Special feature of 1905 film network The animated film is released.After a lapse of 38 years, this film officially met the audience in the cinema for the first time. Perhaps, the saying of "returning a movie ticket" has been redefined in this film.
And this is Shanghai Animation Film Studio (hereinafter referred to as "Shanghai Meiying") behind the film, the second film work handed over this year after Tyrannosaurus Tu Tu with Big Ears in Action in the National Day file.
The two seemingly independent works are actually a kind of "inheritance" of the film maker to some extent. Mr. Wang is the co-director of the film "The Story of Heaven". At the same time, he also participated in the art work of the first season of the drama series "Tu Tu with Big Ears".
From the "old" to the new, and then renovate and repair the "old". In the past few years, Shanghai Meiying has always presented its "treasures" to everyone in the best form.
The charm of Shanghai Meiying is not only on the big screen.As early as last year, the "China Animation Alliance" gathered and customized a promotional film for the Beijing Winter Olympics, saying, "My old grandson is coming!" Who’s feelings have been ignited?
When the "Zhu Rong" rover landed on Mars, Shanghai Meiying took out the concept film of the 4D sci-fi cartoon "Fluorescent Fire". After watching it, anyone who didn’t marvel at it was still online.
Inheritance of "repair"
The story of Shangmeiying is as wonderful as its cartoon characters, but this time, let’s start with "The Story of Heaven".
In 2019, the main visual poster of Shanghai International Film Festival designed by Huang Hai was released, which surprised everyone. And this poster is based on the animated film produced by Shanghai Meiying.
In that year’s screening list, Shanghai Meiying also released two restored works, one is the full version of "Make a scene in Heaven" and the other is the 2K restored version of "The Story of Heaven".After the invoice was issued, "Tian Shu Qi Tan" became one of the fastest sold-out films. This is somewhat unexpected. After all, in the past, most of the animated films mentioned by the audience were "Make a scene in Heaven".
Making a scene in Heaven was completed by Shanghai Meiying in 2011. It is precisely because of this achievement that Shanghai Meiying saw hope that "classics will never go out of date". As a result, in 2018, Shanghai Meiying restarted the restoration work of "Tian Shu Qi Tan".
This repair work is not easy.Because of the limitation of early technical conditions, the storage medium of the original film is film. The film itself is very fragile, even if it is well preserved, it will inevitably cause some damage. The director of Shanghai Meiying told us that the team invested a lot of manpower and energy to repair the sound and picture.
Behind the simple expression, there is actually a very complicated process technology. In the end, the basic restoration of the film was completed by Shanghai Film Technology Factory and Shanghai Meiying, which ensured the basic content of the work and realized the work of "glue revolution". It is reported that the film has been repaired in the 4K version. This also caused the film to finally meet the audience after two years after the screening of the last film festival.
For many viewers, this is a "youth return". Memories of the movies I saw when I was a child are all emerging one by one, and even the "sequel legend" about this movie is not broken.
For Suda, the release of this film has not only fulfilled his dream, but also completed the unfinished story of his predecessors in Shanghai Meiying.
Mr Yunda Qian, the co-director of this film, is her university teacher. At the Shanghai premiere of the film, the 93-year-old director Yunda Qian appeared. Facing the recognition of the audience, he also said humbly, "I feel that we have not done enough. If we can do it in the future, we will do more work."
However, what is the release of such a film to the audience?Suda doesn’t want to emphasize the box office. After all, the release of this animated work is difficult to demonstrate with the box office itself. "Going to the cinema is not just about paying for feelings."
In Suda’s view, this restoration can make the audience feel better about "The Wonder of Heaven" and break the previous cognition on the small screen. No matter the sound or the picture, more different details can be found.
The vitality of IP
Suda has been busy for the last two months. I was interviewed by various media for Action of Tyrannosaurus Tu Tu with Big Ears and 4K Commemorative Edition.
Although these two works are presented to the audience with a brand-new look, we can’t ignore the fact that it has been 38 years since "The Story of Heaven" and the drama series "Tu Tu with Big Ears" has been updated, but it has been more than 15 years since the first season. It seems that from the outside world, these two works are already "past tense".
Suda seems to have become accustomed to these discussions, and bluntly saying that economic benefits are definitely not the purpose. "I understand that everyone has such a voice, because in the past, we did not produce a large number of new films, and we also understand the expectations of the audience."
In fact, the restoration of "The Wonder of Heaven" is to use digital technology to make the film glow with new vitality.
