1. Introduction
According to the 51st Statistical Report on the Development of China’s Internet, by December 2022, the number of netizens in China has reached 1.051 billion, with 99.8% using mobile phones to access the internet; the number of short video users has exceeded one billion for the first time, with a user utilization rate of 94.8% (CNNIC, 2023) . With the innovation of media technology, short videos have gradually become a popular application, cultural television programs have been unprecedentedly impacted conversely.
Compared to traditional cultural TV programs, users in the new media environment prefer mobile short videos with short and exquisite content. The success of the “Wonderful Tour” series of cultural TV programs launched by Henan TV is closely related to the content of the programs produced and disseminated, and it also provides inspiration for the development of the entire cultural TV program. Due to the frequent “out of circle” of Qixi Wonderful Tour of Henan Satellite TV, many scholars have carried out research on the program. The main research directions include internal logic, communication strategies, media integration narrative, symbol application and its success factors.
For example, based on semiotic theory, Zhu Xinying and Yao Hongliang in their article The Application of Traditional Cultural Symbols in Henan TV’s Qixi Wonderful Tour develop several aspects of the use of visual and auditory symbols in the program Qixi Wonderful Tour (2021), such as characteristics, principles and revelations, which have certain significance for traditional cultural programs to explore and use cultural symbols and further promote China’s excellent traditional culture (Zhu & Yao, 2022) .
Through reading the literature, most studies on Henan TV’s Qixi Wonderful Tour have focused on the overall program content and communication strategy, but not on the content innovation of Qixi Wonderful Tour in 2022. This article will take the Qixi Wonderful Tour launched by Henan Satellite TV in 2022 as an example (hereinafter referred to as Qixi Wonderful Tour) to analyze its program innovation characteristics, which will play a reference for the current cultural TV programs to get out of the predicament.
2. Summary of Qixi Wonderful Tour
2.1. Introduction to Qixi Wonderful Tour
Since the first appearance of Tang Palace Night Banquet at the 2021 Spring Festival Gala, Henan Satellite TV has successively launched Chinese Festivals series programs such as Lantern Wonder Night, Qixi Festival Tour, and Mid Autumn Festival Tour in various traditional festivals. Qixi Wonderful Tour, launched by Henan Satellite TV in 2022, is jointly produced by Henan Radio and TV Station and Youku. It continues the program mode of online series and online variety, takes scene and poetry as a series, and takes ingenuity as the main line, traversing historical time and space.
Qixi Wonderful Tour consists of eight programs, namely, Star River, Qixi, The Sound of Owls Again Today, Xinghan Tour, Well-Doer like Water, Xiushui Yiren, Invisible Wings, and Fairy of the Magpie Bridge. The duration of the program is 47 minutes. On the basis of continuing the traditional concept of Qixi Festival, it has also been extended and expanded. The program connects tradition and reality. From ancient times to modern times and then to contemporary times, there is not only the romantic interpretation of the traditional Qixi love story, but also the romantic upgrade of the ancients exploring nature, acrobatics showing Taoist philosophy, and dance interpreting female charm.
2.2. Broadcast Volume and Network Influence of Qixi Wonderful Tour
While continuing the content production of previous programs, Qixi Wonderful Tour deeply cultivated the content, innovated the topic selection and content arrangement, and triggered a new explosion after the broadcast. The topics such as # group images of women in Qixi Wonderful Tour # # The Sound of Owls Again Today plays Oracle love letters # have gained tens of millions of readers on Weibo. The program team continues to create a communication matrix, not only coordinating with domestic promotional matrices to disseminate excellent works, but also coordinating with foreign diplomatic agencies for overseas promotion. According to statistics, Qixi Wonderful Tour has 23 hot topics on the whole network, and the hot topics on the whole network have exceeded 2 billion views. Among them, the single program of the national style song Xinghan Tour was forwarded and promoted by media such as the People’s Daily (Qian, 2023) . Qixi Wonderful Tour program flow and reputation win-win, on the basis of the continuation of the previous Wonderful Tour series of program features, again with high-quality content creation frequently out of the circle. The following will take Qixi Wonderful Tour as an example to analyze the content selection, camera language, program arrangement and other aspects of the program, so as to provide useful enlightenment for the modern expression of cultural TV programs.
