Preliminary Study about Narrative Art of the Micro Film

韓冰

【Abstract】Micro film is a product of the development of Network Media， which is different from the traditional film performance， and in order to cater to the characteristics of micro era， it is more attractive to the audience. The thesis expounds the characteristics of the era of micro film from the media dependence and the needs of the audience， as well as innovation and development about themes and the relationship between time and space，and the developmedent trend of micro film under the background of today's society .

【Key Words】Micro Era； Micro Film； Audience； Narrative

Micro era， which is marked by short refining expressionas as a cultural transmission characteristics of the times， the typical media representatives as WeChat micro-blog. Throughout the development of the times， now is an era of consumption. The rhythm of people's life becomes faster， high pressure and strong competition. The time in life are scattered， increasingly fragmented. The integration and development of the fragmentation of time is the popular “micro era”. The micro film seizes this opportunity， it presenting short-time and small-structure video works to the audience. But it is not like the traditional classic films showed in the cinema， which leads it strong dependence to the media. In return，with mass communication and Internet， and it is open， universal and populist. And regardless of gender， age， race， occupation and income， as long as access to the Internet， you can watch. That is to say， on the Internet， if micro film wants more click rate， it needs to take the audience as its center， according to the needs of the audience， meeting the needs of the audience.

I. Micro Film Origin Condition

i. Micro Film Features

The micro era gets the fragmented time， the compact plot， the simple structure and short time micro film reasonably and skillfully connected，which is more easily accepted by modern people. Short time， short production cycle， low cost， small crew and the creation of micro film， for those features， Internet is the best way for micro film to transmit widely.

The origin of micro film is a reform of traditional film from content， form and idea，as well as reform and performance method. So it fully reflects the characteristics of the development of the micro era. For the concept of micro film creation， we should emphasize the popularization of art， interactive and participatory aesthetic，and closing the distance between the artists and the audience.for the form of performance， we should emphasize the importance of comprehensive， inclusive， interactive and multimedia. For the interactive of art and carrierrelationships， we should emphasize the importance of media.

ii. Audience Need of Micro Era

From the 1940s “theory of use and gratification” explained that： the audience member seen as a specific needs of individuals， their media contact activity is regarded as a process based on the specific needs of motivation to “use” the media， so that these needs can be meeted. By watching the film and television works， the audience can get a variety of information related directly or indirectly to their own life， and timely grasp the environment changes. After the high strength work， people need to relax， escaping from the troubles of daily life. The film and television works providing recreation and entertainment， help people to close a sense of emotional liberation， and achieve the effect of mood conversion. Most people have curiosity， concern what they have no idea. Bby watching they seek a kind of self realization， “identity” of film and television works， and experience oneself not experienced the life situation.

Anyway， the individual needs of audience through the media contact activities be meeted， which put the audience into the position of the subject. So the audience is the center in the communication process，. Presently， under the background of the micro era， the audience affect by centered theory is more and more prominent. So， producers take the needs of the audience into account ， making reasonable works that audience interested most. These needs are diversity， audience has initiative choice. At this clear point， it is advantageous to grasp the initiative needs of audience.

II. Features of Micro Film Narrative Art

Micro film narrative and traditional film narrative has obvious difference. Traditional film clocks general lasts from 90 minutes to 120 minutes， or even longer， but micro film length is from 30 seconds to 30 minutes. So if the director wants to express the content clearly in a short time， it requires substantial changes in the narrative to make it more in line with the needs of audience and the thinking way.

i. Theme

Micro film production team by traditional professional turn to the grassroot level， breaking the traditional film superior attitude， and let more moviegoers realize their aspirations. Therefore， the theme of micro film is closer to people's daily life， it showing real life and the phenomenon of popular fashion.

ii. The Nostalgia Theme

“Nostalgia” is an original human emotions. Since the birth of human beings， body desire， spiritual yearnings， comfortable， happiness and freedom， they are the most fundamental and the most primitive human nature. However life is not satisfactory， all kinds of setbacks and failures always put off peoples desire. In order to get rid of the pain to seek relief， people often use two ways to carry out the spirit of redemption， one is to dream and try to put into action to pursue a future Utopia， another is repeatedly aftertasting the past memories to ease the pain of comfort “nostalgia”. On December 21st 2011，Chopsticks brothers launched micro film “father” （“father and son” and “father daughter story”）， following the “old boy”，a nostalgia theme of micro film. The story is about the subtle feelings between son and father during the growth. No shock of spectacles but source from life， small story full of warm， with true feelings ，that touches the audiences heart.

