As far as the big movie market is concerned, animation fans in China have been expecting real domestic mainstream works. Animation is also considered as the next growth hotspot by traditional cinema companies. It is with this expectation that "Big Fish Begonia" won a crowdfunding investment of 65.438+0.58 million with a bright flash short film. Directors Tian Xiaopeng and Yang Zhigang (without thinking) also worked in the field of television and online animation for many years, and later they released The Return of the Great Sage and The Great Guardian respectively.
Not long ago, China's first online animated film "The Storm of Star Travels" was launched on the iQiyi video website, which was a milestone for the Second Hospital to expand its territory again. On the first day of the film's launch, the broadcast volume exceeded 8 million, and it broke through 20 million in three days.
Before the release of the play, Egg Tart Data has paid a lot of attention to this film and also participated in reporting the offline premiere. Now "Storm of Star Trek" has performed so well in Famila that people are full of curiosity about film production, risk control, promotion and platform operation. To this end, Egg Tart Jun specially interviewed Mr. Zhang Yu, the propaganda team of Famila's Storm of Star Trek, the co-founder of Mei Ying Media and the vice president of content creativity. Let's talk about how Mei Ying media selects, evaluates and promotes an animated film to be released on the network platform without any industry precedent reference, and what tools and means are used to measure and judge the release prospect of the work and avoid unnecessary risks.
(In the following content, Q is the data of egg tart, and A is the interviewee, Mr. Zhang Yu, co-founder and vice president of content creativity of Mei Ying Media. )
Q 1: Star Trek, as the first domestic animated online movie, is a bold attempt. Why did you choose an online cinema to do this project?
A 1: Maybe the results of reading Star Travels are bright enough now, but before it becomes an instant hit, we also face a lot of difficulties.
20 1 1 The first season of Star Trek premiered on CCTV Children's Channel. In that year, Douban scored 9.2 points, and the on-demand volume on online platform iQiyi also successfully broke through1.60 billion.
Although it has been affirmed by the audience and professional organizations, interstellar travel still faces the dilemma of profit model. The official WeChat official account has revealed: "The broadcast fee paid by the TV station is less than one tenth of the production cost, which means that the operation of Star Travels cannot be maintained by the broadcast fee of the TV station."
It is also based on the understanding of these data and the long-term observation of fan users, and we chose the iQiyi network solo broadcast. First of all, we learned in advance that 70% of the users of iQiyi and the users of animation channels overlap, but there are no animated online movies yet. Secondly, make full preparations for the early fermentation of fans and the announcement of the conference; Then, the solid content of the film itself also filled us with confidence.
On the first day of online data, 654.38+02.3 million plays were realized in 24 hours. We actually have this confidence. Previously, the number of movie reservations exceeded 400,000, setting a record for online movie reservations of iQiyi, which also doubled our confidence.
Q2: What is the biggest risk that Star Trek faces?
A2: As far as interstellar travel is concerned, the main risk comes from the weakness of the domestic animation market itself. By analyzing the difficulties faced by various domestic animated films in the traditional cinema market, we can see that:
Ordinary audiences have an established impression of domestic animation, and they will feel that animated films are generally young, not as exquisite as Hollywood and not as profound as Japan, and have always been at the bottom of the chain of contempt for watching movies. However, if the age of the audience is pulled up, the final work may be composed of a clever beginning, wavering clues, inexplicable climax and self-evident ending, and its investment value is definitely not as good as that of a realistic film and television work.
In fact, there are many failed animation works on the market. The market only saw the return of the Great Sage and the brilliant achievements of the big fish Haitang, but did not see the theme dilemma of the bear.
In addition, the overall industrial chain is not yet mature, and domestic animation has always lacked a feasible realization model, which is likely to bring "unpredictable difficulties."
Therefore, we have done a lot of analysis and consideration when choosing the realization channel and mode of Star Tour. From the industrial prospect to all kinds of difficulties we may face, our final decision is based on our all-round control of risks.
Q3: Can the online cinema already accommodate an animation?
A3: This question was never thought of before the publication of Star Trek.
Between innovation breakthrough and existing market, interstellar travel has reached a balance point. The first layer is a topic work with a fan base; The second level, the passion of the story theme, is in line with the viewing habits of Internet universities. On the third level, the entrance of the payment model makes the pursuit and support more intimate.
The hardcore fans of Star Trek are mainly middle school students and college students. Compared with going to offline cinemas, their mobile viewing habits are more common, and it is no longer a strange consumption behavior to pay for film and television content. This coincides with the depth of the user portrait of the network content.
