©️ Deep Sound Original · The author | Li Tingting
In the past month, there have been several major events that have touched the heartstrings of science fiction fans.
The first is the "Galaxy Award", which is regarded as the highest award for Chinese science fiction, in which the best novel award was won by science fiction writer Xie Yunning's "Crossing the Rings of Saturn" after a year of vacancy; another post-95 writer Tianrui Shuofu won the best online science fiction award for the second time with "We Live in Nanjing". What is also special this year is that with the support of Lenovo Group, the Galaxy Awards restarted the micro-film competition unit, and finally five short films won individual awards.
Galaxy Awards Micro Film Unit Winners List
Secondly, "Dune", released at the end of October, set off a carnival of science fiction fans. The original work that won both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, the adaptation directed by Wei Shen, and the ultra-luxurious creative team jointly contributed the "space epic" that belonged to this era, and even some people said: "Watching "Dune" now is like watching "2001 Space Odyssey" in 1968." ”
In addition, the film and television of "Three-Body Problem", which fans have been waiting for, has finally ushered in a new progress. After Netflix announced the first cast of the "Three-Body" English episode, Tencent Video also released the first trailer for the domestic "Three-Body" episode. Last week, at the B Station National Innovation Conference, the trailer of the "Three-Body Problem" animation drama finally met with the audience.
There is the glory and hope of Chinese science fiction lurking in this. The market's exploration of science fiction films and television, the new forces emerging from the Galaxy Awards, and the help from the technology industry are trying to write a new chapter in China's science fiction industry together.
But it also has to recognize the lag and weakness of China's science fiction industry again. When Hollywood has begun to rewrite the "space epic", Chinese science fiction movies are still stuck in the "Wandering Earth" three years ago; the same theme of the Chinese science fiction work "Three-Body" film and television operation, Netflix in the production team, capital investment, technical foundation and other aspects of the embodiment of crushing domestic hard power. Chinese science fiction, obstacles and long.
Science fiction is the foundation of the science fiction industry. The golden age of American science fiction began in the 1930s, when science and invention and surprising science fiction magazines discovered and bred a group of science fiction writers who later became famous. One of the most authoritative science fiction awards today, the Hugo Award, is in honor of Hugo Gensback, editor-in-chief of Science and Invention magazine.
A large number of sci-fi masterpieces that have been touted on the altar were also born during this period, including Isaac Asimov's "Fundamental Trilogy", Arthur Schwarzkopf's "Radical Trilogy", and "Arthur Asimov". Clark's 2001: A Space Odyssey and Frank Herbert's Dunes. These works are still excellent materials for film and television creation.
Looking back at China, Ye Yonglie, a student of the Chemistry Department of Peking University, wrote "PHS Roaming the Future" in 1961, but it was only published in 1978 due to historical factors, which was also the first science fiction novel published after the reform and opening up. In addition to Ye Yonglie, there are also famous science fiction artists such as Zheng Wenguang and Tong Enzheng in China, but their works are more classified as "children's literature".
At this time, based on the rich reserves of science fiction, the United States has begun to try a large number of science fiction film and television creations. Especially after the 1950s, due to the Cold War arms race and the development of aviation technology, the public responded strongly to science fiction themes such as space travel, and the landmark science fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey" appeared on the screen in 1968.
2001: A Space Odyssey
In fact, China's attempts at science fiction films are not backward, and they have also shown their sharp edges.
In 1963, a 31-minute short film, Little Sun, was broadcast on television, telling the story of four teenagers who designed an artificial "little sun" with the help of scientists. Later, Liu Cixin praised this work in his essay "Forgotten Masterpieces", saying that it had a larger science fiction core.
But unfortunately, "Little Sun" only disappeared after it was broadcast on CCTV6, and only existed in the vague memories of science fiction movie fans and scholars. Liu Cixin once said bitterly: "I hope that its copy is still kept in the film studio database." ”
The ephemeral appearance of "Little Sun" seems to be a pessimistic foreshadowing, after the 1960s, the time dislocation of the development of the Sino-US science fiction industry has been widened and expanded.
In 1969, the successful moon landing in the Soviet Union triggered the public's infinite yearning for the vast universe, and overseas science fiction movies entered an explosive period. Through films such as Star Wars, Terminator, and E.T Aliens, people use their imaginations to depict alien civilizations; at the same time, through dystopian films such as Clockwork Orange, creators carry out serious thinking about the dilemma of human existence in the context of science fiction.
But it was in the golden period of the outbreak of British and American science fiction films and television, domestic science fiction creation fell into a freezing point. In the 1980s, there were more and more domestic criticisms of science fiction creation, some people criticized "domestic science fiction works are surnamed 'ke' is not successful, surname 'Wen' is not successful, probably have to go to the surname 'illusion'", and some people question "under the sign of 'popular science creation' and 'science fiction', selling some bourgeois and feudal rags.".
