The online novel "Full-time Master" written by the online novelist Butterfly Lan from 2011 to 2014 can be said to be the largest IP among e-sports-themed online articles. It is the first "Thousand Alliance" work of online literature, that is, there are more than a thousand readers spent more than 1,000 yuan on this novel. The novel tells the story of Ye Xiu, the top player in the Glory game, from being forced to retire and living in an Internet cafe as a network administrator, until he single-handedly swept through the tenth district, and then formed a guild to form a team to regain the championship.

"The Master" has more than 5 million words in length. Far from deterring readers, it has attracted a group of loyal fans because of the complete character design, long timeline, and vast fan creations. The drama version of "The Master" starring Yang Yang and Jiang Shuying has attracted much attention since its official announcement. The drama was also broadcast on the evening of July 24.

"Master" poster

This summer, there are a lot of film and television dramas adapted from big Internet IPs for airing. However, there are many people who are highly anticipated before the airing and disappointed after the airing. The drama version of "The Master", which was born with a silver spoon in its mouth, has its own halo, but it also faces the crisis of word-of-mouth backlash. How should e-sports online articles be made into films? How to balance e-sports scenes and emotional scenes? If "there is no love in e-sports", will it be restricted from leaving the industry?

E-sports themed film and television craze

Nowadays, e-sports (e-sports games) have become a new market trend. According to data from iResearch, the overall e-sports market size in my country was 42.98 billion yuan in 2016, 70.61 billion yuan in 2017, and 94.05 billion yuan in 2018. By 2019, it is expected to exceed the 100 billion yuan mark, reaching 113.05 billion yuan. billion. From 2016 to 2018, the number of e-sports users was 130 million, 280 million, and 350 million respectively, and it is expected to reach 400 million by 2019.

Correspondingly, film and television dramas related to e-sports are also experiencing a blowout this year. For example, "Accompany You to the Top of the World" starring Wang Yibo has been aired, and currently airing are "Dear, Beloved" starring Li Xian and Yang Zi, and "The Master" starring Yang Yang and Jiang Shuying.

This year’s e-sports themed drama series has exploded, and many are in preparation

Whether it is "Dear, Beloved" that transforms e-sports into a CTF (cybersecurity competition), or the pure online broadcast and low-key launch of "The Master" this time, it also reflects that people still have some misunderstandings about e-sports. , or the attitude is still relatively cautious.

Therefore, it is necessary to first clarify the misunderstandings about e-sports and explain the reasons why e-sports movies and TV series are so popular this year.

Twenty years ago, the mainstream media regarded video games as the main culprit of children's "Internet addiction". In the stereotype of many parents, e-sports was "not doing their job properly." This has been shown in several recent e-sports-related dramas. In "Dear, Beloved", Han Shangyan was repeatedly considered "not doing his job properly" by his elders.

In fact, e-sports is also one of the sports. E-sports is "a kind of intellectual competition between people using electronic equipment as sports equipment to comprehensively exercise people's thinking ability, reaction ability, and mind-eye-brain coordination ability." It is "higher, faster, and more powerful." The "strong" sportsmanship applies to e-sports, and all athletes come here for the championship.

For example, in the novel "The Master", the main thread throughout is to win the game; even though all the e-sports players in the novel, including Ye Xiu, have different personalities and characters, they have a common goal, which is to become a champion. Teamwork, burning, passion, counterattack, struggle, etc. found in other sports can also be found in e-sports.

With the persistence of batches of e-sports people in China, e-sports has gradually gained its reputation. In 2008, e-sports was re-approved as the 78th official sports competition; in 2016, the Ministry of Education added the e-sports sports and management major; in 2019, the General Office of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security announced a batch of new career information. Sports coaches and e-sports athletes appear among them…

Some people are worried that compared with other sports, e-sports training is too "homey", as if sitting in front of the computer playing games all day long. This is not always the case. E-sports tests brain power, hand speed and mental endurance, so it is very important for athletes to have a healthy body and abundant energy. E-sports also feeds on youth. In addition to daily training, e-sports players will also have a certain amount of exercise time every day. Professional e-sports teams will also have professional trainers, psychological counselors, physical trainers, etc. From this point of view, "Dear, Love" is better at popularizing science. The drama version of "Master" at first strengthened the stereotype a bit, as if the players only eat and sleep and play games.

