Back two years ago in July, when filming the 8K panoramic Peking Opera movie "Catch and Release Cao" in Chedun, the lead actor Wang Peiyu was most impressed by "three masks a day", which is directly related to the requirements of 8K picture quality for details. "Usually the performance is up to three or four hours, the film shooting from morning to night, more than 10 hours of makeup a day, 8K ultra-high-definition lens, the skin requirements are very high."
On the afternoon of September 29th, the unveiling ceremony of Shanghai 8K Panoramic Audiovisual Display Base and the premiere ceremony of the 8K Panoramic Sound Peking Opera movie "Catch and Release Cao" were held at the Shanghai Museum of Natural History. This is the first "handshake" between Chinese Peking Opera and 8K movies. "'Catch and Release Cao' is an old play from 200 years ago, and artists of all genres have performed this play, and it is gratifying to use film techniques to let it meet today's audience." Wang Peiyu said.
In the eyes of director Teng Junjie, "Catch and Release Cao" is a play of "Fighting Hearts", which closely revolves around the "catch, release and escape" of the first protagonist Chen Gong from the "three righteousnesses" of justice, chivalry and benevolence, and the "catch, release and kill" of the unique evolution of the second protagonist Cao Cao from hero to adulterous hero. The entanglements, contradictions and conflicts throughout the film are closely intertwined.
In 1905, Chinese's first film, Dingjun Mountain, also happened to be Peking Opera. This time, "Catch and Release Cao" is the first 8K Peking Opera movie. In the film, you can see a wider color gamut, a brighter transparency and a meticulous clarity, even the hair is clearly rooted. Teng Junjie believes that 8K shooting has broad prospects, and Shanghai filmmakers have taken the lead in taking this step. The reporter learned that "Catch and Release Cao" uses 8K technology to shoot and produce the whole process, and has been selected as the second batch of films in the "Peking Opera Film Project" of the Propaganda Department.
Wang Peiyu said that the most important difference between shooting Peking Opera movies and performing on stage is that each scene and shot must be filmed many times. "An action is repeated many times, and it is so subtle that the expression, footsteps, and turns are consistent. There is a certain amount of improvisation on stage, but the film places more elaborate demands on the actors. ”
8K image quality is 4 times more than 4K resolution, and 16 times the current mainstream 1080P resolution. Therefore, higher requirements are put forward for the film's costume. Teng Junjie introduced that when filming "Catch and Release Cao", he put forward the shooting requirements of "making up like a bride and groom, and making props like exquisite furniture", "the audience can get a new visual and auditory experience in the movie".
During filming, the team also designed a plot of "Cao Cao's assassination attempt to assassinate Dong Zhuo" that was not in the original work, which was used for flashbacks and interludes in the movie. Teng Junjie said that this past is recorded in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and widely circulated in the folk; although the number of shots is not much, it contrasts and contrasts the image of Cao Cao, who is young and vigorous and has a certain sense of justice, and the rapid transformation that follows. "We also created the latest singing section of the protagonist Chen Gong, "Waves and Sands", which pointed out the feelings and concepts of the characters with five tastes and miscellaneous Chen."
From 2019 to 2021, Teng Junjie witnessed the iteration of 8K technology in China. The biggest challenge when the film was shot was the huge amount of data, and the rendering time of a 5-minute video in that year took 5 days, but now it only takes about two hours. "Movies go from silent to audible, from 2K to 4K, and the level of technology is accelerating iteration. "Catching and Releasing Cao" strengthens the advantages of the integration of Peking Opera's 'construction method' and film narrative, and explores the way to open Peking Opera movies with more ornamental and more gold content. At the same time, it is also to provide some experiences and lessons on the road of 8K exploration. ”
Unveiled on the same day, the Shanghai 8K Panoramic Audiovisual Display Base is located in the Shanghai Museum of Natural History, jointly built by the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum and SMG, and its display space contains about 654-inch screens, equipped with 8K resolution projectors, supporting 7.1.4 format 3D panoramic audio playback, and is Shanghai's first municipal 8K demonstration site that meets the requirements of new infrastructure of cultural big data and integrates culture and technology. The base is open to the public and is expected to promote the growth of the 8K content market.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Shi Chenlu Text Editor: Shi Chenlu
Source: Author: Zhang Yi