According to preliminary statistics, as of August 30, the total box office of the 2022 summer season has exceeded 9 billion yuan. Among the top five films in the summer box office, there are 4 domestic films, namely "Alone on the Moon", "Life Events", "Detective War" and "Tomorrow's War".
It is not easy to achieve such a result. The main reasons for the resumption of work in various theaters, the increase in the supply of new films, and the strong momentum of domestic films are the main reasons. The State Film Administration issued the "Notice on Launching the 2022 Film Benefiting Consumer Season". The 2022 Film Benefiting Consumer Season will be launched from August to October this year, which will effectively promote film consumption, speed up the recovery of the film market, and help the continuation of the summer program. boost.
The new films released this summer include both domestic and imported films, with rich themes and diverse genres. Science fiction films, family films, cartoons, suspense films, youth films, and documentaries are in full bloom. The multi-national films that were shortlisted for the competition and screening section of the 12th Beijing International Film Festival were welcomed by movie fans, and some screenings were even "hard to get a ticket". In addition to commercial theaters, art theater screenings, rural film screenings, public welfare screenings, and campus screenings are all dedicated to meeting the diverse cultural needs of audiences.
Watching the reality to win the audience's resonance
Watching the reality of the film to gain positive market feedback and good reputation is a major feature of this summer's program. The film "Life Events" has a novel theme, observes life from the perspective of children, and broke many box office records for family films along the way. In the film, Mo Sanmei and Wu Xiaowen meet because of the death of their relatives. They face life with hope in a warm fusion. Their stories reflect full respect and ultimate care for life, and also convey a positive and optimistic attitude towards life. The audience brings warmth and thought. The profound value connotation and down-to-earth and textured life scenes are properly woven into the story and touch the hearts of the audience.
Family films have always had a strong appeal, which is closely related to Chinese cultural sentiments. From the miserable melodrama directed by Zheng Zhengqiu in the early days, the integration of director Zheng Junli into social reality, the introduction of humanitarian narrative by director Xie Jin, to the recent new works such as "Life Events", "My Sister" and "A Little Red Flower for You", family films have Type paradigms are diverse and change over time. Like "My Sister" and "A Little Red Flower for You", "Major Events in Life" places the characters in a tight and intricate network of ethical relationships, and the main dramatic tension comes from the protagonist's choice of self-interest or altruism. The film mixes elements of various commercial types, changing the inherent mode of slow rhythm and monotonous elements of family films. While mediating conflicts between individuals and families, it carries out subtle life education. "Life Events" aroused the audience's empathy and resonance, indicating that the update of the film's narrative is synchronized with real life, starting from the unique emotional needs of the Chinese people.
Even the sci-fi films "Lone on the Moon", "Mozart in Outer Space", and "Tomorrow's War" do not lose sight of reality. "Mozart in Outer Space" tells the story of family affection, "Walking on the Moon" tells the dream of ordinary people beyond ordinary, and "Tomorrow's War"'s worry about the deterioration of the earth's environment is an in-depth observation and artistic expression of the current public mentality .
Fusion of science and film emerges
Domestic sci-fi films are the hotspot and focus of this summer. "Lonely Walk on the Moon", "Mozart in Outer Space" and "Tomorrow's War" are three sci-fi films in a row, and "Lonely Walk on the Moon" won the 2022 summer box office champion with a box office score of nearly 2.9 billion yuan.
The sci-fi genre used to be a shortcoming of domestic films. In 2019, the film "The Wandering Earth" was released, which ignited the audience's enthusiasm for domestic sci-fi films with its sophisticated production and touching feelings. With the continuous improvement of the level of China's film industry and the continuous upgrading of audience aesthetics, science fiction has become a hot topic in the domestic film and television industry in recent years. In 2020, the State Film Administration and the China Association for Science and Technology issued "Several Opinions on Promoting the Development of Science Fiction Films", proposing to build science fiction films into an important growth point and new driving force for the high-quality development of films, and to "build a bridge" in the integration of science and film. "Building Roads" to provide policy support and technical support for Chinese science fiction films.