3. Content Selection Features of Qixi Wonderful Tour
Whether it is short or long videos, technology empowerment or dissemination matrix is only an auxiliary role at most, and the key is to focus on content creation. “Content is king” is never outdated. In the selection of program content, Qixi Wonderful Tour has carried out in-depth research on traditional culture, explored distinctive character stories, and launched narrative in three aspects of original theme, female theme, and in-depth theme. It has innovated and interpreted theme stories with profound meaning, which not only inherits traditional festivals, but also sublimates and innovates traditional Chinese culture.
3.1. Original Themes Ensure Fresh Content
In recent years, various television stations have continuously launched cultural TV programs with fresh content and innovative forms. While exploring excellent traditional culture, they have innovated story telling forms and frequently made headlines with modern styles. However, as cultural TV programs continue to emerge, the content and form of the programs either tend to be homogenized or show an excessive pursuit of entertainment while weakening cultural value, resulting in a lack of innovation, resulting in restrictions on the dissemination effect and scope of influence of cultural television programs (Tang & Zhang, 2023) .
The tendency towards homogenization of programs can easily lead to audience aesthetic fatigue, and the tendency to excessively pursue entertainment while weakening cultural value goes against the original intention of producing cultural television programs. Henan TV delves deeply into the excellent traditional Chinese culture, breaking away from the classic evening form of the past, and launching original themed programs that conform to the traditional holiday connotations through the model of online series and online variety. Qixi Wonderful Tour updates the condiments and ingredients on the basis of preserving the soup base, continuously excavates the essence of traditional culture, and reinterprets the flesh and blood historical figures, telling stories while highlighting the oriental wisdom.
The origin of Qixi comes from China’s ancient astrological culture, which carries people’s dreams and yearnings for the vast universe from the past to the present. In ancient times, there were Chang’e Flying to the Moon and Ten Thousand Households Flying to the Sky. Today, there is the exploration of the sky in the aerospace industry. The original Chinese style song Xinghan Tour connects ancient and modern times, combining the romantic imagination of the ancients about the starry sky with the inheritance of the aerospace spirit. At the same time, it cleverly embeds the stories of Xu Xiake and Zheng He. Xu Xiake was brave enough to set out and explore the national geography of mountains and rivers, while Zheng He was the first person in China to sail, leading a huge fleet to explore the ocean. The exploration spirit of two historical figures inspires the younger generation to aspire to high ideals. At the end of the program, the lead singer Zhang Jie led the children to watch the starry sky and explain historical stories, hoping that the spirit will continue to be passed down. Qixi is just an opportunity to publicize the main theme. The program Xinghan Tour breaks through the traditional romantic love theme of Qixi, and connects people’s curiosity and exploration of the stars in ancient and modern times. Classic character stories are endowed with new content and spirit in the new era.
3.2. Female Subjects Show the Group of Women
Media can reflect society and also construct society. In recent years, the audiovisual and literary programs on “Her Theme” have broken away from the aesthetic perspective of female images from a patriarchal perspective, facing the group difficulties faced by women in real life, and bravely breaking the inherent image of women being weak, cowardly, and feminized. This reflects the current value shift of female subjectivity (Tan & Huang, 2023) . Women look in the mirror in the media, assign their own roles to actors, reflect on themselves through character stories, gain strength from her, bravely break through the barriers of reality, and reshape themselves.
Qixi Festival is also called Qiqiao Festival, which means women’s wisdom and ingenuity. Another main line in Qixi Wonderful Tour is the brilliance of women. The director shows the value turn of women in the new era through women’s themes. Once the program was launched, the topic of #Women’s Group Images of Qixi Wonderful Tour# gained tens of millions of readers on Weibo. The female group portraits in the program are portrayed in depth and diversity, including female generals and women in the Chinese martial arts duo of The Sound of Owls Rises Again, young women who liberate their minds and devote themselves to revolution in Xiushui Yiren, and new era women who pursue dreams and realize their own values in Invisible Wings.