For a time, a large number of science fiction magazines were suspended, science fiction writers abandoned their pens, and only the Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Cooperation Intention was willing to allow the "Science Literature and Art" in charge of it to continue to operate on the condition that it was responsible for its own profits and losses. The only surviving science fiction magazine still under pressure to select the Science Fiction Galaxy Awards in 1985 and later renamed "Science Fiction World".
The later story should be very familiar to everyone.
From the 1990s to the present, with the maturity of computer special effects technology, the visual presentation of science fiction is no longer an obstacle. A large number of excellent science fiction films have been born under the Hollywood film and television industry system, and Avatar, Interstellar, The Martian Rescue and superhero movies are popular around the world.
In China, more than half a century after "Little Sun", it finally ushered in another science fiction masterpiece "The Wandering Earth". The cheers for the opening of the "First Year of Science Fiction" did not last long, and the expectations of science fiction fans were slammed to the ground by "Shanghai Fortress" released in the same year.
After another three years, the public still has imagination and expectations for the future of domestic science fiction, but in fact, the development of the domestic science fiction industry is not as vigorous as imagined.
According to the "China Science Fiction Industry Report 2021" released at the end of September, the total value of China's science fiction industry in 2020 is 55.109 billion yuan, and the output value of the science fiction industry in the first half of this year reached 36.292 billion yuan, and the total output value is expected to exceed last year. As a comparison, you can look at this data again, Ai Media Consulting data shows that the script that has only begun to be popular this year will exceed 17 billion yuan in the domestic market size in 2021.
Moreover, most of the output value of Chinese science fiction is actually supported by science fiction games. Report data show that in the first half of this year, the output value of the science fiction game industry was close to 30 billion yuan, an increase of 25% year-on-year, accounting for about 80% of the total output value. In science fiction games, there are also popular mobile games such as "Glory of Kings" and "Peace Elite".
In terms of science fiction films and television, it has been affected by the epidemic and its performance has been mediocre. In 2020, the output value of the science fiction film and television industry was only 2.649 billion yuan, and in the first half of this year, the box office of science fiction films was 3.872 billion yuan.
For more than half a century, British and American science fiction films and television have flourished, while domestic science fiction films and televisions have occasionally shown their sharp edges, but they have experienced twists and turns.
With "Three-Body Problem" and "Beijing Folding" winning hugo awards and "The Wandering Earth" winning nearly 4.7 billion at the box office, China's science fiction industry seems to have finally stood at the beginning of a brilliant era. But as Guo Fan, director of "The Wandering Earth", said, "the first year of science fiction" is not the result of the emergence of a movie, it is necessary to have the emergence of one science fiction film after another, and establish this prototype, and the first year of science fiction is meaningful.
Three years later, the next domestic science fiction masterpiece has not yet appeared. From the Galaxy Award micro-film competition, "Three-Body" film and television and other projects, we can track the pace of the industry's forward exploration, but to make up for the huge gap in industrial development, the challenges faced by domestic science fiction films and television are still severe.
In terms of creation, as mentioned above, the development of Chinese science fiction is limited by the times, so the science fiction IP that can be dug up and used is limited. At the 2021 China Science Fiction Conference "China Science Fiction IP Ecological Cultivation and Industrial Layout" forum held recently, experts and scholars reached a consensus that "the cultivation, transformation and layout of the whole industry chain of science fiction IP will become the key to the development of China's science fiction industry".
In addition, at the level of the public, looking back at the history of the development of science fiction, the outbreak of content is often closely related to the breakthrough of science and technology, and the development of aviation, the progress of intelligent technology, and the improvement of the scientific literacy of the whole people have stimulated the public's strong interest in science fiction content. The domestic science fiction content consumption capacity also depends on the humanities and science and technology environment.
The prosperity of creation and the expansion of the audience are indispensable soil for the development of the science fiction industry.
Further, whether the soil can cultivate the fruits of science fiction depends on the industrialization level of the film and television industry. Science fiction movies have extremely high requirements for script creation, financial strength, and visual effects, and are almost the ultimate test stone for the industrialization of film.
The creation of science fiction scripts requires the main creative team to have both scientific and artistic literacy, and even requires top scientists to participate in it. For example, one of the co-writers of "Interstellar" is Kip Thorne, a Nobel Laureate in Physics and one of the most outstanding scientists in the field of black holes and general relativity.
In addition, among various genres, the cost investment of science fiction films can be said to be the highest. Interstellar cost $165 million to shoot, equivalent to $76,000 per minute. This is almost astronomical for the domestic film and television industry, and it is reported that the total cost of "The Wandering Earth" is about 400 million yuan, and it is overstretched when shooting, and the starring Wu Jing has zero remuneration.
What is more difficult to catch up is the visual effects level, Hollywood's special effects production, in the pre-design, model production, photography, special effects makeup and other aspects have formed a fine division of labor and superb technical level. Taking "Interstellar" as an example, its production team Double Negative rewrote a set of rendering effects based on the equation provided by Nobel Prize winner Thorne to make a black hole model, and the rendering time of a single frame was as high as 1 hour.
