Which movie ended the "Want to See" index of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Twinkle, Bright Stars" which won many days on major platforms?
It turned out to be the concert video Taylor Swift, a singer nicknamed "moldy" by China fans, "Taylor Swift’s Time Tour Concert". In the minds of some fans, it is not even a movie.
On December 15, the film released a trailer and was scheduled for December 31. As soon as the news came out, people’s popularity soared on the major ticketing platforms, far ahead: according to the data from Lighthouse Professional Edition, as of 19: 25 last night, the number of "wanting to see" surged by nearly 70,000 in one day, followed by "Twinkle, Twinkle, Bright Stars" and "If You Are the One 3" released one day earlier, with less than 3,000 new data yesterday. In Douban’s weekly word-of-mouth list updated yesterday, the film jumped 10 places to occupy the top spot.
After the publication of the "Battle Report" of Lighthouse Professional Edition, the data is still rising.
The high popularity of this new film, however, has a completely different impression in the industry and the audience. Some people think that "concert movies" expand the boundaries of movies and the service scope of cinemas, and it is normal to expect new elements such as musicals and sports competitions to enter this field in the future; Others think that such a "movie" can neither highlight the atmosphere of the concert nor the narrative of the movie. "Will anyone pay the bill besides fans?"
Concert replacement?
On Douban, the introduction of the film is: "The film records the charming stage of Taylor Swift’s world tour in 2023, including many classic tracks in Taylor’s music career, and at the same time restores the grand scene of the tour, creating an audio-visual feast of’ Thai burning, Thai value and Thai stick’ from a film perspective."
However, before the file was finalized, a platform introduced the film more bluntly: "In order to satisfy the fans who can’t get tickets, the full video of Taylor Swift Times Tour Concert will land in the cinema."
In the eyes of some fans, the former is nothing more than adding some flowery rhetoric of public relations articles. In essence, as the latter said, the content of the film is a concert video that may have undergone lens switching, picture editing and sound collection.
Taylor Swift performed at the award ceremony (Source: Xinhua News Agency)
"At present, the concerts of the most popular singers in China can only sit on the’ top of the mountain’ for thousands of dollars, and the line of sight may be blocked by speakers, columns or front-row audiences, and they can only see the idol style through the big screen." In Taylor Swift’s "Iron Powder" Ms. Fei’s view, "Isn’t it worthwhile to spend a movie ticket to see a top concert with the best location and the most exquisite composition?"
Qin Xiao, a citizen who has chased many concerts this year, bluntly said that live performances such as concerts are "the art of regret". "I only bought tickets for the top floor of a concert. People on the stage couldn’t see the appearance at all, but they could fully appreciate the beauty of lighting and dancing from a nearly overlooking perspective. The transformation of the choreography formation on the spot was amazing. These are invisible when sitting in the infield. " In his view, the concert recorded by film can achieve the best of both worlds and lead the audience to explore the backstage. "Isn’t this a good innovation?"
However, for some fans and fans, such innovation touches the foundation of the two performance methods. "To enjoy beautiful pictures and perfect singing, just go home and play HD MV. Why go to the scene?" Mr. Wei, a citizen who likes to chase concerts and various live performances, believes that the charm of live performances lies in the "live". "The live performances of singers and actors are often imperfect, but such imperfections can touch people’s hearts." When Mr. Wei was at school, he watched Faye Wong’s concert in Hongkou Stadium. It rained heavily all the time that day. "While the light rail rumbled, Faye Wong slipped in the heavy rain. I have a vivid memory of the past 20 years, and I won’t have such a strong emotional resonance without being in it. "
"Whether it is a documentary or a feature film, any type of film has a narrative basis." Hu Xiao, a veteran movie fan, introduced that from the award-winning movie Bohemian Rhapsody to the classic movie Bodyguard, the concert scenes were talked about by fans, but the core was the story, "Without narrative support, can a pure concert support the big screen?" Some people in charge of the cinema admit that even if the sound effect is no problem, it is difficult for the cinema to restore the beautiful effect of the concert at present. "The stage lighting is three-dimensional, and it is flat on the big screen."
Special offer for fans?
As one of the most influential singers in Europe and America, Taylor Swift, born in December 1989, has hundreds of millions of fans on overseas social media. Her popularity in China can’t be underestimated. In 2020, her album Folklore sold 200,000 copies on QQ music on the first day of its release.
Ms. Fei said that most of her fans are young people who "grew up with her and were encouraged by her infection". The audience analysis of this film from the professional edition of Lighthouse shows that the audience under 30 years old occupies an absolute majority: the most of them are 20-24 years old, accounting for 43.7%; Followed by teenagers, accounting for about 23.7%, while the audience aged 25-29 accounted for 21.5%. The audience who "want to see" is highly coincident with the age of fans.
"This kind of viewing atmosphere may be unprecedented." The film was released in North America in October this year. Liu Jieyu, who is studying in the United States, and her friends went to watch it. "Everyone is clapping along, which is more like watching a concert than watching a movie." Douban has an IP address on the Internet, and netizens in Canada also commented that "everyone is singing along with each song, and everyone applauds after each song" and "rounding is equal to watching the tour scene". Ms. Fei said that she would buy tickets to invite relatives and friends to see them. "After all, movie tickets are much more affordable than concert tickets. I hope more people can feel this charm."
This film got a high score of 9.4 on Douban, and this year’s ordinary film and television drama reached this level with Long Season. However, in Hu Xiao’s view, although the douban scores are the same, the quality may not be the same. "There are only more than 5,000 people scoring this movie, and most of them are fans. "The Long Season" has 880,000 ratings, and the actors are not taking the’ flow’ route, which will be closer to the feelings of ordinary audiences. " In the eyes of some viewers, if fans are too strong, they are often exclusive, and some ordinary viewers may "instinctively refuse."