"Lone on the Moon" is a typical case of the fusion of science and film, and the scientific consultant team played an important role in the creation of the film. Before the film crew prepares to start in the fall of 2020, the main creative team and the scientific consultant team fully communicated. The production crew listed a "scientific problem list", and counterpart scientists and engineers participated in the discussion; during the shooting stage, the main creative team continued to conduct targeted consultations with experts; after the film was completed, the physical , authoritative experts in aerospace to provide professional advice. The spacesuits, lunar rover, space station, aircraft and other props and art designs in the film are supported by experts in the fields of materials science, mechanics, and industrial design. It is this successful fusion of science and film that guarantees the scientific and technological quality of "Walking on the Moon".
Chinese science fiction films are climbing to the top, and it is foreseeable that there will be more domestic films in the future with the wings of science and technology. After domestic sci-fi films have obtained the powerful assistance of science and technology and broke through the technical bottleneck of visual effects, what they need to solve is the key problem of artistic creation. Exactly what kind of fusion road are we going to take? How does the scientific element fit into the story text reasonably and appropriately? It is a hurdle that Chinese science fiction films urgently need to overcome.
Comprehensive upgrade of visual aesthetics
The "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Chinese Films" clearly states that it is necessary to accelerate the development of film special effects technology. This summer, a number of domestic films are eye-catching, and the comprehensive upgrade of visual effects shows the progress of domestic film production capabilities. "Lonely Walking on the Moon" was created by the domestic special effects team that produced "The Wandering Earth" and "Assassination of the Novelist"; there are nearly 2,000 special effects shots in the whole film, accounting for more than 95% of all shots. The "King Kong Mouse", which is loved by many audiences, is based on the actors' motion capture performances, and then the animators refer to their performances and rhythms, frame by frame. "King Kong Rat" has as many as 50 million hairs, and the total number of shots accounts for 20% of the special effects shots of the whole film. The two films of "New God List: Yang Jian" and "Tomorrow's War" also won the reputation of the visual effects.
The new work of chasing light animation "New God List: Yang Jian" once again continues the brand characteristics, using modern animation technology to interpret classical stories and integrate oriental aesthetics. The three immortal islands of Penglai, Fanghu and Yingzhou are beautiful and magnificent. The 3D effect of the Dunhuang Flying Dance is amazing. The ink-wash dynamic effect presents Taiji pictures, continuing the ink-wash style of the "Chinese School of Animation", showing the creator's familiarity with traditional Chinese art. With magnificent and unrestrained creation. The film intends to rewrite the image of Yang Jian in the myth, but the motives and action logic of the characters failed to fully convince the audience.
The performance of many films this summer shows us that the audience's viewing mentality is more rational and mature, and the demand for high-quality content is rising. Whether the story can arouse the emotional resonance of the audience has become the key to determining the reputation of the film. Youth films used to be one of the hottest genres in the summer. This year, a youth film such as "Secret Love: Orange Born in Huainan", which grossed over 100 million yuan at the box office, was written 10 years ago, and the film adaptation failed to impress a wider audience.
With the development of the film industry, as other entertainment methods such as 3D online games, virtual reality games, escape room games, mobile phone short videos and other entertainment methods bring diverse experiences, it is urgent to deepen the understanding of how films can provide audiences with a high-quality aesthetic experience. Thinking proposition. Judging from the reception of summer movies in 2022, the most important thing for audiences is the narrative function of movies. Whether it can tell a complete, credible, and touching story that carries modern values, reflects current social hotspots, and meets general emotional needs is an important criterion for audiences to judge a movie.
(This article was published in the 20th edition of People's Daily on September 1, 2022. The author is an associate researcher at the China Film Art Research Center.)