Since the 1990s, historical dramas and costume dramas have gradually become popular, and at the time when tourism is in the ascendant, one film and television city after another has sprung up across the country.
These studios are either built to shoot a certain film, or built to attract investment to make films, but either way, they can't escape the number of roads that gradually evolve into scenic spots.
Over the years, some studios have reached new highs in revenue, some have barely maintained, and some have already entered desolation.
Well done, the sword light sword shadow and the iron horse Jingo are still being staged;
Poor management, only people go to the empty Xiao Ser, and the glorious past imprinted in film and television works.
12. Zhuozhou Film and TELEVISION City, representative work: "Three Kingdoms"
In 1990, it was built by CCTV with a huge investment of 300 million yuan, located in Wharf Town, Zhuozhou City, Baoding City, Hebei Province, covering an area of more than 2,200 acres.
At the beginning of the construction, it was the time when domestic costume dramas were just emerging, and the reason for the location of Zhuozhou Film and Television City was also that it was closer to Beijing and more convenient for the crew to come and go.
Later, the popular "Tang Ming Emperor", "Wu Zetian", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and other costume TV series were filmed here.
The more famous attraction in the scenic area is the Tongquetai on the south side of Seoul. It can be seen in "The Quest for Qin", "The Legend of Mi Yue" and "Tongquetai".
Zhuozhou Film and TELEVISION City has been open to the public since 1992 to receive tourists, and the ticket price is 50 yuan in the peak season and 35 yuan in the off-season.
As a veteran film and television base, Zhuozhou Film and TELEVISION City has several popular landscapes that are popular with the film crew, distributed in Seoul, Tangcheng, Ming and Qing Imperial Palaces and inner scenic spots.
Although the buildings are also magnificent, they are not rich overall. As film and television works become more and more demanding of real scenes, many crews choose to shoot some scenes here and then move elsewhere.
Some facilities with low utilization not only do not bring benefits, but also bring a burden to the operation of the studio.
For example, the "Cao Cao Xiang Mansion", which was specially built for the filming of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, contained buildings with obvious Han Dynasty characteristics such as racecourse and watchtower.
Since Ghosh filmed the new "Three Kingdoms" here, the "Prime Minister's Mansion" has not received other crews to shoot, but its maintenance costs are indispensable.
In September 2016, Zhuozhou Film and TELEVISION City closed down and stopped receiving tourists, and there was news of renovation and upgrading, but it has not been opened so far.
11. Wuxi Film and Television Base, representative work: "Water Margin"
Once upon a time, the circle described which actor had a very full schedule, and what was often hung on his lips was: "I went to Wuxi to shoot again!" ”
Wuxi Film and Television City is the earliest large-scale film and television base in China, under the policy of "construction with drama belts" of CCTV, it was built in 1987 due to the location of "Journey to the West".
After that, every big move of it was related to the location of the CCTV drama.
Tang City was built because of "Emperor Ming of Tang", three kingdoms city because of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and water margin city because of "Water Margin".
Wuxi Film and Television Base covers a very large area, only 1 million square meters, but its close neighbor Taihu Lake has a water area of 2 million square meters.
Combining the plot and attractions in film and television dramas, Wuxi Film and Television City did it very early and did a good job.
In particular, Shuihu City, the imperial palace Xiangfu, the lake reeds, the city shops, the Yamen prison, the temple, the restaurant inn and other places where the figure of the good man of Liangshan has appeared, which is deeply loved by tourists.
More than a dozen imitation Song ships are available for tourists to ride, and vegetarian meals are served inside the Daxiangguo Temple.
They also set up the "Water Margin Martial Arts Stunt Team" to perform martial arts scenes from "Water Margin" for tourists every day.
And Wu Dalang baked cake has long become a representative attraction of the entire scenic spot.
After years of development, this scenic spot still maintains a strong vitality. At present, it is a national AAAAA-level scenic spot, which can receive more than 2 million tourists and dozens of crews every year.
