A new MVP emerges in the 40 billion short drama market

As AI technology continues to deepen in the field of content creation, AIGC short dramas are becoming a new field that media and large companies are competing to explore. This article will explore the development status, technical advantages and challenges of AI short dramas, and analyze how AI technology can bring new development opportunities to the short drama industry.

National media and major companies are competing to release AIGC short plays. (AIGC is a production method that uses AI technology to automatically generate content. It has been widely used in many fields such as painting, writing, and video.)

At the end of March, CCTV AI Channel was officially launched, and the first AI full-process short drama "Chinese Mythology" created by it was also released to the audience. At that time, China Central Radio and Television announced that it would jointly launch a series of AI short dramas on urban culture and tourism in various places to help build a city's business card.

At the end of June, three AI short dramas, "Hero", "Love Never Ends" and "Fantasy Store", were launched on CCTV Video. The producer was the Film and Television Documentary Center of China Media Group.

In July, Sanxingdui: Future Revelation and Shanhai Qijing: Breaking the Waves were released one after another. The former was distributed through Douyin and Youku, while the latter was only released on the account @快手星茫短剧. Both were free. As of press time, the same topic of Sanxingdui had 77.032 million views on Douyin, and the full episode of Shanhai Qijing had 52.404 million views on Kuaishou.

Since Sora became popular at the beginning of this year, a large number of AI video generation models have emerged in China: Kuaishou's Keling AI, Douyin's Jimeng AI, Alibaba's Xunguang video creation platform, Meitu's WHEE and MOKI, AiShi Technology's PixVerse, Vidu jointly released by Tsinghua University and Shengshu Technology, Pixeling launched by Zhixiang Future, and VegaAI from Right Brain Technology...

Short plays, all of which are AI-generated, are a testbed for the application of these large models. With the help of AI large-scale model video generation capabilities, the production speed of short plays is accelerating. Now a short play can be produced in half a month. Its subject matter is also somewhat different from previous live-action short plays. AI short plays with themes such as mythology, cultural tourism, intangible cultural heritage, fantasy, science fiction, and time travel are constantly emerging.

What new variables can AI bring to the short drama industry? Will short dramas produced purely using AI become the top short drama track in the future?

1. Which AI short drama is the best?

Among the numerous AIGC short plays and AI-themed short plays, Kass selected four for specific analysis:

In terms of subject matter, "Chinese Mythology" launched by CCTV Video, "Sanxingdui" and "Shanhai Mirror" launched by Douyin and Kuaishou all contain fantasy and adventure elements or themes. The producers and producers did not establish the projects for the purpose of profit, but were "proofing" or "trying". "Reborn as an Agent in the AI ​​World" is slightly special. It is a brand-customized drama shot with real people, and AI products are implanted in the plot.

"Chinese Mythology" is a traditional Chinese mythology theme, with a total of six episodes, namely "Repairing the Sky", "Chasing the Sun", "Flying to the Moon", "Reclaiming the Sea", "Controlling Water", and "Tasting Hundreds of Herbs". It starts with classic mythological stories and uses AI technology to expand people's imagination of mythology. For example, in the "Chasing the Sun" chapter, Kuafu and the space-based solar observatory "Kuafu No. 1" and in the "Flying to the Moon" chapter, Chang'e and "Chang'e No. 5" achieved a dream linkage. The art, storyboards, videos, dubbing, and music of the play are all completed by AI, and the producers are CCTV Video, the Artificial Intelligence Studio of the Central Radio and Television Station, and the Metaverse Culture Laboratory of the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University.

"Sanxingdui" attempts to combine AIGC with cultural tourism themes. The story is set in the near future. The ancient civilization ruins on the earth suddenly change, which has attracted great attention from ancient civilization research organizations around the world. The protagonist, archaeologist Jiang Cheng, was born in Guanghan, Sichuan, a family that has been engaged in Sanxingdui archaeology for generations. Several generations of the family have been studying the secrets of the Sanxingdui ruins. By chance, Jiang Cheng and scientist Wu Xingyan teamed up to uncover the mystery of the ancient Shu Kingdom and the Southern Silk Road, looking for the code to save civilization. This short drama is jointly produced by Douyin and Bona Film Group, and Douyin's self-developed big model Jimeng AI serves as the chief technical support.

Image source: Sanxingdui: Apocalypse of the Future

The theme of "The Mirror of Mountains and Seas" is similar to the classic narrative of "Chenxiang splits the mountain to save his mother". The monster Jiuying in the seabed captured the villagers and the mother of the protagonist Li Xingzhou. In order to save people, Li Xingzhou ventured alone, got the Water God Halberd, split the Hopeless Sea, killed Jiuying, and saved his relatives and villagers who were turned into mermaids.

