preface
It can be seen from the development of Chinese magic films in recent years that with the maturity of digital virtual technology of Chinese films, magic genre films based on visual and visual effects have gradually become the mainstream of the Chinese film market, and thus Chinese films have begun to pay more and more attention to the early concept design of creating "visual".
Throughout the development of Chinese fantasy films, under the influence of Hollywood digital magic movies, the early concept design of Chinese films has also gone through a path from exploration to gradual maturity in technology and twists and turns in style, just like China's magic films.
As a successful magic commercial film "Finding the Dragon", there is also a stunning and successful concept design behind its success, this article starts from the early concept design of the movie "Finding the Dragon", explores the evolution of Chinese film concept design under the development of Chinese magic films, and discusses one by one the successful elements of the early conceptual design of the movie "Finding the Dragon".
The context of the creation of the film concept design
Conceptual design, as a design means under the modern commercial market, has long been used in various commercial fields, and products have long been determined not only by quality and final sales, and with the advancement of modern technology, the design of concepts has become more and more important for products.
Different products, the context of their design concepts is often different, and the film as a commodity of experience consumption, itself is a collection of concepts, and its concept design also has a unique context, specifically for the early concept design of the film, can be divided into the director-led context - that is, with the director as the core, the script as the premise, the concept designer for the early visual modeling of the film to build.
The second is the context dominated by the consumption concept of the film market - that is, in the mature era of film digital virtual technology, moviegoers' demand for visual special effects as the main special effects and special effects film consumption will inevitably make innovation in the conceptual design of modeling in the early stage of film creation.
The third is the context of the aesthetic requirements of current spectacle movies - that is, under the progress of film technology and the change of film consumption demand, the spectacle-based visual form of magic fantasy films began to pay attention to the conceptual design of the early stage of the film.
1. The directorial context of film concept design and creation
First of all, for films, especially fantasy movies, directors often pay special attention to the design of the early concept of the film. Therefore, as a film concept designer, it is not just a matter of relying on individuals to build the world view of the entire magical movie, but should be closely connected with the director during the concept design, and carry out the early concept design of the film in the form of communication and discussion, it can be said that the director and the concept designer in the process of the early concept design of the film is a construction and improvement process for the film, and the relationship between the two is also interactive, as the concept designer MrCreey has worked with Jim Créy. Cameron said, "Having worked with great 'creators' is a big part of what makes me so successful. When you're standing next to the biggest stars in the movie industry, it's also hard not to shine.
Similarly, in the film concept design, the director will also consider the overall effect of the visual image of the entire film in terms of expression, and consider the overall relationship between the shape and character image presented by the designer in the early stage, and whether it meets the overall relationship of the script.
In terms of scenes, the director will also consider whether the concept of the scene designed in the early stage is in line with the structural plot, and at the same time begin to consider the actor scheduling in the main visual scene, whether this scene is in line with the director's own wishes.
At the same time, because different directors have different requirements for film art and concept design, a director from an art director will often pay more attention to the conceptual design of the film and focus on creation, the director Wu Ershan, who was born in the Central Academy of Fine Arts, is a typical case in his director's "Finding the Dragon", which can be seen that the concept designer shows different styles of film concept design at the same time, the director also has a good and reasonable style control.
Therefore, the director, as the beginning and end of the process of participating in the visual creation of films, has always been the leader of film art creation, so in
In the creation stage of film concept design, it should be constantly communicated with the designer, and the suggestions and ideas should be fed back to the concept designer in time, and while visualizing the concept, the design style of the concept designer can be strictly controlled, and the cooperation between the concept designer and the director also depends on the director's investment in the visual.
As a concept designer, especially for the concept designer of serving commercial films, during the concept design, you should also have director awareness, film thinking, and timely understand the director's intention requirements in the exchange of views with the director, and finally show the obtained film concept in a visual form.
2. The inevitable requirements for conceptual design under the market under the commercialization of films
In the 21st century, with the advancement of digital network technology and the daily life of people, the business model of experience as the consumption concept has been quietly integrated into the lives of the public, from some high-tech electronic products around us, it is not difficult to see that through conceptual design technology, design art and people's daily life combination, in order to enhance the experience of goods in the consumer group to ultimately improve the competitiveness of goods.
