It can only be described in three words, it is so beautiful.
Article source: Courtesy and Etiquette Micro Magazine
ID：ylyj2015
Author: Etiquette Jun
Edit: Twins
The high-scoring Summer Bug Country is traditional and retro
"Summer worms should not speak to the icers, but to the times." In the south of the world, there is a summer worm country, where people are born in spring and autumn, and in their consciousness, "ice is the most precious thing in the world" but no one has ever seen it. So, the general, Lux and Mr. Modou decided to build a big ship and go looking for "ice"...
The animation has no dialogue and the soundtrack is also classical, with folk opera as the background music, creating a mysterious atmosphere. In the dense drumming, white cranes, dragons, and sea gods appear one after another; on the background of the earthen wall, small air holes are faintly visible, like the old texture in childhood movies.
Although the animation of "Summer Worm Country" is niche and not long, the rating has reached more than 8 points. The director is secretive about the main theme of the short film, and there are traditional retro production methods, and the mystery of the summer worm country is layer after layer.
Summer Worm Country
20 young people + 20 tons of plaster = 17 minute short film
After graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts, the post-85 director Tang Baihua and his friends founded the "Ink Culture" company, he led more than 20 young people to use 2 years, 10,000 pieces of plasterboard, to make a 17-minute "Summer Worm Country", with a total weight of 20 tons, known as the world's heaviest animation.
In the pursuit of science and technology, the "Summer Worm Country" with a unique painting style is very rare. The production team abandoned advanced computer technology and turned to the most "unscientific" methods, and the average person did not understand the director's snail speed and "self-begging".
In fact, "Summer Worm Country" can complete the production, and Tang Baihua's personal factors are in it. He grew up in Liuyang, where the religious atmosphere is strong. Liuyang is a famous fireworks production area, making firecrackers is a dangerous business, so the locals built many temples for peace.
When he was a child, he shuttled through the temples, in his view, the temples are art galleries, and the sculptures and murals inside are also deeply imprinted in his heart. When he grew up, he found resonance in Zhuangzi's "Summer Worm" story. This was the first motivation for the team's decision to complete this story with a religious flavor.
The older the more textured, the slower the more powerful
In order to find inspiration for his creation, in 2011, Tang Baihua set off from Beijing with 20 people and went to Dunhuang to collect wind for half a month, and then studied murals, grottoes and architecture at Yongle Palace in Shanxi. While collecting wind, I pondered the painting materials
Tang Baihua, who is a printmaking professional, tried wood planks, stone slabs, copper plates, paper, silk and other materials, and the results were either too hard or too soft: too hard to make too difficult, too soft without the texture of murals. Later, gypsum was found, which was easy to obtain, low cost and best effect.
So the team bought gypsum powder and processed it themselves, dipped a brush in mineral pigment to paint, and then swept into the computer. "Summer Bug Country" was produced for 2 years, and the editing took only one week, and most of the time was spent on the drawing template. This kind of turtle's slow handwork is not efficient, but Tang Baihua likes it, "I'd rather be slower and do something different." ”
Production process
The animation was shortlisted for several international film festivals, but the team could not pay the rent
"The Haunting of the Heavenly Palace" is an "art film" that can be released in theaters, while the "painting short film" "Summer Worm Country" is difficult. Tang Baihua said, "We do traditional painting, first to drive away half of the audience; with plaster, and then to drive away half; without 3D, and then half of it; to tell a philosophical story, we have to go halfway." ”
It wasn't until 2014 that the "20 tons" cartoon and some plaster manuscripts were revealed at the Fengmian Art Space in Guangzhou. "Summer Worm Country" was shortlisted
60th Oberhausen International Short Film Festival,
68th Edinburgh International Film Festival,
25th São Paulo International Short Film Festival,
Oberhausen International Short Film Festival in Germany...
However, they could not wait for the award, but their company had to move away because they could not hand over the house.
"Summer Worm Country" display
"Mo Gao XiaGuang" is a strange painting style
Although "Summer Worm Country" is small, it has a good response, even if it is hard, Tang Baihua is not willing to give up. Unable to live in Beijing, he simply led a team of 30 people to live under the Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang, and once again used 2,000 clay tablets and 9 months to create a 420-second animation with a clear style - "Mo Gao Xiaguang".
Tang Baihua is not afraid of trouble, and his friends have learned it. In order to achieve the most ideal effect, he once again let the team eat enough and truly feel the hardships of Xuanzang's westward journey. They are also like Xuanzang in the animation, not afraid of hardships, diligently pursuing, and finally obtaining the True Scriptures.
Without exception, each frame of "Mo Gao Xiaguang" is also hand-painted in the style of Dunhuang murals. However, the clay board used in this animation has a more Dunhuang flavor, using the mud of the Daquan River and the five-colored sand of Mingsha Mountain, made according to the ancient method of "three sands, six soils and one ash", and the form and meaning are closer to Dunhuang.
In the animation, Xuanzang's one courtesy action requires dozens of mud plates, so that the effect of the "clumsy" technique is more exquisite; under the thick ink and color of the wind and sand, the sand grains in the wind can still be recognized, and the picture is simple and textured, like the Dunhuang murals that move.
Production of "Mo Gao XiaGuang"
Old Dunhuang, old method, slow production, new animation
It may be necessary to really walk into Dunhuang and touch the mural Buddha light of Dunhuang to truly appreciate Tang Baihua's stubbornness. Only after being moved did I insist, and I felt the beauty of Dunhuang who remembered this ancient art of painting, and finally "fell into it".
The animation of "Summer Worm Country" and "Mo Gao Xiaguang" has a unique texture, which comes from both creativity and the team's seriousness and persistence in handicraft art.
It is they who use the slow and time-consuming "hand-painted image" creation method to express the local aesthetic, so that the traditional elements are carefully presented in the contemporary context, so that even in the current situation of rapid consumption, we can also appreciate the beautiful texture and vitality of traditional art!
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