Chinese and foreign directors talk about oriental elements in animated films, 4 domestic films focus on oriental expression

After the peak of "China animation schools" such as "Little Tadpole Looking for Mom" and "Troubles in Heaven", China animation is once again facing the problem of how to integrate Oriental culture with the background of globalization.

Original title: Shanghai Film Festival| Oriental elements in animation are not just fluttering clothes.

"Oriental culture in animated films" is one of the forum topics at this Shanghai International Film Festival. Wang Wei, director of the domestic animated film "Little Gate God", Tony Bancroft, director of the American film "Mulan", and Kenji Kamiyama, director of the TV version of "Mobile Team in the Shell", jointly discussed how to express the oriental connotation in animation. topic.

From left: How can Yuan Mei, Wang Wei, Tony Bancroft, and Kenji Kamiyama, the judges of the Golden Jue Award Animation Unit

, be regarded as manifestations of "Oriental culture"?

Wang Wei first mentioned that what most viewers may easily accept is the visual expression,"For example, depth of field, larger pictures, fewer people, fluttering belts, etc. These are China culture. But if you look deeper, you need to know what it is that will make China audiences agree with it."

Starting from the experience of "Little Gate God", he further explored China animation. He also struggled with what constitutes a "China story." Now his answer is to return to the story itself. "What is the story of China that we really want to capture? Perhaps the most important issue for us was our team, and we finally put this issue aside. Because our team is 100% China, if China cannot tell the story of China, we don't know who will do it. So in the end, we stopped worrying about this issue and focused on the story itself."

Wang Wei's new book "The Adventures of Adang" was shortlisted for this year's Golden Jue Award for Best Animated Film Competition.

Disney animation "Hua Mulan" has a history of 20 years. Tony still remembers that Disney's original intention in creating the story of "Hua Mulan" is "It is to have better access to the Asian market, especially the China market. This was a vision that existed 20 years ago and was originally based on commercial considerations."

When I was doing "Hua Mulan" at that time, I started looking for China elements from a Western perspective. "We definitely wouldn't completely shoot movies with China characteristics, because we were Westerners, so we would do a lot of early material searches to find themes and content related to this China element and this China story. Then to achieve such a movie that is accepted by the public, we must find common elements that are applicable globally. I think we must find out what some of the key emotional elements this movie wants to convey before making this movie. Because this emotional element is common to everyone in the world. For example, everyone has family and relatives, and everyone's emotions can be sad, painful, happy, etc. These are things that all viewers can resonate with the product. Then this is the first core element of emotion to consider. In this cartoon, the theme is 'You have to be true to yourself, see yourself true'."

However, Tony, who took advantage of the Shanghai Film Festival to visit China this time, said,"If I want to shoot" Hua Mulan "again, I will hope to include the character of panda in" Hua Mulan."

Regarding the expression of oriental culture, Kenji Kamiyama, director of the TV version of "Mobile Team in the Shell", believes that animation is used to approach reality and life."Animation is a form of semiotics. I don't consider it as a live-action movie, but more. Consider it as a stage, a drama form. If it is close to drama, there may be a more symbolic performance method for semiotics, and one can tell what kind of character and person the character is at a glance. But on this basis, Japanese animation has taken another step forward. It is more realistic and it depicts more contemporary things. I think Japanese animation is actually a more realistic and modern description."

Last year's "Your Name." Having achieved good box office and reputation in Japan and China, Kenji Kamiyama believes that animations close to life can also express Oriental culture. "In the past, I may have thought that making cartoons should draw historical themes, very grand themes, but now I find that young people are willing to watch small things. In fact, this is also very good for creators, because this is a diverse era. Therefore, some people in Japan think that since China wants to express Chinese culture and Oriental culture, should it be appropriate to depict today's young people, their lives, what they think, what they eat, what they wear, and the works that depict these things may be like some works in Japan now. It will instead become a window for foreigners to understand Chinese culture. This is one of my thoughts."

At this Shanghai Film Festival, several animated films that are about to be released or launched have also made efforts in Oriental expression.

"The Legend of Bean Fortune" The story of King Huainan's cultivation of immortal

cultivation tells the story of Liu An, the King of Huainan, who was obsessed with immortal cultivation. During an alchemy exercise, he accidentally gave beans life to them and created the "bean family". The initiator of the story is Liu An, King of Huainan, so the buildings in the film are all Hui-style buildings with white walls and black tiles. Soybeans can be said to be a very common ingredient in China's daily life. Therefore, in the movie, the protagonist is a round soybean. Director Zou Yi said that Doufu's two cute little ears are actually grown after the soybeans sprout.

