Science fiction has added impetus to the development of Chinese film and television

"Walking on the Moon Alone" won the runner-up at the box office of domestic films in 2022 with a box office of more than 3.1 billion yuan. Photo courtesy of the producer

Recently, the sci-fi movie "The Wandering Earth 2", the sci-fi drama "The Three-Body Problem" and the sci-fi mini-drama "Liu Yexi - The Lost Formation of the Earth" have attracted sustained attention.

According to the "2023 China Science Fiction Industry Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") released by the China Science Fiction Research Center and others, the total revenue of China's science fiction industry in 2022 will be 87.75 billion yuan, an increase of 4.79 billion yuan over last year. Among them, the total revenue of the sci-fi film and television industry was 8.35 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of more than 16%, and the achievements of sci-fi movies, sci-fi online movies, sci-fi dramas, sci-fi micro-dramas and sci-fi short and medium-sized videos were remarkable.

Wang Ting, director of the China Institute of Science Popularization and director of the China Science Fiction Research Center, said that with the implementation of the "Opinions on Further Strengthening the Popularization of Science and Technology in the New Era", "Outline of the National Action Plan for Scientific Quality (2021-2035)" and "Several Opinions on Promoting the Development of Science Fiction Films", China's science fiction industry has ushered in a period of historical development opportunities, and the overall positive trend is good.

Science fiction film and television ushered in a boom

According to the "Report", a total of 10 domestic sci-fi films will be released in 2022, and among the top 10 total box office of annual domestic films, domestic sci-fi films occupy 4 seats, and "Alone on the Moon" won the runner-up at the annual box office with a box office of more than 3.1 billion yuan. In 2022, a total of 7 domestic sci-fi animated films will be released, with a box office of 1.64 billion yuan, and "Bear Haunted: Return to Earth" ranks first in sci-fi animated films with a box office of 970 million yuan.

Chen Ling, director of the Science Popularization Creation and Communication Research Office of the China Institute of Science Popularization and executive deputy director of the China Science Fiction Research Center, introduced that the science fiction industry consumer market survey jointly conducted by the China Science Fiction Research Center and Tencent Penguin Youjiao shows that in the past five years, the 21-40 year old group has been the main force in the consumption of science fiction products and services. Among the group with disposable monthly income of more than 10,000 yuan, nearly 40% of respondents watch 1-5 science fiction film and television works every year, more than half of the respondents said that they were attracted by the imagination and unique visual effects of science fiction film and television works, nearly half of the respondents were attracted by the story and popularity of science fiction film and television works, and some respondents said that watching science fiction film and television works was influenced by the original work.

In line with the conclusions of the report and the results of the consumer market survey of the science fiction industry, Professor Chen Xuguang of Peking University believes that young people who have grown up in the Internet era are consumers of science fiction film and television products, as well as the creators and consumers of imagination. In 2019, it was called the "first year of Chinese science fiction movies" because of the release of "The Wandering Earth", and the release of "The Wandering Earth 2" this year, as well as the appearance of films such as "Walking on the Moon" and "The Three-Body Problem", once again responded to people's expectations for the boom in Chinese science fiction film and television. "The head film from the costume martial arts blockbuster at the beginning of this century to the current sci-fi blockbuster is an important achievement of the development of Chinese films since the reform and opening up." He said.

IP adaptation is the main source of content for science fiction film and television, and it is worth noting that at present, China's science fiction reading market is still dominated by leading writers like Liu Cixin and classic science fiction works translated from abroad. In the WeChat reading "Top 20 Reading of Science Fiction Books Published in 2022", translation works accounted for 18 seats, local original works accounted for only 2 seats, and some foreign classic science fiction books ranked at the top of the recommended list.

Guo Wanchao, director of the Institute of Media and Public Opinion of the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, believes that although the overall development momentum of China's science fiction industry is rapid, whether it is science fiction products or IP, they are now gathered at the head, and he called on practitioners to "plan for the layout of weaving stories, scientific and technological support, capital operation, etc., and promote the early emergence of new excellent science fiction IP".

The industry also hopes that more policies and funds will be injected into the field of science fiction, further improve the investment and financing system, make the industrial sector larger, and achieve "accumulation". Many insiders also suggest that science fiction education be carried out in primary and secondary schools with conditions, and a large number of science fiction content should be used to enrich children's imagination and curiosity about the future to promote the cultivation of science fiction talents. Chen Shaofeng, a professor at Peking University, said: "This should be a science experience project and a science fiction research object. ”

Micro-dramas have become a new growth point

At present, the development of China's science fiction industry has shown many highlights, among which science fiction micro-dramas, short and medium videos are active, constantly expanding science fiction application scenarios, activating audiovisual consumption, and integrating development trends, becoming one of the most noteworthy highlights of the science fiction industry. According to incomplete statistics, there will be 149 sci-fi mini-dramas and 3,100 episodes that have been planned and approved for filing in 2022, and 13 sci-fi mini-dramas and 250 episodes that have been approved for online filing. In 2022, Douyin, Kuaishou, and Station B released a total of 162,000 short and medium videos related to science fiction, and the total number of fans of science fiction accounts on the three major platforms was 140 million.