In short, e-sports is not a scourge. If you have any prejudice against e-sports, you might as well put it aside for a while and understand it before making a judgment.

E-sports film and television: Targeting men or pleasing women?

Taking the victory of the iG team in the 2018 League of Legends Global Finals as the time node, the development of e-sports film and television dramas can be roughly divided into two stages. In the first stage, the public's negative stereotypes about e-sports have not been eliminated. Movies and TV dramas with e-sports themes are very rare, production costs are generally low, and attention is not high.

iG's championship was a landmark event. That night, the male dormitories of various universities across the country were excited.

For example, "The King of E-Sports" was released in 2008, "E-Sports High School" was released in 2016, the online drama "E-Sports Era" was released in 2016, "Super E-Sports: The Legendary Generation" was released in 2017, and The 2016 web drama "Don't be a coward!" "Hero", the 2017 web drama "Dream X Project", the 2017 animation "The Master" and so on. Most of them are only broadcast on online platforms. The live-action versions usually have professional e-sports players as guest stars. The plots mainly focus on e-sports competitions and the growth of e-sports players, with men as the target audience. Except for "Dream

The animated version of "The Master" has a good reputation

So far, the animation "Ace" has been viewed 1.47 billion times. Although it has a certain influence, it is still a fan-oriented animation. The only out-of-circuit work at this stage was "A Little Smile" starring Yang Yang in 2016, but this drama is based on video games and game development. The main story of this drama is the sweet love between Xiao Nai and Wei Wei. "A Little Smile Is Alluring" has been viewed more than 40 billion times on the Internet, which is a huge hit. In addition to factors such as IP effects and traffic blessings, it also seems to indicate that e-sports themes will be filmed and filmed, and it will be more female-oriented, making it easier to succeed.

Generally speaking, e-sports is still a very masculine sport. This certainly does not mean that all e-sports players or e-sports audiences are men, but that men account for the majority. Different survey data show that male users account for 70%-80%. For example, there are tons of e-sports-themed articles on the Internet, most of which appear on male channels. For example, "Full-time Master" was serialized on the men's channel of Qidian Chinese website. E-sports dominates the e-sports novels in male channels, mainly reflecting the growth of e-sports players and the excitement of e-sports competitions. Although many e-sports novels always imply that after becoming famous, they will be loved by countless beauties, but the emotional length is relatively small. limited.

There is a very critical question here: Why do e-sports and e-sports articles have so many male audiences, but male-oriented e-sports movies and TV series are not favored?

The reason is: the conversion chain from e-sports audiences to film and television audiences is very long.

What does that mean? Those who play e-sports may not necessarily watch e-sports movies and TV series. There is still plenty of room for imagination in the text, but the presentation of e-sports competitions in movies and TV dramas is limited by the unprofessionalism of the producers and the low production standards, which often corrupts the imagination. It is not as thrilling as playing the game yourself or watching the e-sports competition. Stimulate. At the same time, overly professional e-sports content is also an aesthetic barrier for female audiences who do not play e-sports.

Therefore, a series of previous male-oriented e-sports movies and TV series were not very popular.

The female-orientation of e-sports themes has become the main strategy for e-sports movies and TV dramas in 2019. For example, Wang Yibo's "Accompany You to the Top of the World", although the e-sports line runs throughout, the love line occupies the main part; not to mention Li Xian and Yang Zi's "Dear, Beloved", it is popular all day long. All I searched for were sweet clips of the two of them. Some critics say that "Dear, Beloved" is about love under the guise of e-sports, but the fact is that this drama became a hit precisely because of the love scene.

For women, it doesn’t mean that they only have to fall in love. They often strive to balance e-sports and love. The proportion of real game content is very small, and more is focused on the emotions and mutual growth between e-sports players. The path is generally: team termination, difficulties, nirvana and rebirth, and return from the championship. This aspect can attract both male audiences, male-to-male (brotherly romance/gay romance), and female audiences. Like "Dear, Beloved", in addition to the love between Han Shangyan and Tong Nian, there is also the friendship between a group of 20-year-old K&K team comrades represented by Wu Bai, who are handsome, cute, and dedicated.