10. Zhenbeibao Western Cinema, representative work: "Journey to the West"
This magical yellow land was discovered by Zhang Xianliang by accident when he was reforming through labor in Yinchuan.
In 1980, he was transferred to the Ningxia Literary Association, where he introduced Zhenbeibao to the fifth generation of directors, Zhang Junzhao, who made the epoch-making "One and Eight".
After that, Zhang Xianliang's novel "Spirit and Flesh" was favored by the great director Xie Jin and made into a movie "Wrangler", which was also filmed in Zhenbei Fort.
The young Zhang Yimou also found the ideal background suitable for "Red Sorghum" here.
Zhang Xianliang loved this yellow land deeply, and in 1993, he led the establishment of the Zhenbei fort Western Cinema.
At that time, although it was not the golden age of Chinese Western films, all films that were related to the west basically had to come to Zhenbei Fort to spend a while.
Not only that, but it also attracts many Hong Kong filmmakers who are full of fantasies about the mysterious west.
They came here to come out of "New Dragon Gate Inn" and "Journey to the West".
Zhenbei Fort is a smaller studio city, but it has been profitable since its completion.
The most attractive thing today is the city wall where Zhou Xingchi and Zhu Yin stand facing each other in "Journey to the West".
During the tourist season, although many houses have been built outside the wall, the scene of the Purple Xia Fairy gathering together is not delayed.
9. North Putuo Film and Television City, representative work: "Huan Zhu Ge Ge"
Like Zhuozhou Film and TELEVISION City, Beiputuo was also invested and built by CCTV for 300 million yuan.
Located in Daxing, Beijing, the location is located here, and it has a lot to do with being closer to Beijing.
Beiputuo Film and Television City has undertaken to shoot Qing Dynasty dramas such as "Huan Zhu Ge Ge", "Iron Tooth Copper Tooth Ji Xiaolan", "Big Mansion Gate" and so on, and has walked out of countless Ge Ge, Ma Ma and Emperor Amma.
The architectural style is dominated by the Qing Dynasty, which is relatively single and does not have a climate in scale.
After the Qing Palace drama began to decline, the use of landscapes in the Qing Dynasty became lower and lower.
Some large productions will choose newer and more exquisite film and television bases to shoot, and Beiputuo Film and Television City will gradually be ignored by the film and television industry.
At the same time, there was no strong financial support, and tourists slowly became scarce.
At present, the ticket for the scenic spot is 30 yuan, and if you buy it online, it is less than 20 yuan. It is barely survived by some temple fairs, ice and snow projects, and real CS.
8. Zhongshan Film and Television City, representative work: "Towards the Republic"
In 2001, in order to cooperate with the filming of the TV series "Sun Yat-sen", the Zhongshan Municipal People's Government invested 150 million yuan to build the Zhongshan Film and Television City.
In addition to tourism, film and television shooting, Zhongshan Film and Television City also shoulders the function of patriotic education.
This national AAAAA-level scenic spot is divided into five parts: Chinese scenic spots, Japanese scenic spots, British scenic spots, American scenic spots and exhibition hall areas.
Most of its buildings are in the style of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Ming Dynasty, and many film and television works depicting that era, such as "Towards the Republic" and "Opium War", have been filmed here.
Five years after its completion, Zhongshan City was selected as one of The Top Ten Film and Television Bases in China, but in 2008, it was rumored that it was insolvent and sold for 150 million yuan.
The main reason for poor management is the problem of income.
Film and television shooting venue rental, tourist tickets and wedding photography tickets are the three sources of income of Zhongshan City.
However, the scale of Zhongshan Film and Television City is small, the supporting facilities are not perfect, many crews either do not come, come or go to a few scenes to leave, not many resident.
Coupled with the fact that the number of tourists who bought tickets could not meet expectations, the wedding photography business did not effectively expand, resulting in the overall revenue can not meet the operational needs.
