Author | Gu Han

Editor | Li Chunhui

　

Driven by phenomenal explosions, the change of market popularity, and the high pressure and high risk in real life, today’s audience is more and more interested in realistic themes. Numerous puzzles and anxieties need to be pinned on them, and correspondingly, the upstream of the industry has also improved the supply of realistic themes.

　

However, rushing to the top often means that mud and sand are coming down and gold is sought in the sand. The "heat anxiety" in new media communication has invaded the creation of long content in the opposite direction. In a new batch of realistic dramas, there are not a few "topic cancers" that mechanically accumulate social hotspots and gain heat by stimulating the audience’s emotions and provoking netizens to quarrel.

　

Can the realistic theme only be rolled in the direction of "10w+ public document"? The new drama "Female Psychologist", which started on November 23, seems to provide another answer with the positioning of "urban warm-hearted healing drama"

　

　

Ten feet of red dust make people sick.But besides the catharsis of dog’s blood and the imaginative reconciliation in He Shuang’s plays, perhaps it can really cure diseases.It is good not to give up treatment too early for realistic drama and mental illness.

　

Revitalize the classic IP and fill the vacancy of the theme

　

"Female Psychologist" is produced by Yulele and Youku, with Guo Feng and Xiaoxi Gao as the chief producers, directed by Sam Quah and starring Andy, Jing Bo Ran, Wang Jia and Joyce. It tells the story of Daniel Horton, a psychological counselor, who helps "visitors" solve their psychological problems, and heals others at the same time.

　

The novel of the same name was written in 2007. The author Bi Shumin is not only a famous contemporary writer, but also has the professional qualification and clinical experience of psychological counseling. The book brings together various cases.

　

Team Guo Feng has been interested in this IP for a long time.First, the theme of psychological counseling is still blank in China.Second, the whole society has been paying more attention to mental health. Thirdly, as mentioned above, the dual identity of the author is really rare, and the literariness and professionalism of the novel are guaranteed.

　

In Bi Shumin’s memory, what impressed her most about this young team was their keen interest and in-depth understanding of psychological topics.

　

When she first came up with the idea of combining psychology to create novels, Bi Shumin deliberately avoided the more popular and dramatic criminal psychology and abnormal psychology, and chose to write about the psychology of ordinary people, hoping to arouse people’s attention to their own mental health, which is where she most hopes to reach a consensus with the producers.

　

It has been fourteen years since the creation of novels, and great changes have taken place in social reality and media environment. In Bi Shumin’s view, the good thing is that the popularity of mental health has increased, people can face up to mental illness and are willing to turn to professional treatment. But on the other hand, new psychological problems are also emerging.

　

For example, inferiority complex has become a common problem among young people. "Appearance anxiety, height anxiety, contempt for career chain … squeezed by many existing concepts, I feel that I am not perfect."

　

Another example is division. “Instead of unswervingly adhering to a principle, today’s principle and tomorrow’s principle fluctuate back and forth, causing huge consumption of psychological energy.People may become cynical, depressed or at a loss. "Bi Shumin to hard candy gentleman to mingle.

　

　

Therefore, it is not too late to adapt this novel in 2021, even at that time. "If you have mental illness, you can also be inspired by watching similar cases being cured on TV. This is the significance that psychological drama is different from any other drama series, and our warm healing attribute is very strong. " Guo Feng said.

　

In the play, the four-person leading group runs through, and their coexistence and their respective reconciliation growth mainly emphasize family, friendship and love. "Through the interweaving of these emotions, we remind everyone to look back and see if these three emotions in their lives have been fully protected."

Warm Tips from The Female Psychologist

　

There are more than ten cases in the form of unit drama, which cover a wide range, involving multiple characters, multiple scenes and diverse professional therapies. "And all our cases have solutions, whether from psychologists, radio anchors or other angles.None of them create anxiety, just tearing the wound instead of sewing it.. "Guo Feng said.

　

Open a professional drama with suspense

　

In fact, before this cooperation, the copyright of Female Psychologist had been sold for two rounds. Every time it failed to be filmed successfully, the copyright regret returned to the author.

　

The difficulty of its development can be imagined: to make this work in the 00′ s keep up with the times, to make the psychological consultation based on dialogue look good and not boring, and to balance drama and professionalism, which is a classic problem that any work with a career as its selling point has to face.

　

Guo Feng told Hard Sugar Jun that the way they adapted the novel was to absorb the essence, but not to stick to it. "Heal yourself by healing others. People living in this world can’t just ask for others from outside, but also ask for help from inside. These are what Mr. Bi has always emphasized in his novels, and we also hope to put these ideas into the play. "

　

At the same time, on the basis of the author’s consent, they changed the protagonist’s design and the fate of the characters, and combined with visits, research, discussion, study, and inviting a team of consultants to check the script, they re-added, deleted and screened out a number of cases that are more relevant to people’s physical and mental conditions and refined them.

　

For example, at the beginning of the series, it was the suicide crisis of female high school student You Na that made Daniel Horton and Qian Kaiyi intersect. In recent years, reports about juvenile delinquency or self-harm frequently appear in social news. In the comment area, we can see the fierce confrontation between old and new ideas, and there are still many people who think that children are too fragile or selfish. It is the duty of literary and artistic works to reflect practical problems and provide a space for discussion and popularization of science.

　

　

Zhu Li, a screenwriter, was exposed to psychological themes for the first time and encountered great challenges in the process. When writing a script, screenwriters often have to substitute various roles to speak and do things. "I am good at’ playing’ a person with emotional problems." Zhu Li teased herself about Hard Sugar Jun, but how to play a psychological counselor was completely at a loss. "I wrote’ Daniel Horton, colon’ on the manuscript, and then I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know whether she smiled or not in front of the visitors, and what skills she used to communicate."

