"Science fiction is a language. It is a common and popular language all over the world, which can let more overseas audiences know us and understand us. So, science fiction is a good carrier. "The Wandering Earth 2" director Guo Fan said.
With the popularity of science and technology innovation themes around the world, and with the rapid progress of Chinese science fiction films, this year's Shanghai International Film Festival set up a science fiction film week for the first time. Yesterday, at the keynote forum of "Science Fiction Film Week" held in Songjiang District, domestic and foreign science fiction film creators, scientific advisors and industry representatives gathered together to explore the new momentum of Chinese science fiction films.
Create with the blessing of technology
"The Wandering Earth 3 is in preparation, and more than 20 kinds of AI such as ChatGPT and Midjourney will affect the creation and production of the film." Although "The Wandering Earth 2" has just received more than 4 billion yuan at the box office this spring, preparations for the third part of the series have already begun.
Lu
Director Lu Chuan, who came to the Shanghai Film Festival with his new work "749 Bureau" and the protagonist "Ma Shan" digital sapiens image, has also asked his team to use AI software for creation.
"749 Bureau"
Not long ago, he also experienced Apple's VR glasses and felt a shock of "science fiction coming true".
The handbrushing we see in sci-fi films like Iron Man has come true. Watching a movie is like sitting in front of a giant screen in a theater, the dinosaur's forehead really sticks out from the wall for about three meters, and it can also interact in real time, this device gives the meta-universe a real entrance, and may completely change the way of watching movies.
Even with a large number of advanced technologies,
But what cannot be ignored is the essence of creation.
Peter Bebb
As the visual effects supervisor of commercial blockbusters such as "Inception", "Megalodon 2: The Abyss" and "Batman", Peter Bebb has extensive experience in the production of sci-fi blockbusters.
Megalodon 2: The Abyss
He felt the importance of traditional shooting methods in his work with director Christopher Nolan, saying: "Nolan insists on shooting as live-action as much as possible, which is actually very good material for visual effects artists, which can be said to have reached an extreme.
For example, he made a flying decoration of a bat in "The Dark Knight" and hung it on a truck, making him feel like he was really flying. Just because we can rely solely on VFX doesn't mean we should. ”
Batman: The Dark Knight
For young sci-fi movie creators, Peter Beb also gave pertinent advice:
On the one hand, we must embrace existing technologies, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, which can allow us to get the desired results more quickly and achieve a level of quality similar to that of big productions. On the other hand, we still have to rely on ourselves to make movies, because the origin of movies is not in technology, new technology cannot create movies, or people need to create stories.
Spread the wings of your imagination
Lu Chuan found that most foreign science fiction movies are disaster movies:
The important reason is that human beings are anxious about the present and the future, and about the development of science and technology. For example, will artificial intelligence rule the world or rule humans, or even destroy humans? In a sense, seriously and sincerely exploring the development of human beings is the mission and thinking of science fiction movies.
Wu Ji, former director of the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provides ideas for the creation of science fiction movies from the current research and development direction of space science and technology.
He mentioned that in the near future, space tourism, space migration, Martian colonization, interstellar navigation, exploration of planets and intelligent life, these unattainable human dreams may become reality.
"The Wandering Earth 2" stills
Regarding space tourism, especially lunar tourism, I hope to see a retrospective perspective, looking back at the feelings that the earth has brought to human civilization; In the theme of Martian migration, we can focus on how to build a new society there. All space-themed science fiction works should be mind-opening, as long as they don't violate basic scientific principles. Therefore, they really have the potential to promote the development of future technology, and some brains will even lead to new technological breakthroughs.
"The Wandering Earth 2" stills
Wang Hongwei, vice president of the China Film Directors Association, recalled his relationship with science fiction writer Liu Cixin, saying:
Top science fiction authors have a magical ability to imagine things they have never seen before, which has nothing to do with real life, and this ability pushes us humans forward, which is also the mission of science fiction movies.
Reporter's note: Guo Fan is very busy
Since the opening of the Shanghai Film Festival, Guo Fan has been very busy, and he has attended the most forums and activities. Even if people don't arrive, names and works will be mentioned by everyone. At the opening forum, Huang Jianxin proudly shared with everyone that the United Nations technical organization in Vienna released "The Wandering Earth 2", and Guo Fan went to participate in the exchange of experts from various countries, which made people see the international influence of Chinese science fiction films.
Guo Fan
Guo Fan is busy. At the scene of the sci-fi film week's keynote forum, he was urged by the host in public: "It's late at night, thinking that Guo Fan is sleeping at the moment, I want to wake him up to shoot "The Wandering Earth 3". Wang Hongwei smiled and answered for his old friend, the movie has not yet started, but it has been nearly half a year, and Guo Fan only sleeps three or four hours a day. In his spare time, he is obsessed with thinking about artificial intelligence and gives his time to AI-related books.
Guo Fan is busy. The forum is not long, he wants to speak, share, and carefully "listen".
When Peter Beb shared his experience in visual effects production in Nolan's films and Nolan's views on special effects and live action, Guo Fan deliberately sat on the sofa closer to the podium to listen carefully, waiting until the other party's speech was over before returning to his seat.
In his seat, when Guo Fan heard the feeling, he often couldn't help but whisper with Lu Chuan. For the thinking or anxiety of artificial intelligence, the two directors have a lot in common.
Guo Fan said that the deconstruction of artificial intelligence in "The Wandering Earth 3" requires caution and prudence, "I hope to take more time to investigate and recognize first." At what level does it look at AI as a tool, or as a deeper species? It can be very risky to start creating without a clear trend."
Author: Sun Jiayin (Xinmin Evening News New Performing Arts Studio)
Image: Shanghai Film Festival official picture, movie stills
Source: Xinmin Evening News