While film exists as an art, it must also comply with the commodity attributes that it has the same as other commodities, that is, with the advancement of technology of the times, gradually take the viewing experience as the core.
In the commercial film market in the digital age, the advancement of film technology has long changed the way audiences experience movies, while people experience movies such as 3D and IMAX with rapid consumption, movies are gradually changing from narrative shooting methods to create shocking visual effects experiences in order to cater to the consumer market.
Similarly, with the advent of the digital age, the way of film art production has also undergone tremendous changes, when traditional filmmaking methods can no longer limit the ideas of filmmakers, but can rely on digital virtual technology to achieve, a movie box office success will no longer rely solely on the wonderful aspect of narrative.
In the current film market, as the most typical film in the digital age, whether it is a magic movie or a science fiction movie, its narrative often follows the narrative structure of Hollywood as the standard, that is, the relatively fixed and mainstream film mode, the narrative structure of the three-act play, and pays more attention to the viewing habits and understanding methods related to the current and moviegoers.
In terms of technology, digital virtual technology to create shocking visual effects movies has long become the norm, from the high box office film works in recent years it is not difficult to see that whether it is domestic film production, or foreign film production, all high-investment film and television works are often based on computer special effects, and at the level of production, the technical gap between domestic and foreign, especially Hollywood in the United States, is gradually narrowing.
However, it is worth pondering that Hollywood, which has always been the vane of digital technology in films, often can also win higher box office in China's film market.
Of course, in addition to its stunning visual effects, more is that its films often bring consumers a good visual experience with excellent concept design and superb digital special effects technology, which confirms that Zhang Yi, a professor of Chinese at Peking University, pointed out that "Hollywood has helped cultivate Chinese audiences into mature commercial film audiences in the past 20 years."
It was originally from the world of people to rise, and now based on the three high concepts of high concept, high emotion, and high technology, everything is beyond our original understanding, which may be what the audience is most looking forward to seeing at this stage. 7 Therefore, it is not difficult to see from this sentence that better and more advanced concept design often becomes one of the core competitiveness to win box office success. (In the digital era, under the normal visual effects, the concept is the core competitiveness).
3. Digital magic "spectacle" aesthetics is an inevitable requirement for conceptual design
First of all, the rise of spectacle cinema is an inevitable trend in the development of film in the changing and development of the times, the word "spectacle" as early as 1967 film theorist Yi Debord pointed out in his "Landscape Society" that modern society presents a huge phenomenon of spectacle accumulation, that is, spectacle is a product of the world's new era of information symbols, this kind of information is a collection of contemporary entertainment, consumption, concepts, information, etc.
In 1975, film scholars represented by Laura Mulvey predicted in "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Film" that movies sometimes need to sacrifice narrative smoothness and integrity to meet the audience's pursuit of vision. In 2011, a scholar pointed out that "the production of spectacle films mainly comes from two transformations, namely, the transformation of traditional print media to modern electronic media, and the transformation of traditional narrative to modern spectacle films." ”
8 The transformation of the traditional of the communication media to the modern day can be said to be the progress of science, which has shifted the communication of text form to the current visualization and visualization to disseminate information, and its information is more direct and faster than text. Reflected in the film, it is the change brought by digital virtual technology to the way of film creation, and the change of the way the audience watches movies.
The transformation of traditional narrative to modern spectacle can be said to be closely related to the transformation of communication media, and the advancement of digital technology has changed the way movies are created and the audience's way of watching movies, but also inevitably affects the consumption mode of the film market, and audiences are more beginning to pursue visual intuitive experience.
British film scholar Laura Mulvey once pointed out, "Cinema sometimes needs to sacrifice narrative fluidity and integrity to satisfy the audience's sensual pursuits." 9 Therefore, the inevitability of the production of spectacle films is also the change brought about by the film itself to adapt to the progress of the times, and the gradual transformation of film from language and narrative to modern from the creation of pictures and space to bring sensory experience.