Directors have put a lot of effort into the style of the film. Another director, Guo Lei, said that the original version he saw was like "Kung Fu Panda"."I don't want to make an OEM for the United States, and I don't want something that others have chewed on." Therefore, the upcoming "The Legend of Bean Fortune" is full of China elements from the background of the story to the lines, actions, and picture details. In order to present a more realistic visual effect, the team invited the person in charge of the focus of "The City Is Full of Golden Armor" during the production period to study each picture and calculate the true physical depth of field. In the early creation, the depth of field effect is directly rendered, and a depth of field system belonging to "Doufu" and China animation is developed. Fighting is also an important manifestation of the "China Style" of animation. The film invited well-known martial arts directors from Hong Kong to learn from Jackie Chan's kung fu comedy style to completely integrate China Style into the core of the film, adding points to the comedy scenes of the film.

"The Great Dharma": The violent style after the "Great Sage" and "

Big Fish""The Great Dharma" is the latest "big" movie in the summer layout after "The Return of the Great Sage" and "Big Fish Begonia". The director of "The Great Protector" was indifferent. In his early years, he was famous in the national comic world with his black and white ink animation "Black Bird". Later, he created some animated short films, and "White Bird Valley" co-directed with Man-Wolf was shortlisted for the short film competition at the Angsy International Film Festival in France.

"The Great Dharma" is the first cinema-style feature animation that is not interesting. The animation team spent nearly three years developing and producing it. Compared with "Great Sage" and "Big Fish", Bu Si Fan laughed at himself because this is a "low-cost" production. It does seem much simpler from the perspective of the pictures and lens use, but the director's unique personal style gives the animation a unique flavor.

The simple brushstrokes outline the artistic conception of mountains and rivers, and the character style has a playful comic flavor. The most unique thing is the fierce killing rhythm and dark worldview in the film. Bu Sifan said that the original intention of creating this film was to explore the aesthetics of violence, so this film does not follow the usual trend of commercial films like popcorn films. "It's easy to start and transition, but what I want is the ultimate style."

Because of its unusual style, this movie took the initiative to remind that all material posters were marked "Not suitable for children under the age of thirteen.""We proceed from the professional ethics of practitioners and also hope to remind parents that this is not suitable for children. We don't want to make this money either."

"Painting Bad People in the Jianghu": Yuan Heping directed the Oriental martial arts style

"Painting Bad People in the Jianghu", which is based on various historical events and folklore in the Five Dynasties and Ten Countries. Currently, there are different carriers such as animations and online dramas. As a high-profile IP film "Painting Bad People in the Jianghu", a film press conference was held on June 19. It was announced on the spot that the film would be directed by famous director Yuan Heping.

Xu Lin, CEO and chief producer of producer Fang Ying Centenary, said: "We want to restore to the audience a romantic martial arts dream to the greatest extent possible and let the blood of youth" ignite."Producer Li Ang assured fans that a" high-quality "production route has been established from the beginning of the film's preparation, and that the" heart of a craftsman "has gone through the long preparation period. Regarding the production and cost of the project, Li Ang said,"If you need to spend the production expenses, you can spend them. Everyone understands the principle that you get what you get for every penny! Since I have the honor to participate in the production of this work, I naturally have to spend all my money on the right edge."

As an action director of blockbusters such as "The Matrix","Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon","Kung Fu" and "The Grandmaster", Director Yuan Heping's beautiful and elegant martial arts style has pioneered the martial arts film in China. His ability to integrate romantic colors into martial arts moves is very consistent with the martial arts style of "Painting Bad People in the Jianghu." However, the film is still in the launch stage, and Yuan Heping sincerely said,"How to design the specific actions must be according to the plot is not yet known."

"My Name is Panda": The "panda", the most intuitive reflection of the China element of the National Treasure Family Festival co-produced by China and New Zealand

, has also become a "hot potato" that animators are keen on. "Kung Fu Panda" was in front of the show, and an animated co-production called "My Name is Panda" held a launch ceremony at the Shanghai Film Festival. The film was created by Zhejiang Tianyi Film and Television Co., Ltd. in conjunction with New Zealand's FAR AWAY ANIMOTION LTD, Beijing Youth Film Studio and other Chinese and foreign teams.

"My Name is Panda" was co-produced by China and New Zealand. Director James Cunningham likes pandas very much. In order to create the image of pandas more deeply, he led the creative team to conduct surveys in Sichuan to study the body and habits of pandas. Producer Chrissy Metge, who has been involved in Hollywood projects such as "The Hobbit" and "The Hunger Games", said,"New Zealand is like a city in China, but there are many film talents. I am very happy to be able to come to China to make such a family movie about cute pandas."

A representative of the producer on the scene revealed that the design of the story contained laughter and tears. In order to create a sense of authenticity and mystery of the picture, the design drafts were changed. While pursuing visual effects, they restored the style of the panda's habitat as much as possible, ensuring visual shock and at the same time bringing a strong China style to the audience.

Editor: jessica