Did everyone watch the Spring Festival Gala?
Uncle Oxygen was embarrassed to flee the TV at the beginning, and it was better to make up for "Chinese Odd Tan" by himself after watching the Spring Festival Gala.
Years ago, there were also constant comments from friends hoping that Uncle Oxygen would write it, and arrange it immediately on the first day of the New Year!
© Official poster
This strange animation in the form of a unit short story collection supported by the Shanghai Art Film Studio, from the style of art to the characters to the story, is enjoyable and resonant, dreaming back to when I was a teenager.
It is jokingly called "Chinese Gotham" by netizens, and it is indeed a bit like "Love, Death and Robots".
And the role of the fox scholar in the second episode of "Goose, Goose and Goose" is even more popular with the people. Everyone spontaneously generates electricity for love, wandering in the art ocean of the COS area and the second creation area.
© Weilan RAN | © The Moon of God
Even if it is not a Chinese strange theme that caters to the aesthetics of commercial traffic, it is also unexpected and expected out of the circle with sophisticated production + deep connotation.
However, niche themes are naturally hot and controversial.
A few days ago, a #Parents bombardment of China Qitan# entry was on the hot search, and the criticism is as follows.
© Image source network | Invasion and deletion
The rabbit spirit in Goose Goose Goose
Regarding the recognition of the importance of children's aesthetic education, Uncle Oxygen sees that the following parent's view is very resonant.
© Image source network | Although this strange novel is called "Continuation of Qi Huanji", I understand the meaning
What's more, if you really respect your child's opinion and let them choose for themselves, the response may be something like the following.
Do not blame the imprisonment and lack of education on external forces.
Knowing how to think and grow from a work of art is more meaningful than simply rejecting criticism.
Today, with the help of the logic of the portrayal content of "Chinese Qitan" from the scene - the characters in the scene-the story triggered by the characters, let's talk about the wonderful content of the Chinese animation aesthetic in the visual - character - Chinese story.
This return is the return of the king who awakens people's childhood memories.
"Nine Colored Deer" 1981
01
Painting style, visual aesthetics
(1) The dazzling and brilliant celluloid era
Celluloid Nitrate originally refers to the plastic material used to make animation negatives, and the animation produced by it is also called "celluloid animation".
This technique is used in CG painting to refer to those painting styles that are flat and colored, without overlapping brushstrokes, and wired drawings.
For a long time, celluloid was almost synonymous with hand-drawn animation.
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", which came out in 1937 as the world's first animated feature film, is one of the representative symbols of celluloid.
"Pauline Lantern", released in 1999 on the mainland, is another representative.
"Pauline Lamp" 1999
This animated film that continues celluloid animation technology + painting style + national green landscape color texture easily won a box office record of 2900w at that time.
It is more than double the Disney animation "Mulan" in the same year.
Moving forward, there is also "Hulu Brothers" in 1986 who played the dazzling technique of stealth and bright crystal.
In 1983, he was charming and seductive "Tianshu Qitan".
and "Nine-Colored Deer" in 1981, which engraved elegance and dignity in his bones.
All parts are classics, and all of them are brilliant aesthetic symbols.
(2) 2D ink painting with Chinese classical aesthetics
China's first and aesthetically landmark ink painting cartoon was 1984's "Little Tadpoles Looking for Mother".
Its aesthetic inspiration is Mr. Qi Baishi's ink painting "Frog Sound Ten Miles Out of the Mountain Spring".
"Goose, Goose Goose", which also uses famous paintings as inspiration for creation.
Its animated background is referenced from the landscape paintings of the "Four Families of Song" Mi Fu father and son.
The hue of black, white and gray only needs to be supplemented with a touch of intriguing alizarin red, which is a Gothic aesthetic with unique Chinese aesthetic connotation.
(3) Modern 3D interpretation of ink painting style
This slightly controversial "Linlin" is a modern 3D type presented in black, white, gray + light and cold colors.
The title of this episode goes from solidification to dissipation, which fully shows the lonely beauty of the wind and snow in oriental aesthetics.
Snowy sea, quiet valley.
It shows not only poetic white space, but also praise for the great rivers and mountains.
The controversy in this episode lies in the fact that some voices say that the 3D presentation method is not "Chinese", but they only see the surface.
For example, the calculation of the hair to be carried out in each shot, it easily shows the majestic domineering of the lone wolf. It doesn't take much movement to reflect the charm, and there is plenty of room for imagination, which is the uniqueness of Chinese aesthetics.
(4) Modern technology + painting style that conforms to the development trend of mainstream animation aesthetics
Indeed, since 1999's Pauline Lantern, the field of animation has been quiet for quite a while.
Until the rise of "The Return of the Great Sage" in 2015, the changes in painting style + texture + technology are all contained in it.
See | for heroes Tell ancient stories with modern techniques
There is a real struggle to balance commercial traffic.
However, it is never a bad thing to take the essence and remove the dregs of the old and the new.
"New God List: Yang Jian" 2022
02
Character aesthetics
The character itself is a bond, which is both a humanoid stage for interpreting the story and a cog structure that makes up the story.
The aesthetic of the character is shaped by the style of painting while serving the story.
