Author / Liu Lang
In recent years, with the two-way maturity of the film market and the audience, bad films have gradually been ruthlessly abandoned by the market, and the increasing demand for movies from the audience has forced the industry to develop high-quality projects and tap young talents. As a result, all kinds of film talent support plans have sprung up like mushrooms, some of which are short-lived and have no following, and some of which are thin and long-flowing, steady and steady.
Jackie Chan Movie A project belongs to the latter.
Since the official establishment of the project in 2015, the market is changing, the audience is changing, and filmmakers must become more professional to cope with the future film market environment, and what Jackie Chan Film A plans to do is to lay a good foundation for the future of movies.
Invite film masters at home and abroad to open lectures, encourage high-quality projects to participate in venture capital, and excellent directors in the industry to guide filmmaking, respectively, from the theoretical and practical levels to give young filmmakers practical help, Jackie Chan Film A plan not only to explore talents, cultivate talents, but also to arm talents with professional knowledge, with effective resources to create talents.
Perhaps this is also the reason why Jackie Chan Film Plan A is still concerned by the industry when it is held to the fifth issue, and the industry is also concerned about how this year's Plan A is different from previous years? What innovations and upgrades have been made? And what impact will it have on the industry?
Virtual production and see the future of cinema
Technology has changed lives, and it has also changed movies.
Sound movies let actors in silent films speak, color movies make the world on the screen colorful, and 3D movies make audiences outside the screen immersive. Every technological innovation of film will bring seismic disruption to the industry and even affect an era.
Today, Virtual Production (VP) has become the "next generation of film industry technology processes" in the eyes of the industry.
Virtual production is common in science fiction movies, the content attributes of science fiction movies and virtual production technology are naturally adaptable, virtual production can make "special effects" visualized, bringing the audience a shocking viewing experience. For example, the milestone in the history of cinema, "Avatar", used virtual production technology to create a beautiful Pandora planet, and "Rise of the Apes" used actor motion capture technology to digitally synthesize caesars in the movie.
Regarding virtual production, it has matured in Hollywood, and there are still many people in China who do not know, and even the industry only knows one or the other, so it is necessary to explore it in depth - this is also the main topic of this year's Jackie Chan A plan section of a "mentor class".
In the first four issues, the tutor class focused on the themes of screenwriting, visual effects, genres, etc., and disassembled and subdivided the types of work in the film industry process, which also reflected the professionalism of Jackie Chan's Film A plan. The reason why the degree of industrialization of Chinese films is not high is precisely because the industrial process is not perfect, the degree of specialization of various types of work is uneven, Jackie Chan Film A plan by inviting top talents in the professional field to impart experience, will make up for the lack of professional knowledge for young filmmakers, less detours.
The theme of this time is aimed at the virtual production field, which also shows the industry forward-looking of Jackie Chan Film A. The insight into the future technical form of the film is the content that many talent support plans ignore, on the one hand, the organizers lack attention to technology, on the other hand, this kind of knowledge is too professional and the threshold is too high.
It is worth mentioning that the lineup of instructors in this class is heavyweight, including representatives in the field of virtual production, as well as directors and scholars who study virtual technology: Brian Pohl, technical director of Unreal Engine, has 17 years of industry experience, and participated in film and television works such as "Mandalorian" and "Museum Fantastic Night 2"; Kang Qinghu, head of virtual shooting in ARRI China, has in-depth research in the field of traditional photography and lighting equipment shooting with virtual LED screen shooting David Levy, director of ARRI's global solution business development, has rich experience in studio construction, operation and maintenance, zhang Xiaobei, director of the science fiction film "Pioneer", a set of screenwriters, directors and producers; Gong Zhaohui, founder of the China Film and Television Post-production Industry Alliance, who is currently researching the "virtual production" system and related education; Liu Xiaowei, associate professor of the Academy of Fine Arts of Beijing Film Academy, has completed China's first LED screen virtual shooting teaching practice film "Alien Rescue".
Three major sections, upgrade the industrialization model
The fifth phase of Jackie Chan Movie A in 2021 has set up three major sections, namely the above-mentioned tutor class, venture capital meeting and shooting workshop.
If the tutor class is to use theoretical dry goods to recharge filmmakers, then the venture capital meeting and shooting workshop are from the practical level to really help filmmakers realize their filming dreams and promote the landing of film projects. At present, the tutor class and the venture capital meeting have opened the collection of registrations, which has received a positive response from film workers in the industry.
For many young filmmakers, they are full of enthusiasm and talent, but they are suffering from no opportunity to release, Jackie Chan Film A plan provides a professional platform to display their talents and obtain resources.
In the venture capital project collection process, after the screening of the organizing committee and the selection of the professional jury, 8 groups of project teams will finally be shortlisted for the venture capital conference roadshow, communicate and negotiate with domestic mainstream film and television companies, and accept more industry guest comments. Of the 8 groups of shortlisted projects, 4 groups of projects had the opportunity to be shortlisted for the shooting workshop section, won the 100,000 yuan short film shooting fund provided by the Beijing Jackie Chan Charity Foundation, and received one-on-one shooting guidance from cutting-edge directors in the industry.
