We talked to the director
I know that the reputation against the sky is not accidental
Even if you don't like to watch cartoons, you have probably been itched by "Chinese Wonders" recently.
This drama produced by Shanghai Art Film Studio has a Douban score of 9.5, and various peripherals are sold out.
The director himself couldn't believe it, "When I filmed, I didn't consider working commercialization at all." ”
Over the years, the slogan of "the rise of national comics" has not been shouted, but there are few works that are truly worthy of this sentence.
With the attitude of "I want to see if it is really so good", I also went to see "China Qitan", but I didn't expect to fall into it all of a sudden.
Some call it the Chinese version of Love, Death and Robots. The form of unit dramas, 10 directors, 8 short films, independent of each other and each with its own characteristics.
But it tells our long-lost Chinese story, exuding an oriental aesthetic and temperament.
There are little pig demons who work hard to eat Tang monk meat, goods langs who lose themselves in the hearts of people who can't guess, wolf women who want to blend in with the crowd but can only endure loneliness... It is fantasy, and it also allows everyone to see themselves clearly.
Over the years, Shanghai Beauty Film Studio, which has gradually become a distant feeling and historical symbol, finally has a work that is sought after by young people.
The latest episode 3 of this week, "Lin Lin", unsurprisingly regained its focus.
We chatted with director Yang Mu and learned that the reputation of this national style masterpiece is not accidental.
Behind it is a group of talented young people, and the two years that they "involve".
01
The beauty of Chinese ink
Express the story of youth and growth
The plot of "Linlin" is not complicated. In the ice and snow, the wolf girl Lin Lin and her mother depend on each other. Because of her loneliness, she often transforms into human form and goes to play with children under the mountain.
In order to gain their approval, she constantly turns her back on her identity as a wolf, only to be killed by hunters.
At first glance, this looks a lot like the cliché that "human beings are cruel and cannot coexist harmoniously with other races." But Yang Mu's original intention was not to criticize either party.
"One thing, it seems that no one is wrong, but the result is cruel, which may be the helplessness we often face."
Yang Mu always wanted to tell a story about identity growing up. When he was a student, the boys around him who played basketball well and had a very good relationship always made him yearn for it. In order to fit into this circle, he will unconsciously imitate their verbal actions and force himself to make changes against his will.
"When I grew up, I looked back and realized that it wasn't the real me."
Just like in "Linlin", the wolf woman risks revealing her identity to show human children what real wolf teeth are, eating their food, thinking that they can gain friendship, but incurring the scourge of killing. At the end of the film, she still chose to return to the identity of a wolf.
Shemales have different paths, it is better to forget each other in the rivers and lakes.
The story is set in Daxing'anling, Inner Mongolia. Yang Mu wanted the animation to be as authentic as possible, so although he used three-dimensional technology, he put a lot of effort into making traditional ink paintings.
Three-dimensional animation tends to have strong chiaroscuro, while the colors and light of "Linlin" are very soft, covered with low-saturation gray tones.
The pale shadows of distant mountains and the layers of forests blur the virtual and the real, which is the charm of oriental aesthetics.
Especially in the last scene, people and wolves look at each other across the river, and the wind blows through the reeds, reminiscent of the artistic conception of "pale leaves, white dew is frost" in the Book of Poetry.
Even the expressions and movements of the characters follow the Chinese style of restraint.
"The performance form of Western animation may be more exaggerated eyebrow dancing, but that is not the way Chinese speaks, we are implicit, so the characters in "Lin Lin" are also in a state of collection."
In addition to the picture, the film's antique soundtrack is also a highlight.
When Lin Lin first appeared as a wolf, Yang Mu felt that a song should be added to echo her heart, but the specific form was never thought of.
Finally, music director Ma Jiuyue found the tone of the song from 25 rubbings in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, adding gong, flute and flute to restore the sound of thousands of years ago.
02
8 semi-propositional essays
The directors involve each other
Two years ago, "Chinese Wonder" first appeared at the project meeting of Shanghai Meiying, and it was still just an unformed concept.
Chief director Chen Liaoyu knows many excellent animation talents, and he invited them to participate in each of them to create a short film.
Yang Mu is Chen Liaoyu's student, Chen Liaoyu understands his abilities and specialties, and when he finds him, he already has a general arrangement in his heart.
"Teacher Chen said that we lack a pure three-dimensional film now. As soon as I listened, the pressure was quite high, because three-dimensional animation is actually more difficult to make a breakthrough than two-dimensional. ”
This is also why Yang Mu put a lot of effort into combining CG and ink painting in "Lin Lin".
He even deliberately pulled frames, and in some paragraphs, adjusted the ordinary three-dimensional 24 frames per second to 12 frames to create an atmosphere of white space and a sense of manual clumsiness.