Image source: "Mountain and Sea Mirror"

It is understood that the screenwriter, editor, and dubbing of "Shan Hai Qi Jing" are real people, but the pictures are all realized by AI. First, Midjourney Wensheng pictures are used, and then Kuaishou Keling pictures are used to generate videos. Some of the soundtracks are also generated by AI. The producer of the play, Chen Kun, has been in the traditional film and television industry for more than 20 years. He just switched to become an AI film and television worker this year. His company, Xingxian Culture, has also transformed from a traditional film and television company to an AI native film and television company. Chen Kun reviewed on his personal public account that the play took half a year from the initial idea on January 4, 2024 to its official launch on July 13.

The male protagonist Lu Ziheng and the female protagonist Su Mu in "Reborn as an Agent in the AI ​​World" were originally agents and sworn enemies in the AI ​​world. During a robbery mission, they accidentally traveled to 2024 and became a wealthy couple. The two need to complete the mission before they can return to the real world, so they are forced to cooperate. In the process of getting along and finding the truth, they slowly fall in love with each other, and use advanced AI equipment to solve the difficult problems encountered in the mission. This short play is a customized marketing content, exclusively sponsored by JD.com, co-produced by Kuaishou and JD.com, and co-produced by Mingbai.

Kass observed that some specific themes are more suitable for demonstrating AI's technical strength. For example, mythology, fantasy, war gods, and time travel, which are fantasy themes, often require the presentation of various fantasy scenes, characters, and special effects. Special effects production assisted by AIGC technology can more efficiently create realistic fantasy scenes, alien characters, and action effects, creating a shocking visual experience.

Judging from the number of interactions, the relatively discussed Sanxingdui and Shanhai Qijing are not much different, but they do not seem to have reached the level of going viral. The gimmick of both is AIGC, and users discuss the technology behind it more than the plot content.

For example, the focus of users' discussion is on the comparison between AI presentation and real people. Some users think that AI-generated images are too "technical" and the image of digital people is "too AI-flavored." Some viewers said, "Sanxingdui and Shanhai Wonderland have the same problem, that is, they cannot have coherent character dynamic performances like real-life shots. They look more like 'lines + MV', which is a fragmented combination of plots that rely on the audience's imagination."

In the comment section of Bona's Douyin, a viewer mentioned, "To be honest, the expressions and movements of the AI ​​characters are very unnatural. But the pictures generated by AI are great." She suggested, "You can take advantage of the strengths and avoid the weaknesses. Make an animated CG movie, because the picture effects are really great. Or you can use real people to shoot the character action clips, and then use AI scenery effects."

In fact, some people in the industry have already tried to use AI scenery and real-life shooting to produce short dramas. "Love Never Ends" is the first short drama produced by China Central Radio and Television that uses the combination of "AI + real people". It combines real-life shooting and AIGC digital human/content synthesis/scene synthesis to tell the story of the protection of family affection and love between three generations of grandparents and grandchildren. Judging from the finished film, the texture of real-life shooting is better than that of AI technology.

In summary, the current followers of AI short dramas are still limited to some deep users of short dramas and general practitioners who are interested in new technologies. There is still a need for an AI short drama that is truly popular, has explosive points, and is a popular topic, so that more institutions and creators are willing to join in and form a transformative force.

2. What variables can AI bring to short plays?

The "2024 China Micro-Short Drama Industry Research Report" released by iResearch Consulting shows that 3,574 short dramas are planned to be registered and 584 will be put online in 2023; the market size of the micro-short drama industry has reached 35.86 billion yuan in 2023, and is expected to grow to 48.46 billion yuan in 2024.

The short drama market has huge appeal and a broad audience base.

Public data shows that the number of daily active users of short dramas on the Kuaishou platform increased from 270 million in 2023 to 300 million in the first quarter of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 11%; the number of heavy users increased from 94 million to 146 million, a year-on-year increase of 55.3%. Nearly 80% of short drama users watch short dramas every week.

In 2023, the number of users who actively search for micro-short dramas on Douyin every day increased by 2 times, and the number of micro-short dramas with over 100 million views reached 500, of which 12 works had over 1 billion views, and the daily views of micro-short dramas doubled.

The industrial chain of the short drama industry has become relatively mature, and has also put forward higher requirements for each player in the chain.

According to a report by Xinmin Weekly at the end of 2023, even if short dramas are produced using traditional methods, the time cycle has been significantly shortened. The average shooting cycle of a short drama is usually 7-10 days. Including pre-production and post-editing, the whole process will not exceed one month. However, in terms of shooting costs, the short drama industry has risen sharply, with an average production cost of 500,000 yuan, and some short dramas even cost more than 2 million yuan. In addition to the most common short drama themes such as sweet pet dramas, war god dramas, and counterattack dramas, some producers want to try fantasy and science fiction themes, but these themes mean complex special effects in the later stage, and the cost is also increased accordingly.

