If you dare to reveal Xiao Zhan’s pores and Li Qin’s eye lines, will “His Royal Highness Wolf” be a hit?

2020 is destined to be extraordinary from beginning to end.

In today’s TV industry where all kinds of trailers are required for a finale, on the afternoon of November 19th, the TV series “His Royal Highness Wolf” was quietly launched and 49 episodes were released at lightning speed. All updated.

It’s really fierce! This is comparable to Netflix’s pace.

This drama, which was completed in 2017, has been "post-production" for three years. In the past three years, the entertainment industry has undergone earth-shaking changes, and the starring role of the drama also happened to be the star of a storm. center of gravity.

I don’t need to say much about who he is, everyone knows it.

The male lead Xiao Zhan rose to the top, but his reputation collapsed during the 227 incident. However, "black and red" are also red. Although he did not go online until the eleventh episode of this drama, the focus of public discussion is still It's him.

Mainland China is no longer as popular as "My Girlhood", and has even been nicknamed the "lost continent". I have to say that the entertainment industry is really so treacherous that it catches people off guard. .

The reputation and popularity of the heroine Li Qin have been steadily increasing. In addition, the CP formed by her and Xiao Zhan also has many people.

Of course, this is all outside the drama.

With the idea of ??"dare you dare, this drama may be brilliant", I also joined the drama binge-watching team.

So, next I will put aside the rights and wrongs of the fandom and focus on whether this drama can be a hit?

If you are an ordinary audience, when you see the title of the play "Your Highness Wolf", you will definitely be curious about the word "wolf". Is it a wolf turning into a human, a human transforming into a wolf, or the relationship between a human and a wolf? , or it may be a metaphor.

After reading the beginning, you will find that the "wolf" in the title of the play is because the male protagonist has lived with wolves since he was a child.

The wolf boy who does not understand the world meets the warm-hearted and kind-hearted daughter of the city lord, Ma Zhaixing. In order to protect him, Zhaixing deliberately spreads rumors of wolf monsters to prevent hunters from going up the mountain to hunt.

After that, Zhaixing took the wolf boy down the mountain and let him experience the local customs firsthand.

I also had close contact with him on the way and taught him how to express love. When the two of them got close, they felt quite cuddled up.

Especially when the wolf boy accepted the teachings of Star Reaching with a pure and timid look, that "little puppy" feeling suddenly overflowed the screen.

It is a pity that the screenwriter did not allow the audience to experience the "nurturing" pleasure of the wolf boy gradually becoming humane, and soon replaced it with the setting of the wolf boy being domesticated into King Bo.

Then Zhaixing also became a princess in distress due to family changes, so the story was pulled into the cliché mode of "the overbearing president fell in love with me".

That is to say, the traditional plot trend of misunderstandings - experiencing setbacks - eliminating misunderstandings - *** adversity is not bloody, but there is indeed no breakthrough.

The play also rarely uses the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms as the background of the story, but it depicts very little about the political struggle during that chaotic period, or in other words, the description is very superficial.

You told me it was the Warring States, Three Kingdoms, Liao and Song periods, and I think that’s fine.

Just like the wolf boy setting that I briefly mentioned, what is the difference between a horse boy and a sheep boy?

Maybe wolf sounds more courageous?

Therefore, the plot of this drama is actually no different from that of ordinary ancient puppet dramas. On the contrary, in terms of plot appeal, it is far inferior to dramas such as "Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossom" and "A Thousand Bones of Flowers". .

However, the scenes of the show exude a sense of "high-end" that has been rare in the past two years. To be honest, I watched it for this reason.

Long before "Your Highness Wolf" was launched, I heard that the investment cost of the show was far higher than that of other costume dramas.

CG production costs a lot of money. Every time an animal appears, an eye-catching line reads "Animals appearing are produced with CG", which is really hard to ignore.

Of course, the high-end feel of this drama mainly comes from the framing, lens use, color matching and makeup.

