What is the "Opera Metacosm"? How to build? The commissioner said so...

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Editor's Note:

VR, AR, AI, metaverse... These technical terms have become hot and high-frequency words in recent years. Recently, starring Zhang Jianguo, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Peking Opera performance artist, the Peking Opera "Zhuge Kongming" equipped with 3D effects has been recorded. At the beginning of the year, the VR version of "Dragon phoenix Chengxiang" launched by the National Peking Theatre gained a large number of fans... Science and technology help opera, make opera more widely disseminated, and make opera full of new vitality. In this issue, Culture Weekly interviewed Zhang Jianguo and asked him to talk about how to use scientific and technological means to help the inheritance and dissemination of opera art.

▲ Zhang Jianguo's stills in "Shilang Visits His Mother"

Put the wings of science and technology into opera

Culture Weekly: At this year's two sessions, your proposal to promote the construction of China's "opera meta-universe" has attracted widespread attention. What was the starting point for this proposal?

Zhang Jianguo: Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, in order to implement the epidemic prevention and control policy and meet the cultural needs of the people, the performances of major theaters have been adjusted, and most theaters and troupes have changed their performances from offline to online, combining opera with science and technology, which has given us a lot of enlightenment, and also made me feel more and more that the deep integration of opera and science and technology has become a reality. The metacosm is one of the most important means.

The metacosm, in simple terms, is the use of technology to build a new virtual space and link and interact with the real world. The opera meta-universe is to virtualize and digitize stage performances (the real world) to create another spatial world that can interact with the audience, which is an extension and expansion of the real world.

Opera is a freehand art, which can be combined with the metacosm to create a world where the audience participates and interacts with the audience. Because many opera repertoire, especially Peking Opera repertoire, are traditional classic stories, in this way, it is easy for the audience to enter the metaverse, return to the era in the plot, personally feel the stories of that era, experience the truth, goodness and beauty in the art of opera, experience the charm of opera art, and also use the metaverse to spread the art of opera. Put the wings of the new era on the opera and let it fly higher and farther.

Culture Weekly: So, what do opera people need to do?

Zhang Jianguo: There is a lot that opera people need to do. In addition to his own profession, he uses meta-universe technology to produce opera meta-universe space and digital Homo sapiens.

For example, the rehearsal of "Grass Boat Borrowing Arrows" was starred by me, I first played Lu Su, then Zhuge Liang, and one person played two roles; after the rehearsal, I used the metaverse for post-production, and made into a digital Homo sapiens who could watch from all angles. Once the audience enters this space, they can not only talk to "me", but also interact with "me".

We need to do it both online and offline. Online, it is necessary to first construct a virtual scene, and then create a number of Homo sapiens, who will lead the audience into the metaverse to see the play. Offline, the establishment of the opera meta-universe experience hall, after the audience enters, the number of Homo sapiens will be greeted at the door; and then communicate with you, ask your needs; according to the needs, the number of Homo sapiens will lead you into the experience hall; different experience halls have different content arrangements, such as want to feel the deep feelings of "Shilang Visiting the Mother", then you will enter the Song Dynasty experience hall, understand the character stories of the Northern Song Dynasty, and appreciate the traditional classics of that era.

Culture Weekly: Does this put forward higher requirements for opera people and even the opera industry?

Zhang Jianguo: This is inevitable. In the metaverse, the content presented to the audience must be the most classic repertoire, singing segments, the best actors and performance teams, and make it to the highest standards. Only in this way can the audience feel the charm of opera art and absorb the essence of opera art. Only in this way can the art of opera be disseminated and promoted, and can it be imperceptibly given to the audience and improve the quality of the audience. Therefore, under such standards and requirements, whether it is opera actors or opera cast members and opera managers, they need to change their thinking and actively participate in "opera + technology"; they must also have a sense of innovation and think of what the audience thinks; at the same time, and most importantly, pay more attention to honing their professional level.

