Publications and Articles Published
1. Translations
Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies
Chinese Title: 希区柯克——天才导演和他的女主角们
Book Cover
Notes to Screenwriters: Advancing Your Story, Screenplay, and Career With Whatever Hollywood Throws at You
Chinese Title: 好莱坞编剧指南
Book Cover
Ada, The Enchantress of Numbers: Prophet of the Computer
Chinese Title: 阿达:数字女王
Book Cover
Film History: An Introduction
Chinese Title: 世界电影史（第二版）
I participated in the translation of the book.
Book Cover
2. Articles Published
Mars Intelligence Agency: Cheesiness, Revelry and the Attitude of Whateverness. It's none of your business!
Origninal Chinese Title:《火星情报局》：爱俗烂、爱狂欢，爱咋咋地，您管得着吗！？
Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/10OLVSj1U1KXEFyOGzqUAg
Abstract:
The article touches on the post-modern impact on an online variety show- Mars Intelligence Agency- that went viral among younger generations. By collecting view counts and examining contents and production, the article analyzes how the meaning-deprived collage of fragmented “nonsense” contents which is typical of 1980s or 1990s Hong Kong cinema ostentatiously refers to Chinese appropriation of Japanese Otaku culture and why the show has become so popular among younger netizens despite its garish cheesiness, brazen revelry, and the frivolous attitude of whateverness. In conclusion, its amusing-ourselves-to-death aesthetics appeals to Chinese Millennials who prefer to flatten deeper meanings at a breakneck pace.
Leslie Cheung of A Differently Coloured Firework: You Are So Special
Original Chinese Title: 烟火张国荣：你是如此特别
Link：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/pJnSqqPL_iQ8eGkYXsE-eQ
Abstract:
The article published on the anniversary of the death of Hong Kong film/music star Leslie Cheung has reconsidered his posthumous stardom by analysis of the reasons for his continuing popularity and commemoration on April Fool's Day every year. There are three reasons why his posthumous stardom still exists. First, his career and personal experience is dramatically consistent with the vicissitude of Hong Kong’s society since its rapid development in 1970s. Therefore, Cheung’s star image indelibly reflects and correlates with Hong Kong’s prosperity as one of the four Asian tigers, the anxiety over the return to Mainland China, the waves of immigration at different period since the promulgation of Sino-British Joint Declaration, the impact of the Asian financial crisis and the deadly blow of SARS. Second, Cheung’s deliberate construction of fantasy of pansexuality obscures his sexuality which is unacceptable in the mainstream society. His daring tactics in managing his identity stirred a large controversy and put stress on himself, resulting in the ongoing highlight of his career that was frequently talked about throughout his lifetime and has been constantly analyzed since his death. Thirdly, the majority of the films on which his star image is built did well at the box office while simultaneously referencing to his off-screen identity, which co-constructs his vivid star image treading on the edge of sexuality. The article also analyzes his lesser-known films, which may help to broaden the scope of his star image.
Ghost in the Shell: Hollywood's 'whitewash' in the wave of adaptations of Japanese Manga and Anime
Original Chinese Title: 《攻壳机动队》——日漫IP改编浪潮下的好莱坞明星“洗白”记
link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/xB6SnguCfmE2Z7AWkXH6BA
Abstract:
The article analyzes the reasons for the belated wave of Hollywood adaptations of Japanese manga/anime and criticizes Scarlet Johansson’s Kusanagi Motoko in Ghost in the Shell by foregrounding Hollywood's long history of tarnishing Asians’ images through stereotype and effemination. When dealing with Asian characters, Hollywood would normally resort to hiring white people to play major Asian characters and Asian people to play minor roles, thus “whitewashing” the yellow face in the films and leading to the creation of a number of wacky well-known characters, such as Dr. Fu Man Chu. Asian characters played by Asian actors/actresses are still woefully underrepresented, with a few notable exceptions. Ghost in the Shell is merely another film in the tradition.
'Simulation' Variety Show: A New Type That Might Prevail on the Small Screen
Original Chinese Title: “模拟”综艺：新形态综艺的霸屏未来
link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/8Qfgcb6Gmr6xglXiTspMVw
Abstract:
The article redefines a new type of variety show on Chinese small screens and the internet, frequently referred to as “slow” variety show, indicative of the qualities of serenity, idyll, coziness and being away from the boisterous workplace and city life. My redefinition of the genre is based on the similarities between the shows and simulation games, which is a crucial link that might broaden the potential of content organization unfettered by the deliberate construction of peacefulness and lightheartedness. On the contrary, when the burden of made-up coziness is removed, the “simulation” variety show can directly display the business strategy similar to simulation games while still representing fragments of “slow” based on the arrangement of shooting materials in quantity. The introduction of livestream into the game-like show, which can incorporate direct audience engagement in deciding how the show advances and concludes, is another innovative yet challenging idea.
Even though the article was written many years ago, the production of the "simulation" variety show I termed is still trending. The concepts I suggested in the article for producing this type of show were put into practice. For instance, Me and My Manager（我和我的经纪人）, The Florist's（小姐姐的花店）and Peach Blossom Cove of 50 kilometers（五十公里桃花坞）.