Income can not be raised, directly resulting in the scenic spot of the re-investment is difficult to continue, these years Zhongshan City has been in a tepid state.
7. Tongli Film and Television Base, representative work: "Joke about Qianlong"
Tongli Town, one of the six ancient towns in Jiangnan.
In addition to the unique water town style, a large number of complete Ming and Qing Dynasty buildings have been preserved, so that this water charm ancient town "has a view from every angle".
Before the establishment of the film and television base, a large number of crews were attracted by the beautiful scenery of Tongli to shoot here.
Including the famous documentary "Talking about the Canal", the early magic reform historical drama "Joke About Qianlong", Chen Kaige's first challenge to the theme of the Republic of China", "Wind and Moon" and so on.
Unlike other studios, which are basically man-made landscapes, many of the scenery in Tongli Film and Television City are real cultural monuments and natural water townscapes.
This makes Tongli Film and Television City look very special, "Little Venice of the East" and "Natural Studio" are not vain names.
Tongli has been included in the preliminary list of world cultural heritage, when tourists visit, the lace material of the film and television drama is only an accessory, and the real protagonist is still the scenic spot itself.
Such a background also makes this scenic spot not too worried about no one to shoot, but it is very careful for the crew.
6. Feng Xiaogang Film Commune, representative work: "Fanghua"
In 2014, The Mission Hills Huayi Feng Xiaogang Film Commune, a joint venture between Huayi Brothers and Feng Xiaogang, which is in a state of day and day, was opened.
The Film Commune was once the proud work of the Huayi Brothers. Wang Zhongjun, chairman of Huayi Brothers, once regarded it as "one of the most successful products".
The scenic spot is a rare film and television base named after the director in the country, and the park is divided into three main sections: 1942 Street, Nanyang Street and Old Beijing Street, all of which are buildings from the Republic of China period.
At the beginning of its opening, Feng Xiaogang Film Commune attracted many tourists with a strong personal style and humanistic atmosphere.
In particular, some young viewers regard it as a holy place for Internet celebrities to take photos and punch cards.
However, with the failure of several bets between Feng Xiaogang and Huayi Brothers, the sweet period between the two sides has gradually become a thing of the past.
In addition, in 2018, Huayi Brothers began to fall into a quagmire of losses. From 2018 to 2020, Huayi Brothers' losses were 1.169 billion, 3.978 billion and 1.048 billion yuan, respectively.
In such a situation, Huayi Brothers naturally had no time to take care of Feng Xiaogang Film Commune, and the conventional operation of scenic spots and construction investment were not strongly supported.
Today, this 930,000-square-meter scenic spot with a ticket price of 160 yuan is very deserted. With short neighborhoods and few projects, the visitor experience becomes extremely bad.
From the beginning of its construction to today, the only movie that has really been filmed here is "Fanghua".
5. Jiaozuo Film and Television City, representative work: "Warring States"
Jiaozuo Film and TELEVISION City also has a history of more than 20 years, it was built because of the location of the TV series "Eastern Zhou Kingdoms", and the area is very large.
In the years when the pre-Qin historical costume films were hot, the number of film and television works taken over by Jiaozuo Film and Television City was very large, but they were rarely fine products, and it was even difficult to pick out a familiar masterpiece.
The masterpiece has no popularity and cannot get more resonance from tourists, resulting in scenic spots having to seek other business routes.
The whole scenic spot is dominated by pre-Qin and Han Dynasty cultures, which should have had ancient customs and charms, but modernity factors continue to fill it.
In the central square scenic area, modern factors even surpass traditional factors, there are many flower lanterns, cartoon children's paradise.
The continuous looping of the garden advertisements is incompatible with the style of scenic spots such as the Chu King's Palace and the Qin King's Palace in the back, especially in the holiday festivals, which are more like an amusement park than a film and television city.
In this way, the scenic spot has fallen into the same dilemma as many poorly managed peers in China.
