The world-hit movie "Avatar 2 - The Way of Water" once again shows the world the magnificent landscape of Zhangjiajie, where it was filmed. In recent years, from Europe to Asia, the "framing industry" has become a new driving force for some urban development.
In recent years, it is not uncommon for film and television dramas to bring fire to tourist spots. The industry calls it the "fireworks effect" – a film and television work that is like a brilliant firework, blooming over the city while illuminating the scenery below. What tourist destinations need to do is to find their comparative advantages and maximize their role in this short-term window.
However, the role of the "framing industry" for cities is not limited to this. From the superposition of film and television IP and cultural tourism industry to the birth of the film and television service industry, to the promotion of the development of the local film industry, many places have found a new path suitable for themselves from camera lenses.
Four factors for cities as filming locations
Researchers have set up a database of the most lucrative live-action feature films released between 2000 and 2019 to study the demand and popularity of filming locations.
The data shows that the 200 most popular films in the past 20 years have been shot in an average of 1.6 countries. No more than two-thirds of the number of films shot entirely in one country is completed, with 23% of films being shot in two countries and the remaining 12% in more than three countries.
Some places have seen business opportunities from this demand, and the new development model of "film and television IP + cultural tourism town" has emerged and continues to evolve and mature.
For example, the small town of Matamata, New Zealand, where the movie "The Lord of the Rings" was filmed, attracted a large number of tourists and became a classic film and television theme tourism town. Its influence has further radiated, allowing New Zealand to transform from an ordinary tourist country into a mysterious "Middle-earth" characteristic tourist destination. Due to the successful integration of the big IP of "The Lord of the Rings" and the local tourism industry, New Zealand has become a pilgrimage site in the hearts of "Lord of the Rings" fans around the world in recent years, which has driven the country's tourism industry to develop by leaps and bounds.
In South Korea, the Nakashima area is located 1.5 kilometers from Chuncheon downtown, which is a favorite leisure place for Chuncheon citizens and an ideal place for student group travel. Due to the pleasant scenery, the TV series "Winter Sonata" and the movie "Wanni and Junhe" have been filmed here. Driven by the popularity of film and television dramas, Nakajima has also become a well-known film and television characteristic tourist destination in South Korea. In order to facilitate the visit of tourists, the location locations on Nakajima are marked with film and television scenes. Although natural beauty is not uncommon, the love and longing brought by the "filter" of film and television dramas make this place unique and irreplaceable.
Even "Hollywood", whose meaning has now been abstracted, was originally discovered by photographers when looking for locations. The film production industry in the United States started in eastern cities such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and later someone discovered Hollywood, and Southern California's warm sunshine and rich landscape are perfect for shooting movies all year round. Some independent producers began moving here, settling in Hollywood, a small Los Angeles suburb. Soon, many production companies gathered here. Around 1910, the center of American film production shifted from New York to Los Angeles.
In 1914, Universal Film Studios built a studio and location on the north side of Hollywood, named "Universal City" - it became the first modern film base, but also marked the official emergence of a large Hollywood studio.
Since the 60s of the 20th century, with the development of the film industry and the decline of the US economy, the film industry has become a profit growth point pursued by various enterprises and state governments. Coupled with the rapid development of the film industry in various countries around the world, the shooting bases under large studios began to suffer from strong competition from domestic and foreign film and television bases.
A person in charge of a film group once revealed that the choice of a city as a filming location is generally based on four factors: first, the background of the original work, and for films adapted from literary works, the place where the story takes place should be fully respected; second, climatic factors; Third, policy factors, national and regional policies have a significant impact on the choice of film shooting locations; The last factor is the convenience of the city.
From reliance on natural climate beauty to more human "intervention"
In fact, the benefits of the "framing industry" do not stop at the shaping of the city's image and the addition of tourism, behind it, the core is the film and television service industry, which is the product of the modern film and television industry's highly specialized and divided labor.
Walking through the streets of Chicago, there's a good chance you'll pass by a TV series or movie set. The data shows that Chicago has become one of the cities with the most film and television dramas in the United States except Los Angeles and New York.
According to statistics, at its peak, 8 TV series and 3 Hollywood movies were filmed simultaneously in Chicago within 2 months. Excellent local film and television talent and the government's large tax incentives are attracting more and more film studios and production companies to settle down.
As one of the international financial centers of the United States, Chicago has a patchwork of skyscrapers, scenic Lake Michigan, and abandoned factories in decline in the industrial era, making it highly recognizable with its varied and literary urban characteristics.
In addition to the "Batman" series, Hollywood blockbusters such as "Transformers", "Spider-Man", "Superman", "Source Code" and "American Beauty", "Ace to Ace" and "Stealing the Day" have been filmed in Chicago. In terms of TV series, the hit American drama "Prison Break" was mainly filmed in a prison in the suburbs of Chicago.
