“中式霸总短剧”在海外爆火,是大势所趋还是昙花一现?
“中式霸总短剧”在海外爆火,是大势所趋还是昙花一现?
黄骏竺
难度:CSE9
课程导读
你是否曾在抖音或其他短视频软件上刷到过每集时长只有几分钟的“先婚后爱”“霸总娇妻”“豪门恩怨”等土味爽剧?就在不久前,这类剧集通过一款叫作ReelShort的短剧应用在海外爆火,一度力压TikTok冲上美国iOS娱乐榜第1名,截至去年11月,下载量达到1600万次,净收入超过2200万美元。ReelShort是国内一家数字出版企业的海外子公司Crazy Maple Studio(枫叶互动)推出的产品,2022年8月上线。这款中国短剧App是如何征服欧美用户的?这些霸总短剧能算作文化输出吗?一起来听今天的讲解。
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本篇课程首发于2024年1月8日
英文原文
Steamy Romances and Vampires: The Chinese-Backed App Appealing to American Moms
大尺度爱情戏码加上吸血鬼故事:吸引美国主妇的中国应用
By Newley Purnell and Rachel Liang
Joey Jia witnessed the 2020 implosion of short-form video app Quibi and thought: I can do better.
贾毅(Joey Jia)目睹了2020年短视频应用Quibi的迅速陨落,暗自思忖:我可以做得更好。
Jia launched ReelShort targeting women, especially stay-at-home moms between the ages of 18 and 45, who he says love romance and fantasy stories. It draws on the success of similar apps in his native China, featuring dramas with episodes that last about a minute, compared with Quibi's five to 10 minutes.
贾毅推出了ReelShort这款应用,目标用户是女性,特别是18到45岁的全职妈妈。他说这个群体偏爱言情和奇幻故事。ReelShort借鉴了国内同类应用的成功经验,主打每集时长约为1分钟的短剧,而Quibi的短剧每集为5到10分钟。
ReelShort specializes in bingeable, steamy romances, tangled family dramas, handsome billionaires, beautiful women—and vampires and werewolves. The actors are mostly Western, and the dialogue is in English.
ReelShort主打让人上头的大尺度言情剧、错综复杂的家庭剧、英俊潇洒的亿万富翁、楚楚动人的美丽女性,以及吸血鬼和狼人的故事。演员大多是西方面孔,用英语说台词。
The formula is gaining traction with American consumers. The app briefly surpassed ByteDance's TikTok as the most downloaded entertainment app in Apple's App Store. Of the 16 million global downloads the app has garnered so far, some 4.8 million are in the U.S..
这种模式成功征服了美国消费者。ReelShort曾一度超过字节跳动旗下的TikTok,成为苹果应用商店中下载量最高的娱乐应用软件。目前,这款应用的全球下载量已经达到1600万次,其中约480万次下载来自美国。
One reason for ReelShort's success might be that consumers are now accustomed to the kind of short, often informal videos that have flourished on TikTok, said Lexi Sydow, head analyst at Data.ai. "The bite-sized TikTok trend has taken over," she said.
应用分析和数据公司Data.ai的首席分析师莱克茜·西多(Lexi Sydow)表示,ReelShort爆火的原因之一可能是用户习惯了在TikTok上大热的、内容轻松的短视频。她说:“TikTok的碎片化短视频风潮已是大势所趋。”
ReelShort's more than one million followers and subscribers across Instagram, YouTube and Facebook often report they are drawn to the shows despite their low production values and sometimes unoriginal plotlines, though some complain about having to pay to watch entire series.
ReelShort在Instagram、YouTube和Facebook上拥有100多万粉丝和订阅用户。他们经常反映,这些剧的制作水准不高,剧情也缺乏创意。尽管如此,他们还是看得很上头。不过,也有人吐槽必须付费才能观看整部剧集。
【内容拓展】
ReelShort官网的分类标签为:Love After Marriage(先婚后爱)、Falling for the Alpha(爱上狼人首领)、Sweet Revenge(甜蜜复仇)。剧名包括:The CEO's Contract Wife(《总裁的契约娇妻》)、The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband(《亿万富翁丈夫的双面生活》)、Fated to My Forbidden Alpha(《命中注定的禁忌之恋》)。
生词好句
1.steamy
英 [ˈstiːmi]美 [ˈstiːmi]
adj. 大尺度的,激情的(本义指“充满蒸汽的”)
拓展:
steam n. 蒸汽
steamy weather 闷热潮湿的天气
2.vampire
英 [ˈvæmpaɪə]美 [ˈvæmpaɪər]
n. 吸血鬼
3.Chinese-Backed
adj. 中国团队打造的
拓展:
somebody-backed adj. 由......资助或支持的
4.appeal to somebody
对......有吸引力
拓展:
The programme is designed to appeal mainly to 16- to 25-year-olds.
这档节目的目标观众是16到25岁的年轻人。
5.implosion
英 [ɪmˈploʊʒən]美 [ɪmˈploʊʒən]
n. (机构、体制等)突然崩溃;内爆(由外向内的坍塌)
拓展:
explosion n. 爆炸(由内向外)
the implosion of the Titan sub 泰坦号潜水器的内爆
6.target
英 [ˈtɑːɡɪt]美 [ˈtɑːrɡɪt]
v. 瞄准(目标受众)
拓展:
表达某事针对某一人群:
主动语态:something targets somebody
被动语态:something is targeted at somebody
7.draw on
凭借,利用
拓展:
draw on one's savings 动用自己的小金库
8.bingeable
英 [ˈbɪndʒəbl]美 [ˈbɪndʒəbl]
adj. 让人欲罢不能的
拓展:
binge n./v. (无节制地)大吃大喝、消遣娱乐
binge watching 疯狂刷剧
binge spending 狂热消费
Friends is the most bingeable sitcom of all time.
《老友记》是有史以来最让人上头的情景喜剧。
9.tangled
英 [ˈtæŋɡld]美 [ˈtæŋɡld]
adj. 错综复杂的;纠缠在一起的
拓展:
tangled hair 乱糟糟的头发
tangled plot 错综复杂的剧情
his tangled love life 他混乱的感情生活
10.formula
英 [ˈfɔːmjələ]美 [ˈfɔːrmjələ]
n. 方法,方案;配方
11.gain traction
获得支持、认可;流行起来
拓展:
traction n. 牵引力,拉力
The trend of 'loud quitting' is gaining traction.
"高调离职"日益盛行。
12.download
英 [ˈdaʊnləʊd]美 [ˈdaʊnloʊd]
n. 下载量
13.garner
英 [ˈɡɑːnə]美 [ˈɡɑːrnər]
v. 获得,得到(信息、支持、流量等)
拓展:
garner financial support 获得财政支持
garner more than one million views 获得了超过一百万的点击量
14.be accustomed to something
习惯于某事
15.bite-sized
adj. 碎片化的,短小精悍的(very small or short)
拓展:
bite-sized happiness 小确幸
bite-sized learning 微学习
16.take over
占上风,成为主流
拓展:
In the end, rationality took over.
最终,理性占了上风。
17.be drawn to something
被某事吸引(be attracted to something)
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