Chen Shaofeng pointed out that the recent rapid enhancement of the integration of the AI industry and the science fiction industry, especially the development of artificial intelligence, has given practitioners in the science fiction industry a strong sense of urgency. He believes that the development of science fiction film and television need not be limited to the phenomenal IP incubation and the production of super movies with large capital investment and long production cycle, but should take content as the king, create more explosive works, and promote the comprehensive and balanced development of the science fiction industry. "The era of short videos is superimposed on the era of digital humans, which gives creators more opportunities for creation and the possibility of success." Many young people start from sci-fi mini-dramas or short and medium videos, looking for creative points with scientific elements and imagination, and slowly tempering themselves.

The "Report" shows that micro-short dramas have now formed two camps: horizontal screen short dramas and vertical screen short dramas. In 2022, a total of 8 sci-fi horizontal screen mini-dramas will be launched on Tencent Video, Youku, iQiyi, Mango TV, B Station and other platforms. "The Secret World of My Wife" produced by Mango TV Da Mang, "Go to Your World and Love Me Again" launched by iQiyi, and "Future Store" broadcast by Tencent Video are more popular. 5 sci-fi vertical screen mini-dramas were all launched on Douyin, of which "Liu Yexi Dizhi Maze" with virtual people as the protagonist will be updated for a total of 10 episodes in 2022, with a cumulative number of nearly 10 million likes.

Industry experts believe that micro-short dramas are increasingly loved by audiences because of their light size, fast pace and short duration, and there is an urgent need for differentiated high-quality content to solve the problem of homogenization, and sci-fi themes with development potential have therefore attracted keen attention. Migu Technology, Douyin and other sci-fi mini-dramas, palm reading, Chinese online and other traditional web literary platforms are taking advantage of the momentum with vertical screen mini program short dramas with a single episode of 1 minute and a single 100 episodes. In 2023, more sci-fi micro-short dramas will be launched, which may "cannibalize" the original online movie and low-cost long-form online drama market, and promote micro-short dramas to be more standardized, quality-oriented and more prosperous.

Strive to dig into cultural elements

According to Sun Hengqin, president of Qingdao Oriental Film Capital Industry Holding Group, Oriental Film Capital has a leading film and television virtualization platform in China, the largest outdoor pool and indoor constant temperature water shed in Asia, and a full-process digital audio and video center in film and television post. The dome face scanning system of the film and television virtualization platform is independently developed by China and has reached the world's leading level; The motion capture system has 144 cameras and occupies an area of about 600 square meters. "Alone on the Moon" director Zhang Yuyu was the first to use this set of equipment, and it took two months to complete 80% of the film's visual effects preview. Guo Fan, director of "The Wandering Earth 2", used this equipment to motion capture 1919 extras, and conducted virtual previews of the script from beginning to end, which greatly saved preparation scheduling and actual shooting time. Oriental Film Capital also has high-speed and secure industrial networks and advanced film and television cloud services, with advanced equipment such as 3D printing, digital modeling, and laser engraving. "Fengshen " directed by Wu Ershan, "Assassination of a Novelist" directed by Lu Yang, "Return of Ten Thousand Miles" directed by Rao Xiaozhi, "Super Family" directed by Song Yang, "Crisis Route" directed by Peng Shun, etc. were also filmed here, and the directors jointly explored more possibilities of new film technologies.

Chen Xuguang believes that Chinese science fiction film and television has made great progress in technology, "The Wandering Earth 2", "Assassination of a Novelist" and so on have even approached the level of foreign advanced technology, "The main direction of current science fiction film and television should be to further express Chinese culture in the works, such as systematically creating various images in Chinese mythology and promoting them to the world step by step."

Yao Haijun, deputy editor-in-chief of Science Fiction World Magazine, believes that the internationalization trend of science fiction works is very obvious, and there are more and more channels for dissemination. Ji Shaoting, founder and CEO of the Science Fiction Content Creation Platform "Future Affairs Administration", said that in recent years, his team has done a lot of international exchange work on science fiction literature, such as organizing various workshops and science fiction Spring Festival Gala, inviting domestic and surgical fiction writers to conduct field trips and create, and his team has also introduced nearly 300 science fiction copyrights in the past six or seven years. She believes that science fiction is a language that people from all over the world can easily understand, and "on it, we can have a collision of ideas and cultural exchanges."

Science fiction works from all over the world reflect local cultural characteristics. Such as the superhero of the American Marvel animation, the mecha warrior of the Japanese two-dimensional anime, the industrial design and intelligent manufacturing of German science fiction... Cui Yajuan, a professor at Beijing Union University, believes that the science fiction industry with Chinese characteristics should be constructed, the cultural characteristics and value expression of Chinese science fiction films and television should be explored, and the cultural elements of Chinese science fiction products should be explored, reflecting China's social reality and historical development and changes, and reflecting the values and aesthetics of Chinese, etc., "The 'Chineseness' of Chinese science fiction should be seen by the world, and Chinese science fiction will also lead the trend of world science fiction in the future." Miao Chun

Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition