CATDOLL: Chinese blockbuster "Star Core" dialogues with "The Three-Body Problem" to open a new era of science fiction

Science fiction is a variety of "thought experiments" to explore the unknown. The famous film critic Electronic Knight once explained the significance of science fiction movies in his column. On December 4, at the Think Tank Forum "Where is the Future of Chinese Science Fiction Movies" held by China Movie Box Office, Electronic Knight, as a guest host, brought his thoughts on science fiction movies and Chinese science fiction, and discussed the present and opportunities of Chinese science fiction visual effects blockbusters with the pioneers of Chinese science fiction movies.

Many people predict that next year or 2017 will be the first year of Chinese science fiction movies. Because so far this year, 86 science fiction film projects have been approved or even put into production. The popular science fiction novel "The Three-Body Problem" will also be filmed into six parts. "Star Core", China's first attempt at a space mecha film, has just been announced to start filming in September and has become a hot topic among netizens.

Renowned film critic Electric Knight introduces Star Core to the audience of the Science Fiction Forum

As the leader of Chinese science fiction films, they play the role of pathfinders. Various signs show that the science fiction genre has entered a period of explosive growth. However, how to do it, whether it can be done, and how to do it well are still a series of problems that plague Chinese filmmakers.

The theme forum of the think tank forum "Where is the future of Chinese science fiction movies?" was held at Yuke Crowdfunding Coffee. Special guests included Mr. Zhang Fanfan, the chief director of the movie "The Three-Body Problem", Mr. Liu Zhiping, the visual effects director of "Star Core" from MiLi Pictures, Mr. Wang Jun, the planning director of MiLi Pictures and the executive producer of "Star Core", and Mr. Peng Shanming and Mr. Chen Zitao, who have participated in the production of many Hollywood movies and have rich experience in CG special effects production, to discuss the issues concerning the creation, production and market audience production of Chinese special effects science fiction movies.

Guests (from left to right): Electronic Knight, Chen Zitao, Wang Jun, Peng Shanming, Zhang Fanfan, Liu Zhiping

Has the first year of Chinese science fiction begun?

Zhang Fanfan, director of The Three-Body Problem: Because the film market itself could not bear the amount of money for science fiction films before. But now the Chinese film market can. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter whether science fiction is Hollywood or local. What matters is the viewpoints expressed by science fiction itself. Is it science fiction if you add a flying vehicle and time travel? It cannot be said that way, but we still have to take it step by step. Hollywood science fiction films have been developed for so many years and have influenced the tastes of movie fans around the world. The Three-Body Problem shows the way of thinking of Oriental people. I want to show a strong Oriental cultural atmosphere through it. Science fiction is a way of thinking and inner way worth exploring.

Wang Jun, producer of "Star Core": First of all, I must congratulate Director Zhang Fanfan on the successful completion of "The Three-Body Problem". "The Three-Body Problem" has a starting significance for Chinese science fiction. Science fiction visual effects movies represent the level of a country's film industry. Chinese audiences' appreciation of movies is increasing day by day, and they have expectations for science fiction films. The number of science fiction film projects applied for in China this year has made a qualitative leap compared with previous years. Of course, from the production point of view, what is the gap between Chinese and American science fiction films? This comparison is meaningless. China's current science fiction films are still in the stage of crossing the river by feeling the stones, while American science fiction films already have a very complete industrial system. From the perspective of creation and production, a common problem is how to add Chinese elements to Chinese science fiction films. In fact, this is not a problem. For example, Hollywood is full of blond hair, and Chinese science fiction films are obviously all Oriental faces, which will already produce differences. Therefore, only by doing it, the difference will naturally be found.

Our practitioners and audiences have all grown up under the influence of the Hollywood film system. Imitation and reference are inevitable, but this is not a problem, because our works will still have new ideas and their own characteristics. We are willing to be pioneers and take this step first, so that more people can join the torrent of science fiction film production and produce more and better works to compare with Hollywood.

Is Chinese science fiction going to be Hollywood-ized?

Electronic Knight: Beijing Film Academy discusses science fiction films, and a number of doctoral students' papers are related to science fiction films. What is Chinese science fiction novels and science fiction films? In fact, don't think about these. It should be Chinese science fiction novels and Chinese science fiction films. It is wrong to distinguish the premise and thinking of the discussion. As long as it is made by Chinese people, it will naturally bring in Chinese things, feelings and characteristics.

Zhang Fanfan: I value "The Three-Body Problem" because the story uses the oriental way of thinking. The film shows strong Chinese characteristics and is a science fiction film with an oriental cultural flavor. In the final analysis, science fiction should be a way of thinking worth exploring, or the foundation of the inner level.

For Chinese science fiction novels and films, the production process does not deliberately consider what is Chinese and what is Hollywood. Instead, as filming proceeds, directors emerge and audiences discover that the characteristics of Chinese directors emerge. This is the correct way to realize Chinese science fiction films.

Electric Knight: The setting of Star Core is huge and hardcore, with mechas and the universe, which is very different from the reality on Earth. The concept design does not seem to be particularly different from Hollywood. How do we create such a hardcore science fiction in China?