For example, the rabbit essence in "Goose, Goose and Goose", she is based on the masterpiece "Double Happiness Picture" by the Northern Song Dynasty painter Cui Bai.
The complexity and charm of this character lies in the fact that she is affectionate, but not dedicated.
Every love is sincere, and every intention is not focused enough.
This kind of inconclusive love is not something that can be judged simply by right or wrong. The charm of Chinese is fully displayed here, and when translated into English, there is no atmosphere.
A sentence of the pig demon not only explains the cause and effect clearly, but also makes the character of the rabbit spirit plump.
If we really want to tell our story well, we must first shape the people who interpret the story.
(1) The top of the class
The pig demon in "Summer of the Little Goblin", as a small person at the bottom of the society, has a scrawled painting style, an inconspicuous public face, and a sense of wisdom and awakening in gold and jade, which is opposed to appearance.
It's a bit of a monster transfer version of Fan Shengmei
As a silent dedication but not taken seriously, "Nobody" eventually became a survivor and obtained treasures that he never thought of.
Perhaps from the beginning, he already had the most precious thing.
The persistence and victory of the little people
(2) The right and evil of the position
The snake spirit in "Hulu Brothers" is a representative of extreme evil.
It is also a femme fatale who pulls the beauty of the face + body to max and affects the aesthetics of both sexes for 20 years.
The fox spirits in "The Book of Heaven" represent the opposites of relative, good and evil.
Including the aesthetic performance, it is also quite dramatic and conflicting, very electronic flying and cyber fairy.
Here in "Goose Goose Goose", the opposition is restraint and desire, reality and delusion.
In the end, the fox scholar's eyes that seem to understand everything seem to tell us the story that has not yet begun and the ending is set.
It seems ghostly and grotesque, but it is nothing more than a whirlpool of desire
Like that gorgeous alizarin red, "how many people's lives are swallowed by it, only Xuan, because of its burning glory." ”
"Night Banquet" 2006
(3) The complementarity of characters
An important core of "Hulu Brothers" is composed of the group portrait beauty of characters 1+1>2.
At the beginning, the gourd babies with their own magical powers were broken by each one, and finally merged to suppress the villains. Just like a rainbow without any color, it cannot constitute its complete brilliance.
"Under One" is even better than the lighthearted and witty portrayal of obscure and profound content with characters with their own advantages and characteristics.
The extremely diverse characters represented by Zhang Chulan, who "does not shake the blue lotus", constitute the drama of "All the Evil People" with their own positions.
Such harmony and complementarity are just like the cat master Li Cake and Hanhan Chen Shi in the "Dali Temple Diary".
A shrewd and intelligent, deep belly, but no ability to live independently.
The other is simple and simple, kind and capable, but semi-illiterate.
Without anyone, the story would not be so wonderful.
03
Chinese story aesthetics
Based on our long history, splendid civilization, and inexhaustible treasure trove of art resources, the scope of Chinese stories is extremely wide.
Looking at "Chinese Strange Tan" alone, 8 independent stories rooted in traditional culture cover real workplaces, erotic desires, local love, scientific and technological fantasy and other themes.
The thinking of human nature related to the theme of life is the root bone core of the story of different painting styles.
© China Wonders 2023
The carrier that presents the story is based on a variety of art styles + production techniques. There are not only traditional two-dimensional, paper-cutting, even stop motion animation, but also three-dimensional, CG, three-shaded two and other modern technologies.
What is so painstakingly portrayed is a fantasy story full of Chinese imagination + antiquity. Use all the technical extravagance to depict our own culture, philosophy, and aesthetics.
"Xiao Man" | The paper-cut animation technique and the aesthetic skills behind it
These dedicated, perfect stories, its aesthetic core carries the subtle strength of Chinese, which is a vigorous inner strength.
It is also the tension of the slight surface of the water and the undercurrent of thousands of acres of underwater.
"White mountains and black water, wet my red heart. There is no way to go, and Hu does not return. "This kind of unique affection is difficult for other cultures to match.
"Linlin"
Looking back, the Chi Wei theme is more like struggling against the commercial mainstream.
After all, the essence of fantasy style is closer to the symbol of courage + innovation + exploration rooted in the bones of Chinese people.
When we were young, we were exposed to a lot of grand and profound art, but when we grew up, we were resting on our laurels.
Like Quentin said, movies are just movies.
Enjoying knowledge, values, aesthetics, etc. that cannot be touched on a daily basis will not be harmful to children.
The creator of "Goose Goose Goose" thought of paying tribute to the one-legged fox with the role of a fox scholar precisely because he had seen "Tianshu Qitan".
Because in his heart, the monster who regards eating and drinking well as the first meaning of fox life has the most simple and innocent happiness, and this happiness represents contentment and happiness.
What a person is like, what he sees is what he is.
What kind of person a person chooses to become, she will also receive corresponding energy
"The Book of Heaven" 1983
The generation of the 1990s had a very good aesthetic education, and then we had a fault line for nearly 20 years, and we have only seen the shadow of the return of the king today.
If there are many restrictions on the third dimension, it is better to pin part of aesthetic education on the second dimension, and a good work is an enduring educational significance.
Finally, I sincerely wish domestic animation a long and prosperous future.