The brotherhood in and out of "Dear, Beloved"

"Along with You to the Top of the World" and "Dear, Beloved" are far from being called e-sports industry dramas. They are closer to youth idol dramas that use e-sports as an entry point.

Novel "The Master": How men's videos attract female readers

Now the question is also placed in front of the drama version of "The Master", male or female? Or is it possible to do it without falling in love and with both men and women?

We have to start with the original novel. Butterfly Blue's "Full-time Master" is a very special existence. It was obviously serialized on the men's channel of Qidian, but it ended up being loved by countless female audiences. The author has not conducted rigorous statistics, but most of the people around me who are looking forward to the drama version of "The Avatar" are girls.

Butterfly Lan is a writer who understands and loves games. "Full-time Master" is also a very professional e-sports industry article. The novel revolves around an online game called Glory, with a large amount of space covering the game and PK battles between professional players. Male readers are generally attracted by the wonderful descriptions of game fighting in the novel. Every move, every style, every group formation, every fight is supported by detailed details.

E-sports content may not be the main reason why all female readers get involved. There are so many male e-sports works, why do female readers have such a special liking for the novel "The Master"?

We know that male and female videos often write the emotional lines of men and women differently. Female channels cater to the needs of female audiences, often with "many men vying for one woman". The number one male, the number two male, and the number N male each have their own merits, but they are all infinitely charming. They all love the female protagonist wholeheartedly. The advancement of the plot mainly revolves around Expand this. Men’s videos are from a male perspective and cater to men’s needs, so it is a model of “many women competing for one man”. For example, in the two major IPs of male channels, "Martial Arts" and "Fights of the Sky", the male protagonists have two wives. Most of the female characters are flat and thin, and even have a "straight male cancer" tendency to objectify women. Therefore, many novels in male channels will be criticized as "stallion novels" and lack respect for women.

But "Master" is different. Strictly speaking, although the first protagonist Ye Xiu (Ye Qiu) has more interactions with female characters such as Chen Guo, Su Mucheng, and Tang Rou, there is no clear emotional line. Ye Xiu It can even be said that there are three thousand weak water, and you don’t take a spoonful to drink it. Without falling in love, there would be no harems and "stallions" in male pornographic articles, which can win the favor of female readers. Moreover, Ye Xiu in the novel is too perfect, strong, confident, calm, unwilling to admit defeat, optimistic, gentle, and very popular.

Ye Xiu is played by Yang Yang in the drama version. In the novel, he is so perfect that he "doesn't look like a human being."

Although "The Master" does not have a clear heterosexual love line, there is a very deep friendship between men. The particularity of an e-sports competition is that it is a team competition. Each team has a number of (male) players. Everyone gets along day and night, trains together, goes crazy together when we win, and endures together when we lose… This kind of friendship is friendship. A comrade, a brother, but in the reader's imagination, it might as well be.

Butterfly Blue is very good at writing about people. There are many characters in "Total Master", including 20 professional teams alone, but from Ye Xiu to other main supporting characters, even if they are just players who appear accidentally in the game, Butterfly Blue has laid out everyone's personality very completely. Even if there are individual villains, they cannot be called true bad guys. The competition between teams is fair and aboveboard. Everyone is burning themselves for the same championship dream, and they are also pure because of their dreams.

An analogy that can be made without being too crude is that the novel "The Master" is like the first season of "Sounds in the Heart". The members of different teams are like the "36 Sons of Meixi Lake". Although everyone has different personalities, they are all very good and come together because of the same goal. In the end, although there are losses and losses, the friendship is still there. "Meixi Lake 36" has attracted countless CP fans, and the same goes for "Full-time Master". There are eighty thousand CPs in the fan fiction, such as Han Ye, Han Zhang, Ye Lan, Umbrella Xiu, Shuanghua, Ye Huang, etc. , the second creation promoted the emergence of "Full-time Master".

There are a large number of fan creations of "Full-time Master" in Bilibili

Drama version of "The Master": There is no love in e-sports

The novel "The Master" has no love, but it can become the number one IP in e-sports. When the drama version follows the path of the novel, will it also be able to successfully break out of the industry?

Judging from the 8 episodes currently aired, the original work is generally highly restored. There is a lot of game content in the novel, and the drama version does not cut corners. The first big problem we face now is: How to present the game content that plays a huge role in the series? There is no mature experience in film and television dramas, not to mention such a large-scale production. The drama version of "The Master" can be described as "the first to try it."

