Cover news reporter Li Yuxin
There were several plums in the corner of the wall, and Ling Han opened alone. Haruka is not snow, for there is dark incense to come. When the sound of children chanting verses came from the screen, in the picture, only to see a tree with weeping branches and plum blossoms blooming coldly, the wholesale barefoot literati reached out and pounced on it, but watched the petals fall and fall on the pure white snow...
With the bullet screen full of "lifetime" bullet screens, after more than three years of separation, the new work "Wing Mei" of the "Chinese Ancient Poetry Animation" (formerly known as "Chinese Choir") series once again appeared in the eyes of the audience. Xu is waiting too long, when netizens see the work update reminder issued in the software, they can't help but be a little stunned, and then in the comment area issued a "soul question": "More than three years, do you still know to come back?" ”
Turning the hour hand back to the beginning of 2017, a national comic screen brushing network called "Acacia" was launched for only 10 days, and the whole network hit more than 100 million, and became the first network explosive animation of the year. This is the second work in the "Ancient Chinese Poetry Animation" series. Subsequently, "Wandering Ziyin", "Drinking on the Lake After the First Sunny Rain", "Night Thoughts" and other sequels have come out one after another, almost every time they have swept the Online World, attracting countless "tap water" Amway recommendations, and even praised as "the most historically advanced animation", and even praised as "the correct way to open the national comic".
Just when netizens sighed and waited for more than three years, and finally waited for the broadcast of "Wing Mei", the main creators of the animation work were also lamenting the hardships and difficulties along the way. From the birth of the first animation "YuanRi" in 2015 to the current "Wing Mei", the series of animations has gone through seven years of years, and along the way, it has gained unexpected explosions out of the circle, and also witnessed its own continuous breakthrough challenges. Recently, shortly after the launch of "Wing Mei", the cover news interviewed director Peng Qingzheng and screenwriter Li Xia'en, listening to them tell how this work, which is known as the "light of national comics", is how it was refined.
Returned after three years
"Depicting a gentle love affair between a literati and a plum tree"
The lively New Year in "Yuan Day"; the poignant love that ends without illness in "Lovesickness"; the mother-child love interpreted in "Wandering Zi Yin"; the open-mindedness of teaching people not to be tired of fame in "Drinking on the Lake"; and the feelings of home and country in "Night Thoughts" who desperately defend the rights and interests of the Chinese nation... Audiences familiar with the series of animations know that each of its works is interpreted and unfolded with a popular ancient Chinese poem, and the stories take place in Jiading, Shanghai, based on the literati and celebrities of Jiading.
In "Yongmei", the landing point of the story returns to love again, taking the national intangible cultural heritage "Jiading Bamboo Carving" as the cultural background, according to a passage in Qian Daxin's "Biography of Zhou Shanren" quoted in the "Bamboo People's Record", it has been adapted into a love story between the bamboo carver Zhou Hao and the plum tree.
As mentioned earlier, the broadcast of "Wing Mei" has been separated for more than three years, and it is the longest production cycle of the series of animation. It is not difficult to find out on closer inspection that it is still the longest in the series, reaching 23 minutes, which is more than four times that of "Yuan Day". Because of this, the difficulty brought to the main creative team is also unprecedented. "The 20-plus minute film, it is different in structure and narrative." Peng Qingzheng explained that as an original animation of the ink painting style, every frame in the shot is carefully polished by the team, and it is drawn with the style of gong pen painting, one stroke at a time. "It can be said that the amount of engineering in this episode is more than double that of the previous works." In addition to the challenges brought by the length of time, it is the first time that the intangible cultural heritage skills are integrated into the animation, and what is more special is that the story describes a tragic and gentle love between the bamboo carver Zhou Hao and the plum blossom monster "Mei Niang".