In 2017 alone, 580 film and television projects were filmed in Chicago, and the film and television services industry brought the city an economic income of $423 million, making it a new economic pillar and growth point.
Even within the United States, competition in the film and television services industry is fierce between states. Chicago has good numbers on the industry's map, yet Illinois, where it's located, is at a disadvantage compared to Georgia, where nearly 20 major movie studios and production companies, including Marvel, have established offices. Film and TV producers spend several times more in Georgia than in Illinois.
Digging deeper, it was found that both Illinois and Georgia gave film and television producers the same percentage of tax breaks, but the latter had its own problems.
The Illinois tax break is primarily for in-state actors and staff, with monthly wages not exceeding $100,000. This is mainly to take care of local employment, including group performers, lighting engineers and other jobs.
In comparison, Georgia's tax relief policy details are more attractive to film and television producers. Georgia rewards any filming in the state, requiring each project to spend more than $500,000 locally. And the tax deduction is not limited to the state's cast and crew, and there is no upper limit on the amount. This means that if a film or TV show shot in the state uses a Hollywood star, their salary is also covered by tax deductions, which tends to attract more big productions to shoot locally.
If the initial development of the "framing industry" relied more on natural climate beauty, with the rise of film and television digital technology, more human "intervention" began.
Founded in 2000 in Normandy, the French Panorama Digital Factory Film Post Production Company was promoted by director Luc Besson, with the purpose of using the world's most advanced digital technology and cutting-edge technology talents to serve creators in the film and television industry.
Luc Besson believes that there can be no large film and television city in Europe, so he came up with the idea of transforming a former EDF abandoned factory into the largest film and television city in Europe, hoping to receive crews from all over the world to shoot in France. The biggest "selling point" of the studio is that it fully synergizes the studio with the rest of the City's supporting facilities. So far, it has undertaken countless filming projects for film, television and advertising works.
Accumulated power from "manufacturing" to "creating"
When it comes to the "filming industry", Budapest in Hungary is a classic case and has become a filming destination for many movies, including "Blade Runner 2049", "The Dante Code", "Cardinal" and "Argentina Don't Cry for Me". Many people have already completed a fugue about the city on the big screen.
The blockbuster "Dune", which was released just a few months ago, was also filmed here, and it is worth mentioning that the second film in the series was once again filmed in Budapest.
Since the late 90s of the 20th century, Budapest and Prague have attracted many filming locations and have become two major cities for global overseas production in Europe. Some people even jokingly call the former "Europe's Hengdian store".
Looking back at Budapest's development path in this field, it can be found that its positioning itself does not stop at the "filming place".
Prague and Budapest have significant cost advantages over the United States and cities such as London, Berlin and Paris. Industry estimates show that the filming cost of the same project in Budapest is about 25% lower than that in Los Angeles, and this advantage is largely due to lower labor costs.
On the other hand, the preferential policies introduced by the government have a more direct impact on the industry. This is particularly evident in the changing status of the cities of Prague and Budapest.
Hungary introduced incentives in 2004 that allow production companies to receive rebates on expenses spent abroad on hiring local employees, in addition to the expenses incurred by production companies in Hungary. The effect of this policy was immediate. In 2010, the Czech government followed up with preferential policies, but the lack of qualification led to the loss of funds, and the effect was not good.
In 2010, a film studio jointly invested by Raleigh Studios, the largest independent producer in the United States, and Origo Film Group of Hungary opened in Budapest. The producer calls it "the best filmmaking and post-production facility in Europe".
The new $77 million film studio is located on an 18-hectare site on the eastern outskirts of Budapest. It includes 9 sound stages, one of which covers an area of 4200 square meters.
At present, Prague and Budapest are still the two major centers of overseas film and television services in Europe, especially in Central Europe. Serbia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other places are also joining the "battlefield".
In the face of increasing competition, Budapest, which has gained a firm foothold, continues to provide beautiful scenery and high-quality services for film production, while further strengthening, relying on technology and policy accumulation in the film and television service industry, to strengthen the Hungarian local film industry. Efforts from "manufacturing" to "creating" are beginning to bear fruit.
On February 19, 2017, at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival Awards Ceremony, the film "Flesh and Spirit" directed by Hungarian female director Iltiko Inyeti won the Golden Bear Award for Best Film. This "surrealist" film, which the media called "mystic", made Hungarian cinema the center of attention of world cinema. The film was funded by the Hungarian National Film Fund, which once again attracted the attention of the global industry and supporting institutions after the previously supported film "Son of Sol" was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 68th Cannes International Film Festival and won the Best Foreign Language Film Award at the 88th Academy Awards.
It is reported that the Hungarian National Film Fund has also launched an education and internship program dedicated to cultivating the reserve force of the Hungarian film industry.
Author: Peng Deqian
Source: Liberation Daily