The venture capital jury composed of Jia Zhijie, Shen Teng, Tian Yusheng, Yu Hewei and Yao Tingting will strictly check the content of the project, and with their many years of experience in the industry, judge the project from the professional perspective of the director, screenwriter and actor, and be able to evaluate a project more comprehensively and objectively. Jackie Chan Film A plan invites first-line filmmakers in the industry to judge, which also shows the determination to excavate high-quality projects, and does not let go of any excellent project with innovative spirit and profound ideological connotation.
Entering the shooting workshop, young filmmakers will gain more valuable practical experience. Previously, many directors' debuts have more or less the common problems of newcomer directors, that is, too much emphasis on self-expression and neglect of commerciality, the sense of academic youth is coming, and the shooting workshop of Jackie Chan Film A plan can help young filmmakers transition to commercial film shooting and learn the core experience of industry content creation.
It can be seen from the invited shooting workshop mentor group that Jackie Chan Film A has a strong feasibility and persuasiveness to help new filmmakers, and most of them are cutting-edge directors who speak with achievements: such as Han Guanhua, the director of "Polar Pursuit", who is also the fifth generation member of the Chengjia class and a senior action director; Li Haishu, the director of "Pride and Prejudice", who once served as the screenwriter of the movie "Myth", and is a typical representative of the screenwriter to director; director Song Haolin's "Summer of Pig Taro" directed by Song Haolin. Received two nominations such as the directorial debut of the 31st Chinese Film Golden Rooster Awards, the current national day release of the word-of-mouth masterpiece "Five Teenagers Who Flutter the Water" is from his hand; director Zhang Disha has served as the screenwriter of films such as "Inner Gravity" and "Heart Flower Road Release", and his directorial debut "The Best of Us" has won 417 million at the box office. They have experience in the inadequacy of newcomer directors and how to shoot commercial films, and they can empathize with newcomer directors.
The upgrade of course professionalism and the upgrading of the jury lineup are actually the upgrading of the industrialization model. Through the progression of the three major sections layer by layer and the coordinated efforts, the 2021 Jackie Chan Film A Plan has formed a full-chain model of project excavation, on-site teaching, shooting practice, salon activities and online screening, which is fully prepared for the industry to reserve young talents.
Why does the industry need Jackie Chan Movie Plan A?
Whether it is an industry insider or a general audience, when seeing Jackie Chan, he will be honored as a "big brother", and the status of the jianghu is indisputable.
Jackie Chan has devoted his life to the film industry, winning the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 89th Academy Awards in 2016 and having countless fans around the world. The industry gives Jackie Chan glory, Jackie Chan also gives the industry a return, Jackie Chan Film A plan is a support plan that is beneficial to the benign development of the industry, the plan takes public welfare as the core, cultivates film talents, incubates projects, and is committed to caring for reality through movies.
In fact, almost all the support programs on the market will play the slogan of "cultivating talents and incubating projects", but why can Jackie Chan Film A plan be unique and stand out? In the author's opinion, Jackie Chan Movie Plan A has obvious differentiating advantages from other similar plans, which are mainly reflected in the following aspects:
The first is forward-looking. The film industry environment is changing, the trend is changing, only by judging the situation and keeping up with the trend can Plan A form brand IP and maintain the long-term vitality of IP. From the first issue of "Sino-US Masters Talking About Movies" to "Movies Foresee the Future", "Exploring the Mysteries of Action Movies", "The Reality and Power of New Youth Movies", and then to this year's "The Future Has Come (Virtual Production)", every year Plan A will determine the theme according to the current situation, see the future possibilities before the industry, and help people in the industry to improve their industry foresight and seize opportunities.
The second is practicality. On paper, soldiers will eventually feel shallow, only actual combat can see the real chapter, theory must be needed, knowledge needs to be prepared, and actual combat cannot be less. The shooting workshop of Plan A helps new filmmakers accumulate practical experience by tutoring new filmmakers, improves shooting efficiency with one-on-one help mode, and also allows new filmmakers to devote themselves to filming and help high-quality projects land smoothly.
The third is openness. Jackie Chan Film A Plan relies on the global popularity of Jackie Chan's big brother, which not only attracts the attention of a large number of filmmakers, but also allows industry elites at home and abroad to flock to China, and foreign advanced technologies and concepts are introduced into China, which greatly broadens the horizons of domestic filmmakers. For example, this year's focus on virtual production, inviting top talents in the professional field to teach, opened up the thinking pattern for the production of Chinese science fiction films.
Therefore, it is also a good explanation why the industry needs Jackie Chan Film A Plan, which has industry foresight, creative practice, and resource openness, giving young filmmakers opportunities and injecting new energy into the industry.
At present, Jackie Chan Film A plan is in full swing, the judge mentor has been in place, Wuhan in November, everything is ready, just waiting for the East Wind to come.