Chapter 153: Malicious Editing
Two days after "Blood Mist" finished airing, "Extreme Joy" finally broadcast the episode they had recorded earlier.
For promotional variety shows like this, the ideal timing was to air the episode while the web series it was promoting was still being released. This was because an ongoing series could still climb the viewership rankings, and the show's publicity could directly boost its position on the charts.
While "Blood Mist" was airing, it steadily held the number one spot on the viewership chart for ongoing web series. If it had received the promotional boost from "Extreme Joy" during its run, the chart data would likely have seen new breakthroughs.
However, "Extreme Joy" did not record episodes for only one or two productions; many other crews also came to promote their projects on the show. Since "Extreme Joy" aired weekly, it took time to schedule all the recordings.
"Worlds Apart, Yet So Close," which still had a few episodes left to air, perfectly caught this wave of promotional momentum. After "Blood Mist" left the ongoing series chart, "Worlds Apart, Yet So Close" immediately jumped to the number one spot, achieving even better viewership numbers than "Blood Mist" had in its prime.
This was the heat brought by "Extreme Joy," a force of traffic that could not be ignored.
Of course, this also indicated from the side that the performance of the "Blood Mist" and "Worlds Apart, Yet So Close" crews on that episode of "Extreme Joy" had gained significant attention.
On the day of the broadcast, both of them happened to be free, so they sat together on the sofa to watch.
The recording had taken over three hours, but the actual broadcast was edited down to just one hour. So, the events during recording and what was seen after editing were different, sometimes even the order of the games was edited differently.
Just like now, according to Rong Yu's account, their first game during recording was the song-guessing competition. However, after editing, the first game shown was the quick-response round. This was because the rivalry between the two crews was more pronounced during the quick-response segment, making the atmosphere seem more tense. This easily allowed fans of both sides to project themselves into the show and made casual viewers unconsciously pick a side.
Some viewers unconsciously chose a side while watching competitive game shows. Some rooted for the perpetually losing team, anticipating a chance for a comeback later, experiencing the thrill of a reversal. Others preferred to support the dominant team, enjoying the consistent satisfaction of victory. This element of choosing a side was part of what made game shows entertaining.
Some shows deliberately edited the footage to make one team appear overwhelmingly strong while portraying the other as the clear underdog, establishing a one-sided score from the beginning. They then showed the perpetually winning team beginning to lose in later games, allowing the disadvantaged team to mount a comeback and achieve a final victory. This created a major reversal, giving the audience a sense of thrilling, back-and-forth excitement.
To create this rollercoaster effect, the production team deliberately selected which competition results to broadcast. Since the recording involved multiple takes where every guest both won and lost games, the final outcome depended entirely on which rounds the editors chose to air and how they decided to tally the wins and losses.
Consequently, the guests who participated in the show's games often had no idea what kind of image would be presented to the television audience once the editing was complete.
And this so-called "some shows" was a precise description of "Extreme Joy."
As soon as Yin Chengjue heard Rong Yu say the game order had changed, he knew the production team was planning something.
During the live recording, the first game was song-guessing, and Rong Yu's team kept losing in that segment. But apart from the song-guessing game, the "Blood Mist" main cast basically won most of the other games, losing only a few.
The few times they did lose were due to small mistakes made because they were tired or drowsy from the many recording takes.
Of course, the main purpose of appearing on "Extreme Joy" was to promote "Blood Mist," so winning or losing the games wasn't actually important. But seeing that in the official broadcast, "Extreme Joy" showed the quick-response game first, and in that game, the "Blood Mist" main cast hit the buzzer early every time but still managed to answer correctly... This familiar show tactic still made Yin Chengjue feel somewhat uneasy.
And this sense of foreboding was quickly confirmed by the subsequent developments in the show!
Because the entire first half of the episode consisted of the "Blood Mist" main cast winning, winning in every way, winning comprehensively. Even the games they had lost a few times during the live recording were edited to show only the parts they won!
Not only that, the "Extreme Joy" post-production team deliberately paired the "Blood Mist" cast members with very imposing, strong-sounding background music (BGM). They even used the BGM typical for anime villain entrances a few times when Rong Yu appeared!
Yin Chengjue almost jumped up from the sofa, but Rong Yu held him down.
"It's not that bad. We did win a lot when we were actually playing the games. We really were better than them, so what is there to worry about?" Rong Yu's attitude was quite positive as he comforted Yin Chengjue: "Besides, I'm not someone who likes losing anyway. Do you want to see me lose?"