iii. The Social Reality Theme

Sublime words with deep meaning， micro films often reflects the social environment and people's value concept and social atmosphere from very small things. In 1982， Neil Postman from New York School in his book “The Disappearance of Childhood”， he put forward： “electronic media age， revealing the entire content of the adult world， sex， disease and death， as a result， a far-reaching consequences…. Children infect adults pessimism， suspicion， indifference and arrogant habits. Generation gap between children and adults has disappeared.”， Micro film “Red Scarf” is under the fast development of electronic media showing the audience the shadow of the reality. So “Red Scarf” on the network can quickly became popular， the on-line click rate exceeding 20 million times for 5 days， more over than the hits of the same period blockbuster.

iv. Time-space relationship

In micro films， the time-space relationship is different from the tradition complex photo editing. Micro film time-space changes more convenient， using different times of classic songs or different times the typical events to achieve space-time transformation easily.

Chopsticks brothers work “father （father and son story）”， a series of classic songs creates another space-time narration in the film. E.g. when the father accepts treatment after the war， the background music “my motherland” is the theme song of the movie “Shangganling Battle”， which reflects the war against U.S. invading Korea， during the war the volunteer soldiers fighting the enemy's courageously. At the very time the music sounds up to prove the father is a good soldier with great honor. At the same， the music also shows the changges of time and space. After that， the father come to a state-owned factory， the music is “Young Friend Come and Join Together”， which is quite popular at the beginning of the 80s of the 20th century. Under the excellent situation of Reform and Opening Up， his son comes to the word. The music changes to a children's song “Heaven and Earth”， and “Between Heaven and Earth” is the China Central TV program Television broadcasting for teens in 1987. The micro film introduces the times of that age with the children songs，that helps a lot for the movie narrative. As Shaw Dabao is a whiz kid， even Deng Xiaoping receives him， the lyrics “who can uncover these mysteries， who becomes smartest” aptly corresponding film narrative. Xiao Dabao grows up slowly， on the contrary， he fighting， peeping the toilet， watching naked photos......even runs away from home. Singing in the street， doing nude models， he lives in shabby conditions. Here goes the music “The Price of Love” to express his sadness. Later Shaw becomes a popular song star， holding music concert and inviting his parents to participate in. In order to find fitted clothes， his fater try one and another. All those details shows the mood of his father.His father comes to big cities alone， feeling out of tune with the unfamilar city. Tall builings surounding his father， the old man trys to help others but be regarded as nosy. Unfortunately， when finding his robbed package，his is hit by a car. At this time， parallel montage shows the son singing his song “Father”， which sublimates the main idea， touching the audience.

III. The Development Trendency of Micro Film

i. strengthening innovation conscious

With the development of the times， the aesthetic needs of the audience and the appreciation level increase gradually， so micro film not only need to bring interest in content and expression of sense but also need to have a deep certain on creation. And for the form of creation it needs new forms to strengthen the creative concept； for content， it should has social value of thinking and humanistic care， not only interesting but also close to the life， from life.

ii. Faithful to the Original Idea

The originality is the creators first perception of life according to their own experience， which is a challenge to the tradition， but not against the traditional， taking the tradition as the reference object inheritance and innovation. Micro era， people want to watch they never contact with in order to satisfy their curiosity. So for the development trendency of micro film， be faithful to the original idea can bring vigor and vitality to micro film.

iii. Creating Brand Effect

In the era of consumption today， micro film is more and more popular. If you create your mass-market brand， that is an advantage to get broad market. So it is important to create ones own brand， achieving long-term proflit. For example， Youku， Potatoes， Fantastic Art， Netease， they are all outstanding brands.

iv. Expanding the Communication Effect

“Agenda setting function” theory from Communication in social effects of mass communication descripes that：“more indirectly the audience on various topics experience， more influence by the media； bigger the audience contect the media information， greater media influence it is.” So， better effect based on the better disseminative strategy.In the form of communication， pre production footage， propaganda of micro film， using of platform for the dissemination， such as Weibo， Renren and QQ， and other social networks to spread.

v. Training Professional Talents

At present， many university opened new media art major， and more people can get into this field， being professional by training and obtaining more skills and ability； the creation of micro film， is less limited， as long as you have a movie dream， you can become a direct， as well as ordinary people. Therefore， the training of professional talents can in colleges and universities， can also be through an open network platform， to train more talent.

Reference：

[1]Lin Xun.New media art[M].Shanghai：Shanghai Jiao Tong University press，2011：102-105.

[2]Guo Qingguang.communication tutorial[M].Beijing：Renmin University of China press，1999：180-184.

[3]Jiang Hui.The present China film “nostalgia” magazine writers tend to[J].，2008，03.