Special feature of 1905 film network The winter vacation is getting closer and closer, and the "God beast" will be released soon. Are you ready? There are resident animation stars such as Pleasant Goat, Big Big Wolf, Xiong Da and Xiong Er waiting for the Lunar New Year in the cinema, and they also need to be accompanied by animation stars at home, so that the "beasts" can have a happy and fulfilling holiday.
In recent years, animated films based on traditional cultural elements have continued to be hot. It is better to follow our topic "Animation Road, National Style is Busy" and have an open aesthetic education class with my family to reserve spiritual food for my children during the winter vacation.
At that time, a national craze was set off;Win favor with hand-drawn animation;Broaden the boundary of animation theme with alternative painting style;Break the ceiling of animated film box office;Deconstructing the story of deity with grand narrative … …
On the animation road, Guofeng is very busy. When the strong Chinese style keeps blowing into the animation lens, the dazzling chapter of the animation story of China’s national style has just begun … …
Ink age
Chinese-style animated films reflect the regional characteristics of China and are the expression style of China culture. Just a few minutes of animation has both the extension of China elements and the connotation of traditional culture.
From 1941, when China introduced the first Chinese-style animation, to the emergence of a large number of Chinese-style animation, Chinese-style animation films had a large number of excellent works in the early prosperity stage.
Make a scene in heaven
During this period, ink animation occupied a large proportion. Shanghai Animation Film Studio’s classic ink animation, such as Mu Di and Shan Shui Qing, is a famous sign in history of animation, China.
At that time, Japanese animated film director Gao Tianxun also mentioned in an interview that "China’s ink and wash cartoons amazed us. It can be said that our works with more blank space are influenced by it. "
With "Little Tadpole Looking for Mom" winning international awards (special award for short film in the 4th Angxi International Animation Festival in France, honorary award in the 4th Cannes International Film Festival, etc.), ink and wash animation, an animation type full of strong Chinese style, has gained international reputation.
In addition to ink painting, Shanghai Animation Film Studio also created many animation types such as paper-cutting, puppet and origami. Together with ink painting animation, they created a moderns in history of animation, China.
It can be seen that the Chinese style animation at that time was still in the extension stage closely combined with China elements, and the picture style of ink animation "emphasizing artistic conception and neglecting narrative" was also difficult to adapt to the rapidly developing market demand.
In the 1990s, when high-quality ink animation was lacking, many overseas animation brands such as Disney and Ghibli continued to develop, and a large number of foreign animations flooded into China, and domestic animation gradually lost its own language. This period was defined by Qian Jianping, director of the American Film Factory as "the transition period for China animation to start again".
The rise of national wind
Compared with the technical experience and talent accumulation required by live-action movies, the rise of animated movies needs more detailed and long efforts.
In 1999, animated films became the last swan song of China traditional fine arts films. This film exhausted the domestic gold lineup at that time, trying to help domestic animation turn the tide.
However, this well-made work, based on China’s classical mythology, failed to conceal the reality of the decline of the industry at that time. The box office record of "Lotus Lantern" of 20 million RMB actually lasted for ten years.It is precisely because of this that the Return of the Great Sage of Journey to the West released in 2015 rekindled the enthusiasm inside and outside the animation industry in China.
The box office of 956 million RMB, full of national flavor, not only makes the animation industry regroup, but also makes people re-examine the significance of Chinese style to animation.
After success, some business giants began to step into the strategic layout of animated film production.There are those who choose Sino-foreign joint ventures and introduce foreign advanced technology animation teams, such as Chinese enterprises and American DreamWorks Animation.eastDreamWorks launched a co-production in 2016.;
Some people choose to start their own businesses independently. For example, Wei Wang, the founder of Tudou, set up "light-chasing animation" and launched many national animation works since 2014.
Some people choose to integrate resources. For example, Light Film "Striped House" invested in many animation studios scattered all over the country to jointly create the "China Myth Series" animation film universe.
In addition, Internet giants such as Alibaba Pictures and Iqiyi Pictures have also begun to make plans for animated film production. With the change of the general environment, Chinese style animation has also begun to usher in a stage of constantly bringing surprises to the audience.The Big Fish Begonia, released in 2016, won the audience’s favor with hand-painted animation with unique Chinese style and won 560 million yuan at the box office.
In 2017, the "Great Protector" with a fierce style and a different style of painting added a unique color to Guofeng animation.
In 2019, Guofeng animation ushered in an outbreak, and Ne Zha lifted the ceiling of animated film box office to an unprecedented height.
White Snake: The Origin tells a traditional story in a modern way.
Reproduce the unique original thinking of China’s two-dimensional animation.
Most importantly, young animation creators have summed up a truth from the ensuing praise: a good story is the most important criterion to judge whether a national animation is excellent or not.
Like the stars
In 2020, the film market was greatly impacted by the sudden epidemic, and Legend of Deification changed files successively. When the film industry resumed, these two national style animations met the audience again.
Although the two films have different reputations, it is undeniable that Legend of Deification showed the super-high level of China’s animation technology with extremely exquisite painting style.
"Mr Miao" broadens the expression boundary and ideological depth of national style animation with unique painting style. China’s animated films not only show better production quality, but also gradually form a cultural character with oriental characteristics.
In the vast universe to be explored, some "stars" have already revealed their light. The unreleased film list is like a small nebula, which is the next direction of Guofeng animation.One of Legend of Deification’s ending eggsDeep seaWith the mysterious underwater world as the story background, the painting style is soft, but it is a sci-fi suspense type work;
It is a subversive remolding of Nezha’s story to take the time background after three thousand years of trouble in the sea;
Created by the original crew of The Return of the Great Sage to the Journey to the West, the story line is still a brand-new interpretation of the story of the Journey to the West before the sequel;
Also released a poster full of ink and wash style, intended to subvert the fate of the previous series … …
It can be seen that these national style animations strive for breakthroughs in both animation style exploration and technical production level. Fortunately, China animation has found a suitable way, and only needs to complete each creation with peace of mind in the passage of time.Starting from this week, WeChat official account, a movie channel, will recommend a weekly list of films for you in winter vacation. I wish you a happy winter vacation in advance!