In the ancient books, the original text records that "(Zhou Hao) tasted sick sores when he was young, returned drunk one night, and when the old man was dressed in a very different clothes, he gave out a pill of medicine, and the five internal organs were burned, and he suddenly lost the place of the sorcerer, and there was a strange fragrance in the evening, and he was gone by the disease, and there was no ash for life." This is a common "encounter with immortals to give medicine" type of story in ancient notes, but under the writer's pen, it has been adapted into a love legend between man and plum tree. Zhou Hao, a young boy who is as straight as a bamboo, once protected a plum tree that was broken by a naughty child in his childhood, and the plum tree thus had a spirit, transformed into a person, and called "Plum Niang". Spring to winter, Ling Han is slightly snowy, love blooms like plum blossoms, it is a piece of plum blossoms falling, the young Mei Niang accompanied by the hazel fragrance, the cinnabar dots on the five fingers fell on Zhou Hao's eyebrows, telling him that this is called "beauty finger"; or in cooking snow boiling tea, when the two argue about the "most beautiful" things in the world, Zhou Hao tells Mei Niang the beautiful scenery of the West Lake as far as he can see...
All along, the archetype of the protagonist in "Ancient Chinese Poetry Animation" has come from real characters in history, but "Mei Niang" is a completely fictional image. But it is worth mentioning that in the whole film, it is not clear that Mei Niang is Mei Jing, but only through some details that people can vaguely feel it. "This kind of elegance and hazy feeling unique to Chinese culture is also one of the forms of expression in this animation." Peng Qingzheng said.
It is praised as the most elaborate national comic
"Hidden Oriental aesthetics that only Chinese understand"
From the natural beauty of the snowy cold forest, to the beauty of witnessing the earth-shattering creation of the ancient wooden dragon in the illusion; from the scenery of the "Quyuan Wind and Lotus" that looks at the summer wind and the lotus fragrance on the West Lake, to the scene of the lonely and quiet "Three Pools Reflecting the Moon" at night... Every frame on the screen tells the classicism and elegance of traditional Chinese culture. As the commentary said, "Every frame of the picture is a Chinese ink painting." There are not only elegant ink paintings, but also exquisite brush strokes and imposing landscape paintings. Even in the film, the plum tree where Mei Niang's original body is located is determined by the creator to take "weeping plum" as the prototype and the brush stroke as the texture after thousands of selections.
"When I wrote the script and discussed with the director, producer, and art, I did put a lot of details in it, just like the scene from the West Lake to the scene of the wind and snow ending in Nanshan, in fact, it is a tribute to the famous painting masters of the Chinese past, which uses a large number of famous paintings, Zhou Hao explores the road to beauty, and in the performance of animation, it is also a display of the process of traditional Chinese aesthetics." Speaking of the "famous scenes" in the film, the screenwriter and director invariably mentioned that after Zhou Hao went to Hangzhou to seek "the most beautiful thing", he told Mei Niang about the beautiful scenery of the West Lake. In the picture, the audience's eyes follow a small boat from the lake, and they can see the beauty of the West Lake from sunrise to sunset, from late spring to late winter, at different times and in different seasons. "There is also the dragon that appears in the scene of 'Wind and Snow Ending in the South Mountain', which is based on the image of the dragon in the Southern Song Dynasty's dragon painting master Chen Rong's famous works "Six Dragon Diagrams" and "Nine Dragon Diagrams.") Lee Added.
In addition to the fine art picture with a very traditional oriental aesthetic, when it comes to this series of animation works, it is necessary to mention another aspect that is praised by the audience - the study of history. Netizens once said that the "Chinese Choir" is the animation that can stand the most historical examination, because every detail that appears in the film is the main creative team going through countless ancient books and old books, seeking clues to history from between the lines. For example, the choice of "weeping plum" as the original body of mei niang is also verified that there is indeed this variety in jiading area; the place where the spiritual seat was placed after the death of Master Zhou Hao xian, Xiangxue'an, the screenwriter turned through the Jiading County Chronicle and found that the name mostly appeared in the late Ming Dynasty, which was consistent with the age in the play before choosing this place. Of course, Peng Qingzheng also said that animation works are not documentaries after all, and they must know how to be flexible behind "withstanding scrutiny". "Otherwise, it's not worth it to make the story uninteresting."
