"White Bird Valley" exhibition view
The animated short film "White Bird Valley", completed by wolf smoke animation studio director Ren Wolf and "Great Protector" director Bu Sifan, is about fifteen minutes long and has a production cycle of up to one year. The film won the Short Film Award for Children's Jury at the Annecy Animation Film Festival in France in 2017 and was shortlisted for the 2018 Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, bringing Chinese-style animation to the international stage and receiving international recognition.
The short film tells the story of the male protagonist (the young man in white) who enters the Shiratori Valley, in the process of tracking the blackbird, confronts the old man (teenager) who stands against him, and finally presses the button of reincarnation and regains his new life.
In the fifteen-minute short film, there is no dialogue or narration, and only the advancement of the story picture and the change of background music present a story full of meaning to the audience. Originally, during the production, the film set the corresponding lines, but in the end, the director did not think twice and decided to withdraw all the lines. Completely blank in the setting – it was definitely a bold decision, and he created unprecedented imagination space for the audience. Therefore, in the eyes of a thousand viewers, there are a thousand "White Bird Valley", "words are not exhausted but the intention is high", which is also one of the artistic charms of the film.
"White Bird Valley" promotional image
"White Bird Valley" attracts the attention of Chinese and foreign audiences with a strong Chinese style, and each frame is a charming Chinese color ink painting, which is amazingly beautiful. In the world animation world, the animation of Japanese animation director Makoto Shinkai is, in the evaluation of the audience, "so beautiful that every frame can be used as wallpaper". Compared with Makoto Shinkai's cartoons, "White Bird Valley" is more exquisite than that, and it vividly expresses the beauty of our Chinese characteristics.
Here, this article will expound on the artistic value and ideological value of excavating "White Bird Valley" according to these three aspects.
China's stilt house
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >1. Color mood: Color as a silent dialogue, depicting emotional curves and highlighting profound themes</h1>
The famous photographer Storaro once said: "Color is part of the language of film, and we use color to express different emotions and feelings, just like the use of light and shadow to symbolize the conflict between life and death." ”
In animated films, color is the most important visual element, which integrates the subjective emotions and thoughts of the creator and is the link between the creator and the audience to achieve emotional resonance.
As the language of the film, color can intuitively evoke the fluctuations of people's emotions, bring visual impact to the audience, create an atmosphere, express emotions, and deepen the theme. This is because for different colors, everyone has different memories and experiences, and when the color changes, it will cause different physiological and psychological reactions.
The magical use of light and shadow in the opening screen
A large number of cool colors are used to create a gloomy atmosphere, highlighting the entanglements and contradictions in the hearts of young people
At the beginning of "White Bird Valley", the camera uses a wide range of dark blue, dark green, brown and black, and then uses light and shadow to create a dark and heavy atmosphere. Such an opening can allow the audience to combine their previous memories and experiences to form a psychological response to the cold color - calm, gloomy, and at the same time brought into the atmosphere created by the film.
Immediately after, a white bird cut through the original dark picture, and the white-clad youth entered the audience's field of vision, and in the empty dark valley, he advanced alone.
Listening to his slow footsteps trampling on the leaves, the audience seems to sense his heavy heart in an instant, and follows his footsteps into this dark valley. The audience knows nothing about what will happen after that, but the dull and dark colors seem to tell them: this is not a joyful story... Through the hints of color, the audience and the protagonist seem to feel empathy and have the same consensus.
The old man is playing with the white birds in the white bird valley full of maple leaves
The superimposed effect of yellow and red presents the depression of the White Bird Valley, highlighting the sadness in the hearts of young people
As the youth went deeper into the valley, the colors gradually changed, more and more white birds, and the dark mountain rocks were replaced by yellow-red superimposed maple leaves. Although red and yellow are warm tones, the atmosphere rendered in the short film is not hot and warm.
The houses in the valley are still empty, and things are not human. Through the portrayal of the inside and outside of the house in the picture, the audience can know that the former Shiratori Valley must also be prosperous and prosperous. However, now only maple trees and leaves are left, and the more red and yellow there is, the more it can set off the depression and decay of The White Bird Valley at this time.