Netizens are the most sticky and frequently used, followed by freelancers and office workers, with an average income of 3,000-5,000 yuan. Most of them are not keen on American and English dramas, but prefer Nezha, zombies, martial arts and war. They usually use oppo or vivo phones, and the mainstream channel for watching movies is video websites. These studies on users are all about building our confidence in realizing cash and establishing the logic of our content management and judgment.
Star Travels itself is influential and topical, and it is precisely because of its precise positioning of the subject matter that it is widely popular. Choose the animation theme of juvenile passion, which was very rare in those years, to express a stronger and more direct value, so that fans and audience can form emotional resonance through infectious stories, thus producing the stickiness and communication effect of fans. Up to now, the official posts of celebrity travel notes have attracted more than 1.2 million people, and the number of posts has exceeded 4 million.
After the theme positioning is clear, we don't think that all animated films must fight in traditional cinemas and blockbusters. We choose an opportunity under the multiple considerations of channel and realization path, which can also be said to be an opportunity such as the six-year use of Star Tour. On the basis of optimistic about the project and timing, we have the cooperation of Aiqiyi, Light and Mei Ying Media. It seems to be an adventure, but in fact we think it is a breakthrough and revitalization.
Q4: What do you think is the main reason for the success of interstellar travel?
A4: The success of interstellar travel is the success of experience, market and execution ability.
First of all, you should know what kind of environment you are in, that is to say, you should have a periodic forecast, and remember not to blindly follow suit. This requires predicting in advance what topics will have opportunities in the next six months to a year, and thus inferring what topics should be filmed. Martial arts, comedies, family fun, science fiction and sitcoms are popular every once in a while, and some themes that were popular many years ago may resurface. For example, the theme of young and dangerous people, which was popular twenty years ago, can also create an explosion with a sense of the times through the addition of new elements and proper operation. If you can judge the trend, you can make it when the theme trend comes, and the chances of getting the explosion are greater than simply following the trend, and even leading the theme trend.
Rational calculation also needs the support of data. As a publicity and marketing platform, Mei Ying Media has rich data and practical experience, and has its own data system. At the same time, you can also find rich data references from Baidu index, major video websites and data platforms perpendicular to the network industry, such as big data of egg tarts. We can collect data from the click ranking, comments and barrage style of the platform, and then judge whether it is feasible to make such content through the producer's own experience.
After choosing the theme, it is how to tell the story well and present the work with high quality. Whether it is from the source to create a script, character setting, animation production to the final color matching, it is the core requirement to ensure that an animated film can be released without disgrace. In short, finding the right theme, telling a good story and ensuring that the details of the shooting scene are no problem, then such works will generally have a certain foundation.
By referring to the previous experience of online film release, this paper compares the various situations of the animated film Star Trek with the future release opportunity, predicts and controls the possible risks, and finally realizes this hot release.
In addition, random transplantation may cause harm to the Internet, online novels and overseas copyrights, regardless of the possibility and operability of film and television, and we cannot be willful in this respect.
Q5。 So how to improve the success rate of the project through systematic risk assessment?
A5: First, as I said before, we should dare to give up some extra-large IPS and turn our target to some medium-sized IPS with solid stories and intensive cultivation, which have the potential to become "traffic monsters". This year, the most obvious example is my first half of my life. Yi Shu is a stranger to the post-90s generation. My First Half Life is not an explosive IP, but due to its excellent adaptation and production, it finally achieved unexpected results.
Second, different online content needs different story rhythms. Have a sense of quality products. For example, online movies need a comprehensive upgrade in story, production and team, so that online universities have more movie attributes, and the industry can only match them.
Third, any individual soldier who is too eager for success will face more and more risks, so the risk can be reduced through low-cost trial and error and serialized operation.
Mei Ying Media has been trying to innovate the theme under the premise of systematic evaluation and risk control, and is committed to creating high-quality content in every subdivision, and constantly promoting the evolution and upgrading of Internet University. The upgraded Internet university is no longer a creator-centered product, but based on the aesthetic needs of consumers. The upgrade iteration of NetUniversity, like the products of the Internet, emphasizes the user's experience and tells the story well, which is the most basic one. In addition, the participation and support of the head company and platform, as well as the joint efforts of professional production teams, are needed to promote the continuous publication of works and bring about a positive income cycle, so as to bring about a leap-forward upgrade of Internet University.
abstract
Star Trek, as the first animated film of NetUniversity, has enough fans on the basis of the original popular IP. In the early stage of production and broadcasting, it introduced data and risk control means, abandoned the traditional "family fun" animation mode, and finally won many praises from the industry, users and investors through the strong cooperation operation mode and resource support of the platform.
In the future, egg tart data will still pay attention to the whole online movie in the form of data, talk to more people in the industry and share more experiences and insights. I also hope that more animated films will be recognized by everyone in the online world, adding a richer sky to the theme of online movies.
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