In addition to the historical facts, it is difficult to verify the part, and the adaptation of the plot in each part of the film is full of the romance of the ultimate oriental aesthetic, which is a cultural metaphor and detail that only Chinese can understand. For example, Zhou Hao carved on the Xiangfei bamboo in order to seek the world's most beautiful things, but saw Mei Niang's face in the sickbed, only to find that her eyebrows were green bamboo, her ears were mountains and rivers, and her lips were red plums, and the original most beautiful scenery in the world was just her jaws; and Mei Niang, in order to save Zhou Hao's life, turned into plum blossoms and withered, the subtitle at the end of the film slowly released Zhou Hao's life, especially to her "never carved a lady in her life, nor carved a plum blossom", which seems to make the real Zhou Hao in history echo with the "love of people and plums" in the story. Such a "brain hole" and association, it is true that only Chinese can appreciate the romance hidden in it.
Create the "Lifetime" series
"Hope to leave something for the next generation"
From the first sight of "Yuan Ri" in 2015, to the popularity of "Acacia" in 2017, and then to the breakthrough of "Yongmei" in 2022, in the past 7 years, "Ancient Chinese Poetry Animation" has handed over the answer sheet that surprised netizens again and again. In the comments section, many viewers lamented that the series of animations accompanied them through the period from childhood to adolescence. Peng Qingzheng also "complained" to, sometimes back to his alma mater to hear the newly enrolled students talk about the animation they pay attention to, many people will mention his works, in addition to the sense of "the passage of time", but also let him understand that his and the team after thousands of carvings, painstaking works, in fact, in the vast sea of Chinese animation works, can leave traces.
"I made these things for Chinese animation, and it can be retained, even in the past 5 or 10 years, when the audience goes back to look back, he will remember watching such a film when he was a child." Just like the "Shuk Beta" and "Haunting" in our memory, and so on. I think this is the most gratifying and proud thing for me. ”
Originally, it was just a series of original public welfare animation films invested and produced by the Publicity Department of Shanghai Jiading District Committee, telling the historical allusions of Jiading celebrities in the form of Chinese-style animation, but the scope of influence and radiation of the animation has long exceeded Jiading to the world, and has won the gold medal of the Japanese TBS Grand Prix in China. 7 years later, some of the children who watched "Yuan Day" have entered the campus of the university, when the work is still the eagerness of many netizens to look forward to "white moonlight". This also makes people wonder, why does it have what kind of charm, let people remember?
The previously popular "Acacia"
"I think the audience is getting smarter and smarter, and the level of appreciation in all aspects, including the demand for traditional culture, is also getting higher and higher." We are using the most traditional and purest way to make the most beautiful things in China in the most down-to-earth way. Peng Qingzheng explained that in fact, not everyone can see traditional ink paintings and landscape paintings. However, in the animation, with the ups and downs of the plot, the audience can be affected by the beauty of traditional Chinese poetry, the beauty of Chinese painting, and the beautiful sound of traditional musical instruments.
On the Internet, netizens called the series of animations a "lifetime" because the waiting time was too long. Peng Qingzheng also said that this animation is also his "lifetime" with the main creative team, and it is a work that he has devoted his life to doing well. "Its greatest value is that we show the best things to everyone. We don't ask for commercial returns, or even do it with money. So, it's a very pure thing. I think it's apt to summarize this project in the 'Lifetime' series, and it's true that for us, or for the audience, it may really be a mission to be fulfilled with a lifetime, to leave something for the next generation. ”
"Read all the flowers and thousands of trees, and may the king remember this branch." In the Wing Mei, this verse appears many times. When Mei Niang and Zhou Hao parted, they handed a plum blossom into his hand, hoping that he would not forget his sincerity. However, in the comment area, some viewers speculated that this is the hidden intention of the creator, and even if time passes, I hope that the audience will not forget that this animation has brought people touched.
"Indeed, the direction of the next step is not yet determined." Peng Qingzheng said bluntly, but the original intention of the team has not changed, is to bring the audience more excellent original animation works. "As for 'reading all the flowers and thousands of trees, may the king remember this branch', I still leave it to the audience and friends to interpret." Screenwriter Lee Shane said so.
[If you have a news thread, please report to us, once adopted, there is a fee reward.] Feed WeChat attention: ihxdsb, feed QQ: 3386405712]