The program The Sound of Owls Again Today starts from an archaeological excavation, where female archaeologists discover oracle bone inscriptions engraved with Fu Hao on unearthed cultural relics, thus leading to the historical narrative behind the symbols. From solo dance to co-dance, and then to solo dance, the program uses a dance segment to portray the steadfast love between a warrior and a female general named Fu Hao, while also showcasing the female image of a powerful priest and a military commander named Fu Hao in the Shang Dynasty. The traditional television program stage with large screens and lighting to a certain extent limits the visual presentation of the program, while the program The Sound of Owls Again Today uses XR technology to place dancers on top of the giant female owl statue for performance, thereby enriching the expressive hierarchy of the program stage and bringing an immersive feeling to the audience.
The program The Sound of Owls Rises Again tells the story of Fu Hao through a dance performance, showcasing the image of an intelligent, brave, and gentle woman to the audience. The shaping of the female image of Fu Hao is not only reflected in various dance movements, but also in the facial expressions and accessories of the dancers, such as the resolute gaze shown when the leader leaves in battle. The director conveys the transformation of contemporary female images by telling the story of the character Fu Hao. Nowadays, women are not limited to one room, but can see diverse life trajectories in individuals. Female individuals constantly break through traditional barriers when writing their own biographies, bravely challenging the oppression and discrimination brought by the powerful patriarchal society between what can be done and what cannot be done. At the same time, they also tell countless female descendants of the infinite possibilities of life.
3.3. Deep Themes Rich Emotional Output
Jiao Shuqi mentioned in the article The Construction of Traditional cultural identity from Henan Satellite TV’s Chinese Festivals Series that the Wonderful Tour Series achieves audience’s deep calling by setting text gaps (Jiao, 2022) . The art of leaving blank spaces can be seen in Chinese painting, where painters intentionally leave blank spaces when depicting, which can leave more room for imagination for the viewer. In the creation of traditional cultural programs, the technique of leaving blank spaces is used to make the work open, allowing for interaction with the audience and allowing the audience to fill in the blank space with their own imagination, feeling the profound culture behind the program.
The filming locations for the acrobatic performance Well-Doer like Water are Baoquan Yunyaxuan, Liuling Xingjiutai, Jianlong Waterfall, the Xianmen Cave Collection Base of Yangshao Winery, and other places. During the performance of the program, unique regional cultures are also presented. Baoquan was awarded the title of “Quan Ying Shui Ling” by Emperor Qianlong, earning the reputation of “being precious in the primitive world and beautiful in the natural world”. The Jianlong Waterfall is known as the No.1 Waterfall in the Central Plains, with a drop of 320 meters, resembling a soaring cloud dragon. It is named after the ancient village of Tantou. The Xianmen Cave Collection Base of Yangshao Winery has a 7000 year history of splendid and profound Yangshao culture. If the audience has an understanding of regional culture, they will experience the cultural depth behind the program.
In the acrobatic performance Well-Doer like Water, a volume of Tao Te Ching also contains countless Taoist ideas. Taoism refers to the immortal dwelling place that exists in the human world as the “Cave of Heaven and Blessed Land”. “Cave of Heaven” means that there is a cave in the mountain that connects to the heavens and connects the mountains, while “Blessed Land” means a place of blessings. Taoism believes that living here can benefit the world and cultivate into immortals. The same is true of the cave storage of White wine. The program was filmed at the Xianmen Cave Collection Base of Yangshao Winery, leaving ample imagination for the audience, allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of the long-standing Yangshao culture and deeply feel the firm belief that a lifetime is only about brewing a bottle of good win.
4. Camera Language Narrative of Qixi Wonderful Tour
With the advancement of media technology, audiences are no longer satisfied with a single flat visual experience, but tend to be three-dimensional, omnidirectional, and immersive. Therefore, the director’s appropriate use of camera language can often have an icing on the cake effect. Qixi Wonderful Tour presents a visual feast for the audience by skillfully using camera language, including allegorical narrative of props, lens-based narrative of dance video, and scenario narrative of multi-dimensional space.