Most of the people who use the metaverse now are young people, young people have active thoughts, have a good propaganda effect, and if young people like traditional opera, they must present the best. Once young audiences like the opera in the metaverse, they may want to experience the offline theater, then the offline has not reached the effect of the metaverse, it is conceivable that the audience will not buy it, and over time it will lose this group of young audiences, and will also lose the online performance communication platform. Of course, there is still a need for supporting reforms. For example, the reform of the opera stage, the future opera stage should also be improved according to the progress of society. The times are advancing, and the entire opera industry also needs to follow the pace of the times to move forward, so as to conform to the law of the development of opera, and to promote the development of opera art and even the cause of opera.

Keep the original opera

Culture Weekly: Obviously, technology to help opera is good for the inheritance and development of opera and its dissemination.

Zhang Jianguo: Not only that, but it also plays an important role in the cultivation of opera talents and the cultivation of audiences.

Xiqu is the art of the horns, and talent is the key to the prosperity and development of the xiqu industry. How to cultivate opera talents? What kind of opera talents are cultivated? The use of technologies such as metacosmity provides us with some ideas.

For Xiqu art colleges, it is not only necessary to learn from the traditional teaching methods of Peking Opera to cultivate students, but also to use VR, AR, AI, meta-universe and other technical means to achieve digital teaching and comprehensively cultivate students' business capabilities. The audience, too, needs to be nurtured. The audience's appreciation level is improved, which can promote the continuous improvement of the level of actors; the level of actors can be improved, which can drive the overall quality of the audience to improve, and the two complement each other. In the metaverse, this is even more true. If a large number of young audiences have begun to make full use of the metaverse for important activities such as learning and obtaining information, then opera must enter the space of the metaverse earlier, pass the most essential parts to them, and form an interactive space, so that opera can develop and the audience can get a beautiful experience.

Culture Weekly: How is the Xiqu Metacosm different from traditional performances?

Zhang Jianguo: Traditional performances emphasize theater effects and are a space; the opera metacosm emphasizes interaction, which is two spaces: the stage is a space, and the metacosm is a space. The opera meta-universe can standardize and digitize all the performance content, and the content is accurate to every action of the actor. For example, Ma Lianliang performed "Empty City Plan", because he is the standard, then it is necessary to use scientific and technological means to record his singing and dancing on the stage, record the hand-eye-body steps, and digitize it, and then scholars will study, rehearse, and improve according to this - this is the difference - the standard is clearer. At the same time, meta-universe technology can also "resurrect" the previous artistic masters, and the audience can communicate and interact with him. That would be an exciting scene!

Culture Weekly: Where is the connection point between the metaverse and opera? How to grasp the degree between art and technology?

Zhang Jianguo: The metacosm and other high-tech technologies are all means and serve art. The use of meta-universe and other means is only to enhance the performance and authenticity of opera art, so that the audience can more easily and truly appreciate the beauty of opera art. You can't lose the opera itself, that's the most important thing.

So, how to grasp the degree between the two? This requires a group of talents who understand opera, understand the audience, and understand science and technology. To understand opera, we must understand the artistic characteristics, creative laws and stage performance of opera; to understand the audience, we must understand what the audience sees, feels, thinks and thinks; to understand science and technology, we must understand how to combine with opera art without losing the charm of art. For example, Peking Opera has the characteristics of virtualization and procedurality, and is a freehand art. On the upper floor of the Peking Opera stage, there are no stairs; open and close doors, no doors... It all depends on the performance of the actors to show the action of going up and down the stairs and opening and closing the door. Applied to the metaverse, the sound and photoelectric effect can be used to express the "real thing", the switching of lighting, the bubbling of the carpet, and the water sleeves of the actors show the heavy rain on the stage. Entering the metaverse, this is the most real feeling.

Culture Weekly: Where should opera be placed in the combination of science and technology and digital?

Zhang Jianguo: In the end, people still want to go back to the theater to watch the play. Peking opera is a theater art, but it is inseparable from the dissemination and assistance of science and technology. Whether it is displayed in the theater or presented in the metaverse, they should be combined with each other to eventually push this art out of the home and the world, so that the art of Peking Opera can be more perfect and more brilliant, and more people can feel it, appreciate it, and enjoy it. It is not set that the audience must return to the theater, nor does it set that the audience must be in the meta-universe, everything is to see how the opera develops, to see the audience's recognition and satisfaction. After the precipitation of time and the measurement of society, how far this art can go, the audience has the most right to speak. But what we have to do is to keep the "rightness" of the opera and retain the original taste of the opera.

