This is how the Douban 8.0 stunning blockbuster was born

The author of this article is @NorthS of the Xiaowan family

Find everyone's spiritual nook in the movie

This summer's number one animated blockbuster, the first work of the chasing light animation "New Culture" series "Chang'an 30,000 Li" finally met us as scheduled this July.

As another landmark work of domestic animated films, "Chang'an 30,000 Li" performed well at the box office after its release last Saturday, with a box office of more than 200 million in 2 days and a Douban score of 8.0.

The film restores the majestic spirit of the Tang Dynasty in the form of animation, and takes Tang Dynasty poets such as Li Bai and Gao Shi as the starting point, showing the poetic romance that only belongs to Chinese.

"Chang'an 30,000 Li" is from the hands of Xie Junwei and Zou Jing, two new directors of chasing light animation, but the selection, intention and completion of the film are all amazing existences in domestic animated films.

In the tenth issue of the "Nameless" column, Xiaowan invited Song Yiyi, the producer of "30,000 Li of Chang'an", and directors Xie Junwei and Zou Jing, to let the three behind-the-scenes creators talk to us about the creation story behind this unique animated film.

Let's take a look at how this ten-year work of chasing light was presented to the audience from scratch.

Q1: It is different from the previous chasing animation

Xiao Wan: When did the first idea come from chasing the newly opened "New Culture" series? Compared with the new compilation of past myths and legends, what difficulties did the team have to overcome this time?

Song Yiyi: The first thought was actually three years ago, when we were thinking about what else to do after the New Legend and New God List series.

Later, we decided to choose real flashing characters and their classic works in Chinese history to create, and express them in the form of animation, conveying the spirit of Chinese culture to more young audiences.

Producer Song Yiyi

Song Yiyi: As for the difficulties, the main reason is that I have never done animation with real historical themes before, so I have a lot of time to read books, collect styles, and discuss with experts in this field.

Then it is necessary to sort out the entire story line, including the entire Tang Dynasty's timeline, character relationships, and the entire historical background and environment they faced at that time, which is indeed different from what was done before.

Xiao Wan: Specific to "Chang'an 30,000 Li", how did you finally choose to show the history of the Tang Dynasty and the poets of the Tang Dynasty?

Song Yiyi: When we decided to do the new culture series, it was natural to think of the most brilliant dynasty in Chinese history, the Tang Dynasty. If we talk about the most representative element of the Tang Dynasty, it must be Tang poetry, and when it comes to Tang poetry, it is natural to think of Li Bai.

So in fact, when I decided to do it at the beginning, these topics were a consensus of everyone, and they naturally moved forward.

Q2: I hope the audience can dream back to Datang

Xiao Wan: The two directors, please talk about why from the perspective of narrative, why did you deliberately choose to trace the life and history of yourself and Li Bai from the perspective of the poet Gao Shi?

Zou Jing: Because we want to do a theme about the Tang Dynasty, we naturally think of Li Bai, but Li Bai is a very genius figure, and he will actually have a bit of distance from us.

Therefore, I especially wanted to find a way to present the story from the perspective of ordinary people, and then I felt that it was particularly appropriate to look at Li Bai from the perspective of a poet.

First of all, Gao Shi's poetry achievements were also very high, and he and Li Bai Dufu also had a good relationship, and in their later years they would travel together and write poems and letters to each other.

Secondly, Gao Shi's life is difficult and very down-to-earth, and he is an "ordinary person" who is easy for contemporary audiences to substitute, so he was chosen. Follow Gao Shi's perspective into the story, cut into Li Bai's life, and then enter the era changes of the Tang Dynasty, and enter the lives of those brilliant poets.

Director Zou Jing

Xiao Wan: The film takes the history of the Tang Dynasty as the background, and a lot of data collection and sorting will be done in the early stage, this time through animation to present the scenery of Tang Chang'an and the literati and inkers, what classical elements are mainly referred to in terms of art, or which historical materials are very inspiring for creation?

Xie Junwei: When we made the film "Chang'an 30,000 Li", we actually wanted the audience to dream back to the Tang Dynasty at a glance. Therefore, we not only did a lot of research on historical materials, including this history, the lives of these poets, but also strive for excellence in art.

