On April 7th, Japan issued the "Declaration of Emergency", and the emergency measures covered Tokyo, Osaka Prefecture, saitama, Chiba Prefecture, Kanagawa Prefecture, Hyogo Prefecture and Fukuoka Prefecture. From April 7th, the state of emergency will last for one month to May 6th. This move may "add insult to injury" to the Japanese entertainment industry that was originally affected by the epidemic.
As early as March, Japan’s entertainment industry had been clouded by the epidemic. A number of Japanese dramas have been postponed or stopped, including Naoki Banzawa 2, BG ~ The Guard around 2, Cinderella’s Pharmacist and other spring hits. Most variety shows are suspended, the advertising revenue of TV stations is hit hard, and the cast members are facing unemployment crisis. With the death of Japanese artist Ken Shimura due to COVID-19, many artists were diagnosed one after another, and the actors were also worried. Kimura Takuya and Sakai Masato bought masks and other epidemic prevention supplies from their own pockets.
Naoki Banzawa 2
Cinderella’s Pharmacist
But the Japanese entertainment industry is also seeking self-help in anxiety. Many TV stations began to evaluate the possibility of replacing new dramas with "replaying old dramas" according to the appeal of netizens; Variety shows try to ensure subsequent broadcast through "remote recording". The major TV series studios are still busy, trying to catch up with the progress on the basis of reducing the risk of infection by reducing intimate contact with dramas and strengthening epidemic prevention.
It’s cool and hot around the world, and the spring of Japanese entertainment industry in 2020 seems to come later, just like other regions.
-Japanese drama-
The spring show was supposed to be a "fairy fight", but now many popular dramas have been postponed.
In the spring of 2020, the Japanese drama was once known as the "golden schedule". Since the Tokyo Olympic Games was originally planned to be held from the end of July to the beginning of August, many TV stations have rescheduled their works for nearly half a year in advance to avoid the heat of summer stalls being diverted, including Naoki Banzawa 2, BG~ Guard 2 (starring Kimura Takuya), Cinderella Pharmacist (starring Satomi Ishihara) and Lawyer in Gold 2 (starring Y?ji Oda).
Key dramas that have been stopped or postponed:
Shooting while broadcasting leads to "no inventory", avoiding kissing scenes to reduce the risk of infection.
Among the extended Japanese dramas, Naoki Banzawa 2, a sequel released after seven years, has attracted the most attention. "Due to the spread of the novel coronavirus epidemic, it has affected the shooting schedule of the show. It is a pity that we can only postpone the opening date." For this hot work whose ratings are expected to reach 30%, TBS’s choice to postpone the broadcast is indeed forced to guarantee the inventory.
# Japanese drama features #
It is reported that Japanese dramas are the same as American dramas, and they are broadcast while shooting in the production mode. Not only can the screenwriter modify the follow-up story according to the feedback from the audience, but the platform can also "cut off" the stop loss in time if the ratings are not good. Usually, Japanese dramas will be turned on one to two months before the broadcast, and about three to six episodes will be completed in advance, and the rest will be filmed after the broadcast; The endings of some Japanese dramas are even broadcast live. This also leads to Japanese dramas like American dramas. Once shooting is blocked, the inventory is immediately in short supply.
"We usually start shooting in the early hours of the morning and call it a night, so naturally there will be a decline in immunity caused by fatigue on the set, and it is easy to get infected with the virus." A Japanese TV producer A said in an interview that Naoki Banzawa 2, in particular, takes the office as the stage, and there are so many actors, group performances and even cameras that makeup artists, stylists and actors can’t avoid contact every day. In a sense, the studio can’t strictly prevent and control it. "So in order to avoid cluster infection at the shooting scene, of course, it is impossible to continue shooting."
In addition, the popularity of Covid-19 has caused many crews to re-evaluate the possibility of outdoor shooting. Renting buildings and disinfecting the shooting scene is a huge consumption of manpower and material resources for the crew; However, the abandonment of outdoor shooting has caused some plots to be unable to be successfully realized. "Naoki Banzawa 2 is a sequel that the audience has been looking forward to for seven years. Whether as a fan or a producer, I hope to postpone the broadcast to try to avoid the story from being reduced because it cannot be filmed." A said frankly.
Stills of Naoki Banzawa 2. The picture comes from the Internet.
But there are still many Japanese dramas being filmed. After the 17-year-old actor Ryoya Komiya, who plays the hero in the Asahi TV series "The Magic Warrior", was diagnosed in COVID-19, and the crew had to stop working and isolate, many Japanese netizens began to call for the Japanese performing arts industry to stop working collectively in a special period. On April 8th, the original Netflix Japanese drama "Naked Supervision 2" starring Takayuki Yamada was diagnosed by COVID-19, and the filming work was urgently stopped. The play was originally scheduled to be filmed indoors in TBS studio.