Although the presentation effect is not perfect, it is complained by the audience that it is stuttering and not smooth, but it is also a rare attempt based on the existing framework.
In fact, the initial task received by every director of "Chinese Strange Tan" is such a "semi-propositional composition".
Chen Liaoyu wanted 8 stories with completely different characteristics, consciously pursued diversity at the planning stage, found the best in various fields, and let them play their own good art style.
So there is the realistic sketch "Goose Goose Goose", the paper-cut style "Xiaoman", the puppet stop motion animation "Jade Rabbit", the romantic and beautiful "Birds and Fish"...
"Demon" is also a predetermined theme. Each director is free to diverge his imagination, but there can be no repetition.
Yang Mu initially wanted to do ancient themes, and the protagonist was a fox. Later, several directors combined, and found that the idea crashed. For example, Hu Rui's "Goose, Goose and Goose", adapted from the novel "Goose Cage Scholar", the fox boy in it is a fox demon. So Yang Mu decided to create a new story about wolves.
Many people think that since it is 8 independent films, the probability is that the directors lead the team to work hard. But in fact, they never communicate with each other much.
The main creators will get together every once in a while, chat about progress, look at the storyboard, and give each other suggestions for improvement.
Chen Liaoyu joked that a big purpose of organizing meetings is to form healthy competition. "Some people see that other people's character modeling is too good, and they go back and change their own several times."
Under such influence, the directors are quite involuted.
"Goose Goose Goose" director Hu Rui was halfway through the painting, watched the storyboards of "Summer of Little Monsters" and "Linlin", "too stimulated", and went home to strive for excellence.
208 shots, all hand-painted and colored by hand frame by hand. "It takes three to four hours to draw each frame, or even seven or eight hours."
There are no shortcuts, just the "most bitter and primitive way of operation" that brings us a unique aesthetic experience.
03
Journey to the West and Chi Wei novels
Why impress young people
In recent years, there have been many Chinese-style animations, Jiang Ziya, Yang Jian, Nezha, White Snake... All kinds of myths and legends have been excavated, but those that are really out of the circle are rare.
The reason why "Chinese Qitan" can become a hit is not to play the emotional card of traditional culture. At the end of the day, it has to be about telling stories that resonate with a new generation of young people.
"Summer of the Little Goblin", which was "canonized" in the first episode of the broadcast, is based on "Journey to the West".
It is obviously a classic to a somewhat old-fashioned theme, and it takes the sword off the edge, setting its sights on an ordinary little pig demon.
The little pig demon was working under the king, and one day he was halfway through the fish and was called to a meeting to listen to the king's dream of eating Tang monk meat.
After the brainwashing of the king, he did not forget to draw cakes for the little demons: set traps to catch Tang monks, and appreciate the broth to drink.
The little pig demon was assigned the task of making bows and arrows, not only diligent, but also did not forget to think, and proposed to his superiors to add feathers to the tail of the arrow, only in exchange for the sentence "Are you teaching me to do things?" ”
It was sent to brush the pot again, and it turned out to be a pig's bristle brush in the boss's hand, and its hair was all gone.
Soon to the deadline of the project, senior leaders came to inspect the progress, directly changed the plan, and the early efforts were burned.
The pressure of unreasonable KPIs, the passion for innovation is worn out, and the ambition to join the company is reduced to the bottom tool people... These workplace memes made the workers in front of the screen empathize.
After listening to the heroic deeds of the Tang monk and apprentice from the storyteller, the little pig demon's heart was shaken.
At the last moment, it decided to report the news, even if it would eventually die nameless, light as a feather.
Of course, the Monkey King still saved it and gave us a happy ending.
The perspective of the little people, the interpretation rooted in contemporary reality, is the core of this story that moves the audience.
If we all thought that we were Qi Tian Great Sage when we were children, when we grew up, we understood that we were actually just a member of the "demons" of the crowd.
But adults still have the dream of punishing evil and promoting good, and have the courage to resist, and they will also look forward to the salvation of heroes. That's why everyone loves Summer of the Little Goblin.
Similarly, although "Goose, Goose and Goose" was born out of ancient Chi Wei novels, it was adapted into the emotional experience of modern people.
"Linlin" focuses on youth and growth through the transformation of the wolf woman.
Although only 3 episodes have been aired so far, the attention attracted by "China Strange Tan" is phenomenal and has become a peak in recent years.
With its proofing, I expect Chinese animation to bring us more surprises.
Text, Editor/Strawberry
Some of the information comes from Wen Wei Po and bilibili
The picture comes from the Internet, if there is infringement, please contact to delete