On July 27, the Venice International Film Festival, one of the world's four major film festivals, announced the list of main competition units, and the VR animation "Old Man Dream Picking" produced by Beijing Pingta Studio was shortlisted for the VR competition unit. The producer Lei Zhengmeng and director Mi Lian, who created this short film, are both from Chengdu. On August 15, director Mi Grain revealed to the client reporter of Chengdu Business Daily that the inspiration for the image of the film's protagonist came from Chengdu critic Li Boqing.
The VR short film was selected for the Venice International Film Festival
On the evening of August 8, Lei Zhengmeng received an e-mail that excited him. It was an invitation to the creator of "The Old Man Who Picked Up Dreams" to appear on the red carpet of the Venice International Film Festival. "I shared this good news with the team's friends for the first time." Lei Zhengmeng said.
It is understood that after the comprehensive "absence" of Venice in 2016, Chinese films returned to the main campaign unit in the form of animation this year. The competition has three awards – Best VR Film, Best VR Experience, and Best VR Story – and the results will be announced during the festival in September.
"The Old Man Who Picked Up Dreams" is about an old man and his puppy constantly picking up the lost "garbage" of others under the city overpass and in the corners of the city, and this "garbage" is the dream that others give up.
"A guitar may represent a musical dream, a paintbrush may represent a painting dream." Director Mi Grain said that in the film, the old man and the puppy constantly repair people's dreams by wiping and sewing, and who is this old man? Why you want to do this again, all the suspense will be revealed in the final scene, the film will premiere in Venice on August 30.
In Melee's view, if ordinary three-dimensional cartoons are for the audience to watch dramas on TV, then VR technology brings the audience to the theater. "Looking at the VR cartoons that have been released around the world, it is not surprising that they were selected, and the strength is there." Rice grain said that there are a total of 22 works selected for the VR competition unit, and whether it can win the best will be revealed at the film festival. "Nominations depend on strength, and winning awards depends on a certain amount of luck."
From the left, Ah Yu, Rice Grain, Lei ZhengMeng
Both creators are from Chengdu
The main creative team of "Old Man Picking Dreams" is Pingta Studio from Beijing, and the producer Lei Zhengmeng and the director Mi Lian are all from Chengdu. Born in Leshan in 1985, Rice Grain was in the same class as Lei Zhengmeng in junior high school, and both were alumni of the same school in high school, both graduated from Chengdu No. 7 Middle School. After college, Mi Grain was admitted to the Department of New Media Art and Design of Beihang University, and Lei Zhengmeng entered Sichuan University, where he was sent to the Chinese Academy of Sciences for graduate school.
Grain of rice has been influenced by his family since childhood, and he especially likes animation. "Growing up in Chengdu, many Chengdu elements have an impact on my creation." Rice grain said that he has loved art since he was a child, and the images of artists such as Li Boqing have been deeply rooted in his mind, and learning animation itself is a very test of people's patience. In college, many students who like animation have given up their dreams of animation. And he felt that he should stick to his dream and not give up easily. The idea of "The Old Man Who Picked Up Dreams" began here.
Rice
After graduating from graduate school in 2010, Miri has served as the screenwriter of the movie "The Return of the Great Sage" and the main creator of "Little Door God" and "Rock Tibetan Mastiff". In April 2015, the general director of the VR CG short film "Goodbye, Expression", which was the first time that rice grains "electrocuted" VR technology.
"I feel that VR technology is so magical, if ordinary animation lets you see the picture of this film, then VR technology allows you to go inside the film, see the front and back of the characters, see what is under the table." 」 It's also a whole new approach to storytelling, and VR technology represents a direction for future films, Rice Said.
"Goodbye, Emoji" was released on gear VR after completion, and received a lot of praise in the industry. "This short film is the first complete story short film in China, but from the perspective of VR technology, it is at best a semi-finished product." Rice said it was the short film that allowed him to learn and be exposed to VR technology.
From the left, Ah Yu, Lei Zhengmeng, and rice grains
The image of the elderly is inspired by Li Boqing
Looking at the future development of VR technology, in July 2016, Rice Grain, Lei Zhengmeng and Ah Yu hit it off and established Pingta Studio. Prior to starting his own business, Lei Zhengmeng worked in Alibaba's digital entertainment business unit, and Ah Yu had more than 10 years of experience in Tencent and Alibaba.
"The Old Man Who Picked Up Dreams" is the studio's first work, last October, the production officially began, although there is some experience in the front, but a complete set of VR animation content production technology is still blank in China, can only learn while groping.
"There is some fragmented information on the Internet, but it is not complete, and even the software we use is not known to us." There are no standards, no samples to learn from, but the team has a strong learning ability. Grain rice said that in the 5 months of production, he was highly excited. The team discussed the story together, and in the discussion collision, the image of the old man who picked up the dream gradually took shape, inspired by Chengdu artist Li Boqing. "Many people look at the old man and think that they are very similar to Li Boqing."
On March 21 this year, the 11-minute animated short film "The Old Man Who Picked Up Dreams" was completed and submitted to Siggraph (the top annual conference on computer graphics organized by the Computer Graphics Professional Group of the American Computer Association), which is the highest award in the field of VR technology abroad. Unfortunately, due to the length of the film, the short film was not shortlisted. After learning that the Venice Film Festival had a VR competition unit, they signed up to participate, and a month later, they received an invitation to participate in the Venice Film Festival.
Now it seems that there is no siggraph shortlist, and Lei Zhengmeng is thankful instead. "A short film can only participate in one film festival that requires a premiere, and if it has previously premiered, it cannot be shortlisted for the Venice International Film Festival." Lei Zhengmeng said that for them, the Venice Film Festival, which focuses on content creation, may be more suitable, and the gold content is undoubtedly higher.
At the end of August, Mi Grain and Ray Zhengmeng will go to Venice to participate in the film festival, and it is still unknown whether the short film will win the best VR film. It is certain that after the premiere of the movie, "The Old Man Who Picked Up Dreams" will launch a mobile version and will also be launched in some VR cinemas. "Some theaters in Chengdu also have the intention of cooperating, and will meet with Chengdu citizens at that time." Rice grain said that at present, the company has received the second and third projects of VR movies, and is currently in intensive production.
Chengdu Business Daily client reporter Zhong Meilan intern Dong promotion
Edited by Jiang Yaling
[Original title: Video 丨 Chengdu guys will "Li Boqing" into the VR animation film and also selected for the Venice International Film Festival]