4.1. Allegorical Narrative of Prop Elements
Symbols refer to symbols used to refer to or represent other things. Saussure regarded symbols as a combination of signifier and signified. The signifier refers to the concept that can evoke people’s association with a specific thing, and the signified refers to the concept (meaning) of the thing that the signifier refers to or expresses. Visual symbols and auditory symbols are two major systems of symbols. Visual symbols are symbols that convey information visually, including architectural symbols, character symbols, physical symbols, etc. (Zhu & Yao, 2022) . Here, we will analyze and interpret the prop elements (physical symbols) selected and applied in Qixi Wonderful Tour through the relationship between signifier and signified.
Director Qian Linlin claimed to have used two key props in the dance Xiushui Yiren—a red fan and a book. Each graceful female dancer in the dance holds a red fan, which opens and closes with the rhythm of the dance and music. The red fan contrasts sharply with the blue clothes, creating a unique charm between the small bridges and flowing water in Wuzhen. Fans are used as props on stage, and characters use fan movements to express their personalities. The use of red fans in the program Xiushui Yiren is to express these women’s longing for their ideals.
Behind the novel Xiushui Yiren, there is also a revolutionary woman hidden, who is the Red Lady Wang Huiwu in the South Lake Conference. Wang Huiwu actively imparts new knowledge, promotes science, and advocates new concepts to students in teaching. Wang Huiwu was originally from Wuzhen, Jiaxing, and the filming location for Xiushui Yiren was also selected in Wuzhen, Jiaxing. At the end of the program, the woman picked up the book on the stool and looked into the distance with enthusiasm, symbolizing that she had found the direction of her heart, that is, yearning for light. The younger generation followed their predecessors to devote themselves to the cause of revolution and liberation, while Wang Huiwu, as a teacher, also enlightened and led the progress of women in the south of the Yangtze River, while books were a pursuit of faith.
4.2. Lens-Based Narrative of Dance Video
In Qixi Wonderful Tour, the programs in dance form dominate, but these programs are different from the plane presentation of traditional dance, but adapt to the characteristics of the communication form in the current era of media integration, and lens the dance image. When the language of the camera and the language of the dance are perfectly intertwined and integrated, it is no longer the original function of the camera to only record, maintain, and propagate, but to redefine traditional dance within the scope of the camera. The intervention of visual means will enrich the presentation form of dance language, making the meaning of actions clearer and more fixed (Chen, 2022) .
Xiushui Yiren is a dance drama specially produced by the Chinese Opera House. It describes a large number of young women who gradually awaken and shoulder the important mission of national salvation and survival in the turbulent era of the country, with the rise of new ideas. The director of the dance Xiushui Yiren cleverly uses camera language to convey the main theme of the story. The transitions from light to dark, from indoor to outdoor scenes and lighting in the scene, as well as the weak curling of the dancers from the indoor scene, and the energetic expression and limbs of the dancers walking out of the room after seeing the light, all make the female awakening and liberation reflected behind the dance more vivid and concrete.
The media content in the era of integrated media cannot be separated from technological empowerment. Integration is reflected in the seamless combination of reality and virtual through shooting or editing technology, presenting the media content in three-dimensional space before the audience, and conducting multi-dimensional narrative and emotional expression. Just like the opening dance program Star River of Qixi Wonderful Tour, it uses special camera technologies such as XR and high-speed camera to integrate the flowing water special effects with women’s dance movements, so that they can dance in the dreamlike star river, showing a fantastic and beautiful oriental beauty.
4.3. Scenario Narrative of Multi-Dimensional Space
German scholar Andreas Hepp proposed the concept of deep media, which at the macro level outlines and describes how media changes society, while at the micro level it provides a concrete explanation of media practice. From the Web2.0 era of communication and interaction to the decentralized Web3.0 era, from user thinking to scenario based thinking, the branches of deep media are reaching out to all parties, quietly changing the network ecosystem, and continuously enhancing the significance of scenario. The multidimensional scene created in the era of mobile internet not only changes the behavior mode of media users receiving and transmitting information, but also reconstructs a completely new media environment.