Although autumn is a harvest season, it is also accompanied by the sadness of the withering and decay of all things. Since ancient times, whether among the literati and scholars or in the hearts of ordinary people, "sad spring and sad autumn" has been an eternal theme. The tragic autumn complex of "since ancient times, autumn is sad and lonely" has always been deeply rooted in the soil of Chinese culture.
Song Yu, a writer of Chu State, once lamented in the "Nine Debates": "Sorrowful, autumn is also qi, Xiao Serge, grass and trees fall and decay." When the picture of the autumn day repeatedly appears in front of the audience, the sadness of "sadness" also spreads in the hearts of the audience. From the heavy gloom at the beginning of the short film to the sadness and sentimentality, the audience unconsciously steps into the emotional atmosphere designed by the creators.
And this scene of depression and human wrongs brought the sorrow in the young man's heart to the limit, triggered his hatred for the blackbird, and attributed all the decay to the blackbird. Thus, into the climax of the whole film - the youth hunts down and kills blackbird.
A screen full of green, a young man in white - a beautiful picture
Green appears, bringing in the light of hope; pink lotus flowers form a finishing touch, echoing the theme of "harmony"
Among the many color elements, green is the most calm color, it is the most vibrant color in natural life, representing hope and peace.
From the time the youth begins to hunt down the blackbird, the green water appears in the short film, and the blackbird flees along the stream, eventually escaping into the lotus pond. The appearance of green also represents the direction of the story slowly shifting from heavy sadness to the hope of new life.
The last scene in "White Bird Valley" is a lotus pond full of green screens. The emerald green lotus leaves, the green pool water, and the yellow-green mountains on both sides all show the exuberance of vitality.
In the green of the screen, there is also the finishing touch left by the director - pink lotus. From the beginning of the short film to the time when the youth entered the lotus pond, there were no other plants in the Shiratori Valley except for trees and fallen leaves, and it was even more difficult to find flowers and plants. But in the end, the pink lotus flowers rush to open first, bringing a touch of warmth and deep meaning.
The harmonic sounds of "lotus" and "harmony" in traditional Chinese culture are often used as a symbol of harmony. Pink, on the other hand, is a mixture of white and red, and it represents gentleness, innocence and peace.
In the lotus pond, young people turned into wood carvings of new faith
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >2.Background music: the distant sound of Xiao, the melody of the ancient style, set off the atmosphere, and constantly deepen the theme</h1>
In cartoons, story, graphics and music are three extremely important components. In the 15-minute story of "White Bird Valley", there is no dialogue or narration, so the telling and advancement of the story must be presented by pictures and music. At this point, the background music seems to be the soul of the whole short film. Setting off the atmosphere, depicting the corresponding scenes, portraying the hearts of the characters and deepening the theme are all presented through music.
At the beginning of the story, the main melody played by Xiao Blowing appears with the dark valley, and the low and quiet music slowly penetrates into the audience's heart like a slow flowing water, bringing the audience into the empty and dark valley, some confused, but also a little uneasy. Just like the mood of the youth when they entered the valley.
Xiao's main theme appears incomplete at the beginning, and is constantly improved in the progress of the story, until it is fully presented at the end. Through the continuous improvement of music, it interprets the whole process of young people's hearts from contradictions and uneasiness to intention to overthrow faith, and then to understand the true meaning of life.
Youth left in tears
Finally, the youth understood the true meaning, shed tears, and willingly transformed into a wood carving of the new life of the white bird. Here, the director deliberately retains the blank space in the mood, without using any music, providing the audience with a thinking atmosphere in the quiet passage of time.
The picture painting of "White Bird Valley" is presented in the form of color ink painting (a form of expression of Chinese painting developed on the basis of ink painting). Xiao, on the other hand, is an ancient musical instrument in China, also known as the "Hole Flute". Its pronunciation is quiet and poignant, the timbre is round and soft, and it has an elegant charm. The combination of color ink painting and Xiao Sheng can be described as complementary, which brings out the two major arts with great national characteristics in China to the fullest, and also echoes the theme of the short film, achieving a pure Chinese style animation short film.
