Gao Qunshu: "We rely on real movies to win"

When we met Gao Qunshu, he was reading a document on the sofa in the living room, wearing a loose nightgown. The office is located in a two-story villa in Beijing's Chaoyang District, and the sun shines on the sofa through the floor-to-ceiling window opposite him. Gao Qunshu put down the glasses in his hand, boiled water to make tea, and began to talk to us about VR movies.

As early as a week ago, the well-known commercial film director and Fengshan Cultural Company jointly announced that they would make two VR films, which was also the "first time anyone tried to make a VR feature film" in Asia.

Gao Qunshu is looking for a VR version of "Avatar". What is a real VR movie?

Gao Qunshu regards ideal VR content as a kind of enjoyment that transcends normal life, just as he recalled that the animals and flowers in "Avatar" are amazing because they are strange and realistic. His first two film plans are based on the Japanese fantasy movie "The Beauty Can", and the other is a traditional China swordsman theme.

He described the feelings these two films will bring: one is that a beautiful woman is on his pillow, and the other is that a swordsman is walking on the wind. They are both wonderful feelings. While saying this, he happily lit a cigar.

Gao Qunshu's judgment is that after 3D, VR will be the next opportunity for the film technology revolution. If the former only improves the image through the realism of the picture, then the audio-visual experience of VR will completely change the interaction between the audience and the content. Obviously, Director Gao was not the only one in the circle who believed this judgment. In the following week, Zhang Yimou's popular Qitian Group and Wu Qilong's Straw Bear Films both announced their involvement in VR movies.

After a long period of gestation, VR technology has finally attracted strong interest from the film industry, which has always been a master of commercial operations and technology applications in the content audio-visual industry. In the eyes of these content experts, the conversion of traditional videos into split screens is too crude and crude.

VR is waiting for a truly serious content, just as 3D and IMAX were silent before waiting for "Avatar".

When 3D movies, VR movies and live-action movies

were earliest, more than two years ago, Gao Qunshu wanted to make a "live-action movie." The so-called real scene is to expose the audience to actual construction, installation and performance. It may be necessary to build a huge scene, which is divided into several rooms, several devices and several performances, with holograms, light effects, art, etc. in the middle. If the duration is 2 hours, then the scene will also be designed according to this length. The problem with live-action movies is that they are quite demanding to operate. First, they need to integrate a large number of high-specification technologies. Secondly, they are costly and difficult to copy.

So, they have been exposed to VR since last year. Gao Qunshu said that VR provides an experience that is close to real life, while the cost is relatively easy to accept.

Compared with the current 3D, Gao Qunshu said that 3D makes the picture more detailed and realistic, which changes the image level of the movie; while VR movies will bring the content closer to the audience. A popular example is: If you look at a beautiful woman, VR can let you "get close to touching" her. This touch is not a real touch, but more like an "illusion".

Gao Qunshu has prepared three parts.

The first part is called "The Beauty Can", which is a Japanese fantasy movie that tells the story of a protagonist who encounters the adventure of injecting red liquid into a can and gains a beautiful woman;

the second part is about the theme of swordsmen;

and in the third part, Director Gao is still planning a gun battle (which has not been announced before). Let the audience rush out in the hail of bullets, and then after experiencing danger, turn the plot to attack others.

Their plan is to complete the filming of the two films: Beauty and Sword Man first. This schedule is mainly to take into account technical conditions. VR may cause some physical discomfort to the audience during its use, so they tried to choose some wonderful feelings in the beginning.

One is a beautiful woman on the pillow, the other is a swordsman flying against the wind, and the other is a fierce battle amidst bullets. It is worth looking forward to.

What kind of content is suitable for making VR movies? Gao Qunshu's answer was very positive. It was undoubtedly a drama film.

How should VR movies be filmed?

Gao Qunshu believes that VR movies at this stage will use technical means from existing content such as 3D, IMAX, special effects, and games to contain various interests (sound, action, performance, music, etc.). Unlike other movies, it requires more technical support, such as special effects and glasses.

Do VR movies have to be 360 degrees? Not necessarily. Because it is impossible for the audience to turn their heads 360 degrees at all times when watching a movie. The entire content should be a moderate proportion. Most of the time, the audience is looking ahead, and there may be some scenes and scene designs that extend above and behind them.

They do not plan to use panoramic cameras to actually shoot. The greater possibility is to use 8 3D cameras to concentrate the pictures into a 120-degree or 180-degree field of view, and the picture quality will be close to 6K (most of the current theater content is 2K).

Another element in VR movies is how to draw the audience's attention in the narrative. Gao Qunshu revealed some techniques. Focusing content on a 120-degree to 180-degree field of view is itself a kind of traction. Secondly, you can design some special scenes, such as shooting an arrow, and its flight trajectory will drag the audience. Similar guidance is also provided by sound and light. Gao Qunshu emphasized that VR movies have high requirements for lens design and special effects design.

Why do directors make VR movies?

For Gao Qunshu, it is an opportunity to collect the hardware capital conditions for content, special effects, and hardware with Fengshanjian, Liaison and Interaction, and Photon (a company invested by his good friend Hou Dejian), and commercial and technical preparations are the foundation.

For film production, he hopes that the industry will intervene early enough to prepare for and even establish advantages in VR technology. This technology is not limited to "technology", but also includes corresponding narrative techniques, performance methods, and so on.

In the director circle, the current view of VR is two extremes. One is that VR content is too childish and rough, and that making VR movies is a gimmick. Gao Qunshu and others belong to another group of radical adventures.

The fastest, in a year's time, we will see Director Gao's "Beauty Jar". At that time, will the number of VR devices become a bottleneck for viewers to watch movies?

Director Gao said, no.

If people across the country are buying a Mercedes-Benz, then car manufacturers across the country will produce this Mercedes-Benz. The key is to design a good enough Mercedes.

"We rely on real movies to win."

Editor: Tsai