On the basis of the original film’s 89 minutes, a special behind-the-scenes feature was specially added at the end of the film, including some creative materials, restoration process and interviews with old artists. This is a tribute to the older generation of animation artists, but also a kind of China animation inheritance.
At that time, there were many ingenious ideas of old artists in the creation of the film "The Wonder of Heaven", but now it seems a little clumsy.
For example, in the four words of the title, the blue-black background pattern presents a "special effect" of flowing fusion. It is the old artists who pour blue-black paint into a basin and add solvent to make the paint "flow", thus shooting this wonderful "special effect" scene.
The TV animation "Tu Tu with Big Ears" with more than 100 episodes grew up with the post-90s and post-00s, and it was created by Shanghai Meiying for the purpose of making original and high-quality cartoons to reflect the life of contemporary children.The image of "Tu Tu" unexpectedly became popular on the short video platform two years ago, which made everyone see the vitality of IP.
From the small screen to the big screen, the movie version of Tu Tu with Big Ears has been striving to integrate the spirit of the times into its works and track the topics of social concern. It involves filial piety culture and pension topics.
It seems to be a mature drama IP, but this creation is not easy for Suda. In this movie, there is no collision between justice and evil, just want children to watch it with relish and touch them with emotion.
It doesn’t matter if you have doubts, it also represents the expectations of the audience.For these IPS in their hands, Suda said, "The old IP, because it was already there, we will repair it and develop it, and maybe it will take less time; Then the new work needs a process of incubation, cultivation and creation. "
As for the excessive public opinion of "fried cold rice", the speed is also accepted according to the order. The hard work behind the classic repair is no easier than an original IP. Classic IP needs to maintain its vigorous vitality, which can not be presented by simple preservation. "We are not completely copying the past to sell tickets again, but to create in depth again."
Not only the restoration of movies, but also the IP image authorization of Shanghai Meiying from a very early age.Especially at the beginning of 2019, the collection of doll toys, in which "Tian Shu Qi Tan" cooperated with a fast food brand, even sold as high as 500 yuan on a second-hand trading platform.
This series of IP authorization, actually from another level, is also the activation of IP.Of course, in terms of IP authorization, Shangmeiying pays great attention to whether the cartoon image is suitable for the brand. "Every IP has its own personal design, and we also value the concept of communication that can be set by someone in the future brand communication."
The story continues
"Innovation and inheritance" is the brand concept written by official website of Shanghai Meiying.
Reasonable IP authorization and development, as well as the restoration of classic films, are the best footnotes made by Shanghai Film and Television. To combine "inheritance" and "innovation" organically, we have to mention Meiying’s ink animation.
As early as the 60th anniversary of Shanghai Film Festival, it was announced that it would restart ink animation and launch the first feature film of ink animation. At that time, the official also released a 2-minute trial film, which attracted a lot of attention once it was spread.
After a lapse of four years, what is the progress of this project?Suda told us that the film is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year and is scheduled to be released in 2023. The duration of the film will be about 90 minutes, with almost no dialogue, and the story will be promoted by music. "It can be said with great pride that this will be the first animated feature film in China and even the world."
The 3D version of the official announcement has also made progress. "We will make a bold attempt to break everyone’s previous understanding of the image of the Monkey King in" Big Sky "and make a brand new the Monkey King in a three-dimensional space, which will be more in line with the aesthetics of young people as a whole."
In addition, the new Snow Child, which was created by directors Lu Hengyu and Li Shujie, will also be produced accordingly. In the future production process of Shanghai Meiying, there will be more than a dozen works coming out one after another.
In the face of marketization, Suda said frankly, "Not blindly pursuing the click-through rate and the box office, how to make a good work that can stay is the first thing that our creators should consider, and don’t produce a pile of cultural garbage."
With the special promotional film of the Winter Olympics going off again, the outside world is increasingly looking forward to the progress of the "cartoon universe" of the American film. At the beginning of this year, they launched the drama "Beautiful Film Paradise", but this short drama did not leave much sound. Su Da told us not to worry. They really saw the concept of "movie universe" and are creating an animated film "Make a scene in cartoon city", which combines the IP of Shangmeiying with real life.
No matter from the outside world, Shanghai Meiying is slowing down or speeding up now; Is it being questioned "fried cold rice" or insisting on bringing forth the old and bringing forth the new? They are always carrying on the good memories of several generations with a pen.
As Suda said, Shanghai Meiying is the national team of animation in China, which shoulders great responsibilities. It cannot just pursue commercial animation, and it is one of the responsibilities to inherit and innovate the art of its predecessors.