We went to the Shaanxi History Museum and referred to a lot of Tang paintings and Tang figurines The Tang Dynasty was slightly longer in the upper body and thin in the upper body, so we also restored this modeling feature in the film, so that the ancient paintings and figurines moved.

Xie Junwei: At the same time, we also carried out a lot of on-the-spot collections, following the poet's life footprints to the north and south of the motherland, such as the prosperous and magnificent Chang'an, the gentle Yangzhou, the vast northern Saibei and so on.

In addition, we also hired special etiquette guidance to restore the behavior of the Tang Dynasty people to a certain extent, such as the scene in the tomb of Wu Guide, where we poured rice wine on the grass, which was a custom unique to the time.

We want to show the style of Datang through characters, scenery, customs and other levels, so that the audience can return to Datang at a glance.

Director Xie Junwei

Q3: The complexity of Li Bai and Gao Shi is surprising

Xiao Wan: We have studied Li Bai and Gao Shi's poems when we were in school, but many people may not have a deeper understanding of their life experiences.

Zou Jing: When I was doing research, I was very surprised by the complexity of Li Bai.

The initial impression of Li Bai may be the same as all audiences, thinking that he is a dashing and free genius. But when you delve into his ups and downs in life, you will find that he has been constantly struggling between birth and entering the world, and the complexity of his heart is very interesting.

It can be said that this difficulty of his was transformed into his emotions, and finally into an art.

Zou Jing: For Gao Shi, what impressed me more was the great reversal of his life.

The first half of his life was adrift, but when he was 43 years old, Gao Shi suddenly reached the peak of the political stage at that time, achieving things that many poets of his time could not do.

So in fact, I think that Li Bai and Gao Shi are two representatives of the poets of the Tang Dynasty, one represents genius, represents the height of art, and the other reaches the highest on the road to fame, both of which are quite eye-catching.

Q4: Tang poetry is a life experience

Xiao Wan: Poetry plays an important role in connecting the development of the story in the film, and many poems will have a different feeling when reading them now, which resonates with us at the moment. Could the director tell us what poetry really means to Chinese?

Xie Junwei: I think poetry is integrated into the blood of each of us, just like everyone will recite "bright moonlight in front of the window, suspected to be frost on the ground", those poems that condense the poet's life perception actually deeply affect our lives.

But as we get older, as we experience, we have a different understanding of poetry.

For example, Li Bai's "Difficult to Walk", for me, it was an exam question in junior high school, but for me now, it is a spiritual guide for me. It turns out that a genius like Li Bai will also experience hardships. But in times of suffering, we must persevere, because one day we will sail far away.

We hope that through "Chang'an 30,000 Li", everyone can truly feel the charm of Tang poetry, so that more people can like and pay attention to Chinese traditional culture.

Q5: I am lucky and proud to be the director of this film

Xiao Wan: Last question, please ask the two directors to share their experience in chasing light animation before becoming the director of "Chang'an 30,000 Li". 

Xie Junwei: I came to Chasing Light Animation in 2013. One of the things that really impressed me at that time was when the animation director asked me, what is my goal? My answer was "I want to be you" and I wanted to be a good animation director.

This goal was achieved when I entered the third project "Cat and Peach Blossom Source" (2018) in which I participated in Chasing Light, and later experienced works such as "White Snake: Origin", "New God List: Nezha Rebirth", "White Snake 2: The Green Snake Robbery" and other works.

Xie Junwei: In this process, I put forward a new goal for myself, hoping to become a director, and then Chasing Light also provided me with this opportunity to become the director of "Chang'an 30,000 Li".

This gives me the opportunity to tell the stories of these Tang dynasty poets and tell the artistic conception contained in these poems, which is very fortunate and proud for me.

Zou Jing: I joined Chasing Light Animation in September 2018, and I felt that the atmosphere of the company was very good, and I was very happy to join such a team.

A year and a half later, I became the storyboard director of White Snake 2: The Green Snake Robbery, and I was involved in the production of the animation throughout the process, which also constantly thought about whether to go to the early development team.

Later, I really became the director of "Chang'an 30,000 Li", and I was very excited and pressured after this theme fell into my hands, because you have to show a person and thing that everyone knows.

Although the whole process was challenging, we are proud of the result, especially thanks to the entire team, who worked together to complete this work.