Construction of the China Opera Digital Industrial Park

Culture Weekly: What enlightenment does your China Peking Opera Art Foundation give us by participating in the creation of the "Chinese Opera Digital Campus" and the Chinese Opera Digital Technology Skills Training Center?

Zhang Jianguo: It is necessary to create a state-level Chinese opera digital industrial park as soon as possible. Integrate the research and development and creation of the digital industry of opera into the national strategy, integrate and gather industries and resources with the ability to create digital technology, and complete the research and development of China's digital industry and the incubation of achievements. We are also working hard to promote this digital project.

Participating in the creation of the "Chinese Opera Digital Campus" project is a new educational method that takes the combination of traditional Chinese culture and socialist core values as the new starting point, takes the classic repertoire of 30 contemporary old, middle-aged and young opera masters as the main content, realizes the guided appreciation of opera with animation IP, and implements "opera into the campus" with digital technology. This method provides a new solution to solve the problems of no standardized curriculum and insufficient teachers in the national "opera into the campus" for many years.

Participating in the establishment of the Chinese Opera Digital Technology Skills Training Center is to introduce digital design and production technology into the field of "Xiqu Meta-universe", focusing on cultivating domestic and foreign digital technical talents to devote themselves to the construction of "Xiqu Meta-Universe". Including primary school opera digital technology skills popularization education, secondary school opera digital technology skills primary training, colleges and universities opera digital technology skills intermediate training, opera and digital industry incumbents and enthusiasts of opera digital technology skills advanced training. In addition, it is necessary to set up a level certification of opera digital technology for standardized management.

Culture Weekly: How do you view the development prospects of "Xiqu Meta universe" and "Xiqu + Technology"? What is the significance of this for the innovative development of opera?

Zhang Jianguo: The application of the metacosm should be the inevitable path of scientific and technological development in the coming period.

Take Peking Opera, for example. From the four major emblem classes into Beijing to the final formation of Peking Opera, it has been more than 230 years. At the beginning of the last century, the emergence of the "Four Famous Dans" and Peking Opera reached its peak. After the founding of New China, a number of popular classic modern plays (model plays) were staged, which became a period of innovation in the history of Peking Opera, but also a period of great development, and also became a model of shouzheng innovation. Since then, Peking Opera has continued to develop, but there are not many works that can stand, spread and stay. This is because the traditional Peking Opera has reached its peak, and it is difficult for future generations to innovate on this basis. However, in the new era, science and technology has given Peking Opera a lot of room for improvement, providing support for us to create a Peking Opera that can be repeatedly appreciated and set high standards. Peking Opera innovation is difficult, not only to have a group of good horns, but also a group of talents who understand technology. In the final analysis, it is necessary to cultivate opera composite talents and use high-tech means to spread Peking opera and develop Peking opera.

Since ancient times, China has had the custom of watching big dramas. If this custom is displayed in the way of the metaverse, then for the people, there is one more channel to watch the drama. Elites don't have time to go to the theater and can enjoy it through the metaverse. After enjoying it, learn a lesson, sing a song, pass it on, and finally walk into the theater and feel the shock in the theater. And the theater is not a single Peking Opera, there are traditional, there are different versions, and the use of high-tech production, but it is all original Peking Opera, the audience can be in a variety of forms, multi-angle appreciation.

This prompted the theater to renovate the theater. For example, in some large theater troupes, several small performance troupes set up below can perform a play together, one troupe performs an original traditional play, one troupe performs a high-tech improved play, and one troupe performs a different version... According to different performance methods, the theater meets the performance conditions and makes reforms. No matter which kind of audience they like, I think opera can be well disseminated. Only by boldly combining with the times can we not be abandoned by the times, and can we continue to make progress and continue to develop.

Source: People's Political Consultative Conference Daily (Culture Weekly, March 28, 2022)

Reporter: Guo Haijin

Layout Editor: Wang Xiaoning, Xie Ying, Yang Xue, Zhang Li, Guo Haijin

New Media Editor: Mo Shuo

Review: Jiajia Zhou