Acquaintance game + no script, why is slow variety show so moving?
Wenhui Po reporter Wei Zhong
In recent years, slow variety shows that create a comfortable social circle through “acquaintance bureaus” have become a relatively mature production model. In the unscripted impromptu reality show “Brilliant Garden” currently being broadcast on Mango TV, actor Zhang Songwen explains to the audience the subtle relationship between actors and life, performance and life in a “creative experience” way. At the same time, by constructing the “Little Bear Garden” scene, this program shows the natural friendship and life wisdom between him and artist friends such as Lin Jiachuan, Zeng Shunxi, Ma Jiaqi, Yiwei Yiwei, and Jiang Peiyao. They talk about life freely here, looking for the “answers” and “power” of life in the details, presenting warm and healing pictures of life to the audience.
The relaxed and natural relationship between the guests in this program, as well as the intimacy where they can joke with each other, make the audience soothed and feel the warmth while laughing; at the same time, the “unscripted” setting also often produces real reactions from everyone Unexpected program effects. However, “The Three of Us”, another show that had high hopes before it was broadcast, has a fragmented style and a slow rhythm. The popularity of the show is high and low, and there are signs of a lack of success. It can be seen that the acquaintance game + no script is not the “success manual” of slow drama. The sincere and heartfelt interaction between people and between people and life is the key to impress the audience.
Actors, like plants, have to take root downwards
As the core of the program, Zhang Songwen’s personal charm is undoubtedly the cornerstone of the success of the “Brilliant Garden” program. Zhang Songwen loves plants. As long as he talks about this topic, he can talk endlessly about the maintenance of flowers and plants, the tips of watering and fertilizing. Zhang Songwen appreciates the tenacious vitality of the passing yellow. He likes the thorny plants that know how to protect themselves. He admires the natural creation of plants and trees blooming again on dead trees. But what makes him feel more fulfilled is the sense of companionship that plants give him: If you fall in love Plants are never lonely wherever they go.
This feeling of companionship and not being alone may be what Zhang Songwen is looking for, but in “Brilliant Garden” it is precisely the spiritual power he brings to the audience: an actor grows flowers and grass outside the public view, tinkers with the radio, Or go into the market and chat with passers-by… Simple life and love for nature can calm people’s minds again in the noisy and impetuous life. In the picture, Zhang Songwen picked up the radio intercom and said “good night”; in the barrage, an audience member left a message: After watching it, I cleaned up my house, bought detergent and storage boxes, and decided to live a serious life.
The lyrics of the theme song “Bear Garden” of “Brilliant Garden” read: To be a plant, you need to put down its roots and wait for the rain to “turn up to the sky.” Zhang Songwen said to the young actors in the show: “Your experience determines the depth of your future acting.” Taking root downwards and blooming upwards, the nature of plants is highly consistent with the actor’s career. Therefore, the “Brilliant Garden” program without a script has become a “performing training camp”. What Zhang Songwen shares with his peers is: experiencing the various flavors of life through communication with all kinds of people, and realizing the inspiration for acting in his own free life. He calls it a “creative experience.”