The release is just around the corner, and Shanghai cinema managers have different views on it. "How many fans does Taylor Swift have?" Ms. Wang, the person in charge of a cinema, said that she still held a wait-and-see attitude towards the domestic box office of the film. "Some cinemas opened the pre-sale in advance, and then judged it after seeing how it sold."
In 2011, "Mayday" promoted the 3D concert movie "Chasing Dreams 3DNA" (Source: Xinhua News Agency)
Ms. Wang’s worry is not unreasonable. Recently, Mayday, a Taiwan Province regional orchestra that caused lip-synching controversy, has shown many films in mainland China, which can be traced back to 2011′ s "Chasing Dreams 3DNA", which is based on Mayday concert and interspersed with three short stories. However, the box office results of these films are not particularly eye-catching. The best performance is "Mayday Life Unlimited Company" in 2019, which won a box office of 50.208 million yuan.
"Whether Taylor Swift’s popularity in China is higher than that in May is a question mark." Ms. Wang bluntly said that concert movies are special for fans. "People who like them may watch them 10 times, and the box office depends on the singer’s popularity. If Jay Chou’s concert movies are shown in China, the box office should be good. "
"There are many moldy fans, and the box office should not be bad." Zhang Dong, the head of another cinema, knows Taylor Swift better than Ms. Wang. In his view, presenting a concert directly in the form of a movie in a domestic cinema has a certain freshness for the audience. Zhang Dong is preparing for the "Snowfield" of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Twinkle, Stars" recently. In his view, today’s young people will buy tickets for a "snow" and will try to watch a concert in the cinema.
There will be operas and movies?
Taylor Swift: Time Tour Concert was released in North America in October this year, and the box office was in full swing. The data shows that the film earned $45 million on the first day of its release in North America, breaking the box office record of "The Clown" in North America for four consecutive years. At present, the global box office of the film has reached $249 million.
Taylor Swift is not the first singer to put a concert on the big screen. Madonna, Justin Bieber and other singers have also put concerts on the big screen before. Beyonce: The Renaissance, by another singer, was also released on December 1st. At present, the box office is about 36.12 million dollars.
In October, 2009, Michael Jackson, a generation of pop king who died in June of that year, was introduced to China, earning 48.3 million yuan. The film temporarily ranked first in the global box office of concert films with a box office of 261 million dollars, but this record is likely to be broken by Taylor Swift.
In addition to Mayday, the earliest time that domestic singers put concerts on the screen can be traced back to Leslie Cheung’s Passion Concert in 2000. In addition, Cui Jian has released Beyond that Day, Wang Leehom has Firepower Full, and even the pianist Lang Lang has a Passion Sonata. However, compared with Taylor Swift’s box office myth, the box office of these films is generally not high.
According to industry sources, Taylor Swift didn’t talk about cooperation with the traditional film production company. Her company directly cooperated with AMC, Regal and Cinemark, the three major cinemas in North America. Well-known director Christopher Nolan once commented on this matter, "Taylor Swift is about to show his strength to the film company".
What enlightenment does an atypical film bring to domestic practitioners because of its high global box office?
Although Ms. Wang is not optimistic about the box office of this film, she agrees with this arrangement and attempt. "The film schedule is very good on December 31, which will attract some viewers who want to spend the New Year in the cinema."
Liu Jieyu introduced that the movie’s viewing experience is completely different from that of traditional movies. "You don’t have to sit in your seat according to the rules, and you don’t have to keep quiet. You can bring light sticks, wear surrounding clothes and AIDS and get together at the same time." In Zhang Dong’s view, more concert films will enter the market in the future. "In recent years, stage plays and concerts have made breakthroughs, and they have moved their performance venues from the Grand Theatre to the cinema. Concert movies are expected to have investment returns, and investment value will attract more capital into this field. "
In the face of market changes, cinemas that used to show movies and sell popcorn are also seeking innovation and change. On November 19th, the League of Legends Global Finals was held. Many Wanda Studios in Shanghai held synchronized cinema watching activities. Tickets and movie tickets were almost the same price. In addition to feeling the atmosphere of e-sports events on the big screen and cheering for the China team, you can also receive customized support packages for the silver crown watching games. According to the system ticket sales, except for one suburban cinema, all the other cinemas sold out early, and some cinemas added several extra performances.
Fans dressed in role costumes and holding hands to help "Slam Dunk Master" at the special screening event of Shanghai Studios.
During the release of this year’s animated film "Slam Dunk", many fans dressed themselves as characters, and many cinemas also launched "support fields" for a single character. Fans turned into fans in the cinema to cheer for the movie characters. In recent years, SHO, Shanghai Studios, has launched "special field" movies for seeing you, hugging you through the cold winter and slam dunk, aiming at the special needs of the audience.
China Film Co., Ltd. Beijing Film Distribution Branch Deputy Manager Ma Wei said that in addition to screening new films, it may try to introduce more content such as drama, musical, concert and opera stage documentary into the screening venue in the future. With the blessing of high-definition technology, stage works may be presented in a more all-round way without dead ends, which also brings a different appreciation experience from the theater.
With the "Taylor Swift Times Tour Concert" finalized, a person in charge of the cinema revealed to reporters that he had received calls from moldy fans last night, "The cinema in the future will be more yuan and more interesting."
Editor-in-Chief: Shi Chenlu
Author: Jane Gong Bo Zhong Han
Source: Xinhua News Agency (data picture)