In this new media environment, disseminators not only need to consider the user’s situational needs in the production of media content, but also need to skillfully and appropriately apply technology. The director group said that the program was shot in Jiaxing, Xiamen, Xiangshan, Nanyang and other places. In terms of overall artistic style, it continued the new China-Chic style and enabled the expression of oriental aesthetics through technology. The Qixi Wonderful Tour uses the combination of live shooting and modern technology to place the characters in specific scenes, and uses modern AR, VR, MR and other technologies to enhance the picture transmission effect, so as to achieve multi-dimensional scene narrative of space and context.
For dance art that uses the body as a dynamic medium, spatiotemporal force is the three main elements of dance movements. The dancer’s body and mind always move in time and space, and the dance movements themselves are a three-dimensional space. The camera language visually presents the internal three-dimensional space in front of the camera, enriching the content and formal expression of dance (Chen, 2022) . The acrobatic dance Well-Doer like Water is located on a cliff, between green mountains and waters. The acrobats showcase the beauty of their limbs between the mountains and waters. The camera language places the actors in the clouds, allowing the audience to appreciate the grandeur of the mountains from a macro perspective, and using a detailed perspective to express the natural philosophy of water conservancy for all things without competition.
5. Programming Innovation of Qixi Wonderful Tour
If the content is flesh and the camera language is skin, then the program arrangement is bone. The bone plays a supporting and connecting role, and accordingly, program arrangement is also a key component of program integrity and coherence. Qixi Wonderful Tour is ingenious in the program arrangement. It innovates and continues the program mode of online series and online variety, skillfully uses classical poetry to connect programs, and provides audiences with diversified program forms of opera and rap, presenting a unique evening party.
5.1. New Interpretation of Online Series and Online Variety
The Wonderful Tour series has pioneered the trend of online series and online variety, controlling the party time to around 45 minutes, breaking the traditional mode of reporting and acting by party hosts, and transitioning naturally with a narrative main line (Guo & Wei, 2021) . Qixi Wonderful Tour continues the program mode of online series and online variety, takes the romance of family, country and the world as the main line, presents the unique romance of Qixi traditional culture from ancient times to the present in fragments, and creates original programs for new interpretation.
The term media integration was first proposed by Professor Poole of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983. Its original meaning was the trend of multifunctional integration of various media, and now refers to the process of mutual infiltration and integration of content, channels, terminals, organizations, and other different levels driven by digital and network technologies. Before the launch of the Wonderful Tour series of evening shows, most of the programs broadcasted by television stations were presented separately as online series and online variety. Online series focused on the story plot, while online variety focused on entertainment effects. The Wonderful Tour series combine two seemingly separate program categories to narrate, cleverly connecting the story of characters and receiving unanimous praise from the audience.
The program Qixi starts from Shen Kuo’s dream. It tells about two star officials from heaven who went down to earth to visit the world, and spent the Qixi Festival between busy markets. First, it was a lively music performance, which was skillfully interspersed with Qixi Festival needlework begging, dew sprinkling, spider response, river lanterns, dressing up, moon watching and praying, and other folk displays. The program uses a variety of Qixi folk customs to express the beautiful vision of Qixi people praying for blessings, wishes and marriage. As the song drew to a close, a star officer was attracted by the beautiful girl watching the moon on the windowsill. The star officer looked at the girl with affectionate eyes, taking care of the romantic love theme of Qixi. The program mode of online series and online variety is used to interpret the Qixi story, which is in line with the aesthetic appreciation of the current audience. With the help of technology, the screen switching is not stiff. Audiences call it “like watching a micro movie”.
5.2. A New Way to String Classical Poetry Programs
Poetry is the oldest and most fundamental literary genre in China, and it is a treasure of traditional Chinese culture. The ancients used poetry to narrate and express their inner emotions, but the few numbers were a thousand pounds. In Qixi Wonderful Tour, classical poetry is used to connect the front and rear programs, and poetry is used as the beginning of the program. Before the narration, the foreshadowing is made and the main tone of the story is set. In the Wonderful Tour series, cultural endorsements are often based on characters and stories from ancient history, which provides more imaginative space for the work and expands the audience’s sense of national pride, thereby building empathy for the program (Jiang, 2022) . The application of classical poetry can prepare for the subsequent story interpretation, while also arousing the emotional identification of the audience and achieving the expected dissemination effect.