Yin Chengjue shook his head: "It's not about winning or losing. Of course I want to see you always beat them. But right now, the show is deliberately making your image look like bullies, giving the audience the impression that you are particularly aggressive and care too much about winning. Most audiences habitually sympathize with the underdog. While watching, they will unconsciously lean towards the weaker side and keep hoping for a reversal from them. In this process, the better you perform, the more they will dislike you. The more you win, the more they will resent you. They might even think the production team is deliberately propping you up, unaware that this is actually setting you up for a fall."
"Ah? This..." Rong Yu scratched his head: "Really? There are people who don't like seeing others win? Isn't it the winner who is more impressive and more likely to be liked by everyone?"
Yin Chengjue: "Because compared to the thrill of constant victory, audiences tend to prefer the thrill of a reversal victory. The ups and downs feel more thrilling and gripping."
Yin Chengjue said, "It is like a rollercoaster. The rollercoaster at an amusement park provides physical, heart-pounding ups and downs, while the design of shows like this intentionally creates psychological ones."
"Oh, I think I understand," Rong Yu said. "So, the show is intentionally showing the parts where our 'Blood Mist' crew kept winning first. Then, in the later part, they'll show the segments where 'Worlds Apart, Yet So Close' starts winning, finally letting them 'win the championship' and become the ultimate victors. That way, the audience will rejoice with them, right?"
Yin Chengjue nodded: "After all, the other side has more traffic stars. The production team has to give face to those celebrities, so they're using your small crew as a stepping stone."
"Then what does brother think I should do?" Rong Yu wasn't very anxious. At worst, people would just say he was too competitive, it wouldn't cause him to lose a piece of flesh.
Besides, it was true.
Yin Chengjue pondered for a moment: "Which game did you lose the worst in? If I'm not mistaken, they will probably edit your most devastating loss to appear at the very end, so the 'Worlds Apart, Yet So Close' main cast can logically become the final winners with the highest points."
"It was our first game, the song-guessing one. We didn't guess a single one right," Rong Yu stated with certainty.
Yin Chengjue: "Alright then. Download any music app right now, create a playlist with songs from various eras, take a screenshot of the playlist and post it on Weibo. Write a caption like: 'Trying hard to catch up, won't lose next time.' After posting, tag the other seven cast members and ask them to say something too."
Rong Yu took out his phone and did as instructed.
And "Extreme Joy" indeed "did not disappoint," editing in the game segments where the "Worlds Apart, Yet So Close" cast won during the later part. They even deliberately chose narrow victories, creating a feeling that their wins were hard-fought.
In the first half, the production team intentionally gave the "Blood Mist" cast members an aggressive entrance soundtrack and gave the "Worlds Apart, Yet So Close" cast a very tragic one. Now that the "Worlds Apart, Yet So Close" cast was winning, the production team gave them a very joyful, celebratory soundtrack, but gave the "Blood Mist" cast a soundtrack with thunderbolt sounds, making it seem like "retribution."
They even edited in a line from the actress who played the Female Team Member: "I don't accept this!" According to Rong Yu, that was just a joking remark the Female Team Member made, but the post-production deliberately didn't show the smile she made immediately after saying it, only showing her fierce expression.
This perfectly highlighted her image as a sore loser.
"Someone is targeting her," Yin Chengjue stated assertively.
Otherwise, they wouldn't deliberately present her in such a light. It was just a joking remark made during a game. The production team wasn't unaware that this line was provocative, but they still insisted on including it, indicating someone must have instructed them to do so behind the scenes.
Rong Yu couldn't stay calm now. He got along quite well with the main cast of "Blood Mist"; otherwise, they wouldn't have gone out for a meal together after recording and gotten so drunk.
It was precisely because they knew they might not have another chance to gather so completely like this again.
"She was just having fun and said it casually. Why did they have to edit it so maliciously?" Rong Yu said discontentedly.
Yin Chengjue: "That's why Sally warned you to watch your words on shows. Even during breaks, as long as you are still on stage, as long as those cameras are pointed at you, as long as your microphone is on, don't say anything careless."
"Because people watching the show only get to know you through the program. So, whatever image the show wants to craft for you, that is what you become in the audience's eyes. Whether good or bad, positive or negative, they can edit you into it. Not every director can showcase the guests' most authentic side like Qin Linlin does." Yin Chengjue said: "This advice applies not only to variety shows but to this entire big circle."
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