Their own characteristics are no longer popular, but they can't find an effective way to change.
The film and television city that once brought hope for the transformation of Jiaozuo, a resource-based city, is now depressed, sometimes like an "empty city".
4. Chedun Film and TELEVISION City, representative work: "Wind Moon"
When filming "Wind Moon", Chen Kaige originally only wanted to make a small production.
But while patting on the back, he decided to build a Nanjing Road on the outskirts of Shanghai to restore the hustle and bustle of the 1920s.
At that time, the exterior location he built developed into the current Chedun Film and Television City, also known as Shanghai Film and Television City.
Since its completion in 1999, Chedun Film and TELEVISION City has received tens of millions of tourists.
Through the continuous development of special festivals and relying on the old Shanghai streetscape buildings, we will create the positioning of "Night Shanghai Tourism" and build a cultural tourism project with complete facilities for "eating, wearing, living, and shopping".
However, there are not many crews who choose to shoot here. When the streetscape of Nanjing Road was built that year, it was not built according to the actual size, but was miniaturized.
The entire street is built according to one-sixth of its original size, so the momentum is much worse.
When Ang Lee filmed "Color Ring", he had to choose another place and re-establish "Nanjing West Road".
When Guan Hu was preparing to shoot "Eight Hundred", he also went to Chedun Film and Television City to select scenes, but he did not choose the miniature Suzhou River.
Now, Chedun Film and TELEVISION City is keeping up with the boom and constantly developing "immersive" script killing projects.
In addition, Chedun Film and Television Base belongs to the Shanghai Film Group, and they hold a large number of animation IPs left by the Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio, such as "Black Cat Sheriff", "Hulu Brothers", "Haunting Tiangong", etc., which are rapidly converted into real tourism products.
The scenic spot is on par with Disneyland and hopes to build a similar theme park in the future.
3. Xiangshan Film and Television City, representative work: "Langya List"
In May 2003, in order to shoot "Heroes of the Divine Eagles", Zhang Jizhong invested in the construction of "Divine Eagle City" in Xiangshan, Xinqiao Town, Zhejiang Province.
When filming "The Orphan of Zhao", Chen Kaige built the Spring and Autumn Warring States City in Xiangshan Film and Television City.
After that, the Journey to the West Paradise, Tang City, and Republic of China City were successively built, and gradually formed a scale.
At the same time, the scenic spot also has the first high-tech digital studio in China, which can realize real-time synthesis and synchronous imaging of shooting images.
Asia's largest underwater soundstage and standard studio for film shooting were also built here.
Xiangshan Film and Television City has developed for nearly 20 years, and the number of reception crews per year has reached 200.
In recent years, popular dramas such as "Langya List", "The Legend of Mi Yue", "The Promotion of the Crown Princess", "Three Lives and Three Dynasties and Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms", "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an", "Douluo Continent" and "Qing Yu Nian" have been filmed in Xiangshan.
Xiangshan Film and Television City has always attached importance to the experiential nature of tourists, and has played an industrial agglomeration effect, including the film industry chain of film and television scene shooting, crew hotel accommodation, film and television tourism and other service categories, and has also driven the development of catering, transportation, entertainment and other industries in the surrounding area.
The operator has long found that it is difficult to recover the investment and construction costs by relying solely on the cost of site rental, and one of the main operating strategies of Xiangshan Film and Television City in the future is diversification and development.
2. Tangcheng Film and Television Base, representative work: "The Legend of the Demon Cat"
Tangcheng Film and Television Base is located in Xiangyang, Hubei Province, and although the building is also an antique landscape, it is a vibrant young scenic spot.
In order to shoot "The Legend of the Demon Cat", Chen Kaige spent six years building the Tangcheng Film and Television Base in Xiangyang, which was used as a filming location for the scenes of the story in the film.
The Tangcheng Film and Television Base includes five major areas: city tower, palace, street market, residence and temple, including the Imperial Palace, Qinglong Temple, Changsheng Hall, Calyx Xianghui Building, Hu Yu Lou and other buildings.
