Technology can't create a story, comedy breaks through boundaries, film industry 3.0 era, science fiction movies start again
Author | Pepper
On the morning of June 11, the Keynote Forum of Science Fiction Film Week and the Shanghai Science and Technology Film Capital Conference were held in Shanghai.
Well-known Chinese and foreign science fiction film directors and visual effects directors gathered together to interpret the era background and context of the development of science fiction films, and discuss China's science fiction film industry and cultural value from an international perspective.
For the future development of science fiction movies, Guo Fan stressed that the core of science fiction movies is movies rather than science fiction. Because he has recently come into contact with some young creators and new directors, Guo Fan found that they focus on technological attributes and high concepts, but the core of science fiction movies is emotion. If high concept and high technology have no connection with emotions, then film is just a popular science work.
Director Lu Chuan believes that science fiction movies need to have a strong scientific foundation and solid content to convince the audience. Director Dong Runian believes that science fiction works are future-oriented realism, which is closely related to the development of the times and society. They all emphasize that movies should come first, and sci-fi is just the outer packaging. The discussion also mentioned the difficulties in the creation of comedy sci-fi films represented by "Walking on the Moon Alone" and "Crazy Aliens", as well as the reform of the film industry 3.0 brought about by artificial intelligence.
Science fiction is a high concept, and connecting emotions is science fiction movies
In the forum, director Guo Fan talked about the core of science fiction film creation. He believes that when creating science fiction movies, the first thing we must see is the film itself, rather than focusing only on the high concept of scientific and technological attributes.
He gave the example from the Space Exploration Editorial Office, "Alcohol is the most efficient means of transportation invented by mankind, because after drinking you can go anywhere, this connection point is humorous and funny, so that the audience can empathize." "When filming "The Wandering Earth 2", director Guo Fan thought about how to connect technology and emotion, in the first film, the earth propelled outward under the action of the engine, talking about the external direction, while the second film was looking for the direction inward, so we saw Andy Lau's character meet his daughter in the digital space, which is similar to the traditional culture of "burning paper to see the dead". He also mentioned Interstellar, and if High Concept has nothing to do with Cooper and his daughter's emotions, then the film loses its meaning.
"After the broadcast of "The Wandering Earth 2", a friend congratulated me and said thank me for my fearlessness, and I said that fearlessness is mainly because of ignorance." Guo Fan explained that directors and creators are also moving forward in exploration. He mentioned the exploration of technology and technical theory, topics that initially attracted their energy. However, in the end, they found that when the audience enters the cinema to watch a movie, it is the emotion that is really moving.
He mentioned that there is a complex process in this emotional exchange, which leads to a lot of energy to construct a complete worldview. Only by completing this worldview can they show their emotions in the film and play the role of characters.
Dong Runian talked about the creative experience of his work "Crazy Alien". He said that in the creative process, he and his team worked to find a special context for Chinese science fiction. They found that in 2012, Chinese audiences were accustomed to Hollywood-style sci-fi movies and could not accept sci-fi stories featuring Chinese. Therefore, in addition to visual localization, localization in narrative is also very important. Director Dong mentioned that by exploring national characteristics and comedy elements, as well as their love for Chinese culture, they successfully established a connection with the audience.
For future development, Guo Fan said that he hopes to allow more young creators to participate in the production of science fiction movies through this platform. He hopes that this genre of film will focus more on the film itself, and strive to build a worldview and high concept on this basis.
The difficulty of comedy sci-fi: how to blend comedy and sci-fi
Zhang Yuyu, the director of "Walking on the Moon Alone", shared the difficulties in the creation of comedy films on the forum.
The biggest difficulty, he says, is how to create a film that blends comedy and sci-fi elements at the same time. In a comedy sci-fi film that tells the story of the moon, he found that Chinese audiences demand high demands on sci-fi movies, especially in terms of science. Therefore, during the creative process, he was faced with the challenge of how to follow scientific principles while maintaining the comedic effect.
Director Zhang Yuyu mentioned a scene that he particularly liked, describing the plot of a man and a mouse running freely on the moon. Although not reasonable from a scientific point of view, as a comedy film, he believes that this kind of scene beyond science is acceptable, because comedy can push the boundaries of science to a certain extent.
During the creative process, director Zhang Eatyu constantly faced the problem of how to balance the sci-fi setting of the moon story with the audience's demand for scientific accuracy. He mentioned many details that viewers may not notice, such as meteorites falling on the moon. The science adviser told him at the time that it was actually a slow process, but he wanted to create a tense atmosphere that clashed with the reality of the moon. When faced with this problem, he constantly thinks about how to meet his needs for the plot while meeting the audience's expectations.
Zhang also mentioned that he faced many of these similar details throughout the project. He argues that these factors are not quantifiable, but rather a feeling. Therefore, it is difficult for him to judge what kind of compromise should be made.
The key to creation often lies in the rhythm of the millimeter. Throughout the creative process, Zhang Eatyu faced many challenges and troubles, but he struggled to find the balance to create a film that met his own expectations and that of the audience.
Movies ushered in the era of industrialization 3.0
Referring to the impact of artificial intelligence on the creative process, Guo Fan said that he felt very anxious.
"The film era can be called the 1.0 period of film industrialization, which lasted for a hundred years. The true digital age is just over two decades, which Guo Fan calls the 2.0 period of industrialization. Now, the era of industrialization 3.0 has arrived, and artificial intelligence plays an important role in it. Guo Fan believes that artificial intelligence has a fundamental impact on future film and television creation and work, and calls on all walks of life to actively adapt to this change.
He shared the preparations for The Wandering Earth 3 and the application of artificial intelligence. He pointed out that in recent months, more than two dozen smart applications such as ChatGPT have entered people's daily lives. These intelligent applications have had an important impact on script creation, post-production, and special effects presentation in the film production process.
Guo Fan said that "The Wandering Earth 2" has adopted advanced artificial intelligence technology, such as the facial aging and age-reducing effects. He says each technique has its own unique applications, from script creation to final post-production, including sound processing and work. While in the past, these applications were not as simple as they are now, recent rapid advances have allowed us to depict entire scenes and characters entirely through words, a completely disruptive technology.
He emphasized that the preparation of "The Wandering Earth 3" is not only the application of technology, but also requires everyone to recognize and understand the level and role of artificial intelligence. "For AI, we should think of it as a tool to understand its role in human society more deeply." He said that we need to delve into the nature of AI in the same way that we treat new species when exploring new places. On this basis, we need to think about whether these applications can be presented on the big screen in the foreseeable future, including the possibility of new carriers for movie projection after Apple Vision comes out.
Guo Fan reminded everyone that after paying attention to and evaluating these changes, we can better cope with future trends. If you don't have a clear understanding of the changing trends in the future, and you start creating, it may be very risky.
Visual effects supervisor Peter Bebb mentioned that we should actively embrace existing technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence in filmmaking. These techniques can achieve a level of quality comparable to big productions at a relatively low cost. However, he also stressed that we still need to define cinema on our own. New technology alone cannot create movies, but requires us to create stories. Ultimate success still depends on our own efforts and creativity. In addition, the widespread use of social media now brings some benefits, through which people can spread and share new opportunities.
Director Guo Fan also mentioned the significance of science fiction movies for young audiences and the future. During the roadshow of "The Wandering Earth 2", he found that many teenagers are passionate about science fiction works, which made him realize that science fiction movies can sow the seeds of love for science and courage to imagine in the hearts of children, which is important to him. In addition, he emphasized that science fiction film, as a common language, can help films go abroad and let more overseas audiences know and understand Chinese films.