The Wonderful Tour series mainly focuses on dance programs, but for novices in dance, it is difficult to understand the meaning if they only perform dance to narrate and express emotions. Through the support of classical poetry, the audience can evoke emotional resonance and understand the emotional meanings conveyed by the character stories behind dance art, while understanding the poetry and watching dance programs.
In Qixi Wonderful Tour, the evening party of classical poetry is always connected. For example, the poetry Partridge Sky—Colorful Sleeves Grasping Jade Bell sets the emotional tone for the dance The Sound of Owls Again Today, setting a tone of sadness, separation, resentment, and nostalgia. “After parting, we reminisce about meeting each other. We have shared several dreams with you. Tonight, we have only a few silver photos left, so we are afraid that meeting is in our dreams.” This is a true portrayal of Wu Ding, the King of Shang, who yearns for Fu Hao. The poetry creates a tragic atmosphere for the dance performance, and the audience repeatedly exclaimed that the program pierced their hearts. They were moved to tears by the stories of Wu Ding and Fu Hao.
5.3. New Attempt of Opera and Rap
Traditional Chinese opera is the earliest artistic expression method in China that integrates elements such as sound, dance, and beauty, achieving a historic fusion of freehand and realistic artistic content (Huang, 2020) . In China, rap music also has a long history, but it only gained public attention in modern times and became one of the popular music genres. For the audience group of the program, traditional Chinese opera is aimed at the older generation, while rap is aimed at the younger generation, and the expression form is also tailored to the preferences of young people.
Qixi Wonderful Tour has designed different types of programs for audiences of different ages, creating a festival feast full of diversified cultures for the audience. In the process of immersive experience, viewers can choose a program format that shares their own preferences and engage in interaction and communication with groups with similar interests. Qixi Wonderful Tour is good at using all media thinking to arrange programs. While showing the technological flow, it holds high the cultural flag to present the modernization of ancient culture, rather than the attic in the air without cultural heritage.
The program Xinghan Tour is a combination of rap and pop music. The lyrics are adapted from classical poetry, telling the story of the heroic spirit of Chinese people in measuring mountains and rivers, chasing dreams and starry skies, and singing the lofty aspirations of young people from ancient times to the present, who have “dared to climb the nine heavens and the moon”. The song Qixi mixes folk music such as Sanxian, Pipa, Suona, flute and so on with the national style, describing the bustling scene of the ancient folk Qixi Festival, which sounds catchy. The traditional Chinese opera Fairy Of The Magpie Bridge, Huangmei Opera the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid, and Wu Opera Mu Guiying combine emerging technologies to achieve modern interpretation of traditional art, arousing the audience’s nostalgia.
6. Implications for Cultural TV Programs
6.1. Cultivate Traditional Culture to Promote the Values of the Times
The role of performance techniques and technical empowerment in program effectiveness is icing on the cake, and program content is the essence that traditional cultural programs need to be dedicated to creating. In the era of media integration, the traffic is almost occupied by short videos, and the Lebensraum of traditional cultural programs is narrowed. Marketing believes that in the era of decentralization and fragmentation of information, “content is king” should be emphasized, and more attention should be paid to the quality of content, aiming at firmly grasping customers’ attention and cultivating customers’ loyalty to the brand (Peng, 2023) .
The customers of traditional cultural programs refer to the audience, and “cultivating customer loyalty to the brand” refers to optimizing content output to attract continuous attention from the audience. In terms of optimizing content output, the most important key point is to deeply cultivate traditional culture, tap into the Eastern wisdom hidden in Chinese traditional culture, and provide a continuous stream of living water for content output.
Cultural television programs are an important carrier of socialist cultural construction with Chinese characteristics. Therefore, in the process of deeply exploring traditional culture, it is necessary to combine traditional culture with contemporary mainstream culture, keep up with the times, endow it with new content and spirit in the new era, and promote the value of the times.