Naked supervision 2
Coping with:In order to reduce the risk of infection, some crews decided to avoid close contact between actors by reducing kissing scenes and intimate scenes. Since novel coronavirus is mostly infected through "intimate contact", if two people perform hugs, kisses, entanglement and other scenes, the risk of infection will rise. A TV producer said in an interview that in the past, kissing was almost necessary in Japanese TV dramas and movies, and sometimes some entangled intimate scenes were needed. "But due to a series of epidemics, this kind of drama has now been banned." At present, the filming of works with kissing scenes and intimate scenes, such as An Qi Ge Lian and Shohei Miura’s M for the Loved One, Nakajima Kento and Hirano Sho’s Under Police, and My Housekeeper, Mr. Fuzhu, has been affected.
—— Japanese comprehensive—
Some variety production companies may close down, and young directors consider part-time food delivery.
Coping with:Since March, Japanese TV stations have announced the adoption of audience-free recording, or stopped recording most variety shows, in order to avoid cluster infection.
On March 30th, Tokyo TV decided to stop recording all the programs, and only reserved the relevant personnel who guaranteed the broadcast of the programs, and other employees worked at home. Xiao Sunmao, president of Tokyo TV Station, said at a press conference on March 26th that from March 27th, only more than 20% of the staff of Tokyo TV Station went to work in the company, and the remaining nearly 80% of the staff only needed to complete normal broadcasting work at home. After that, it will be slowly adjusted to only 10% employees go to work in the company.
TBS announced that from April 4 to April 19, all variety shows and TV series will be suspended. NTV suspended the studio shooting and location shooting of Japanese dramas and variety shows for two weeks from April 6th. On April 7, NHK also announced that it would suspend the recording and live performances of broadcasting companies in seven prefectures, excluding news and other urgent programs. The necessity of outdoor location shooting, broadcasting and recording is also being carefully discussed whether to keep it.
The former producer of Asahi TV Station, Makoto, expressed pessimism about the current prospects in the TV field. He admits that, due to the need to maintain a social distance of more than 1.8 meters and avoid gathering, except for news programs, almost all entertainment programs taking the star route and outdoor shooting programs taking the amateur route are stopped. In this case, radio and television companies and program production companies will encounter unprecedented crisis.
Radio and television companies:This year, it was originally planned to produce a large number of special programs during the Olympic Games, including pre-recording. However, due to the postponement of the Olympic Games, broadcasters have to urgently recruit new programs, so the cancellation of recording is undoubtedly worse for them. In addition, the original advertisements related to the Olympic Games have all been cancelled. In addition, with the current economic downturn in Japan, advertisements can’t be sold at all, and it is impossible to produce best-selling programs. It is inevitable that the operation of TV stations will deteriorate.
Production company:The situation is more serious. Once the recorded "inventory" of the TV station is completely used up, it is possible to fill the vacancy with elaborate or replayed programs, but the production company will hardly earn a penny. Focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises, the reduction of production will make their financial situation deteriorate rapidly, and many cases of bankruptcy may also occur.
Freelancers working on site:It is also facing "nowhere to go." It is reported that the Japanese Variety Recording Association will employ a large number of freelance assistant directors, directors, radio writers, etc., and the programs will stop being included, so that the income of such staff will plummet.
A well-known program director (40 years old) said helplessly that the TV station stopped filming on location and at least five programs he was recording were cancelled. The current income can only last for two months. If it continues, it is expected that the income will be reduced by 3 million yen (about 190,000 RMB) in June and July. "There may be only 150,000 yen (9,000 yuan) in income every month, and my wife is very anxious because she is running out of money every day." Another assistant director in charge of late-night programs (20 years old) said that the cancellation of recording led to a substantial reduction in the number of staff needed, and he had to consider part-time take-away food delivery in order to make money.
"Variety Coffee" is facing unemployment, and big-name artists pay their own money for epidemic prevention.
Due to the shutdown of several dramas caused by COVID-19, the living conditions of Japanese entertainment industry are not optimistic. With the death of Ken Shimura, the "master comedian", due to COVID-19, Professor Kurosawa, a member of the funny trio Mori No.3 Middle School, was diagnosed, and the entertainment circle was in an uproar.
However, according to the agency’s survey of micro-loan business owners, 82% of business owners said that they "don’t want to borrow" on the grounds that "I don’t know if their future work can go smoothly and the repayment prospect is uncertain".
The epidemic has also affected big-name artists. With the program completely stopped recording, Shinobu Sakagami, Teruyoshi Uchimura, Hiroiki Ariyoshi, Suo George and other so-called "variety coffee" have begun to be "unemployed".
The picture of Shinobu Sakagami comes from the Internet.
Teruyoshi Uchimura (middle) pictures come from the Internet.
Secret:It is reported that apart from wage-based artists, most artists in Japan have no income without jobs, and the redder the artists, the higher their pay. Affected by the epidemic, the long-term sponsors of TV stations are accelerating their departure, and production costs must also be controlled. In this way, compared with making new programs, TV stations would rather replay old programs, or give up high-paid stars and choose young artists with a recording reward of about 30,000-100,000 yen (2,000-6,500 yuan) for emergency.
In addition, the music program is blocked, which also causes idol artists or groups to reduce their exposure. "THE MUSIC DAY (Japanese TV station) and the Music Day (TBS), and even the Red and White Song Festival (NHK) on New Year’s Eve, also began to spread that it would be suspended. If it is an idol artist, this large-scale music program is the best publicity opportunity in the past. " Relevant personnel of a record company revealed.