A small portion of the game in "A Smile Is Alluring" uses real-life costumes, which makes the game feel less immersive and out of place.

"A Smile Is Charming" uses real-life costumes to express the game, which is a little bit dramatic

If it is animated, the animated version of "The Master" already has experience. But the criticism of the animated version is concentrated on the game scenes. Many viewers believe that there is no effective separation between the animated version of the game scenes and reality. The fighting has no details, no moves, no differentiation, no sense of rhythm, and the characters lack recognition, which is a certain distance from the novel.

In the animated version, there is not much difference between the painting style in the virtual game and in real life.

The drama version of "The Master" takes a different approach and uses real-person motion capture + CG technology to present the virtual game part. Through facial capture, an online image corresponding to the character is reproduced online, which not only fits the online game environment, but similar facial features allow the audience to identify the competitor at a glance.

Ye Xiu inside and outside the game has similar facial features and is easily identifiable.

Through high-speed editing, continuous switching between real shots and virtual shots, the use of montage and engine shooting, the audience is also immersed in the subjective perspective of the competitors, as if they are participating in the game immersed in the game. Even sports novices can experience the "burning" feeling. "feel.

The game part, from reality to virtuality, highlights the subjective perspective and gives the audience a sense of participation.

To be fair, the TV series version of "The Master" is more conscientious in its restoration of virtual games. At first I thought it was just a 50-cent special effect, but I actually spent real money on it. The show's promotion stated that the frame rate could reach 25 frames per second, and the visual effects of the game scenes were relatively grand. Different fighting scenes have different scene settings, and the fighting movements are smooth and recognizable.

Every time you fight, the game scene changes.

But the good restoration of the game scenes does not mean that the drama version of "The Master" will be a hit. Looking at a series of competitive film and television works, no matter how exciting the competition is, the length needs to be limited. On the one hand, the subsequent competitive scenes should be different and more exciting than the previous ones, such as "Dangal!" "Dad", the wrestling highlights are different several times, and the level of competition is constantly improving, otherwise the audience will feel repetitive. On the other hand, it should not be too lengthy, because no matter how exciting the game is, it is easy to get tired after watching it for a long time, especially for people who are not in the industry.

It is reported that the production of the online virtual world of "The Master" took more than 300 minutes. Based on the effective duration of each episode of 40 minutes, the game part alone exceeds 7 episodes. If the real-life game commentary, game participation, etc. are included, it may be The length is more than doubled. For a 40-episode TV series, this proportion is very large. But what I have doubts about is that if they are not e-sports enthusiasts, once the novelty of the game graphics has passed, will they still be interested in so many game competitions?

In addition to the virtual online game, another highlight of "The Master" is the real life part, that is, the relationship between boyfriend and girlfriend, master-disciple relationship, brotherhood, and how they persevere and go all out for their dreams. For now, the characters of Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, Tang Rou and others who have appeared are quite distinct (the high demands of the original work are another matter), and others like Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, Gao Yingjie and Qiao Yifan are also emerging. In addition to games, with the comeback and counterattack of "Ran", and the point-to-point, can the drama version of "Master Avatar" impress audiences other than fans of the original work?

Young Ye Xiu described Su Muqiu this way, "My youth was frivolous, my ambition was full of ambition, and all my glory was related to him."

Gao Yingjie and Qiao Yifan have a good relationship

Frankly speaking, there is a big question mark. E-sports is a new theme for film and television dramas, and the drama version of "The Master" is also about "crossing the river by feeling for the stones." Although some fans of the original work say that "there is no love in e-sports," the author would like to say something sarcastic: there is no shame in having a love line, and it does not look high-end without a love line. The positioning is accurate and the degree of control is accurate; not to mention, a movie has a successful market effect The audience of the series is definitely not limited to fans of the original work, and as an eternal theme of mankind, love has always been the most effective element in film and television dramas, and it can be enjoyed by men, women, old and young. In recent years, most of the domestic hit dramas have romance elements, with very few exceptions such as "Soldier Assault".

The overall quality of the drama version of "The Master" is acceptable, but can it break out and become a hit? It’s hard to say, but at least it makes a new attempt at the e-sports genre.