6.2. Use Camera Languages to Create a Visual Feast
Traditional evening parties often use live or recorded broadcasting in the studio, with performers confined to one stage. Directors are often limited by space and time when producing programs, and the audience can only watch the flat performance presented by a few machines, making it difficult to create an immersive feeling.
The Wonderful Tour series has changed its traditional evening mode and innovated its production methods. It uses AI, MR, VR, AR, and 5G technology, live maps, studio recording and editing techniques for program shooting, further expanding the temporal and spatial dimensions of performance programs (Peng, 2023) . In addition, the program cleverly utilizes camera language, combining multiple dimensions such as narrative perspective, editing logic, and camera movement, to present dance images in a three-dimensional manner, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the narrative of character stories while enjoying the visual feast, and feel what they feel. Therefore, when producing traditional cultural programs, the use of camera language and scenario based thinking is the key to making the program stand out.
From the adaptation of scenes to historical story characters to the highlighting of props in the scenes, Henan TV’s grasp and application of scenario based thinking in the production of cultural TV programs are reflected everywhere. Establishing scenario based thinking is a prerequisite for making good use of camera language. Only under scenario based thinking can camera language be useful, allowing silent history to come to life and transform into infectious visual language. For television cultural programs, although the content of the program is important, the success of the program also depends on the auxiliary force of audio-visual symbols and scenes.
6.3. Innovate Programming to Meet Audience Needs
Traditional cultural programs not only require good content as the core, but also innovative content narrative forms to meet the personalized needs of diverse audiences. On the basis of keeping the cultural core unchanged, we will innovate program arrangement and transition methods, and produce videos of different styles based on different distribution channels, so that audiences on various platforms can receive high-quality media products.
The Henan TV Wonderful Tour series adopts a program model of online series and online variety, innovates the way the evening performance is performed, enhances the coherence between the programs, and makes the evening more holistic. Multiple types of program arrangements such as opera and rap can meet the needs of different age groups of audiences, serving diverse groups and also earning a lot of reputation. Teenagers are the main body of cultural inheritance, and creators need to analyze their media needs when producing programs to provide high-quality cultural programs and humanistic education for them.
In the production of cultural television programs, the creative approach of the Wonderful Tour series program “Micro Film Evening” can be borrowed, but in terms of program arrangement, it needs to be unique, and excessive imitation will only lead to homogenization. Web3.0 is a new synonym for the future development of the internet, which is different from the previous internet operating environment and will have a certain impact on the production of television programs, after all, the media is becoming increasingly integrated. Therefore, creators can extend the tentacles of program production into web3.0, where everything is a medium, and innovate program layout in combination with the new transformation and mode of the internet to meet the ever-changing personalized needs of audiences.
7. Conclusion
After the Qixi Wonderful Tour was broadcast, the audience had different comments on the program, and the program still had shortcomings. For example, in the opening program of Star River, some viewers called the background too fake. The director team only blindly pursues innovation and utilizes emerging technologies to bring a brand new visual experience to the audience. However, they did not fully consider the adaptability of content and form, and the visuals presented a rigid and false state, preventing the audience from experiencing the artistic charm of culture more immersively. So, the form must obey the content. Some viewers also claimed that “the actor’s voice does not match the character’s image, and the voice is a bit out of action”. Program production not only needs to be controlled from an overall perspective, but also needs to optimize the program effect from the details. If the details are not handled properly, it will also affect the audience’s overall experience of the program.
Despite the rapid development of short videos, traditional cultural programs still have some room for development. Through the analysis of Qixi Wonderful Tour by Henan Satellite TV, we can get the following enlightenment:
Firstly, in order to attract and retain audiences, traditional cultural programs should adhere to the central idea of “content is king”, deeply cultivate excellent traditional Chinese culture, continuously innovate program content, form, channels, etc., and endow them with new content and spirit in the new era. On this basis, creators can also cleverly use camera language to establish scene based thinking, thereby improving the visual experience of the audience. Finally, according to the diverse needs of different audiences, program scheduling and production are carried out, using innovative ways to connect programs and enhance the correlation between programs, which can make the programs present unexpected effects.