Chinese Small-budget Comedy Film Studies Since The New Century

Comedy is a type of film that can reflect cultural personality, folk customs andaesthetic appeals. Chinese comedy movies, however, fail to form their own uniquecultural personality and find their own way to develop vigorously. For decades, theChinese comedy movies have been swinging among different types of movies. Theyhave been in a struggle because there is no suitable cultural identity for them.However, in2006, a "Crazy Stone" was released, obtaining both box and reputation.Its success makes Chinese audience and filmmakers to see another possibility andrethink the filmmaking modes of the Chinese comedy movies. Since then, manylow-budget comedy movies have emerged largely to form a trend in the new century.The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors of the prosperity of the Chineselow-budget comedy movies from the aspects of its phenomenon in the new century,and analyse the aesthetic qualities, the deficiencies and problems caused by thesefactors. Therefore, some thoughts can be provided for the present development ofChinese low-budget comedy movies as the reference.This article is divided into four chapters. The first chapter mainly discusses theconcept of the low-budget comedy movies as well as the situation of the traditionalcontinuation and the prosperous development since the new century. It elaborates thecultural transition and reform of the Chinese comedy movies, states the influences ofthe tradition to the low-budget comedy movies, and summarizes the prosperousdevelopment of the low-budget comedy movies since the new century.The second chapter mainly explores the theme connotation and aestheticcharacteristics of the low-budget comedy movies. The first is the theme connotationconcerned with reality. It’s followed by the grassroots, clown and humorouscharacteristics of the characters. Again is the narrative techniques paying attention toparody, collage, misunderstanding and coincidence. The last is the image style of theexcessive entertainment.The third chapter analyzes the reasons of the prosperity of the low-budgetcomedy movies in the new century. First of all, in the cultural context of the mass consumption, the rise of grassroots discourse and the prevalence of the carnivalculture provide the environment for the prosperity of the low-budget comedy movies.Second, the gamification and the localization of the movies involve more civilian lifeand feelings, creating good internal conditions to the prosperity. Third, from the pointof the audience, the low-budget comedy movies accord with the aesthetic appeal andfilm experience, cater to the young audience’s viewing psychology and give theaudience a certain emotional comfort. Finally, from the point of industrialenvironment and creative environment, the temptation of the low-input high returnsand the restriction of the film production prompt the prosperity of the low-budgetcomedy movies to a certain extent. In short, the social context, creative features,audience psychology, and the market environmental factors all contribute to theprosperity of the low-budget comedy movies in the new century.The fourth chapter discusses the deficiencies and problems of the Chineselow-budget comedy movies, and then puts forward some countermeasures andsuggestions. The main problem is the loss of the subjectivity and the narrative logic,the former influenced by the postmodern spirit of the game and the latter happenedunder the entertainment fragments. Moreover, too little and simple publicity and thecold reaction of the theatrical release are also the problems. To solve these problems,it should not only write the stories from the angle of the audience, but also return tothe stories themselves from the pure sensory stimulation. Meanwhile, it is importantto explore the market actively and abundant propaganda model. Therefore, the realvalue of the low-budget comedy movies can be realized in China’s commercial filmmarket.