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In 2019, a popular Spring Festival film "The Wandering Earth" kicked off the first year of Chinese science fiction movies. In 2020, the China Film Administration and the China Association for Science and Technology jointly issued Several Opinions on Promoting the Development of Science Fiction Films, and proposed 10 policy measures to strengthen support and guidance for the creation and production, distribution and screening of science fiction films, special effects technology, and talent training (known as the "Ten Articles for Science Fiction"). Chinese science fiction movies have thus ushered in a new age of development.
This morning, the 赌博apporum of the 24th Shanghai International Film Festival (赌博app) launched a discussion on the theme of "Reshape Imagination · Define Future—New Thinking on Chinese Science Fiction Films." Experts and scholars from the film and television circles and popular science circles pointed out that China's science fiction films should insist on telling the stories of China, strengthen the exploration of localized creation, and have the courage to imagine and innovate boldly.
Strengthen the exploration of the localization of science fiction movies
For many people born in 1970s and 1980s, the release of "Wonder Boy" in 1988 may be their initial imagination of science fiction movies. In fact, in the 20 years since then, there has hardly been a real science fiction movie in China. In 2008, Stephen Chow's "Long River 7" was released, and everyone's enthusiasm for science fiction movies was once again ignited, but after all, it was short-lived and failed to form a phenomenon. It was not until the Spring Festival of 2019 that this situation was completely changed. With the two sci-fi movies "The Wandering Earth" and "Crazy Alien" topping the box office list, more and more filmmakers reached a consensus-the new age for Chinese sci-fi movies has arrived.
Wang Hongwei, Vice President of China Film Directors' Guild and associate professor of the Director Department of Beijing Film Academy, has participated in the screenwriting and planning of works such as "The Wandering Earth", "Crazy Racer", and "Guns and Roses". For more than ten years, he has always believed that China Science fiction movies should adhere to the path of "localization". Wang Hongwei believes that sci-fi movies are genre movies on the one hand, and sci-fi movies on the other. In this case, copying the Western model may be a shortcut, but what really attracts the audience is the science fiction story itself. "Don't look for a successful foreign science fiction movie model, and then think about how to make it domestically, and how to mix it with some Chinese elements. Instead, you should first find a good Chinese science fiction story."
In the audience's impression, the science fiction blockbuster must have taken place in outer space. In this regard, Dong Runnian, a science fiction writer and screenwriter of "Crazy Alien", hopes that "creators’ perception of science fiction should be updated." In fact, you will find that science fiction is everywhere in life, and many ordinary life scenes contain the element of science fiction, which is actually something that creators, including myself, should pay special attention to.” In Dong Runnian’s view, life itself is science fiction. “The technology of this era has penetrated into all aspects of our lives. How we use this kind of thinking to get close to the normal life of the audience is actually close to the concept of technological creation."
Scientific advisor support is essential
After "The Wandering Earth" got fame, it also aroused some discussions, among which experts pointed out that many scientific common sense in the film were not rigorous enough. In this regard, Gou Lijun, researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and professor at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has a deep understanding. He believes that science fiction movies still need to follow some basic scientific common sense and theories, and this requires the collaboration of creators and scientists.
Liu Hongtao, chairman of Mahua FunAge, also particularly agrees with this point. As the chief producer of the latest masterpiece of Mahua FunAge and the sci-fi comedy "Moon Man", he believes that in the creation of science fiction films, scientific consultants must be involved. "Audiences will look at movies from the logic of reality and science. If there are loopholes in the movie, it will not be credible, and there will be no empathy. In addition, the purpose of creating science fiction movies is because we care about the destiny of mankind and the universe. If we cannot be logically self-consistent in the outlook of the future, the outlook of science, and the outlook on the universe, not only are we sorry for our original intentions, but it also appears that this effort is meaningless.
Liu Hongtao cited "Moon Man" in post-production as an example: "We spent a long time constructing a relatively complete world view of the future, but the movie can only show the tip of the iceberg. For example, we made two lunar rover. One is small, the other is large. The small one is to wear a spacesuit, while the large one do not need to wear. This is not something a simple traditional film art prop artist can do. The art department brings together consultants in the fields of materials science, mechanics, industrial design, etc. Even for wheels, we have to consider color, texture, sense of future, load-bearing, etc. These cannot be accomplished without the support of scientists."
Lin Yuzhi, executive deputy director of the Science and Film Integration Special Committee of the Chinese Science Writers Association, introduced the five types of scientific consultants needed for science fiction films to everyone. "The first type is called informal consultants, who will provide scientific materials and scientific theories to support the plot, and even help to build a world and complete the forming of worldview; the second type is called expert consultants. After the script is formed, for a certain type of problems, we will invite the very suitable scientists; the third type is called on-site consultants, who need to provide help to the actors, provide collaboration to the prop artist, and even will be asked a variety of scientific questions on the spot; the fourth type is a scientific advisory group, which solves problems in all fields involved in a whole movie; the last one is a cross-border scientific advisor. They have firstly received very professional scientific training, and secondly, they must have complete work experience in the film and television industry. "
In addition to scientific consultants, Wang Hongwei put forward higher demands on the creative team. "Our early creative team must have basic common sense and concepts. The important thing is whether the creative team that has been fighting on the front line all day long has enough knowledge." Science fiction writer and screenwriter Chen Qiufan also agrees with Wang Hongwei's views. "The scientific consultant provided us with a tool and weapon. Yet, if the scientific literacy and scientific concept of the creative team cannot match weapon provided, the result will not be satisfactory."
Technology gives wings to imagination
In recent years, the rapid development of China's film industry and the continuous improvement of technological level have provided fertile soil for domestic science fiction films. The domestic special effects company Tiangong Yicai once helped the production of domestic blockbusters such as "The Ghouls" and "Wukong". The founder Chang Hongsong clearly counted the technological progress in these years. "Just like in 2006, digital technology replaced the film process. The future intelligent imaging technology will surely replace the current digital technology. Taking the film-level face-changing as an exmaple, the original digital technology may require two to three hundred people, and a film will take a year in the later stage, and now one or two technicians may be enough and it will take only one month to complete, and the accuracy is very high."
Behind the rapid progress of movie technology is the hard work of countless developers day and night. In this regard, Wang Hongwei called on both the capital and the creative team to respect the labor achievements of the technicians behind the scenes. He said that there is a serious problem of brain drain in special effects companies, and many talents from special effects companies have chosen to work in game companies. "This is a pity! I hope that the entire industry will pay more attention to and respect these technicians who are doing basic work, instead of just buying these technologies as a purchaser."
At the same time, Wang Hongwei also mentioned that in the face of rapid development of technology, creators must remain vigilant and cannot be "lazy" because of technology. "Creators should not become dependent on technology so quickly. Technology gives imagination a real flying wing, but it is not a way to replace imagination. We must not forget our creative mission as an artist."
In this regard, sci-fi writer Han Song also pointed out the importance of sci-fi text creation. "I have watched a lot of science fiction movies. It is not that science fiction is not good, but that the movie itself is not good. From the text point of view, science fiction is the most subversive and challenging. It often challenges your existing cognition and worldview. It is difficult to achieve this purpose in novel creation, and it is even more difficult to adapt it into a movie."