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has also attached increasing importance to the development of short dramas. From June 1, 2022, the General Administration officially issued administrative licenses for online dramas including micro short dramas, and short dramas have entered a new era of "online standards" from "online filing". This year, while increasing supervision on the quality and compliance of short drama content, the "short drama +" model has continued to penetrate into all walks of life, which led to the emergence of AI short dramas.

When the development of short dramas entered the standardization period, major platforms also introduced corresponding support plans, and the content quality of the works gradually improved. Data released by the 2024 China Joy Short Drama Innovation Forum showed that production quality and plot themes have become key indicators for the success of online micro short dramas. From the audience survey, 54.14% of netizens will be attracted by the excellent production quality of short dramas; 43.90% of netizens will be attracted by the plot themes.

Faced with the new competitive environment and user demands, big AI models can partially solve the pain points of practitioners.

First of all, in the production of short dramas, AI can help practitioners break through subject matter limitations more easily and become a tool to significantly improve production efficiency.

In a previous article, Kas wrote that many popular short dramas at this stage are limited to sweet or refreshing narratives such as "The Overbearing CEO Falls in Love with Me", "The Revenge of the Bad Wife", and "The Son-in-law Turns Over and Becomes the Master". The content is commonplace and there are no new tricks, which has caused aesthetic fatigue. (Click here to read: Pinduoduo, which earns 300 million yuan a day, is eyeing the "fat meat" of short dramas)

AI short dramas can quickly generate a large number of science fiction and fantasy scenes, saving special effects costs and shooting time, and are very attractive to non-head projects with insufficient start-up capital.

Chen Kun said in an interview with the media that if real people were to make a 10-minute short play, a team of hundreds of people would be needed. But with the help of AI technology, a team of a dozen people can complete it. In the film and television industry, the cost can be reduced by at least a quarter.

It is worth noting that although Vincent image and Vincent video technology has been widely used, it still requires professional personnel to adjust and optimize it to form exquisite pictures.

Although AI has shown strong capabilities in data processing and pattern recognition, it has major flaws in core creativity and character emotional motivation. Therefore, AI short plays still need professional talents to create and review the core content. AI cannot replace humans, but serves and empowers humans.

The CCTV Video official account recorded the behind-the-scenes story of Chinese Mythology: the "text to picture" segment is the most demanding in terms of writing skills, and the creators need to polish the prompts hundreds of times and intervene in the European and American aesthetics of existing AI tools to generate imagined mythological characters and scenes with unique oriental charm; in the "picture to video" segment, in order to maximize the "acting skills" of the characters and explore the action coherence and emotional expression of the characters in the plot, the production team tried to match a variety of parameters for the dynamic sense of the character subject to overcome the technical difficulties of the subject's movement amplitude and picture stability being out of sync.

According to Beijing Youth Daily, Li Kangkang, technical director of Sanxingdui, said that AIGC (generative artificial intelligence) does not mean throwing everything to computers, but requires "human-computer co-creation" and controlling AI content through traditional film art. "There is a lot of manual intervention, such as setting up scenes, training models, and controlling the consistency of characters."

Another variable that AI brings to short dramas is the ability to "go overseas" at a lower cost.

Since 2023, the overseas market for short dramas has continued to heat up. Sensor Tower shows that in February this year, more than 40 short drama applications have been tested in the overseas market, with a cumulative download volume of nearly 55 million times. The revenue of the overseas short drama market has risen in tandem with the download volume. TikTok for Business released the "2024 Short Drama Overseas Marketing White Paper" for the first time, predicting that the overseas short drama industry will form a market of tens of billions of dollars in the future.

Language and cultural differences are a major challenge for short dramas going overseas. There are two main types of short dramas going overseas: domestic translated dramas and local dramas. Compared with domestic translated dramas, localized short dramas are more expensive.

The application of AI face-changing and dubbing related technologies provides a new solution. Through AI face-changing technology, the faces of the characters in domestic short dramas are replaced with local actors who are more familiar to overseas audiences, and then localized translation and dubbing are used, killing two birds with one stone and reducing the cost of going overseas.

According to "DataEye Short Drama Observation", the annual membership of Jianying (annual fee is about 600 yuan) supports AI functions such as subtitle generation and video translation. It currently supports translation between Chinese, English and Japanese; the Huiying subtitle website is an AI subtitle generation platform that is compatible with 110 languages ​​​​translation and subtitle duration, with an annual fee of 960-1920 Hong Kong dollars; in terms of face-changing and dubbing services, the price of a certain website is as high as 7200/time, which still has a price advantage compared to on-site shooting.

Every wave of technological change has profoundly affected the reconstruction of the business order. Kas believes that at this stage, AI does not bring "disruptive power" to the short drama industry, but we can see some hope and possibility of breaking through the existing subject matter limitations and cost difficulties, which is more practical.