The crew went to Shangri-La for on-site shooting. The vast expanse of grassland and the majestic feeling of a line connecting heaven and earth made people feel open-minded.

Due to the high altitude of the location, the audience will often see the actor's red nose. Thinking of the fear of being dominated by the green screen for so many years, I was really moved by being able to truly see the great rivers and mountains of the motherland.

In addition, the show is also very good at using lenses.

The close-up will zoom directly onto the actor's face, so the actor's expression and status will be clearly displayed on the screen.

How clear is it?

It’s almost to the point where you can see the actor’s pores.

This also leads to another highlight of this show: the color grading is comfortable and there are no fancy skin grinding or filters.

In order to make the actors’ skin and makeup flawless, super-powerful dermabrasion and soft light filters have become necessary for many dramas.

Even uncles who are several decades old don’t let go, insisting on giving people pink, white and beautiful skin.

Let me ask you, how can the audience get involved in the play?

Therefore, in this drama, it is rare for us to see the most realistic skin condition of the actors. For example, Wang Dalu’s acne, Xiao Zhan’s pores, and Li Qin’s eye lines are all exposed. ...

This is also another source of the "high-end sense" of the show, which is so real that it is a bit like a movie.

In addition, the actors’ makeup is also very natural and comfortable.

The eye shadows are no longer eye-catching fluorescent colors, and the blush is no longer as eye-catching as a monkey's butt. Except for the "plateau red" caused by the altitude of Shangri-La, everyone's makeup is very plain the rest of the time.

Therefore, the pictures and compositions of this drama are relatively natural and comfortable, especially compared with the soft-light style of microdermabrasion in recent years, which is simply several grades higher.

After talking about the merits and demerits of the screenwriter, director, photographer and stylist, let’s talk about the performance of the actors.

Perhaps because he has never acted in a costume drama, Wang Dalu doesn't seem to know how to master costume roles. Frankly speaking, his performance was a bit too hard.

If you don’t know how to control your emotions at the beginning because you are not familiar with the world, then forget it.

The problem is that his emotional interpretation after becoming King Bo was not in place. For example, after he reunited with Ma Zhaixing, played by Li Qin, he should have a love-hate relationship with each other, but he showed it There is only a sense of disgust.

And it was so annoying that it overflowed the screen. I was really scared when I watched it.

There are also the bitter and resentful frowns, the dull eyes, and the acting habits of male protagonists in idol dramas who almost smile evilly.

The performance of the heroine Li Qin can be said to be meritorious.

Her appearance is actually quite bitter, so the happy girl state in the first few episodes can neutralize her temperament, but as soon as she gets to the tragic part, she looks very depressed. This depression does not come from The plot, but the feeling she gives people.

Of course, Li Qin’s fighting scenes in the play are very neat and very handsome.

Finally, Xiao Zhan is in charge of traffic in this drama. Frankly speaking, his character design is quite good.

He is flirtatious when pursuing, and very free and easy when giving up.

His performance is also up to standard. When he first appears, he is a slovenly bounty hunter, showing his dashing energy and "social sense".

When he returned to his status as the prince, he showed a "noble young master" temperament, and his plasticity was really strong.

However, like Wang Dalu, he is not skillful enough in expressing emotions, especially in his scenes opposite Li Qin, where the gap is clearly felt.

In general, using "bad" to describe the drama "His Royal Highness Wolf" is a bit harsh, because its plot logic, graphics, and the performances of the actors are basically on the pass line.

But if you want to ask if there is any breakthrough in the plot setting, then there really is none. It is still an ancient puppet show with different ingredients.

The film crew updated the entire series at once, which indeed saves everyone the trouble of chasing the drama, but my previous guess of "dare, this drama may have great brilliance" is far from being achieved.

So my suggestion is that viewers who like ancient puppets can follow it, but for viewers who are particularly serious or want to watch something new, it is better to reminisce about the previous classics.

Qingshi Film | Ke Tang