The living environment of the Tang Dynasty expressed in "The Legend of the Demon Cat" is mostly a restoration of the upper class, and is designed based on the aesthetic characteristics of the time and the cultural and architectural characteristics left behind.
Chen Kaige used overhead shooting, follow-up shooting and other methods to dynamically present the luxurious scene in Chang'an City.
In ancient times, Chang'an City was surrounded by eight waters, and the Tang City of Xiangyang introduced the water of the Han River into the eight water systems in the city, forming living water, and built eight bridges to reproduce the urban pattern of "eight waters around Chang'an".
In addition, Chen Yunqiao's house, the imperial palace and other living scenes can also show the atmosphere of Tang Dynasty culture.
The movement of the figures, through the panoramic or clear picture of the depth of field, draws out the beauty of the details of the interior of the building. The staggered and changeable scenes make the prosperous scene of the Tang Dynasty unobstructed.
When Tangcheng was built, it chose to move closer to the modern scenic spot, and the supporting facilities and tourist experience were superior.
Tourists who come here, especially after enjoying the night view, give positive reviews.
1. Hengdian Film and TELEVISION City, representative works: countless
In 1996, in order to support the shooting of the giant film "Opium War", Xu Wenrong, the founder of Hengdian Group, invested in the construction of the first film and television shooting base - Guangzhou Street Scenic Area.
In 1997, before filming "JingKe's Assassination of the King of Qin", Chen Kaige, with the cooperation of the local government of Hengdian, found a designer to imitate the Xianyang Palace of the Qin Dynasty Royal Palace and rebuilt the entire Qin Palace in Hengdian Film and TELEVISION City, spending 237 million yuan, covering an area of 800 acres, and building 27 palaces.
In the film, Marquis Changxin poisoned the soldiers to break into the palace to rebel, Jing Mu entered the palace to assassinate the King of Qin, and the Palace of the Qin King in the two scenes showed a magnificent atmosphere through overhead shooting, large panorama, and symmetrical composition shots, and also showed the ambition of Qin Shi Huang to achieve the grand hegemony of the empire.
This studio city, which was later known as "China's Hollywood", gradually grew in size in the first few years of the new century.
Now, it is already the world's largest film and television shooting base, and more than 4,000 film and television works were born in Hengdian Film and Television City.
For many actors who act in costume films, Hengdian has become their second home, because they shoot in Hengdian for most of the year.
Hengdian Film and TELEVISION City can achieve today's brilliant results, and it is not smooth sailing. In the early years of development, the government and local chambers of commerce did not support it, nor did it get favored by most crews.
The practice of Hengdian Group is to provide free venues for all crews, so as to absorb the consumption of crews in Hengdian, thus driving the economic development of the local consumer industry.
It is this kind of foresight and boldness that has created the "Hengdian Miracle".
The Hengdian model is difficult to replicate, when an industry has formed its own characteristics and scale, it must have a unique place, and it must also be dragging a torn body all the way.
Different from the theme parks of Changying Century City and Fangte, which focus on entertainment and leisure models, most artificial film and television cities take film and television dramas and tourists' experience of history and culture as the main profit points.
The purpose of the operation is simple, just to earn filming rental and tourist tickets, but the supporting facilities are not complete, the scene is too few and the repair and maintenance is not good, the management is loose and chaotic, and some even group performances cannot be recruited, and they slowly dissuade the crew and dissuade the tourists.
Taking advantage of the landscape in the scenic spot, carefully select investors and crews who can shoot high-quality film and television dramas. Pay attention to tourists, so that tourists get a more familiar sense of experience; pay attention to the crew, so that the crew's shooting process is smoother.
Using the interaction between the works and the landscape to make the tour interesting, make the shooting easy, and form a virtuous circle, which is the best way to develop the scenic spot of the film and television city.