Kevin Tsai Staggers Westwards
Original Chinese Title: 蔡康永踉跄的“西进”之路
link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/v-xXZ8eYhY4HaieCxKPadw
Abstract:
The article analyzes the reasons for the decline of Taiwan’s TV variety shows in Chinese-speaking regions, particularly in Mainland China, and highlights the ‘Westward Movement’ of celebrities and media professionals in the new context of striving in Mainland by Taiwanese. Kevin Tsai, a well-known Taiwanese variety show host, is one of the most notable examples. By analyzing his hosting style, public persona and the TV/online shows he hosted, the article demonstrates that most of his shows lack originality and simply duplicate the production routine that was prevalent in his earlier Taiwanese shows. His departure from the TV/online elite culture show that he excels at, in my opinion, is detrimental to his hosting career in the competitive media market of Mainland China, when a successful precedent set by Life of Adventure, a Mainland China online show hosted and initiated by Taiwanese host Aya, is taken into consideration.
How Long Will Mewe Media Still Rely on the Hit Show Weirdo Talks
Original Chinese Title: 《奇葩说》这棵大树，米未传媒还能抱多久？
link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/PjfOQ3aFyvDB0uOjyeJ2sA
Abstract:
The article has addressed a variety show production company Mewe Media’s core business strategy, including content production(x-axis), derivative business(y-axis), and investment distribution(z-axis), and pointed out how the emerging company unevenly produces shows of limited genre, especially the derivative mass production of its first online hit show Weirdo Talks which provides for younger generation a free discussion platform of inclusiveness, openness and diversity. The company’s crippling production not only easily lands itself in deep trouble by creating language-based online shows that would be strictly censored and even taken offline due to policy changes, but it also limits itself to producing only one grenre of online shows, failing to meet the needs of varied youthful demographics. The startup company, however, is full of ambition and potential. As the CCO of Mewe demonstrates her knowledge and affection for Disney, what the company could learn from the similar ‘x-y-z-axis’ strategy that Disney employs is how to perfectly balance the business and build a kingdom in which diversification of media products and sustainable business of circulation across the three axes will be given priority.
The Dilemma of Taiwan's Variety Show: History, Reasons and Revelation
Original Chinese Title: 台湾综艺的生态困局——历史、原因与启示
Abstract:
The article reviewes the three developmental stages of the history of Taiwan’s TV variety shows, including the infancy in 1960s and 1970s, prosperity in 1980s, and diversification after 1990s, and closely analyzes the three reasons for the media industry' current impasse: a small domestic market, low production budgets and a large number of shoddy media products. While the scale of production has sharply decreased in Taiwan, the seeming boom in big budget productions in Mainland China since the first season of the Voice of China(2012) has revealed the undercurrent of financial crisis and excessive competition for both online production companies and national/local TV broadcasting systems, as evidenced by the emergence of video websites, the ever-increasing production fees, decline of advertising revenue for lower-tier media outlets, malfunction of local broadcasting systems, and the severe unbalance between the top-tier media groups and lower-tier media companies. In addressing the issues of both Taiwan’s and Mainland China’s variety shows, I have come to suggest that Taiwan's experience might be applied to Mainland’s production with a view to cost saving, particularly in the training of low-cost talents and the increase of time-filling talk shows.
After an editor read my article Kevin Tsai Staggers Westwards, I was invited to write this article as well as the one below for Research of Radio and Television, a trade journal published by Shanghai Media Group. The column of the journal, Media Observation, I hosted, is a comprehensive industry study on the rise and fall of Taiwan variety shows and TV dramas. We invited several media scholars and professionals from Mainland China and Taiwan to write on the topic for the column, and we hoped that the experiences from Taiwan's media industry would be enlightening for media people in Mainland China.
Taiwanese Media Professionals' 'Landing in Mainland China' and 'Westward Movement': How to Produce a Variety Show that Conforms to Mainland China’s Imagination
Original Chinese Title: 台湾综艺人的“登陆”与“西进”——如何裁剪出一个符合大陆想象的综艺
Abstract:
The article demarcates two distinct periods during which Taiwanese media professionals participated in the production of Mainland China’s variety shows: one is the period of ‘landing in Mainland’ and the other is ‘westward movement’. The former refers to the period from 1990s to 2012, during which Taiwanese media professionals’ experience and technique were prioritized, whereas the latter refers to 2012 and beyond, when Taiwanese participation constitutes a small portion of the production process due to Mainland China’s media entities’ large, continuous copyright purchases from countries/regions with developed media production markets, such as the Uniteds States, Europe, South Korea and Japan. Several socio-economic factors are interconnected with the demarcation, including Taiwan’s economic decline in contrast to Mainland’s rapid economic development, the adjustment and restructuring of state-owned media enterprises, the continuous purchases of foreign copyrights, and the change of policy that will no longer limit the number of Taiwanese professionals participating in production by Mainland China. Considering the failure of previous productions by Taiwanese crews during the period of ‘westward movement’, it’s recommended that, in the new context of cross-strait cooperation, Taiwanese media professionals produce quality shows based on traditional Chinese culture that appeal to a large number of Chinese audience.
inside pages of the journal's column: the second article
Comments
Post a Comment