have explosive models?
In terms of subject matter, costume dramas naturally have the advantage of creative freedom over contemporary themes. Not limited to the rules of censorship in the real world and contemporary themes, costume dramas, especially fantasy, fairy tales and other dramas, can be imaginative, can be sentient beings in the three realms, and can fight between gods and demons. Ms. Ouyang, a screenwriter who has worked for many years in Tangren Film and Television (produced ancient costume dramas such as "The Legend of Sword and Fairy", "The Lady General of the Yang Family", "Step by Step"), participated in the creation process of many costume idol dramas. In her opinion, costume dramas have a wide range of materials in terms of creation. "Based on the historical myths and stories of China's five thousand years, there is a lot of room for development." 
The battle of gods and demons in "Canglan Jue"
And if from the plot point of view, there are big plots with strong dramatic tension such as life and death, three lives and three lives, etc., for the screenwriters, it is necessary to fill the drama in costume dramas, and the stories have ups and downs, which must respect the logic of real life. The contemporary subject matter is too easy. "The plot of costume drama creation can be more open and close, and costume dramas with strong emotions are more likely to affect the audience's heart." She said, "I am also an audience of ancient puppet dramas. For me, it is separated from real life and The environment, completely entering another fictional world to experience the life story of the protagonist, this sense of detachment makes it easier for me to watch without resisting.”
The point of "detachment from real life" directly points to the core of the audience's viewing needs. For contemporary themes, "getting away from real life" is not the audience's demand. On the contrary, "going deep into the texture of reality" is the magic weapon for contemporary themes. Therefore, "Ode to Joy", which discussed class differences, aroused widespread heated discussion, and "Ode to Joy 3", which became more and more distorted, was questioned. The audience clearly hopes to see the reflection, presentation and expression of their own life in contemporary themes The status quo, problems, and attitudes of real life. If this is not possible, what can attract audiences in contemporary themes without visual spectacles and legends?
Costume dramas, on the other hand, satisfy the audience's need to "get out of reality". Audiences do not require costume dramas to be a mirror of their own lives. On the contrary, they expect to escape into a world of myths and legends, temporarily escaping from the pressures and pressures of real life. ordinary. 
In "Canglan Jue", the Palace of Life where the heroine lives.
Let's not talk about how exciting the plot is, at least the visual spectacle can be done brilliantly enough to attract attention. "Ancient puppet drama is a dream-making project. The strong emotional and visual experience that is difficult to experience in real life can be realized through such high-fantasy and high-concept works."
However, from the perspective of methodology, how to make a costume idol drama?
Ms. Ouyang has also become a "jue person" (a fan of "Canglan Jue"). "I was the first to get into the pit, and I chased after the broadcast. When I first recommended it to my friends, they laughed at me for watching such a naive drama, and then they all started it." For the success of this drama, Ouyang Lou started from the creation of From the perspective of the author, she talked about her summary of several aspects: character design, story innovation, production.
She mentioned that when she took office in Tang Dynasty in her early years, she had learned some experience in the creation of costume dramas and attached great importance to the creation of characters. Compared with 'virtual', to implement this worldview, it is not only the cooperation of Fu Huadao, but also the authenticity of the characters. Only when the characters are real and vivid, the audience will recognize the different world you have created."
In terms of character design, Ouyang quite agrees with the design of the male protagonist of "Canglan Jue", "their character design this time is more like the second male lead or even the male supporting role in a normal fairy tale drama, and they put something similar to "Xianjian" in the middle of the building. That kind of demonic image is placed on the male protagonist, which is more advanced with the times." Similarly, looking back at the ancient costume dramas that broke the circle in recent years, most of them are based on the characters, world outlook, and story settings. Similar themes have made a certain degree of innovation. For example, popular dramas such as "The Rumored Chen Qianqian", "Zuofu" and "Celebrating More Than Years" have this degree of innovation. 
The Yuezun character of the male protagonist of "Canglan Jue" is the second male or even the male supporting character in ordinary Xianxia dramas.
"The story is smooth and the characters are distinct, so the entry threshold for the audience is relatively low. The well-made production is also attractive on the other hand." Ms. Ouyang mentioned that the production of "Canglan Jue" is based on the Taoist style. It does not continue the visual style of the past Xianxia and fantasy dramas, but expands and innovates. Such visual innovation has the risk of increased audience acceptance and cost, but once it is successfully implemented, it will add a lot to the episode and provide new ideas for future creations of the same type.
And this point is related to the cost control ability of the production team, which is different from the creation ideas of Xianxia dramas and fantasy dramas in previous years ("Let's Try the World", "Mrs. Dendrobium", "Mirror Shuangcheng" and other ancient costumes The reputation of the play is not as good as expected, which also confirms the failure of this creative idea.), "The Secret of the Orchid" makes people feel that "the money is spent on the cutting edge of the production, rather than being squeezed by the actors' remuneration."
For "Canglan Jue", Ouyang's first comment was: there are old Tang Dynasty and old Zhou Yi (Zhou Yi Film and Television, in his early years, he produced "Xiao Shi Shi Lang", "Shuiyue Dongtian", "Li Wei as an official" and other costume drama works) the taste of.
As early as around 2000, the rising Zhouyi Film and Television and Tangren Film and Television created a "new era" of costume idol dramas. Different from earlier costume dramas, which tended to write historical dramas and folk legends, Zhouyi Film and Television and Tangren Film and Television mainly focus on immortal heroes and fantasy themes, attach importance to discovering young stars, and are good at weaving romantic and fantasy emotional stories. The aesthetic style is admired. Incorporating the advantages of Hong Kong and Taiwan idol dramas into the creation of costume dramas, and accurately serving the younger generation of audiences who have grown up after the millennium, this creative idea has been verified by the market. Twenty years later, costume idol dramas still occupy a stable market share, but the competition is so fierce that the creators of 20 years ago could not imagine. How to further develop and innovate ancient costume idol dramas at the moment is something that the current creators need to practice and think about repeatedly.