Liu Zhiping, Visual Effects Director of "Star Core": Has China never made mechas? Yes, we have. We have participated in American blockbusters such as "Pacific Rim" and "Transformers". Although those are not original Chinese works, it can be said that China's domestic production level has accumulated to the point where we can start making an original mecha visual effects film. Why did "Star Core" attract great interest from movie fans in such a short time? It is because it is different from Hollywood blockbusters in that it is an original Chinese work. The script, story, setting, concept, etc. are all our own.

Original Chinese creations do not mean that we do not need to learn from them. The gap between China and the United States objectively exists, so we have to learn from them, learn from their methods accumulated over so many years of development, and learn from their production experience. How can we strive for excellence and let moviegoers see our sincerity? To give a small example, "Star Core" will constantly test the movement rules of mechas. We are not simply creating a design that looks like a robot and that's it. We have to carve out all the details. For example, the design of mechas, we have studied a lot of mechanical engineering principles behind this. The design is supported by industrial mechanical principles, so that the audience will not think that the things in the film are unreliable. Body coordination, mecha weight, and the changes that mechas undergo in different environments are all topics we consider in the early design.

Electronic Knight: Robots and mechas are not simply put together. As Director Liu said, the coordination of body shape, the weight of mechas, and the combination of environmental changes, the thorough study of technology, and the use of movies to show it, this is very interesting. The closer the combination of Chinese directors, screenwriters and special effects, the better the performance will be.

Special effects or story?

Electronic Knight: Several guests are from special effects backgrounds. Their ideas are not based on the story. Maybe this is what makes science fiction movies different? The relationship between special effects and projects. A good movie does not depend on how many special effects there are. Maybe the production experience and the story itself are more important. Director Zhang, can you share your feelings?

Zhang Fanfan: I agree with what he said. Special effects serve the content. Holding on to this point is the direction for the development of movies under the current situation. It is not for special effects for the sake of special effects. We need to learn, draw lessons from and refer to them. After all, they serve our content. When I was making The Three-Body Problem, I referred to it at first, but later I stopped considering it. Everything is the content, everything is the core of the story. Why foreigners like The Three-Body Problem is also the core of the story. It reflects the core of Chinese thinking. The solution to the alien invasion is not the foreign way, not the European and American way, but the Chinese way. It is very typical of China. It conveys content information, not special effects information.

Wang Jun: Content is king. The most important thing is what story the director wants to tell and what kind of emotion I want to convey through the film. This is what is most attractive. If you peel off the sci-fi skin of "Interstellar", it is about the relationship between a father and a daughter. How to convince everyone about a film project is not just to say that I want to make a mecha and the special effects are awesome, but also to focus on the story itself, what kind of emotion it conveys, and whether my creativity is touching and heart-grabbing to the audience. All special effects are constructed around this story, just like Director Zhang said before. The development of Hollywood special effects has made people feel that the special effects do not exist. When watching science fiction, the audience thinks that the world of science fiction is real.

Zhang Fanfan: Now it is the imagination that is limited, not the production capacity. The technology is sufficient to support the film. When we imagine a scene, we may also be constrained by money and time. Any link may make the idea impossible to realize. We can lower the requirements slightly, but we still need such a scene to express it. We cannot use special effects that do not match the plot to express this scene. There is no special effect that cannot be realized. What matters is whether it meets our narrative requirements.

Science fiction movies disrupt industrial processes

Electronic Knight: Wang Jun mentioned before that science fiction movies are precisely a test of the entire film production process. In other types of movies, the process may be weakened, but science fiction cannot be inferior in the process. Every link must be standardized to move forward. This shows the role of science fiction movies in the Chinese film industry. In science fiction, everyone can be a screenwriter. It is not just one person who writes the script, but every special effects person in every link is an artist of science fiction creation. Everyone participates and even reverses the plot and changes the idea.

Electric Knight: In American movies and TV series, special effects not only show what real shooting can't do, but also save money. In Benjamin Button, in addition to makeup, a lot of the background is made by special effects, which saves a lot of money compared to real scenes.

Wang Jun: The understanding of the film in China is that special effects cannot be done, and people are lazy in the early stage and leave it to the later stage. This is a terrible thing. Hollywood will have a trailer\previz to let everyone see the effect of the film in advance. This is also a process that has been proven to be effective. As a creative company, we have certain advantages in this regard. We have innate genes in storyboard design and storyboard design. Now, we are bringing out the director's thinking about science fiction, standardizing the process, and realizing the design of the screen for the creative ideas and ideas, making him more rigorous. In this system, the early stage and the later stage are equally important.

Conclusion:

A good science fiction film, like a good science fiction novel, should be able to inspire the audience to think about the universe, human beings, technology or reality, satisfy your desire for knowledge and adventure, and make you no longer satisfied with seeing reality as it is, but think about things that seem irrelevant: if reality becomes another situation, if civilization develops in a different way, if the earth is not in this form, if the past can be changed...

Chinese science fiction films have begun to explode, just like other types of films that have emerged in the past few years. As the forefront, "The Three-Body Problem" and "Nuclear" have already explored this path through practice. The efforts and sincerity of the filmmakers can be seen from the forum. I wish all the films a success.