　

Later, thanks to the support of a team of professional consultants, she changed her strategy:The screenwriter is responsible for the good-looking story, and the consultant is responsible for guiding the professional lines and correcting the bugs in the story."We are constantly pulling, and the real performance of this part cannot be compromised? What part of the story performance can’t be compromised? Finally, I got a state that everyone recognized, which was neither too big bug nor very beautiful. "

　

Although people’s hearts are mysterious and the reality is complicated and heavy, it is not difficult to see that The Female Psychologist is not a work with a heavy tone. Guo Feng, as the chief producer, and Zhu Li, as the screenwriter, both paid attention to the audience experience in their interviews. They hoped that the play would be professional and have social benefits, and also hoped that it would be good-looking and entertaining.

　

This appeal is condensed in Qian Kaiyi, played by Jing Bo Ran. He is the only person in the play who has no mental illness, and he is the warm baby and the little sun in and out of the play. "Now everyone is tired and wants to see negative things. Just open the social news and you can watch it." Zhu Li said frankly, "So when we create, we keep asking ourselves why we write this thing." From beginning to end, their choice is not to "torture the audience", but to "unbuckle" the audience.

　

In addition, the joining of Sam Quah, the director of the film Sheep Without A Shepherd, has also given more choices to the narrative methods of the drama series, making the audio-visual presentation more trendy and changeable.

　

　

Zhu Li revealed that Guo Feng had long suggested that the play must have suspense points, and in her view,Psychological themes have their own suspense factors-visitors may not tell the truth.Instead, they will hide themselves intentionally or unintentionally, so consultants should learn to distinguish. In addition, in the play "The Female Psychologist", the protagonist has a very big mystery, and she will keep seeing her own shadow from the visitors.

　

Guo Feng described the way in which the psychological consultation process was presented in this play as "literary drama and martial arts". "First of all, we created the concepts of white space and black space, allowing psychologists to have a subconscious dialogue with visitors. The second is to reproduce the scene that causes the root causes of psychological problems, so that the audience can work together with the teacher and put themselves in the shoes of the visitors. "

　

　

Guo Feng revealed that the whole drama was shot for five months, and it was done for six months later, hoping to achieve the ultimate presentation and let the audience and the industry feel innovative. "I hope that everyone will not regard it as a pure professional drama, nor as an idol drama. I can only say that it is a very good-looking drama."

　

Consensus is the length of a long video.

　

The realistic theme is rarely matched in depth and breadth, so although it has been rolled for three or four years, there are still explosions. No matter whether it’s "Patrol Inspection Team" with the participation of the Supreme Film and Television Center, this year’s two high-scoring tribute dramas The Awakeing Age and Meritorious Work, or "The Truth" focusing on procuratorial technical work and "Hello, Flame Blue" depicting firefighters’ daily rescue, Youku platform is involved behind it.

　

Not TOP1 mention the first recent drama "The Sea of Stars", which describes the development of China’s foreign trade clothing industry with the background of reform and opening up. During the broadcast period, it ranked first in many hot lists such as Yunhe, Cat’s Eye, Lighthouse and Detavan, and Youku’s hot value was as high as 9998, and it ended with the proud result of the annual TV viewing champion.

　

According to Guo Feng, Youku entered the project "Female Psychologist" very early and showed great interest in this subject. Whether it’s script control, the choice of main creators and actors, or post-release and publicity, Youku has provided great help.

　

In the past, long videos were self-made, and the biggest selling point was the difference with TV series. Nowadays, long videos are actively laying out realistic themes and even main themes.The reason is that with the network video entering the second half, short video and medium video appear, the role played by long video in the media structure and the problems and challenges it faces have changed greatly.

　

After learning from a painful experience, Youku has actively adjusted its development strategy since 2019, giving up traffic thinking, firmly believing that content is king, and put forward "Don’t be extravagant and efficient; Don’t want idols and actors; Don’t flow to value "content concept, and carry out content layout accordingly.

Cat’s Eye is the top 7 in the popularity list of the whole network, and Youku has 5 seats.

　

At this year’s autumn investment promotion meeting, Xie Ying, general manager of Youku Drama Center, said,Driven by the flow-only theory, there have been many contents that create circle opposition in the past. Through more and more extreme timely feedback, it stimulates emotions and tears consensus, which brings anxiety and disharmony to society. However, what long videos are good at is precisely building consensus."Depicting the fate of the characters through long-term immersed stories allows the audience to empathize with the joys and sorrows of the characters and experience the growth of the characters."

　

Therefore, Youku will continue to lay out realistic works. "We attach great importance to the topics of the series and pay attention to whether the core of the story can resonate and empathize."

　

Looking at its film list, Youku has a strong and diverse reserve of realistic themes. The Sea of Stars and the Psychologist have met the audience successively, and the remaining works worthy of attention are:

　

Directed by Zheng Xiaolong and transformed by Zhao Liying, The Story of Xingfu; Directed by Wang Jun, the family ethics drama Xiao Min Jia, with Zhou Xun and Huang Lei as partners; The commercial war drama "Falling Flowers Season" in the era of midday sunshine and the family education theme "In the Name of a Son"; Liu Jiacheng’s Beijing-style children’s drama "Love is Full of Nine Bends", the growth story of traffic stars "Warm Sun in Winter" and the fashion industry drama "Dress Up" produced by Wuyuan Culture.

　

The next realistic explosion may be among them. Who do you think has the best chance of winning?