The beautiful picture is just a wallpaper
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >3. Theme connotation: the cycle of life, the antagonistic and unified relationship between the yin and yang poles, "harmony" is always the main theme</h1>
Based on the story setting of "White Bird Valley", dig out the deep meaning
In "Valley of the White Birds", the white bird and the black bird, the old man (teenager) and the youth are opposed and unified, they are like the yin and yang poles of Tai Chi, which are both mutually reinforcing and checking each other, and will inevitably experience the path of reincarnation.
Between heaven and earth, yin and yang coexist, and without yin there is no yang, just as the black bird disappears and the white bird disappears with it. But the demise of life is not the end, but the beginning of another life. At the end of the short film, the white bird is reborn, pointing out that all things are in the cycle of reincarnation, endless life, and checks and balances each other.
Each of us comes into the world as a blank piece of paper and sees everything with the purest heart. When we were young, we believed in everything we felt and never doubted. But as we grow older, we are slowly assimilated by the world, gradually losing our original intentions, losing our former beliefs, and even destroying our own beliefs like the youth in the short film. The image of the old man is like a wise man who sees through the worldly way after experiencing all the vicissitudes and finally returns to his original intention. He hoped to help the youth regain their original intentions, but failed.
Blackbirds spew out purple gas, and white birds become dead leaves when they are sprayed
"If we lose our balance, then sorry, there is no winner after the gunshots."
In the short film, the youth only sees the one-sided link of "blackbird will kill whitebird", ignoring the balance and harmony of the white bird valley, leading to the final destruction.
There is a famous saying in the Xunzi Li ji: "Heaven and earth are harmonious and all things are born, and yin and yang change one after another." ”
The interaction between heaven and earth and yin and yang is the beginning of the formation and change of all things. Throughout the history of the earth's development, the birth and demise of life are reincarnated in the mutual checks and balances between living things and nature. If living things and nature develop in harmony, all things grow and flourish. If the two sides are opposed, one side breaks the rules of balance, and eventually it will only lead to extinction.
In the 2019 "Host Competition", Dong Qing commented on the contestant Wang Jianning and said a passage that made the world feel enlightened - "Hurting and being hurt are sometimes the relationship of opposites and unity, hurting others, sometimes it means destroying themselves." If we lose our balance, then sorry, there is no winner after the gunshot. ”
Source· 2019 "Moderator Competition" title
In the title of the contestant Wang Jianning, the antagonistic and unified relationship between man and the bear is actually the relationship between man and nature. If humans only see the danger that the bear may attack themselves, then after shooting, the stake will lose its balance, and the human will fall from the sky with the bear, losing both. The implication is that human beings can only win-win if they coexist in harmony with nature and check each other.
People rely on the sky to eat, and the abundant resources of the earth can meet people's needs, without competition, and will not be overused. Even young people who do not hesitate to abandon their faith, in order to meet their needs, excessive consumption of natural resources, resulting in lack of resources, completely disregard the warning left by their predecessors that "take it in moderation and live in harmony". At this time, human beings are the old people in the short film, and after experiencing the wind and frost, they finally understand the deep meaning of "harmonious coexistence" and find the right direction.
Through just 15 minutes, "White Bird Valley" interprets the themes of "life reincarnation", "yin and yang balance" and "harmonious coexistence" from the reincarnation of personal faith to the rebirth of the White Bird Valley, and then to the antagonistic and unified relationship between human beings and the entire natural world, which is thought-provoking.
At the end of the film, the wooden tune destroyed by the youth gives birth to a white bird again, and a new reincarnation begins
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks</h1>
In recent years, with the rise of original Chinese-style animations such as "The Return of the Great Sage", "Big Fish and Begonias", and "The Great Protector", a strong wave of Chinese style has gradually been set off at home and abroad. These cartoons are based on the soil of China's local culture, whether it is pictures, music or themes are very Chinese characteristics. Their success is not accidental, but the victory of the group of people who really pursue Chinese original animation, the victory of Chinese original animation.
Although "White Bird Valley" is only a 15-minute short film, although the sparrow is small and complete, whether it is the exquisite degree of the picture or the far-reaching degree of the artistic conception, it is absolutely superior. I hope that in the future, more high-quality works will continue to emerge in the Chinese animation industry, bringing more beautiful enjoyment to the audience, more spiritual perceptions, bringing China's original animation and culture to the world, and allowing more people to feel the beauty of Chinese animation.