The black hole in Interstellar
Although The Wandering Earth was a success in the market, its production did not reach the industrial level. Cai Meng, its head of visual effects, believes that in order to achieve the first year of science fiction, there will be more trial and error, and a more mature industrial system is also needed as a support, "I feel that there will be no more science fiction projects like "The Wandering Earth" in 2-3 years."
Under the influence of various factors such as historical development, talent faults, and technical restrictions, the foundation of Chinese science fiction film and television is weak and the road is long.
To meet the challenge, it is inseparable from the support of the general environment. In 2020, the National Film Administration and the China Association for Science and Technology jointly issued the "Several Opinions on Promoting the Development of Science Fiction Films", proposing the "Ten Articles of Science Fiction". In the "Outline of action plan for the scientific quality of the whole people (2021-2035)" issued by the State Council this year, it is also clearly proposed to implement the science fiction industry support plan.
If the industry wants to undertake favorable policies, it needs the joint efforts of publishing institutions, film and television institutions, and science and technology enterprises. In particular, the funds, technology and influence from science and technology enterprises are indispensable guidance and assistance for Chinese science fiction on the road to the sea of stars.
At present, the head project of domestic science fiction film and television is more around the IP of "Three-Body", and the development of the industry needs richer IP reserves and fresh blood. In this Galaxy Award, the emerging post-95 award-winning writers and micro-film creators represent the emerging power of science fiction creation.
In particular, the second micro-film competition unit held this year has collected more than 30 entries in two months, including the prototype of science fiction film and television masterpieces. Ah Que, a famous science fiction writer and judge of the micro-film competition unit, sighed: "The shortlisted films are of different lengths, but they all interpret science fiction from a certain amazing perspective. After watching all the films, I deeply admired the genius inspiration of these artists. ”
For example, the work "Puzzle Quiz", which won the Best Director Award and the Best Popularity Award in the competition, explores the free will and existence consciousness of artificial intelligence through a seven-minute inversion debate. In addition, the work "Angel Ring", which won the Best Creative Award, tells the story of human manipulation in the era of human-machine combination from an excellent perspective, and has been evaluated as similar to this year's Galaxy Award for Best Science Fiction Short Story Award, "Leibniz's Box".
Award-winning short film "Puzzle Q&A"
Behind these works is the most precious fresh creative blood in the science fiction industry. For example, professional film and television companies with science fiction creation experience such as Beijing Shell Out of the Shell Pictures and Shanghai Youth Dream Film City, teams and independent creators from the fields of brand marketing creativity, and even grassroots creators on Douyin and Kuaishou have participated in the galactic award micro-film draft.
Eclectic talent. The Galaxy Award has made great contributions to the excavation of Chinese science fiction talents, and with the transformation of its perspective from literature to industry, the micro-film unit of the Galaxy Award may also be the starting point for many science fiction filmmakers.
The galaxy award micro-film unit can be restarted, which is the result of the strong support of Lenovo Group. Qiao Jian, senior vice president, chief strategy officer and chief marketing officer of Lenovo Group, said that Lenovo hopes to use this event as a starting point to contribute to China's science fiction industry.
With this as the incision, behind the cooperation between the science fiction world and lenovo Group is an attempt to collide and blend the science fiction industry and the technology industry. Through more low-level mutual assistance in talent and technology, the power from science and technology is injecting into the science fiction industry and becoming one of the forces that rewrite Chinese science fiction.
In fact, "science fiction" and "science and technology" are themselves interdependent and mutually helpful.
The development of Chinese science fiction requires science fiction creators to deepen exchanges with front-line scientific and technological workers. Science fiction master Asimov once proposed the "elevator effect", referring to the invention of the elevator, science fiction writers can imagine the existence of hundreds of high-rise buildings in the future, and then imagine the hard work of residents climbing the stairs and the complexity of operating facilities - but all this imagination became funny after the birth of the "elevator".
Therefore, even the most perceptive science fiction master may lack knowledge of a key technological element due to historical limitations, causing his reasonable imagination of future technology to become absurd mistakes. It is technology that limits and regulates the boundaries of the imagination of science fiction writers.
On another level, science fiction creation also provides inspiration for the development of science and technology to a certain extent. The metaverse, which is widely discussed and considered to be the future of humanity, was originally a concept constructed in the 1992 science fiction novel Avalanche. In addition, based on liu Cixin's science fiction works on the imagination of the future of mankind, some people even called him "China's first metaverse architect".
The future of Chinese science fiction must be a future in which science and technology and science fiction work together and deeply assist each other. Such mutual assistance is not only the talent mining, audience training, and film and television industrialization of science and technology enterprises to help the science fiction industry, but also the thinking and narrative of the future of science and technology and the future of mankind.
The road is obstructed and long, and the line is coming.
In 1986, when Science Literature and Art was under pressure to select the Chinese Science Fiction Galaxy Award, Osamu Iwagami of the Japanese Science Fiction Literature Research Association came to China and said that he found that only science literature and art related publications in China were left, so he wanted to see what kind of people the editors of this magazine were.
When he left, Iwagami gave his wishes: "I believe that in the country that produces such a huge work as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin", there will be more great works." ”