"Red and White Songs" live. The picture comes from the Internet.
And even the film and television artists who have not stopped working in the crew spend every day in anxiety. It is reported that Kimura Takuya took a special humidifier and air purifier with him when shooting "BG~ Guard 2".
Kimura Takuya’s "BG~ Guard 2" stills. The picture comes from the Internet.
Sakai Masato put on a three-layer mask immediately after filming Naoki Banzawa 2. Knowing that the staff did not prepare masks, he also provided 1000 masks from his own pocket. Y?ji Oda specially arranged a camper for himself when filming "The Lawyer in Gold 2", which was also out of his own pocket.
Stills of Sakai Masato’s Naoki Banzawa 2. The picture comes from the Internet.
Koji Matoba, a Japanese actor, said on the social platform on the 6th that both actors and staff are facing the danger of unemployment. His filming in June has been confirmed to be postponed, and it is said that it will start at the end of July at the earliest; A series of work schedules, such as the recording of variety shows and Shang Yan, were almost completely suspended. Koji Matoba also revealed that some local production companies in Japan have been forced to close down. "This is a crisis in the Japanese entertainment industry."
-broadcast platform-
Japanese audience suggested that the old drama be replayed, and the variety show plan was "remote recording"
The new drama in the spring is in a bleak business, and the TV station has to fill the schedule with old dramas. TBS announced that three new dramas, such as Naoki Banzawa 2, were postponed, and it also said that the time slot would be adjusted to broadcast two old dramas, namely, the special collection of Xiamachi Rocket and the masterpiece selection of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. It is reported that "Xiamachi Rocket", starring Hiroshi Abe, was broadcast in 2015 and won many Japanese drama academy awards. "Obstetricians and Gynaecologists", starring G Ayano, was broadcast in 2015, and once received an average audience rating of 11.41% in that year.
Stills of "Obstetrician Hong Bird". The picture comes from the Internet.
For Japanese TV stations, replaying the old drama is only a helpless move to make up for the new drama, but it has won the audience’s love unexpectedly. According to Japanese media reports, The First Night of the Special Collection of Xiamachi Rockets broadcast on TBS on April 5th, the average family ratings were 9% in kanto region and 8% in Kansai, which even outperformed some new dramas.
Some netizens commented that they hope that TV stations can take this opportunity to let viewers order, or they can take stock of some old dramas of their own TV stations in the past. The comment was praised by thousands of netizens. Many netizens have begun to seriously order old dramas. "If possible, can Fuji TV replay the masterpiece selection of the trilogy" Gu Chu Ren Saburo "? If it is a medical theme, I also like "Medical Dragon". "
As for the variety show, some TV stations have interrupted location shooting and studio recording, and some programs have begun to seek countermeasures such as recording without audience and "remote performance".
Coping with:For example, can I go to your home with you? Originally, it was a purely external shooting program. The program group would randomly find passers-by at the station when the trams were out of service in the middle of the night and ask if they could go to see others. However, as the number of infected people in Tokyo has greatly increased, there are fewer and fewer people traveling at night, so the program group has to publish the "shooting guide", stating the basic mode of shooting, such as looking around the whole room, being close to shooting interesting places, shooting the most authentic appearance while chatting with their families, etc., and replacing the recording of the program group with amateur self-recording. "In order to ensure the broadcast, new challenges must be carried out. We hope that everyone can enjoy recording programs at home. " Gao Qiao Hiroshi, producer of the program, said.
"Can I go to your house with you? 》。 The picture comes from the Internet.
Junichiro Nakagawa, a news editor who participated in the live recording of TBS on April 2, said that everyone in the TV station seems to be working with the consciousness of "not wanting to be infected by gathering". In the past, there were a lot of fans outside the live broadcast, but there was almost no one there that day. The TV station will write down the precautions for the staff in advance, such as "alcohol disinfection when entering the station" and "all staff should check their body temperature before entering the studio". During the recording, the staff must also all wear masks; After the recording starts, except that the staff and performers will keep a long distance, other performers also adopt remote "cloud recording".
In addition, many artists’ offices have also spawned the "online cloud entertainment" approach due to the epidemic. For example, on March 17th, Genese announced that it had suspended all performances, and since March 28th, it has released the video images of its artists to fans on the video website. LDH also announced in March that it would release the concert video materials of many artists such as EXILE, J Soul Brothers, E-girls, etc. for a limited time, so as to alleviate everyone’s negative emotions. Ebex also released the concert images of its artists such as Ayumi Hamasaki, TRF and Kumi Kouda.
It is worth mentioning that although entertainment variety shows have been hit hard, some news programs have gradually increased their ratings due to the epidemic. It is reported that in February, NHK TV broadcasted the news content related to "The requirement for the suspension of primary and secondary schools nationwide" (February 17 -23), and the average audience rating of family programs was 12.4%. At the same time, the ratings of news programs in the same period rose to 17.9 again on March 23 -29 one month later.
Beijing News reporter Z Ryan
Editor Tong Na proofreads Lin Zhao.
